Rebirth of the Spanish Empire

As early as a few decades ago, as the major powers in Europe paid attention to the Balkans, watching the Ottoman Empire become increasingly weak and the major nations under its rule beginning to have independent thoughts, the major powers in Europe began to take a peek at what was happening in the Balkans. There are interests there, especially Russia and Greece's ally Britain and Germany's ally Austria-Hungary. Under the leadership of Russia, Romania, supported by Russia, first became independent in 1877, and then tasted the sweetness of Russia. Britain was also prepared to use Russia to break The Ottoman Empire was dominant there, and other European countries such as France acquiesced in Russia's actions.

Later, after the Ottoman Empire became angry with them and the two countries went to war, Russia won a small victory and helped Bulgaria become independent from the Ottoman Empire. This completed the situation and added two allies to the other side to serve as a bridgehead against the Ottoman Empire.

Then, with the help of Russia in 1882, Seville, which was already relatively autonomous, completed the formation of its own country and established a kingdom, becoming Russia's third complete anti-Austrian alliance on the Balkan Peninsula. It was a big blow to the Ottoman Empire. Their independence was not just as simple as the Ottoman Empire losing territory. The successive defeats in the Balkans made it difficult for the Ottoman Empire to take care of the West. In the end, the Ottoman Empire became stronger in Britain and supported France. Under the premise, it successively lost Sudan, Egypt and many areas of the Arabian Peninsula, and finally formed the current Ottoman Empire, leaving only the edge of the Red Sea on the Arabian Peninsula and later the territory of Turkey.

As for Libya, I think of it every time. It was a pity for the Ottomans that such a large piece of territory was sold to Spain at such a low price.

Think about how your country has changed from a country with one of the largest territories in the world to a country that is now only ranked outside the top five countries in Europe in terms of colonies. In the world, it is even lower than the United States and Britain's allies Brazil and Argentina, China, etc. are unclear, which makes them extremely uncomfortable. Therefore, he became increasingly resentful of Tsarist Russia in the north, which had single-handedly caused the decline of the Ottoman Empire, and he also hated Britain extremely. [

Precisely because he saw the strong anti-Russian and anti-British sentiment among the people, in order to reduce the internal friction caused by the internal conflicts within the country, Muhammad V and his ministers came up with an idea, which was to deliberately annoy the outside world. of those countries. For example, Seville and Britain's ally Greece. Deliberately exaggerating the weakness of these countries towards their own country, and then letting the people's emotions vent on these countries. , and then enhance their legal dominance.

Everything went according to plan, and Mohammed V even laughed in his dreams. Thinking that his plan will definitely succeed. When the time comes, all you have to do is raise your arms. It is not impossible for hundreds of thousands of troops to march north to flatten northern Greece and then capture Macedonia, but it is a long shot. But he didn't expect that at this critical moment, his ally Spain would actually announce that he would strictly promise not to launch large-scale military operations unless Spain's interests were harmed or allies were invaded. This was very important to other countries. Naturally, this is good for the country, but now what we can do is invade other countries with revenge. Can those in Spain provide help with our invasion policy? Mohammed V seriously questioned this.

However, he continued to wait for the news to arrive. If it didn't work, they, they would take the next step. He really didn't want to execute the second plan casually, but since he had already fired the bow, there was absolutely no possibility of stopping it. Hopefully, things can turn around.

However, he was disappointed in the end.

“What exactly does Spain say?”

Enver Pasha was the leader of the Turkish Youth Party. In his early years, he carried out encirclement and suppression of rebellions in Macedonia and participated in the war with Italy. At that time, when Italy was preparing to invade Libya, which was still under the jurisdiction of the Ottoman Empire, he also participated in several wars with Russia. war, and is one of the three most valued subordinates of Muhammad V. He is now the Minister of Military Affairs and the Chief of General Staff.

The other two are Talat Pasha, who is the chairman of the Al-Shabaab and the Minister of Interior of the Ottoman Empire; and the other is Cemal Pasha, the Minister of the Navy and the Director of the Istanbul Police. These three people are the most important people besides the king. Powerful people.

Muhammad V naturally asked Enver Pasha, who was in charge of the military. Among the three, he was the most powerful and the most favored by the king.

Enver Pashanai said: "They say that their king has already set the rules, so they will never destroy their own rules as soon as they set the rules. This is talking about themselves, so they Not willing to do it”

Although Muhammad V had already guessed this result, he still couldn't hide his disappointment and said: "So, they just refused to help us?"

To the surprise of many people, Enver Pasha did not answer directly this time. Instead, after thinking for a moment, he said: "He did not refuse to help us."

"Oh, what do you mean?" Everyone's eyes fell on Enver Pasha, wanting to hear his explanation.

