Chapter 933 French Dominance
As the main participant in this conflict, the United States will definitely not agree to French mediation, so this is why the ambassadors of France and Spain came to the first city to negotiate with East Africa.
After a while, Ernst came to the living room with a smile on his face. Although he had a rough guess in his mind, he still asked Glad and William: "I wonder if the two ambassadors came to see me together. What's the matter?"
"Your Highness Ernst! You must have heard what happened the day before yesterday. The American cruiser Maine was sunk for unknown reasons. Now the US government has pointed the finger at Spain, so our government hopes that East Africa will join us in Play a role in this incident and maintain the peace and stability of the international order." This is Glade's rhetoric.
The Maine incident, which was the trigger of the Spanish-American War in the previous life, happened exactly according to the original historical time. Of course, on that day, the intelligence agencies in East Africa had already passed the news back to East Africa, so Enns Not only did they understand the Maine incident, they also did so faster than other countries outside the region.
“It’s that American warship! I also heard that it exploded in Cuba, but I don’t know much about the details. It turned out to be the USS Maine.” Ernst said, pretending to be confused.
"It's the Maine. The Americans insist that this incident was done by the Spanish government. Now the relationship between the two countries is very tense, so our country is very worried about the regional peace situation." Glade said.
At present, the only people in the international community who can speak for Spain are the French, because France is Spain's main creditor country, and because of the history and economic relations between the two countries, the interests are deeply bound. For example, the Spanish navy today has many French-made warships entered service.
In fact, after the decline of Spain, the era of steel battleships came in the 19th century. The first ironclad ship introduced by Spain was built in France.
After the Franco-Prussian War, Spain was also an important investment area for France's large surplus capital, and the same was true for East Africa. Especially after East Africa and France "conceded" to each other on territory, the economies of the two countries were actually closer. This was all due to the original transaction. Therefore, the relationship between East Africa and France is also good. This is why the French government sent Gladys to test East Africa's attitude.
As for the relationship between the royal family of Hechingen and the royal family of Prussia, it is not worth mentioning at all. After all, East Africa has formed an alliance with Austria, but has not formed an alliance with Prussia, which is more closely related. This is very illustrative. In the view of the French government, this is the reason why East Africa maintains its national independence. part of the policy.
Especially after the last contact between the two countries in the territorial negotiations, the French government has become more certain of its ideas, so exchanges with the international community are still very important and can break some misunderstandings.
At least France has proved that East Africa has its own national interests and is not a echo of Germany like the Romanian royal family. This is worthy of France's win. After all, if Germany, Austria, and East Africa form an alliance, the world structure will probably change.
This is also the concern of East Africa. If it gets too close to Germany and Austria, it will easily be criticized by the whole world, and two camps may be formed in an instant.
So after the South African War, East Africa became a "scumbag" who only talked about money and not feelings. Moreover, East Africa was not afraid of offending Germany. After all, Germany wanted East Africa, not East Africa what it wanted from Germany.
The reason why France has become the third largest creditor country in East Africa is also because of this. Now French capital is also part of the economic introduction of East African coastal cities.
Of course, East Africa welcomes all comers, not to mention countries like France, which have delicate relations with East Africa, even Britain and Portugal, which were fighting to the death last time, East Africa also welcomes them to invest in East Africa.
So regarding what Glade said, Ernst said: "Eastern France and France are important economic partners, and the two countries have common interests. However, we are afraid that it will be difficult for us to intervene in the Maine incident. We can only carry out some measures against Spain." Solidarity, after all, as a peace-loving country, we in East Africa do not want regional peace and stability to be destroyed.”
Glade: "I'm afraid this is not enough. After all, the Maine incident is full of conspiracies..."
William also interjected: "We in Spain are completely innocent. This matter has been planned by the US government for a long time..." William, an ambassador of the great powers, actually had a bad relationship with East Africa. This made Ernst feel a little sad. Regarding what he said, The US government has been planning this for a long time.
If it were a previous life, there might be doubts about the cause of the explosion of the USS Maine. Now Ernst can say with absolute certainty that this is a script "directed and acted by oneself" by the United States. After all, Ernst has completely led history astray, and the explosion of the USS Maine The time can accurately coincide with the previous life. This obviously cannot be explained by "accident". Even the time of the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1894 was greatly changed due to the influence of East Africa, and the time was advanced. This was already set in the "Tanaka Memorial" of Japan's invasion plan. Set.
So according to Japan's national policy, the order of Korea first and then the Far East, the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1894 was bound to break out, but a small-probability event like the explosion of the USS Maine was completely different.
Coupled with Ernst's experience in his previous life, he is even more convinced of his own inference. After all, the United States was experienced in this regard in his previous life. The most famous one was the "Iraq" washing powder incident.
"Whether it is an accident or a conspiracy, I am afraid it will not be easy to change the attitude of the US government. After all, the development of the US Navy in recent years can show the ambitions of the US government. If there is a war between your two countries, you will have to face the most severe "Not only Cuba, but also other Spanish colonies and even the Philippines in Asia may be targets of the Americans."
Ernst here is a reminder to the Spanish government. As for whether Spain can prevent the United States from sneaking attacks on the Philippines in the end, that is not Ernst's consideration.
However, Ernst's attitude still moved William very much. At least East Africa's attitude on this matter was biased towards Spain.
This is for sure. Not to mention the royal relationship between the two countries, just because Spain has just sold Mindanao to East Africa, the attitude of East Africa towards Spain is the same.
Ernst continued: "As for the conflicts between the United States and Spain, our attitude in East Africa is the same as France's. Ambassador Glade, I don't know if France has any specific plans."
East Africa certainly cannot do the job of offending others. As the second most powerful country in the world and the second most powerful country in Europe, it is natural for the French to take the lead. It would be great if East Africa takes the responsibility of lining up with France. Even if France wants to help Spain attack the United States, East Africa would dare to do so. Help out.
Of course, it is definitely impossible for France to do this. After all, France’s first priority is Germany. It is completely impossible to completely offend the United States for Spain.
So France's last resort is definitely to "mud", which is also Spain's only option. Now except France and East Africa, which is "idle and idle" and is dedicated to economic development, no other country supports Spain.
Because of the conflict of interests in the Far East, Britain and Russia adopted a policy of co-opting the United States. Germany, as a latecomer country, hopes that the United States will disrupt the original world colonial system and get a share of it, not to mention the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The Mediterranean may be able to talk, but Asia-Pacific and the Caribbean are too difficult to talk about.
So in this case, France is Spain's only choice. As for East Africa, it is soy sauce. However, if France can persuade East Africa to support its claims, France will have more room for activity.
Britain and France are unique among the great powers, especially in terms of international influence. If France takes a tough stance, perhaps it should... and it is impossible to stop the actions of the United States, but it can still be done to help Spain reduce some losses.
(End of this chapter)