Chapter 180: Change of Policy

Hearing Constantine's question, Venizelos said without hesitation: "Anglo-Japanese Alliance"

"What does the Anglo-Japanese Alliance have to do with the United States? Didn't the British establish the Anglo-Japanese Alliance to curb Russia's expansion in East Asia? Japan and the United States are separated by the vast Pacific Ocean."

There is an interesting phenomenon. Whether it is the period when Britain and France jointly colonized the world or the day when the United States dominated the world, no matter who sat on the throne of world hegemony, containing Russia was one of the foreign policies of the world hegemony.

The reason is that the area of ​​the Tsarist Russian Empire is too vast. Western Europe, the Balkans, the Caucasus, Central Asia, and East Asia are all the directions of Russia's expansion. For centuries, Russia has been expanding unremittingly. By the beginning of the 20th century, the territory of this huge empire had reached more than 22 million square kilometers.

The vast territory naturally gives this country the qualification to compete for world hegemony.

Soon after the establishment of the Anglo-Japanese Alliance, the Russo-Japanese War broke out between Russia and Japan in order to compete for hegemony in the Far East.

"From the British perspective, an alliance with Japan has great strategic significance and many benefits," Venizelos responded indifferently.

Constantine, Alexandros and Rundhart listened attentively to Venizelos' analysis of the international situation.

"First, it can contain Russia's expansion along the Pacific coast of East Asia. This is a very intuitive goal. After the Russo-Japanese War, this goal has been achieved. Russia's tentacles extending to the Pacific have been cut off by Japan."

"Second, Japan and the United States are both countries along the Pacific coast. The Anglo-Japanese alliance originally meant to deter the United States. From the map, with the United States as a reference, Britain is located to the east of the United States, and Japan is located to the west of the United States. The two allies of Britain and Japan just sandwich the United States in the middle."

Constantine and the other two nodded in agreement.

"Although Japan and the United States are separated by the Pacific Ocean, after the Spanish-American War (1898), the United States defeated the old colonial empire Spain and occupied Guam and the Philippines. The United States' influence has expanded to East Asia. Moreover, Hawaii in the center of the Pacific Ocean is also in the hands of the Americans. These regions echo Alaska in the north and south. The entire northern Pacific Ocean has been taken into the pocket of the United States and has become the sphere of influence of the United States," Venizelos said.

"Therefore, Britain's international status is now threatened by two powerful competitors, Germany in continental Europe and the United States in North America. This Thucydides Trap is inevitable."

The so-called Thucydides Trap refers to the contradiction between the old hegemon and the emerging country. The newly rising great power will inevitably challenge the old hegemon. The new king intends to ascend the throne, and the old king is naturally unwilling to abdicate peacefully.

"And now the UK has already started to make plans. In order to fight these two challengers, on the European continent, the UK chose to cooperate with the Franco-Russian alliance to suppress Germany."

"And in dealing with the US issue, the UK chose the Anglo-Japanese alliance, relying on the two countries located in the east and west of the United States, and the Canadian colony located in the north of the United States. In this way, the United States is sandwiched in the middle from the northeast and west, and the United States is strategically encircled."

After listening to Venizelos' analysis, the world situation suddenly became clear and unmistakable.

"The British chose to ally with Japan, and there were quite clear considerations behind it. Japan is a very important part of the British encirclement of the United States. Allying with Japan will achieve multiple goals at one stroke."

Alexandros was stunned for a moment. Venizelos' analysis of the international situation is based on a high-level, broad perspective, and clear thinking. He jumped out of the Balkans and thought about the problem from the perspective of the entire international situation.

"So that's how it is. In recent years, the contradictions between Britain and Germany have intensified. After William II came to power, Germany also began to implement a world policy, claiming to "fight for the land under the sun", the naval competition between the two countries, and trade frictions," Alexandros muttered to himself.

"At present, Germany's strength is increasing day by day. Whether it is British or French industrial products, the share of the world industrial product market has been far surpassed by Germany, and it can't compete with the Germans at all."

Venizelos looked at Alexandros and said, "Prime Minister, when will the two major groups in Europe go to war? It's just a matter of time. Once the war breaks out in Western Europe, due to the alliance relationship between the major powers, the whole of Europe will inevitably be involved. The chaotic place of the Balkan Peninsula depends entirely on the mutual restraint and containment between the powers to maintain the status quo."

"Once the European war breaks out, can Greece stay out of it?" Venizelos said with a serious face.

Now the three Balkan countries have already infiltrated Macedonia in private. Once Europe falls into war, the Balkan region will definitely be in chaos.

"In order to accelerate economic development, Greece's finances were tilted towards economic construction, but the situation in Europe is worsening. We must increase investment in the military to deal with risks," Venizelos said solemnly to Alexandros.

"The number of Greek army is currently 60,000, which is far from enough. As for the navy," Venizelos smiled bitterly and shook his head. "Britain and Germany are currently competing to build dreadnoughts, such epoch-making new warships. It is said that such new warships have swept all other warships into the garbage dump of history. Since the last war, the Greek Navy has only built and put into service several large torpedo boats through the Athens shipyard."

"Austria-Hungary and Italy on the Adriatic coast are also building dreadnoughts."

Hearing Venizelos talk about dreadnoughts, Alexandros looked helpless: "I heard that the price of a British dreadnought is as high as 1.8 million pounds, which is equivalent to more than 40 million drachmas. This is not Greek at all. An affordable game, it is purely a toy of a big country.”

Alexandros shrugged: "At this price, the Army can form two or three full infantry divisions."

Venizelos said to Constantine: "A large part of the reason why Greece was able to win the 1896 war was that Greece completed its war preparations early, while the Ottoman Empire responded in a hurry."

"No matter what, the policy of stagnating the development of the military and leaning towards the economy must be revised as before."

There was silence in the conference room, and few people were speechless.

Anyone with a little bit of political acumen can understand the importance of peaceful development and stabilizing the country to Greece.

However, developments in Europe are driving Greece to change.

After a while, Alexandros said in a hoarse voice: "So, how should the army be expanded?"

"The army's standing force will be expanded to 100,000, and more technical weapons will be put into military service. At the same time, the navy should also build several warships. At present, the most combat-effective warship of the Greek Navy is still the Esmeralda class purchased more than ten years ago. It has been It is seriously behind the world’s mainstream standards.”