In the early morning, Franz had just finished the morning exercise and had no time to enjoy breakfast. The haste of Foreign Minister Weissenberg rushed in and brought bad news.
"His Majesty, we heard from our embassy in Bolivia that the Chilean army invaded Bolivia two days ago and the South American balance was broken."
The main reason the Austrian government is concerned about this war is because of the saltpeter trade. Because of the South American colonies, Austria's relations with Chile and Argentina are not bad.
Ever since the discovery of the rich saltpeter deposits in Atacama Province on the Bolivia's Pacific coast in 1863, it has become the main importer of saltpeter in Austria.
With the increase in business and trade, Austria's relations with Bolivia are also heating up, and they are about to become associates.
It is just that the strategic core of the Vienna government is not in South America, and the strength invested in the South American region is very limited, and there is no further step.
Anyway, as a great power, it is inevitable to play the role of a crap. There is no rise in fame, mainly because the British counterparts are too powerful, and they have grabbed everyone's limelight.
The small amount of investment does not mean that there is no investment. The Vienna government also supports younger brothers in South America, but the relationship between the two parties is not deep and they can be regarded as partners.
Bolivia was one of them, with Austrian help militarily. Unfortunately, the Bolivian government is not very clever. Seeing that the three countries, Britain, France, and Austria, are secretly competing with each other in South America, they chose to swing left and right.
Swaying from side to side also requires capital. With capital, it is flexible foreign policy. Without capital, you are walking a tightrope. There is no doubt that Bolivia is a country without capital.
As for the saltpeter trade, it seems very important, but in fact it is the case. It is better for the three countries of Britain, France, Austria and Austria to get cheap saltpeter. If not, you can produce it yourself.
In the past year, no fertilizer was made, and the demand for saltpeter was not great. Even if their own production costs are a bit higher, it is hard to fail the three major powers.
Moreover, Bolivia is only one of the saltpeter exporters, and it is not a monopoly. Chile next door is also a saltpeter exporter.
Facts have proven once again that there is no future for wall grass. After the parties failed to win, Bolivia was abandoned, while Chile fell to the British.
During the War of Independence, Chile and Bolivia were allies against the Spanish colonial rule. However, it is difficult to share difficulties and prosperity.
The Atacama Desert at the border between Chile and Bolivia and Peru and Asia was never clearly assigned under Spanish colonial rule.
After the independence of the three countries, Bolivia occupied the central part of the Atacama Desert, Antofagasta region, Peru occupied the northern desert Tarapacá region, and Chile acquired the southern desert region. All three countries claim sovereignty over desert areas
If this desert has no resources, it is estimated that it will be left in the end. Unfortunately, not only does this region have resources, but it is also very rich, and contradictions have occurred.
Chile's strength is even better, and now it holds the thighs of the British, who are qualified to use force.
Franz asked with concern: "Have the British intervened?"
For cause and effect, Franz is not interested in digging deeper, and ultimately it is interest. Right or wrong is actually the least important in international politics.
In the era of imperialism, if right and wrong are black and white, most of them are evenly matched, or there is great power intervention, otherwise justice belongs only to the winner.
Foreign Minister Weissenberg: "There are no signs of the British intervening for the time being. It is in the interests of the British to maintain stability in South America in the interest.
If the Chileans win the war, they will completely monopolize the saltpeter exports, which is not what the British want to see.
Of course, this is just an analysis of benefits from the bright side. If the British have a close agreement with Chile, then it is impossible to say.
Our relationship with Chile is very cold and has limited local strength. Within a short period of time, there was no ability to determine whether the two parties were trading secretly. "
Franz lingered. He paid little attention to South American history, but only vaguely remembered that a Pacific war broke out between Chile and Bolivia and Peru.
The specific time and passage, and the attitudes of the powers are not clear. Even if it is clear, it is useless. Under the influence of the butterfly effect, the international situation has long been beyond recognition.
Franz: "Apart from external factors, who do you think will win this war?"
Minister of Foreign Affairs Weissenberg: "I am more optimistic about Chileans. Chile has clearly surpassed Bolivia in military strength.
Although Bolivia has learned from us about military affairs in recent years, the Bolivian government is too stupid.
If they just learn the military of any of the great powers in Europe, they are likely to succeed. It is necessary to learn the military of multiple countries at the same time, and finally build up a different army.
