Chapter 1095 "East-British Reconciliation Treaty"
Of course, Russell was still very happy at this time. Russell, who used the Pirate Coast as a bargaining chip, was not afraid that East Africa would ask for more, but he was afraid that East Africa would look down on the Pirate Coast.
Russell's psychology is actually consistent with that of the East African officials. How much is the pirate coast worth? The British government knows better than the East African officials why the British government directly chooses the pirate coast as a bargaining chip. In essence, the pirate coast is in The least valuable in the eyes of the British government.
Although the British government is the suzerain state of many tribes on the Pirate Coast, it does not govern the area at all. Currently, the Pirate Coast is also called the "truce states".
The Truce States can also be called the Truce States Alliance. This alliance was promoted by the United Kingdom in the early 19th century in order to stabilize regional stability and curb the development of piracy in the Persian Gulf.
After all, after Britain gained dominance in the Persian Gulf region, the main trading business in the Persian Gulf was mainly undertaken by British merchant ships, and the rampant piracy activities in the pirate coast actually had a negative impact on British interests. After all, piracy was essentially a The main source of income for many tribes on the Pirate Coast.
If the local political structure is not stabilized, the British will not even be able to find the criminals to punish, so the British will forcibly unite the large and small tribes on the pirate coast into a political force, so that the British government can also find the criminals behind the pirates in the Persian Gulf. person in charge, so as to avoid having nowhere to redress after the country’s merchant ships were robbed.
This political force is the "Truce States", which is equivalent to the predecessor of the United Arab Emirates in the previous life. It can be regarded as a transitional form of semi-state power.
This can also be seen that the early British colonization of the pirate coast was actually a kind of "justice". Although the essence was to safeguard its own interests, it did greatly improve the security of the Persian Gulf routes.
Of course, this also leads to the fact that the British investment in the local area is greater than the income, so leaving this "baggage" to East Africa, the British government has no psychological burden at all.
Russell suppressed the joy in his heart and said to Freer: "If East Africa wants to bring the entire pirate coast into its sphere of influence, there is no problem, provided that the East African navy must shrink within the scope that we in the UK consider reasonable."
The topic eventually returned to the naval issue. For the British government, as long as the East African government controls the navy within any reasonable range for the United Kingdom, the Indian Ocean and the South Atlantic will not become East Africa's back garden in a short period of time.
What Britain lacks most now is time and energy, so as long as it can stabilize East Africa in a short period of time, it is the best result.
The Indian Ocean is regarded as a core interest by the East African government, and the same is true for the United Kingdom. After all, since the independence of the United States, the United Kingdom has almost diverted most of its overseas investment to Indian colonies.
Freer said: "In terms of naval scale, I still want to emphasize that the conditions given by the United Kingdom are too harsh. Even if it is based on the pirate coast transaction, it is impossible for us to accept the conditions originally proposed by your country. ”
A barren land like the Pirate Coast cannot bribe the East African government. This is just like Britain asking Germany to restrict the High Seas Fleet by using the Nigerian colony as a condition. The German government simply cannot agree. After all, what Germany wants is all of Britain's overseas territories.
Russell had already been prepared for Freer's rhetoric. After all, he did not believe that East Africa would be able to accept British conditions just by relying on the "barren land" of the Pirate Coast.
Russell said: "The naval issue can be discussed slowly. Since East Africa cannot accept our British plan, and we cannot accept your country's naval development plan, how about a compromise?"
Freer did not directly refute Russell's proposal, so Russell continued: "Our original plan was 500,000 tons, and East Africa The requirement is to catch up with the navies of the United States, Germany, France and other countries, and then it must be at least 800,000 tons."
"So as a compromise, the East African Navy only needs to limit the total tonnage to less than 650,000 tons. , so as to ensure that the East African Navy does not lag too far behind the navies of other countries, and is superior to the Japanese Navy, and at the same time it is enough to support the East African Navy in safeguarding its own interests. ”
In Russell's view, 650,000 tons is enough for East Africa to maintain its status as a major power navy. Just between Japan and France, the East African navy is enough to be ranked among the top five in the world. Of course, this is true on the surface, but this lacks a premise, that is, the navies of other countries will no longer develop.
Freer naturally noticed something, so he said to Russell: "This is impossible. While our East African navy is developing, the navies of other countries in the world are also developing vigorously. Just take As for the Japanese Navy, their naval tonnage is increasing by at least tens of thousands of tons every year. In four or five years, the Japanese Navy will also exceed 650,000 tons or even more."
"Similarly, such as the United States. , Germany and France, as well as your country’s navy, the annual increase is greater than that of Japan It's an exaggeration. The current naval tonnage of the United States, Germany and France is more than 800,000 tons. In a few years, one million tons will probably be the bottom line, so 650,000 tons is simply not enough to compete in the great naval arms race. against the backdrop of meeting the needs of our navy ”
As Freer finished speaking, the negotiations reached a deadlock again, and Russell could only take another step back: "In this case, let's change a plan, which is not based entirely on fixed naval tonnage, but on the basis of fixed naval tonnage. Ratio is a measurement method. ”
"First of all, the East African Navy must not exceed the French Navy. Let us first set a basis. The total tonnage of the French Navy is more than 800,000 tons. Then the East African Navy only needs to reach 80% of the French Navy. We use the French Navy as the As a reference, the East African navy will not be able to exceed this standard in the next ten years.”
The French Navy is the least powerful among the second echelon, so Russell believes that using the French Navy as a standard and according to the current development situation of the French Navy, the French Navy will not be able to compete with the United Kingdom, the United States, and Germany for a long time. , so using the French Navy as a reference is quite beneficial to Britain.
Freer was not in a hurry to refuse. After thinking about it again and again, he thought that this plan was still good. After all, 8% of the French navy was enough to support the status of a great power in East Africa. Of course, there were some Details, Freer said, were unreasonable.
He said: "First of all, we cannot accept ten years, five years at most. After all, if an accident occurs to the French Navy in the future, wouldn't this become a shackles to the development of our navy?"
"Secondly, we also require that France should not be used as a reference only. We in East Africa also have requirements for the following countries. For example, the Japanese navy cannot surpass East Africa. If the Japanese navy surpasses East Africa, then we will re-formulate the naval development plan."
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Regarding the second point mentioned by Freer, Russell did not think it was a big problem. After all, the Japanese navy was too powerful and it was indeed a huge threat to Britain.
Of course, Russell still didn’t agree with the first point mentioned by Freer, so Russell continued to bargain with Freer.
......
After two months of pulling and pulling, in March 1911, East Africa and Britain finally finalized the "East-British Settlement Treaty."
First of all, the political reconciliation between Britain and East Africa has promoted the development of diplomatic relations between the two countries, and the two countries have lifted mutual economic sanctions to deepen economic cooperation between the two countries.
Secondly, the British government used some overseas markets and the pirate coast (UAE) in exchange for the non-radical expansion of the East African Navy in the next five years. The East African Navy should maintain 80% of the size of the French Navy. According to the 1911 scale of the French Navy , which means that the current total tonnage of the East African Navy should not exceed 650,000 tons.
If the total tonnage of the French navy exceeds 800,000 tons in the future, the East African government can adjust the size of its navy under British supervision. At the same time, the total tonnage of the East African navy should not be lower than that of the Japanese navy.
Through this negotiation, both the East African and British governments achieved results that they considered relatively satisfactory. Of course, in East Africa, Ernst was mainly satisfied. After all, solid oil and gas resources were obtained without much effort. origin, so that East Africa’s future shortcomings in energy issues will no longer exist.
(End of this chapter)