Chapter 239 Assassination
Because Australasia and the major European powers have already established diplomatic relations, notifying the powers only requires summoning their foreign ministers.
Among these European powers, Australasia's main invitations are naturally Britain and Germany, which have huge influence in the international community, and Russia, which has a very good relationship with Australasia.
The great powers responded quickly. On September 30, Russia had already responded, expressing its willingness to participate in this mediation as a neutral country and strive to bring peace to the two countries of Australasia and Portugal.
Germany and the UK soon followed, also agreeing to participate in the mediation. The Germans had nothing to do with this war, and the war area was very far away from Germany.
William II actually agreed to participate in this mediation for Arthur's sake.
Finally, there is the United Kingdom. The United Kingdom actually has some connection with this war. The main battlefield in Portugal and Australasia is Portuguese India, which is also considered an important area of the British Empire.
The British Empire has a strong influence in India and Southeast Asia, and is the most suitable and qualified country to participate in this mediation.
After Britain, Germany and Russia agreed to participate in mediation, whether other powers participated or not had little impact.
These three countries are enough to crush Portugal in any region. It is not up to them to decide whether Portugal will participate in mediation.
On October 1, 1907, Australasia officially issued an announcement in the name of the national government, openly inviting Britain, Germany and Russia to participate in the mediation of this war.
The current dominant side in this war is Australasia, and Australasia's initiative to request mediation also surprised the Europeans.
In this regard, the Australasian government gave a seemingly reasonable explanation, that is, all citizens and governments of Australasia yearn for peace and are unwilling to bring disaster to the world.
In fact, Australasia has already obtained the benefits it wants, and there is no need to continue fighting.
Soon, the three countries also publicly responded to Australasia's request and announced that they would participate in mediation as neutral countries in an effort to bring peace to the warring parties.
On October 2, the three countries invited the Australasian and Portuguese governments to hold peace talks. The location of the peace talks was chosen in London. After all, this is not only one of the most developed cities in the world, but also the capital of the most powerful country, the British Empire.
The invitations from the three countries made the Portuguese government feel very embarrassed.
The development of the war so far has completely exceeded the expectations of the Portuguese government. Even judging from the current trend, Portugal's possibility of victory has been greatly reduced.
But this war is a prestige war for Portugal. If it wins, the government and the royal family will gain a lot of popular reputation, and they can take the opportunity to completely consolidate their rule and stabilize the situation.
If it was a real defeat, it would be easier to say that we could use the excuse that we had tried our best to protect the interests of the people, but the enemy country was too powerful.
If they directly participate in the peace talks and abandon the fishermen they were trying to protect before the war has a real outcome, I am afraid that a lot of the prestige gained by the Portuguese government and Carlos I before the war will disappear.
Judging from the situation in Portugal, this may even subvert the rule of the kingdom.
In the midst of sorrow, at the behest of Carlos I, the Portuguese government chose silence.
Now Britain, Germany and Russia were angry. After all, the three countries were recognized powers, and Britain and Germany were still the two hegemons in the world.
They vowed to the outside world to mediate this war, but Portugal refused to give them any face. Isn't this a slap in the face of the three rogue countries?
The day after Portugal chose silence, a British government official made a public appearance and stated that the British government would reconsider its relationship with the Portuguese government because of the extremely bad impression Portugal left on Europeans during this war.
Although he didn't say clearly what would happen, everyone knew the threat implicit in his words.
This is not over yet, Germany also expressed its attitude that day.
The attitude of the Germans was not so tactful. A German official expressed in a high-profile manner that he supported Australasia's efforts for peace and urged the Portuguese government to participate in peace talks as soon as possible to create a peaceful and beautiful environment for the people of both sides.
Needless to say, the Russians even publicly stated that the Russian Navy was considering organizing a circumnavigation, which would perfectly cover the war zones of Portugal and Australasia.
The successive statements of the three countries have made the Portuguese government unable to hold on.
At the same time, the domestic people became increasingly dissatisfied with the defeat of the war, and Portugal's internal and external troubles became more serious.
On October 3, after a day and night of negotiations, Carlos I reluctantly lowered his noble head and announced that Portugal agreed to start peace talks with Australasia.
On October 11, 1907, David, the royal family's manager of European affairs, who received Arthur's order, and Henry Cania, the Australasian ambassador to the British Empire, formed an Australasian delegation to represent Australasia in this event. During peace talks.
