Chapter 535 The Greek-Turkish War and Lithuanian Independence

Except for the Russian loan episode, the world situation was considered stable in a short period of time.

Of course, no one can predict or prevent some events from destabilizing the world situation, such as a sudden war in Europe.

It is said that it broke out suddenly, but in fact, the outbreak of this war had been expected for a long time, and even behind it was the promotion of the World Alliance headed by Britain and France.

Speaking of this war, we have to mention the peace agreement signed after the defeat of the Ottoman Empire.

Originally, this peace agreement had been implemented for several years, but in recent years there have been some problems with the order of the Ottoman Empire, which has also led to a new round of conflicts between the Balkan countries and the Ottoman Empire.

Yes, this sudden war was about the Ottoman Empire. To be precise, it was a territorial war between Greece and the Ottoman Empire.

The peace treaty signed by the Ottoman Empire caused the Ottoman Empire to lose all European territories except Istanbul, and also lost important Middle Eastern lands such as Iraq.

At present, apart from Anatolia, the Ottoman Empire only controls a small part of Saudi Arabia, Syria and other Middle East regions.

In the absence of Iraq, an important grain-producing area, the Ottoman Empire's grain output has dropped by half, and a long-term food crisis has broken out in the country, making the Ottoman Empire's rule crumbling.

Disasters create great men, and the same is true for the Ottoman Empire. When the imperial government was crumbling, the famous Kemal led the Turks to rise up in resistance and established the Turkish Grand National Assembly in Anatolia.

It is said to be a parliament, but in fact the Turkish Grand National Assembly also has the functions of a government. To be precise, this is an institution that integrates legislative, executive and judicial powers, equivalent to the governments, parliaments and courts of other countries.

Speaking of which, we have to mention Kemal's high reputation in the Ottoman Empire.

Kemal's full name is Mustafa Kemal Atatürk. After crushing the British and French attacks in the Battle of Gallipoli, he was revered as an idol by the soldiers of the Ottoman Empire and enjoyed a good reputation in the military circles. .

Immediately afterwards, Kemal was revered as the "Savior of Istanbul" for his meritorious service in protecting Istanbul, the capital of the Ottoman Empire, and received the title of "Pasha".

Pasha is a title for high-ranking officials in Islamic countries, usually referring to governors, generals and high-ranking officials.

Pasha does not represent a specific position. It is an honorific title for a person with a relatively high status, which is equivalent to a relatively famous lord in the British Empire.

It was precisely because of these titles and various deeds that Kemal became famous in the Ottoman Empire and Europe, which also laid the foundation for Kemal's current control of government power.

After establishing a highly powerful organization like the Turkish Grand National Assembly, Kemal had actually become the biggest obstacle to the Ottoman Empire's fulfillment of its contracts.

Because Kemal was a more practical revolutionary and reformer, he did not agree with the peace treaty signed by the Ottoman Empire. His consistent opinion was to reform the Ottoman Empire and even carry out a revolution.

Under such a conflict, Britain and France naturally would not sit back and watch Kemal's strength, and formulated two related policies to threaten the Ottoman Empire.

The first of these policies was to support rebellions in Asia Minor. The Ottoman Empire was not a unified single-ethnic state, but a chaotic country composed of multiple ethnic groups.

This actually means that there will always be people who are dissatisfied with Turkish rule. Coupled with the weakening of the Ottoman Empire, there are actually many rebellions in the country.

In addition to these, Britain and France are also looking for countries that can threaten the Ottoman Empire with force, and even use force to extinguish the ongoing national liberation fire in the Anatolian Peninsula.

Under such circumstances, Greek Prime Minister Eleftherios Venizelos hit it off with Britain and France, and volunteered to be the vanguard of the military oppression of the Ottoman Empire. This was the real reason why the war between Greece and the Ottoman Empire began.

In normal times, Greece might be worried about the huge land and manpower of the Ottoman Empire, but with the support of Britain and France, Greek King Constantine I was very relieved and even personally signed a declaration of war against the Ottoman Empire.

1 The war between Greece and the Ottoman Empire broke out and successfully attracted a lot of attention in Europe.

What attracts attention is that the Ottoman Empire was a defeated country in World War I, while Greece was a victorious country in World War I.

The war between these two countries is a bit like a continuation of World War I, because the most fundamental reason for the war is that changes in the Ottoman Empire put the peace treaty in crisis.

This war naturally reached Arthur's ears. To be honest, Arthur is not optimistic that Greece can win this war without real military assistance from Britain and France.

