Chapter 644 The Outbreak of the Pacific War

In the early morning, Franz had just finished his morning exercise and had not had time to have breakfast. Foreign Secretary Wesenberg came in a hurry with bad news.

"Your Majesty, there is news from our embassy in Bolivia that the Chilean army invaded Bolivia two days ago, and the balance of South America has been broken."

The Austrian government paid attention to this war, mainly because of the saltpeter trade. Because of the relationship between the South American colonies, the relationship between Austria and Chile and Argentina is not good.

Since 1863, the Atacama province on the Pacific coast of Bolivia discovered rich saltpeter deposits, and it has become the main importer of Austrian saltpeter.

With the increase of commercial and trade exchanges, the relationship between Austria and Bolivia is also warming up, and they are almost becoming quasi-ally.

It's just that the strategic core of the Vienna government is not in South America, and the power invested in South America is very limited, and it has not gone further.

In any case, as a foreign power, it is inevitable to play the role of a shit stick in the world. There is no fame, mainly because the British counterparts are too powerful, stealing everyone's limelight.

The power of investment is small, does not mean that there is no investment. The Vienna government also supports younger brothers in South America, but the relationship between the two sides is not deep, and they are considered partners.

Bolivia was one of them, getting help from Austria militarily. It is a pity that the Bolivian government is not very smart. Seeing that the three countries of Britain, France and Austria are secretly competing with each other in South America, they chose to swing left and right.

Swinging from left to right also requires capital. With capital, it is a flexible foreign policy. Without capital, it is a tightrope walk. There is no doubt that Bolivia is a country without capital.

As for the saltpeter trade, it seems to be very important, but in fact that is the case. For Britain, France and Austria, it is better to be able to obtain cheap saltpeter, and if not, they can produce it themselves.

There is no chemical fertilizer these days, and the demand for saltpeter is not very large. Even if its own production costs are a little higher, it will not be difficult for the three major powers.

Moreover, Bolivia is only one of the exporters of saltpeter, not a monopoly. Chile, next door, is also an exporter of saltpeter.

Facts have once again proved that the grass on the wall has no future. After the parties failed to win, Bolivia was abandoned by everyone, while Chile fell to the British.

During the War of Independence, Chile and Bolivia were allies against Spanish colonial rule. However, it is difficult and difficult to share with each other.

The Atacama Desert, which borders Chile, Bolivia, and Peru, was never clearly assigned during Spanish colonial rule.

After the independence of the three countries, Bolivia occupied the Antofagasta region in the central Atacama Desert, Peru occupied the Tara Paka region in the northern part of the desert, and Chile occupied the southern part of the desert. All three countries declared sovereignty over desert areas

If this desert has no resources, it is estimated that it will be nothing in the end. It is a pity that this area not only has resources, but also very rich resources, and contradictions have arisen.

Chile's strength is better, and now it is on the lap of the British, who have the qualifications to use force.

Franz asked with concern: "Did the British intervene?"

Franz was not interested in investigating the cause and effect. In the final analysis, it was still interests. Right or wrong, is actually the least important thing in international politics.

In the era of imperialism, if there is a debate between right and wrong, it is most likely that the situation is evenly matched, or there is a major power intervening, or justice belongs to the victor.

Foreign Secretary Weisenberg: "There is no sign of the British intervening at the moment, and it is more in the interest of the British to maintain the stability of South America from the perspective of interests.

If the Chileans won the war, they would have a complete monopoly on saltpeter exports, which the British didn't want to see.

Of course, this is only an analysis of interests on the surface. If the British and Chile had a secret pact, it's impossible to say.

We have a very cold relationship with Chile and have limited local strength. In a short period of time, there is no ability to determine whether the two parties are secretly dealing. "

Franz lingered. He didn't pay much attention to the history of South America. He only vaguely remembered that there was a Pacific War between Chile, Bolivia and Peru.

The specific time, passage, and attitude of the foreign powers are not clear at all. Even if it is clear, it is useless. Under the influence of the butterfly effect, the international situation has long been changed beyond recognition.

Franz: "Aside from external factors, who do you think will win this war?"

Foreign Minister Wesenberg: "I am more optimistic about the Chileans, who have clearly surpassed Bolivia in terms of military strength.

Although Bolivia has learned military from us in recent years, the Bolivian government is so stupid.

If they just study the military of any of the great powers in Europe, they are likely to succeed. He had to study the military of multiple countries at the same time, and finally came up with a different army.

