My Italy

Social security is very important and of far-reaching significance to Italy, but currently what is more important to Italy is the current international situation.

First in South Africa, the British Empire could finally proudly declare that it had conquered the Boers.

On January 10, 1900, Roberts, commander-in-chief of the South African Expeditionary Force, and Kitchener, chief of staff, arrived in Cape Town.

They brought with them the native Seventh Army, reinforcements from Australia, New Zealand and Canada, and three cavalry units in India and Ceylon.

By the end of January 1900, the number of British troops on the South African battlefield increased to 190,000, and by March it increased to 250,000, giving them an absolute advantage. In addition, thousands of military horses were shipped to South Africa from Britain and Australia, increasing the mobility of the British army.

Yes, the disastrous defeat some time ago made the British Empire furious.

Lord Roberts, who took office, also changed his strategy after a battlefield survey and moved the main attack direction from Natal West to the Orange area where the troops were weaker in the middle. At the same time, he changed the rigid frontal attack tactics and adopted a roundabout strategy.

On the western front, the British army defeated the militia group commanded by Piet Cronye, ​​the most ferocious "Black General" of the Clothier Army, and liberated Kimberley, which had been besieged for several months on February 27. The British army on the eastern front launched an offensive on February 28, defeated the Boers at Dordrecht on March 5, and was finally able to relieve the siege of Ladissmith.

After eliminating the strongest Cronje threat to the left wing, Roberts turned the main attack force back to Orange and steadily advanced northward.

Having learned the lessons of the failure in the first stage, the British army changed their tactics. When ambushed by the Cloth Army, the infantry troops no longer maintained their formation, but dug trenches nearby to cover the cavalry's roundabout attack on the Cloth Army's positions.

Under this tactic, the Cloth Army's blockades in Poplar Grove, Abraham's Cattle Pen and other places failed one after another. On March 20, the British 6th and 7th Divisions defeated the most well-equipped Johannesburg police force of the British Army at Abraham Cattlefield.

On March 22, Matheus Stein, President of the Orange Free State, led government and parliamentary officials to escape from the capital Bloemfontein and fled to Kronstad in the north.

On the afternoon of March 23, the British army entered Bloemfontein.

In late March, typhoid fever became prevalent among the British troops. Roberts had to order rest on the spot, and the British offensive was interrupted. On April 2, the commander-in-chief of the Cloth Army, Joubert, fell off his horse again and was seriously injured during the battle at Willow Farm. He died on April 3. According to his wishes, Louis Botha, who was good at guerrilla warfare, succeeded him as commander-in-chief of the Boer field forces.

When good news came from all fronts of the British army, a large number of British reinforcements arrived in South Africa. Yes, the lion fights the rabbit with all its strength, and the British Empire is determined to show off its army (although the previous battles have exposed its army's true colors).

Since there are reinforcements, there is no reason not to use them. After the adjustment of military strength, the British Empire army has undergone changes.

In the main direction of attack, Roberts had eight infantry divisions (3rd, 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th, 10th, 11th, Colonial Divisions) and the 12th Cavalry Division. Roberts took the main force and launched the offensive again in mid-May. On May 29, Roberts' army captured Kronstad, the new capital of the Orange Free State.

Due to successive defeats, the morale of the Boers plummeted. Under Roberts's leniency, many militiamen operating behind the British lines surrendered to the British, surrendered their weapons, and returned to their farms. By mid-June, there were only more than 20,000 Boers still fighting.

On June 24, 1900, Lord Milner announced in Bloemfontein that Britain would annex the Orange Free State.

After the annexation of Orange, the British army stepped up its attack on the Transvaal.

On June 29, General French commanded the Australian Cavalry and defeated the last defensive force at the Klip River on the southern outskirts of Johannesburg. On June 30, President Kruger left the capital Pretoria by train. On June 31, Roberts entered Johannesburg and entered Pretoria in the early morning of July 5.

On September 1, 1900, Roberts announced the British annexation of the Transvaal and declared the war over.

On September 11, President Kruger received authorization from the exiled Transvaal government and arrived in Lourenço Marquez, the capital of Portuguese Mozambique. On October 19, Kruger took the cruiser Gelderland sent by Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands and headed for Europe to seek help.

By the time Roberts declared the war over, the British Empire had lost more than 13,000 people. Most of these losses were suffered by the army. Of course, in addition to the dead soldiers, the army had more than 19,000 injured and missing people.

The casualties of more than 30,000 people were definitely not small for the British army. Of course, the Boers also had a difficult time. Their maximum mobilization strength of 88,000 men was reduced to only more than 31,000 men when Lord Roberts declared the end of the war.

