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Text Chapter 868 Italy, unfaithful wife

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    Rome is the capital of Italy and the largest city in the country. It is also the national political, economic, cultural and transportation center. It is a world-famous historical and cultural city and the birthplace of the ancient Roman Empire. It is nicknamed the "Eternal City" because of its long history.  It is located in the central and western part of the Italian peninsula, on seven hills in the plains of the lower Tiber River.  Rome is the center of the Catholic Church in the world, with many churches and monasteries, and 7 Catholic universities. The Vatican in the city is the seat of the Catholic Pope and the Holy See.  Around the beginning of the second millennium BC, the Romans immigrated here from the northeast.

    From the eighth to fourth centuries BC, castles were built, gradually forming the early Roman city.  It was the capital of the Papal States from AD 756 to 1870. It became the capital of Italy after the unification of the Kingdom of Italy in 1870 (the Papal States retreated to the Vatican).

    After the time entered July 1911, as the Allied Powers and the Allied Powers began to carry out general mobilization, the situation in Europe became increasingly tense, and the war was imminent.  And Rome has also become a gathering place for diplomats from various countries.  Logically speaking, as a member of the Allies and a country that joined the Triple Alliance in 1882, Italy should side with Germany.  However, what is surprising is that after various countries began to carry out general mobilization, Italy did not show any signs.  While this surprised various countries, they also sent important officials to Rome to negotiate with Italy.  Germany and Austria-Hungary naturally hoped that Italy would abide by the treaty and launch an attack on the Allies once the war started.  The Allies hoped that Italy could join the Allies and fight against Germany and Austria-Hungary, or at worst remain neutral.  Among the powerful countries in Europe, although Italy is the weakest, it has a standing army of 300,000. After mobilization, the army will increase to millions. Italy is a powerful force for both the Allies and the Entente.  A decisive force!

    On July 15, German Prime Minister Holweg visited Italy and held talks with Italian Prime Minister Giovanni Giolitti.

    "Your Excellency Giolitti, according to the treaty signed by Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy in 1882, if any one of our three countries is attacked by another country, the other two countries will use all means to support it. Now¡¤  The war is about to begin, and both Germany and the Austro-Hungarian Empire have begun general mobilization. Both Germany and the Austro-Hungarian Empire hope that Italy can start mobilizing as soon as possible and launch an attack on France after the war breaks out!" said Prime Minister Holweg.

    "Your Excellency Holweg, please rest assured that Italy is a country that respects the alliance. After the war breaks out, Italy will definitely fulfill the alliance and launch an attack on France. As for the general mobilization, the Italian government is already preparing, and it will be launched soon.  We have to start. It¡¯s just that our national strength is relatively weak, and I¡¯m afraid we won¡¯t be able to launch an attack on France immediately after the war starts!¡± Giovanni = Prime Minister Giolitti said with some embarrassment!

    "Your Excellency Giolitti, His Majesty the Emperor of our country has agreed that after we defeat the Allies, Tunisia and Algeria will belong to Italy. Moreover, Italy also has the right to share the British colonies around the world!" Holvi  Prime Minister Ge said!

    Giovanni = Prime Minister Giolitti was immediately refreshed. Tunisia and Algeria are both French colonies.  These two colonies have also been coveted by Italy.  It's just that France is much stronger than Italy, so Italy has never dared to act rashly!

    "Your Excellency Holweg, I will report to His Majesty the King. Once His Majesty the King agrees, Italy will immediately begin mobilization!" Giovanni = Prime Minister Giolitti said.  He did not make an immediate commitment, and it was clear that Italy was still waiting for a higher stake.  You know, in addition to German Prime Minister Holweg, British Foreign Secretary Sir Edward Gray and French Foreign Minister Justin de Servi have also arrived in Rome at this time, but they have not met with him yet!

    "Well, Mr. Giolitti, we believe Italy will make the right choice!" Prime Minister Holweg said with some disappointment.  He then left Italy.  The war is about to begin. As the German Prime Minister, he cannot stay abroad for a long time. There are still many government affairs that need to be handled by him!  Kaiser Wilhelm II had already focused all his energy on the military!

    Italy's decision to join the Triple Alliance was based on its own interests. After the country's independence, a considerable number of people were resentful of France's occupation of Savoy and Nice. In addition, France and Italy competed for the Mediterranean and Italy was united with Prussia.  In terms of alliance relationship, Italy is more inclined to Germany, and Italy and Austria-Hungary are competing in the Balkans. In addition, Italy believes that Austria-Hungary occupies its territory, which makes some of its compatriots not unified, so they are also obsessed with it.

