Chapter 292 Leopard's Leap and the Italo-Turkish War
The French actions in Morocco aroused strong dissatisfaction among the German people and government, and also made the already tense European situation more intense, and war seemed imminent.
In order to quell the high public anger in the country, and because the French actions had indeed touched German interests, William II adopted the strategy of Foreign Minister Kidron and sent warships to important ports in Morocco, using them as a trump card to sit back and watch. Developments in the situation in Morocco.
On March 1, 1911, Germany officially submitted a memorandum to France and other European powers, stating that in order to protect the safety of German expatriates and German interests in Morocco, the German government decided to dispatch warships to station at the port of Agadir. Retreat as soon as the situation in Morocco returns to calm.
Before the German government decided to act, Wilhelm II cautiously asked Kidron, who proposed this brilliant plan.
Faced with William II's cautious question, German Foreign Minister Kidron said with some confidence: "We only took corresponding actions and did not hinder France's actions in Morocco. As long as the French are willing to pay corresponding benefits in the colonies, We can withdraw our warships immediately and recognize the French occupation of Morocco."
Such words gave William II some relief before he decided to dispatch the Leopard gunboat to garrison Agadir, an important port in Morocco.
It is worth mentioning that the Leopard gunboat did not sit back and watch the crisis in Morocco after entering the Agadir port, as Foreign Minister Kidron said.
The first thing this small warship with a tonnage of less than 2,000 tons did after entering the Agadir port was not to communicate with the French, but to directly aim its guns at the city of Agadir.
This historically famous provocative act, known as the "leopard's leap", directly caused the already intense German-French relations to suddenly become tense. Countless people even thought that war was coming and sold off their assets one after another.
As the saying goes, antiques in prosperous times are worth gold in troubled times. If war really comes, everyone will know that the various assets in their hands are the least valuable.
Only by exchanging as much hard currency as gold and important supplies before the war can you survive better after the war.
This behavior also made the stock exchange markets in Germany and France almost full. Countless people sold their stocks, causing numerous small and medium-sized companies in Germany and France to go bankrupt overnight.
The people of Germany and France are full of complaints, and their hatred for the other country is getting deeper and deeper.
The gunboat Leopard suddenly appeared in the port of Agadir, surprising the French troops stationed in the port.
What's even more serious is that as soon as this small gunboat arrived at the port, it immediately aimed its guns at the city, or rather at the French troops stationed in the city.
Such a bold and provocative behavior directly shocked and angered the French troops stationed at the port.
In any case, France is still one of the most powerful powers in the world. Even if Germany's comprehensive strength has surpassed France, it cannot send such a small warship to provoke France in this way.
The French army was very angry, but the infantry really had no good way to deal with the gunboats. They could only quickly and slightly embellished the report to the country, asking the country to quickly dispatch battleships to assist.
After the French army's embarrassment, Paris soon received news from Morocco.
The French government was very angry about the sudden appearance of German warships and obvious demonstrations. They believed that Germany dared to directly provoke the French army and actions with just a small gunboat. It was a great shame for an established power like France.
But this was not over yet. The next day, Germany called the French government and asked the French government to provide Germany with adequate compensation for its actions in Morocco and to guarantee Germany's interests.
What was originally a threatening action turned out to be a threat this time. I don’t know who leaked the news. The French people also learned about Germany’s threat and took to the streets to demonstrate, demanding that the government directly declare war on Germany and protect France and France. people's interests.
Facing enemy countries and people, fools know how to choose.
On March 4, 1911, the French government officially announced to Germany that the French government was not willing to accept German diplomatic blackmail and only promised to ensure the safety of Germans in Morocco.
The French's toughness and unwillingness to make concessions brought the "negotiations" between Germany and France to a deadlock.
Under the "ingenious plan" of Foreign Minister Kidron, the Germans did not give in. Instead, they chose to continue blackmail and sent the cruiser Berlin to Morocco.
