Chapter 940

Not competing didn't mean not participating in the competition. Even if they weren't interested, they could join in the fun.

With Austria's current strength, no one could ignore them, and they couldn't do without their share.

Even if they didn't compete for colonies, they could still get something in return. If they made concessions here, they could still make up for their losses in other areas.

The exchange of interests was the essence of international diplomacy. How could it be possible to just take advantage and not pay the price?

If they took all the benefits, how could other countries survive? If they couldn't afford to offend them, they could just hide and not play with them.

It wasn't the era of one country dominating the world. No country could hide the truth. If they didn't want to be alone, it was best to follow the rules of the game.

Once the rules of the game were broken, the one who made the rules would inevitably be the one who made the rules. Because the rules themselves were set by the makers to protect their own interests, no one could guarantee that they would be in a dominant position when the cards were reshuffled.

Unfortunately, the UK, Fao, and Germany were all old empires. They personally participated and led the development of the rules of the game. The current rules of the game itself represented Austria's interests.

With the general policy determined, there was no need for Franz to worry about the specific negotiation work. What they could get, they would only know after the negotiation.

It was impossible for Franz to determine the strategic goals of each country. The so-called targeting in advance was complete nonsense.

Just like the British diplomacy, people who didn't know would think that the British made a series of plans, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs would carry out diplomatic work according to the plan made in advance.

However, as far as Franz knew, the British diplomacy had no so-called long-term diplomatic plan at all. There was only one core to carry out diplomatic work: national interests.

The specific plan was made temporarily based on the actual situation. Making detailed plans in advance was not suitable for diplomacy.

International diplomacy was constantly changing. Enemies today could become friends tomorrow. If you couldn't even determine friend or foe, how could you guarantee that other countries would follow your plan?

Any successful diplomatic power would revolve around international interests and flexibly adjust their own diplomatic plans, rather than mechanically following the plan.

Franz was very accurate on this point. Twenty years ago, Austria's most important foreign policy was the Russo-Austrian Alliance, but now it had become the UK, Fao, and Germany.

…

Coordinating international relations, easing the conflict between the major colonial empires, and also involving the distribution of the remaining colonies, was obviously not something that could be completed overnight. This negotiation was bound to be long.

In Jerusalem, the European countries' meeting on mediating the Turkish-Persian conflict had begun. Before the meeting, the Osman and Persia had exchanged fire several times on the border.

However, both sides were wary of each other and tried their best to restrain themselves. The conflict was suppressed by the upper echelons of both countries.

In general, both sides had wins and losses, and Persia was slightly at a disadvantage. This result made Franz very disappointed. He had planned to support Persia to make trouble for the British, but now he had to dispel this idea.

Even when fighting against the heavily injured Ottoman army, they were unable to obtain an overwhelming advantage. Such a chess piece had no value as an investment.

Although this pawn could only be used as a pawn, although it could only be used as a pawn. This pawn't, it was a pawn't be used.

With the support of Russia and Austria, Afghanistan had also trained a new army in recent years. Unfortunately, Afghanistan was too poor. Limited by its financial resources, it was only able to train three infantry divisions that were not enough.

It was a pity that Afghanistan was too poor. Limited by financial resources, they could only train three infantry divisions. Otherwise, they wouldn't even be able to support a modern infantry division.

In contrast, Persia's situation was much better. Even if it had declined, Afghanistan couldn't compare.

If the government was strong enough, it wouldn't be difficult to train a hundred or two hundred thousand modern troops. With so many troops, it was enough to dispel the British's ambitions.

In general, feudal agricultural countries weren't suitable for the era of firearms. Their meager financial income determined the upper limit of their strength.

The Jerusalem meeting was in trouble from the beginning. Everyone knew that there would be no results here.

Whether it was the Osman or Persia, they had the support of the big powers. As long as the boss behind the scenes was still wrangling, they could only hold on.

Unfortunately, the Fao, Russia, and Russia were still wrangling. Naturally, there would be no results at the negotiation table.

Persia demanded compensation from the Osman Empire, and the Osman demanded compensation from Persia. The atmosphere was very tense, and the representatives of the two countries almost had a duel.

…

Just as the Jerusalem meeting was in a deadlock, the British also fulfilled their promise to the Osman Empire. The first three million pounds of war loan was already in place.

