Just as Jochen and Ferdinand were talking about the purpose of their invitation, the song ended, and King Vittorio of Italy, who had just invited Queen Mary of Austria and Hungary to the dance floor? Emanuele III accompanied Mary towards Jochen and Ferdinand.

Emmanuele III politely sent Mary to Jochen's side, and when Mary saw her husband and brother standing together and talking, but did not have the pleasure of being at the feast, she immediately knew that the men had something to talk about, and very obediently signaled to her husband that she needed to go aside and rest after dancing three dances by herself.

Seeing that Mary was so well-behaved, Jochen nodded, then leaned down and kissed her lightly on the corner of the mouth. Mary smiled and bowed slightly to the three men before turning away.

Ferdinand smiled and said, "It seems that the two of us disturbed Mary's Yaxing, and it is a great sin for a man to snub a woman on such an occasion, and Mary will show you a face when she is not happy." ”

"Mary isn't that kind of person, so don't even think about seeing my jokes." Jochen responded with a smile.

"I don't know what the two of you were talking about, but could you allow me to participate?" Vittorio? Emanuele III asked politely.

"Of course, Vittorio, allow me to extend my most sincere welcome to you once again." Jochen replied with a smile: "I just talked with Franz about the friendship between the German Empire and the Croatian-Slovenian Kingdom. ”

Ferdinand also replied with great interest: "Although the Kingdom of Croatia-Slovenia is a new country, the friendship between the Hohenzollern and Ferdinand families has a long history, so we hope that the friendship between the two countries will last as long as the friendship between our family." ”

"The German Empire and the Kingdom of Italy also have a long-standing friendship, and we are gathered here today because of friendship that binds us together and makes us toast to it." Jochen raised his glass.

"Let's toast to friendship." Ferdinand and Emanuele raised their glasses together. Three wine glasses collide together.

The three rulers of European countries were about the same age, and the eldest Ferdinand was only 40 years old, and the three of them chatted some interesting anecdotes together, and the atmosphere was very harmonious.

Emanuele III ascended to the throne in 1900 after his father, Umberto I, was assassinated by anarchists. At the age of 34, as King of the Kingdom of Italy, he was a supporter of economic development and social policy reforms, and the German Empire, the fastest growing empire in Europe, was a natural emulator. Moreover, the German Empire became a neighbor of the Kingdom of Italy after annexing Austria. Therefore, Emanuele expressed his desire to deepen exchanges between the two countries during the exchange.

Naturally, Jochen welcomed this, and wasn't it for this purpose that he invited Emanuele III? As a young monarch who had only been on the throne for only three years, Emanuele III's foreign policy was naturally quite large, continuing the strategy of friendship with Germany that his father, Umberto I, had insisted on.

Of course, Jochen had to seize on such favorable conditions, and continue to deepen them, lest Emanuele III begin to play his own small calculations after he slowly matured.

The Kingdom of Italy, like the German Empire, was divided into kingdoms over a considerable period of time, and was also a state that did not take long to complete its unification. However, the Kingdom of Prussia, which was dominated by the German Empire, had a strong military power that could dominate the continent, while the Kingdom of Italy had no say in Europe for a long time.

After the unification of the Kingdom of Italy. Like Germany, it caught the last train of the colonial era, but Italy, which was slightly inferior in national power, could get less benefits than Germany, and Italy, which was beyond the reach of the whip, could only covet North Africa across the Mediterranean. This led to a conflict between Italy and France, which had a traditional advantage in the region, over its rights and interests in the Mediterranean and its colonies in North Africa.

In 1881, France invaded Tunisia from Algeria and adopted Tunisia as its protectorate, which made Italy, which had long coveted Tunisia, very angry, but it was naturally unable to compete with France with its strength, so Italy chose the German Empire, which was a feud with the French and an emerging power on the European continent, as its ally.

So in 1882. Germany, Austria, and Italy signed the Secret Defense Alliance Treaty in Vienna, and the Triple Alliance was formed.

However, Austria-Hungary, as Bismarck's chosen hardcore ally, seems to have been born to hate the Germans. Like the contradictions between Russia and Austria in the Balkans, Italy also had bitter hatred for Austria-Hungary.

Italy was under the control of the Habsburgs during the Holy Roman Empire, and after the defeat of Napoleon, Italy fell back into the hands of the Austrian Empire. The Kingdom of Italy, which had been united after several wars of independence, chose to participate in the Austro-Prussian War as an ally of Prussia in order to recover Venesia from the Austrian Empire, and the friendship between Germany and Italy that Jochen described began here.

