Chapter 626 Human Nature

In 1877, Britain, France, and Austria launched wars of expansion on the African continent, and Sudan, Ethiopia, and the Somali peninsula fell into war at the same time.

Compared with the sweeping of France and Austria, the British were in trouble. The famous "Warrior Emperor" has become a nightmare for the British army.

Because the enemy was underestimated, the British army was ambushed shortly after the outbreak of the war, and the troops suffered heavy losses.

Looking at the battle report in his hand, British commander Ismail shivered with anger. Less than a month after the war began, there were more than 5,000 troops. The colonial army cannon fodder is not a problem, the key is that there is also a British infantry regiment that was crippled.

"Rice buckets, all are rice buckets!"

"You can't even beat a bunch of natives, and you have lost all of Britain's face. What's the use of the country supporting you?"

...

A young officer bravely explained: "General, the indigenous people of Ethiopia are extraordinary. They also have modern weapons and have received formal military training."

"Snapped!"

Ismail Meng slapped the table and scolded angrily: "It must be the Austrian native and the French, no one but them is so shameless!"

Everyone did not answer this topic. You must know that the British were the first to help Ethiopia train its troops. After the last Ethiopian war, the French and Austrian countries infiltrated their forces.

Ethiopia has a well-trained army, and the British also have a share of the credit. If this layer of window paper is pierced, the government will face greater pressure from public opinion.

It is the best choice to directly put the responsibility on France and Austria. It is not that they do not work hard, but that the enemy is too "strong".

After venting, Ismail calmed down.

For this war, they prepared completely according to the experience of the previous war. Obviously, this is out of date.

Today is different from the past, Menelik II was able to unify most of Ethiopia, and it was also played all the way. How can a battle-hardened army be easy to mess with?

The Paris Conference did not come to a conclusion. In the absence of treaty constraints, France and Austria secretly stabbed the knife, which is perfectly normal.

Ismail is very suspicious that the Ethiopian army is now commanded by Commander Fao, otherwise how could the British army lose to the natives?

After taking stock of the troops in his hand, Ismail reluctantly came to the conclusion that it is difficult to win with the current strength, and even if he could win, it would be a tragic victory.

If a war breaks out with the European powers, a "tragic victory" is acceptable. The current enemy is the African indigenous people. If such a victory is achieved, it will be subject to a military court.

Needless to say, in order to win, Ismail decisively chose to seek domestic help.

...

In Paris, after several years of political struggle, Napoleon IV gradually took control of the state power by playing a balance.

In this respect, Napoleon III's original plan succeeded. Taking advantage of the opportunity for power struggles between all parties, the imperial power can be successfully handed over.

There are advantages and disadvantages. After several years of political struggles, the rest are old foxes who are used to political struggles.

After taking control of the power, it was impossible for Napoleon IV to replace all these people. Infighting has seriously become the biggest problem of the French government.

As a last resort, Napoleon IV could only continue to play balance. He is powerless against the infighting of the bureaucracy.

Perhaps for the imperial power, bureaucratic infighting is a good thing, but there is a premise that it must be limited to a certain range.

Once the bottom line is broken, it ends up being a disaster. Everyone stabs each other, how can the country develop normally?

This can be seen from the economic development of France in recent years. Since the death of Napoleon III, the rate of economic development in France has dropped sharply, and the Paris government has done little.

It is better to do nothing than to act indiscriminately. In general, France is stable, but its economic development is slow.

This made the arrogant Napoleon IV unacceptable. After taking control of power, he began to focus on economic construction.

The slowdown in France's economic growth is due to various reasons. It is not just that the government wants to catch it, and it can go up.

The biggest problem is the energy crisis. Domestic coal production is seriously insufficient to meet the growing economic demand.

Not only is there a shortage of coal in the country, but even the French colonies in Africa are short of coal. If not, it can only be imported, which undoubtedly raises the cost of industrial production.

As the cost goes up, the market competitiveness will naturally come down. In international trade, France's market share is falling sharply.

At its peak, France once accounted for one-fifth of the world's total import and export trade, but now it has fallen to 15.7 percent.

It's not over yet, the French's market share continues to decline, and perhaps it won't be long before their position as the third largest trading nation will not be preserved.

Napoleon IV asked: "Are you sure that the opening of the Panama Canal will stimulate the export of domestic industrial and commercial products?"

I have to say that the French capitalists are very powerful, and they do their work to the emperor.

