Chapter 675 The “goodwill” of the British (Part 2)

Chapter 675 The “goodwill” of the British (Part 2)

However, the "goodwill" of the British was not completely useless. In the eyes of Miloš Obrenovich, it was like the sky was falling and the earth was falling. He knew that he would never be able to counterattack Western Bosnia again in his life.

As for Belgrade, Miloš Obrenovic didn't even dare to think about it. After all, after so many years of repairs and transformations, this former capital of the Grand Duchy of Serbia had completely turned into a fortress.

Moreover, both local industry and agriculture were dependent on the market of the Austrian Empire.

The entire Belgrade area was not allowed to grow any food crops, but they could enjoy cheap food from the Austrian Empire.

Taking into account the population of the Belgrade area and Serbia's weak agriculture at this time, Franz had reason to believe that even if Belgrade returned to Serbian hands, the latter would not be able to support the former.

I could have endured the darkness if I had never seen the light.

——"Metamorphosis"

Yes, Serbians who have been poor for hundreds of years can endure high-intensity work every day while eating only some foods that are disgusting to livestock.

But after they ate bread, butter, carp, and all kinds of strange animals raised by Franz, these people never wanted to go back to the days of warlord rule and human beings.

(The bread here refers to non-whole-wheat bread, and the price is about a quarter of normal whole-wheat bread, but it was pretty good for civilians in this period.)

The situation in West Bosnia is actually similar. Coupled with the nationalism of the Croatians, it is actually more difficult for Serbia to recover than Belgrade at this time.

However, due to the mountainous terrain, Miloš Obrenovic in East Bosnia did not have detailed local information.

The Montenegrins had no sense of recognition from the British. The British also tried to win over some local families in Montenegro to oppose the rule of the Austrian Empire.

But either the British who came to work as lobbyists disappeared, or the families who tried to oppose Austria disappeared. In short, Montenegro was still in the hands of Austria, and it never caused any waves.

In fact, Montenegrins and Croatians are very similar. They like to be mercenaries and have no objection to leaving their hometowns. Therefore, the small Montenegro actually produced 20,000 mercenaries.

The reason why Montenegrins like to be mercenaries so much is because their land is too barren. However, with the large number of prime-age men leaving, trying to organize anti-Austrian military operations in Montenegro is like a joke.

Not to mention that those responsible for garrisoning the Montenegro region are the Austrian Empire's best troops in mountain warfare-the Tyrolean Chasseur Regiment and the Croatian Mountain Force.

Human beings all have the mentality of admiring the strong, and this is especially obvious among the mountain peoples. Whether they are Gurkhas or black people, they all worship the strong.

Therefore, after several battles, the locals completely fell to the side of the Austrian Empire, and they would even take the initiative to suppress the rebels to show their loyalty.

In fact, this situation was not uncommon in the Austrian Empire, but Franz still gave certain rewards in order to strengthen positive feedback and create a model.

Although the reward is not high, it is still a considerable amount of income for these Montenegrins. If we look at local taxes, Montenegro at this time was the poorest place in the entire Austrian Empire.

The most valuable thing in Montenegro to the Austrian Empire at this time is its people. After all, it is not easy to find people who are willing to leave their hometown and stay abroad for many years.

Franz does not have to worry about the overpopulation of Montenegrins, whose population base is much smaller than that of Italians.

And relatively speaking, they admire Austrian culture, which means that it is easier to assimilate. At the same time, they don’t like to cling to groups, and it is not easy to form independent communities.

Of course, the most thorough way to deal with the Montenegro area is to build roads, but given the local terrain and economic conditions, this matter cannot be rushed (it is already being built, but the construction speed is not fast).

Despite this innocuous admission and declaration, Palmerston dug a huge hole for the Austrian Empire.

That is Madagascar, and what people think of when talking about this place is the animal paradise, Penguins of Madagascar (movie, Penguins of Madagascar).

But Madagascar in the nineteenth century was one of the few non-European countries that dared to say no to the great powers.

The British and the French once studied how to carve up this island country in southeastern Africa. The result of the study at that time was that the west belonged to Britain and the east belonged to France.

Because there are more ports in the west and minerals in the east.

Everything went very smoothly at first. The Kingdom of Madagascar signed countless contracts with the great powers, and even followed the British advice to stop the slave trade with the Portuguese.

However, just when Britain and France thought they were about to succeed, the African female Nero appeared. Ranavarona I was originally one of the king's twelve wives, but like Wu Zetian, she used iron-fist policies and bloody massacres to take over the country in a short time.

After Ranavarona I came to the throne, she announced that everyone in the country must shave their heads in mourning for her husband. Within a year, no one is allowed to take a bath, dance, sing, sleep in bed or clap hands, otherwise men will be sentenced to death and women will be treated as public slaves.

Westerners at that time only regarded this as an eccentricity of the monarchs of primitive countries and did not regard it as a dangerous signal.

Lana Varona I is a cold-blooded animal lover who also likes to use animals to execute people. What excites her the most is throwing people to crocodiles and monitor lizards and watching the victims bite and devour them.

In a country with a population of only 2.5 million, Ranavarona I executed at least 300,000 people in this way.

Lana Varona I To judge whether a person is loyal to his own standards is to throw it to the crocodile. If the crocodile bites him, he is a traitor. If the crocodile does not bite him, he is a wizard.

Lana Varona I hated black people and almost exterminated the black people on the island.

After that, Lana Varona I began to crazily trample on the treaties that the Kingdom of Madagascar had signed. How could this behavior be accepted by the Western "civilized" powers that uphold the "spirit of contract"?

So Britain and France both sent people to negotiate with the Kingdom of Madagascar, but Lana Varona I responded by massacring all Christians on the island.

And instead of just killing her own people like the Japanese, she also killed Western missionaries and businessmen related to the church.

Britain and France were dumbfounded. Even the great dynasties in Asia, let alone Africa, did not dare to do such a thing.

So in 1845, the British and French forces bombarded the port of Madawai, hoping to force Rana Varona I to submit. As a result, the female Nero directly ordered the closure of the port, playing the trick that Kangxi had used to move the border and ban the sea.

At this time, Westerners had almost never lost in colonial wars, and naturally they did not know how to be afraid. In the end, about 600 soldiers from the British and French coalition landed on Madagascar, preparing to give these African indigenous people a small Western-style shock.

However, what they did not expect was that in the end, the female Nero killed all 600 soldiers of the coalition at the cost of 12,000 lives.

This was not over yet, Lana Varona I also ordered people to insert the heads of all the coalition soldiers on wooden stakes. For a time, the pier of Madawai Port was filled with Western heads.

I had a heat stroke yesterday, and my mind may not be very clear now. Book friends can help me read it if I find mistakes or things that don’t make sense.