Chapter 204 Diplomacy II

Tristan and Colonel Henry looked at each other and naturally understood that Constantine was dissatisfied with Britain's sale of the most advanced super-dreadnought warships to the Ottoman Empire.

"Your Majesty, Your Royal Highness, at present, only the Ottoman government has conveyed to our country the application to purchase super-dreadnought warships. As far as I know, the House of Representatives is not unanimous on this matter. Many members believe that selling powerful super-dreadnought warships to the Ottoman Empire involves too much," Tristan explained.

"Will the members of parliament be at odds with their own business?" Constantine said in a Norwegian tone.

King George looked puzzled, but Lord Tristan and Captain Henry understood it immediately.

The big arms industries in the UK are the industries of those members of parliament.

For example, in order to build relationships with the top government officials and obtain warship manufacturing orders from the Admiralty, many members of parliament in the two major shipyards of the two major warship manufacturing giants in the UK, Vickers and Armstrong, became shareholders of these two major shipyards.

Some British media sarcastically said that Vickers Shipyard is the mother of the British Parliament.

This is what Constantine said, the parliamentarians will not go against their own business.

The price of the Ottoman order for two super-dreadnought warships is at least more than 5 million pounds. Such a huge order, with its lucrative profits, makes it impossible for the shipyard owners - the parliamentarians to refuse.

Lord Tristan sighed secretly. He knew his own business. He naturally understood the huge energy contained in the British military-industrial complex.

Instigating Italy to occupy Libya, in addition to embarrassing the Germans, also meant to hit the Ottoman Empire.

After the outbreak of the Libyan war, the Ottoman Empire was also very smart and immediately went to Britain to place an order, hoping to use this huge warship order to regain the support of the British.

In the current Anglo-German naval competition in full swing, British parliamentarians clamored: For every battleship built by the Germans, we will build two.

This move is not only for the national interest, but also for the interests of the parliamentarians. Without the naval competition, the parliament would not allocate a huge amount of shipbuilding funds, and there would be no name to put taxpayers' money into their own pockets.

"Lord Tristan, once the super-dreadnought warship appears in the Dardanelles, it will seriously affect the naval balance in the nearby area," Constantine said seriously.

When the naval commander Kontoriotis heard the news that the Ottoman government had released the purchase of British super-dreadnought warships, he immediately came to the prime minister's office and asked Prime Minister Venizelos to immediately allocate funds to purchase new warships to deal with the threat of the Ottoman navy.

The two had a fierce argument in the office about increasing naval expenditures.

Afterwards, Venizelos also complained to Constantine that Greece's finances have reached their limit. The previous plan to build a navy required the allocation of 500 million to 300 million funds. In addition to maintaining the normal expenditure of the government, in view of the current tense situation in the Balkans, the expansion of the army is also imminent. In order to cope with the imminent situation in Macedonia, the logistics department has begun to stockpile supplies, which is bound to be another huge expenditure.

Constantine also understood that Greece could not continue to increase naval expenditures, so he also wanted to organize the Ottomans to obtain these two super-dreadnought warships in the near future.

"Your Highness, although the Ottoman Empire is interested in purchasing new warships, you don't have to worry so much. As far as I know, at least before the end of this war (Italo-Austrian War), our government will not respond to the Ottoman Empire's request," Lord Tristan said calmly.

"After the news spread in London, Russian and Italian diplomats in London expressed opposition."

Italy's opposition is normal. The two countries are currently at war. Italy has taken advantage of its naval advantages and taken the lead. The navy and the army have cooperated to occupy almost all the coastal cities in northern Libya. Naturally, it has to oppose the Ottoman Empire's application to purchase ships.

Russia and the Ottoman Empire are neighbors. The two countries border each other in the Caucasus region and face each other across the Black Sea.

After the Russo-Japanese War, Russia's navy, which was originally ranked at the top of the world's naval tonnage rankings, was severely hit by the Japanese. In recent years, it has been quietly licking its wounds. The main energy of the entire country is mainly used for economic reform and internal political management. The strength of the Russian navy has not recovered.

If the two super-dreadnought warships of the Ottoman Empire enter the strait, it will inevitably increase the pressure on the Russian Black Sea Fleet.

"So, under the protests of the two countries, in order not to cause diplomatic disputes, even if our country finally decides to sell the latest super-dreadnought battleship, it will probably take a year," Lord Tristan patiently explained to Constantine.

As an ambassador of a country, it is the ambassador's duty to maintain good relations between the host country and the mother country.

"I will write a report to remind the country to pay attention to the naval balance issues in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Black Sea region."

Hearing that the purchase of the Ottoman Empire's ships can be delayed for a while, Constantine's originally serious face eased a little. It was really because he was frequently entangled by Contoliotis recently, begging Constantine to agree to increase the funding for the navy.

The construction of the super-dreadnought warship takes one year at the fastest and two years at the slowest. It is now the end of 1911. As long as the purchase of the Ottoman Empire can be delayed for about a year, it has reached a very delicate time node.

The Ottomans' expectation of obtaining warships will encounter many twists and turns again.

It would be better to let these two warships still suffer the fate of history.

Constantine nodded and then asked: "Lord Tristan, what do you think of the current situation in the Balkans? Since the war broke out between Italy and the Ottoman Empire, the situation in the Balkans has been undercurrent."

Serbia and Bulgaria are privately involved, and excluding Greece naturally gives them some eye candy: "As far as I know, the two countries seem to have agreed on something at the moment."

"The two Slavic countries appear to have the support of the Russians"

Lord Tristan took a sip of tea and took over the words: "Not only that! I heard that the Austrian army has been mobilized in the border area of ​​​​Ossay. Austria strongly opposes the expansion of Slavic forces in the Balkan Peninsula."

Bulgaria and Serbia are both Slavic in ethnicity and language. Even their religion, due to historical reasons, is Orthodox like Russia. This makes the cultures of the three countries similar. Taken together, these three countries are really very different. Many reasons to join together.

It is no wonder that in order to allow Serbia and Bulgaria to become independent from the rule of the Ottoman Empire, the Russians did not hesitate to go to war personally and launch a military confrontation with the Ottoman Empire.

"Where did you get this news?" King George asked in surprise.

"The Ambassador of the British Empire in Sofia, in fact, since the war between the Ottoman Empire and Italy in North Africa, the British Foreign Office has been very focused on the development of the situation in the Balkans. The Ambassador in Sofia visited the Prime Minister of Bulgaria several times to explore Bulgaria's diplomatic trends." Lord Ristan did not hide anything and spoke frankly.

"Serbia and Bulgaria are united, and their primary enemy is the Ottoman Empire. Why does Austria react so fiercely and has already partially mobilized its troops?" King George asked in confusion.

Lord Tristan took a slow sip of tea and said unhurriedly: "Because in the agreement reached between Bulgaria and Serbia, both parties support the obligation to liberate the Slavic areas in the Balkan Peninsula and oppose the encroachment of Slavic territory by a third country."

Constantine and King George looked at each other and understood in each other's hearts that this was obviously aimed at Austria.