Although the Ottoman Empire annexed a large amount of land after World War I, the Anatolian Peninsula was several times the current size of Greece, including the population.

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Moreover, the current Kemal is not the previous Ottoman Empire government. Kemal has a lot of popularity among the people and the army, and is also the famous founder of the Republic of Turkey in history.

Under his leadership, the combat effectiveness of the Ottoman Empire's army was definitely a level higher than that in World War I, while the Greek army had basically no progress.

It would be difficult to defeat the larger Ottoman Empire with material assistance from Britain and France alone.

According to reality, the Ottoman Empire actually existed in name only. At present, Kemal is already the most powerful figure in the Ottoman Empire. The Turkish Grand National Assembly he founded has firmly controlled administrative power. It can be said that Kemal has the final say in the current Ottoman Empire.

But if Arthur remembers correctly, after winning this war in history, Kemal directly abolished the feudal rule of the Ottoman Empire and established the Republic of Turkey, directly leading to the demise of the Ottoman Empire that had ruled this area for hundreds of years. .

In any case, the arms trade in this war is destined to have nothing to do with Australasia.

Greece has the support of Britain and France, and is also a loyal brother of the British Empire. The arms trade must be with Britain.

As for the other side, the Ottoman Empire, Arthur had no intention of standing openly and openly on the opposite side of Britain and France. Although the Ottoman Empire had a greater chance of winning, after all, the Ottoman Empire was suspected of breaching the contract.

Fortunately, the scale of this war was not large, and the combined number of troops on both sides would not exceed one million. It was destined to be just a small business, and Arthur didn't care at all.

Australasia's current main focus is still on domestic development, rather than focusing on all regions of the world like Britain and France when domestic development is in a mess.

If we look carefully at the actions of Britain and France in the past few years, we can see that the first step was to quell the national liberation movements in the colonies, including various protests and acts of non-cooperation.

Then, when it came to interfering in the Russian Civil War, this time the Greco-Turkish War, etc., they were basically not idle at all. They were either at war or on the way to war.

Perhaps it was due to the impact of this war that the subsequent situation in Europe was not so stable, but it was mainly concentrated in the Balkans and Eastern Europe.

First, half a month later, Poland successfully conquered the entire Lithuanian region, and with the acquiescence of Britain and France, supported the Lithuanian government close to itself and established a completely independent Republic of Lithuania.

The relationship between Lithuania and Poland cannot be described clearly in just one paragraph. However, relying on the historical Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, the Poles still wanted to control the land of Lithuania and establish a similar federal state.

The fate of these two countries is very similar. They were annexed by the Russian Empire in modern times and both became independent in recent years.

However, Lithuania's fate was even more twists and turns. After being occupied by Germany in World War I, the Kingdom of Lithuania, which was close to Germany, was established, but it was abolished after World War I.

After World War I, Russia took over Lithuania again. Because Russia ushered in a civil war soon after, Lithuania's government framework still existed.

This time, Lithuania seemed to be nominally independent, but in fact it was under the rule of Poland. It was a puppet state established with support, similar to the previous Kingdom of Lithuania.

Lithuania's independence ignited the situation in Eastern Europe, and the front lines that had been silent for several months were once again ignited by the flames of war.

Although this was a few days different from the summer offensive planned by Nicholas II, with the containment of the Poles, Tsarist Russia faced less pressure from the Soviet army.

In this way, a war involving multiple countries broke out again. The sound of fighting and artillery fire could be heard every day in Eastern Europe, which was in sharp contrast to the quiet and peaceful Western European continent.

The long war caused huge losses to Eastern Europe and also caused a large loss of population in Eastern Europe.

It is not just Russia that is losing population, including Poland, Ukraine and other countries participating in the war, their populations are also losing, and they are increasing at a rapid rate.

This Russian civil war is more fraught than in history, and it has become more chaotic and unpredictable.

Arthur asked the Military Intelligence Bureau to keep an eye on the development of the situation in Eastern Europe and notify them immediately as soon as there was any news. Only then did Arthur feel relieved.

Historically, Poland's peace petition did not happen. Even after Lithuania's independence, the Poles became more ambitious and were already plotting more Russian land.

Although Nicholas II was unwilling to do this, Poland was his ally after all, and he also had the support of Britain and France. Nicholas II could only temporarily hope to settle accounts in the future and concentrate on On the current summer offensive.

With the loan from Australasia, Nicholas II was still relatively confident. At least for now, the Tsarist Russian army still has advantages in weapons and equipment compared to the Soviet Russian army. This is also Nicholas II's confidence in winning the war.

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