Chapter 868 Anti-Drug Campaign

The momentum of public opinion has been created, and Franz will naturally not give up this opportunity to gain reputation and combat the positive energy of the drug trade.

Others are afraid of revenge by opium dealers, and they need to be cautious when speaking. He is not afraid of this emperor!

On June 26, 1889, Franz published the Proposal for a Declaration of War on Drugs, calling on all countries in the world to act together to ban the drug trade.

The natural opium trade, which was heavily criticized, Franz would not save face for the British, and directly asked the British government to be responsible for the opium flooding.

On the same day, the Austrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs also issued a diplomatic note to countries around the world, inviting them to participate in an international anti-drug conference to be held in Vienna a year later.

The time interval is long, there is no way.

Communication is inconvenient these days. It will only be a few months before the news spreads all over the world. When the representatives of various countries arrive in Vienna, one year is really not enough.

The main purpose of convening an international anti-drug conference is to increase its momentum and put pressure on the British government. Naturally, the more representatives participating in the conference, the better.

Franz has always liked to act second-guessingly, and since he decided to crack down on the British opium trade, he naturally had to produce results.

Without asking the British government to compromise, at least we must explicitly prohibit the sale of opium in international law, and limit the use of opium to the field of medicine, rather than health care products that can be sold at will.

Franz's personal platform, of course, greatly inspired the confidence of the opium traders. With the release of the proposal, Franz also became a leader of the international anti-drug movement.

No one robbed him of this position, and the opium dealers were not easy to mess with. In the past hundred years, I don't know how many people of insight who opposed the opium trade died under their butcher's knife.

Finally, someone who can withstand the counterattack of the opium dealers came out, and everyone naturally pushed him to the front desk.

Especially for opioid-poisoned countries, the impact is even greater.

After waiting for so many years, a master who can compete with the British finally appeared and came out to carry the banner of non-smoking.

...

Foreign Minister Wesenberg: "Since His Majesty issued the declaration, we have received the support of Russia, Greece, Montenegro, Switzerland, France, Spain, the Nordic Confederation, and some states in the German region.

The situation is similar to what we expected. If nothing else, when the news spreads, there will be several countries outside Europe to support us.

The opium trade is harmful to everyone, and the remaining countries have not made a public statement, mainly for fear of retaliation by the British. Most of them also hope that the anti-smoking campaign will be successful.

Once the international conference is held, it should be no problem to pass a bill to ban the circulation of opium. "

The British plundered the wealth of all countries in the world through the opium trade, which seriously damaged everyone's interests.

No one lifted the lid. In addition to being afraid of the British's retaliation, it was more of a group of domestic interest groups that profited from the opium trade.

With the efforts of interest groups, the voice of opposition was suppressed. But all this vanished with Franz's declaration.

People of insight who opposed the proliferation of opium stood up, the harmfulness of opium was exposed, and the lid finally could not be covered.

Interest groups can influence the government, but cannot make decisions for the government. At a critical moment, politicians will naturally kick these dirty footbindings away.

With the exception of France, Spain and the Nordic Confederation, the countries that openly support the smoking ban have one thing in common: heavily influenced by Austria and largely unaffected by the British.

It doesn't matter if you offend the British, anyway, John Bull's tentacles can't reach out, and he is not afraid of retribution.

Frankly speaking, with the support of Spain and the Nordic Federation, Franz was not surprised that the British plundered their wealth through the opium trade, and naturally opposed it.

The performance of the French is quite strange. Don't forget that Britain and France are allies, and the recent Franco-Austrian relationship has been very bad. For political reasons, the French government has absolutely no reason to support it.

However, this was of no use, and the French government jumped out to support it. It was still one of the first countries to express its position, almost tied for the first place with the Russians.

If it weren't for the support of the French government, Austria might not have been able to gain the support of so many European countries in such a short period of time.

"Is there something wrong with the relationship between Britain and France? Recently, why has the French government been causing trouble to the British?"

It's not that Franz is sensitive. From the beginning of the alliance to the present, the French government has been causing trouble for the British. Of course, the British government has also dig holes for the French.

Leaving aside a covenant, the relationship between Britain and France is more like an enemy than an allies.

Foreign Secretary Weisenberg explained: "Your Majesty, Anglo-French relations are very complex, dating back to the Middle Ages.

In this long period of time, Britain and France have been hostile relations for most of the time, and even now they have formed an alliance, and there is a lack of the most basic trust between the two countries.

Judging from the intelligence we have collected, the alliance between Britain and France is more like a farce. The two governments have never regarded each other as allies.

Whenever there is a conflict of interest, or one party loses value, the alliance collapses immediately. "

This answer is very speechless, but when you think about the farce in the early days of the British-French alliance in the original time and space, Franz understands it.

If two hostile countries suddenly form an alliance, it is impossible for them to become friends immediately.

Anywhere in Paris now

Stop a person on the street and ask them who is France's greatest enemy, and there is a 99% chance that the answer is: the British.

To get to the bottom of the reason, in addition to the hatred between Britain and France, the most important thing is that the Russian-Austrian alliance did not put enough pressure on them.

After all, Russia and Austria have been allied for many years. In the past few decades, in addition to jointly killing the Ottoman Empire, Russia and Austria have worked alone most of the time.

Especially now, with the Russians' strategic center of gravity moving south, and Austria showing restraint on European issues, France feels no pressure at all.

Without the pressure of survival, why did they put down their bodies and run to be the younger brothers of the British?

The alliance is entirely a matter of interest, and the greatest value lies in enhancing political influence, not that Britain and France will really join forces to fight Russia and Austria.

From this point of view, it is not surprising that the French government has jumped out to support the anti-drug movement. Even issuing bonds to the Russians can do such a thing as financing the enemy, not to mention simply expressing one's own opinions!

Franz nodded in approval and did not continue to dwell on this issue. The worse the Anglo-French relationship was, the better it would be for Austria, and he didn't need to worry about the enemy at all.

After a pause, Franz continued to ask: "How far has the Ministry of Agriculture's potash fertilizer been promoted? How much can the domestic grain production capacity increase this year?"

Agriculture Minister Halls: "The promotion of potash fertilizer is still relatively smooth. At present, most farms in China have accepted potash fertilizer, and many farms have already conducted trials.

After the autumn harvest, everyone sees the effect, and it can be fully rolled out.

The grain production capacity has increased significantly, and it should start to break out next year, and this year's grain production capacity will also increase slightly. "

This is an inevitable result. No matter how good the product is, before it is tried, everyone has no bottom.

Especially when it comes to the family's income, it is even less possible for everyone to be sloppy, and no one is willing to take risks until the effect is seen.

Everyone is willing to come up with a piece of land to try potash fertilizer, which proves that the Ministry of Agriculture has done a good job. When the effect comes out, there is no need for the government to promote it, and the people will promote it by themselves.

This is also a good thing. If the grain production capacity skyrockets this year, the Russians will not cry.

Who knows if the tsarist government has the courage to continue fighting the British after the heavy losses in agriculture.

In case the fire suddenly goes out, wouldn't the investment in Austria go to waste?