The two parties to the peace talks were the Portuguese government's Minister of Foreign Affairs, Herbert Simon and Director David, and Ambassador Henry. The British Empire, the German Empire and the Tsarist Empire acted as neutral countries to supervise the fairness of the peace talks and ensure the smooth progress of the contract.
The first day of the peace talks was destined not to go smoothly. Portugal seemed to have no intention of peace talks, and the conditions it offered were even more shocking.
Even though they were the losers in the war, the Portuguese actually demanded war reparations from Australasia and apologized to the Portuguese government and people for launching this war.
In addition, Australasia must also release all captured Portuguese prisoners without compensation and pay high compensation to all Portuguese soldiers who died in the war.
This does not include the property damage in the occupied Portuguese colonies. If these are included, the compensation required by the Portuguese in Australasia will be at least 40 million Australian dollars.
Such conditions earned a few sneers from Chief David, and the representatives from Britain, Germany, and Russia were also speechless.
I don’t know how confident the Portuguese are that they can offer such a sky-high price on such an occasion.
In this regard, Manager David also gave Australasia's opinion. First, the Portuguese government should compensate for this war, including Australasia's losses in the war, as well as the casualties of the Australasian army, and the people's Property losses, etc., the Portuguese government needs to compensate the Australasian government a total of 100 million pounds, to be paid back in five years.
Compensation that is not paid off every year will be calculated at an interest rate of 15%.
Since the Portuguese were asking for high prices, Manager David was naturally not polite.
In addition to these sky-high indemnities, the Portuguese needed to cede Portuguese Timor and Portuguese India to Australasia, and Australasia obtained co-administration of the Portuguese East Asian colonies.
In the end, more than a thousand Portuguese prisoners were captured. Each of them only needed to pay five thousand pounds, and they could return to Portugal safely and smoothly.
Such conditions are not unkind. Just the financial compensation alone may cause the Portuguese government to fall into bankruptcy crisis, not to mention the loss of two colonies. There is a high probability that the remaining East Asian colonies will not be saved.
If he really agreed to such conditions, Ambassador Hebert Simon felt that even if he could escape the punishment of Carlos I, he would definitely be torn apart by the angry Portuguese people.
However, Australasia's attitude also made Herbert Simon understand that Australasia is not an object that can be manipulated by Portugal. What's more, there are three countries, Britain, Germany and Russia, sitting nearby. If Portugal continues to mess around like this, I am afraid it will offend these three powerful countries.
After the first day of peace talks, Ambassador Herbert Simon quickly sent a telegram to the country to seek the opinion of Carlos I.
Whether it is Australasia or the three countries of England, Germany and Russia, they are not stupid.
Wanting to use nonsense to delay the progress of the peace talks is a bit too naive.
The next day, Ambassador Herbert Simon's attitude changed a lot. He gave up his demand for Australasian war reparations and only asked Australasia to compensate the Portuguese who died in the war.
At the same time, Australasia should withdraw from the three Portuguese colonies, and the spheres of influence of both parties should return to before the war.
Australasia was naturally unable to accept such conditions. Manager David could not help but convey Arthur's words directly to Ambassador Herbert Simon: "If the Portuguese do not accept the peace talks in a short time, then Australasia will West Asia will lease warships from Russia, destroy the Portuguese army at all costs, and then sign a contract on Portuguese soil." Judging
from the current military strength of Portugal and Australasia, Australasia is lagging behind. Only the navy.
But if Australasia successfully leases warships from Russia, or even directly leases a battleship, the naval advantages and disadvantages between Australasia and Portugal will be directly erased, or even directly reversed.
By then Australasia will not only be able to complete defensive wars more calmly, but will even be able to log into Portugal's African colonies.
However, Portugal has no good solution for this. The European public generally supports Australasia in this war, which means that basically no European country is willing to lease ships to Portugal.
Ambassador Herbert Simon could not refute the threat of Steward David, and could only tell Carlos I everything that happened during the peace talks with a heavy face.
On October 13, 1907, on such an unlucky day, a big event happened in the Kingdom of Portugal.
The then king, Carlos I, brought his Crown Prince Luis to the government for a meeting to discuss the current peace talks with Australasia.
But halfway through the car, two men in black came forward and took out the pistols in their arms and shot twice at Carlos I's motorcade.
Crown Prince Louis was hit directly in the chest by the assassin's bullet because he was closer to the assassin, while Carlos I, who was sitting farther away, was only grazed by a stray bullet in the shoulder.
It wasn't until a few seconds after the shooting that the guards of Carlos I reacted, shouting to protect His Majesty the King, and then quickly chased the assassin.
