Rise of Australia

Chapter 292 Leopard Leap and the Italian-Turkish War

The actions of the French in Morocco aroused strong dissatisfaction among the German people and the government, and also made the already tense situation in Europe even more intense. The war seemed to be on the verge of breaking out.

In order to quell the high public anger in the country, and the fact that the actions of the French have indeed touched the interests of Germany, William II adopted the strategy of Foreign Minister Kidlund, sending warships to the important ports of Morocco, using it as a trump card, to sit back and watch Developments in the situation in Morocco.

On March 1911, 3, Germany officially submitted a memorandum to France and other major European countries, declaring that in order to protect the safety of German expatriates and Germany’s interests in Morocco, the German government decided to send warships to be stationed at the port of Agadir. Retreat immediately when the situation in Morocco returns to calm.

Before the German government decided to act, Kaiser Wilhelm II cautiously asked Kidrun, who had proposed this wonderful plan.

Facing Wilhelm II's prudent question, German Foreign Minister Kidrun said with some confidence: "We only took corresponding actions and did not hinder France's actions in Morocco. As long as the French are willing to pay corresponding benefits in the colony, We can withdraw our warships immediately and recognize the French occupation of Morocco."

Such words reassured William II a little, and he decided to send the gunboat Leopard to the important port of Morocco, Agadir.

It is worth mentioning that the Leopard gunboat did not sit back and watch the crisis in Morocco after entering the port of Agadir, as Foreign Minister Kidren said.

The first thing this small warship with a tonnage of less than 2000 tons entered the port of Agadir was not to communicate with the French, but to directly aim its guns at the city of Agadir.

This historically famous provocative act known as the "leopard's leap" directly made the already intense German-French relations suddenly tense. Countless people even thought that war was coming soon and sold their assets one after another.

As the so-called golden antiques in troubled times, if war really comes, everyone will know that the various assets in their hands are the least valuable.

Only by exchanging as much as possible for hard currency such as gold and important supplies before the war can they survive better after the war.

This behavior also made the stock exchange markets in Germany and France almost full.There are countless people selling their stocks, which also caused a large number of small and medium-sized companies in Germany and France to go bankrupt overnight.

The people of Germany and France are full of complaints, and their hatred for each other's countries is getting deeper and deeper.

The Leopard gunboat suddenly appeared in the port of Agadir, which surprised the French army stationed in the port.

What's more serious is that as soon as this small gunboat arrived at the port, it immediately aimed its guns at the city, or the French army stationed in the city.

Such a bold and provocative behavior directly shocked and angered the French army stationed in the port.

Regardless, France is still one of the most powerful powers in the world right now.Even if Germany's comprehensive strength has surpassed that of France, it cannot send such a small warship to provoke France like this.

The French army was very angry, but there was really no good way for the infantry to face the gunboat. They could only report to the country quickly and with a little embellishment, requesting the country to quickly send battleships to assist.

After the French army added fuel and vinegar, Paris soon received news from Morocco.

The French government was very angry about the German warships that suddenly appeared and showed their demonstrations. They believed that Germany dared to directly provoke the French army and actions with just a small gunboat. It was a great shame for an old power like France.

But this is not over yet. On the second day, Germany called the French government, demanding that the French government give Germany sufficient compensation for its actions in Morocco and guarantee Germany's interests.

The action that was supposed to be a threat turned into a threat this time. I don’t know who leaked the news. The French people also learned of the threat from Germany, and they took to the streets to march, demanding that the government directly declare war on Germany to protect France and France. people's interests.

Facing the enemy country and the people, a fool knows how to choose.

On March 1911, 3, the French government officially announced to Germany that the French government was unwilling to accept diplomatic blackmail from Germany and only promised to guarantee the safety of Germans in Morocco.

The tough and uncompromising attitude of the French brought the "negotiations" between Germany and France to a deadlock.

Under the "ingenious plan" of Foreign Minister Kidlund, the Germans did not back down on this, but chose to continue to blackmail and dispatch the cruiser Berlin to Morocco.

