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

Chapter 1155 Opening Lightning Strike

"That's not the point. The point is what exactly do the Austrians want to do?"

Reshid Pasha shook his head. He couldn't figure out what the Austrians were trying to do.

"Perhaps they want to use their numerical advantage to force us to agree with their proposal?"

Viscount Stratford quickly denied Reshid Pasha's conjecture.

"What's the point of numbers? This is not a democratic vote. Those small countries are not qualified to have a say on Middle East issues."

There was another period of silence. No one could come up with a reasonable guess. They could only temporarily assume that the Austrian side wanted to use the advantage in numbers to achieve their goal.

However, under this premise, the Austrian Empire's claims began to puzzle people. After all, Austria did not seem to make any major moves against the Ottoman Empire, and there was no reason to mobilize such a large force.

Viscount Stratford thought of many crazy possibilities. He even thought that Austria might directly designate the Ottoman Empire as an international condominium area. After all, the Austrians had done so before.

One outrageous and crazy idea after another almost drove him crazy. Finally, when the day of the conference came, Viscount Stratford had been tortured by insomnia and was exhausted and gaunt.

For the sake of the country's image, the delegation's makeup artists had to use all their skills to restore Viscount Stratford to his former glory.

The only gain of the British delegation during these days was the discovery that the French were actually on the same side as them. Even before the meeting began, the two sides had reached a consensus on the ownership of the island of Cyprus.

However, this kind of thing can only work if it is implemented in the treaty, so the necessary procedures must still be followed.

The Hofburg Palace was extremely bustling with activity. Not only were there envoys from the original seven countries, namely Britain, France, Russia, Austria, Turkey, Egypt and Greece, but also from Germany, Italy, and even Spain.

The representatives of the six countries except Austria were a little confused.

Prince Felix Schwarzenberg was delighted to announce the first topic of the conference: the threat posed by the Ottoman Empire to Europe.

As soon as the British arrived, they felt the overwhelming hostility in the conference hall. The Ottomans did not leave a good impression in the minds of Europeans.

This impression stems from long-standing hostility, religious differences, and Europeans' sense of the superiority of their own civilization.

To be honest, Prince Schwarzenberg's approach was not brilliant, but it was simple and effective, and it put the Ottomans into a passive situation from which they could hardly recover.

Viscount Stratford has also become mute. He cannot even speak a "fair word" now. As long as anyone dares to stand on the side of the Ottomans, he will be labeled a pagan, and will also be labeled as "associating with barbarians".

It took the British hundreds of years to get rid of the label of pirates, and if they stood together with the Ottomans again, they would probably lose the identity of a barbaric nation.

The French were even less likely to speak for the Ottomans. Tocqueville was well aware that being the only republic in the entire conference hall might be more sensitive than being a pagan.

As for Reshid Pasha, the fish on the chopping board, he did not dare to refute Prince Schwarzenberg's statement at all.

Thus, the tone of the entire conference was set, which was a punishment meeting for the Ottoman invaders.

Prince Schwarzenberg was the first to put forward the claim to the Austrian Empire.

“First, demand that the Ottoman Empire admit defeat.

Secondly, as a punishment for this war, the Ottoman Empire had to cede the Albanian region to the Austrian Empire.

Third, Wallachia must be disarmed and the Ottoman army must not cross the Danube, otherwise it will be regarded as a declaration of war. Fourth, the Ottoman Empire must pay 1000 million florins in compensation for military expenses.

Reshid Pasha really didn't care about the first three, but he really couldn't accept the fourth.

“Your Excellency, throughout the entire war, our Ottoman Empire has never sent a single soldier into your territory. Wherever your army goes, our army also tries its best to avoid it, and even our officials try their best to appease our people.

How can you ask us to pay for the military expenses?"

"Doesn't it cost money to transfer our troops from all over the country to the Balkans? Don't they need supplies when stationed abroad? Don't our troops need to maintain law and order in order to avoid accidents and inhumane incidents?"

This specious reason made Reshid Pasha speechless, but it was not the first time that the great powers did this, so he could only settle for the second best and hope to reduce the compensation costs.

Then came the part where the Ottoman Empire was best at at that time - crying poor. It didn't even need to forge data. As long as it gave out the real economic data, the great powers would immediately understand that the Ottoman Empire could not afford to pay the compensation.

In desperation, Prince Schwarzenberg could only reduce the amount of compensation again and again, from the original 10 million florins to 1.5 million florins.

But in fact, Reshid Pasha didn't even have to worry about the 1.5 million florins, because a French consortium immediately expressed its willingness to take over the debt, and Reshid Pasha breathed a sigh of relief.

Although the Ottomans had no objections, it was impossible for the British to allow Austria to succeed so easily.

In the face of opposition from the great powers, the Austrian Empire's claims had to be shelved, but this was normal after all, the participating countries still had to conduct transactions.

It was the Russians' turn to stand up and criticize the Ottoman Empire harshly again. The main reason was that the Ottoman Empire took the initiative to deploy troops on the border with the intention of attacking the allies.

On the other hand, there was the persecution of Christians, especially the massacres of Bulgarians and Armenians.

We have to admit that Prince Uvarov has the ability to respond on the spot. He came up with the boldest idea in the shortest time.

"The purpose of the great Russian war was only to protect and liberate, in view of the long-term political, economic and religious persecution of ethnic minorities in the Ottoman Empire.

His Majesty the Great Tsar Nicholas I proposed to grant Bulgaria independence and place it under the common protection of the international community.

The Armenian Principality was established to provide shelter for Christians who were persecuted in the Asian part of the Ottoman Empire.

The Dobruja demilitarized zone was established so that our country can better protect security and order in the Balkans.

At the same time, my country demanded that the Ottoman Empire compensate for military expenses, losses and other comprehensive expenses totaling approximately 1.2 million rubles.

In view of the Ottoman Empire's treacherous behavior during the war, the Treaty of Unkar-Iskelesi was violated.

Our country demands that the Ottoman Empire dismantle all defenses on both sides of the Strait and disband the Black Sea Fleet, and compensate our country for its losses of 1700 million rubles. "

After Prince Uvarov finished speaking, he received warm cheers, and even Prince Schwarzenberg couldn't help but stand up and cheer for him.

Reshid Pasha's eyes went dark and he almost fainted. The representatives of those small countries knew that the show was about to begin.

　It is likely that I will have a day off tomorrow.

　　(End of this chapter)