Chapter 1349 Sacrifice

Minister Freer's speech was unanimously recognized by everyone. There are various crises hidden under the European war. The war cannot solve these problems, but instead aggravates the accumulation of contradictions.

Of course, if you can become the final winner of the war, you will definitely be able to get certain dividends to delay the outbreak of the crisis, just like Britain in the previous life.

The result of the war in the previous life was that Britain's hegemony survived. As for France, although it looked bright on the surface, it did not get any actual benefits. War reparations were almost impossible to get because of the German economic crisis, and the goal of completely suppressing Germany was not achieved due to the obstruction of Britain and the United States.

No wonder France chose to surrender directly during World War II. I am afraid they did not believe that their allies would protect their post-war interests. After all, World War I was a lesson learned.

"Mr. Freer is right. We should reflect on the lessons that the war has brought to our countries. Now is the time to end this damn war."

After Freer's speech, the Austro-Hungarian diplomatic representative Mauterndorf was the first to jump out to support.

Austria-Hungary is the country that has the least desire for war. After all, the current war is concentrated on the Western and Southern Fronts, and neither of these two places is the main target of Austria-Hungary.

To a certain extent, Austria-Hungary does not want its two allies to gain too much benefit, especially the Ottoman Empire.

It can be said that the Ottoman Empire is completely a competitor of Austria-Hungary. The reason why the two countries can temporarily unite is entirely because they have a common powerful enemy before, that is, Tsarist Russia.

But when the threat of Russia disappears, the basis for cooperation between the two countries naturally does not exist. Although Russia is still large in size and has become more ideologically dangerous because of the Labor Party, that is what the two governments should worry about in the future.

Now, Austria-Hungary not only does not want to continue to cooperate with the Ottoman Empire, but also wants to break up this century-old feud like Tsarist Russia. It is estimated that if the Ottoman Empire has the strength, it also has the same idea, and the national conditions of Austria-Hungary are also suitable for being split.

The two sides cannot reach an agreement on the issue of the Balkan Peninsula, and it is also an obstacle to the expansion of both sides.

The Ottoman Empire was better. After all, it was at the crossroads of three continents, occupying the Black Sea, the Mediterranean Sea, the Red Sea, and the Indian Ocean, and had more roads to choose from.

The geopolitics of the Austro-Hungarian Empire was too bad. It could only expand to the Middle East to break through the restrictions of the market and the origin of raw materials and become a world superpower.

The area and economic scale of the Italian Peninsula and the Balkan Peninsula were too small to meet the needs of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Besides, the Italian Peninsula was not easy to break through.

In other directions, the Austro-Hungarian Empire faced competition from Germany, but the Austro-Hungarian Empire did not have the ability to compete with Germany. Whether in military or industry, it was far behind Germany.

Only the Ottoman Empire was an ally, not only with weak military strength, but also with huge size. No matter how you look at it, the future expansion direction of the Austro-Hungarian Empire should be placed on the Ottoman Empire.

So the Austro-Hungarian Empire now wants to end the war the most, digest the results of this war, and then wait for the opportunity.

Moreover, the Austro-Hungarian Empire is already very satisfied with its current gains. Even if it conquers more land and population, it will be a bad thing for the Austro-Hungarian Empire. After all, the Austro-Hungarian Empire does not have such digestion ability.

This is also why Mauterndorf was the first to support Minister Freer's proposal for peace.

Minister Freer cast an admiring look at Representative Mauterndorf. After all, the two countries have a good relationship, not to mention that with the Austro-Hungarian Empire taking the lead, this has set a good example for the conference.

However, it is obvious that some people are not impressed by the words of Mauterndorf, a common man from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and said sarcastically: "Haha, Representative Mauterndorf is quite comfortable, but I don't know which country started the war first, which led to the current situation in Europe."

"If you hadn't attacked Serbia, it would have been impossible to trigger a chain reaction in Europe and lead to the outbreak of the world war."

"Therefore, the Austro-Hungarian Empire was originally the culprit of the war, but now it says that it supports ending the war. It is simply a humiliation to the word peace. This hypocritical show is really disgusting."

These words made Mauterndorf very angry. He aimed his eyes at the British seat. The person who spoke was the British representative Fromm.

Mauterndorf said: "Humph, Mr. Fromm, our Austro-Hungarian Empire did make some mistakes, but it is much more upright than the UK. We have a lot of evidence showing that Serbia had your support behind it."