But the Italians and Austrians were even brainstorming. The Battle of Ostoza was taught a hard lesson by the Austrians, and the Battle of Lissa was an honest lesson for the opposite. This hatred is not deep.

After the Austro-Prussian War, the Austrian Empire plummeted to become Austria-Hungary, and Italy also gained Venezia, but the Austrians still controlled the Istrian Peninsula and other regions. This remains an irresolvable contradiction between Italy and Austria-Hungary.

The Italians, after suffering losses in places like Abyssinia (Ethiopia), suffered a huge blow to their own desire for expansion, so Italy began to move closer to Britain when Britain transferred the Somali colony to Italy, and later supported Italy's claim to Libya.

In addition, Italy's economic dependence on Britain, 60% of Italy's annual coal needs need to be imported from Britain, which makes Italy even more reluctant to be an enemy of Britain, and gradually moves closer to the country of the slanting moon. In 1902 and 1908, he reached separate treaties with France and Russia, and was angrily denounced by German Prime Minister Bilow as an "unchaste slut". Finally, after the outbreak of World War I, in the face of the heavy benefits promised by Britain and France, they turned against each other and joined the Entente to declare war on Austria-Hungary.

Now the situation is very different, Austria-Hungary is dissolved, Austria is incorporated into the German Empire, and the contradictions between Italians and Austria-Hungary no longer exist. As to whether the Italians would have pointed the finger at Germany for this, it would not have been so unwise as long as Emanuele III had not gone mad.

In addition, Germany piggybacked on Italy at several international conferences, allowing Italy to replace Austria-Hungary and have a say in the European powers. France, on the other hand, did not have a good impression of this guy who intended to snatch the rights and interests of the Mediterranean Sea with himself, and obstructed it several times. In contrast, the political ties between Italy and Germany are much closer than they have historically.

And at this time, Germany was developing more rapidly than in history, the economic strength was stronger, the economic ties between Italy and Germany were closer, and Germany was a big coal producer, and now the two countries are neighbors, do you need to go to the British to import coal? Germany also wants to export its own coal, now more than 40% of Italy's coal comes from Germany, this proportion is increasing year by year, the British are gradually being squeezed out of the Italian market by the Germans.

With such a good foundation, Jochen would not have to mess with the Italians if he let the Italians run away from his palms again.

At this time, although Italy was known as a European power and the sixth navy in the world, there were still not many people who really took him seriously. As a European country, it has suffered losses in the decadent Qing Dynasty in the Far East, and in the indigenous Abyssinia of Africa, and few people can afford such a "great power".

Even Bismarck, when he signed the Triple Alliance Treaty, commented on the incompetence of the Italians: "It would be nice if she could shoot a few trumpeters standing in the Alps and waving the trumpet with a flag and a little nervous tension for the French." ”

It is precisely because of this that the obligations of the Italians in the Triple Alliance Treaty are pitiful, and basically the obligations are those of Germany and Austria-Hungary.

Italy is attacked, Germany and Austria need full assistance, but Germany or Austria-Hungary is attacked, Italy assistance or not depends on the object, the British attack Germany or Austria-Hungary, Italy can remain neutral, Russia attacks Austria-Hungary, Italy can remain neutral. Germany and Austria declared war first, and Italy could remain neutral.

What use do you want from such an alliance? It's completely unreliable!

Therefore, Jochen decided to revise the alliance treaty, and since Austria-Hungary no longer exists, the international situation and security environment that the Triple Alliance may face are naturally different, so the obligations to Italy are naturally different. And now Italy is not the Italy of the past, and your Italy is already a European power, so naturally you need to take on more alliance responsibilities.

In any case, Italy should no longer want to remain neutral while Germany is in the middle of the war, and then sell at a price. Drag you into the water as soon as possible, and then you'll have to go all the way to the dark, and that's what Jochen is going to do.

Of course, this requires a gradual process, but as long as the benefits are sufficient, it is not difficult.

Anyone could write a blank check, and the Entente could promise Italy the transfer of the three regions of Trantino, South Tyrol, and Dalmatia in southern Austria-Hungary, some islands in the Adriatic Sea, and part of the rights and interests in the eastern Mediterranean to Italy as a bargaining chip to win over Italy. Naturally, Germany could also offer benefits such as Tunisia, Algeria and even Corsica to get the Italians to declare war on France. (To be continued......)

PS: Yesterday's chapter on Bosnia and Herzegovina and Bohemia got mixed up and has been revised