Allen, Chancellor of the Exchequer: "Your Majesty, the situation between the Panama Canal and the Suez Canal is very close, and the opening of the Suez Canal has brought about the last round of economic prosperity.

After the opening of the Suez Canal, the domestic import and export trade increased by more than 7% for five consecutive years, which greatly promoted the domestic economic development.

The same is true now for the Panama Canal. Once the canal is opened, the distance from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean will be shortened by tens of thousands of nautical miles, which will greatly stab

Stimulate the growth of domestic export trade. "

Lying without blinking, I have to say that the integrity of politicians is low. The opening of the Suez Canal did greatly stimulate the economic development of France, but the Panama Canal did not have such a great effect.

From the map, we know that the biggest beneficiary of the Panama Canal is the United States of America, followed by Colombia, and other countries can only pick up some leftovers.

It's not completely useless. If the Panama Canal was opened more than ten years ago, it is estimated that the French government would not have to give up Mexico.

Time cannot be turned back, and the development of the Panama Canal will at most shorten the distance to the West Coast.

In this era, the economic development of the West Coast of the Americas, even if it stimulates exports, this growth is very limited.

Moreover, there is competition from other European countries. French industrial and commercial products are losing their international competitiveness, with little benefit at all.

In this context, investing huge sums of money in the development of the Panama Canal, for the French, is actually not worth the loss.

Napoleon IV shook his head: "No, my Chancellor of the Exchequer. You only see the benefits for us, but not the consequences. In fact, the biggest beneficiaries are not us.

As you can see from the map, the biggest beneficiary is the United States of America. Suppressing the development of American countries is the common national policy of Britain, France and Austria, and the United States is the focus of suppression.

In the Three-Power Covenant, it is clearly stipulated that the three countries must maintain the balance of the American continent and prohibit unilateral enhancement of the strength of a certain country.

Whether we support the United States or not, this kind of strengthening of the United States is a betrayal in Ino's view. We cannot ignore long-term development for the sake of short-term interests. "

Obviously, Napoleon IV is not good at fooling, and this kind of flawed statement cannot deceive him.

Chancellor of the Exchequer Allen: "Your Majesty, this is only a clear interest, the potential interest is actually greater.

The opening of the Panama Canal in the short term will be of the greatest interest to the United States. But the Panama Canal was in our hands, and as trade increased, so did the economic lifeline of the United States.

The benefit behind this is our greatest gain. In the future, we can use the Panama Canal to open the doors of countries in the Americas and grab more benefits for the empire.

The development of the Panama Canal did not directly enhance the strength of a certain country. "

The potential benefits are indeed tempting. Now that the world is almost divided up, the remaining independent countries are not allowed to act rashly.

Grabbing benefits through economic means has become a necessity in the future world. Controlling the economic lifeline of the American countries will undoubtedly give France a favorable position in the new round of competition.

Napoleon IV: "How can we guarantee the dominance of the Panama Canal? In Colombia, whether it is the British or the Austrians, we can't win the competition!"

This is the crux of the matter, France is not strong enough in Colombia to guarantee control of the canal.

It is true that Britain, France and Austria are allies, but this is only a combination of interests. When the interests are large to a certain extent, allies can also become enemies.

If Britain and Austria are allowed to join the canal plan, the dominance will change in an instant. Napoleon IV would rather not do this kind of wedding dress for others.

Chancellor of the Exchequer Allen: "Your Majesty, in fact, this does not require the government to come forward, it would be better for private capitalists to do it.

If we cooperate with any country in the UK and Austria alone, we will not be able to take the lead, but with more countries participating, the situation has changed.

As the initiating country, we may not be able to get the dominant power, but it is not difficult to get the biggest voice.

The government just needs to…”

...

With much effort, Chancellor Allen managed to persuade Napoleon IV. Deep in his heart, he has made up his mind, whoever likes to do this kind of thing can do it, he is not going to do it anyway.

Although the benefits promised by the capitalists are great, the risks are not small. If Allen hadn't known that Napoleon IV intended to change people and wanted to make a fortune before leaving, he would not cooperate with the capitalists.

You must know that on the bright side, he is a representative of the grassroots class. With the restoration together with Napoleon III, the counterattack in life was achieved.

The personality of politicians cannot be broken. As a representative of civilians in the government, he ran to cooperate with capitalists. Once the news leaked, Allen would immediately fall into a situation of betrayal and separation.

It is precisely because of this identity that Allen can propose to Napoleon IV that if he replaces a minister who represents the interests of the capitalists, it is estimated that it will not be so easy to succeed.