The injured Carlos I and Crown Prince Louis were escorted by the remaining guards to the nearest hospital for treatment.
Carlos I's injuries were okay. After the bullet was removed, Carlos I's life was no longer in danger.
However, the injury to Crown Prince Louis was very close to the heart, and due to the massive bleeding, treatment was also very difficult.
After the assassination, the Portuguese government responded very quickly. After successfully capturing the assassin, the Portuguese government released the news that the assassin might be from Australasia, trying to confuse the Portuguese people and make them hate Australasia again.
At this time, Ambassador Hebert Simon, who was participating in the peace talks in London, also received news from the country. After receiving the instructions, Ambassador Hebert Simon suddenly stopped the peace talks and expressed his doubts to Director David.
What happened was a coincidence. When the peace talks between Portugal and Australasia reached a stalemate, King Carlos I of Portugal was assassinated.
It seemed that Australasia was indeed suspected, and many Portuguese people were indeed deceived. They held public demonstrations to express their dissatisfaction with Australasia, and rejoined the ranks of supporting the government in the war.
Seeing that his goal was achieved, Carlos I felt much better and focused on his son Luis.
Facing the Portuguese's blame-shifting, Steward David was confused, but he still learned the news that King Carlos I of Portugal had been assassinated.
It has to be said that the assassination of Carlos I was indeed beneficial to Australasia. A relatively chaotic Portuguese government would naturally not be able to continue the war resolutely.
But no matter what, Chief David will not take the blame for others in vain.
Director David disdainfully refuted Hebert Simon's question and said that small Portugal did not need Australasia to make small moves.
The day's peace talks ended in this situation. After returning to his room, Chief David ordered his men to find out the details of the assassination of Carlos I, and asked his men to start spreading news and publicizing the role of the Kingdom of Portugal in this peace negotiation. All the conditions, and belittled the Kingdom of Portugal and started a brutal war arrogantly. It was already at a disadvantage but regardless of the life and death of the Portuguese people, there was no real peaceful will to stop the war.
Public opinion is something that Australasia must master. Public opinion has brought a lot of benefits to Australasia and successfully made Portugal the target of public criticism in this war.
In view of the good impression Australasia has brought to European people in the past, most Europeans are still willing to believe Australasia's rhetoric and stand on Australasia's side.
However, what really allowed Australasia to continue to maintain its advantage in public opinion was not the European newspapers controlled by Australasia, but a newspaper from a small newspaper in Portugal.
Although this was only a newspaper published by a small newspaper, it was reprinted by many Portuguese newspapers soon after its release, and also attracted the attention of many European media.
This allowed the newspaper's news to spread throughout most of Europe within a few days, and the contents of the newspaper were known to most Europeans.
The content printed in the newspaper is actually very simple, probably some statements from a political party in Portugal.
But this party is currently the largest opposition party in Portugal. What it opposes is not only the Portuguese government, but also the Portuguese monarchy and King Carlos I.
If the Portuguese Republican Party was only famous in Portugal before, now the name of the Portuguese Republican Party has even spread throughout Europe.
A radical member of the Portuguese Republican Party publicly stated that the assassination of King Carlos I that occurred not long ago was planned by the Republican Party. The purpose was to eliminate Portugal's biggest scourge and the main culprit for Portugal's facing war and defeat. Los I.
At the same time, this member of the Portuguese Republican Party also listed many crimes of Carlos I, such as implementing high-pressure policies in the political arena and turning democratic republic Portugal into an autocratic monarchy. He did not care about the interests of the majority of civilians and in order to maintain his dominance, Stable, desperate persistence to fight the war in Australasia.
In order to reflect the arbitrariness and arbitrariness of Carlos I, this member of the Republican Party also specifically listed Australasia's response during the war, specifically explaining that Australasia's initial request was only an apology and compensation from the fishermen, but the arrogant Carlos I was desperate and launched a war that should not have happened in order to create the impression that he loved the people.
So far, the war has cost Portugal tens of thousands of soldiers, but the Portuguese government still has no intention of peace talks, and is even secretly planning a counterattack, causing more Portuguese soldiers to pay unnecessary casualties.
The arbitrary and arrogant behavior of Carlos I, as well as the autocratic and repressive policies implemented in Portugal, were the real reasons why the Republicans planned this assassination.
Let’s just keep these 4,700 words for today. Brothers, I’m back late. I'll try it again at home tomorrow!
(End of chapter)