Bulgarian Empire

Chapter 149: 09) Shocking Plan

The Greeks came to the door so quickly, which was a bit surprising to Ferdinand, but it made sense!

The Ottomans were in a state of turmoil, and the Greeks, the second largest ethnic group, were the first to bear the brunt of it and were taken into focus! It was natural to hook up with the Greek government and Gergios I instantly perceived the opportunity.

When you think about the courage of the Greek government to take on the Ottomans and initiate the "Greek-Turkish War", you can see that it never lacked courage.

But the idea of their own strength was too idealistic, and they suffered a crushing defeat at the beginning of the war. Perhaps now, the Greeks already felt that they could fight the Ottoman Empire.

In parallel time, Bulgaria is now busy with internal strife; Serbia is not much better, domestic chaos; Montenegro can be ignored.

The Greeks will have to fight alone, and now Serbia is worse, but Bulgaria has grown. The Greek government is not stupid. Pulling allies to reduce the risk, which is still aware.

At the moment of talks with the Greeks, the international situation changed again.

Since the British took over Egypt, relations with the Ottoman Turkish Empire became distant and worse, and the Turks began to turn pro-German.

The British now had control of the sea route to India but were still uneasy and attempted to keep the traffic on the land route open.

After the outbreak of the Near East crisis, Britain pressured the Ottoman Empire through the Armenian issue to force it to compromise, recognize the status quo in Egypt, and consolidate Britain's position in the Near East!

On the other hand, with the signing of the Congo Treaty, the conflict between the British and the Germans intensified, and Britain was at a stalemate in European diplomacy.

The British again intended to make up with Germany and change their diplomatic passivity. Just when France and Russia began to close ranks, the British secretly promoted the Franco-Russian alliance, trying to use the Franco-Russian alliance to deter Germany and force the Germans to take the initiative to improve relations with Britain.

For this reason, also made a show of goodwill to the French in Morocco and made a dynamic of pulling Russia's strings on the Nile!

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On November 9, 1894, British Prime Minister Rosebery (Archibald Primrose) spoke openly about the issue of friendship with Russia at the banquet of the Mayor of London.

The Armenian question, which was breaking out, gave the British another opportunity to approach the Great Powers by creating a triple alliance of "Britain, France and Russia" on the Armenian question!

But the attitude of the other Great Powers was far less favorable than that of Britain.

Germany, Italy, and Austria-Hungary opposed action in the Near East. The Germans wanted to solidify the Sultan's rule and strengthen German influence in the Ottoman Empire and did not want a change in Turkey.

The Russian Empire did not take the Armenian problem seriously and there was a large Armenian population living in Russia, and persecution of minorities was a regular affair.

The Russian Empire's Far East strategy is now at a critical moment, and the Sino-Japanese War is pulling their attention, not wanting to spoil the party and affect their expansion in the East!

France is even more indifferent, playing the role of a sidekick throughout, choosing to align itself with the Russian Empire on this issue.

The British knew very well that it was impossible to reach the goal of negotiating with the Sultan's government alone on the Armenian issue without the support of Russia and France, and especially the Russian Empire!

Since the British got Egypt, the Near East issue changed in the global strategy again, and the British government began to favor the partition of Turkey with the Great Powers, the core of which was to reach a partition agreement with the Russians!

At the end of 1894, British Prime Minister Rosebery offered to let the Russian Empire occupy Armenia's Ottoman provinces in exchange for the Russians' recognition of the British position in Egypt.

But Ferdinand is clear that the Russian government does not mean to use force against the Turks, or he does not mind being a fighter. Or maybe join forces with Greece to take fire in the middle. It is not impossible!

However, in the current international situation, the British would be pleased if Bulgaria rushed to join forces with Greece to attack the Ottomans. The most critical thing is that Bulgaria is not ready!

The end of the 19th century is an era of strength. His fist was not strong enough. Even if he defeated the Turks, Bulgaria could not eat the biggest share of the benefits, which did not meet Ferdinand's strategic objectives!

However, under the butterfly effect of Ferdinand, the history of this world and the parallel time has been slightly changed. The Russian-Bulgarian alliance, and the Second Bulgarian-Serbian War, which have affected the situation in the Near East.

Ferdinand is now closely related to the Near East crisis, in which to find opportunities!

History's ability to repair is strong. In 1895 the British cabinet changed, the Conservative Party aristocratic politician, the Marquis of Salisbury, became Prime Minister for the third time, and the British state policy changed!

The Marquis of Salisbury took office. It was a crucial moment for Britain, France, and Germany, to fight for Africa. The British urgently need to solve the Near East crisis. The core is the need to stabilize Russia!

He advocated a one-time solution to the Eastern Question, which had long plagued Britain or rather Europe, and thus proposed a plan to divide up the Ottoman Empire:

The territory of the Turks will be limited to Anatolia.

The Russian Empire will gain the Turkish Straits and Constantinople.

Austria-Hungary was compensated in the western Balkans.

Italy to obtain Tripoli or Morocco.

French acquisition of Syria or Morocco.

The British, in turn, acquired Egypt and the Euphrates Valley.

The Marquis of Salisbury's partition plan for the Ottoman Empire, contrary to the traditional British policy of the Near East, if realized, will certainly change the landscape of Europe and the world!

Anyway, after seeing this plan, Bulgaria is scared, Greece is scared, Serbia is scared, and once it's done, all the Balkan countries will see no hope!

This plan, in theory, is feasible, except for the Germans, the major European powers have gained, mainly according to their respective strengths to divide, is also considered "fair"!

Ferdinand heard of this plan in his previous life but did not take it seriously, and it ended up failing anyway, but not now!

He knew he had to act at once, and once the five nations of Britain, France, Russia, Italy, and Austria-Hungary had answered in agreement, it was a deadlock!

Even the Germans could not do anything. After all, Germany, at the end of the 19th century, did not have the strength to challenge the British!

Ferdinand knew that since the British had proposed this plan, which was only superficial, there would certainly be compensation for the Germans afterward. Historically the Germans had refused and stepped in to hinder this partitioning operation.

But what about this time and space? In case the Germans agreed, Ferdinand wasn't sure how much of an impact his butterfly effect would have.

After all, according to this plan, it will delay the Russian-Austrian conflict, weaken, the pressure on the German Eastern Front will be greatly reduced, the British-German relationship will continue to close, and even alliance, with the eyes of the latter, promote this plan is more in line with the long-term interests!