From a purely military perspective, Bolivia's chances of victory are almost zero. However, with the involvement of other countries, the situation is uncertain.
Relations between South American countries are complex and difficult to understand for a while. This time the war surrounding the ownership of the Atacama Desert also involved Peru.
Of the three countries, Chile now has the strongest military strength. Peru and Bolivia alone are not Chilean opponents.
In the common interest, the possibility of the two countries joining forces is very high. If Bolivia and Peru give up their differences, it will be difficult to tell where the war will go. "
Franz was very hesitant to intervene in this South American war. The main problem is investment and return. He is not sure if the final result will be proportional.
Austria's strength in South America is limited, and relying only on the strength of Austrian South America, Austria is not qualified to interfere at all.
As for the military forces of Austrian and Central America, the same cannot be done lightly, or the North American balance will be broken. Without sufficient deterrence, no one can guarantee that the United States and the Union Congress will not take the opportunity to do things.
It is certainly not worth the risk for the South American War. Franz was clearly distinguished from the major and minor, and the Americans were threatened to become bigger. Chile was not worth mentioning at all.
Want climate, unless Chile can annex Argentina. This is obviously impossible, and apart from the fact that the powers agree or disagree, Argentina itself is not weaker than them.
After hesitating for a moment, Franz made the decision: "Let's wait and see, and before it harms our interests, stay neutral for the time being."
This is the safest approach. Austria's interest in South America is not big enough, and it is not worth the cost.
Even if it was to interfere, it was being asked to interfere instead of delivering it to the door.
Once small country nationalism rises, there is a common problem that it is easy to lose self-knowledge.
No one would appreciate it until they had a victory or defeat and ran to interfere in advance.
...
It is not just Austria that chose to wait and see, but Britain and France also chose to wait and see.
South American countries have many contradictions, and this war between Chile and Bolivia may even trigger a South American melee.
Intervening in advance will obviously fall into a passive state. Even if the powers are wrong, even the powers will suffer heavy losses.
Not to mention, a commodity market is gone. Under normal circumstances, the small South American countries have no confidence to say no to the big countries, but in case someone supports them, they may not.
...
Bolivia. Since the outbreak of war with Chile, President Ilario Dassa has been bad for himself.
Unlike domestic enthusiastic nationalists, as a national leader, Ilarión Dasa still knows himself.
Militaryly, Bolivia is indeed not Chile's opponent. This is just one of them, and the lack of international support in Bolivia.
This is not his responsibility. Bolivia has not yet entered the era of democracy. The so-called government elections are essentially all controlled by military Cordillo behind the scenes.
The people behind the scenes want to play a balance between the powers, and the government that was launched is naturally unable to refuse. However, this diplomatic balance is not fun, and Ilario Dasa has no control.
Now that the war has broken out, there is no country among the big powers and they clearly support them.
You know, from the standpoint of bystanders of this era, this is the first Chilean invasion of Bolivia.
Under normal circumstances, public opinion should be sympathetic to the victims. In this context, everyone will at least verbally condemn Chile's military invasion.
However, Bolivia's diplomatic balance failed only a few years ago, and the governments of Britain, France and Austria are still resentful. Internationally, the Bolivian government has been unrelenting in recent years.
At present, the three major countries have not stated their positions, and other countries have nothing to do with themselves. Naturally, they will not risk offending the big hooligan and uphold justice for Bolivia.
President Ilario Dasa: "Dear everyone, the war has broken out. This war is related to the national movement of Bolivia, and we cannot afford to lose.
Once defeated, we will not only lose the most important source of money-saltpeter ore; but we will also lose the most important estuary and become a landlocked country.
For the great Republic of Bolivia, I hope that everyone will make every effort to win this war. "
Minister of Foreign Affairs Preta Gul: "His President, the problems on the battlefield must be solved by the military. In addition to doing our logistical work, we can only find solutions from outside the battlefield.
In order to increase our odds in this war, I propose to temporarily join Peru, which is as contradictory as Chile, to fight the Chileans together. "
There is no way. In this country where the warlords are powerful, even if Preta Gul knows that Bolivia is not Chile's opponent, he dare not say it directly, but can only perform art processing and beautify it as much as possible.
President Ilario Dasa nodded: "Well, this proposal is good. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs will send someone to contact the Peruvian government as soon as possible. As long as their conditions are not excessive, they can agree first. We now need our allies.
Any other suggestions? "
...
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