Chapter 1136 The Distressed William II

Chapter 1136 The Distressed William II

Berlin.

William II was in a very bad mood. First of all, in William II's view, Germany was not ready for war, and it was also facing the declaration of war by three major powers, Russia, France, and Britain, which was beyond William II's expectations. outside.

Although William II always talks about war, William II is actually very cautious about war.

Otherwise, when Russia began to mobilize, William II would not have advised the Russian government to stop mobilization. In essence, he still did not want a military conflict with Germany.

Although there was bound to be a war between Germany and Russia, before the war, William II had absolutely no intention of starting a war now.

The culprit of this irreversible situation was actually William II himself. The reason why the Austro-Hungarian war faction headed by Conrad was not afraid of declaring war on Russia came from William II's guarantee.

Conrad had asked William II about his attitude before, but William II did not realize the seriousness of the problem at the time, so he wrote in his reply to Conrad: "How to deal with this matter is your business, but No matter what happens, Germany will be by your side."

At that time, William II only believed that the Austro-Hungarian Empire would punish Serbia. Strong countries had many ways to sanction weak countries. However, William II did not realize that the Austro-Hungarian Empire would take the most radical form of war against Serbia. revenge.

It can be said that William II was completely unaware of the military actions planned by the Austro-Hungarian Empire. However, Conrad and other Austro-Hungarian radicals had already obtained the answers they wanted from Germany.

This was equivalent to William II writing a "blank check" to the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and Conrad wrote a number on this check that exceeded William II's psychological expectations, which caused Germany to be unable to move forward.

Germany was tied to the wheel of war by the Austro-Hungarian Empire to a certain extent, and it provoked three world powers at once, which made the German government even more passive.

After all, in the alliance between Germany and the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Germany had a clear advantage. Regardless of population, military, economy, industry, social stability and other aspects, Germany far surpassed the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

Therefore, in theory, Germany should play the leading role in the alliance between the two countries, but because of William II's unintentional words, the Austro-Hungarian Empire "dominated" Germany, and Germany had to passively accept the outcome of the war.

This feeling of being beyond control is naturally not what William II wants to experience. It also shows that there are misunderstandings in the exchanges between the two countries. Assuming that William II can listen to other people's opinions and act cautiously, he will not give the Austro-Hungarian Empire Writing a "blank check" was a mistake that Bismarck or William I would never have made.

This also reflects the shortcomings of German politics. Wilhelm II has so much power that some of his speeches or decisions can completely bypass the constraints of the German government.

All in all, challenging Russia, France, and Britain at the same time put great pressure on William II. If one-on-one, Germany would naturally not be afraid, but any one of these three powers would be a headache for Germany.

Now the William II government could only hope that the Austro-Hungarian Empire would hold Russia back and wait until Germany defeated France before solving the Russian problem.

The second bad thing is that East Africa is "taking advantage of the fire". Now that the German government is focusing all its attention on the war, East Africa is engaging in colonial deals with a stern face, which makes William II's unhappy mood even worse. .

After all, from Germany's perspective, East Africa should best coordinate Germany's actions and join its own camp. If the three most powerful German countries in the world join forces, Germany will not fall into the passive situation it is today.

At that time, East Africa will move north to cooperate with the Austro-Hungarian Empire to control the Mediterranean. Relying on the strong industrial capabilities and rich resource reserves of the three countries, there will be no opponents at all.

After all, East Africa has a large amount of Germany's scarce resources, such as food, cotton, rubber, oil, metals, etc., and East Africa also has a population of more than 100 million and a relatively powerful army. The war potential is considerable, at least much stronger than the Austro-Hungarian Empire. .

Yes, Germany is also relatively dependent on East Africa for oil. East Africa has quietly become the world's largest exporter of refined oil and has the most powerful petroleum industry system in the world.

Apart from anything else, as long as East Africa can stably provide Germany with sufficient material support, Germany will be more confident in gaining an advantage in the war.

Of course, Germany's thinking naturally centers on German interests, and East Africa has no idea of ​​wading into troubled waters.

For example, the Mediterranean is not so easy to enter. Britain and France have such strong advantages in the Mediterranean that it is impossible for the Austro-Hungarian Navy to gain a say in the Mediterranean. Even if the Austro-Hungarian Empire is a little more powerful and has the ability to overwhelm Britain in the Eastern Mediterranean, perhaps East Africa may also consider heading north.

After all, Britain and France control the chokepoint from East Africa to the Mediterranean, and it is almost impossible to attack from the outside. Assuming that the Austro-Hungarian navy can cooperate from within the Mediterranean, it is possible to break the powerful blockade system established by Britain and France in the Mediterranean. However, The fact is that the Austro-Hungarian Navy was locked in the Adriatic Sea and could not do anything. Moreover, the Austro-Hungarian Navy was so powerful that even if it broke out of the Mediterranean, it would only be encircled and suppressed by the British and French navies.

Therefore, from all angles, it is impossible for East Africa to risk boarding a German pirate ship, which naturally arouses dissatisfaction in Germany.

However, Germany wanted something from East Africa, so it could only keep this dissatisfaction in its heart. Therefore, William II did not have a good attitude towards East Africa, but he could not blame anything.

This time, East Africa's suggestion to take over German colonies made William II even more unhappy. After all, Germany paid a great price to obtain these colonies.

Especially the German Central African colonies. Before that, East Africa, Germany, Belgium, and South Germany had just signed an agreement to jointly develop Central Africa.

Now, all of this will be a wedding dress for East Africa. It would be strange if William II was in a good mood! These are all the family businesses that Germany has worked hard to build overseas, and it has paid a lot of effort.

If these colonies are handed over to East Africa, it means that Germany has already started to lose territory before the war has started. In normal times, no one can accept it calmly.

And this period of time is not normal for Germany, but an important time related to the crisis of national survival, so William II and the German government can only pinch their noses and accept it.

Looking at the letter sent from East Africa, William II sneered in his heart, but still asked the German government without pretending to be serious: "What do you think of East Africa's proposal?"

Foreign Minister Arthur said indignantly: "East Africa is simply the scum of Germany. This is obviously a blackmail to the Empire. If it were in the past, we would definitely fight back."

As the Foreign Minister of the Empire, Arthur's attitude towards East Africa is not friendly. After all, in Germany's previous diplomatic policy, it has always adopted a policy of wooing East Africa, which can be said to have met a large part of East Africa's needs.

Germany naturally hopes to bind East Africa to its own chariot, so it has always been generous to East Africa, especially when East Africa vigorously develops its own industry, it has provided a lot of financial, technical and personnel support.

Adhering to this policy, the frequency of dealing with East Africa by the German Ministry of Foreign Affairs is naturally quite high. Arthur asked himself that in the relationship between the two countries, Germany has spared no effort to support East Africa, but did not get the desired results, which naturally caused a lot of trouble for the German Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Even diplomats like Arthur don't like dealing with East Africa, but for the future of the empire, they still have to bite the bullet and cooperate with East Africa, which makes people feel uncomfortable.

Of course, from the perspective of the East African government, the East African government did nothing wrong. Except for not cooperating with Germany's strategic needs, East Africa also gave Germany a lot of positive responses, such as trade, investment, resources, etc., and provided Germany with a lot of convenience in the economic and military fields.