Chapter 807: A world where only Portugal is injured
For von der Leyen to be so shameless, even if Ellenthal was favoring East Africa, the corner of his mouth twitched.
However, if we look at the scale of the war alone, East Africa’s demands are completely reasonable. If the scale of the South African war were placed on the European battlefield, it would also be ranked at the forefront.
It’s just that Africa is a place and Europe is a place. Ellenthal is sure that the losses caused by the South African War are not as great as the losses caused by Austria’s war with Venice. After all, Venice itself is a big city in Europe. Even if The surrounding economy is not bad, and most of the main battlefields of the South African War were wastelands, forests and grasslands. Even if the war did not enter the core area of East Africa for ten years, it would not have much impact on Africa.
However, Ellenthal could only say: "Okay, East Africa's requirements are quite reasonable, but we will not discuss whether the Portuguese can accept this price. Our focus now should be on the Boer Republic. Regarding the issues of Cape Town and Natal, Mr. von der Leyen, East Africa should make appropriate concessions to the United Kingdom. After all, it is impossible for East Africa to take all the good things.”
He deliberately emphasized the word "concession". After all, Salisbury didn't speak just now, which already represented Salisbury's attitude to a certain extent.
Von der Leyen said very wisely: "The conflict with the United Kingdom is actually just a misunderstanding between the two countries. In fact, historically speaking, there is not much sordidness between us and the United Kingdom. So we in East Africa are willing to respect the United Kingdom, but only if the United Kingdom cannot harm our interests."
Count Von der Leyen has taken the initiative to step aside, and now it is Salisbury's turn to speak.
In fact, during the conversation between the two just now, Salisbury already understood that East Africa was bound to win the Portuguese colonies. No matter how much Britain did, it would not be possible for the East African government to annex the Portuguese colonies. Compromise.
In this case, we can no longer continue to use the Portuguese issue as a prevarication in East Africa. This will not end the war, and for Britain to continue the South African War now will only lose more.
So Salisbury said: "We in the UK have our own plans for the Portuguese problem, but we certainly will not favor the culprits of the South African War."
Von der Leyen and Salisbury The rhetoric is directly equivalent to blaming Portugal for the South African War. I wonder if the Portuguese would cry to death if they knew.
“What we pay more attention to now is Cape Town and the surrounding areas. Our attitude towards Cape Town and Natal is consistent. They are both sacred and inviolable parts of the British Empire. As for Boer Republic, we also have important interests.”
Salisbury basically made clear the bottom line of Britain, which is the integrity of British territory and the existence of interests of the Boer Republic.
Von der Leyen said at the right time: "We can protect the relevant interests of the United Kingdom in Orange, the safety of the property of British businessmen including Kimberley, and the continued development and development of existing developed minerals in Orange. To use power, of course, is to comply with the laws of our country.”
Salisbury frowned and said: "After all, the Boer Republic is a legal regime, so it is the best choice to continue to maintain it."
In contrast, Von der Leyen said with a smile: "The Boers originally lived Around the city of Cape Town, it is also good that they have returned to Cape Town. As for the Boer Republic, it has actually existed in name only for a long time. In the past few months, except for the rebels and their families who have fled, most of the Boers have automatically acquired East African citizenship. We have actually built a government agency in Orange."
"Huh, this is just your unilateral statement. What if it is threatened by you?"
"Of course not. Yes, don't be anxious, Lord Salisbury. Let me explain in detail. Orange's original population was less than 300,000, and some of them have fled to Cape Town. We in East Africa plus prisoners of war have gained There are only about 170,000 Boers. Currently, 130,000 of these 170,000 people have been assigned to various regions in the country. Even if we want the Boers to return to Orange, it will no longer be possible. "
Von der Leyen's words are very clear, that is, the Boer Republic has completely existed in name only, and it is no longer possible for East Africa to spit out the Boer Republic. Von der Leyen continued: "The Orange River is the natural boundary between the two countries. The Orange area should be used as the natural boundary between East and Britain. In addition, our country can withdraw its troops to the area north of Orange, and Nanchang The Thar colony can also restore the pre-war border between the two countries. Of course, as a matter of goodwill to East Africa, we can also appropriately reduce our demands for war reparations from Britain.”
"Haha, do you really expect the empire to compensate you?" Salisbury said sarcastically.
Von der Leyen’s words sounded like giving up in Salisbury’s ears. Britain had never compensated a country for war losses.
"In order to protect our national interests, we in the UK have also paid a huge price, including the navy and army expenditures of more than 90 million pounds. We have already given East Africa face by not asking you for war compensation. This is not Not counting the losses in South African cities such as Durban and East London," Salisbury said.
At this time, Ellenthal said: "As for the issue of war reparations, I think East Africa can just ask for it from the Portuguese government. Of course, the British government should also make certain concessions. I think after the armistice between the two countries, Just restore the border and at the same time make some compensation to the British from East Africa.”
After summarizing the opinions of the two parties, Allenthal came up with a third plan.
Von der Leyen asked at this time: "Should we compensate the British?"
As the victorious party, East Africa naturally cannot understand. After all, the British still have more than 60,000 hostages in East Africa. No matter how you look at it, East Africa is in a dominant position.
“You have to spare others and spare them. The British did not use force in this war, and East Africa has acquired so much land, and the British government also needs to be accountable at home, so this is a good way to resolve the war. method." Alan Tal said.
“Of course, this is definitely unfair to East Africa, but I have a perfect plan. I don’t know what you two think, that is, Portugal’s war reparations can be fully paid by the UK, so that the UK can get The money is just borne by the Portuguese government, and East Africa gets the land, and both parties can get what they want.”
Ellenthal completely confused the representatives of East and Britain, and then Ellenthal explained his thoughts in detail.
That is, the winner of the South African War was East Africa, and Portugal had to cede land and pay compensation. The Portuguese land was obtained by East Africa, and the compensation was obtained by the United Kingdom. Of course, on the surface, the money must be compensation. East Africa, but East Africa and Britain signed an agreement privately. East Africa would not pay a penny, and Britain could obtain Portugal's debt relationship.
This means that while Portuguese land was taken away from East Africa, it was also economically controlled by the British. After all, Portugal originally owed a huge debt to the British. If the war reparations were implemented, the Portuguese mainland would be completely reduced to a British economic colony. , after all, 40 million pounds plus Portugal’s previous loan from the United Kingdom, Portugal will never be able to pay it back in its lifetime.
Of course, in general, Britain has both losses and profits. It is certainly a good thing to be able to better control the Portuguese economy. However, it is indeed difficult to recoup the expenditures for the South African War. However, after controlling the Portuguese local economy, Britain has a lot. There is a way to recover military expenditures. The war reparations debt alone can recover half of the blood, and even more can be earned with interest.
As for East Africa, it will definitely make a lot of money, but Britain can only stop its losses in time. The failure of the South African War means that the last chance to contain East Africa is lost.
(End of this chapter)