The War Court and Lap Pillow, Austria's Mandate of Heaven

Chapter 1131: Anglo-Austrian Truce
Except for Russia, all countries had basically no objection to the British mediation.

The main purpose of the Austrian Empire declaring war on the Ottoman Empire was actually to reach a ceasefire with Britain. After all, there was no reason for the warring countries to accept mediation.

The British are also very knowledgeable in this regard. In fact, most people in British politics do not want to continue this meaningless and costly war.

However, the two sides still had to bargain, the most important of which was the ownership of the Maltese Islands and Cyprus, as well as the delivery of captured ships of both sides.

Of course the British wanted to take them all, and Franz was not very attached to these spoils, but it was meaningless to negotiate favors with a country like Britain, so he talked directly about the price.

The Austrian Empire demanded 1.5 billion florins in compensation, a price that the British naturally could not accept, but at this point Britain could no longer drag it out.

So Franz made his own request:

First of all, all hostile acts against the Austrian Empire must be stopped, any acts of piracy should be stopped, and at the same time, the Austrian Empire will have the right to deal with any British people who commit acts of piracy against the Austrian Empire.

Second, recognize Patagonia as territory of the Austrian Empire and evacuate all British expatriates (actually only a few dozen people) before October 1849.

Third, the German Confederation must not continue to occupy the German Confederation's southern African colonies, and recognize the Tswana region as the German Confederation's territory. At the same time, Texas must be recognized as the German Confederation's North American colony.

(The Tswana region is actually present-day Botswana.)
Fourth, compensation for the losses of the Austrian Empire and payment of a ransom totaling 3500 million pounds, of which 2000 million pounds must be paid immediately and the rest within ten years.

Fifth, Austria and the United Kingdom reopened trade, and barriers should not exceed 10% except for some commodities.

Sixth, Britain must not interfere with the Austrian Empire’s rescue and commercial activities in Ireland.

In fact, there were originally sixteen points, but it must be said that Franz was too kind and agreed to the British request for an armistice after only six of them were completed.

The Austrian Empire was to return all British prisoners and ships and withdraw from the Maltese Islands and Cyprus.

The two sides officially ceased hostilities on November 1848, 11, which lasted for five years.

Franz originally planned to sign a ten-year armistice agreement to buy more time for the Austrian Empire to develop, but the British seemed very unconvinced. It seems that some things are ultimately unavoidable.

Meanwhile far away in St. Petersburg.

The news of Magid's sudden death made the Tsar excited, but he was also angry about the British intervention. He didn't know how the British got across the frozen Baltic Sea.

Nicholas I felt that this was a godsend opportunity to capture Constantinople in one fell swoop, but the Russian troops in the east and west were all hindered.

Nicholas I wanted to send the Black Sea Fleet directly to Constantinople, but the Russian military leaders generally believed that this action was too risky.

Their Black Sea Fleet is understaffed and lacks sufficient offensive capabilities. Not only might they be unable to capture their targets, they might also be wiped out by the Ottoman Navy.

On the other hand, the British are still very good at controlling the Russians. The British ambassador even said privately that as long as Britain and Russia join forces, they can divide the world.

The idea of ​​Britain and Russia dividing the world together was too tempting for the Russian monarchs and ministers.

As soon as the British ambassador threw out this bait, Russia immediately agreed to the request for peace talks.

However, Russia also added an additional clause, that is, Greece could not attack or occupy Constantinople. The Russians overestimated the Greeks, who were intimidated by the Russians' reputation and dared not attack Constantinople. Even after the news of Magid's sudden death came out, the Greek high-ranking officials strongly opposed Otto I's reckless behavior.

Otto I didn't know whether it was because of his sorrow and anger or because of the unfamiliar climate and climate, but the king who proposed the great ideal of Greece fell ill.

In this way, no one in the Greek government would oppose Britain's peace proposal.

As for Muhammad Ali, he had recaptured the areas east and west of the Jordan River south of the holy city and controlled the coveted Gulf of Aqaba.

These areas are the essence of Jordan, and Egypt also has a certain ruling basis in these areas. As long as Muhammad Ali can keep these areas, he has nothing else to ask for.

He was exactly looking forward to the British mediation. After all, with tigers and wolves in front of him, the British would not care about a small shrimp like him.

Milos Obrenović did not receive an invitation, but he felt that it was just because Serbia was located in the interior and the British envoys would arrive later. He could take advantage of this God-given opportunity to further expand the results of the war and create a fait accompli so that he could get a piece of the pie.

The Ottoman Empire finally waited for British mediation, but the state of the Ottoman Empire at this time was difficult to describe.

If the Russians had not been so brutal, the Balkan Peninsula and the Anatolian Plateau would have been filled with rebellions long ago.

The main reason why the Ottoman army was still holding on was because of the Russians' bad reputation and the lack of information.

The Ottoman high-ranking officials were not fools. They immediately blocked the news of Mejid’s sudden death. However, the Ottoman government, which had long been infiltrated like a sieve, was completely transparent to the great powers.

In fact, some powers also wanted to spread the news, but there were too many rumors in the Ottoman Empire, and the news of Mejid's sudden death did not seem explosive enough and did not cause much impact.

Due to Reshid Pasha's duplicity during the rebellion, Mehmed Murad V's biological mother (evkefza Kadn), Queen Mother Shevkefza, decided to serve as regent herself.

"Kadn" means "woman" in Turkish and is usually used as an honorific title for female members of the royal family.

Although Queen Mother Shefkefza had experienced many ups and downs, she was essentially still a woman without much opinion of her own, and she had a deep fear of the great powers, so she directly gave the Ottoman Empire's negotiating rights to Viscount Stratford.

This news was a shot in the arm for Viscount Stratford. It would allow Britain to take the initiative at the negotiating table and use this opportunity to gain more benefits from the Ottoman Empire.

The end result was that all countries accepted Britain's request for mediation, but the aftermath of the war continued.

Afterwards, Britain, as the agent of the Ottoman Empire, requested a peace conference to be held in London, which aroused strong dissatisfaction from Russia and Greece.

In fact, not only them, Franz was also very dissatisfied. He had worked so hard to create the momentum for the six countries to attack Qi, but in the end the Ansa bandit gang reaped the benefits.

Is there really such a thing as luck in this world?
No, it seems like a desperate attempt without any reason. In fact, Britain and the Ottoman Empire had established a stable trade relationship since the 16th century, and the political relationship between the two sides was also quite consistent.

In the early days, the British and the Ottomans joined forces to fight against the alliance of Venice and the Habsburgs, and then suppressed Russia and restricted France. That is why the Ottomans handed over the destiny of the country to the British at this time.

The Ottomans had calculated this very clearly. Without the British, they would not be able to escape the fate of being divided. Only the British would try their best to maintain the integrity of the Ottoman Empire in order to limit the expansion of European countries.

But Franz would not let the British return to their home turf.
　Regarding Wagelin Street mentioned above, it is actually the location of the Vienna General Hospital and the Lunatic Asylum.

　　(End of this chapter)