My Italian Chapter 24

The romantic Paris is so charming. As the people of Paris, the world's largest city, there are enough reasons to be proud of it.

Not to mention that there are too many places of interest in Paris, such as Notre Dame Cathedral, the Arc de Triomphe, the Louvre, Versailles, etc. (The Eiffel Tower has not yet been built, and the River Seine is comparable to the Ganges, not a scenery)

However, although the scenery of Paris is so charming, there are still many people on the street who are frowning. It is all dragged down by the economic situation, which makes life in France difficult at present. The current high unemployment rate in France is a huge challenge for the new Jouffé government.

This French big man, well-known to many Chinese, is also forming a cabinet for the first time. The Prime Minister, who has just come to power, naturally needs a new government and a new atmosphere. First of all, he needs to give a solution to the current economic situation.

This Ruferi belongs to the republican left. He once served as the French Minister of Education and Foreign Affairs. In terms of education, he first eliminated the influence of the clergy in the university, and then he established a new education system. Ruferi also restructured the Committee on Public Education, proposing bills to change the university's governing charter.

This was a huge boost to the establishment of free, secular compulsory primary education in France. In addition, he designated French as the language of instruction, which made some dialects on the verge of extinction, and was later criticized by some people. However, Ruferi's decision also united people from all over France and consolidated the status of the French nation-state.

If Ruferi has made great achievements as the Minister of Education, he has made many people resentful as the Minister of Foreign Affairs.

Speaking of which, this also has a lot to do with his foreign diplomacy. He does not advocate confrontation with Germany, but is very interested in expanding colonies abroad.

This is the exact opposite of the claim of his political opponent, Clemenceau. You must know that this person is very disgusted with Germany and is bent on promoting France to retake Alsace-Lorraine. It is a French radical. The two not only turned to the left on the German issue, but also externally.

He believed that the use of violence to conquer the "uncivilized" nation would only reduce the moral prestige of the French nation. The government should not use a lot of French manpower and material resources on colonial expeditions, but on reforms that are urgently needed at home. In his view, the colonial cause is only conducive to the enrichment of a few people, not in the interests of France.

But regardless of Clemenceau's objections, it is Ruferi who is now Prime Minister. And now the first task in front of him is to find a way to make France satisfied with him. Among them, the ideas of the capitalists are easy to solve, that is, the needs of ordinary people are somewhat difficult. Of course, no matter how difficult it is, it needs to be done. Who made him the Prime Minister of France?

For this, Ru Feili has his own way, but before that, he needs to hold a meeting to discuss it.

Looking at the cabinet members who were attentively waiting for their speeches in the meeting, Ruferi started his speech. "Everyone, to call everyone for a meeting, we all know the intention clearly. This is the first meeting of our cabinet. You are all people in power. I believe I don't need to say more, and you know the importance. So no matter who it is, it is It is important to remember that France is above all else."

With Ruferi's far-sighted speech, there was a round of applause at the scene. Although the Prime Minister did not say any measures or measures, it is also necessary to give priority to setting the tone.

And Ruferi looked at the cabinet members he chose with satisfaction. These people basically met his heart's desire. Of course, many positions were also given to the political parties that supported him, so he was basically satisfied.

In the next meeting, they focused on the development of industrial production, livelihood projects and other major domestic issues. The meeting lasted for more than two hours.

After the council was over, when everyone was ready to get up, he spoke again. "Foreign Minister Gambetta, wait a minute."

Ruferi's words made Gambetta stop. The others were not fools. They knew that the two had something to discuss, so the entire conference room was vacated after a while.

After everyone else had left, Ru Feili said. "Go to my office and take a seat."

"As you wish, Your Excellency."

In the face of Ruferi's invitation, Gambetta, the foreign minister, certainly would not refuse.

After the two came to the prime minister's office, Ruferi picked up the phone and ordered to go. "Simon, let Admiral Laurent come over." Ruferi's words made Gambetta's heart move. He remembered what the prime minister said to himself before, was he doing this?

Without letting Gambetta think about it, the door opened in less than two minutes, and General Laurent, the Minister of the Army, appeared in front of them, which also made Gambetta confirm his thoughts.

He didn't let him think too much. After the door was closed, Ruferi immediately expressed his thoughts. "Both of you, I would like to include Tunisia under the protection of France next."

Facing the shocking words of the Prime Minister, General Laurent, the Minister of Foreign Affairs Gambetta and the Minister of the Army, still showed a somewhat surprised expression.

It was thanks to the fact that Ruferi, the Prime Minister, had hinted to them before that they could show their surprised expressions. They had thought about it, but they didn't expect it to happen so quickly.

Facing the surprised expressions of the two, Ru Feili, the prime minister, saw it in his eyes, and was very satisfied with his approach. Before he had just won the election and was not prime minister, he had a comprehensive view of his future.

