I'm playing whack-a-mole in Siberia

Chapter 731: More Than Losing One Generation
The two major pioneers of Europe's colonization of the world were missionaries and these so-called explorers.

In order to cover up the profound disasters that colonization brought to people around the world, European countries glorified "exploration", forcibly linking it with bravery, exploration, unknown, challenge and other words that represent the good qualities of human beings, encouraging more people to join the colonial cause.

It is true that some people have made a fortune through "adventure", but they are only a very small number of lucky people.

The vast majority of explorers became vagrants, gold diggers, or even bandits around the world.

George discouraged Russians from exploring the Persian Gulf, and Constantinople issued a notice stating that there were potential risks in the Persian Gulf region, reminding Russians to proceed with caution.

Unexpectedly, this announcement was ridiculed by the British.

Churchill published an article in the Times, ostensibly urging the Kingdom of Hejaz to accept the Balfour Declaration, but secretly condemning Russia for crying out loud and trying to monopolize resources around the Persian Gulf.

On November 1917, 11, the then British Foreign Secretary Balfour wrote to Rothschild, saying: "His Majesty's Government is in favor of the establishment of a national home for the Hebrews in Palestine and is willing to do its utmost to promote its realization."

This private letter became known to the Hebrews as the Balfour Declaration and became the basis for the establishment of a Hebrew nation in the Middle East.

The Hebrews, who have a bad record all over the world, already have a history in the Middle East.

The Hebrews first lived in the Canaan region in the Middle East. Because the land in Canaan was barren, the Hebrews migrated to Egypt.

At the beginning, Egypt welcomed the arrival of the Hebrews. It not only accepted the Hebrews, but also gave them fertile land, allowing them to live and work in Egypt.

However, the good times did not last long. Egypt did not receive the gratitude of the Hebrews. When the Hyksos invaded Egypt, the Hebrews not only did not help Egypt, but instead took the initiative to serve as guides for the Hyksos.

So after defeating the Hyksos in Egypt, the Hebrews were reduced to slavery.

This is why the Hebrews hated Egypt.

Given the Egyptian experience, it is understandable that the Kingdom of Hejaz chose not to accept the Balfour Declaration.

During the World War, an uprising broke out in the Hejaz region against the rule of the Ottoman Empire. The 38th patriarch of the Hashemite family, the Grand Sharif of Mecca, Hussein ibn Ali, declared independence on June 1916, 6 and established the Kingdom of Hejaz.

It should be noted that the Kingdom of Hejaz was established with the support of Britain.

So Churchill, who had just taken office as Secretary of State for the Colonies, threatened Hussein in the article that if the Kingdom of Hejaz did not accept the Balfour Declaration, it might lose Britain's support.

Just the day after Churchill's article was published, Nicolas the Younger published an article in Le Figaro, saying that Russia would strictly follow the regulations of the League of Nations and safeguard the territorial integrity and political independence of member states.

This means telling Hussein not to be afraid, even if he loses England, he still has Russia.

As the king of a country, Hussein has the dignity of a king even though his country is weak.

On September 9, Hussein arrived in Constantinople for a visit to Russia.

At the same time as Hussein arrived in Constantinople, the expedition organized by Provence also arrived in Abadan.

The Provence expedition consisted of 150 people, almost a small army, which was enough to destroy a large empire in the 16th century.

In 1531, the Spaniard Francisco Pizarro conquered the Inca Empire, which had a population of six million, with fewer than 200 people.

Due to the publicity in the past period of time, the Provence expedition has attracted widespread attention. Le Figaro even sent reporters to follow the expedition to Abadan to prepare for follow-up reports on the Provence expedition.

Abadan is a city built by the British for oil. It has the only refinery in the entire Middle East.

"The situation is terrible now. The oil fields are burning, the British are helpless, the Americans are trying to put out the fire, and the Russians are watching the fun—"

Nolan, the Figaro reporter in Abadan, reminded the accompanying reporter Leon Victor not to think that Provence could sit back and relax just because it had hired a large number of gunmen.

For the small tribes around the Persian Gulf, an expedition team of 150 people can indeed run rampant.

The real threat to the expedition comes from Britain, Russia, and perhaps the United States.

In Nolang's view, Russia and Britain are both crying thief, both want to dominate the Persian Gulf and drive the other out of the region.

Dmitry was not idle during this period. While negotiating with McMahon, he strengthened Russia's dominant position in northern Persia.

Tehran is Russia's sphere of influence. Dmitry made full use of his advantage as the Grand Duke of Russia and partied every night in Tehran. He not only loved delicious food, but also liked fancy clothes. He perfectly integrated into the lifestyle of Persian aristocrats and led the trend in Tehran.

