My Italy

Chapter 241 London Peace Talks (4)

In the ensuing negotiations, as Depretis said, in response to Bulgaria's requirements, except for the two countries, all parties who were originally just spectators came on stage.

However, the main ones are Austria-Hungary and Russia. These two countries exert various pressures on Bulgaria, from verbal warnings to naked and explicit statements, and they simply want to suppress all Bulgaria's demands.

Prime Minister Stambolov, who is the head of the Bulgarian delegation, is even more busy dealing with him. Even though he is called the Bismarck of Bulgaria, he is not really Bismarck after all, and Bulgaria is not as powerful as Prussia. .

Therefore, in the face of pressure from all parties, Bulgaria retreated steadily. Its demands started from the entire Macedonia region and retreated all the way to northern Macedonia. However, other countries are still not satisfied. They want Bulgaria to take only half of North Macedonia's territory.

At this time, the Italian representative came to power, and Prime Minister Depretis fully supported Bulgaria's request at this time. Although Italy is still worse than Austria-Hungary and Russia, it at least gives Bulgaria some confidence.

Italy's support allowed Bulgaria to retain part of northern Macedonia. Because the Ottomans still retain Kosovo, they left a channel in North Macedonia. Of course, as compensation, Central Macedonia set aside a piece of land as compensation for Bulgaria. .

Since Bulgaria's demands have been suppressed to such a low level, Serbia and Greece, as the spoilers, have not gained much. Among them, Serbia has only received the Zlatibor Corridor, while Greece has only received the Epirus region. . Only the Kingdom of Montenegro, due to its small size and few needs, was not targeted and took all the Durmitor region adjacent to the country.

Of course, these small countries all received less, so Italy, as the initiator of the war, had to make appropriate concessions, and the Southern Twelve Islands were also given up.

However, Italy's main targets, Albania and the Libyan region of North Africa, were recognized by all countries. Of course, independent Crete also acquiesced at Italy's insistence.

In general, the requirements of Italy and Montenegro have been basically met this time. Greece and Serbia took the opportunity to expand a little bit of their territory, while Bulgaria only got about one-third of Macedonia. None of the three Balkan countries were too satisfied, but they had to accept it under the pressure of the major powers.

Now that the conditions of each country have been unified, the next step is to negotiate with the Ottomans.

So a week later, it was still the same conference room, with an additional negotiator named Osman.

"This is the peace condition for the countries participating in the war. You two can take a look at it."

The speaker was Italian Foreign Minister Bacona. He looked condescendingly at the Ottoman representative representing the defeated country and handed him the peace treaty after the reunification of the countries.

"One more thing, this is our final condition, and we will not and are unwilling to change a word."

Facing Bakona's words, Halim Pasha and Kamil Pasha, who were the scapegoats of the Ottomans, took over the peace treaty that had been drawn up with expressionless faces and began to look at it one by one.

The first is for all countries participating in the war to cease all military operations.

2. Unless otherwise specified, all military movements in warring areas such as Macedonia, Thrace, and Kosovo shall be suspended, with the exception of military movements necessary for supplies, administration, and local security.

3. The Ottomans ceded Libya, Albania, North Macedonia (except Skopje), Kochani and Stepmica, the Zlatibor Corridor, and Durmitor in Central Macedonia to other countries participating in the war. Also Crete is independent.

4. The Ottomans must withdraw all military and religious personnel from the outlined areas. Local officials can wait until they receive state mandate before withdrawing.

5; In addition, taking into account ethnic, religious and other factors, people in the above-mentioned areas have three months of free choice. They can freely choose the country they want to go to, and the new government in the area must not use threats or other means to stop it.

6; In addition, in view of the heavy losses caused by the war in the area, the Ottomans invested 60 million Ottoman liras (less than 6 million pounds) as aid funds to help the local disaster-stricken people resume production and life.

Of course, there are also some treaties such as the exchange of prisoners of war, counting of losses, etc. These various contracts, which add up to sixteen articles, constitute the outcome of the London peace talks.

As representatives of the Ottomans, Halim Pasha and Kamil Pasha watched very slowly, and asked questions from time to time when they didn't understand something. Representatives from other countries just waited quietly.

However, no matter how you look at it, it will not look like a flower. After more than an hour, the two Ottoman representatives finally finished reading.

Only then did Kamil Pasha speak. "We have read your conditions, but we need to send a telegram to Istanbul to inform them of the content of the negotiations."

Faced with the words of the Ottoman representative, Prime Minister Despretis, who is the head of the Italian delegation, spoke out. "You are free to do so, but it is best to be quick. If we know that your country is trying to use this time to make small moves, then the war will continue and your 200,000 officers and soldiers in Macedonia will suffer more serious consequences."

Yes, this is a naked threat. Let the Ottomans know that they still have 200,000 troops surrounded by various countries.

He knew that the other party was a threat, but these 200,000 troops were the hard work of the Ottoman army, and Kamil Pasha, as the Grand Vizier, could bow his head.

"Don't worry, we will respond as soon as possible."

This was the end of the first negotiation with the Ottomans. Of course, no one from each country expected the other party to respond immediately. Peace talks, even if they don't last for a month or two, they can still be considered peace talks.

Although this time the other party will not be given a chance to bargain, it will still take at least half a month.

Now that the other party has left, why are they still here? The Italian delegation, represented by Prime Minister Despretis, stood up first, followed closely by the delegations of Bulgaria and Montenegro, and the three countries left gracefully. After the three countries left, the Greek and Serbian delegations looked at each other and also stood up and left.

The demands of Italy and the Balkan countries were quickly conveyed back to Istanbul. Of course, Halim Pasha and Kamil Pasha never thought that the country would give them instructions. They just wanted to let the country know the other party's conditions.

Sure enough, in the evening of that day, a telegram was sent from Istanbul, telling them to make their own decision.

Now the two of them don't know what to do.

So the subsequent negotiations went quickly, and a week later, the two men signed the treaty.

This made all countries breathe a sigh of relief. As long as the governments of all countries sign the peace treaty, it will take effect.

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