Mediterranean Hegemony Road

On October 28, 1917, the five-party talks started again. After obtaining the domestic authorization, Sassunov breathed a sigh of relief. What he was most afraid of was that the country had to stick to the original bottom line, and the negotiations would not go on. .

Austro-Hungarian Prime Minister Leopold von Bechtol looks a bit high-spirited now, and he doesn't look like a defeated country at all. No, the Austro-Hungarian Empire is not yet considered a defeated country, at most it can only be regarded as a loss of half!

Apparently, after gaining the support of Britain and France, they became more confident with the Russians. If the Russian Empire did not make a significant contribution in this world war, the tsarist government has been insisting on the war even if the civil unrest broke out, perhaps they would not even have to pay this reparation.

Of course, this is obviously impossible. It is impossible for the Allied countries to look so ugly. After all, everyone is allies. If you eat meat yourself, you have to leave a bowl of soup for the Russians!

At the beginning of the meeting, Sassunov made another request: Considering the repayment ability of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, after careful study and decision by the Tsarist government, we agreed to reduce the amount of reparations, and we asked the Austro-Hungarian Empire to pay 1.5 billion pounds of war reparations. , to be paid over 30 years, with principal and interest and £125 million a year.

Leopold von Bechtol was of course dissatisfied. He paid the French 430 million pounds of debt for the Bulgarians, half of which were interest-free loans, and the annual interest was less than 10 million pounds, but according to How is it possible that the Russians demand seventy-five million pounds a year in interest alone?

I'm sorry, Mr. Sassunov, it is impossible for us to meet your request! Austria-Hungary has limited financial revenue, and we can't even pay the interest on the indemnity you asked for. Can you give us a figure we can afford? ?

Satsunov's face suddenly collapsed, and he said coldly: So how big is your country's ability to pay?

Leopold von Bechtol thought about it and said: Our financial situation is already very bad, the domestic economic situation is also very bad, and we will not be able to pay our debts for the next three years.

After three years, the annual debt payment cannot exceed half of our fiscal revenue. Calculated according to our peak fiscal revenue,

Our maximum annual payout is just £30 million.

Now the debt of the Austro-Hungarian Empire itself is as high as 1.5 billion pounds, and our revenue cannot even pay the interest...

stop!

Satsunov interrupted: If it is according to your country's requirements, is this not going to pay?

Leopold von Bechtol also pretended to be too hot, but he still said with the same expression: How can it be! The Austro-Hungarian Empire is also a responsible power, and doing wrong always has to pay At the cost, so how about we pay your country five million pounds of war reparations every year for a hundred years?

Sassonoff said coldly: Mr. Leopold, we came to negotiate with sincerity, not to listen to your nonsense, five million pounds a year, it's your export! You pay one hundred million pounds a year. , paying for a hundred years is almost the same!

...

The two fought each other, and more than two hours passed in a flash. Constantine and the British cooperated - George and French President Poincaré exchanged opinions. Everyone agreed to let them quarrel slowly!

The three of them left the conference room one after another, and Constantine took the initiative to say, Mr. George, regarding the issue of Sicily, I think we can continue now!

Lloyd-George smiled and said, Oh, what does your country want? As long as it's not our major dominions, other regions are easy to discuss!

Constantine automatically skipped it, so we can discuss a fart, we want the Suez Canal, do you give it? Of course, Constantine would not have made such a stupid request!

How about the Persian Gulf? If Bulgaria wants to get out of the Mediterranean, it needs an outlet in the Indian Ocean. The most suitable one for us is the Persian Gulf!

Lloyd-George still kept a smile. Obviously, Bulgaria's request for the Persian Gulf was in their expectations. His think tank had already deduced Bulgaria's development path from Bulgaria's expansion path.

Now is the era of sea power. If Bulgaria really said that they did not want to enter the ocean, it is estimated that as long as normal people would not believe it, don’t you see that the Russians have worked hard for the ocean strategy for hundreds of years!

Bulgaria's exhibition is completely determined by geographical location. For Bulgaria, the easiest route to success is to gain access to the Persian Gulf region.

This also explains why Bulgaria is going to grab so much sand. Yes, in this era, the Arabian Peninsula obtained by Bulgaria is sand!

In the Persian Gulf, the Mesopotamian plain is suitable for agricultural production and can provide supplies to the navy. It has been occupied by Bulgaria in the World War, and now it is normal for Bulgaria to ask for the Persian Gulf!

Lloyd-George suggested: You can have the Persian Gulf, but what about our oil transportation in the Persian region?

