Vol 4 Chapter 160: Partition of Italy

Regarding the handling of the Italian issue, the negotiations between the three countries have proceeded surprisingly smoothly. In the final analysis, they are all based on their needs. Due to the rise of Bulgaria and the close proximity of the law, the British felt the crisis. In order to maintain their position in the Mediterranean, they had to Make concessions.
But Ferdinand did not rush to be happy. The Salentina Peninsula is just a windfall. If it is not Sicily, then the Salentina Peninsula is of little significance.
There is no way to control the Mediterranean. The Adriatic Sea alone is not worth the Bulgarian effort. Is it just giving it back to the Italians?
After thinking about it, Ferdinand finally found that he would be able to extort some money from the Italians if he took the Salentina Peninsula. The strategic position is not that important, and economic value cannot be used to develop tourism in this era ?
"Your Majesty, it's better to exchange colonies along the Persian Gulf with the British! Now many ports along the Persian Gulf are under the influence of the British, and our navy is still restricted if it wants to enter the Indian Ocean!" Admiral Petrov proposed
Ferdinand smiled slightly, Petrov's proposal is very constructive, but now is a good time to find out!
In terms of economic value, the entire Arabian Peninsula now cannot be compared to Sicily in total; in terms of strategic value, the Persian Gulf in this era is not a strategic place, and the two are even more incomparable.
But for Bulgaria, it now has a certain strategic value, which will help Bulgaria strengthen its control over the Arabian Peninsula.
At most, the British will doubt that Bulgaria wants to expand into the Persian region, but this is not their core interest. As long as Bulgaria is not excessive, the two sides can still divide the Persian region!
Ferdinand thought for a while and said: "Well, just exchange the colonies along the Persian Gulf with the British. Except that the Mande Strait is forbidden by the British, this time we simply annex the Arabian Peninsula. , Let the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the British delimit their respective spheres of influence in Persia!"
Even if you want to pick up the leaks, you have to make a complete set of tricks. In fact, the Persian region still has some value. Of course, this era is only of agricultural value.
But this is still not enough. If the conditions are too low, it is estimated that they will doubt the feces and urine of John Bull!
After a pause, Ferdinand added: "One more thing, we hope that the Italians will pay off the debts owed to the British, and tell the British that we urgently need money so that they must not hinder domestic consortia from buying what we have obtained. War reparations claims!"
Well, as long as the British consortium really wants to buy, then it is estimated that Bulgaria will not need to take the initiative. People have a way to get the government to agree.
As for whether the British will oppose the Bulgarian navy's entry into the Indian Ocean, Ferdinand is not worried at all. As long as they don't learn the violent warships like the Germans and the Americans, it doesn't matter if you run there.
What can really make them fear is that their power threatens their world hegemony. Obviously, Bulgaria in this era does not have this power!
The Bulgarian navy was divided into two. This is no alternative. After the war, Bulgaria still had such a large fleet in the Mediterranean. Not only was John Bull uncomfortable, but the French also felt pressure.
In this case, either dismantle the ship or disperse the fleet, reducing the strength of the Bulgarian Navy in the Mediterranean!
The well-known Ferdinand naturally chose to divide his forces. In the era of sea power, without a strong navy, how can Bulgaria's interests abroad be guaranteed?
With the current strength of Bulgaria’s six dreadnought ships, it is among the top five existences in the world, only in the four countries of Britain, the United States, Japan, and France. In this period, the naval power of Japan, France, and Bulgaria is still very close. Haven't opened the distance yet!
The "August 4th Plan" formulated by the Japanese in 1915 has only just begun. As for the following "August 6th Plan" and "August 8th Plan", there are no plans yet, and the Japanese naval violence has just begun.
The French Navy has a lot of tonnage, but the number of capital ships is not many, and there are too many old ships, and now they are about to face large-scale retirement, so their naval strength is not very good at this period!
...
After receiving the domestic telegram, Constantine's mood was not very good. Once the Bulgarian Navy entered the Indian Ocean, the government's previous plan to reduce naval military expenditures would not be so easy to complete.
During the war, Bulgaria’s military budget did not have a budget. Anyway, if you have no money, you will reach out to the government. This good thing will naturally end as soon as the war is over!
