Mediterranean Hegemony Road

Time flies by, and the world situation has become more tense. After the London Naval Arms Treaty expired, the major signatories failed to reach an agreement due to the issue of quotas.

In 1933, the naval arms race broke out before all countries could completely get rid of the economic crisis.

To everyone's surprise, it was not Bulgaria that first provoked the arms race.

According to the usual practice, isn't it always the world's number two challenging the world's number one? Why is the script wrong this time?

Affected by the economic crisis, Japan, without the support of the United States, was the first to fail, and took the lead in embarking on the road of militarism.

Along with it, Germany and Italy also tore up the Treaty of Versailles and began to expand their armies and prepare for war.

In 1934, the German central government expanded the army from the original 60,000 to 230,000. The Italians also expanded the army from the original 30,000 to 120,000.

War has become the theme of the Three Kingdoms, and Germany and Italy have no choice but to go to war. Under the oppression of the Versailles system, internal conflicts are about to explode.

In Japan, the government couldn't control the army, the army couldn't control the officers and soldiers, and was dragged step by step into the abyss by the middle and lower-level officers and soldiers.

In 1933, the Japanese government announced a new round of shipbuilding plans to build two new battleships, one aircraft carrier, and four cruisers within five years...

The primary imaginary enemy of the Japanese navy is the British, followed by Bulgaria. The construction of more than 40 large and small warships within five years is completely record-breaking for the Japanese government.

As for the plan, it doesn’t matter how big it is. Anyway, the plan that couldn’t be completed has happened to the Japanese Navy more than once, and it’s okay to change it in the end.

The Japanese exploded the navy, and European countries saw it, and we couldn't be cowardly, so they introduced new shipbuilding plans one after another.

The Bulgarian Navy, which had been suppressed by Ferdinand for decades, finally got their long-lost chance this time. Now the government is no longer embarrassed to say that it has no money.

The ten-year plan has been completed, and in the investment of the new five-year plan, there is no such huge infrastructure construction, and the government already has the financial resources to invest in armaments.

General Joseph, your Admiralty's plan is too exaggerated, we need to build so many warships within five years?

You must give me a suitable reason, otherwise you can take this plan and convince the government yourself! Little Ferdinand thought for a while and said.

Your Majesty, this is part of Bulgaria's world strategy. The British giant is old, and the world needs a new master.

Now Japan in the Far East is also sharpening its knives, and it is so brazen that it does not take our Bulgarian navy into its eyes. We must fight back! Joseph said seriously.

Skip the previous sentence first, even if the British are old, a tiger is still a tiger, even if it is a sick tiger, it can still hurt people.

The Japanese you mentioned later were provoking us, why didn’t I know? Little Ferdinand asked dissatisfied.

Your Majesty, the Japanese Navy announced that it will build a navy that is the second largest in the world. Where does this put us?

Is it not enough for the great Bulgarian Empire to be suppressed by the Royal Navy, and now a Far Eastern monkey can challenge our majesty? Joseph said angrily.

The Bulgarian Empire has just been established, and now is the time when the people are arrogant, clamoring to catch up with the British,

If it is overwhelmed by the Japanese navy, it is estimated that public opinion will be fried.

No, it has already been fried. Obviously, Joseph also came prepared, and the plan proposed by the Ministry of the Navy is also very targeted.

This is obviously not aimed at the Japanese navy, and they are not worthy of the Bulgarian navy's attention, so the target can only be the British.

But you can't say clearly that you want to challenge the British, right? It's not that everyone is a sophomore, and it's not that the British are really in decline, it's just that the recent development has not been very smooth.

Just like the Japanese navy has positioned itself as the second largest navy in the world, the Bulgarian navy naturally has to find a soft persimmon.

It is for this reason that the Japanese navy is now used as an excuse, so as not to arouse the hostility of the British folk sentiment and detonate the conflict between the two countries in advance.

It doesn't matter if you offend the Japanese. The two sides are so far apart, whether there is any substantial harm to the interests, it's just a few shouts.

This is not the first time. As early as during the Russo-Japanese War, the two sides had surpassed each other's acting skills. It seemed that the two sides were about to start a fight, but in fact nothing happened.

At the beginning, Bulgaria's appearance was for the Russians to prove that the younger brother was very loyal, and he did a good job of waving the flag.

The performance of the Japanese was for the British. In order to get John Bull to pay more money, Bulgaria was only used to imagine the strong influence of the Russians.

Until now, the conflicts between the two countries have always been verbal, but in fact the diplomatic relations between the two sides have been normal, lukewarm, and everyone is very restrained.

