My Italy

German Prime Minister Bülow proposed the idea of ​​reopening the Madrid Conference and internationalizing the Moroccan issue. The original plan was to use the interests of various countries in Morocco to force France to make concessions.

But who knows, after countries gather in Madrid, this will not be the case.

Driven by Britain and France, France received support from ten countries including Britain, Russia, Spain, and the Netherlands. As for Germany, only Austria-Hungary and Italy supported it. This was a disastrous defeat for German diplomacy.

Faced with this situation, Germany was of course unwilling to do so, so it stepped up its efforts to connect with other countries in Madrid in an attempt to regain its diplomatic disadvantage.

Just after a meeting in which German Foreign Minister Schrichofen proposed new proposals for dealing with Morocco and representatives from participating countries discussed it, Bacona packed up his things and prepared to leave the venue with the Italian delegation.

He had long seen the predicament of his ally Germany at the reopened Madrid Conference. Other countries were more willing to trust Britain and France than Germany. In this regard, Italy has no choice but to count on the Germans themselves.

After he left the venue and was about to board the bus back to the embassy, ​​someone suddenly stopped him.

"Your Excellency Bacona, I am a staff member of the French Embassy. Can I talk to you?"

"French?"

Bacona looked at the other party with a puzzled expression.

I saw this man who claimed to be a staff member of the French Embassy, ​​walked into Bacona and whispered. "Your Excellency, our Foreign Minister Delcasse would like to invite you for a drink."

Bacona has served as Italy's foreign minister for so many years, and of course he knows the man in charge of French diplomacy. Delcasse has served as foreign minister in six French governments and can be said to be France's senior diplomatic controller.

Moreover, Mr. Delcasse was very capable. He concluded an agreement with the United Kingdom as soon as he took office and successfully resolved the Fashoda crisis. France continued to consolidate its colonial empire in West Africa while striving to gradually become friendly with Britain. He also mediated the Spanish-American War and helped the two countries reach a peace treaty.

As Foreign Minister, Delcasse continued to maintain his consistent anti-German stance. Kaiser Wilhelm II even called him "the most dangerous Frenchman to Germany." Delcasse gradually broke France's diplomatic isolation since the Second Empire and launched a diplomatic offensive against Germany.

Such a French foreign minister would definitely not be looking for him just for a drink. But you might as well meet him and see what he wants to say.

"No problem, I happen to be a little thirsty too."

Afterwards, Bacona asked the rest of the delegation to return to the embassy first. He planned to meet Mr. Delcasse.

Under the guidance of the French Embassy staff, Bacona soon met the French Foreign Minister in a cafe not far from the venue.

"Your Excellency Bacona, it is a pleasure to have a drink with you."

In a relatively secluded room, Delcasse looked at Bacona as he entered and greeted him warmly.

"Hello, Mr. Delcasse."

After a brief greeting, the two parties sat down. I saw Delcasse holding a bottle of red wine, pouring the wine and speaking. "This is Romanée-Conti wine that I have treasured for 16 years. It was given to me by a friend of mine. I was reluctant to drink it before, but today I suddenly became interested, so I took the liberty to invite you."

Baccona also knows how to deal with Delcasse's courtesy. "Thank you for your kind invitation, I won't be polite."

The two of them drank one cup after another. During the drinking period, the two of them chatted. Anyway, as long as the other party didn't take the initiative to mention it, Bacona could treat it as an ordinary wine tasting. And how much is there in a bottle of wine? It won’t take long before you can see the bottom of the bottle.

Only then did Delcasse speak. "Your Excellency Bacona, our two countries have historically been good neighbors and friendly, and there have been no conflicts worth fighting. Why are the diplomatic relations between our two countries so tense?"

Hearing Delcasse's words, Bacona smiled and said nothing. Because this is too much nonsense, the relationship between Italy and France has never been good. It was like this before reunification, and even more so after reunification. As for now, it is just like that.

Seeing that Bacona did not speak to him, Delcasse certainly knew that if he wanted to resolve the tense diplomatic relations between Italy and France, he could not do it with just one sentence. How is this possible without something practical?

Speaking of which, Italy has developed rapidly in recent years, forcing France to pay more attention to its neighbor. Fortunately, the opponent did not significantly expand its army, but in terms of navy, Italy made a lot of moves.

"Bakona, the current relationship between your country and our country is abnormal, very abnormal."

Delcasse continued. "I know that your country has always been very dissatisfied with our country's occupation of Tunisia, so I am thinking, if our country makes certain concessions on the Tunisian issue, will the situation be different?"

Delcasse's words made Bacona unable to remain calm. Because the importance of Tunisia to Italy goes without saying, so after hearing Delcasse’s words, Bacona spoke. "How do you plan to make concessions to our country on the Tunisian issue?"

"If your country can receive the same treatment as ours in Tunisia, I think this will be enough to resolve the previous unhappiness between your two countries!"

Delcasse's words made Bacona think about it. This condition seems to be very generous. It can be regarded as a huge concession for the French to allow Italy to return to Tunisia.

But Bacona is not that easy to fool, he asked before. "I don't know, is this your intention or your government's intention?"

It was obvious that he was asking whether Delcasse had come up with this idea, or was it prepared by Paris?

If it is the former, it means that this is just Delcasse's own private idea. If it is the latter, then it is the government's decision. The difference between the two is huge.

Faced with Bacona's inquiry, Delcasse answered very calmly. "This is my humble opinion, but if your country is willing, I will push our government to implement it."

"Then it's up to you to promote it first. It's still a bit too early to say whether you are willing or not."

After saying this, Bacona stood up and left, while Delcasse poured out the last bit of wine in the bottle and drank it before leaving.

"Minister, how was the discussion?"

The man who claimed to be an embassy staff member asked at the door.

"The talks are going pretty well. At least we know each other's requirements."

What Delcasse said was correct, they indeed understood each other's requirements. At least he knew where the Italians were demanding, they wanted all of Tunisia.

He had previously talked about giving the Italians the same treatment, but His Excellency Bacona did not have much trouble in his eyes. This was obviously because the conditions were not in place.

But throughout Tunisia, Italians have a really big appetite.

When Delcasse lamented the huge appetite of Italians, Bacona in the car also lamented the good tricks of the French Foreign Minister.

It was said before that the Italians should be treated the same as the French in Tunisia, which sounds good, but the French have been in Tunisia for so many years. What benefits can the Italians get now? The minister has his own ideas.

If we want the two countries to be reconciled as before, everything will be in vain unless we get Tunisia. Don't think that he doesn't know what this guy is up to. Just tell him that if he wants to get Italy's friendship, he has to exchange it for Tunisia.

Of course, the contact with Delcasse must be reported to Rome. This at least represents a trend. The French finally face up to Italy's dissatisfaction. In addition, France is facing pressure from Germany and wants to break the diplomatic situation in order to reduce its own pressure.

In the car, Baccona basically figured out what Delcasse was thinking.

I originally wanted to write the title Morocco Crisis, but when I thought about what this chapter had to do with Morocco, I just changed it.