"So your country is the most hypocritical. Without your support, how could the fanatical war elements in Serbia have the confidence to challenge the dignity and sovereignty of a great power."

"Moreover, Serbia's problems are entirely self-inflicted. They want to split the inherent territory of the empire. If you support the Serbs so much, you should set an example."

"First, show how to make the Scottish and Irish independent. Unless Mr. Fromm admits that Scotland, Ireland, and even Wales are not your territory, then we will admit that the lesson to Serbia is a mistake."

Well said, watching the Austro-Hungarian and British representatives fighting each other, the people from various countries in the venue cheered in their hearts. After all, it is human nature to watch the excitement.

Fromm was also very angry at Mauterndorf's words. After all, this "bitch" man actually talked about Britain's territorial issues, which happened to be Britain's weakness.

However, there was nothing wrong with Mauterndorf's words. After all, the territorial issues of the Austro-Hungarian Empire were essentially the same as those of the United Kingdom.

The disputes between Austria-Hungary and Serbia were nothing more than Bosnia and Croatia, and these two places were no different to the Austro-Hungarian Empire than Scotland and Ireland were to the United Kingdom.

Everyone has stolen the land, so who can say whose territory is illegal? If this is the case, then the territorial issues of all European countries will be in a mess.

"Ahem, don't discuss unnecessary topics. After all, the core of our meeting is to seek common ground while reserving differences and resolving differences. Only in this way can we truly strive for final peace." Prime Minister Kuyper of the Netherlands hurriedly advised.

Freer also changed the topic at this time: "Since we are talking about Serbia, let me say something fair from the perspective of a bystander. There is no doubt that the outbreak of the world war started from this small European country."

"And if we want to trace the source and find the culprit, then Serbia will be even more unable to get rid of the involvement. It can even be said that the reason for the outbreak of the world war was the guilt of the former Kingdom of Serbia government."

"Serbia itself is a militaristic country. Before the World War, the conflicts between Serbia and various countries in the Balkan Peninsula were very acute. Countries such as the Ottoman Empire, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Bulgaria, and Greece were more or less in conflict with this country. The country is in conflict.”

"However, I think this is entirely Serbia's fault, because if you know history, you will know that Serbia was able to become independent from the Ottoman Empire with the help of European countries."

"This is the reason why they were able to recover, so Serbia should be grateful to the European society that helped Serbia recover."

“However, in response to the Great Slavism originally propagated by Russia, Serbia also developed the so-called Great Slavism for its own ambitions, and pointed the finger at a comrade in the trenches. This behavior is too disgusting. , After all, the destruction of the ancient Serbian Kingdom was not caused by its surrounding countries.”

“Instead, while they use nationalism to demagogy their own people, they also use Serbian people who were originally adopted by other countries to oppose their host country.”

"Could it be that because the ancient Serbians took in some poor Serbian refugees after their country was destroyed, now they can confidently turn their backs on the guests?"

"Obviously this is an act that is unreasonable and unethical. In the words of the Far Eastern Empire, it means repaying kindness with enmity and occupying a magpie's nest."

Freer put all the blame on the Serbians. After all, Serbia is the best to bully, and Serbia was indeed more willing to die before.

Now that the Serbian government has gone into exile and its land has been carved up, Freer is not afraid of Serbian retaliation. Of course, even if Serbia does not die, Freer, as an official of a big country, will not be afraid of offending Serbia.

Of course, in addition to these reasons, Freer also has another consideration, that is, the conflict between Serbia and the Kingdom of Dalmatia also makes it impossible for Freer to speak for Serbia, but will only add insult to injury.

The so-called Dalmatian Kingdom is the "Rhine" people, or mixed Germans, supported by East Africa in the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The Dalmatian Kingdom established its province by attacking Serbia, so Freer also helped the future. Dalmatia, East Africa, is intended to be inserted into an important radiation zone of southeastern Europe.

Freer continued: "What the two representatives Mauterndorf and Fromm said just now are actually biased."

"Because we all know that the supporter behind the Serbs is the Tsar, but now that the Tsar has been persecuted by the Labor Party, we will not discuss the issue of Tsar Nicholas II."

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"However, in addition to the help of Nicholas II, Serbia itself also has huge problems, and its government's ambitions are also on the one hand. Since Serbia's restoration, it can be said that it has expanded its military every year and embarked on the path of militarism, so its Failure is inevitable.”