    The French occupation of Tunisia in 1881 became a stimulating factor. The Italians had been operating here for many years, but they were occupied by France. Germany, Britain and other countries supported the move out of their own considerations, which made Italy feel helpless.It was decided to seek foreign aid. Since Britain was the enemy at the time and had no intention of forming an alliance, it could only seek help from Germany. After coordination with Austria-Hungary, Italy officially joined the Triple Alliance in 1882.

    However, Italy has always believed that it has gained too little from the alliance. In its attack on Abyssinia, Germany and Austria did not provide assistance. Its expansion in the Balkans was resisted by Austria-Hungary, and it had economic and political conflicts with France.  The tariff war was also unprofitable. Coupled with the deterioration of Anglo-German relations (the Italian high-level leaders had quite strong pro-British sentiments), France recognized Italy's "rights" to Tripoli, etc., so that Italy and France finally signed a neutrality agreement in 1qC2.  Agreement (preceded by economic and colonial agreements, etc.), greatly softened the Triple Alliance.  Stimulated by the annexation of the two provinces of Poland and Montenegro by Austria-Hungary in 1908, the Emperor of Russia and the King of Italy signed the "Lacaniki Agreement" in 190R. Since the agreement actually showed that the two countries were determined to jointly resist Austria-Hungary's expansion in the Balkans,  This is tantamount to an intention to move closer to the Allies.  No wonder German Prime Minister Biello called Italy an "unfaithful wife."

    After concluding the meeting with German Prime Minister Holweg, Prime Minister Giovanni Giolitti rushed to the Kingdom of Italy to meet with King Vittorio Emanuele III.  In 1911, after the Kingdom of Sardinia unified Italy, the king of the Kingdom of Sardinia also became the king of Italy.  Vittorio Emanuele III came to the throne in 1900 after the assassination of his father Umberto I.  After succeeding to the throne, Vittorio Emanuele III has always been ambitious and wanted to revitalize Italy and restore Italy to the glory of ancient Rome.  Regarding joining the Allies, Vittorio Emanuele III was actually not optimistic about Germany and the Austro-Hungarian Empire. However, Italy had joined the Three Kingdoms Alliance before he took the throne, which made him a little helpless.  However, even if he signed the alliance, he did not want to get involved in the war when the situation was still unclear.  He wants to gain as much benefit as possible from the war.  Therefore, whether it is the Allies or the Entente, whoever offers higher conditions will be which side Italy will fall to!

    "Your Majesty, Prime Minister Holweg has left!" After seeing Vittorio Emanuele III, Prime Minister Giovanni Giolitti reported.

    "Oh? What conditions did the Germans put forward?" Vittorio Emanuele III asked.

    "The Germans promised that after defeating the Allies, Tunisia and Algeria would be handed over to us. Moreover, Italy also has the right to share the British colonies around the world. However, the distribution will depend on how much each country contributes to the war!" Qiao  Varney=Prime Minister Giolitti said!

    Vittorio Emanuele III nodded: "The conditions offered by the Germans are pretty good. However, it is estimated that even after we join the Allies to fight, only Algeria and Tunisia can get it after victory. As for  I¡¯m afraid don¡¯t even think about the British colonies. Both the Germans and the Chinese will fight for the British colonies desperately. Italy simply doesn¡¯t have the strength to compete with them!¡±

    Giovanni = Prime Minister Giolitti also deeply believes that Italy is undoubtedly the weakest country among the Three Kingdoms Alliance. Italy is also worried that after defeating the Allies, Italy will be squeezed out when dividing the cake.  After all, the relationship between Germany and Austria-Hungary is quite close, and China is so powerful that Italy has no way to compete with these two parties.

    "What about the Austro-Hungarian Empire? Did they give up the territory that originally belonged to our country?" Vittorio Emanuele III asked!

    Giovanni = Prime Minister Giolitti shook his head.

    "In that case, let's wait for a while!" Vittorio Emanuele III said with some dissatisfaction.  Now is the time for the Italian lion to open its mouth. The longer it takes, the better it will be for Italy.

    Sir Hua Gray and French Foreign Minister Justin de Servi jointly visited Italian Prime Minister Giovanni Giolitti. During the secret talks between the three parties, Britain and France tried their best to win over Italy and made promises to Italy.  , if Italy joins the war on the side of the Allies, after defeating Germany and the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Germany's colonies in Africa will be transferred to Germany, and large areas of land that originally belonged to Austria-Hungary and some areas in the Balkans and the Eastern Mediterranean will also be given to Italy.  This made Prime Minister Giovanni Giolitti very excited.

    However, even at this time, Italy has not made a clear stance, and they still maintain contact with Germany, Britain and France.  Italy is still waiting for the war situation to become clear before placing bets. In that case, it will be safer!
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