Chapter 874 Self-inflicted evil

Chapter 874 Self-inflicted evil

On March 27, 1848, Britain officially declared war on Austria.

Lieutenant-Admiral Edward Princeton, commander of the British Mediterranean Navy, felt that London's proposal was stupid. You must know that the French Grand Eastern Fleet is not weak.

The Great Eastern Fleet in the Port of Toulon, France, has a total of thirty-eight main warships, thirteen of which were launched in the past three years, all equipped with the most advanced artillery.

What's even more terrible is that London does not know that the French also have a large number of auxiliary ships and inferior gunboats, which will become an important factor in determining the outcome of a naval battle.

The British Mediterranean Fleet was supplemented at this time with fifty main battleships, and the world's most advanced paddle-wheel battleships seemed to have an absolute advantage against the French.

But the problem is that the number of auxiliary ships in the British Mediterranean Fleet is seriously insufficient, less than one-twentieth of the French, and as long as France wants, they can temporarily recruit more ships.

In addition, although the paddle-wheel warships are advanced, the Mediterranean Navy does not have a coal refueling point and can only go to the port of Piraeus in Greece to refuel coal.

However, not long ago, the British Foreign Secretary's Department did another immoral thing, which was the famous "Don Pacifico Incident".

The whole story of this incident has been distorted many times in history, and the truth has long been changed beyond recognition. Later generations do not care about the truth. Some people regard it as an evil act of gunboat diplomacy and ridicule and criticize it.

Some people think this is a model of Western humanistic spirit.

"No matter where you go, there is a strong motherland and its army behind you."

However, after hundreds of years of continuous fabrication and interpretation, some people placed it on the head of the United States.

"No matter where you go, the United States government and military would support you for ever."

This kind of thing is basically no different from a certain wolf killing everyone in Africa.

But this was a good opportunity for Franz. King Otto I of Greece was actually one of his cousins.

Otto I was different from his father Ludwig I. He was a very responsible king, at least he wanted to be a good king subjectively.

However, Otto I's abilities were very limited, he was too idealistic, and his luck was extremely bad.

He gave the Greeks a dream of Magna Graecia, but was unable to realize it, and eventually stepped down in a seemingly minor crisis.

The British only said that a British Jewish businessman, Don Pacifico, lost his home and goods to anti-Semitic persecution in Greece, but the Greek government turned a blind eye.

In order to protect its citizens overseas, the British government decided to send troops to Greece to seek justice for them. In the end, the Greek government had to feel ashamed in front of the powerful British justice and compensated Don Pacifico 1.5 million pounds.

This was equivalent to two years of fiscal revenue for the Greek government at the time, and the Prime Minister had to resign sadly.

But at this time, Otto I said that a Jewish businessman named Don Pacifico was peddling the so-called "panacea" in Athens, which resulted in the death of a large number of children, so the angry people attacked his mansion.

The Greek government refuses to pay any compensation to this harmful person, and would definitely sanction him if it were not for the fact that he is British.

Otto I even sent several bottles of samples of the panacea to Franz. After testing, as Franz expected, it turned out to be opium, and it was adulterated.

However, this kind of thing is a matter of benevolence and wisdom. Franz will not listen to one side or the other side, but he will also choose what is beneficial to him.

After being rejected by the Greek government, Don Pacifico found the British government, but at first no one cared about this little guy. After all, Greece was one of Britain's most important allies in the Mediterranean.

So Don Pacifico thought of Lord Palmerston, who helped the Sassoon family. Since the latter could launch a war against the most powerful empire in the Far East, it shouldn't be a problem to get his goods back in Greece. .

To say that Palmerston is really very talented is because the top British officials, especially the traditional aristocrats, feel that maintaining relations with Greece is far more important than the goods of a Jewish businessman.

But it was under such extremely unfavorable circumstances that Palmerston convinced the British Parliament with a speech that would go down in history.

“There can be no doubt that the government of a great nation like ours is the ultimate ideal for all men of all opinions.

Being able to lead the policies of such a country and influence its destiny is a noble and respectable thing.

We have witnessed turmoil across Europe, we have seen thrones shaken, shattered, razed to the ground, institutions subverted and destroyed.

Europeans flooded the earth with their blood, from the Atlantic to the Black Sea, from the Baltic Sea to the Mediterranean.

This is a sight worthy of appreciation by all mankind.

Only we can prove to the world that freedom and order can coexist, and that personal freedom and compliance with the law are not irreconcilable.

We are an example to a country where every person, at every level, accepts his or her destiny.

At the same time, every individual in our country is constantly striving to improve his or her social status.

Not through injustice and wrong, not through violence and illegal means, but through insisting on good behavior, so as to develop the gifts given to mankind by the Creator, namely morality and intelligence.

But at this time, an upright, brave and hard-working businessman who represented the British spirit was unfairly treated by an evil authoritarian country, which made me sad.

Out of love for this great constitutional nation, I believe we have an obligation to protect our fellow citizens abroad.

I feel it is our duty that every British subject, in any country, may have confidence that the caring eye and the strong arm of his country will protect him from injustice and wrong.

Just as Romans once were immune from insult simply by saying, 'I am a Roman citizen.' "

The British put pressure on the Greek government, but Otto I and his prime minister had a very tough attitude. They were unwilling to pay for things they had not done wrong.

In the eyes of the Greeks, this was an insult to them by the British, so it became extremely difficult for the Mediterranean fleet to go to Greece to resupply.

The Greeks were always desperately looking for the poorest coal to provide to the British and tampering with the British's food and drinking water.

This made Edward Collinson, commander of the Mediterranean Navy, very angry, but he was really not easy to get angry at this time. After all, he had to get along with the Greeks for a long time.

As time goes by, the resentment of the Greeks against the British has not disappeared. The negative impact of the Don Pacifico incident in 1847 is expanding, and a sentiment called nationalism is spreading among the Greeks.

For safety reasons, Edward Princeton had to purchase supplies from other countries and stockpile them on the large island of Crete.

But one thing he overlooked was that the inhabitants of Crete were also Greeks.

With the help of the Greek government and Friedrich's intensive thinking, the Austrian side knew the layout of Crete and their every move better than Edward Clinton.