Greece’s Roman Road

Chapter 57: situation

Bulgaria declared its own unification, a reckless move that went against the wishes of the major powers.

After the reunification of Bulgaria, its strength has doubled, and its territory has reached more than 90,000 square kilometers.

Although this area is not large, compared with other countries in the Balkans, Greece and Serbia are both about 50,000 square kilometers.

In this way, Bulgaria immediately became the strongest among the three countries.

Originally, everyone was an independent Christian country under the rule of Ottoman Turkey. Suddenly, Bulgaria became the largest of the three countries. The area of ​​the Balkan Peninsula was second only to the territory of Ottoman Turkey, which was almost the size of Greece and Serbia combined.

(Romania is generally not considered a Balkan country)

Among them, Serbia reacted most violently to the unification of Bulgaria:

For one thing, the two countries had had a festival before, and King Milan I of Serbia was annoyed (1868-1889) that after the Serbian army suppressed the rebellion, pro-Russian opposition leaders in Serbia, such as Niku who had provoked the Timok rebellion, La Pasic, who was granted asylum in Bulgaria.

Second, Serbia's big brother, Austria-Hungary, did not want a regional power in the Balkans.

The two countries are now allies. Every country in the Balkans has its own big brother. Behind Bulgaria is Russia (now in conflict), behind Greece is Britain and France, and behind Serbia is Austria-Hungary.

Thirdly, Serbia and Bulgaria, both Slavs, are naturally hostile over the issue of taking over the European territorial heritage of Ottoman Turkey.

During the period of the Eastern Roman Empire, the Slavs migrated to the Balkan Peninsula as a unit of tribes, settled in the Eastern Roman Empire, and served as mercenaries for the Roman Empire at the same time.

The population gradually increased, and the Slavic nation gradually developed and expanded in the Eastern Roman Empire. After the decline of the Eastern Roman Empire, the two countries successively established Slavic kingdoms in the Balkans.

At different times, both countries were major countries in the Balkans.

For example, in the tenth century, the Bulgarian king tried several times to become the Roman emperor and fought against Eastern Rome.

For these reasons, the King of Serbia, after obtaining permission from the Austro-Hungarian Empire to allow him to acquire Bulgarian territory, began to mobilize his army.

The day after the high-level meeting, Trikupis hurried to the Tatoi Palace and saw King George and Constantine discussing the situation.

"Your Majesty, I have come to resign to you," Trikupis said helplessly.

Both of them were surprised when they heard this.

"Why? Did something happen to the Parliament?" King George asked hurriedly.

"This morning, in front of the National Assembly building, a large number of people protested against the unification of Bulgaria and asked the government to declare war on Bulgaria"

"At the same time, Derienes strongly encouraged the parliamentarians to favor war. Now that the main war faction has gained the upper hand in the parliament, even the parliamentarians are angry and clamoring for war," Trikupis said helplessly.

For a country like Greece, with a large population and a territory rightfully considered part of Greece, outside the borders of Greece, nationalism and patriotic declarations are like red cloths in the hands of a bullfighter, and only need to dance a little , the populace will support the war with high morale.

This method of seizing power is simple and crude, but it is effective.

"You know, I have always been against the country's economic difficulties and the fact that there is no obvious advantage in the strength of the military to start a war, not to mention that the major powers have not made a statement yet, they are simply committing crimes against the country," Trikupis said angrily. said.

"But the people's enthusiasm for war has been aroused, like a volcano about to erupt. I can't stop it, so I came to ask you to resign from my prime ministership." There was a trace of sadness in Trikupis's words.

"Has the situation developed to this point?" George I said with a frown.

"Delieness is the next prime minister, right?" George said in a mocking tone. Although it was an inquiry, his tone was affirmative.

"You see, Constantine, it's not so easy to be a king. I know that the current state of Greece should not be a war, but as Trikupis said, who can organize Greece? Again to You have a piece of advice, the Greeks are not so easy to rule. Until you have the confidence to bring Greece a feasible way, don't be easily involved in the political mire of Greece, otherwise you will lose your honor, and you will have no more success. good result"

King George said with a lonely face after Trikupis left.

"That's why I never intervene in parliamentary disputes, because I know very well that what Greece needs is a Frederick the Great"

(The King of Prussia, who launched the Silesia War twice, launched the Seven Years War in 1756, and the Russian Empire and the Grand Duchy of Austria in 1772 to take advantage of the Polish internal crisis. An alliance of princes composed of German states. Died in Potsdam in 1786. He is recognized as one of the most outstanding military commanders in European history.

It was during his reign that Prussia achieved the status of a European power)

"I know very well that I'm not a monarch like Frederick the Great, so when it comes to military issues in Greece~www.wuxiax.com~ In addition to increasing the strength of the army, my approach is to delay and wait for changes", King George looked at Constantine and said.

"I hope you can do better than me, otherwise sitting on the Greek throne will be a blessing and a curse for you," George I said lovingly, looking at the silent Constantine.

Hearing the words of King George, Constantine thought of the original time and space, the final outcome of Constantine, in the Greek-Turkish war of 1923, after a series of domestic political twists and turns, the Greeks fought for the peninsula of Asia Minor and restored the East. After the dream of the Roman Empire was completely shattered, Constantine lost the Greek throne and lived in Palermo, Sicily. He died in depression at the age of 53.

"What are you going to do? Constantine?" George wanted to know what choices his heir would make in the face of such a complicated situation.

"You don't have to worry too much, anyway, there are major powers who are backing up," Constantine comforted.

With the current situation in Greece, without some turbulence, it is probably impossible to calm down.

On October 16, 1885, because Bulgaria firmly refused to withdraw from Eastern Rumelia, Russia announced the recall of all Russian officers in Baoguo; in addition to its hatred of the current Bulgarian regime, Russia did not want to see the Baoguo larger and larger. More population, which means Baoguo will be more difficult to control;

This move by Russia has surprised the international community. You must know that Bulgaria was a protectorate of Russia before.

There is no doubt that the relationship between the two countries has broken down.

The British Prime Minister Gladstone did not know the origin of the situation in the Balkans at first, but the British Empire made its own choice based on the principle of "whatever the Russians agree to, we oppose, and whatever the Russians oppose we support". .

​​

Tap the screen to use advanced tools Tip: You can use left and right keyboard keys to browse between chapters.

You'll Also Like