Now the Ministry of the Navy is taking advantage of this opportunity to promote the navy's military expansion plan.

The plan was rough, just like what Ferdinand told the Ottoman Empire back then, for every warship they built, Bulgaria would build two.

Now on the capital ship, this is the plan of the Bulgarian Navy Ministry, and other auxiliary warships are carried out according to actual needs.

No, the scale of the capital ship should be larger. The Bulgarian Navy Ministry only listed the battleship as the capital ship, and the aircraft carrier was intentionally ignored by them.

The Japanese Navy built two battleships, and the Bulgarian Navy built four. There is nothing wrong with this. It's just that the aircraft carrier has become 1:4. The Japanese Navy is building an aircraft carrier, and the Bulgarian Navy Ministry will launch 4 aircraft carriers in one go.

The combined number of other large and small warships is exactly double that of the Japanese Navy. It seems that all the propaganda plans have been completed.

Little Ferdinand frowned, but in the end he didn't object. The military needs to serve politics, and shipbuilding naturally needs to compromise with politics.

As Ferdinand II, his father's doubling of the Ottoman Empire's domineering declaration is still talked about by the Bulgarian people. If he emulates it, it will still be a political bonus.

At least it can increase the support of the people for him, not only his emperor, but also the current Bulgarian cabinet.

You must know that since they succeeded to the throne, they have not made any achievements. The only gain is probably the money to buy Ukraine.

Unfortunately, all the Bulgarian people know that it was only mortgaged to Bulgaria by the Russians, and now they can't pay back the money, so they simply sold it at a discount.

Perhaps in the future, this transaction can bring them a high historical evaluation, but that's all it is now, everyone treats it as an ordinary commercial loan and an ordinary land transaction.

As a second-generation emperor, little Ferdinand had to imitate his father. There was no other way. His father was too brilliant, and what the people demanded of him was to be like his father.

This is the experience he summed up during his career as an emperor for more than two years. There is no problem in carrying out reforms on small issues, but the people like him to learn from Ferdinand.

Even if it's just for a gamble, they are willing to accompany them.

Little Ferdinand has already passed the second grade of middle school. As the father of two children, the third child is already on the way, and he has already matured.

Okay, General Joseph, you have successfully persuaded me. I agree to the 1.2 billion leva shipbuilding budget. I will handle it for you from the government, and you can convince the Congress yourself! Little Ferdinand said slightly. said with a smile

The 1.2 billion levas for special shipbuilding may seem like a lot, but in fact, it is only 240 million levas per year, which is less than a week's fiscal revenue of the Bulgarian government.

Such a small amount of money is nothing to this country. The real expensive part of the navy is the post-maintenance, which is a long-term expense.

For any developed country, shipbuilding is not a problem. After the warships are built, it is where the real money is spent.

For example, if the Ministry of the Navy's shipbuilding plan is completed this time, the navy's annual military expenditure will increase by several hundred million.

There is no way, personnel salaries require money, warship maintenance requires money, and naval training still requires money. Unless you want to play with the poor navy, it is a waste of money.

Bulgaria doesn't matter, but the French feel uncomfortable. If they want to keep their reputation as the world's second navy, they must follow up.

In fact, they have long lagged behind, and now they only maintain the second place in the world in terms of tonnage. In terms of combat effectiveness, a bunch of battleships before World War I, even if they have been refitted, are still inferior to new warships.

Not only is the French navy refitting, but the Japanese navy is also refitting. The reason is naturally to save money.

There is no doubt that this time the French government was counseled, and it has nothing to do with other factors, that is, the government has no money.

Although their fiscal revenue is more than twice that of the Japanese government, they can't afford an arms race.

It's not that they are cowardly, but the French see very clearly that only Britain and Bulgaria can compete now. Affected by the economic crisis, Bulgaria currently has the upper hand in terms of financial resources.

France has widened the gap with them, at least financially, the gap between everyone is very wide. In 1933, France's fiscal revenue was only one-third of Bulgaria's.

With such an obvious gap in economic strength, why would a fool go to play an arms race with them?

Now the French radicals have long been beaten to the ground, and the rest are the legendary appeasers.

If it wasn't for the sake of face, they would have reduced the navy after the First World War, and now even if they swelled their faces, they couldn't make a fat man, so they simply stopped playing.

The French can bear it, but John Bull can't bear it. If Bulgaria just shouted at the Japanese government, the London government really couldn't sit still.

Twenty years ago, we played an arms race with the Germans and almost killed them. Now if we do it again, it is hard to say whether we can hold on.