Chapter 1118 Balkan Crisis
The construction of the public opinion system in East Africa has never stopped. After all, Ernst has a deep understanding of the power of public opinion wars. Therefore, even during the worst economic period in East Africa, he never stopped infiltrating the Western public opinion system.
The Titanic is indeed an opportunity for a war of public opinion. As a proper "man-made disaster", the United Kingdom, as the country that manufactured and operated the ship, used public opinion to completely throw away all responsibility for the Titanic. The American media is responsible for the hype, portraying the Americans on the ship or the American ships that participated in the rescue in a tragic and heroic light.
In fact, the sinking of the Titanic was definitely not as "beautiful" as described by the British and American media. However, the mainstream media in the United Kingdom and the United States will only select and publish remarks that are beneficial to their own countries, and may even fabricate some news to confuse the public.
For example, the American "Brooklyn Eagle" reported on April 19, 1912: "The only stain is that at the bottom of a lifeboat leaving the Titanic, two Far Eastern bodies were found squeezed under the seats. The corpses of the imperial coolies and eight living people... these people... rushed into the lifeboat at the first sign of danger. "
There are countless fake news like these, which were not vindicated until the 21st century. For example, Tim Martin, a scholar who studies the history of the Titanic, said that there is no evidence that the rumors of Chinese survivors disguising and hiding actually happened. Since it was believed at the time that only women and children deserved to be rescued, he believed these were "stories made up after the fact" by the media and the public.
But after these fake news were corrected, European and American countries actually no longer cared about the Titanic, but the negative impact it left has lasted for nearly a hundred years.
It is not difficult to understand. Decades after the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Soviet Union changed from an anti-fascist ally in World War II to a "murderer" who assisted Adolf in invading Poland. Although the Soviet Union's performance in World War II was not glorious, the European and American media also changed their faces. In fact, after all, Europe and the United States did not say this when things happened in World War II and the Soviet Union needed to join.
Of course, the Titanic has been the focus of the world's attention for a short period of time, and Europe and the United States will not ignore the facts to offset East Africa's contribution.
The media controlled and influenced by East Africa in Europe began to make efforts on the second day of the Titanic accident to provide a true reconstruction of the accident.
Of course, East African public opinion has not let go of the Titanic's owner, the British White Star Line. As the fundamental scourge of this accident, the White Star Line's cutting corners and operational errors were the fundamental reasons for the sinking of the Titanic.
…
For East Africa, the sinking of the Titanic was just an insignificant incident in the northern hemisphere. To put it bluntly, except for the local officers and soldiers involved in the rescue, no one would care about the Titanic no matter how many people died.
The focus of the East African government is the 1912 war on the Balkan Peninsula. As the powder keg that detonated World War I in the previous life, changes in the situation in the Balkan Peninsula can be said to be the direct cause of the outbreak of World War I.
East Africa has been monitoring the situation in the Balkans and installing its own forces there through Bosnia to avoid the loss of East Africa's local voice.
Because the changes in the Balkan Peninsula also have a huge impact on East Africa, the Adriatic Sea and the Black Sea on both sides of the Balkan Peninsula are also important routes from East Africa to the Central and Eastern European markets, and the Central and Eastern European markets themselves rank first in the trade of East African countries. In the first place.
Ernst: "The countries in the Balkan Peninsula have reached a consensus and are inclined to go to war with the Ottoman Empire. What attitude should we take towards this war that may happen at any time, so as to guide the situation in Europe in the direction we want? develop."
As one of the largest countries in the world, East Africa is also one of the maintainers of the world order, so it has access to a lot of first-hand information.
For example, if the countries in the Balkan Peninsula want to launch a war against a behemoth like the Ottoman Empire, they must first communicate with the big powers in the world. To put it bluntly, these countries in the Balkan Peninsula cannot even achieve independence without anyone behind them. arrive.
Therefore, the countries in the Balkan Peninsula attach great importance to contacts with other major countries, and East Africa cannot be missing among them. Although East Africa is an African country, this is what makes the countries in the Balkan Peninsula feel more at ease. It is better to seek help from East Africa than from Austria. The Hungarian Empire and Russia are better. After all, if Austria-Hungary and Russia join in, it will be more difficult to kick them out.
The same is true for the Ottoman Empire. Because it has a lot of land on the Balkan Peninsula, the Ottoman Empire can also be regarded as a country on the Balkan Peninsula. The relationship between the Ottoman Empire and East Africa has always been good, so both sides are actively seeking support from East Africa.
Sweet said: "Now the countries in the Balkans have very good relations with us, especially Romania, Bulgaria and the Austro-Hungarian Empire. They even have military cooperation with us. As for Greece and Serbia, we also have trade relations. So in this war, we in East Africa must think carefully.”
"However, from the perspective of actual interests, we should prefer the Ottoman Empire. The Ottoman Empire controls Constantinople, which also controls the passage of the Mediterranean and the Black Sea. The smooth flow of the Black Sea is particularly important to us. Russia and even the entire Black Sea coast The country has always been an important consumer market for our country’s agriculture and industry.”
"Of course, if the Ottoman Empire lost Constantinople in this war, that would be another matter. Given the current state of the Balkan countries, this is not impossible, but the relationship between the Ottoman Empire and East Africa does not only exist in Constantinople, a major transportation route. We also have to deal with the Ottoman Empire in the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf, so we must be very cautious in our attitude towards the Ottoman Empire."
After Siewert made his point, Merk added: "We cannot support the Ottoman Empire too much. The emotions of the Balkan countries are also worth considering. After all, when we deal with international relations, it is best not to offend too many people. The most important thing is that we have no historical problems with the Balkan countries, so it is best not to turn against the Balkan countries because of supporting the Ottoman Empire."
After others made some suggestions, many people in the East African government expressed their support for the Ottoman Empire. The fundamental reason for this result is that the Ottoman Empire itself is more valuable to East Africa than the Balkan countries.
As two important countries along the Indian Ocean, East Africa and the Ottoman Empire can be said to be the only two independent countries that are not controlled by Britain or other colonizers.
Although the Ottoman Empire could not play any role in the Indian Ocean, East Africa and the Ottoman Empire had many common languages under the suppression of Britain. The main reason was the existence of Britain as a common enemy, so the two countries had the same common goal of driving the British out of the Indian Ocean.
Of course, East Africa actually had no real feelings for the Ottoman Empire, and many cooperations between the two countries were purely for interests.
And there were those who supported the Ottoman Empire in East Africa, and naturally there were those who opposed and supported the Ottoman Empire.
Constantine said: "The decline and even disintegration of the Ottoman Empire are likely to happen. We should stand on the side of the Balkan countries with other European countries, so as to cater to the mainstream sentiment of the international community and avoid being dragged into the water. I personally am very pessimistic about the fate of the Ottoman Empire. In this war, the Ottoman Empire is likely to be at a disadvantage."
Constantine's words are also worthy of attention, because standing on the side of the Ottoman Empire is basically equivalent to diplomatically cutting off from European society.
Of course, as an African country, East Africa actually doesn’t have much to do with the life and death of the Ottoman Empire or the countries in the Balkan Peninsula. As long as there is no anti-East African force, it can basically accept it.