Chapter 68 Another fork in the road

Good wishes are often lost, but worries can easily become reality. The world is so wonderful. Germany seeks to establish military bases in the Azores, Madeira and Cape Verde Islands, and therefore uses coercion and inducement to the Portuguese government. Although the German government proposes to compensate for the African colonies with an area of ​​nearly 500,000 square kilometers, Portugal has no interest in the barren land in Central and West Africa, and does not want to take the chariot of the allies. Therefore, the German government made the move that made the Portuguese most feared and disgusted. Iberia should be unified. Given that Spain is fighting fiercely with Germany's close ally Ireland, and the consequences of being annexed by Spain made most Portuguese people feel palpitations, the Portuguese government immediately seeks intervention from the international community, especially the United States and Britain, which was the "Portugal crisis" that occurred in the summer and autumn of 1916.

Although Britain has not yet completely escaped from the shadow of the failure of the war, they have fulfilled all the compensation clauses of the London Agreement. There is no ally in its homeland and colonies, so they do not lose their national character like France and are controlled by others. Without touching the bottom line of war, they dare to challenge the Germans and use various means to win over all relations to fight against this arrogant military empire.

The political affairs of the United States are still unable to escape the constraints of isolationism, but President Woodrow Wilson is a visionary and courageous person. He obviously saw the harm of Germany's dominance and the far-reaching impact of Germany's occupation of the Azores. Therefore, under the banner of protecting legal neutrality and resisting violent power, he actively called for the convening of the General Assembly of the United Nations, and on the other hand, he transferred the Pacific Fleet to the Atlantic base, and put pressure on Germany in two-pronged approaches.

1916 was the year of the change of the US president. Wilson sought re-election with the support of the Democratic Party. When he delivered a speech accepting the party's nomination, he proposed with a rare tough attitude that the national security of the United States must not rely on the friendship and kindness of other countries, but needs to be defended with warships and cannons. He proposed to build a fleet that maintained the balance of the Atlantic Ocean, and called on Congress to fully support the navy's expansion plan. In public, it was mentioned for the first time that the US shipbuilding industry has gained valuable technical practice by building large and super-large warships for Britain, and has sufficient conditions to build the current first-class main warships for the US Navy.

With the agitation and support of military generals, the German government initially disdained the international community's criticism, but continued to coerce and induce the Portuguese government, and had diplomatic contact with the Spanish government regarding Spain's annexation of Portugal. Despite the German praising the chest, the Spanish Prime Minister refused due to reasons such as empty national strength, social unrest, backward army, etc. The Spanish king also stated in his handwritten letter to the German emperor that the annexation of Portugal would cause the Iberian Peninsula to fall into a long-term war. And as far as he knew, the Portuguese government was ready to go into exile in the Azores. Once Spain forced its troops, the Azores would become a stronghold for Portugal to resist aggression. At that time, Germany would not want to avoid wearing the hat of an invader while getting involved in Azores.

Although German Emperor William II was very annoyed by the attitude of Spanish King Alfonso XIII and was also furious at the British United Nations united international community to criticize Germany, he had to admit that Germany had fallen into a passive position on the issue of forcing Azores, Madeira and other bases, and even the Italians jumped out to accuse Germany of hegemony. Since the two brothers, Austro-Hungarian and Ottoman Empire, were too busy to take care of themselves because of the *********, the remaining two allied countries, Ireland and Bulgaria, had economic and military strength. If a war was provoked at this time, Germany would basically face Britain, Portugal and the front-line support of American countries with one country, and also beware of Italy's rebellion and small actions of Japan and others. Even if they could win, it would be a disastrous victory, and it would even be a potential danger of stimulating the United States to participate in the war.

After repeated weighing, the German senior management helplessly gave up their attempts to the Portuguese islands. This diplomatic defeat was like the second Moroccan crisis in 1911, which made the stubborn Germans feel lonely and powerless. Instead, blamed the political failure on insufficient military strength. After a few weeks, the first Markensen-class battlecruiser laid a keel at the Shuofei Shipyard in Danze. In the next four months, the remaining four Markensen-class ships will also start construction one after another. At the request of the German side, the shipyards that received orders for super Bavarian-class battleships will rush to expand the existing docks to accommodate new warships with unprecedented tonnage.

In response, the US government revised the naval expansion plan passed a year ago in early November of that year, adding the construction budget of eight 450,000-ton battleships, four 40,000-ton battlecruisers and six 20,000-ton aircraft carriers. This is also the first batch of aircraft carriers officially customized by the United States after converting cruisers into light aircraft carriers. In addition to the ships that started construction in the early stage, the total tonnage of the US Navy will soon exceed the German Navy, and the scale and quality of the main fleet will tie the German high seas fleet in four to five years.