If nothing happens, the 6th Army’s military spending in the coming year may be cut by more than 95%, and the Navy will also cut 80% to 90%. It is estimated that it will be able to cut 60% to 70%. .
In Constantine's view, this is that Ferdinand does not want the government to reduce military spending too much, so he must cut the budget of other departments. As the boss of the government, he is naturally in a bad mood.
No matter how he feels, he still has to finish what he has to do, and he has to be beautiful! Being a errand under Ferdinand is not so easy!
In contrast, Medev's mood is much better. The government budget has little to do with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Their funding has always been guaranteed anyway.
As the navy enters the Indian Ocean, the importance of their Ministry of Foreign Affairs will only increase, not decrease, and even the international affairs that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will deal with in the future will greatly increase!
To put it simply, before the World War, the Bulgarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs was only active in the foreign affairs of the countries along the Mediterranean Sea. Now it is estimated that their presence will appear in most foreign affairs of the world.
...
Negotiations on Italy have started again. The biggest problem now is the issue of indemnities. The sum of the indemnities of the three countries is as high as £700 million. Obviously, the Italians cannot afford it.
Even if it was cut in half, Constantine doubted whether the Italians would be able to pay off the debts. If they had no money, they would take the debts in kind. Unfortunately, the Italians were really thin. Calculated at 700 million in compensation and calculated at 5% of the international interest rate , The annual interest is 350 million pounds, seven times the fiscal revenue of Italy at its peak!
Lloyd George said very responsibly: "Everyone, the current population of Italy is probably less than 350,000. If calculated at 700 million pounds, each person would have to bear a huge debt of 2oo pounds. In terms of national income (note: Italy’s gross national income in 1913 was US$400 million, or approximately £822 million), it would take 8.5 years to eat or drink!
According to calculations by economic experts, even if their economy has recovered to its pre-war level, the Italians' ability to afford it, the annual repayment amount still cannot exceed 210 million pounds!
And we must accept the repayment in kind, otherwise the figure will be even lower, so we must reduce the amount of compensation, otherwise the account cannot be paid off, and the Italians are likely to pretend to be dead again! "
The venue fell into a state of silence, and Constantine broke the silence: "If this is the case, then we will waive their interest and let the Italians pay us 200 million pounds in cash or equivalent supplies every year. They have spent 35 years. You can pay off debts!
If there is a default in the middle of the contract, or if the repayment is deliberately defaulted, the total compensation is calculated based on the overdue calculation of five percent per day, so that everyone does not have a headache! "
Well, Constantine’s proposal is no different from reducing the amount of compensation. In fact, if interest is calculated, the amount of compensation is only equivalent to more than two billion pounds!
French President Poincaré said hesitantly: "Is this not so good? It seems that the number is too big. It is better to reduce the Italians’ compensation to 2.8 billion pounds, at a monthly interest rate of 4.5 per thousand. Come to calculate!
If the students are overdue, calculate it at one-thousandths of a day, so that the number seems to be better, and everyone still distributes them according to their respective shares! "
Constantine took a deep breath. He was born in a loan shark empire. According to this figure, Italians have to pay 1.26 million pounds in interest every month, and 151.2 million pounds in interest every year. God knows that Italians are only born in the year of the monkey. Able to pay it back!
If you can't pay on a monthly basis, this profit will be even more terrifying!
No one can refuse in the face of interests! Even if the British want to preserve the strength of Italy as much as possible, when it comes to their own interests, all this is thrown out of the clouds!
"This proposal is not bad. We have already cut the Italians' war reparations by 60%, which is enough to show the world our benevolent side!" Lloyd George said abruptly.
Constantine just nodded in agreement with him. Suddenly he was still too tender compared to the old empire. He could believe that John Bull would give up his own interests for the Italians!
After a pause, Puengale said: "The Italians still have some colonies that can be used to offset the compensation. We should give them an estimate, and then decide who wants it!"
Constantine and Lloyd Georges had no objection. The economic value and strategic value of the Italian colonies were not high, and everyone was not interested in fighting, so they simply assessed the value to offset the war reparations.
Constantine thought for a while and said: "For this kind of colony without much strategic value, we have to evaluate it. Whoever estimates the highest price will buy them back!
