The Germans' diplomacy was so big, how could they hide it from Ferdinand?

It's a pity that even if he knew about the plans of the Germans, Ferdinand still had to go into the pit!

The benefits are often proportional to the risks, and the higher the risks, the greater the benefits!

The Germans hoped to use the anti-Bulgarian alliance to contain Bulgaria and at the same time keep the Ottoman Empire; But what if Ferdinand still wanted to find an excuse to do it to his neighbors?

As for the Ottoman Empire, such a good neighbor, why overthrow him? If the Ottoman Empire is really carved up now, then the road to Bulgaria's expansion in the future will be blocked, can Ferdinand still go to Britain, France and Russia to grab the spoils of war?

Compared with the German strategy in the Near East, the British were much more sophisticated. The Germans wanted Bulgaria to send troops to Asia Minor to create an opportunity for the anti-Bulgarian alliance.

The British were not most concerned about the local interests of the Near East, but about how to provoke the contradictions between the Central Powers and the Entente and use the contradictions between the countries to achieve the strategic goal of the British to contain the Germans!

In such a state of affairs, the Bulgarians may disembark at any time, and may even defect under the lure of the Allies, which is what John Bull cannot bear!

Compared to the challengers to counterbalance the world hegemony of the Germans, Bulgaria's expansion is insignificant!

Now that Germany has actually sent it to the door by itself, the two sides have the intention of having a concubine, so they naturally hit it off!

As soon as John Bull cooperated with the Germans, he directly leaked the news to Bulgaria.

This is tantamount to telling Ferdinand, don't you want Asia Minor? Want Greece? Now the opportunity has come, as long as you dare to take risks, your teeth are good enough, and your appetite is big enough to eat, it is for you!

Does Bulgaria have such good teeth now? The answer is: Yes!

But did Ferdinand have the appetite? No doubt is: no!

Now the time for a world war is not far away, and even if Bulgaria can swallow it, there is no way to digest it in a short time, let alone use it to enhance its comprehensive national strength!

While Britain and Germany were using their own means, no one noticed that the Italian minister to Bulgaria had already met with Bulgarian Foreign Minister Medev twice, and the two sides were still talking happily!

……

Prime Minister Konstantin said excitedly: "Your Majesty, the British have openly recognized our sovereignty over the Asia Minor Peninsula, and have also acquiesced in our expansion into the Greek Peninsula!" ”

In his view, the diplomatic recognition of the British Empire was undoubtedly of great significance. But in Ferdinand's opinion, unless Bulgaria really occupied Asia Minor. Otherwise, there is no substantial benefit in the so-called diplomatic recognition!

Ferdinand said earnestly: "The British really spared no effort to provoke contradictions between us and the Central Powers!" ”

To be honest, Ferdinand didn't expect Britain to be so ruthless, the Asia Minor Peninsula and the Greek Peninsula were thrown away, but the more natural the bait, the greater the risk!

Oh, and this has nothing to do with the fact that the British have little interest in the area, not unrelated! Far inferior to the Germans and French, John Bull is being generous to others this time!

Compared with others, only Ferdinand knew that the issue of the Asia Minor Peninsula was likely to evolve into one of the main contradictions of the First World War, and the Anti-Conservative Alliance tied these countries to the chariot of the Allies in one fell swoop!

Listening to Ferdinand's words, Konstantin reacted at once. The Entente could condone Bulgaria's expansion, but the Allies couldn't, they couldn't keep watching Bulgaria bully their little brother anyway!

It is conceivable that the conflict of interests between Bulgaria and the Allies will be inevitable in the future, and it will be difficult for Bulgaria to stay out of the mainstream contradictions of the world in the future!

Konstantin thought for a while and said: "Your Majesty, the contradictions between the Allies and the Entente cannot be avoided, and sooner or later Bulgaria will be pulled in, rather than passively joining, it is better to take the initiative to join in!" ”

"Oh!"

Ferdinand smiled slightly, and said, "It seems that I have entered a dead end, and the sky has fallen, and the tallest person will stand first!"

…

Sure enough, surrounded by enemies, it is the most suitable direction of development for Bulgaria, otherwise our allies will not be at ease!

Go according to the original plan, and cooperate with them to play a play! ”

Instead of worrying about the world war, it is better to eat the meat in your mouth first, anyway, the British, the French, and the Russians are the main forces in this war.

Bulgaria seems to face many enemies, but the opponents are all weak chickens, as long as the Entente does not fail, Ferdinand does not have to worry about Bulgaria being defeated!

……

In the game of the great powers, the most injured are undoubtedly the small countries!

For example, the Kingdom of Montenegro was sandwiched between Bulgaria and Austria-Hungary, and Nicholas I had no ambitions, but no power to carry them out!

Originally, under the relocation of the Russians, the Kingdom of Montenegro moved closer to Bulgaria, but when Ferdinand refused to support the Serbian revolution, the relationship between the two countries left an indelible gap!

Later, due to the economic blockade of Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria took control of the economy of the Kingdom of Montenegro, which made the number of dissatisfied people in Montenegro even more.

The Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Montenegro has repeatedly stated publicly that he wants to change his economic dependence on Bulgaria and break the status quo of working for Bulgarians.

Obviously, the Kingdom of Montenegro is used to the "selfless" assistance of the Russians before, and they are not yet used to this kind of support from Bulgaria now!

So what Ferdinand took for granted became the main contradiction between Bulgaria and Montenegro.

Prior to this, there were many trade frictions between the two sides, such as: the capitalists of the Kingdom of Montenegro raised the export price of timber uniformly; The Bulgarian capitalists did not go to the purchase for a year, and finally forced them to make concessions......

The Kingdom of Montenegro also wanted Bulgaria to help them build their own industry, but Bulgaria refused.

This is not Ferdinand's deliberate difficulty, there is no money, no resources, no market, how can such a three-no-kingdom achieve industrialization?

In short, this series of contradictions prompted the Kingdom of Montenegro to defect after the Germans threw away the olive branch!

Oh no! Nicholas I's original idea was to wait for the price to sell, hoping that Bulgaria would come up with better terms to win them over. It's a pity that Ferdinand didn't go to the road and directly closed the trade route between the two countries!

Then, it's easy to get on the boat and hard to get off the boat! The Kingdom of Montenegro had a hard time riding a tiger, and had to join the anti-protection alliance head-on.

In order to strengthen the confidence of the anti-Bulgarian alliance, on May 26, 1909, Bulgaria sent troops to the peninsula of Asia Minor, landing at Zonguldak, Bandrma and Karabulun.