"Small countries should position themselves so that they will not encounter disasters, but it is too late to say anything now. We can only bite the bullet and deal with the mess left by the Serbian government."

"Looking back to the root cause, if it were not for Serbia's military expansion in the Balkans, the world war might not have been fought at all, so Serbia would definitely be punished after the war."

Fromm also responded at this time: "There is no problem in punishing Serbia, but we in the UK believe that Serbia must be retained. After all, Serbia has been punished accordingly."

Freer did not say that Serbia would be completely destroyed. This was a signal to the British. After all, the British needed Serbia to continue to exist, so that it could become a pawn for Britain to control the Balkan countries.

However, this aroused Mauterndorf's dissatisfaction. He said: "Then how should Serbia deal with the losses caused to the Empire?"

Fromm said: "Serbia has been reduced to a battlefield and lost a large number of people. Representative Mauterndorf should not be too harsh on Serbia. To a certain extent, they are also victims."

"As for the losses of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, haven't you already obtained the Bosnia area? This time, we in the UK can promise to support your country's legitimate rights and interests in Bosnia, and at the same time, Serbia will compensate the Austro-Hungarian Empire for a war reparation."

Although the Austro-Hungarian Empire de facto controlled and occupied Bosnia before World War I and placed it under its own formal rule, the Austro-Hungarian Empire's sovereignty over the region has never been confirmed by the international community.

This is also the legal basis for Serbia's continuous provocations against the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Now the British intend to confirm the legal basis for the Austro-Hungarian Empire's rule over Bosnia, in exchange for the Austro-Hungarian Empire's concessions and compromises on Serbia's liquidation issue.

However, Mauterndorf was obviously dissatisfied with this. He said: "Representative Fromm, before the war, Bosnia was the territory of the empire. You are just using our original territory to protect Serbia, a war criminal. Are we worried about raising tigers ourselves?”

Fromm said: "Well, don't worry, we in the UK can ensure that Serbia will no longer promote and insist on the so-called Greater Serbia. If they do this, then we in the UK will be the first to teach them a lesson."

Representative Mauterndorf said: "This is not enough. After all, Serbia caused huge damage to the empire's economy. At the same time, a large number of innocent citizens of the empire were persecuted by Serbia during the war, so Serbia must pay the price."

Fromm said: "There is no problem. Serbia can cede part of its territory to compensate for your country's losses, and at the same time hand over some war criminals to calm your country's anger. In addition, it can make certain compensation to your country's war victims. This will also be included in the reparations.”

At this time, Fromm no longer cared about Serbia's losses. After all, as long as Britain ensured that Serbia continued to exist, it would be completely benevolent and righteous.

And in Fromm's view, Serbians should be grateful to Britain. After all, Serbia now only has a government-in-exile, which has no bargaining power and even no use value.

If Britain had no one to use in the Balkans, it would not go to great lengths to protect Serbia.

Mauterndorf added: "And one from Bulgaria."

Fromm: "This is natural. Since Serbia is the loser, it will naturally bear the consequences. Bulgaria can get back the land lost in the last Balkan war."

Through Fromm's series of arrangements, Serbia can be said to have returned to the pre-liberation state overnight. Not only will it have to spit out the land it swallowed before, but its original territory will also be significantly reduced. However, there is no way. There is no way that Britain will waste too much energy on Serbia. .

After all, on the Balkan Peninsula, Britain's main focus is Greece. Greece has fallen before. The most important thing now is to preserve Greece's power and prevent it from being carved up by the Allies.

Compared with Greece, Serbia is nothing to mention. After all, as I said before, Serbia's biggest supporter was actually Tsarist Russia. Later, due to war considerations and the collapse of the Russian regime, the British had to take over Serbia themselves. This mess.

Greece is completely different. Greece itself is an area controlled by British capital. Coupled with its unique geographical location, it has always been Britain's helper in controlling the Balkan countries and blocking the Black Sea.

After all, Britain is a maritime country, and Greece is also a maritime country. At the same time, Greece's location can not only affect the Balkans, but also threaten and influence the countries surrounding the Mediterranean and Black Sea.

Therefore, the most important thing for Britain now is to get Greece, its little brother, out of the hands of the Allies. It is completely acceptable to sacrifice Serbia's interests for this purpose.