Chapter 100 - The second Moroccan crisis
After the military got the funds that they wanted, Romania has been calm for the past few months. The government is functioning well. This year, agriculture is also going well, and the industry is still developing steadily. In short, Guotai Min’an.
Edel also worked half a day and rested half a day. As the wedding day approached, he also increased the training on the wedding ceremony. Naturally, a lot of people were busy with his marriage. The most enthusiastic one was his mother, Queen Elizabeth.
Just as Romania is developing steadily, in Morocco in North Africa, there is an event that has attracted European attention.
At the end of March 1911, Morocco broke out a rebellion against Sudan. By early April, the sultan was besieged in the palace in Fez. Using the pretext of protecting the lives and property of Europeans, the French prepared to send troops to help suppress the rebellion, and at the end of April they sent troops to occupy most of Morocco. On June 8, Spanish troops occupied Larache. Faced with this situation, the German government, which benefited from the first Moroccan crisis, believed that this was an infringement of German interests. The Leopard gunboat arrived at the port of Agadir under the pretext of protecting German trade interests. More importantly, a few days later, the Bremen-class cruiser Berlin also arrived at the port of Agadir and formed a small fleet with the Leopard gunboat that arrived earlier. The main purpose of this move by the German government is to test whether the relationship between Britain and France is solid, and it can also require France to effectively control the compensation for business losses caused by Morocco to Germany.
Faced with the actions of Germany, the British began to worry that the arrival of Germany would disrupt the situation in North Africa. Now the main fulcrum of the Royal Navy of the British Empire in the Mediterranean, the Gibraltar Naval Base is not far from the port of Agadir.
The British Navy believed that the Germans intended to turn Agadir into a naval base in the Atlantic Ocean. Britain immediately dispatched warships from the Mediterranean Fleet to Morocco to prevent the outbreak of a war between France and Germany because of the Moroccan issue. And like the first Moroccan crisis, Britain’s support for France demonstrated to Germany the strength of the Allied Powers.
When Edel received the news, the British and French navy of Morocco had surrounded the small German fleet in the port of Agadir.
In the face of this Moroccan crisis, Edel still has an impression, thanks to his preparation to write German historical novels in his previous life. Management can’t remember under specific circumstances, but the general situation still has reflections. Edel looked at the comparison between the information in his hand and the memory of his previous life, and it seemed that they were almost the same.
“Pay close attention now.” Edel, with the intelligence in his hand, ordered Carust.
“Good lord.”
After accepting, the chief guard walked out of Edel’s office.
After watching Carust go out, Edel continued to be busy arranging domestic work.
Under Edel’s close attention, the British and French counterattacks against Germany continue. On July 4, a financial turmoil broke out in Germany. This financial turmoil came too suddenly and caused a large number of people to suffer heavy losses in this storm. The Frankfurt stock market plummeted by 30% in one day, and many people’s efforts were wiped out. The stock market is also the same with a large number of German securities being thrown out, which caused panic among the people in the market, and began to take the mark to the bank to exchange gold, which caused the German National Bank to lose a large amount of gold reserves. Lost one-fifth of its gold reserves within a month.
In the palace in Berlin, the Kaiser is anxiously discussing the financial turmoil with Prime Minister Bernhard.
“The financial turmoil that broke out in Frankfurt was too sudden, and many people suffered heavy losses. Now there are rumors in the world, our bank has also been run on, and a large number of people holding marks are asking for gold exchange. What should we do now?”
Prime Minister Bernhard asked the emperor a little uneasy. This is not the prime minister’s timidity, mainly because Germany is now arguing with Britain and France in Morocco. He is afraid that if it continues, it will be the same as the first time. Both sides will gather troops on the border to create an atmosphere of tension. It is unbearable for Germany, where the financial turmoil has suddenly broken out.
“I know the financial difficulties, your Prime Minister.”
William II certainly knew the prime minister’s purpose, but the thought that Britain would unite with the feud France to oppose Germany, which made his resentment towards Britain increase a lot. He also had the idea of reconciliation with the United Kingdom before, as long as the United Kingdom recognizes the status obtained by Germany. They can challenge all European powers like the Thirty Years’ War. This time, Britain and Germany will win a complete victory. This is his affirmation of the strongest combination of the German Army and the British Navy. It is a pity that the German emperor’s winking eyes were thrown to the blind man. Britain turned a blind eye to Germany’s friendship, and directly approached France and Russia to hostile Germany. This was beyond comprehension for the ambitious Wilhelm II.
