Chapter 253 The New Vienna System
The Vienna Conference opened, and the delegations from various countries were working together to show their magical powers.
Russia and France attempted to carve up the remaining land in the Balkans, and John Bull, who was left behind, was naturally unwilling, and pulled the Ottoman Empire into a posture that would not hesitate to fight.
Threats from the British, the Russians are fearless. Anyway, they have Constantinople in their hands and can block the Bosphorus Strait. Once the two sides turn their faces, the British naval fleet in the Black Sea will be shut down and beaten.
The bear with the hostages is full of confidence, and as a land-power country offends the British, it is also offended. The bear with the vast land and resources can go out, and it's a big deal.
The French government hesitated first. This is not because Napoleon III was afraid of fighting with the British. In fact, because of this, it was impossible for the two sides to break out into a war.
If there is a fight, the French navy is not without the strength of a battle. Maybe they can't win the Royal Navy, but it can still be done to hurt the Royal Navy.
It is impossible for the London government to take such a risky gamble. It is too easy to explode the navy in the era of sailing warships, and there will be no winners in the result of the shopping between the two great powers.
The main point is still in terms of interests. Anyone who is a neighbor with Maoxiong will be afraid of three points. Napoleon III wants to take benefits, but does not want to take risks.
France's monopoly of Macedonia, Albania, Thrace, Epirus and other regions seems to be very profitable. In fact, after this war, the economy of the Balkans has long since collapsed.
War damage, refugee waves, plagues, and so many things combined, the population of the Balkans has dropped by one-third, and the young labor force is even rarer.
The Balkans, which used to be a piece of fat, has now been de-oiled. To restore social order, it is bound to invest a lot of resources.
Simply put, this gain is not enough for the French to take risks. If it were not for political necessity, Napoleon III would have no interest in the territories in the Balkans.
"Everyone, it's not the way to keep arguing like this. It's better to divide the sphere of influence and then discuss it!" Metternich suggested.
After that, I marked the Austrian control area on the map with a pen, and then handed the map to the Russian representative Karl Woossel.
There is no hesitation. Karl Woossel circled his expected target on the map. Russia and Austria had an agreement, and the spheres of influence of the two sides did not meet.
The French followed, drawing out their sphere of influence, and Thomas was dumbfounded when it was the British's turn.
Good guy, if the three countries face the map, the Balkans will be divided up. Even if there is an island that has slipped through the net, it is in the hands of the Ottoman Empire, and it is impossible to bully the British allies like this.
With an idea, Thomas felt that he still had to do something, and he couldn't let the enemy get his wish so easily.
As for the ally of the Ottoman Empire, it is a pity that it can only be sacrificed. It is just the will of all European people, including the British people, and Thomas cannot go upstream.
"Three, the people on the Balkans have been enslaved by the Ottoman Empire for so many years, and now they are back in the embrace of the civilized world. We should help them establish their own country, how can we continue to enslave them?
If this inhumane thing happens, how will the world see us? How will the international community feel? "
Metternich rolled his eyes, the four of them could represent the international community. If only one country fails, it may be condemned by European countries. The four families will go to custody together to make everyone shut up obediently.
In this era, the world cannot find a single existence that dares to be enemies with the four countries of Britain, France, Russia, and Austria at the same time. Even if the remaining countries are tied together, they are not the opponents of these four.
"Mr Thomas has been thinking too much, how can we enslave the people of the Balkans?
You must know that the people of the Balkans have been under the bloody rule of the Ottoman Empire for a long time, and many people have been poisoned by the barbaric world, and we are helping them return to the civilized world.
According to the information we have collected, the cultural heritage of the Balkans has been severely damaged, and the people on the island are now accomplices of the Ottoman Empire's suppression of the people.
Either a group of illiterates or traitors to the civilized world, isn't it a joke to let them establish their own country?
