Chapter 206 Stalemate

King George heard that the two men showed no respect for the British Balkan balance policy preached by Lord Tristan, and worried: "Isn't it not good to blatantly defy British policy and completely ignore the British?"

Hearing King George's worries, Constantine then thought that he could also measure up to King George.

In the minds of the older generation of politicians like King George, Britain has great prestige. They have become accustomed to the impression that the British play a decisive role in the world political arena and cannot be defied.

Because during their long time in power, they witnessed too many examples of Britain arrogantly deciding the fate of small countries.

Since the Napoleonic Wars, no country on the European continent has dared to confront the British Empire.

Despite the changing times, the development of the international situation, and the ebb and flow of national strength, the older generation of politicians like King George are still not used to ignoring the British.

"In the eyes of the British, Greece is their sphere of influence, but that does not mean that Greece must ask the British for instructions on everything and dare not cross the red line drawn by them, His Majesty the King," Constantine explained warmly .

"In fact, they may not have a clear idea of ​​what policy the British should adopt regarding the current situation in the Balkans. The original words of Lord Tristan just now were, "Tend to maintain the situation in the Balkans. "The British themselves are hesitant and their attitude is not clear," Constantine continued to explain in order to allay King George's concerns.

King George nodded thoughtfully, with a somewhat lonely expression, recalling the past in his warm eyes: "Although I am a little unwilling to do so, I am indeed old. The older a person is, the more he tends to be conservative and hates extremes. action"

After that, he looked at Constantine and Venizelos, and said in a warning tone: "I still want to remind you that war adventures are extremely risky. In fact, they are no different from gambling. Both sides put all their chips. , bet on winning or losing, no one knows what the outcome of a war will be until the real result is revealed."

"Even if it is a war that seems to have a high chance of winning, the hidden risks may not be small in fact."

Seeing that the two people were listening to him carefully, he took a sip of tea and said slowly: "In the Russo-Japanese War, who would have thought that the Japanese could defeat Russia, the European steamroller?"

"Tens of thousands of Italian troops went to Ethiopia. Who would have expected that the Italians would be defeated by the African black chiefs?"

Poor Italians, the embarrassing thing was brought out and whipped to death again.

"If these things are too far away from Greece, let's talk about the ongoing North African War. Before the war started, the Italians were confident that it would be over in a few months. As long as the Italian Navy blocked the coast and cut off the Ottomans It’s very confusing, isn’t it, to declare the end of the war after receiving foreign aid from others and then occupying several important coastal cities?”

"What is the result? Until now, there is no sign of the end of the war anyway. An accident occurred. Those Libyan nomads were surprisingly difficult to deal with. The Italians are now in a dilemma. Every day the war is extended, it will consume a lot more energy. resources and money”

King George said with a serious expression: "Military adventures are something that must be done with caution. Especially now, when a full-scale war is waged on the entire country, the cost of failure is too high. It is very likely that a country will never recover from a fall."

"If you win, everything will be good. If you lose, everything will come to an end."

After that, King George stood up, picked up the hat on the table, put it on, and left with a civilized attitude.

How much impact does the outcome of a war have? Especially now, the whole world is facing a special period of transition to a capitalist country. In Li Hongzhang's words, this is a major change that has not happened in a thousand years.

In 1894, the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1894 took place between Japan and the Qing Dynasty. After the war, the completely different fates of the two countries vividly demonstrated the cost of a war.

Before this war, the Qing Dynasty, at least on the surface, maintained its status as a great power: although the two Opium Wars were disastrous defeats, it was at least lost to Britain, the world hegemon.

Before the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1894, the conditions of Japan and Qing Dynasty were actually almost the same. They were both semi-feudal and semi-colonial countries.

After the Sino-Japanese War of Sino-Japanese War, the two countries took completely different paths. One was promoted to become a great power, and the other was completely reduced to a weakling.

The success or failure of a war has far-reaching significance and impact, completely changing the destiny of both countries.

Until the 21st century, Japan's per capita GDP is still three times that of China. The differences and impacts of this war on the two countries still exist.

For Greece at this time, it is also facing urgent industrialization needs.

In the past two years, Greece's economic development has been slowing down year by year. Poor resources, a small market, and a sparse population have made the development of Greek industry face more and more challenges.

Greece's current economic scale is completely insufficient to support a well-developed industrial system.

Greece's only commendable industry at present, the textile industry, is also facing fierce competition in the international market.

There is no way. For any country that has ideas about industrialization, the textile industry is the first threshold that needs to be crossed. As a traditional industry, the barriers to the textile industry are not really strong.

After pondering for a moment, Venizelos said: "His Majesty the King is right. Military adventures do require caution. Once Greece goes to war with the Ottoman Empire again, it must be a victory. We cannot afford the price of failure."

Constantine nodded and agreed: "On the one hand, be prepared for war, and on the other hand, watch the changes in the situation with a cold eye."

"Anti-justice Italy and the Ottoman Empire will continue to stalemate, and this war that determines Libya will continue."

Greece's two major eastern and western neighbors, the Kingdom of Italy and the Ottoman Empire, are in a stalemate and continue to weaken each other. This is a good thing for Greece.

Now, time is on Greece's side. Whether it is the stalemate between Italy and Austria in the North African battlefield, or the patience competition with Bulgaria and Serbia, Greece should not be the one in a hurry.

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Tatoi Palace

The horse pen surrounded by wooden fences is green.

Constantine holds his daughter, 14-year-old Princess Helen, and rides on a black horse together.

Helen, sitting in front of the saddle, keeps stroking the flowing and slender mane on the horse's neck with her chubby little hands.

Constantine carefully controlled the reins and drove the horse around the circular wooden fence. The horse seemed a little excited, snorting and trotting around in circles.

"Helen, how about the black pearl your uncle gave you?" Sophie, standing outside the fence, looked at the father and daughter on horseback and said.

"This horse is so beautiful, I really like it," Helen, who was wearing a petite riding suit and small leather boots, giggled.

This horse was William II's 14th birthday gift to his niece, Princess Helen.

The Frisian horse, known as the black pearl among horses, has no color on its body, is black all over, has shiny fur, has luxuriant mane on the neck and tail, and has streamlined muscles all over the body, which moves rhythmically when running.

While the father and daughter were playing, Prime Minister Venizelos hurried to the horse pen. After greeting Sophie, he cast his eyes on the Crown Prince on horseback.