Anyway, in the first few years, the Allies will have to restore their economy, and their ability to pay is limited. Let this money be used to repay the war indemnities of our three countries! "
That's right, it is the three countries. Constantine just so lightly erased the qualifications of other countries to carve up colonies. At this point, everyone's interests are the same. Naturally, Britain and France will not oppose this proposal.
Lloyd-George thought for a while and said: "For the sake of fairness, everyone writes the answer directly on the paper, and then everyone publicizes it. It is the first to declare that once a bid is made, no one can go back!"
"Good!" everyone said in unison
Constantine has a headache. The Italian colony is Somalia, and there is only half of it. The north was already John Bull's sphere of influence as early as 1887.
Half of Somalia is simply tasteless to Bulgaria, and it is a pity to discard it!
After hesitating again and again, Constantine still randomly wrote a number that he thought was appropriate, and then cast his eyes on the other two.
Lloyd-George and Poincaré wrote the answer long ago. As the old colonial empire, they are more professional in the valuation of colonies!
Poincaré smiled and said, "Now that everyone has written it, let's show it together!"
After speaking, he picked up the notebook and wrote a big 350,000 yuan in red pen, but unfortunately the final unit was francs!
Lloyd George also showed his notebook. The number given on it was 1.41 million. Fortunately, his unit was pounds.
Constantine was a little dumbfounded. He knew that he had suffered a loss by looking at the British and French bids. Half of Somalia was not worth so much money. In any case, he did not regret the sale of medicines. He also showed his price of 30,000 pounds!
Don't think that the price is not high. The key is that the population of Somalia in this era is less than one million, and the economy is in a mess. After deducting administrative expenses, the colony's fiscal surplus seems to have been negative.
Even if you count the bonuses from resources and the market, you still lose money! If you want to open Somalia, Bulgaria will have to invest a lot of money. Obviously, it will not be possible in the short term!
Lloyd-George said gleefully: "Congratulations, Mr. Constantine, from now on it is yours for Somalia!"
Constantine is very depressed now, he decided to go back and find professionals to evaluate all the colonies of the Allied Powers once, so as not to have such an oolong joke!
However, Constantine still smiled and said: "Thank you for the intention of the two of you. After the negotiation is over, what about the unified checkout?"
Poincaré agreed in one fell swoop: "Well, this is just the beginning. It's a mere over 1 million pounds, which is a small problem for all of us!"
It was a relief for Constantine. Yes, Bulgaria was quoted at 30,000 pounds, but after deducting his own indemnity, the actual payment was only 1.714 million pounds, which is not too bad.
Constantine took the opportunity to take the topic: "Well, let’s move on to the next item. Let’s deal with the Italian navy first~EbookFREE.me~ They also have two dreadnoughts and a bunch of small warships, we Let's divide it first!"
Everyone was very interested in the Italian warships, but soon John Bull chose to give up. He suddenly realized that if they participated in the division of the Italian navy, it did not mean that Bulgaria and France were also eligible to divide the German navy!
Lloyd George said very calmly: "We did not fight with the Italian Navy, so we will not participate in the distribution of the assets left by the Italian Navy!"
Poincaré smiled and said, "Everyone is allies, why should we share each other? Let us all share it together!"
It is a pity that Lloyd-George looks like a gentleman. He is killed and distributed according to his contribution. They will not participate in the distribution without fighting the Italian Navy!
Seeing that he was not fooled, only the two dreadnoughts were left to participate in the distribution. The Italian navy still left two dreadnoughts, two former dreadnoughts, five cruisers, six destroyers, and the remaining small warships.
Bulgaria does not have much demand for these warships. If they take too much, they will consume precious military expenses. Constantine directly asked: "We should pay half of our two countries’ family. We should pay your country’s 100%. How about erasing the 70,000 pounds colony subsidy?"
Poencaré secretly calculated that if the distribution is based on the contribution, the Bulgarians will hit the Italian navy hard. They must take the big head. His expectation is that the two sides have four or six points. Now the two sides share equally, even if it is compensated. Bulgarians are more than one million pounds, and they still don’t suffer.
So Puengale replied happily: "Well, the Italian Navy will be evenly divided!"
...
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