Greece to roman road

King George heard that the two men showed no respect for the British Balkan balance policy preached by Lord Tristan, and worried: "Isn't it not good to blatantly defy British policy and completely ignore the British?"

Hearing King George's worries, Constantine then thought that he could also measure up to King George.

In the minds of the older generation of politicians like King George, Britain has great prestige. They have become accustomed to the impression that the British play a decisive role in the world political arena and cannot be defied.

Because during their long time in power, they witnessed too many examples of Britain arrogantly deciding the fate of small countries.

Since the Napoleonic Wars, no country on the European continent has dared to confront the British Empire head-on.

Despite the changing times, the development of the international situation, and the ebb and flow of national strength, the older generation of politicians like King George are still not used to ignoring the British.

"In the eyes of the British, Greece is their sphere of influence, but that does not mean that Greece must ask the British for instructions on everything and dare not cross the red line drawn by them, His Majesty the King," Constantine explained warmly .

"In fact, they may not have a clear idea of ​​what policy the British should adopt regarding the current situation in the Balkans. The original words of Lord Tristan just now were, "Tend to maintain the situation in the Balkans. "The British themselves are hesitant and their attitude is not clear," Constantine continued to explain in order to allay King George's concerns.

King George nodded thoughtfully, with a somewhat lonely expression, recalling the past in his warm eyes: "Although I am a little unwilling to do so, I am indeed old. The older a person is, the more he tends to be conservative and hates extremes. action"

After that, he looked at Constantine and Venizelos, and said in a warning tone: "I still want to remind you that war adventures are extremely risky. In fact, they are no different from gambling. Both sides put all their chips. , bet on winning or losing, no one knows what the outcome of a war will be until the real result is revealed."

"Even if it is a war that seems to have a high chance of winning, the hidden risks may not be small in fact."

Seeing that the two people were listening to him seriously, he took a sip of tea and said slowly: "In the Russo-Japanese War, who would have thought that the Japanese could defeat Russia, the European steamroller?"

"Tens of thousands of Italian troops went to Ethiopia. Who would have expected that the Italians would be defeated by the African black chiefs?"

Poor Italians, the embarrassing thing was brought out again and whipped to death.

"If these things are too far away from Greece, let's talk about the ongoing North African War. Before the war started, the Italians were confident that it would be over in a few months. As long as the Italian Navy blocked the coast and cut off the Ottomans It’s very deceptive, isn’t it?”

"What's the result? Until now, there is no sign of the end of the war. An accident occurred. Those Libyan nomads were surprisingly difficult to deal with. The Italians are now in a dilemma. Every day the war is extended, it will consume more resources. resources and money”

King George said with a serious expression: "Military adventures are something that must be done with caution. Especially now, when a full-scale war is waged on the entire country, the cost of failure is too high. It is very likely that a country will never recover from a fall."

"If you win, everything will be good. If you lose, everything will come to an end."

After that, King George stood up, picked up the hat on the table, put it on, and left with a civilized attitude.

How much impact does the outcome of a war have? Especially now, the whole world is facing a special period of transition to a capitalist country. In Li Hongzhang's words, this is a major change unseen in a thousand years.

In 1894, the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1894 took place between Japan and the Qing Dynasty. After the war, the completely different fates of the two countries vividly demonstrated the cost of a war.

Before this war, the Qing Dynasty, at least on the surface, maintained its status as a great power: although the two Opium Wars were disastrous defeats, it was at least lost to Britain, the world hegemon.

Before the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1894, the conditions of Japan and Qing Dynasty were actually almost the same. They were both semi-feudal and semi-colonial countries.

After the Sino-Japanese War of Sino-Japanese War, the two countries took completely different paths. One was promoted to become a great power, and the other was completely reduced to a fish belly.

The success or failure of a war has far-reaching significance and impact, completely changing the fate of both countries.

Until the 21st century, Japan's per capita GDP is still three times that of China. The differences and impacts of this war on the two countries still exist.

For Greece at this time, it is also facing urgent industrialization needs.

In the past two years, Greece's economic development has been slowing down year by year. Poor resources, a small market, and a sparse population have made the development of Greek industry face more and more challenges.

The current economic scale of Greece is completely insufficient to support a well-developed industrial system.

Greece's only commendable industry at present, the textile industry, is also facing fierce competition in the international market.

There is no way. For any country that has ideas about industrialization, the textile industry is the first threshold that needs to be crossed. As a traditional industry, the barriers to the textile industry are not really strong.

After pondering for a moment, Venizelos said: "His Majesty the King is right. Military adventures do require caution. Once Greece goes to war with the Ottoman Empire again, it must be a victory. We cannot afford the price of failure."

Constantine nodded in agreement: "On the one hand, be prepared for war, and on the other hand, watch the changes in the situation with a cold eye."

"The stalemate between anti-just Italy and the Ottomans will continue, and the war that will determine Libya will continue."

Greece's two major neighbors to the east and west, the Kingdom of Italy and the Ottoman Empire, were in a stalemate and continued to weaken each other, which was a good thing for Greece.

Now, time is on Greece's side. Whether it is the stalemate between Italy and Austria in the North African battlefield, or the patient competition with the two countries, Greece should not be the one in a hurry.

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Tatoy Palace

There is green grass in the horse pen surrounded by wooden fences.

Constantine is holding his daughter, the 14-year-old Princess Helen, riding a black horse.

Helen, who was sitting in the front of the saddle, kept stroking the long and flowing mane on the horse's neck with her fleshy little hands.

Constantine carefully controlled the reins and drove the horse around the circular wooden fence. The sitting horse seemed a little excited, snoring constantly and trotting around in circles.

"Helen, how do you like the black pearls your uncle gave you?" Sophie, standing outside the fence, looked at the father and daughter on horseback and asked.

"This horse is so beautiful, I really like it," giggled Helen, who was wearing a petite riding outfit and small leather boots.

This horse was a 14th birthday gift from William II to his niece, Princess Helen.

The Friesian horse is known as the black pearl among horses. It has no trace of color on its body and is completely jet black. Its fur is as shiny as forging. There are strong manes on its neck and tail, and its streamlined muscles all over its body move rhythmically when running.

While the father and daughter were playing, Prime Minister Venizelos hurried to the horse pen. After greeting Sophie, he turned his attention to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince on horseback.