Chapter 861: Dividing the Spoils
“Ambassador Russell, just now the staff from the White House came to our embassy, and according to him, President Cleveland invited you to the White House for a talk.”
At this time, Russell was completely dissatisfied. You know what Cleveland invited him to the White House for, because the incident in the Hawaiian Islands was a special operation in East Africa. Except for East African senior officials, the military and the Defense Security Agency, even East Africans rarely knew about it.
But Russell is not too surprised. Since the restoration of diplomatic relations between East Africa and the United States, this kind of high-level exchanges are not uncommon. However, President Cleveland only took office in March this year and did not communicate with Russell. There have been exchanges.
The last president of the United States before President Cleveland was actually Russell Benjamin Harrison, so Russell was relatively unfamiliar with President Cleveland.
Of course, it’s not like he didn’t understand it at all, because Cleveland is still the 22nd President of the United States. Yes, Cleveland has served as President of the United States for one term. This time he is just taking over again.
The reason why Russell was not re-elected was mainly because he advocated an economic "isolationist" policy and encountered an economic depression, which caused domestic capital to be dissatisfied with him. After all, the United States is already the world's largest industrial country. , whose policies have made the American capital community feel that their interests have been harmed.
Although Cleveland is a supporter of "liberal economics", he actually changed the policy after taking office. The United States still maintains the "high tariff" policy, but it is weakened compared to the Russell period.
As for Cleveland, Russell himself has a general attitude towards the American president, because the two did not have much interaction before, and the restoration of East-US diplomatic relations is mainly due to President Russell's political achievements, although Russell also In compliance with the international trend after the South African War, Russell made flexible changes, but Russell only looked at the results. When Cleveland was inaugurated as the 22nd President of the United States, he did not have much exchanges with East Africa.
However, as a diplomat, Russell would not be emotional, so he still went to the White House as scheduled to communicate with this unfamiliar American president to see what medicine he was selling.
…
Conference room.
"Hello, Ambassador Russell, I think this is the first time we have met." Cleveland greeted Russell warmly.
"Hello, President Cleveland!" Russell replied politely.
Cleveland noticed that this East African diplomat was very young. Of course, this was not the first impression, but that Russell, as a diplomat, seemed a little difficult to deal with. After all, he greeted him with a smile. Russell's reaction was this, Not at all like a qualified diplomat.
His feeling was correct. Russell was born in the military, and he had the rigidity and seriousness of a military personnel. East Africa, a country with a history of less than 30 years, did not have many professional diplomats. Of course, in other words, East Africa There are not many professionally trained diplomats in high positions.
The military system in East Africa is the fastest-promoted, and the East African government has mostly people from the military system. In addition, East Africa has always been at war, so it is easier for soldiers to be promoted.
"Why did President Cleveland invite me here this time?" Russell asked straight to the point.
This further confirmed President Cleveland's conjecture, but he still said with a smile: "East Africa and the United States are both big countries in the world, so the exchanges between us are not necessarily for national affairs, they can also be Is it to increase the relationship between the two countries? I wonder what Ambassador Russell likes to drink? ”
"Yablon, prepare a cup of coffee for Ambassador Russell." Seeing Russell's answer, Cleveland ordered his secretary.
"Ambassador Russell, you are a straightforward person, and I understand that people do not speak secretly. What do you think of Hawaii in East Africa?" President Cleveland asked directly.
"Hawaii, what does this have to do with us in East Africa?" "Well, don't you know!" President Cleveland thought Russell wanted to act stupid. You East Africans have already swallowed up Kauai Island, why don't you think about it? Accept it!
Russell was puzzled: "Hawaii should be an island country in the Pacific! The distance between East Africa and Hawaii is very far."
Seeing that Russell really didn't know the situation on the Hawaiian Islands, Cleveland explained to him what was going on: "...So, what is your attitude in East Africa?"
No wonder Russell didn't know about this, Hawaii After all, it is far away from the mainland of East Africa, and if you want to send the message back to East Africa, you must first take a boat to the Southern Ryukyu Islands, and then relay it back to East Africa via telegraph.
The East African troops in Hawaii have not yet returned to the Southern Ryukyu Islands. After all, they must first ensure the stability of Kauai, so there is a lot to do.
The mainland will naturally not send news to Russell before receiving the news. After all, it is a special military operation, so the fewer people who know about it before the dust settles, the better.
But now that Russell knew it from the President of the United States, he naturally did not dare to make any arbitrary claims. He said to Cleveland: "I want to go back and discuss this matter with the locals first."
Cleveland could only send Russell back first, but with Russell's line, there was a communication channel between East Africa and the United States. If it were before the South African War, this kind of thing might really cause trouble.
The next day, East Africa sent Russell the specific situation and explained East Africa's attitude, and Russell returned to the White House again.
“It is true that our country will send troops to Kauai, but East Africa has no interest in the Hawaiian islands other than Kauai. Moreover, this troop dispatch was invited by King Kumari to help it avoid exploitation by unscrupulous businessmen. and his own interest in the Kingdom of Hawaii They are dissatisfied, so they want to break away and restore the country."
Only the first part of Russell's words is sincere, but the second part is completely a "slander" of East Africa. After all, Kumari did not know any East Africans before. How can people invite East Africa to send troops?
However, after knowing East Africa's plan, Cleveland breathed a sigh of relief. If East Africa only supported a puppet regime on Kauai, it would be barely acceptable.
After all, the most important thing about Hawaii is Pearl Harbor. If East Africa went to Pearl Harbor, even Cleveland, who opposed the US annexation of Hawaii, would not agree.
Moreover, the United States itself is in the wrong. The coup in southern Hawaii was carried out by its own people, so the United States cannot morally attack East Africa. In this way, criticizing East Africa is criticizing itself.
So morally the United States cannot drive the East African forces out of Hawaii, and it is even more impossible to achieve it militarily. The United States is now very cautious militarily, and Cleveland is not a militant. What's more, the military strength of East Africa deserves the respect of the United States. , so it is now obviously impossible to expel East Africa from the Hawaiian Islands through strong means.
If the United States is in the first grade, East Africa will be in the 15th grade. However, countries such as Britain and France would be happiest when East and the United States compete, so Cleveland prefers to divide Hawaii equally with East Africa.
Yes, after East Africa's attitude was expressed, Cleveland's original decision not to support the annexation of Hawaii also changed.
After all, if the United States does not take action, the Kingdom of Hawaii will not be able to resist the aggression of the East Africans. In this case, it is better to recognize the illegal government of the Republic of Hawaii and then bring the southern Hawaiian Islands into the sphere of influence of the United States.
And from Cleveland's point of view, East Africa's involvement in the Hawaiian Islands is not a bad thing. Originally, the United States' annexation of the Hawaiian Islands would attract negative public opinion from the international community, but now East Africa is involved! Taking the blame together can distract other countries.
In the end, President Cleveland made a decision against his own heart and included Hawaii in the U.S. territory in advance. Of course, the future territory of Hawaii will be incomplete without the island of Kauai.
(End of this chapter)