From a purely military standpoint, the chances of Bolivia winning are almost nil. However, if other countries intervene, the situation is uncertain.

The relations between South American countries are intricate and complicated, and it is difficult to understand them clearly for a while. This time, the war over the ownership of the Atacama Desert also involves Peru.

Among the three countries, Chile now has the strongest military power. Peru and Bolivia alone are no match for the Chileans.

Under the common interests, the possibility of joining forces between the two countries is very high. If Bolivia and Peru drop their differences, it's hard to tell where the war will go. "

Franz was very hesitant to intervene in this South American war. The main issue is investment and return, he is not sure whether the final result will be proportional.

Austria's strength in South America is limited, and only relying on the power of Austrian South America, it is not qualified to interfere at all.

As for the military power of Austrian Central America, it cannot be moved lightly, otherwise the balance of North America will be broken. Without sufficient strength to deter, no one can guarantee that the United States and the Union Congress will not take the opportunity to do things.

It's certainly not worth taking the risk for the sake of the South American war. Franz can still distinguish between primary and secondary, and the threat of the Americans is bigger, and Chile is not worth mentioning at all.

Want to become climate, unless Chile can annex Argentina. This is obviously impossible, and Argentina itself is no weaker than them, not to mention that the powers disagree.

After hesitating for a while, Franz made a decision: "Let's wait and see, and stay neutral for the time being until it doesn't harm our interests."

This is the safest way to do it. Austria's interests in South America are not large enough to be worth the cost.

Even if it is to interfere, it is to be asked to interfere, not to deliver it to your own door.

Once small country nationalism rises, it has a common problem, that is, it is easy to lose self-knowledge.

Without waiting for them to decide the winner, they ran to intervene in advance, but no one would appreciate it.

...

It is not only Austria that chooses to wait and see the situation, Britain and France also choose to wait and see.

South American countries are full of contradictions. The war between Chile and Bolivia may even trigger a major South American melee.

If you intervene in advance, you will obviously fall into a passive state. In the event of a wrong bet, even the great powers will suffer heavy losses.

If nothing else, a commodity market will cease to exist. Under normal circumstances, a small South American country would not have the confidence to say no to a big country, but if someone supports it, it may be.

...

In Bolivia, President Hilarion Daza has not been well since the war with Chile.

Unlike the fanatical nationalists at home, as a national leader, Hilarion Daza still has self-knowledge.

Militarily, Bolivia is indeed no match for Chile. That's just one of them, and the lack of international support for Bolivia.

This is not his responsibility. Bolivia has not yet entered the era of democracy. The so-called government elections are essentially all remote control by military caudillos behind the scenes.

The people behind the scenes wanted to play a balance between the powers, and the government that came out naturally couldn't refuse. However, this diplomatic balance is not fun, and Hilarion Daza has no control.

Now that the war has broken out, there is no country among the great powers that supports them with a clear-cut stand.

You know, from the standpoint of onlookers of this era, this time Chile was the first to invade Bolivia.

Under normal circumstances, public opinion should be sympathetic to the victims. In this context, everyone will at least verbally condemn the military invasion of Chile.

However, Bolivia's diplomatic balance has only failed for a few years, and the governments of Britain, France and Austria are still holding grudges. Internationally, the Bolivian government has been on the same page in recent years.

Now that the three major countries have not made a statement, other countries have nothing to do with them, and naturally they will not take the risk of offending big hooligans and seek justice for Bolivia.

President Hilarion Daza: "Gentlemen, the war has broken out. This war concerns the national destiny of Bolivia, and we cannot afford to lose it.

Once defeated, we will not only lose the most important source of income, the saltpeter mine, but also lose the most important outlet to the sea and become a landlocked country.

For the sake of the great Republic of Bolivia, I hope that everyone will do their best to win this war. "

Foreign Secretary Preta Gul: "Your Excellency, the problems on the battlefield are resolved by the military. Apart from logistics, we can only find solutions outside the battlefield.

In order to increase our odds in this war, I propose to temporarily unite Peru, which is as conflicted as Chile, to fight the Chileans together. "

There is no way, in this country with a powerful warlord, even if Preta Gul knew that Bolivia was not an opponent of Chile, he did not dare to say it directly, and he could only process it artistically and beautify it as much as possible.

President Hilarion Daza nodded: "Well, this proposal is good. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs will send people to contact the Peruvian government as soon as possible. As long as their conditions are not too excessive, they can agree first. We need allies now.

Any other proposals? "

...