Just before the end of the Russo-Japanese War, on the other side of the world, another war had ended, and the two protagonists of this war were the Kingdom of Italy, which Bismarck considered too weak to be more than enough, and the Ottoman Empire, which was already dying, known as the sick man of Europe. Pen % fun % Pavilion www.biquge.info

"This war is like a battle between a young man who is weak and an old man who is dying, the young man is full of confidence in himself, and he tries to rob the old man of his inheritance with a worn-out war knife in his hand like a dead branch, but he ignores his own weakness, although the opponent is not far from a pile of dry bones, but he still drags the opponent to death, not to mention that there is a behemoth standing behind the old man." Winston Churchill once said of the Italo-Turkish war.

If we simply talk about the scale and impact of the war, this war that broke out earlier cannot be compared with the Russo-Japanese War in the Far East, and some people even doubt that how rubbish the two sides are to make this war last for 2 years! In the ruined towns of Libya, in the vast deserts, in the rather exotic oases, the Italian and Turkish armies are constantly fighting, well, it is not accurate to describe it as fighting, the way the two sides are fighting is more like harassment and counter-harassment. The scale is not large, the battle is not fierce, but the number of encounters is very high.

The Italians mastered naval superiority, and the British then restricted access to Libya from Egypt. This made the supply of the Turkish and German coalition forces in Libya increasingly problematic. But at the same time, Italy was also exhausted by the 200,000 troops stationed in North Africa, and the death figure of up to 15,000 was terrifying, but what was even more terrifying was the daily consumption of supplies and money by the army hanging alone! The consumption of up to 2 million pounds per month has scared this country that is not very rich! That's almost the same as burning a dreadnought every month! And even so, the area of control of the Italians did not push the ...... 200 kilometers from the coastline.

"This kind of state has absolutely no value to buy, not at all! Fighting a Turkey in turmoil can drag on like this. I wonder if Italy and Austria-Hungary could hold off the Austro-Crènate offensive if they went to war in the north! In a letter to the British Army, General Chauffeur expressed his contempt for the Italian army.

And the attitude of the British is gradually changing, if before, the British still valued the geographical advantage of the Italians in the Mediterranean and the fleet that is a little old but large, then now the British should consider how valuable this fleet is! The size of the Italian fleet is indeed okay, the seventh in the world, the British thought so at that time, if Italy was on the side of the Entente, then the Entente fleet in the Mediterranean would be Italy plus France. Stabilize the Austro-Hungarian Navy opposite. And now? The British felt that even without Italy, France would still be able to hold back Austria-Hungary, and even Churchill believed that even if Italy sided with Austria-Hungary, France would still be enough to deal with Italy and Austria-Hungary.

It stands to reason that when there is a war, no one will think that there are few allies, but in fact, Britain and France have to consider the cost of pulling allies. Historically, the French have given Italy some territorial benefits. And allowed that if the victory was over, Italy could get another piece of the Austro-Hungarian pie.

In addition to the territorial aspect, Britain and France also had to consider the question of who would pay for Italy's imported materials and food if Italy entered the war. If we talk purely about natural resource endowment, Italy is the worst of the big European countries, not only is it not self-sufficient in food, but it is not even good at basic coal and iron! Italy's foreign exchange is very limited, and if a war starts, maybe Britain and France will have to transfuse blood for Italy....... The French can only ensure that there is enough food, no problem with coal mines, not enough iron mines, and the British are more dependent on foreign countries.

If Russia belonged to the object that Britain and France had to fight for, and Italy belonged to the object of cooperation that Britain and France tried their best to fight for before the outbreak of the Italian-Turkish War, then after the Italo-Turkish War, Italy became an indifferent object. According to the French, if they want to buy this country that is not very powerful, then they must first give Italy 150 million francs to fill the deficit in the treasury, and then Italy may have the idea of expanding its armaments, and as for expanding the army to a level approved by Britain and France, the French believe that the cost will not be less than 1 billion francs! And this cost is obviously too high, it is better to support the Russians!

However, the long war of attrition was also a bit unbearable for the poor country of Turkey, although the resistance in Libya was dominated by local Arab tribes and a small number of Turkish government troops, and it was also considered a nomadic cavalry, and the consumption was much less than that of the Italian regular army, but Turkey's family background was not as good as that of Italy, and even with the support of Germany, it was somewhat unbearable. All the more so, Italy, through naval superiority, occupied a large number of Turkish islands and used them as a threat.

Eventually, under the mediation of Germany and Austria, the two sides began peace talks. In the end, after both sides took a step back, Italy withdrew its troops from most of Libya, but retained some economic privileges and the right to station an army of no more than 3,000 troops in Tripoli. At the same time, the islands in the Mediterranean Sea are returned to Turkey in half. Although Turkey is a little uncomfortable with this result, it can only accept it in the end, and what it cannot get on the battlefield is naturally not easy to get at the negotiating table. It is a good ending to be able to recover half of the islands and retain most of the sovereignty of Libya, while the Kingdom of Italy has retained the most basic face, and it cannot be said that it has gained nothing for almost 2 years, according to the Italian Prime Minister, they have at least driven a nail in the ...... Libya.

"After this war, Italy will probably have to be honest for a few years. Their already inadequate treasury is on the verge of exhaustion, otherwise, after the appearance of dreadnoughts, Italy, which claims to be the hegemon of the Mediterranean, will definitely follow. But they will not be able to get off work for at least the next 3 years. And Italy's army is even more vulnerable. "At one meeting, Prince Leopold made no secret of his contempt for Italy.

"Well, the question of Italy is not very important to us, the Russo-Japanese War has been accepted, the Boer War has long ended, the Entente system composed of Britain, France and Russia has been formed, the final decisive battle is coming, the Kaiser also realized, if you want me to go to Berlin, will you still go?" Ruprecht asked.

"No, go by yourself, it's you, not me, who represents Bavaria. You go, I'm relieved. Prince Leopold said.

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