Section 811 The international situation is becoming more complicated

After the last war with the United States, Chinese diplomats knew very well that it was impossible for European countries to accept China's occupation of land in the Americas, especially in the United States, and according to intelligence at that time and later, if China tried to cede the territories of the western states of the United States, Germany, France, and Russia would jointly intervene, and Britain would also support it. Pen, fun, pavilion www. biquge。 info

Therefore, China's foreign policy does not include the policy of establishing colonies in the Americas, but only the protection of economic interests.

An alliance with Britain would greatly safeguard China's interests in the eastern Pacific and free up its hands against Russia.

In recent years, with the restoration of national strength, the Americans have become more and more restless, they have suppressed the blacks in the southern states, the target has been aimed at the Indians in California, and once again began to restrict the Chinese with small actions, once they successfully suppressed the Indians, the next step is likely to be the Chinese.

An alliance with Britain can better protect the interests of the local Chinese and safeguard the security of China's Pacific interest chain.

What Britain received was not only China's short-term help against German expansion in East Asia, but also the relief of their fears of Chinese infiltration into Canada, and the constant threat posed by the United States to Canada. But they paid more, because since the war between the United States and the Ming Dynasty, the United States actually needed Britain's support to protect China's threat to their west, and the United States had greatly reduced its ambitions for Canada.

But Germany's increasingly tough challenge has forced Britain to pay these costs.

After the two sides reached a final consensus, the drafting of the treaty was quickly completed.

First, the two sides pledged that the content of the agreement is limited to the Pacific region and that the purpose is to maintain peace and stability in the Pacific region.

Second, in principle, the two sides do not expand colonies and protectorates in the Pacific region, and they oppose the establishment of colonies and protectorates by any country in the Pacific region.

Third, the two countries have an obligation to maintain the superiority of their naval forces in the Pacific region, and in any case, the combined naval forces of the two countries must be greater than the combined naval forces of other countries in the region.

Fourthly, in the event of a war between either of the two countries and a third country, the contracting parties must remain neutral. However, if another country takes the initiative to attack India or China itself, the contracting party is obliged to provide economic assistance and allow the use of that country's ports. If a State Party is attacked by more than two States, the other Party must provide full military assistance.

After the treaty was signed, Britain and China simultaneously proposed to Germany that they immediately withdraw from the Philippines and stop interfering in Philippine affairs. He asked Spain to renounce the transfer agreement with Germany and suggested that Spain convene an international conference to discuss the Philippine issue.

The Germans continued to be tough, and they quickly replaced the Spanish colonial government and added 10,000 troops to Manila, which was more than enough to defend Manila, and even began a counteroffensive against the Philippine rebels.

The rule of Western colonists in the colonies is generally unpopular, there are almost no colonies that do not break out in the colonies, and the rule of Spain in the colonies is particularly unpopular, according to statistics, in the 300 years of Spanish colonization of the Philippines, an average of 5 uprisings occurred every year, and there were as many as 102 large-scale uprisings.

However, the Filipinos are also enough, the Spanish army stationed in the Philippines is only 1,500 people, of which 700 are stationed in Manila, and there are 6,000 Filipino auxiliary troops, as well as a fleet of 10 warships.

Germany reverted to the policy of the Spaniards and began to form a Philippine puppet army, based on the 6,000 puppet army left by Spain, and soon formed a puppet army of 20,000 to chase down the rebel army everywhere, and soon they seized Cavite, destroyed the government of the Republic of the Philippines located here, and drove the Republic of the Philippines into the mountains.

Neither Germany nor Spain revived the British and Chinese proposals, and seeing that the Germans had an increasing advantage in the Philippines, China and Britain discussed that continuing to allow Germany to expand its superiority in the Philippines was likely to lead to an established fact. The UK suggested that substantive measures must be taken swiftly by both countries. The navies of the two countries jointly blockaded Manila, issued an ultimatum to Germany and Spain, and if necessary, formed a joint army to land.

China accepted the British proposal, and the two countries combined their fleet, consisting of four British battleships, four Chinese battleships, and twenty heavy cruisers, with the Chinese fleet patrolling from Taiwan and Cam Ranh Bay, and the British fleet with Singapore and Hong Kong as bases for patrolling, searching all ships bound for Manila, and prohibiting any military supplies from entering the Philippines.

At the same time, the two countries jointly issued an ultimatum to Germany and Spain, demanding that they renounce the Philippine transfer agreement and reply within 48 hours.

Not only that, the Chinese army also surrounded Nantong from the land, and there was a great intention to take the opportunity to pull out the German leased territory in Chinese mainland, and Japan also took action, and the target was Busan.

Germany suddenly saw that the British Empire had not only military power, but also political power. Already in the Far East, a net was woven against Germany.