For Prime Minister Midhart, this was the first good news he had received since he took over the Osman Empire.

With this money, he could suppress the rebellion in the country and restore order in the country. Then, he could carry out social reforms and make the Osman Empire rise again. Then, he could take revenge on Austria and Russia.

Alright, this seemed to be a little too much. However, idealists could still be understood. Their ideas would always be beyond their capabilities.

Al-Shabaab official Mehadra reported in a low voice, "Prime Minister, His Majesty has been summoning conservative and religious leaders.

All the conversations were carried out in secret. But from the expressions of these people when they left, it seemed like they were having a good conversation.

After coming down, these people were unusually low-key. Even their daily interactions with others were reduced.

At the same time, the number of secret letters they had secretly increased, including many military generals who had been in contact with them. Our preliminary judgment is that their plot is targeted at us. "

The Al-Shabaab came to power through a coup, and Abdul Hamid II was also supported by them.

But this Sultan was not content. Before he succeeded the throne, he supported the Osman Al-Shabaab. Otherwise, he would not have succeeded the throne. But after he succeeded the throne, the situation changed.

Abdul Hamid II was not willing to be a puppet Sultan. He was originally close to the Al-Shabaab, but under the influence of power, he naturally leaned towards the conservative faction.

Now that the Osman Al-Shabaab was in power, even if Abdul Hamid II roped in the conservative faction, it was still not enough.

But with the resolution of the refugee crisis, the situation changed. The conservative faction pushed all the blame to the government, and the reputation of the Osman Al-Shabaab plummeted.

This allowed Abdul Hamid II to see an opportunity. He made some small moves, and many times, the Al-Shabaab government was put in a difficult position.

This naturally caused the dissatisfaction of the Al-Shabaab, and the relationship between the two parties became very strained. As the leader of the Al-Shabaab, Prime Minister Midhart naturally would not sit still.

The Osman Empire was different from the European countries. Every transfer of power was accompanied by bloody killings. The current situation was that taking a step back was not a broad sea and sky, but a bottomless abyss. It was not surprising that Midhart sent people to monitor the Sultan.

If it was not to avoid causing internal unrest, perhaps Midhart had sent people to kill Abdul Hamid II. He had already abolished a Sultan, and he did not mind doing it again.

Midhart said fiercely, "Inform the cabinet and the ministers to have a meeting here tomorrow afternoon to discuss the constitutional monarchy reform."

Not being able to abolish Abdul Hamid II did not mean that Midhart could not fight back. The constitutional monarchy reform was the best choice.

At present, most countries in Europe had adopted a constitutional monarchy. However, there were many kinds of constitutional monarchy. Some countries had more restrictions on the power of the monarch, and some countries had no restrictions at all.

Of course, in general, the monarch in this era had real power. No one had fallen to the point of being a rubber stamp. The power of the monarch was still at its peak, and it was the most powerful person in a country.

This did not prevent Midhart from using the constitutional monarchy reform to overthrow Abdul Hamid II, because the constitutional monarchy itself did not have a unified standard.

For example, the Austrian constitutional monarchy, the real practical effect was that the Emperor's annual allowance was clearly stipulated, and the Emperor could not take extra money from the treasury for pleasure.

In other aspects, there were almost no restrictions, and even strengthened. The so-called constitutional monarchy laws were drafted by Franz himself, and the Emperor had the right to amend them at any time.

Another example: the British constitutional monarchy, the King's power was more limited, but in general, the King was still the supreme leader and held the power of the country.

The most prominent was the constitutional monarchy of the Russia, which did not even have specific legal provisions. God knows what was used to limit Tsar's power.

Many later generations thought that Tsar Russia was a monarchy, not a constitutional monarchy, mainly because the Tsarist government had few legal restrictions on Tsar's power.

These were all small problems. As long as they maintained the name of a constitutional monarchy, everything would be fine. Although Midhart was an idealist, he was not so radical. He did not arrogantly want to abolish the Sultan and directly transition to a republic.

In a country with strong religious beliefs like the Osman Empire, it was very nonsense to play a republic. Maybe all the people elected to power would be religious leaders.

So in the name of constitutional monarchy reform, it was enough to turn Abdul Hamid II into a rubber stamp.