These Boers did not lay down their weapons after Roberts announced the end of the war. Instead, they began to harass the British troops gathered in the Boers' hometown.

Among them, supply lines have become the top priority under attack.

The British army was also unkind to the Boers' harassment. The brutal policy of heavy pressure was implemented, and the concentration camps and the three-guang policy were carried forward here. All the Boers who could be found were concentrated and their cattle, sheep, food and other supplies were taken away if they could be taken away, and those that could not be taken away were destroyed. An attempt was made to cut off the Boers from their army.

In addition, items such as field telephones for convenient communication, armored vehicles suitable for security warfare, and lighting were all invented during this period.

Although the battle between the two parties continued, everyone knew that the Boers could not hold on for long. After all, its numbers are too small and it is no match for the British Empire. Of course, the British Empire's poor performance in this war caused it to lose face.

While the Boer War was in full swing, the funny war in the Far East also ended. After armies from various countries occupied the capital, the empress dowager finally came to her senses and sent Li Zhongtang to try to sue for peace.

Faced with the Empress Dowager's begging for peace, various countries responded in different ways. Tsarist Russia, which sent the largest number of troops, in order to induce the Qing government to recognize the legitimacy of its occupation of the three eastern provinces, first expressed its recognition of Li Zhongtang's qualifications as a representative and agreed to negotiate peace with the Qing government. At the same time, it also evacuated the Russian ministers and troops in Beijing to Tianjin.

As for other countries, they hope to obtain more benefits and oppose peace negotiations with the empress dowager who has always been pro-Russian. At the same time, they also refuse to recognize Li Zhongtang's qualifications as a representative. As for Germany, it hated the Qing government even more because of the killing of its minister Klinde, and even agreed with Britain to arrest Li Zhongtang to obstruct the Qing government's negotiations with Russia.

Li Zhongtang also knew it (someone tipped him off), so he did not dare to go north after arriving in Shanghai from Guangzhou, but he also began to make internal and external preparations for negotiations, including asking the Qing government to suppress the Boxer Rebellion and deal with the great powers.

At the same time, Russia tried its best to mediate for the Qing court and urged Britain and Germany to give up their plan to arrest Li Zhongtang.

On August 23, Li Zhongtang arrived in Tanggu under the protection of the Russian army, and soon went to Beijing to travel among ministers from various countries.

However, at this time, Germany proposed punishing the Empress Dowager Cixi, Duan Wang Zaiyi and other war culprits as a prerequisite for peace talks, which made the peace talks impossible.

The debates among various countries over issues such as whether to negotiate peace with the Qing court and the qualifications of Li Hongzhang's representative are actually manifestations of the contradictions between various countries in China.

Russia supported the Empress Dowager and Li Zhongtang, who were known to have pro-Russian tendencies, while Britain, Italy, Germany and other countries supported the reforming emperor. Such disputes dissatisfied Germany, which has the second largest number of troops in the Eight-Nation Alliance.

As the belatedly arrived commander-in-chief of the coalition forces, Marshal Wade West, led the coalition forces to advance into Shanxi. Germany's move to harbor evil intentions shocked Britain and also made Italy dissatisfied.

In the end, under the strong appeal of the two countries, Germany had to stop there, opening the door for the Qing court to beg for peace.

As for the empress dowager, in order to gain forgiveness from all countries, she issued an edict to punish the ministers who caused the disaster. Several governors also tried their best to excuse the empress dowager, blaming Zaiyi and his son for the declaration of war.

These performances by the Qing court and the important officials in the border areas made the great powers feel that the empress dowager had a clear mind, and it would be of great benefit to them to continue to support this docile government. In addition, European countries are also worried that abandoning the empress dowager may lead to the collapse of the Qing court and the loss of opportunities and possibilities to blackmail the Far East.

So under such circumstances, the attitudes of the European powers gradually converged, and they finally decided to "preserve" the empress dowager's dignity and began to negotiate peace with the Qing court.

In October 1900, France took the lead in putting forward six demands, including punishing the culprits, paying compensation, and dismantling the Dagu Fort, as the basis for negotiations with the Qing government. After many meetings with ministers from various countries to supplement and modify it, on December 24, 11 countries (in addition to the eight countries plus Belgium, Spain and the Netherlands) jointly proposed 12 articles of the "Peace Negotiation Outline" to the Qing government, which the Qing government fully accepted.

So the spoils-sharing conference of various countries is about to be held, and ambassadors from various countries are gearing up to try to gain the most benefits for their countries.