The Germans were shocked by hearing about the US shipbuilding actions. You should know that this was the effect achieved when the US government did not fully mobilize shipbuilding resources and only issued two additional government bonds. The multiple gap in national strength was surprising. At that time, as long as the United States and Britain joined forces, regardless of whether Germany occupied strategic bases such as Azores, Madeira, and Cape Verde, it would be in a passive position.

Therefore, at a high-level meeting in Germany, the plan to launch a preventive war against Britain was approved by the majority. The German Navy and Army were asked to conduct corresponding preparations secretly. In order to achieve confidentiality, the plan was carefully locked into the safe, and only a few people could know about it except for the senior generals attending the meeting.

Fortunately or unfortunately, Suzuki has no choice but to become one of them.

Ireland's existing main ships are still included in the combat order of the German fleet, and as part of the German shipbuilding plan, the heavy cruisers and aircraft carriers that Ireland is responsible for building are required to speed up construction progress, and the size of the Irish army is required to increase by 50% and increase the training intensity of reserve personnel. For this reason, Germany will provide Ireland with additional financial support. The main source of funds for the export of Middle Eastern oil will be the export income of Middle Eastern oil, and ironically, Britain, Italy and Japan are the major oil importers, and they are likely to stand opposite Germany in the next war.

When Ireland's signs of military preparation for war were first revealed, the Americans used carrots and sticks. First, Ford, which invested in Limerick Vehicles, proposed to the Irish government that if Ireland could not guarantee to stay out of military conflicts related to US interests, they would have to withdraw their investment and all technicians in Ireland. Then, the US ambassador to Ireland conveyed the cooperation intention of its industrial sector to Ireland. As long as Ireland agreed to maintain good intention neutrality without touching its own security, the United States intends to hand over the orders of about 20,000-ton ships to Ireland to resolve the delay of the US government's additional shipbuilding plan on civilian ship orders. American politicians hinted that the economic prosperity of Spain, Portugal and Switzerland during the war was an example of maintaining good intention neutrality.

Xia Shu did not blindly sneer. As the king of Ireland, his starting point for thinking about problems had shifted from Berlin to Limerick. Many things must be weighed from a new perspective, because if you are not careful, all the efforts you have made before and those opportunities that are hard to come to waste.

In the winter of this year, another young man from another country also faced an equally heavy choice. He was the crown prince of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the grandson of the Grand Duke of Karl Ludwig, the brother of Emperor Franz Joseph I, and the nephew of the former crown prince Ferdinand.

In the history of the old time and space, the last emperor of the Austro-Hungarian Empire was considered to be peace-loving or extremely pessimistic about the war situation. After he ascended the throne, he tried to betray the alliance several times and make peace with the Allies. The most promising one was the peace negotiations with France through his brother Sikstus, Prince Palma. However, because he refused to cede any of the Habsburgs' territory to Italy, his secret diplomatic activities were completely failed. Because he supported France's demands for Artsas and Lorraine, when his efforts were exposed, his reputation was greatly damaged in Germany and his country, thus pushing Austria to a very difficult situation. At the end of the war, the Austro-Hungarian Empire fell into civil unrest and *********, and US President Woodrow Wilson proposed a fourteen-point agreement to advocate

The Austro-Hungarian Empire was independent of all ethnic groups. Carl convened a royal parliament, accepted the fourteen-point agreement, and agreed to establish a federal state with autonomous governments of all ethnic groups, but the reform quickly lost control. The autonomous governments of all ethnic groups claimed complete independence and withdrew from the First World War. The republicans in Austria finally denied the monarchy. Carl announced on the third day after William II abdicated his abdication that he "formally gave up participating in any government affairs, but would not give up the throne." In March of the following year, the Austrian parliament announced the deposition of Carl's throne. Two years later, Carl tried twice to restore the throne with the help of Hungarian conservatives, but failed because he did not receive the support of Hungarian head of state Admiral Holtie Miklos. Later, he was exiled to Madeira Island and lived an extremely poor life. He died of pneumonia in 1922 at the age of 34.

At the end of November, the bad news of the death of the 86-year-old Austrian Franz Joseph I came. The legend of the Habsburg Dynasty passed away when the bond that maintained this multi-ethnic binary monarchy was maintained.

During the 68 years of Franz-Joseph's reign, Austria experienced several rise and fall, but many of his mistakes were compensated for many of his brilliant achievements, the social legislation formulated by Prime Minister Earl Tafe in the 1880s; the new criminal code of 1852, the trade regulations of 1859 and the commercial code of 1862 were all examples of civil affairs management that were highly valued by the entire Europe, and these achievements were all marked by the silent dedication of the Emperor Austrian.

All of this became the past with his passing.
Chapter completed!