Dmitry was not just good at eating and drinking. While winning over the Tehran nobles, Dmitry reached an agreement with Sayyid Giyaddin that if the Persian government handed over the Persian oil fields to the Russian-Persian Oil Company for exploitation, the Persian government would get a larger share of the profits.

Dmitry also provided Reza Khan with a batch of weapons and equipment, allowing Reza Khan to expand his army to 10,000 people.

The condition was that Reza Khan would hire Russian instructors and Russian advisers.

Russia has plenty of weapons, equipment and officers.

Reza Khan had only 3000 men under his command and was in urgent need of expanding his army, so the two men hit it off immediately.

The fire in the oil field had not yet been extinguished when the pipeline transporting oil was blown up.

Darcis was in a state of panic and was said to be looking for a buyer to sell his shares in the Anglo-Persian Oil Company.

This should be a smokescreen released by Dasis. The purpose is not to cash out, but to force the British government to provide greater support.

“Did the Russians really do this?”

Leon Victor was curious. Burning oil wells and blowing up pipelines went far beyond the scope of business.

The ultimate core of business competition is profit. How can you make money if you burn the oil fields and blow up the pipelines right from the start?

"Who knows? There are rumors flying around Abadan right now. Some people even say it was done by Paris—"

Nolan said, I know as much as you know. "What does this have to do with us?"

Leon Victor was surprised, this rumor was too shameless.

"Why are you here?"

Nolan is used to it.

"I want to follow up on the expedition."

"That's why."

Leon Victor frowned, this reason seemed to make sense.

Like Britain, France is short of oil.

No one would believe that the Provence expedition had such a great impact without the support of France.

"If I were you, I would stay in Abadan and never leave."

Nolan reminded Leon Victor that this damn place was full of desert and full of dangers.

The environment in the desert is very special. Without a guide, you will most likely never return.

It is even more dangerous to rely entirely on a guide, as no one can be sure where the guide will lead the expedition.

It would be a lot of fun if the expedition team was led into an ambush by horse bandits.

"Mr. Provence must have a way."

Leon Victor pinned his hopes on his status as an "explorer" of Provence.

Although Provence is an explorer, he is actually a very cautious person.

It should be said that all explorers are cautious.

Those who were not careful died.

As soon as Provence arrived in Abadan, he went to see Lieutenant Colonel Henry, hoping to get Henry's help.

Considering the generous gifts, Henry is quite caring towards his fellow villager.

"To be honest, I can't give you any guarantees. Do you think this is a dispute between two companies? No-no-no, this is a war between Russia and Britain."

Henry didn't know why the bandits suddenly changed from seeking money to killing everyone, but he knew that this matter had nothing to do with France.

The French economic crisis is getting worse and worse. People are not even willing to lend money at high interest rates, so how can they care about oil?

Before the outbreak of the World War, France was known as the "Empire of Usury".

France had hoped to defeat its arch-rival Germany, plunder Germany completely, quickly recover, and return to the top of the European continent.

After the Paris Peace Conference, the French discovered helplessly that not only was there no way to recover their losses from Germany, but the losses France suffered during the world war were far beyond what France could bear.

During the World War, France, with a total population of 4000 million, suffered a total of 170 million deaths and over 280 million injuries.

Unlike Britain and Russia, the people lost in France were all from good families, the backbone of society, and the impact on French society was extremely serious.

The main force of Britain participating in the war was the colonial army. Although there were many casualties on the home front, the war did not spread to the British Isles after all, and the losses were within an acceptable range for Britain.

The Russian troops participating in the war were either Cossacks or the Gao Ri Legion, almost all of whom were "gray cattle" and had little impact on Russia.

In France alone, 7000 primary school teachers died in the war.

What does it mean to have 20 teachers in the early 7000th century!
The French education system is on the verge of collapse.

During the World War, the German army once approached only 60 kilometers away from Paris. In order to defend Paris, the French government encouraged the French to join the army, so the University of Paris was in trouble.

Before the outbreak of the World War, the University of Paris had 1.5 students.

By the end of the war, only 5000 were left.

France’s most serious problem now is not the economic crisis or the loss of a generation, but the cultural and technological gap, which cannot be made up no matter how many people are introduced from the North African colonies.

In this situation, can the French government still care about Persia’s oil?

The French government really can't take care of it, as French capitalists are salivating over oil.

Last year, Russia planned to build a natural gas pipeline to Paris, triggering an investment boom in France.

Everyone knew that Europe was about to enter the oil and gas age, which was why Provence had the money to organize an army.

"Russia has Baku and Tyumen, so why does it still covet Persian oil?"

Provence confirmed Russia's greed.

This is just like what the French and British say about being content with what they have.

(End of this chapter)