"We are allies with Germany, but we are not Germany's little brother, not to mention that we still have all kinds of contradictions with Austria-Hungary, Italy is an independent country, and our likes and dislikes should be based on the needs of the kingdom, and should not be bound by a treaty." Said King Umberto I.

It has to be said that historically, the foreign policy of the Italians is still very good, although from the German point of view, Prince Ruprecht is very angry at the betrayal of Italy, but this "holy egoism" does benefit Italy a lot. After World War I, not only did they acquire land from France and Austria-Hungary, but they also had the same naval tonnage as France.

"The fundamental reason why we signed the Triple Alliance with Germany and Austria in the first place was to balance the influence of Britain and France in the Mediterranean. Italy was an emerging maritime power, and the presence of the Mediterranean fleets of France and Great Britain made us insecure, and in this case, the fundamental purpose of the treaty we signed with Germany and Austria in 1887 was to give us an extra bargaining chip in our relations with Britain and France. ”

"Do you know the chips? It's something that can be exchanged. Unlike Germany, the contradictions between Germany and France are irreconcilable, and the contradictions between Britain and Germany may intensify over time, but it is possible for us to coexist peacefully with Britain and France. So we left a back door in the agreement, and the greatest use of this treaty was not to serve as a shield for the Kingdom of Italy, but to force Britain and France to face us squarely, leaving a glimmer of opportunity for the improvement of relations between the two sides. ”

"I never wanted to make enemies with the English for the sake of Germany and Austria. Never! Umberto I said.

"The Germans have never treated us as equal partners, and the Germans and Austrians have considered us very weak, and even despised us, and they have repeatedly prevented us from gaining colonies, even claiming that doing so will distract our military forces, and now the Germans have acquired colonies from the Portuguese, which is difficult for me to accept!" Duke Abruzzi said.

Italy is known as the "impoverished imperialism". This is very reasonable, not to mention the comparison between Britain, France, Germany and Russia. Even the weak Austro-Hungarian chicken can be proud of Italy. Except for a few more eye-catching performances of the Navy in World War I, the Army actually did not put much pressure on the Allies.

But it cannot be denied that Italy has a strong rise in the country, both from the top to the general public**! It even once built a navy that was the third largest in the world, although this record was broken in less than a few years, but the Italians can also say that Lao Tzu was the third brother!

After 1903, after the new Italian government began to focus on economic construction, the Italians who gradually had money began to move again, and the Italian Navy began to reformulate a new expansion plan, requiring the naval strength to reach 6% of the French Navy, and at the same time had a four-to-three advantage over Austria-Hungary! And this kind of eager naval expansionism also quickly infected the people, and the famous Italian nationalist poet **** Shu wrote in his play "Ode to the Battleship" that "armed to the bow of the ship, sail to the world".

Imagine that the Germans suddenly bought 2 million square kilometers of colonies in Africa and did not let the Italians touch them, in this case, it is no wonder that the Italians are indignant.

"But if we do this, will we anger the Germans?" The prime minister is still a little uneasy.

"We are only neutral, and we are not inclined to either side, not to mention, whether it is Portugal, France or Germany, it has nothing to do with us, and the Germans will not make too many enemies at this critical moment, of course, if Germany is willing to give us some convenience in terms of expansion, we can also support Germany." Umberto I said with deep meaning.

Although pasta has been a big heel in Ethiopia for many years, there is a saying that is called? Wildfires can't be burned, and the spring breeze blows and grows again. This time, in particular, the Germans' expansionist actions once again stimulated Italy. So they set their sights on Africa, but at this time Africa has been almost divided, Ethiopia is not touched, and Libya seems to be a good choice, and now, Libya is still the territory of the Ottoman Turkish Empire.

What His Royal Highness the Prince did not expect was that his actions in Africa had stimulated the little brother of Italy in such a way, and what was even more unexpected was that the Italian-Turkish War that broke out in 1910 in history was now brewing. And what is even more unexpected is that a series of accidents happen like dominoes!

The strategy of the Italians can be said to be right, after all, for the country, interests and left and right are king, but Italy has made a mistake, or often makes a certain mistake, that is, overestimating its own strength! They tried to exchange a verbal statement at no cost for German support in the colonies. And this time the country targeted is Turkey.

If it were historical, Germany's attitude towards Turkey was to ignore it, but now it is different, because the prince knows that in the end, it is Turkey that can really stand with Germany, not Italy! How to increase the power of Turkey so that he could play a greater role in World War I has always been a matter of consideration for the prince.

Therefore, in the eyes of the current prince, Turkey is a little brother who is ready to develop at any time, and now there is the doctrine of outsiders beating the little brother, and it is not a strong country like Britain and France, it is a scum spaghetti! To paraphrase the Internet parlance of later generations, the worst Italians are the Italians on their own side, they need 3 divisions to face hostile Italy, 5 divisions to guard against neutral Italy, and 10 divisions to help them in the face of Italy on their own side. ‘

The reason why Italy was able to deal with Turkey in the end, on the one hand, is because Turkey is weak enough, and there is no land transportation between the mainland and Libya, not to mention the Italian Navy, the Pisa modified armored cruiser of the Greek Navy can stabilize the Turks, plus when the Italian-Turkish War broke out, it happened that the Balkan War also broke out, and the Balkan coalition forces all fought to Istanbul, how could Turkey be in the mood to care about other things?

With such an opponent, the prince thought that it would be a waste to let Germany shoot, and Austria-Hungary was enough to settle it. Of course, it was not yet time, the prince had already arrived at the port of Kiel, and in the harbor, the first thing that caught his eye was the ships of the German High Seas Fleet!

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