It is still the best choice for our countries to supervise and guide the local people back to the civilized world to avoid tragedies from continuing to happen. "
The Black Ottoman Empire is also politically correct. For hundreds of years, the Ottoman Empire, even if it is barbaric, has been deeply infused into the hearts of every European.
Of course, the notoriety of the Ottoman Empire is also worthy of its name. They have really done a lot of wrathful things in history. Metternich can find a lot of evidence to prove their barbarism.
If these things are not revealed, then nothing will happen. Once they are revealed, whether it happened a hundred years ago or two hundred years ago, it is a proof of sin.
In any case, it is impossible to wash it off. The integrity of the experts in this era has not been lost, and they can't do anything to help the Ottoman Empire wash the ground.
As a politician, Thomas is even more afraid to defend the Ottomans on this issue, otherwise the British people will not spare him.
Now the people with culture and knowledge in the Balkans are basically attached to the Ottoman Empire. Even if they did not become traitors, their ancestors also became traitors.
From this point of view, it is barely reasonable to divide these people into the remnants of the Ottoman Empire.
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Thomas did not entangle here, and directly suggested: "Mr. Metternich is right, since that's the case, then let's jointly manage the Balkans and help them return to the civilized world.
When they are brought back to the civilized world, they are looking for a suitable time for the people on the Balkans to establish their own country and contribute to the civilized world. "
After listening to Thomas' proposal, the French representative of Auvergne was obviously moved, but the Russians' reaction was more intense.
Karl Woossel slapped the table and said angrily: "This is impossible! The people of the Balkans are suffering from tea poisoning by the Ottomans, and they must be supervised by us before they can return to the civilized world."
Looking at the furious Karl Woossel, Metternich rubbed his forehead. It was obvious that this foreign minister, who was born in the military, had not yet adapted to the role of a diplomat.
Beating people up during negotiations seems like the Russians really do it.
In order to prevent the negotiation from deteriorating, Metternich had to open his mouth to relieve the siege, and immediately asked Thomas: "There are many ethnic groups in the Balkans, and since the Byzantine Empire has not established a unified country. Do you want to rebuild the Byzantine Empire, Mr. Thomas? "
Rebuilding the Byzantine Empire, what international joke? The nationalists in Greece can just shout slogans stupidly. Who can tolerate the reconstruction of the Byzantine Empire?
When questioned, Thomas explained without changing his face: "Mr. Metternich misunderstood, letting the people of the Balkans establish an independent state is just to help the local people return to the civilized world.
The Byzantine Empire has long since perished, so why should we think about rebuilding it? "
Metternich sneered and said: "There is no best, otherwise the world will not be peaceful again. I don't think it is necessary to discuss the issue of independent people in the Balkans establishing a state.
People in Serbia, Wallachia, Moldavia, Bosnia and Herzegovina have become Austrian citizens, and they all have their motherland! "
Inspired, Russian Foreign Minister Karl Wossel said immediately: "We have issued nationality to the people of Bulgaria and Constantinople, so don't bother Mr. Thomas."
Regardless of nationality or not, this excuse Karl Woossell used first, and the big deal came back to make up for it.
Anyway, no matter how Thomas uses his means, it is impossible for the Austrians and Russians to come out and establish an independent country, which means that the two sides have to tear their faces.
Continue to attack the French territory? This thought passed by in a flash, Thomas didn't want to let Rufao form a group. Once this combination appeared, they would be able to pull the whole world as an ally, and they couldn't resist.
Want to carve up a piece of land in the Balkans? After looking at the map, Thomas decided not to border the land power countries.
Auvergne, who had been paddling all the time, suddenly changed the subject and said: "The most important thing in the Balkans is the Black Sea Fleet, and most of the international disputes revolve around here.
For the sake of world peace and stability, I propose that the Dardanelles and the Bosphorus should be jointly managed by the international community. All coastal port cities should become free ports, and countries should not deploy any weapons.
