Chapter 1122 French Probe

When Constantine passed away, the First Balkan War was basically over. The Ottoman Empire perfectly demonstrated the strength of the "Sick Man of West Asia" and was completely unable to resist the offensive of the Balkan Alliance. The Balkan Alliance was advancing vigorously, while the Ottoman Empire was retreating steadily. In this kind of situation Under the situation, the Ottoman Empire once again had to ask other countries for mediation to avoid further losses.

In May, with the support of various countries, the Ottoman Empire finally chose to give up almost all of its European territory in exchange for peace.

However, the smoke in the Balkans did not dissipate with the defeat of the Ottoman Empire. Because of the uneven distribution of spoils, conflicts among the countries in the Balkans soon broke out, and the Second Balkan War broke out.

The most striking feature of the Second Balkan War was that the supporters behind Bulgaria and the anti-Bulgarian alliance were different. In this round of war, Germany, Austria-Hungary and East Africa almost unanimously supported Bulgaria, while other powers supported Serbia. and Greece and other countries.

The entire Balkan Peninsula seemed to be competing between two camps, an alliance of German countries and an alliance of non-German countries, as if Germany, Austria-Hungary and East Africa had joined forces.

The fact that the three German countries adopt almost the same political behavior will inevitably lead to speculation. Although the Austro-Hungarian Empire was a dual system, there is no doubt that the Germans still hold the main influence in national politics.

As for Germany, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and the three East African countries, any one of them is very important in the world. If the three countries unite, this is definitely not what other countries in the world want to see.

With the death of Constantine, there have been some apparent changes in the East African government, which has made other countries want to test the attitude of the "new" government leadership in East Africa.

Before the outbreak of the Second Balkan War, French Ambassador to East Africa Thomson once again communicated with the East African government.

Rhine Palace.

Now three months have passed since Constantine's death. Ernst has also temporarily emerged from the gloom and begun to handle national affairs as emperor. Ernst received Ambassador Thomson at the Rhine Palace.

Thomson asked directly: "Your Majesty the Emperor, I wonder if your country has intentionally communicated with Germany during this round of Balkan conflicts. What is your attitude towards Bulgaria and other Balkan countries?"

Although East Africa is on the side of Bulgaria, it is not surprising. After all, Bulgaria has been conducting military cooperation with East Africa before. It is the Balkan country with the best relations with East Africa except Romania. However, when Germany, Austria-Hungary and East Africa sided together, , still makes France feel terrified.

Therefore, the most important thing about Thomson's question is to use words to test whether there is secret collusion and collusion between East Africa and Germany.

After all, East Africa, as a German country, is prone to misunderstandings. It can be said that without involving the external situation, East Africa and Germany have a natural basis for cooperation. The two countries have similar cultures, deep economic cooperation, and greater military cooperation in East Africa. It is very similar to Germany.

Therefore, if Germany secretly forms an alliance with East Africa, it can be said to be quite logical in the eyes of other countries in the world.

Ernst told Thomson: "East Africa does not have clear political intentions in this round of Balkan war. Our support to Bulgaria is completely a continuation of the relationship between the two countries before the war. You should also know that we are in military affairs." We have in-depth cooperation with Bulgaria, so the current support for Bulgaria does not need to be interpreted in depth, it is completely a coincidence.”

Thomson heard the implication of Ernst's message, that is, East Africa's current behavior in the Balkans has nothing to do with other countries, and this other country obviously refers to Germany.

Of course, as a seasoned diplomat, Thomson would not believe that East Africa really had no contact with Germany or the Austro-Hungarian Empire just because Ernst said so.

So Thomson continued to test: "The main reason is that at this stage, it is difficult for people to rest assured about the consistency of the diplomatic actions of Germany, Austria-Hungary and East Africa. This coincidence will cause misunderstandings in many countries."

The three German countries supported Bulgaria at the same time. Although each had their own excuses, it was easy for France to feel that everything was at stake.

Ernst explained: "I believe Ambassador Thomson also knows that the Austro-Hungarian Empire's support for Bulgaria is entirely out of fear of Serbian extreme nationalism, so supporting Bulgaria is a decision made by the Austro-Hungarian Empire in order to stabilize its own security. , As for our East Africa, although we have some military cooperation with Bulgaria, this does not mean that our East Africa can have much influence on the Balkan Peninsula. "

"Therefore, East Africa and Austria-Hungary's support for Bulgaria was unexpected, and East Africa, as an extraterritorial country, never had too many thoughts."

Taking the Austro-Hungarian Empire as an example, that is because the Austro-Hungarian Empire obviously had geographical considerations in its support for Bulgaria. The Austro-Hungarian Empire needed Bulgaria to attack Serbia to prevent the emergence of "Greater Serbia".

Assuming that Serbia does not exist, it is basically impossible for the Austro-Hungarian Empire to support Bulgaria. From this point of view, the Austro-Hungarian Empire's support for Bulgaria is speculative, and the same is true for East Africa. In this way, there will be no Germany, Austria-Hungary, and East Africa. Possibility of alliance.

Ernst went on to say: "At present, East Africa is still mainly focused on economic development. This can be seen from the East African Navy. Our total naval tonnage is obviously low in the world. Since East Africa has no intention of participating in the naval arms race, it naturally has no intention of expanding its influence in other regions."

This set of rhetoric can indeed make people feel more at ease. If East Africa really forms an alliance with Germany, then East Africa will inevitably participate in the war, and a country preparing to participate in the war will certainly not be slower than other countries in military construction like East Africa is now.

This also gave Thomson a reassurance. Through Ernst's words, East Africa did not obviously intend to intervene in the European situation.

East Africa obviously intends to stay out of it. After all, the scale of the East African Navy is not even as large as France. Instead of worrying about East Africa, it is better to worry about the United States, a country that is actively expanding its armaments.

Ambassador Thomson settled down and began to talk with Ernst about other aspects. Although East Africa did not show a momentum of expansion in the military, it is undeniable that the East African National Defense Force is still an important military force in the world.

Therefore, France cannot tolerate East Africa joining the German camp. If it wants East Africa to stay out of the game between Germany and France, it obviously needs to put out more chips to win over East Africa.

After all, even if East Africa does not support Germany militarily, it can still support Germany through economy and trade, because France knows very well that as a non-colonial power, Germany relies on East Africa for a large part of its raw materials.

And East Africa will obviously not cut off trade relations with Germany, so Germany will have the opportunity to get the cheap raw materials it wants from East Africa to promote its own industrial and military development.

For example, Germany's military enterprises need to import large quantities of special minerals for many weapons from East Africa, such as manganese, copper, chromium, rare earths, etc.

The only thing France can do is to drive up market prices so that it will not be too easy for Germany to purchase raw materials from East Africa.

So after Thomson confirmed that East Africa would not participate in the conflict between Germany and France, he negotiated several large orders with East Africa on behalf of the French government, especially importing some materials from East Africa that might have been originally used for German military enterprises.

Although France may not need it, the French order can at least increase the cost of Germany's military development. This can be regarded as a means of killing one thousand enemies and losing eight hundred of one's own.