My Italy

Chapter 502 Tensions between Germany and France

"The conditions look pretty good, at least half of Tunisia can be obtained."

Carlo put down the telegram in his hand and spoke to the Prime Minister.

"Yes, Your Majesty, this time, thanks to Bacona's hard work and His Majesty's accurate judgment of the situation, our country can obtain half of Tunisia's protection rights without any effort."

Antonio is not flattering, but a true reflection of his heart. Because just relying on judgment and some suggestive words, the French obediently offered half of Tunisia. This was something that was really unthinkable, and His Majesty was able to do it.

Yes, regarding the negotiations with France, he, the Prime Minister, did not intervene at all. He mainly relied on the Foreign Minister and the Kingdom.

However, in the face of the Prime Minister's praise, Carlo waved his hands. "Prime Minister, this matter cannot be considered a success. It can only be regarded as a slight regret. We have tried our best."

Perhaps the Prime Minister would think that these were humble words from the king, but to Carlo, they were true words, true words that were worth more than real gold. How could Carlo forget the famous Moroccan crisis? Although this crisis was nothing in previous lives, it was a huge event for Europe because it represented the formation of two major camps in Europe, and the Entente camp and the Alliance camp were established.

In his previous life, many people knew about the Moroccan crisis, but not many people had a detailed understanding of it. Carlo still had a deep memory of this period of history because he debated with others. It was precisely because of this memory that Carlo made a bold plan based on the current situation and the current situation in Italy, which was to use information asymmetry to deceive the French.

However, considering the confidentiality, only three people knew the details of the plan, namely Carlo, the Prime Minister, and the Foreign Secretary. The Prime Minister and the Foreign Secretary were a little confused about Carlo's whimsical plan.

If it weren't for the king's wise and mighty image over the years, I would have thought of finding a doctor for him. So there was some reluctance at first, but as time went by, this unreliable plan became closer and closer to reality. It wasn't until the French were really willing to use Tunisian land as a condition to appease Italy that the two of them were really dumbfounded. That's why the Prime Minister looked at Carlo like he was looking at God.

Carlo, who didn't know that he played the role of a sage figure in the minds of the two important ministers, sighed a little when he saw this condition. “These French people are really generous. They transferred the protection of Tunisia in the south from Sfax to Gafsa, which is separated from the Libyan province, to Italy as a reward for not using military measures against France. It’s a pity that this is the land of the South, not the North.”

The reason why Carlo sighed so much is that most of Tunisia's arable land is in the north, while the south is dominated by desert and mountain terrain. The few arable lands are concentrated in the narrow coastal strip, which is not much better than in Libya.

From an economic perspective, the size of southern Tunisia only accounts for 20% of Tunisia's economic territory. So on the surface, the French gave half of Tunisia's interests to Italy, but in fact they only gave 20% at most.

Don't think that this is Italy's disadvantage. You must know how difficult it is to obtain colonies from others in this era, let alone the French who refuse to let go.

Besides, Italy didn't pay any cost. This was a completely free benefit. How high could it be?

As for France, being able to use a small part of Tunisia's interests to tie up Italy is also a very cost-effective deal. At least it can cut out all Germany's allies. Even if there is a worst-case scenario, it will only deal with Germany. Not to mention that there is support from the British on his side, which can at least make the German government think about it.

Therefore, after defeating the Italians, France no longer was polite to the Germans and argued with the arguments at the Madrid Conference. During this period, the two countries also took frequent actions. Germany began to recruit reserves in June, and France, not to be outdone, also began to mobilize its troops, and then sent additional troops to the German-French border.

The French's bold move immediately triggered a serious response from Germany, which also sent its own troops to the border. For a time, millions of troops from both sides gathered on the German-French border. It only took one spark to detonate the situation in Europe.

Faced with the tense situation between Germany and France, how can other countries sit still? Britain, Russia, Austria, Italy and other European countries stepped forward to persuade the two countries. As the most important, the British Empire issued a clear warning, requiring the two countries to restrain their armies and avoid the outbreak of military conflict.

Of course, in addition to explicit warnings, the British Empire was also a master of secret diplomacy. He first warned Germany not to launch an attack on France at this time, otherwise the British Empire would intervene with arms.

Faced with the warning from the British Empire, although the German monarchs and ministers at this time were determined to challenge their status, they were not fools and were willing to challenge Britain and France at the same time. Therefore, in the face of the British Empire's warning, no one in Germany would take it seriously. For this reason, Navy Minister Tirpitz bluntly told the Kaiser and the government that the German Navy currently does not have enough strength. If a war breaks out, the German Navy will not be able to protect overseas interests.

Marshal Tirpitz's attitude represented the thoughts of many Germans at this time. They were afraid of the huge navy of the British Empire.

These people are mainly overseas traders and colonial interests. Especially in the Philippine colony, many German companies have investments here. Now is the time when these investments are entering the harvest period, which is why many people have raised objections. Money moves people's hearts, and no one is an exception.

One more thing, Germany has now entered the harvest period in the Philippines. Its net financial income reached a new high of 47 million marks in 1904, becoming Germany's only profitable overseas colony.

Of course, in addition to issuing a warning to the Germans, the French did not have to run away. They were also warned privately by the British Empire and asked them not to provoke the Germans. If the conflict was provoked by the French, the British Empire would remain neutral.

Don't think that the British Empire can't see the French people's thoughts and wants to use the British Empire to solve the German people's thoughts. Do you really think that civilized gentlemen can't see it?

The gentlemen of the British Empire had long seen what the French were thinking, so they warned the French not to think about dragging the British Empire into the water now.

Of course, it was not just the British Empire that took action. Other countries also needed to take action, and Italy was no exception.

Sorry everyone, there was something going on yesterday and I didn’t update it. I’m sorry.

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