Chapter 216 Five-Nation Meeting
Before the third five-nation meeting, a ridiculous phenomenon occurred on the Syrian battlefield.
On one side, more than 100,000 Egyptian troops were rushing for the road, and on the other side, 4,000 Sequoia troops were chasing after them. The Austrian and Ottoman troops following behind were stopping and walking as if they were just watching a horse.
At this time, Ibrahim was no longer as confident as before. He felt that the situation was over, and what he had to do now was to bring as many people back to Egypt as possible to preserve the fire for the future.
The experience of several battles with the armies of foreign powers made him completely lose confidence in his own army. As for the low-level Egyptian soldiers, they did not want to fight at all. They were soldiers purely to avoid the oppression of exorbitant taxes and miscellaneous taxes, so they went to work in the army. Eat.
At this time, the 130,000-strong army at the time of the expedition had grown to 60,000, of which 9,000 were killed, more than 20,000 were captured, and the rest were missing.
Since the coastal areas of Egypt had been plowed by the Austrian navy, it was difficult for the British navy to do more at this time and could only vent its anger by bombarding Alexander.
The British Navy's actions planted a bomb for them, which will leave them with a painful memory in the future, which I will not list here.
Under the influence of Franz, the Austrian army began to cherish their feathers and paid no attention to chasing the Egyptian army.
The Ottoman army also had little interest in pursuing the Egyptians. Their large number also meant that more supplies were needed, and the recaptured lands also needed to be garrisoned, so that the forces were even more dispersed.
Regarding the Syrian guerrillas, the Ottoman attitude was to try their best to destroy them.
Yes, the Ottomans' response to the Syrian rebels who were armed and had been fighting the Egyptians was to suppress them with all their strength.
In fact, this is not difficult to understand, because these Syrian guerrillas are also a destabilizing factor for the Ottoman Empire.
Vienna, Caesar Hotel.
This place was chosen as the venue for the Five Nations Conference because it is large and grand, and at the same time it is convenient and complete. It can be used to hold large-scale dances and can also be used as a banquet venue for entertaining guests.
Naturally, the owner here, Solomon Rothschild, could only temporarily leave his "territory" and find another place.
In fact, although it was said to be a five-nation meeting, seven countries came.
The five countries naturally refer to the United Kingdom, France, Austria, Russia, and Prussia. The other two are the Ottoman Empire, and the other one may be a little surprising, and that is Serbia.
The British representative is the new Foreign Secretary Stratford Canning; the French representative is Guizot, the current actual helmsman of the French government; the Austrian representative is naturally the Prime Minister Metternich, who once dominated the European Prime Minister; the Russian representative is diplomacy. Minister Neserlov has two labels on him: a pro-British man and a reckless man; the Prussian Baron Sewell, a brief introduction.
The Ottoman Empire sent the former Grand Vizier, the scapegoat in the history of Fer Chak, the most unlucky Grand Vizier, a traitor, the biggest cancer of the Ottoman Empire, an executioner who suppressed the people, and a blasphemer.
This man had signed countless treaties that were humiliating and humiliating his country, so much so that he himself was numb to them. The entire Ottoman court would always think of him whenever they encountered a thankless task.
Filchuck had suppressed uprisings in various places many times, signed death sentences against the remnants of the Guards, and even had conflicts with religious groups, arresting and executing religious leaders who opposed the New Deal.
But in a sense, he was only carrying out the Sultan's orders, not his own cruelty.
The representative of Serbia is neither the powerful Seventeen-member Parliament nor Vucic who is supported by Russia, but Milos who has bewitched the Serbs in East Bosnia.
Milos's appearance here is naturally the work of the French. They do not want the Austrians to safely take over Belgrade and Western Bosnia.
Although Guizot claimed to be a pacifist, he also provoked many disputes and never stopped guarding Austria. He instigated the three southern German countries and Sardinia to have conflicts with Austria, and instigated Pius IX.
As soon as the meeting began, Metternich felt that the direction of the meeting was wrong.
Because the British took the initiative as soon as they came up and talked about sanctions against Egypt, but Guizot, who should have jumped out to oppose it, nodded frequently. Instead of showing any intention of defending, he clapped his hands and applauded.
The draft charter is:
First, the Ottoman Empire's laws apply to Egypt and Sudan (here refers to the Sultanate, a backward slave country to the south of Egypt.).
Second, Egyptian taxes need to be collected in the name of the Sultan, and one-third of the total revenue is turned over to the Ottoman Sultanate. At the same time, Egypt was required to pay an additional annual tribute of 100,000 pounds to the Sudan (previously 10,000 pounds).
Third, Egypt must disarm. The number of standing troops must not exceed 20,000. At the same time, no warships can be built without the order of the Sultan. The uniforms and flags of the army must be the same as those of the Ottoman army.
Fourth, Egypt must return Syria and Crete. The Ottoman Sultan appointed Muhammad Ali as the governor of Egypt and Sudan. From now on, Egypt and Sudan will exist as Ottoman provinces rather than kingdoms.
Fifth, Muhammad Ali could designate an heir, but he had to go to Istanbul to accept the Sultan's appointment.
Sixth, both sides should return prisoners of war.
The French representative Guizot, who was expected to oppose fiercely, actually remained silent, which surprised the other powers.
You must know that the French government and the public at that time were very dissatisfied with the Anglo-Austrian joint attack on Egypt, and they all demanded a declaration of war to protect France's rights in the Near East.
Thiers had previously added five battleships to France's Eastern Fleet and recruited 10,000 new sailors.
King Louis Philippe of France even expressed his intention to go to war with the great powers in public, even more fiercely than the words of the Bonapartists.
The French military even formulated a special attack plan for this purpose, cutting off the Strait of Gibraltar at sea to prevent the British navy from entering, and then using the powerful force of the Eastern Fleet to destroy the British and Austrian navies in the Mediterranean, forcing the Ottoman Empire to surrender.
Attacking the Rhineland and Northern Italy simultaneously on land, declaring war on Prussia and Austria, especially after the British advance fleet was severely damaged by the Egyptian navy, the French became extremely fanatical, and the recruiting stations were even more crowded.
In response, Prussia and Austria sent more troops to the French border, and war seemed imminent.
But in fact, Louis Philippe did not want war, so Thiers, who advocated war, stepped down and was replaced by the aging Marshal Soult. The person in charge of the negotiations was the pro-British Guizot.
Guizot always believed that if France wanted to be strong, it must maintain friendly and peaceful relations with Britain. For this reason, he even betrayed the Egyptian navy's intelligence in exchange for Britain's trust.
The French government's actual inaction attitude also made the French gradually calm down. Many people began to realize that launching a battlefield had no chance of winning, and it was not the only option.
At the same time, Canning was different from Palmerston. He hated Austria, but not France. After leaving Austria, he went to France without stopping and promised Louis Philippe that he would take care of France's face.
The seemingly simple sanctions agreement actually contains evil intentions. The UK has already set a gallows for the participating countries.
If the content is not fully expressed in plain English, if it is not fully explained, some people will criticize it for being literate. If it is fully explained, some people will criticize it as copying it into plain language.
Please understand that fighting is difficult for me too.