Chapter 1309 Territorial Replacement
East Africa has shown a tougher diplomatic attitude. Naturally, it is not that it intends to end the war, but in this way it allows the UK to "willingly" cut off its flesh to "compensate" for East Africa's losses.
Of course this will offend Britain, but today's East Africa and South Africa are very different during the war. Before the South African War, East Africa's comprehensive national strength was far inferior to that of Britain.
Now, the gap between East Africa and Britain is almost negligible, and East Africa even has an advantage. East Africa has no fear of the Allied Powers liquidating East Africa after the war.
……
April 2, 1918.
London.
British Prime Minister David is in a very good mood recently. With Britain's full efforts to win over and deceive, the United States finally joined the Allied Powers camp, which greatly boosted the Allied Powers' confidence in the victory of the war.
At the same time, the many new fronts opened by the British are also reporting good results. Except for the Dardanelles Strait, which has been unable to be conquered for a long time, several other battlefields have achieved good results.
As usual, Prime Minister David was sitting on the sofa watching the military situation on the front line. However, compared to his gloomy look a few months ago, he now looked somewhat leisurely and contented.
At this time, Foreign Secretary Balfour hurried over and said to the Prime Minister with a serious face: "Your Excellency, Prime Minister, I think you should pay attention to some information we have received recently."
Looking at Balfour's stern face, David suddenly felt a thump in his heart. After all, it was obviously not a good thing for his foreign minister to report the news to him with such an expression.
You must know that Balfour, like himself, was in a good mood because of the improvement of the situation. Last year, the initiative for the establishment of a Jewish Palestinian state advocated by Balfour was also passed in the UK, which made Balfour even more energetic recently. So cool.
As for why the UK pushed for the adoption of this initiative, the reason is very simple: it is to gain the support of Jewish forces.
As the beneficiaries of the development of European capitalism, Jews have extensive influence on European countries relying on their strong economic strength.
As for Britain's ability to pull the United States into trouble, American Jews played a significant role, not to mention the influence of Jews in the Allied Powers. In this world, except for East Africa, other major powers more or less relied on Jewish capital.
And Balfort supported the Jews so openly and tenaciously, and obviously gained a lot of benefits from them.
David straightened up and asked: "Belfort, what happened?"
Belfort said: "It's not a big deal, but I think this may affect Great Britain. The empire has caused twists and turns in the war, so I came to report to you.”
“East African Foreign Minister Friel just asked me about the re-division of power in the Indian Ocean. This time his attitude and words were obviously much harsher. I think this is a new change within the East African government. So I have to ask you for instructions.”
Diplomacy is no small matter, and changes in individual words may give the originally disclosed information a completely different meaning.
A more classic one is that in the last century, before the Franco-Prussian War, Bismarck modified the letters of William I, thus triggering Germany's last unification war.
Prime Minister David frowned and asked: "What do the East Africans want to do at this time?"
Balfour said: "According to the inference of our Ministry of Foreign Affairs, East Africa is obviously dissatisfied with our previous They also specifically mentioned France, apparently dissatisfied with our failure to fulfill our commitments.”
Last year, the British government made a big deal in order to stabilize East Africa, and at that time it was David Balfour. And Winston and several senior British cabinet officials took the lead in this matter.
Therefore, David naturally knows the inside story of what Balfour said. The United Kingdom is obviously the most advanced in terms of painting the pie, but now East Africa wants to eat this piece of pie by force. Prime Minister David said: "Is there any actual action in East Africa? How should we respond to previous proposals? If the failure to fulfill the promise may lead to East Africa joining the Allied camp?"
Continuous A few questions revealed Prime Minister David's inner anxiety at the moment.
Belfort said helplessly: "There is no actual action in East Africa. However, since last year, the East African navy has been operating more and more frequently in the Indian Ocean, especially in the Persian Gulf and the Red Sea. This is obviously the intention of the East African government. Threats to us ”
“And regarding the proposal to stabilize East Africa last year, at that time we were not sure whether the United States would join us. Now the United States is on the same boat with us, so I think our attitude towards East Africa should be different. Transformation.”
"After all, we have not given East Africa a substantive commitment, only a hint. However, we should not completely offend East Africa to prevent East Africa from becoming angry and joining the Allies. As for how to do it, it is naturally up to you to decide."
< br>It seems that Balfour said everything, but in fact he said nothing. After all, Prime Minister David also knows these things very well, and everyone knows that East Africa should not be pushed against Britain at this time.
However, if East Africa’s demands are met, it will be held responsible, and it may even be liquidated in the future.
So David did not intend to let Balfour go. He said: "How do you think we should satisfy East Africa's demands without damaging the interests of the empire, and thus stabilize our relationship with East Africa?"
Balfour said without hesitation: "Look at what the real demands of East Africa are, and how to ensure that after we meet their demands, they will not go back on their word and continue to support the activities of the Allies."
From the perspective of East Africa, the trade between East Africa and the Allied Powers is naturally "free trade" and does not involve any political relations. However, for the Allied Powers, during special periods, countries that trade with the Allied Powers are supporting the Allied Powers. Nowadays, although most of the trade between East Africa and the Allied Powers has been cut off, it can still flow into the Allied Powers through various methods.
However, it is impossible for the British to completely block these smuggling channels. After all, even within the empire, there is no shortage of people with great powers.
Prime Minister David said: "Since East Africans have mentioned the re-division of power in the Indian Ocean, they are interested in the Indian Ocean region. Which areas do you think we should offer for transactions with East Africa?"
After Balfour thought hard for a moment, he suddenly had an idea and said: "Your Excellency, Prime Minister, do you still remember the territorial transaction between the French and East Africa?"
David nodded and said: "This is natural."
Balfour said excitedly: "But the French are not very kind. Among the several colonies they handed over to East Africa, there are several colonies in India."
"Can we maintain India's security as a reason? Conduct territorial swaps with East Africa to satisfy East Africa’s demands and remove some unimportant Indian By handing over foreign colonies to East Africa, we can not only stabilize East Africa, but also stabilize our domestic people.”
If we directly give up our territory to East Africa, it would be betrayal, but if it is territory. If it were to be replaced, it would be a normal exchange of interests between the two countries to appease the sentiments of their own people and avoid criticism from political opponents.
Prime Minister David's eyes lit up and he said: "Your idea is very good. After all, no matter how big it is, it can't be bigger than India's security. If it is to maintain India's security and thus carry out territorial exchange with East Africa, then who will choose It’s not our fault, and at the same time, it can logically and temporarily satisfy East Africa’s ambitions.”
India is the core of British colonization, and the French handed over several of his own colonies to East Africa, which is itself. Threat to India.
Even if the risk of controlling India by relying on a few colonial strongholds is very small, the British cannot bear such a risk.
In fact, Prime Minister David and other senior British government officials know very well that if East Africa really wants to invade India, at this time, the United Kingdom can only stare blankly.
So, replacing several colonial strongholds in East Africa in India with other colonies is completely a pretense, used to convince the people of the country.
(End of this chapter)