Chapter 236 London Conference and the European Situation
Constantine nodded thoughtfully, knowing that Venizelos was making a veiled suggestion.
"Oh, by the way, how was the London Conference?" Constantine asked.
After the armistice of the Balkan War, both sides were unable to fight again. The major European powers and the participating countries held a meeting in London to resolve the follow-up effects of the war.
Upon hearing this, Venizelos sighed and said: "There are great disputes among the countries, especially the issue of the territorial division of the Ottomans."
"There are conflicts not only between the countries participating in the war, but also among the major countries participating in the conference."
"Germany and Austria-Hungary supported the Ottoman Empire at the conference, so the Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire firmly disagreed with our Greek request for the Aegean Islands and Crete."
"The meeting has progressed so far. In the tenth London negotiation held a few days ago, the Ottoman representatives firmly refused to agree to cede Adrianople and the islands in the Aegean Sea, causing the negotiations to be interrupted."
Constantine didn't care about Osman's attitude at all. He sneered and said disdainfully: "So what if they object?"
Most of the residents of Crete and the Aegean Islands were originally Greeks, and they are now actually controlled by Greece. Whether the Ottomans agree or not does not make much sense.
Territory was lost on the battlefield, but do you want to get it back at the negotiation table?
Seeing that Constantine did not care about the attitude of the Ottoman Empire, Venizelos continued: "Leonard, the Austro-Hungarian Ambassador to the United Kingdom, proposed a plan to advocate Thessaloniki becoming an independent city that does not belong to Greece. Nor does it belong to Bulgaria”
"This plan has been agreed by most of the participating countries, including Bulgaria, Serbia, Austria-Hungary, Italy, including the Ottoman Empire. Their participants have clearly expressed their approval of this proposal."
"And..." At this point, it seemed to be something embarrassing, and he hesitated to say anything.
None of these countries supported Greece's acquisition of Salonika. Constantine frowned, hearing Venizelos hesitating, and subconsciously asked: "And what?"
"It also requires the six countries of Britain, France, Russia, Germany, Austria and Italy to supervise the independent city of Salonika to ensure that the independent status of Salonika can be guaranteed. What guarantees that the Balkans can have long-term peace?"
Having said this, Venizelos lit a cigarette and took a deep breath. Apparently he was not at peace in his heart: "Also, after the news got out, a Jew named Theodor Herzl seemed to be something The leader of the Zionist organization also met with me privately in London and said that if Greece agreed to this plan, the Jews could pay a considerable amount of money to buy the city."
After hearing this, Constantine only felt that Herzl was innocent and cute.
Can the value of territory be measured in money?
In order to capture this city, Greece sacrificed the lives of thousands of Greek soldiers, and the money spent was calculated in hundreds of millions. How much are these things worth?
Surrounding Salonika is a plain with an area of more than 10,000 square kilometers. Perhaps this area is not ranked among the major plains in the world, but in Greece, this is the largest plain in Greece.
In Constantine's mind, this plain will be the most important land for food production in Greece in the future and is crucial to maintaining Greece's food security.
There are many hills in Greece, and there are very few plains for cultivation, not to mention the large area of Thessaloniki Plain.
Moreover, the city of Salonika is originally dominated by Jews. If an independent city is really established here and the major countries guarantee her independence, then Salonika may really become a Jewish city in the future.
What's more, Thessaloniki's strategic position is very important. If she becomes an independent city, it will be like a nail, firmly blocking the road of Greece's expansion into the Balkans.
"The Ambassador of Bulgaria and the Ambassador of Serbia also solemnly reminded me that agreeing to this proposal can ensure that the Balkans will not fall into war again," Venizelos said in a cold tone, and then silently observed Constantine's reaction.
Constantine frowned, which was obviously a threat of war.
Bulgaria had ideas about Salonika. After all, Ferdinand's idea was to restore the territory of the Bulgarian Empire at its peak - territory spanning the Black Sea and the Mediterranean.
Moreover, Bulgaria has always prided itself on being the main force against the Ottoman Empire, and the receipts received do not match its contribution.
Venizelos said with a worried face: "I'm worried that Bulgaria and Serbia have reached an agreement privately to jointly deal with Greece. After all, Greece has occupied almost all of Macedonia. Your Highness, the Crown Prince, you know the army better. If Serbia and Bulgaria really Can Greece resist if we form an alliance?”
Constantine did not answer Venizelos' question directly, but instead asked: "Do you know, Prime Minister, just a few days ago, the media reported a piece of news that Germany's economic aggregate has surpassed that of the United Kingdom. You know what does that mean?"
In 1913, Germany's total economic volume reached US$12 billion, while that of the UK was US$11 billion (excluding colonies, which mainly referred to India at this time). Germany's industrial share accounted for 14% of the world's share8, while that of the UK was 6.
One can imagine how furious the British would be in reaction to this news.
As the world's hegemon, Britain was surpassed by the North American upstart Britain at the end of the 19th century. Now it can no longer even maintain its runner-up status.
At present, Britain and Germany have irreconcilable contradictions in almost every field.
In the economic field, the two sides are in a fierce trade war. British newspapers spare no effort to discredit German products, trying to provoke the British people's aversion to German products.
Germany, relying on its rapidly developing industrial strength, is conquering the markets of various European countries, such as the Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark, Norway, etc., while British products there are retreating step by step.
In the military, the naval arms race between the two sides reached a white-hot state by 1913.
The naval budget for 1912-1913 was 44.08 million pounds for Britain and 22.01 million pounds for Germany!
In 1889, Britain implemented the two-power standard for naval construction, which means that Britain's navy must exceed the total of the navies of the other two strongest countries.
Now, under the pressure of Germany's strong shipbuilding capabilities, Britain has abandoned the two-power standard.
The expensive arms race swallowed up a lot of money, making the finances of the two countries miserable, but unwilling to show weakness to each other.
Once this kind of arms race between the world's major powers begins, it can only end in war. There is no other choice.
When the finances of one side are about to collapse due to the high cost of armaments, launching a war is their best choice.
Why?
Once the finances collapse, the armaments of one side will stagnate due to chaos, and the other side will undoubtedly pursue the victory until the victory is completely established, and the gap between the two sides will become larger and larger.
The longer the delay, the greater the gap.
The winner of the arms race will take the initiative, and the other side will either accept humiliating negotiation conditions or fail. There is no other choice.
Not only between Britain and Germany, after the two Moroccan crises, the two military groups in Europe, the Allies and the Entente, have already prepared for war.
Russia, the ally that France has worked so hard to win over, has also recovered from the blow of the Russo-Japanese War and is ready for use.