If the dispatch of the Leopard gunboat was just a diplomatic blackmail and intimidation, then the dispatch of the Berlin cruiser seemed to the French to be a war threat and blackmail.
Today's France is not the soft persimmon it was a few decades ago. Faced with such blatant threats and intimidation from Germany, the French people's anger is almost unstoppable, and they even claim to directly overthrow the cabinet if the country gives in.
Don't underestimate the public voice of the French. They say they overthrow the cabinet but they really dare to overthrow the cabinet.
It happened that the French government was also very angry at this time, so it chose to continue to be tough on Germany.
After Germany continued its blackmail, the French government directly refused to meet the German ambassador to France, demonstrating France's tough attitude.
France's repeated refusals also made the German people very angry. Both sides believe that the other is at fault, and there are even endless demonstrations and initiatives among the people asking the government to declare war.
On March 7, the main force of the German Army moved towards the French border, and the situation seemed to have a hint of war.
France was not willing to lag behind. Just the day after receiving the news, that is, on the afternoon of March 8, the main force of the French Army also set out to the border area adjacent to Germany.
Because of the strength of the German Army, the French directly announced mobilization in some border areas to prevent the Germans from possibly fighting without declaration.
The actions of both sides directly led to constant conflicts on the German-French border. It seemed that as long as the high-level officials of both sides gave an order, millions of troops would fight for life and death.
After France announced military mobilization, Germany also announced military mobilization, and William II directly ordered the German General Staff to issue combat plans to various armies.
This time, the oil tank was directly ignited.
The British originally wanted to sit back and watch the struggle between Germany and France, making the relationship between Germany and France worse, and directly eliminating the possibility of a German-French alliance.
But the British did not think about going to war with Germany directly now. After all, before the frequent launch of super dreadnoughts, the number of German dreadnoughts was not much different from that of the British, and the naval advantage was not great.
Needless to say, the German army is the best in the world. The French are not strong enough to resist the German army.
At this time, the British government did not know that Germany's goal was just to blackmail the French Congo colony. They thought that the Germans were really angry and wanted to have a real war with France.
More importantly, if the war came, the Germans occupied Agadir and established a naval base on the Atlantic coast, which would seriously threaten the British route from Europe to the Cape of Good Hope. Therefore, the British were also very opposed to Germany's occupation of Moroccan ports.
On March 10, 1911, the British officially left and warned the German ambassador to the UK: "This incident (the second Moroccan crisis) affects the interests of the British more deeply than any other incident. If there is no British participation, the British Empire will resolutely not recognize and oppose any solution."
The British's fate did not attract the attention of the Germans. The German government insisted on negotiating with France alone to resolve the crisis.
But the Germans did not expect that the British attitude in this crisis was so firm that it even directly pushed Anglo-German relations into the abyss.
On March 17, 1911, British Chancellor of the Exchequer Lloyd George delivered a speech that shocked the world in London. He claimed: "I am ready to make great sacrifices to maintain peace. But if we are forced into a situation where peace can only be maintained at the cost of giving up the important superior position that Britain has won through centuries of heroic spirit and victorious achievements, and if Britain is humiliated in such a way on issues involving her vital interests, as if she no longer plays any role in the big family of the world's people, then I want to emphasize that peace bought at such a cost is a humiliation and is absolutely intolerable for such a great empire as ours."
This speech was extremely explosive, and even directly put the current conflict between Germany and France in the open, declaring the British people's firm position of supporting France.
It is even more worth mentioning that the speaker of such a speech was not Foreign Minister Grey, who has always opposed or even been hostile to Germany, but Chancellor of the Exchequer Lloyd George, who has always advocated peace and friendship with Germany.
Such a change has enhanced the deterrent power of the speech. On the day the speech ended, the British government announced that the navy was on combat readiness.
If Lloyd George's speech showed the British position and attitude, then the announcement of the British Navy's entry into combat readiness was an announcement of how firm the British position was.
If the Germans continue to be tough, a war with Britain and France is very likely to break out. This is something the Germans are not willing to see at the moment, because many of Germany's dreadnoughts are still in the shipyard, and it will take a long time to officially launch them.