First of all, he needs to make France see the difference between himself and other prime ministers. Speaking of which, the republican government has been in existence for ten years, but there are too many people who have served as prime ministers. In the past ten years, there have been 11 prime ministers alone. On average, there is one more every year.

Frequently changing prime ministers is not good for France. He takes office on one proposition, and I take office on another proposition. This also leads to frequent changes in the French government, which will have a very bad impact on the French economy and diplomacy. , and Ru Feili intends to change this situation.

However, it is very difficult to change. Not to mention, he still lacks some qualifications. But for this, he already has some plans, and Tunisia is the breakthrough he is preparing for, so he is determined to win it. Since Tunisia is a big deal, it is inevitable to make some perfect preparations, the most important of which is not to let the Italians know.

Speaking of which, Italy won't be running Tunisia much later than France's attacking Algeria. When it was still in the Kingdom of Sardinia, it began to operate in Tunisia and Italy on the other side. Of course, this is nothing but private or corporate behavior. But then, the Kingdom of Sardinia took over and went off in person. Even busy with the war to unify Italy at the time, it did not curtail the penetration of Tunisia.

In addition to the distance (Tunisia is less than 500 kilometers from Sicily) that makes Italy attach so much importance to Tunisia, there is also the fertile land of Tunisia.

Tunisia has a territory of only more than 160,000 square kilometers, but its arable land reaches 9 million hectares (90,000 square kilometers). This is an irresistible temptation for Italy, which has less land and more people.

In addition, although this area belongs to the Ottoman Empire, it is only a vassal. Its people are mainly semi-nomadic and semi-farming, with a population of only more than 700,000, which is very suitable for Italian annexation. So Italy chose it early in the morning as its first colony in Africa.

However, Italy has a long way to go if it wants to attack Tunisia, because Tunisia is to the west of Algeria, which belongs to France, and Tunisia is also favored by France.

As early as when France was defeated in the Franco-Prussian War, Italy made an attempt. Send an army to take advantage of France's defeat and take Tunisia first. However, the operation was unsuccessful, and pressure from Britain and France made it unsuccessful.

In fact, just look at the map to know how wary Britain and France are about Italy occupying Tunisia. As long as Italy wins Tunisia, the Mediterranean can basically be divided into two halves, which is unacceptable to Britain and France. Of course it is not unacceptable, but Italy needs to pay enough price. And now Italy is still unaware of this, or can't say it.

Of course, the strength is enough, and it's not enough if you don't accept it, but Italy's body, think about it, let's forget it.

So Tunisia has been delayed in such an environment, and no one has pulled it into their pockets at present.

Of course, Ruferi plans to make a change now, and the reason for his confidence is that France is stronger than Italy, and France also has the support of England and Germany.

At the Berlin Conference in 1878, in order to mediate the dispute between France and Britain on the island of Cyprus, the two countries made France give up Cyprus on the condition that Britain would support France in taking Tunisia.

In addition, on the German side, Prime Minister Bismarck also supported this in order to divert France's attention.

In addition, after Germany and Austria formed a defensive alliance, they further began to save the "Three Emperors Alliance" of Germany, Austria and Russia, which had already existed in name only against France.

Germany and Austria claimed that their alliance was only to prevent Russia from attacking, and had no additional malice towards Russia, UU read www. Therefore, uukanshu.com is willing to continue to make peace with Russia. As a result, Russia was first surprised and then relieved, and quickly became friendly with Germany and Austria.

At the same time, in order to appease France, Germany expressed its firm support for France to acquire Tunisia, which temporarily eased the conflict between Germany and France. (Prime Minister Jagged is a great way)

As for the Italian side's opinion, at that time, the Italian representative did nothing at the Berlin Conference, which represented the partition of Africa. (If you want to rob Congo's book friends, now you know why Italy can't do it)

As the representative of Italy, Count Corti left Berlin in a fit of anger, completely unaware that his possessions had been traded.

After that, Fa Kuang has been preparing to take Tunisia step by step. But one thing that happened last year that alarmed France was that Italy bought the railway from Tunis to Golette from the British, which greatly increased Italy's influence in Tunisia, which forced France to compete for Tunisia as soon as possible. footsteps. (The shit-stirring stick lives up to its reputation)

Under such circumstances, Ruferi planned to take Tunisia first. Besides, by virtue of its strength, France is not afraid of Italy at all, and it will be offended if it is offended.

Facing Ruferi's thoughts, Gambetta, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, and General Laurent, the Minister of War, were a little surprised, but of course they were willing to do anything that would bring France enough benefits.

Ru Feili's plan was just a word, creating an established fact and leaving Italy with nowhere to vent.

Therefore, after he expressed his thoughts, he deliberately proposed that it should be kept secret. The two ministers are not three-year-olds, so they naturally know how to keep it a secret, so it's up to them to prepare separately.

Chapter end