Enver Pasha said with a wry smile: "The answer they gave us was that they wanted to provide us with the best weapons they could sell so that they could be the first to meet our requirements. However, they refused directly and seriously. "The matter of sending troops"

Muhammad V was no exception this time. Although he always felt very sorry for not sending troops, having these promises to supply weapons was better than nothing. Suddenly, he asked eagerly and a little excitedly. Said: "Their answer is that the largest quantity should be the first to meet our weapon requirements?"

Enver Pasha couldn't figure out why His Majesty was so happy, but he still said honestly: "Yes, this is how their meaning was conveyed back."

"Does that mean we can do it on credit? We need the weapons first, and then we can talk about repayment."

"They never mentioned this, but they wouldn't refuse it if they thought about it." Enver Pasha was stunned, and then said thoughtfully.

"Your Majesty, wouldn't this be a good idea? After all, it seems that, no matter how you calculate it, Spain is sure to win, but we are paying and bleeding." The Minister of the Interior is in charge of money and food. Talat Pasha was naturally very sensitive about careful calculation, and he did not dare to persuade His Majesty not to go to war. Because they know. The other two and even the Shabaab members under his leadership have already had passionate thoughts about joining the war, and he himself has the urge to go to the front line.

However, as a person with good professional ethics, he still reminded him. actually. In his heart. Spain was not the best ally. He believed that the best intra-sect commonwealth should be Germany, because the German Empire was far away from the Ottoman Empire. The Ottoman Empire constituted no real territorial wexe, but what about Spain? Just look at the deeper the relationship between the Ottoman Empire and Spain in recent years, the more it weakened the Ottoman Empire. You can see that Spain is not a good match for the Ottoman Empire. [

But the problem is that although he is the chairman of the Youth Party, in many matters, his power is not as great as that of Enver Pasha. Even his influence within the party is sometimes only a few points away from that of the other party. The main reason is naturally because the Minister of the Navy and the Police Chief of the capital of Istanbul are close allies of Enver Pasha. Together, the two of them are in danger of being ostracized, whether within the Al-Shabaab or the government.

But these two people are people who made their fortune in the military. Most of the weapons in their hands are Spanish products, which means that their biggest weapons are given by Spain. They are naturally pro-Spanish. Therefore, in the Ottoman Empire Of the pro-Spanish and pro-German factions, the former still occupies a larger number.

However, sometimes, the final decision is still waiting for the opinion of Mohammed V. It is precisely because of the structure of the Ottoman Empire government that in many cases, in order to maintain a balance, His Majesty will still stand on his side from time to time. After all, who calls himself the weak? A king naturally needs to maintain a balanced posture to be able to control the overall situation.

And now, this time, it is time for His Majesty to make a decision. Will Spain's refusal to send troops become an aid for the Ottoman Empire to get closer to Germany? Looking at the other two people who knew he was choosing, and seeing that they had no intention of disturbing His Majesty, Talat Pasha was a little surprised, but he immediately understood that as a soldier, sometimes it is better to be more direct. After all, Spain did directly reject the Ottoman Empire's request this time. Therefore, the two people who originally supported pro-Spain on one side have now temporarily returned to the middle line and stopped.

Mohammed V is also in a very difficult position now. He chooses to continue to be one-sidedly close to Spain. This seems to be a waste of Germany's frequent winking towards the Ottoman Empire. This may even arouse the resentment of the Germans, and in turn, may even offend them. The pride of the Germans gave the Ottomans another world-class powerful enemy in the future. The thought of this made him tremble with fear.

But if you just quietly throw away Spain, your main ally, and throw yourself half into the arms of Germany, it would also be an insult to Spain. After all, they will wonder: Do you think Spain has no Strength protects you and chooses Germany. If the answer is yes, it means looking down on Spain. If the answer is no, it will be even more infuriating. After all, an ally that is not half-hearted will definitely cause other countries to speculate on its loyalty.

Therefore, this is definitely the most difficult moment for him to choose in his life.

"Your Majesty, actually there is a message from the Spanish military." Enver Pasha suddenly broke the quiet room at this time.

"What words?" Mohammed V asked hopefully at this time.

Enver Pasha, who was smiling bitterly in his heart but with a serious look on his face, said: "The message from Spain is that despite being friendly with other countries, Spain still abides by the alliance between the two countries as always."

"What do you think they mean?"

"Support our decision"

The four of them all looked at the other three with their own eyes, and finally came to the same opinion.

Muhammad V said firmly: "Then, let our great army take back our great glory."

"I am willing to follow His Majesty to conquer all directions." The voices of the other three shouted echoed in the room for a long time. (To be continued...)