My Italian: Chapter 554 darkest hour

Italy is conducting secret mobilization, and the Austrians are a little more public. They directly announced that in view of the current tense situation in Europe, they announced partial military mobilization. And the actions of the Austrians have caused tension in another country, and this country is Serbia. Although Serbia has benefited greatly in the previous Balkan Wars, its strength is much lower than that of Austria-Hungary.

And unfortunately, Serbia, which got a small half of Macedonian territory, had an idea about another territory at this time. This territory is Bosnia and Herzegovina. As a region where a large number of Serbs gather, Serbia has complicated emotions towards Bosnia and Herzegovina.

First of all, the region was annexed by Austria-Hungary as early as 1891. Although Serbia had objections, it was weak and no one wanted to listen.

As for why there is an idea now, it is not easy. The strength has grown and there are supporters behind it. In addition, Serbia has to face the surging nationalism.

Speaking of these years, the Austro-Hungarian Empire ruled Bosnia and Herzegovina is indeed much stronger than Turkey. However, the idea of ​​nationalism has taken root in the minds of the Bosnian Serbs, and they do not receive the grace of the Austro-Hungarian Empire at all. They always have to do something every now and then, whether it's demonstrations against taxes and donations, or attacks and looting of various government agencies, which annoys the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

Of course, Austria-Hungary also knows the situation of the Serbs in Bosnia and Herzegovina, so they are also eyeing the Kingdom of Serbia behind them. If it weren't for the fear of Russia behind it, the Austrians would have done it long ago. At this time, the mobilization of Austria-Hungary naturally made Serbia very nervous, let alone Russia behind it.

As an ally of France, Russia was already prepared when the Morocco dispute broke out between Germany and France, but seeing the growing scale of the two parties, Russia was actually a little hesitant. But hesitation is useless. You must know that Russia already owes tens of billions of francs in debt. Unless the Russians dare to renege on their debts, they can only follow in the footsteps of the French. So Russia also carried out partial mobilization.

Now that the European powers are mobilizing one after another, the sky over Europe is filled with gunpowder smoke, and the tickets to leave Europe suddenly become popular. It seems that there are many smart people.

As the countries involved in this crisis, Germany and France are a bit stuck in the current situation.

That's right, riding a tiger is hard to get off. For the two countries, for a little bit of Morocco's interests, they call their friends and friends to rectify the army and fight like a big fight, which is a bit inconsistent with the status of the two big countries. But in the current situation, no one can take a step back, which leads to the situation developing in an uncontrollable direction.

There is no good way for the two parties to do this, neither of them is willing to make a detente first, it's like the two parties are on a train rushing towards a cliff, but neither of them is willing to jump off the train first, lest they be said to be cowardly.

Driven by France and Germany, the great powers that were divided into two camps, the Entente and the Alliance, also stared at each other with daggers drawn.

The situation in Europe has become so tense that the British, as the provocateurs, were a little unexpected.

At No. 10 Downing Street, a cabinet meeting was being held.

"The current situation in Europe is very tense, and it is very likely to trigger a war that will affect the whole of Europe. What kind of attitude should we in the UK face this issue?"

Prime Minister Asquith looked at the important ministers in front of him and talked about the theme of today's meeting.

Speaking of which, the British government regretted this move to support the French. Yes, it is regret.

This time the British Empire originally only wanted to suppress the momentum of the Germans, and did not want to go to war with Germany, let alone provoke a war between the two camps. Moreover, in terms of Morocco's interest disputes, it is not qualified to let the two camps fight for it.

As for the meaning of the prime minister's words, there are all good people present, who can not understand, but if you understand some things, you don't have to be so impatient.

"My lord, what do you think about this?"

Edward Gray, the Foreign Secretary who was targeted, opened his mouth with a worried expression. "Everyone, the current situation in Europe is very tense. All countries are mobilizing or preparing to mobilize. For our country, there are currently two problems; the first is the support for our allies. Paris has sent several letters to our Ministry of Foreign Affairs Telegrams, all asking how much we support them."

"It's perfectly fine to tell them we're going to send the navy to support them."

The speaker was Minister of the Navy Churchill, who had just become the Secretary of the Navy and was in the midst of a high-spirited effort to fight hard, so he always talked about the navy of the British Empire.

Gray ignored Churchill's words. Although this noble young man was very courageous, his methods were not suitable for the current tense situation.

"So what kind of support should we give?"

Prime Minister Asquith understood the intention of the Foreign Secretary, so he asked directly.

"It depends on how far we intend to go?"

Gray's words are in line with the prime minister's psychology. The British Empire should not take chestnuts from the fire of other countries, but should let other countries use it for itself.

The current situation in which countries are planning to fight is not in the interests of the British Empire. Although it has already participated in the alliance between France and Russia, the decision makers in London are still very entangled in what to do next.

The reason is simple, that is, Britain is not ready for war. Although the scale of the British Empire’s shipbuilding is getting bigger and bigger, and the slogans are loud and loud, but in the actual weapons and ammunition, the storage of military materials, the procurement of raw materials, the formulation of military mobilization plans, and the expansion of the army are involved. The British Empire was simply not ready for all the demands of a major war.

In other words, Britain is currently not ready for war, either materially or psychologically.

Since they are not ready yet, they need to consider more when the situation in Europe is on the verge of breaking out. Not to mention that the British Navy is currently facing more problems.

First of all, the German High Seas Fleet, which spent a lot of money to build, the British Empire needs to concentrate elite warships to stand ready. In addition, the Mediterranean is facing the threat of Italy, which also requires the British Empire to devote its energy.

Perhaps you can say that there are still French people.

Looking at the French's offshore construction, we can see that their energy has basically been put on land, and the sea has been unable to do what they want. Under the repeated urging of London, the construction of the first class of the dreadnought, the Guba class, only started the year before last. It will take two years for it to have combat effectiveness.

The French are unreliable in naval matters, and the Russians are still less reliable. Its first dreadnought, the Gangut-class, also started construction the year before last, and it was limited by technology and facilities. The construction of this class was slow, and it was expected to take two years before it could be launched. God only knows when it will be effective.

The unreliability of the two allies made the British Navy need to bear the maritime pressure from the Allied camp alone. This is what London is most worried about. Because the British Empire Navy does not currently have an advantage, it is impossible to suppress the opponent at present. Not to mention the importance of the Mediterranean Sea, goods from Asia and Oceania need to go through the Mediterranean Sea to enter Europe.

"Maybe we should give Paris a little advice that it doesn't need to start a big war in Europe over Morocco."

The suggestion from Lloyd George, who reached the financial position, immediately aroused the echo of others.

"That's good advice. We shouldn't start a war that spreads to Europe over a small piece of African soil."

"Yes, it is unreasonable to do this for a small piece of land in Africa, and it will trigger a humanitarian disaster in Europe~www.mtlnovel.com~I agree very much."

Well, since the gentlemen of the British Empire are unwilling to see humanitarian disasters in Europe, they are naturally willing to contribute to peace. As for who started the dispute, it doesn't matter at all.

"Then it's up to Gray to inform our allies of our views."

"It is a great honor that I will let Paris know our concern for peace."

In the eyes of everyone's expectation, Gray, as the foreign minister, completed the task.

The matter was settled, but no one got up, because there were still things to discuss.

I saw Prime Minister Asquith took a document and said. "Okay, now that we have decided to express our concern for peace, we need to pay attention to our important navy. According to Mr. Churchill's report, our navy can no longer keep up with the development of the times, so I think it needs to be discussed Let's look at the next shipbuilding plan..."

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