Regardless of the period, the governments of all countries guarantee the free navigation of the strait, and shall not set any restrictions and shall not collect navigation taxes. "
After thinking about it, everyone agreed, but Karl Woossel was a little bit hurt, but considering the actual situation, even if they wanted to collect the navigation fee, they could not receive it in the end, so he agreed.
They can collect taxes on the Bosphorus Strait, and Britain and France can also collect taxes at the entrance of the Dardanelles. At that time, merchant ships will not dare to pass through, and this golden waterway will be abolished.
To solve the problem of the waterway, Thomas did not bother to continue entangled in the issue of the Balkans. Russia, France and Austria share the Balkan Peninsula, isn't it a balance?
Once the Russians broke out of the Black Sea, the French would bear the brunt, and Austria could not tolerate the continued expansion of the Russians.
In the Near East War, although they did not gain actual benefits, they still succeeded in strategy, using the new international order to block the Russians in the Black Sea.
After solving the problem of the war in the Near East, Britain, France, Russia and Austria signed the "Quad Power Pact", which re-delimited the spheres of influence of each country in the form of a treaty.
After the treaty was signed, the governments of the four countries jointly issued a statement: The four countries will jointly maintain peace and stability on the European continent and combat any behavior that violates the rules.
With the conclusion of the Vienna Peace Conference, a new international order has been established again. Except for the free navigation of the Black Sea Strait, all countries take the area of actual control as their scope of interest.
The Ottoman Empire became the biggest loser. Since it did not have the strength to maintain its rule on the Balkan Peninsula, it had to sell Macedonia, Thrace, Albania, Gallipoli Peninsula and other regions to the French at a price of 200 million francs. .
The French and the Ottoman Empire are allies and must pay attention to the appearance and have to pay a sum of money to buy them. Austria and Russia are welcome. As the old enemies of the Ottomans, they naturally swallowed the territory they occupied.
The Principality of Montenegro probably didn't know whether it was a loss or a profit this time. Although they were finally driven back to their hometown by the British, with the support of Russia and Austria, their territory doubled and they successfully won the sea.
The doubling of the territory is actually more than 10,000 square kilometers, which is not as big as the Principality of Montenegro in later generations. There is no way, who made them local small?
For this newly added more than 5,000 square kilometers, half of the youth in the Principality of Montenegro has been lost. The original total local population
It has dropped by 23%, and after the newly occupied land, the national population has only exceeded 200,000.
The biggest winner on the bright side, the Russian Empire, is silently licking its wounds at this time. Although he got Constantinople, that's just the surface.
Both the Bulgarian area and the Constantinople area were damaged by the war, and the local economy collapsed directly.
In particular, the city of Constantinople was directly turned into ruins, and more than two-thirds of the buildings in the city were damaged to varying degrees.
Of course, it may also be a good thing, just to demolish and rebuild, to remove the traces left by the Ottoman Empire, and to shape the glory of the Russian Empire. That's how it should be if you don't consider finances.
Counting the casualties, then the Russians can’t laugh. The Balkans alone paid the price of 600,000 deaths, plus the Crimean Peninsula battlefield and the Caucasus battlefield, the total number of Russian casualties and injuries is approaching nine hundred thousand.
Had it not been for Constantinople, the political gains wiped it all out, and Nicholas I really didn't know how it would end.
Britain and France, who also participated in the battle, did not find any advantage. The French lost 210,000 and disabled 45,000, while the British lost 78,000 and disabled 11,000.
This data is added to the losses caused by plagues and diseases, otherwise this data can be reduced by one-third. In any case, the non-combat losses did not exceed the combat losses.
As for the Ottoman Empire, their losses are a mystery. The Sudanese government itself does not know how to count them. Anyway, the millions of troops they formed before and after were crippled.
The Balkans have been lost. Many soldiers have been captured and grown up. When they are scattered, they are really scattered. Don't expect these people to come back and join the team.
If the jar is broken, presumably the Sudanese government will not care. The capital has been lost, and the core area of governance has been lost. Why should the mere casualties add to the troubles?