At least in one or two years, the Germans are not willing to see a war with Britain and France. After being persuaded by many people in the government, William II gave up his tough attitude towards Britain and France. He was very dissatisfied and reluctantly asked the government to explain the German government's behavior to the British.
On March 20, 1911, after the British Navy's war preparations had been completed, the French government officially notified Britain and announced that Germany had no intention of gaining a foothold on the Atlantic coast of Morocco. Their purpose was only to ask the French to give appropriate compensation in other aspects after Morocco was placed under French protection.
On March 24, the Germans lowered their demands for compensation in certain areas and reopened negotiations with France, which calmed down the European situation that was almost at war.
But at the same time, it is worth noting that the British firm position caused the relationship between Britain and Germany to deteriorate rapidly. The British no longer had a good impression of William II, and the Germans' good attitude towards Britain also disappeared directly.
The contradiction between Britain, France and Germany is no longer solvable, and the Germans' hatred for Britain and France can no longer be offset.
Even this hatred will increase with the passage of time. When it accumulates to a level that can no longer be tolerated, it may be the moment when the world war really comes.
It is worth mentioning that during this crisis, something noteworthy happened in Europe, but because of the fierce conflict between Britain, France and Germany and the upcoming war, not many people noticed this matter.
The Agadir incident in March this year attracted the attention of the whole of Europe and even the world.
This also made Italy feel that it had an opportunity and that its ambition to occupy Tripoli could be realized.
At the end of March, the Italian newspapers, which understood the situation, suddenly began to fiercely attack the Turkish government for its abuse and coercion of Italian expatriates in Tripoli.
Under the fierce propaganda of major Italian newspapers, the Turkish government has been portrayed as a demon that does all kinds of evil, and the Italian expatriates in Tripoli urgently need the rescue of the Italian government.
Feeling that it was almost ready, in April 1911, the Italian government officially notified the Turkish government and issued the final notice. The Italian government claimed that Turkey's rule had plunged Tripoli into chaos and poverty, that Italian companies in Tripoli were hostile to Turkey, and that Italian expatriates were threatened with life.
Therefore, the Italian government, forced to care about protecting its dignity and interests, decided to implement military occupation of Tripoli and Cyrene, and asked the Turkish army to assist and take measures to guard against any possible resistance to the Italian army.
The arrogance and absurdity of this treaty are rare even in history.
The Turkish government naturally rejected the Italian ultimatum directly and angrily scolded the Italian government as a greedy, shameless and absurd clown.
On April 27, the Italian government officially declared war on Turkey.
The Ottoman Empire was already corrupt at this time. Facing the invasion of Italy, the great power, the Turkish government called on the major European powers to intervene.
But long before this, the Italian government had passed decades of diplomatic activities and signed the Triple Alliance Renewal, the Italo-French Agreement and the Italo-Russian Laconic Agreement, allowing European powers such as Germany, France and Russia to recognize Tripoli as Italy's sphere of influence.
Because of the prior agreement, the European powers could not condemn Italy's bullying behavior, and could only pretend not to see it. Some powers even persuaded the Turkish government to accept Italy's unreasonable demands to avoid a sinful war that should not have happened.
In fact, the Ottoman Empire is currently on good terms with Germany, which is the real reason why the European powers are unwilling to help Turkey.
In fact, Italy is in the same camp as Turkey. The Allied Powers are too busy watching the mutual crusade between the Allied camps, so how could they possibly interfere?
On the German side, the diplomatic strategy against France has just failed, which has made the German government lose face.
In addition, Italy and Turkey are both allies of Germany, and leaning towards one will damage the relationship with the other.
The German government can only say that it can't help. In addition to supporting the Turkish government with a sum of money, there is no more diplomatic action.
The first update of 4200 words, please support, please vote for the monthly ticket!
Although there is a power outage today, it continues to update 10,000 per day, and has updated 4200/10000. Please support, please vote for the monthly ticket!