If the dispatch of the Leopard gunboat was just a diplomatic blackmail and intimidation, then in the eyes of the French, the dispatch of the Berlin cruiser seemed to be a war threat and blackmail.

The current France is not what it will be decades later. Faced with such blatant threats and intimidation from Germany, the French people's anger is almost unstoppable, and they even claim that if the country backs down, they will directly overthrow the cabinet.

Don't underestimate the voice of the French people, saying that overthrowing the cabinet really dares to overthrow the cabinet.

It just so happened that the French government was also very angry at this time, so it chose to continue to be tough on Germany.

After Germany continued to blackmail, the French government directly refused to see the German ambassador to France, showing France's tough attitude.

And France's repeated rejections also made the German people very angry.Both sides believe that the other side is at fault, and there have even been an endless stream of demonstrations and initiatives among the people demanding that the government declare war.

On March 3, the main force of the German army moved to the French border, and the situation seemed to have a faint meaning of war.

France was not far behind. Only on the second day after receiving the news, that is, on the afternoon of March 3, the main force of the French army also set off to the border area adjacent to Germany.

Because of the strength of the German Army, the French directly announced mobilization in some border areas to prevent the Germans from possible undeclared war.

The actions of the two sides have directly contributed to the continuous conflicts on the German-French border. It seems that as long as the high-level officials of the two sides give orders, millions of troops will fight to the death.

After France announced military mobilization, Germany also announced military mobilization, and Wilhelm II directly ordered the German General Staff to issue combat plans to all armies.

Fortunately, the oil tank was directly ignited.

The British originally wanted to sit back and watch the struggle between Germany and France, making the relationship between Germany and France worse, and directly eliminating the possibility of a German-French alliance.

But the British are not thinking of going to war with Germany directly. After all, before the super dreadnoughts were launched frequently, the number of dreadnoughts of the Germans was about the same as that of the United Kingdom, and the naval advantage was actually not great.

Not to mention the army, the German army's claim to be the best in the world is not bragging, and the strength of the French alone is not enough to resist the German army.

At this time, the British government did not know that Germany's goal was only to blackmail the French Congo colony, and thought that the Germans were really angry and wanted to start a real war with France.

More importantly, if war comes, the Germans will occupy Agadir and establish a naval base on the Atlantic coast, which will seriously threaten the British channel from Europe to the Cape of Good Hope. Therefore, the British are also very opposed to Germany's occupation of Moroccan ports.

On March 1911, 3, the British officially stepped down, warning the German ambassador to Britain: "This incident (the second Moroccan crisis) affects the interests of the British more deeply than any other event. The participation of the British Empire is firmly denied and opposed."

The fate of the British did not attract the attention of the Germans. The German government insisted on negotiating with France alone to resolve the crisis.

But the Germans did not expect that the British attitude in this crisis was so firm that it even directly pushed the relationship between Britain and Germany into the abyss.

On March 1911, 3, Lloyd George, the British Chancellor of the Exchequer, delivered a speech that shocked the world in London. He declared: "I am ready to make great sacrifices for the maintenance of peace. But if we are forced to be in such a situation, we can only give up To insult Britain in such a way as to her vital interests, as though she were no longer in the family of the peoples of the world, which has kept the peace at the cost of centuries of heroic and victorious deeds of important pre-eminence If anything, then I stress that peace at such a price is a humiliation and will never be tolerated by an empire as great as ours."

This speech was so full of gunpowder that it even directly brought the current German-French conflict to the fore, declaring the firm position of the British to support France.

What's more worth mentioning is that the speaker of such a speech was not the foreign minister Gray who was always opposed to or even hostile to Germany, but Lloyd George, the chancellor of the exchequer who always advocated peace and friendship with Germany.

Such a shift increases the deterrence of the speech.On the day the speech ended, the British government announced that the navy had entered a state of combat readiness.

If Lloyd George's speech is to express the position and attitude of the British, then the announcement that the British Navy has entered a state of combat readiness is to announce how firm the British position is.