Otherwise, the Strait of Hormuz, half of our family, so everyone can rest assured?

Constantine cursed inwardly, if the control of the Strait of Hormuz is not obtained, the Bulgarian Navy is still in the cage of the British?

Mr. George has been thinking too much, of course your country's interests in the Persian region can be guaranteed, do you still think that we will hinder your oil transportation?

Besides, in Persia, what else is there besides oil? As far as we know, your oil companies in the Persian region have been losing money. What is the value?

Obviously, everyone has done their homework. The interests of the British in the Persian Gulf region and Bulgaria are clear. The economic value of this era is not much at all!

Lloyd-George said calmly: I can't say that. With the development of science and technology, the importance of oil has become more and more prominent, and oil safety is also related to the global strategy of our Royal Navy!

Constantine said confidently: Is the British Empire short of oil, why don't I know? Why should we take matters into the lies that the capitalists have made up for their own interests?

As far as I know, in recent months, there have been many new oil fields in the world, and the recent international crude oil price has dropped by 30%. The output of your Persian Oil Company is not worth mentioning at all!

Lloyd-George was surprised. He was busy with the Paris Peace Conference recently. He hadn't paid attention to these small news for a long time, but he also didn't think Constantine would lie in this regard.

Lloyd-George said calmly: If that's the case, I think we can make a deal!

Constantine shook his head and said, Mr. George, a Persian Gulf region is not enough!

You know that our navy started too late, and now it is over for the global strategic layout. Therefore, we hope that your country can provide us with 20 overseas ports. The strategic value does not need to be too high, and we can stop ships and replenish!

In addition, this war has a great impact on our finances, so we intend to sell the creditor's rights in our hands, and hope that your country can take over. Of course, if your government is not interested, we will contact your country's consortium to take over. I hope you can make it easier. door!

Lloyd-George hesitated for a moment and said, We can open twenty overseas military ports for your navy to use. As for civilian merchant ships, don't worry, the ports of the British Empire are open to the outside world!

If you want to sell debts, we welcome this. The consortium of the British Empire should be happy to take over this business!

Obviously, Lloyd-George changed the concept. Constantine wanted to get 20 overseas ports. When he came to him, it became the opening of 20 ports for the Bulgarian Navy. The nature of this is completely different. When the time comes, it can be used naturally. Once the two sides turn their faces in the future, this agreement is equivalent to voiding it!

As for the issue of creditor's rights, this is not a problem at all. The world war is over, and the British government may have been impoverished, but their domestic monopoly consortium has indeed made a lot of money.

The consortium with a large amount of cash is still worrying about where to put funds? After the end of the last war in history, most of these funds flowed to the United States, followed by the European Big 6!

For the consortium, as long as the interests are big enough, there is no business that cannot be negotiated. Anyway, success or failure is not his business. Opposition!

After hesitating for a while, Constantine still chose to compromise. Anyway, he has obtained twenty ports that can be temporarily used for the navy. !

...

Compared with Bulgaria and the British, the French are in trouble. They want to dismember Germany, and they want to empty the Germans' wallets. These are trivial things. What John Bull can't tolerate the most is them. Want to establish Euro 6 hegemony!

They just beat a Germany, and now they're coming to France, aren't they fighting in vain?

Unlike Bulgaria's sudden rise and no foundation, the French have a very deep heritage. The most important thing is that Napoleon was too fierce. After so many years, John Bull still has lingering fears!

But for the French, they also have quite a few colonies. In exchange for concessions on the German issue, they feel that it is too much of a loss in exchange for colonies.

The attitude of Bulgaria in this regard makes the French very satisfied, so they also reciprocate in many places, and the two sides cooperate very well!

Constantine had publicly acknowledged the French right to reclaim Lorraine and Alsace, and had fully understood the French's demands on the dismemberment of Germany and reparations.

Since there is no direct conflict of interest between the two sides, the relationship between the two countries has recently heated up sharply, and has returned to the state before the war.

This makes the British very unhappy. It is their consistent national policy to keep Europe evenly matched. It is a pity that Bulgaria is not strong now, so they are directly counseled!

No, even if Bulgaria wants to dominate the European Big 6, it can't do it now. The Austro-Hungarian Empire is still there, directly blocking their way forward!

If Germany is dismembered, then the British can't support Austria-Hungary to check and balance France, right? With the current strength of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, they can protect themselves, and it is not enough to pk with the French!

At least they didn't dare to jump out until they got the full support of Bulgaria. Otherwise, if they didn't do well, they would be attacked by the two countries.

...

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