Chapter 874 Self-Inflicted Trouble

On March 27, 1848, Britain officially declared war on Austria.

Lieutenant-Admiral Edward Princeton, commander of the British Mediterranean Navy, felt that London's proposal was stupid. You must know that the French Grand Eastern Fleet is not weak.

The Great Eastern Fleet in the Port of Toulon, France, has a total of thirty-eight main warships, thirteen of which were launched in the past three years, all equipped with the most advanced artillery.

What's even more terrible is that London does not know that the French also have a large number of auxiliary ships and inferior gunboats, which will become an important factor in determining the outcome of a naval battle.

The British Mediterranean Fleet was supplemented at this time with fifty main battleships, and the world's most advanced paddle-wheel battleships seemed to have an absolute advantage against the French.

But the problem is that the number of auxiliary ships in the British Mediterranean Fleet is seriously insufficient, less than one-twentieth of the French, and as long as France wants, they can temporarily recruit more ships.

In addition, although the paddle-wheel warships are advanced, the Mediterranean Navy does not have a coal refueling point and can only go to the port of Piraeus in Greece to refuel coal.

However, not long ago, the British Foreign Secretary's Department did another immoral thing, which was the famous "Don Pacifico Incident".

The whole story of this incident has been falsified many times in history, and the truth has long been changed beyond recognition. Later generations do not care about the truth. Some people regard it as an evil act of gunboat diplomacy and ridicule and criticize it.

Some people think this is a model of Western humanistic spirit.

"No matter where you go, there is a strong motherland and its army behind you."

However, after hundreds of years of fabrication and interpretation, some people placed it on the head of the United States.

"No matter where you go, the United States government and military would support you for ever."

This kind of thing is basically no different from a certain wolf killing everyone in Africa.

But this was a good opportunity for Franz. King Otto I of Greece was actually one of his cousins.

Otto I was different from his father Ludwig I. He was a very responsible king, at least he wanted to be a good king subjectively.

However, Otto I's abilities were very limited, he was too idealistic, and his luck was extremely bad.

He gave the Greeks a dream of Magna Graecia, but was unable to realize it, and eventually stepped down in a seemingly minor crisis.

The British only said that a British Jewish businessman, Don Pacifico, lost his home and goods to anti-Semitic persecution in Greece, but the Greek government turned a blind eye.

In order to protect its citizens overseas, the British government decided to send troops to Greece to seek justice for them. In the end, the Greek government had to feel ashamed in front of the powerful British justice and compensated Don Pacifico 1.5 million pounds.

This was equivalent to two years of fiscal revenue for the Greek government at the time, and the Prime Minister had to resign sadly.

But at this time, Otto I said that a Jewish businessman named Don Pacifico was peddling the so-called "panacea" in Athens and caused the death of a large number of children, so the angry people attacked his mansion.

The Greek government refuses to pay any compensation to this harmful person. If it were not for the fact that he is British, he would definitely be punished.

Otto I even sent several bottles of samples of the panacea to Franz. After testing, as Franz expected, it turned out to be opium, and it was adulterated.

However, this kind of thing is a matter of benevolence and wisdom. Franz will not listen to one side or the other side, but he will also choose what is beneficial to him.

After being rejected by the Greek government, Don Pacifico found the British government, but at first no one cared about this little guy. After all, Greece was one of Britain's most important allies in the Mediterranean.

So Don Pacifico thought of Lord Palmerston who helped the Sassoon family. Since the latter could launch a war against the most powerful empire in the Far East, it shouldn't be a problem to get his goods back in Greece. .

To say that Palmerston is really very talented is because the top British officials, especially the traditional aristocrats, feel that maintaining relations with Greece is far more important than the goods of a Jewish businessman.

But it was under such extremely unfavorable circumstances that Palmerston convinced the British Parliament with a speech that would go down in history.

“There can be no doubt that the government of a great nation like ours is the ultimate ideal for all men of all opinions.

Being able to lead the policies of such a country and influence its destiny is a noble and respectable thing.

We have witnessed turmoil across Europe, we have seen thrones shaken, shattered, razed to the ground, institutions subverted and destroyed.

Europeans flooded the earth with their blood, from the Atlantic to the Black Sea, from the Baltic Sea to the Mediterranean.

This is a sight worthy of appreciation by all mankind.

Only we can prove to the world that freedom and order can coexist, and that personal freedom and law-abiding are not irreconcilable.

We are an example to a country where every person, at every level, accepts his or her destiny.

At the same time, every individual in our country is constantly striving to improve his or her social status.

Not through injustice and wrong, not through violence and illegal means, but through insisting on good behavior, so as to develop the gifts given to mankind by the Creator, namely morality and intelligence.

But it pains me to see an honest, brave and hardworking businessman who represents the British spirit being treated unfairly by an evil and authoritarian country.

Out of love for this great constitutional country, I believe that we have an obligation to provide protection for our compatriots abroad.

I feel that we have an obligation to ensure that any British citizen, on the land of any country, can be confident that the motherland's caring eyes and strong arms will protect him from injustice and wrong.

Just as once the Romans could avoid insults by saying "I am a Roman citizen". ”

Britain put pressure on the Greek government, but Otto I and his prime minister were very tough, and they were unwilling to pay for something they had done nothing wrong.

In the eyes of the Greeks, this was an insult to them by the British, so it became extremely difficult for the Mediterranean Fleet to go to Greece for supplies.

The Greeks always desperately looked for the worst coal to provide to the British, and tampered with the British food and drinking water.

This made Edward Klinston, the commander of the Mediterranean Navy, very annoyed, but it was not easy for him to get angry at this time, after all, he had to get along with the Greeks for a long time.

As time went by, the Greeks' resentment towards the British did not disappear. The adverse impact of the Don Pacifico incident in 1847 was expanding, and a feeling called nationalism was spreading among the Greeks.

For safety reasons, Edward Klinston had to purchase supplies from other countries and stockpile them on the island of Crete.

But he overlooked one thing, that is, the residents of Crete were also Greeks.

With the help of the Greek government and Friedrich's high-intensity thinking, the Austrians knew the layout of Crete and their every move better than Edward Klinston.