If the Germans continue to be tough, a war with Britain and France is very likely to break out.This is something that the Germans are not willing to see at the moment, because many dreadnought ships in Germany are still in the shipyard, and it will take a long time before they are officially launched.

At least for a year or two, the Germans are not willing to see a war with Britain and France.After the persuasion of many people in the government, William II gave up his continued tough attitude towards Britain and France. He was very dissatisfied and reluctantly asked the government to explain the behavior of the German government to the British.

On March 1911, 3, after the British navy's war preparations had been completed, the French government officially notified Britain that Germany had no intention of gaining a foothold on Morocco's Atlantic coast.Their purpose was only to demand proper compensation from the French in other respects after Morocco had been placed under French protection.

On March 3, the Germans lowered their demands for compensation in some respects and reopened negotiations with France, which calmed down the situation in Europe, which had almost entered the war.

But at the same time, it is worth noting that the firm stance of the British has rapidly deteriorated the relationship between Britain and Germany. The good impression of the British towards William II no longer exists, and the good attitude of the Germans towards Britain has also disappeared.

The contradiction between Britain, France and Germany has become irresolvable, and the hatred of the Germans for Britain and France has been irreversible.

Even this kind of hatred will increase as time goes by, and when it accumulates to an unbearable level, it may be the moment when the world war really comes.

It is worth mentioning that during this crisis, a noteworthy event also occurred in Europe, but because of the violent conflicts between Britain, France and Germany and the upcoming war, people who noticed this matter did not many.

The Agadir incident that occurred in March this year attracted the attention of the whole of Europe and even the whole world.

This also made Italy feel that it had an opportunity to take advantage of it, and felt that its ambition to occupy Tripoli had been realized.

At the end of March, knowing Italian newspapers suddenly and violently attacked the Turkish government's abuse and coercion of Italian nationals in Tripoli.

Under the fierce propaganda of major Italian newspapers, the Turkish government has been publicized as a devil who does all kinds of evil, and the Italian expats in Tripoli urgently need the Italian government's rescue.

Feeling that the preparations were almost done, in April 1911, the Italian government officially notified the Turkish government and issued the final notice.The Italian government claims that Turkish rule has plunged Tripoli into chaos and impoverishment, that Italian businesses in Tripoli have been hostile to Turkey, and that Italian expatriates have had their lives threatened.

The Italian Government, therefore, being compelled to care for its own dignity and interests, decided to impose a military occupation on Tripoli and Cyrene, and to request the assistance of the Turkish Army and to take measures against any possible resistance to the Italian Army.

The degree of arrogance and absurdity of this treaty is even rare in history.

The Turkish government naturally directly rejected the Italian ultimatum, and scolded the Italian government as a greedy, shameless, and absurd clown.

On April 4, the Italian government formally declared war on Turkey.

The Ottoman Turkish Empire was already decayed at this time. Facing the aggression of the great powers of Italy, the Turkish government called on the major European powers to intervene.

But long before this, the Italian government had adopted decades-long diplomatic activities, and successively signed the renewal of the Triple Alliance, the Italian-French Agreement and the Italian-Russian Kuangniki Agreement, which were recognized by European powers such as Germany, France, and Russia. Tripoli is an Italian sphere of influence.

Because of the agreement, the European powers are not good at condemning Italy’s behavior of bullying the weak. They can only pretend not to see it. Some powers even persuade the Turkish government to accept Italy’s unreasonable demands in order to avoid an unreasonable situation. The evil war that should happen.

In fact, the Ottoman Turkish Empire is currently on good terms with Germany, which is the real reason why European powers are unwilling to help Turkey.

Even in the final analysis, Italy and Turkey are in the same camp, and the allied camps are fighting against each other. The Allied Powers have no time to watch the excitement, so how could they interfere?
On the German side, the diplomatic strategy against France has just failed, causing the German government to lose face.

Coupled with the fact that both Italy and Turkey are allies of Germany, favoring either would damage the other's relationship.

The German government can only express its helplessness. Apart from supporting the Turkish government with a sum of money, it has no further diplomatic actions.

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(End of this chapter)