In fact, this is easy to understand. Now Germany and the United States are the two fastest-growing backward industrial countries. Since industrial products need a market, Britain and France, which now occupy the largest market share and colonies, certainly have reasons to oppose the disruptors. However, due to geographic and volume problems, Britain and France have no way to deal with the United States, so Germany under the nose is capable of making a fuss. In addition, due to the territorial conflict between Germany and France, Britain and France are the same on the German issue, and Russia, which is controlled by French capital, will be a very stable combination. In short, Germany was selected as a soft persimmon.
“This time the algorithmic Chinese chess is one move higher.”
After thinking over and over again, William II could only give in to the current combination of Britain and France. The Moroccan incident also allowed him to see the distance between Britain and Germany. In the sudden outbreak of the financial turmoil, he doubted that Britain and France were among them. Coupled with the current confrontation in Morocco, the two countries have every reason to do so. After all, French capital is much stronger than Germany, and coupled with the British, it is entirely feasible to create a financial turmoil.
“Your Majesty, then I arrange for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to release goodwill to them (British and French)?” Prime Minister Bernhard proposed a way.
“You go to make arrangements, but you can’t give up too much in terms of interests, otherwise it will be difficult for the country to explain.” The Kaiser stated his terms.
“Okay, your Majesty, I will explain clearly to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs that they (British and French) don’t want Germany to surrender. We can at most take a step back.” The prime minister replied and walked out of the palace.
On July 7, the German ambassador to Paris informed the French government that Germany has no territorial aspirations in Morocco, and that it will negotiate for France to “compensate” Germany in the Congo region, and Germany can give up its economic interests in Morocco.
Upon seeing Germany’s concessions, the French side agreed to negotiate to solve the problem.
The German clause proposed on July 15 included the request for France to abandon the offer of northern Cameroon and the Togo region, and for France to transfer the entire French Congo from the Sangha River to the sea to Germany. Later, the transfer of France was added in order to win Belgium. Congo’s rights.
On July 21, the British Prime Minister David Lloyd George delivered a speech in the lobby of a mansion in London. He declared that national honor is more precious than peace: “If the interests of Britain are severely affected, we must defend the interests of the British Empire. Now. I strongly point out that achieving peace at such a price is an unbearable humiliation for a great country like ours.”
Germany interpreted this remark as the British warning him not to impose unreasonable solutions on France.
In the office of Edel, Romania, the chief guard is reporting to the crown prince the latest situation of the Moroccan crisis.
“His Royal Highness has now made concessions in Germany, and now it is mainly France who is negotiating with it, while the UK just stated that it cannot damage its interests.”
After hearing the report from the Chief Guard, Edel knew that only the finishing touch was left for the crisis, but it would not be possible to end it in a short time.
“What’s the matter with the chief guard?”
Edel asked the head of the guard who seemed to have something to report.
“His Royal Highness has an update on the situation in Italy, and I need to report it to you.”
Italy? Edel thought in his heart what could happen to this country that has a good relationship with Romania.
“Let’s talk.”
Facing the crown prince’s inquiry, Carust reported the anomaly discovered by the Romanian Petroleum Company to the crown prince. UU reading www.uukanshu.com
“His Royal Highness, the Italian government has recently purchased 80,000 tons of refined oil from an oil company, and it is very urgent and does not care much about the price.”
After hearing the words of the chief guard, Edel immediately felt a different message. 80,000 tons of refined oil is not a small amount. The need for such a hurry can only mean that Italy wants to get involved in this crisis.
Edel was sitting behind his desk thinking, the chief guard stood there not daring to disturb the thoughts of the crown prince. Edel accidentally saw the globe next to him, and his memory came up. Going forward and flipping the globe, I saw that Italy was facing the Ottoman territory across the sea. Edel remembered that it was Italian territory during World War II. Before the First World War, there seemed to be an Italian-Turkish war, so was it this time?
Edel thought of this and ordered it immediately. “Pay close attention to the developments in Italy, I guess they have ideas about Osman.”
“Okay, my lord, I will arrange for the people below to pay more attention to Italy.”
“Go ahead.”
Looking at the head of the guard who left, Edel thought about the performance of Italy in the two world wars. This is really not a nation suitable for fighting.
The final solution to the Moroccan crisis was that the French-German “Fez Treaty” negotiations led to a convention under which Germany accepted France’s protection of Morocco in exchange for the French colony of Equatorial Central Africa (now the Republic of Congo) ) Of the territory. This 275,000 square kilometers (106,000 square miles) territory, called Neukamerun (Northeast Congo), became part of the German colony of Cameroon. The area is partly swampy, but it gave Germany an exit on the Congo River. Germany ceded a small part of its territory to France ().
(My mistake, I didn’t expect the codeword to go home more difficult.)