Germany really wants the Philippines, to this day, they do not have a colony with excellent natural conditions and rich human resources, if they can get the Philippines, which has been run by the Spaniards for 300 years, it can be said that the grade of the German colony has been greatly improved, not only has huge economic development potential, but also helps to improve Germany's status, in addition, the geographical location of the Philippines determines that once Germany has a foothold here, it will be able to occupy an extremely advantageous position in this huge market in the Far East. Historically, why the Americans turned the Philippines into a colony was not for the Philippines itself, but for China.

But if it continues to be tough, Germany may lose everything, not only the Philippines will not be able to keep it, Nantong will have to be taken back by the Chinese government, and Pusan will be snatched up by Japan.

At this time, Russia, which had a tacit understanding with Germany on the Korean issue, could not help at all, and Germany hoped that the Russian fleet could sail into Pusan at this time, but after considering it, Russia refused, because Russia believed that at this time, the Russian Pacific Fleet sailed into Pusan, and once war broke out, the Russian fleet would undoubtedly be easily wiped out by the navies of China, Japan and Britain.

Just when Germany decided to endure this and accept the joint ultimatum of China and Britain, another great power suddenly rolled in.

The United States, which had been slow to do so, finally couldn't help but intervene in the Cuban Revolution.

The United States sent a fleet into the Cuban port of Havana in the name of protecting overseas Chinese, but the landing marines clashed with the local Spanish defenders, and the United States issued an ultimatum to Spain demanding that Spain allow Cuba independence and give freedom to the Cuban people.

The intervention of the United States has made Germany see an ally that can be co-opted, Germany can buy the Philippines from Spain, and the United States can also buy Cuba from Spain, and then the two countries will jointly resist the pressure of China and Britain, which should make Britain and China have some scruples.

The situation was suddenly complicated by the intervention of the United States, and the uprising in the Spanish colonies quickly became an international event involving China, Britain, the United States, and Germany.

At this time, China and Britain, which had just completed the renewal of the treaty and formed an alliance in the Pacific region, had to face a complicated situation.

Britain was still fighting the Boer War, which had increased its army to 400,000 troops, and after forcing Portugal to cut off the ports and railways from the Boer state, the Boers cut off aid, and the British achieved an overwhelming advantage, making a breakthrough on the frontal battlefield, attacking Pretoria, the capital abandoned by the Boers, and the Boers began to turn to full-scale guerrilla warfare.

On the one hand, the European countries continued to oppose Britain, and on the other hand, they maintained neutrality in the conflict between Britain and Germany in the Philippines.

The challenge launched by the United States in the Caribbean has also made Britain feel overstretched.

Even for Britain or Europe as a whole, the Caribbean Sea is higher than that of the South Seas, and Cuba's status is higher than that of the Philippines. As can be seen from the pattern of power, although the United States announced the Monroe Declaration very early on, opposing any country to retain colonies in the Americas, here in the Caribbean, there are not only colonies such as Cuba, Puerto Rico, and Jamaica occupied by Spain, but also between Cuba and Florida, the Bahamas, which is close to the United States, are still British colonies, and France, the Netherlands, and even Denmark all have colonies here. The Caribbean Sea is far more complex than the Philippines.

Britain does not want to see Germany occupy the Philippines, nor does it want to see the United States occupy Cuba, and if they choose, they choose to maintain the status quo, so the Pacific Agreements signed with China clearly stipulate that no country is allowed to establish colonies or protectorates in the Pacific region, and it is obvious that even China is not allowed to establish colonies.

Now the troublesome question of the Philippines has not yet been resolved, the more troublesome question of Cuba has emerged, and the more troublesome question of South Africa still involves the power of Britain, and the whole of Europe is opposing the war between Britain and the Boers, so it can be said that this is the time when the British Empire is most powerless against the world situation.

The British Empire was inclined to compromise, and they consulted with the Ming in advance, and they decided to make concessions on the Samoa issue in exchange for German concessions in the Philippines. They accepted Germany's occupation of the entire Samoan Islands, and because it involved a treaty with China that had just been signed against the establishment of colonies in the Pacific, the British wanted to seek China's understanding first.

China also does not want to go to war with Germany because of the Philippines, and there is a serious consequence of a war with Germany, that is, once a war breaks out between China and Russia, if Germany stands behind Russia, it will be very unfavorable to China, even if Germany does not send troops, their huge industrial strength will support Russia, which will make it difficult for China to fight.

So China agreed that it would not object if Samoa could satisfy Germany.

On the issue of Cuba, Britain proposed to work with the Philippines and other Spanish colonies to invite relevant interested countries to discuss, and China said that it must participate, on the grounds that there are a large number of Chinese living in Cuba, and even in the Cuban rebel army, there are tens of thousands of Chinese participating, and China has the obligation to protect the interests of the Chinese, so China is also a relevant party, and Britain believes that the introduction of Chinese forces will help Britain continue to maintain regional balance in an unfavorable situation, so it expressed its support.

The two countries soon issued a joint invitation to all interested parties to discuss the Spanish colonial question in London.