Chapter 353 Conflict escalates
The 21 battleships (Grand Texas Fleet) under construction by the French cannot satisfy France's ambitions. Whether it is Louis Philippe or the Bonapartist soldiers, they all feel that France deserves better.
The Great Eastern Fleet Expansion Plan, the Great Western Fleet Expansion Plan, the New Paddle Steamer Plan, and the Great Texas Fleet Transformation Plan. A series of jaw-dropping big plans were put on the agenda.
From the people to the top, all French people hope to build a powerful navy to wash away the shame brought by the British.
In the face of this overwhelming hatred, Guizot could not do anything. He could only approve a large-scale shipbuilding plan. But now France needs money everywhere. It is true that the country is prosperous, but various expenses have also increased with it.
At the same time, the corruption problem of Guizot's government began to surface. Before, corruption in French politics was no problem. It only faced small players such as Spain, Mexico, the United States, and the Central American Federation.
But at this time, we are facing the powerful Britain. Such a huge shipbuilding plan is inherently costly. If corruption continues as before, the cost will be an astronomical black hole.
But it is difficult to punish corruption, not to mention that he himself is the biggest behind-the-scenes, domestic workers' strike uprising (Lyon workers' strike), agricultural crisis, the republicans who want to violently overthrow Louis Philippe and the increasingly restless Bonapartist.
"If all these "corrupt officials" are really dealt with, who will be able to defend France?" François Guizot comforted himself in his heart.
South America, Viceroyalty of La Plata.
Governor Rosas is still planning his great cause. If Argentina wants to unify South America, it must destroy Brazil. The first step to destroy Brazil is to control Uruguay. If it wants to win Uruguay, it must first conquer Montevideo. In this way Only then can it cut off its support.
(Montevideo, the capital of Uruguay, was also the most important port at the time and an important competitor of Buenos Aires.)
However, Rosas's men did not know the governor's ambitions. They felt that Rosas was too close to the Brazilians and had betrayed Buenos Aires, so Juan Manuel The radicals headed by Er contacted the French, hoping to drive away Rosas, the British puppet.
Of course, no one would say this directly. The reasons they gave were that Rosas was cruel and violent, killed innocent people indiscriminately, violated the principles of free trade, and was authoritarian and reactionary.
In fact, they were not talking nonsense. Although Rosas was a republican, his reactionary level was far beyond that of ordinary emperors.
In order to win over the church, Rosas restored church privileges and closed a large number of schools. When he took office, there were 114 schools in Argentina, but by the end of his rule, there were only 35 schools left in the country.
Rosas also restored the Jesuit organization and used the power of the church to carry out deceptive propaganda and deceived many Gauchos, blacks and Indians into working for him.
(It’s almost like believing in Rosas and going to heaven. This outrageous statement, people’s education level was very low at that time, and scams that seem ridiculous now can often deceive many people.)
In the name of maintaining order, Rosas implemented a policy of terror. During his rule, more than 20,000 people in Argentina were killed and their property was confiscated. You must know that the total population of Argentina at this time was only a few hundred thousand.
His rule resulted in a mass exodus of the elite and the establishment of anti-Rosas organizations in other countries, which historically paved the way for his demise.
But in this life, Rosas could no longer wait for that time. An expeditionary force consisting of 15 warships and 5,000 French soldiers was preparing to head to Buenos Aires to help justice.
Originally, the regime change in Argentina had nothing to do with the British, because no matter who was in power, the money owed to the British must be repaid.
However, London received a secret message that the French not only wanted to overthrow Rosas, but also established their own puppet regime and then converted it into a French colony.
This kind of thing was absolutely unacceptable to the British, so they sent someone to negotiate with the French. However, this arrogant British gentleman deeply hurt the fragile heart of the French.
Because of the previous Spanish Civil War, the Turkish-Egyptian War, the Central American Federation Civil War, and the agency issue of Mombasa (the East African port), the British had to stab the French on the head every time.
At the beginning of this expedition to the Viceroyalty of La Plata, the British followed them like hunting dogs that had smelled blood.
This made the French almost intolerable, because the Viceroyalty of La Plata (Argentina) was originally a Spanish colony, and now all they have done is return the property to its original owner.
So a French diplomat with a low official rank gave a stern reply to the British diplomat's aggressive questioning.
"The French expedition to La Plata was just. It was not an invasion, but a rescue operation to drive away thieves, robbers, and tyrants. I advise you and the British government, if you are unwilling to contribute to saving your white compatriots, please At least don’t confuse black and white and embarrass us!”
The irony contained in the French diplomat's words was self-evident. When had the British "gentleman" suffered such a big loss at that time? He immediately asked.
"Why do you say that? Can you tell whether it is an invasion or not just by your words? And what right do you have to comment on the actions of our government?"
The French official straightened his clothes, cleared his throat and said.
"I will give you the same words. Can you judge whether our country is an invader based on just one sentence from you? And why do you have the right to make unreasonable comments about the actions of our government?"
The two officials went back and forth and refused to give in to each other. Seeing that the atmosphere was getting more and more uncomfortable, other entourages from both sides separated the two.
Since the two people arguing were relatively low-level, the chief officials of both missions didn't pay much attention. After all, politics is not a trivial matter for quarreling with each other.
In the eyes of those professional diplomats, there is nothing that cannot be discussed. Spain is Argentina’s former suzerainty, and Britain is now the creditor of the Viceroyalty of La Plata. Both sides can take what they need, and even divide the country into two. It's not a big deal.
Britain and France can make the Viceroyalty of La Plata independent from Spain, and they can naturally return it to Spain, or they can share half of it. In short, it is just a business that can be negotiated.
As for Governor Rosas, it was a completely insignificant thing compared with the interests of Britain and France.
However, the content of this quarrel soon appeared on the front page of London's "The Times", and the editor-in-chief wrote a very inflammatory article about it, coupled with a photo of French officials showing their teeth and claws, and for a while The bars and cafes on the streets were full of talk of war with France.
Similarly, people in Paris took to the streets to protest against the British interference in France and Spain's internal affairs. The angry crowd even threw torches and stones at the British Embassy. The hotel where the British mission was staying was also besieged. In the end, the Paris police had to intervene to suppress it. Things calmed down.
But the calls for war did not disappear.
Although both sides are trying to get out of the way, Franz does not feel that Britain and France can start a war just because of this, so he needs to add more fire.