Buckingham Palace, London. Pen, fun, pavilion www. biquge。 info,ybdu,

The London Peace Conference continued. At the beginning of 1864, the peace conference finally achieved its first major result, the partition of Turkey. Representatives of the Ming Dynasty, France, Rome, Great Britain, Austria, Russia, Greece and Serbia, who had been invited to the meeting on an ad hoc basis, were content to sign an agreement called the "Protocol on the Turkish Question." This was the fate of a great empire that once spanned three continents, Europe, Asia and Africa, and made the whole of Christendom shudder.

Although the empire is still resisting stubbornly, it is meaningless until it is doomed, just like the battle of Constantinople fought by the last emperor of the Eastern Roman Empire, Constantine XI, and his people.

After the signing of the Protocol on Turkey, there was no mention of fighting Istanbul in the London Peace Conference, and no matter how long the city resisted, whether its inhabitants were killed or not, it had nothing to do with the London Peace Conference. As for the possibility of the Turks defeating the Russian-Austrian forces and keeping Istanbul, it is absolutely non-existent.

After the big episode of the Turkish question was resolved, the focus of the London Peace Conference turned back to the original theme: the North American armistice and the help of black Africa.

Negotiations on an armistice in North America have been going on these days. The main question is two, one is how much territory the United States of America should keep - Lincoln, the representative of the United States of America, proposed a principle of "referendum on ownership", hoping that through a referendum the membership of the United States states, whether to join the Union or join the Union. However, Union President Davis, the representative of the Union State, is concerned that too many states will vote for the North or ...... Join the South! Yes. President Davis didn't want to get all the northern states. Because that would be tantamount to fighting this Civil War in vain. All he wanted was to separate the southern and central agricultural states of the United States. It is just a union state in favor of the farmer.

So he wanted to negotiate the ownership of the states, and he also wanted to exchange the industrial cities of the Great Lakes region occupied by the allies for a large reparation, in order to pay off the huge debts owed by the allies because of the war.

And the second issue in the armistice negotiations of the North American War, of course, is the reparations. On the part of the alliance, including Mexico, a huge claim of 1 billion pounds has been issued! The Confederation offered to use the western territories to pay off the debt, and Lincoln wanted to recognize the Kingdom of California as part of the Mexican Empire in exchange for forgiving all or part of the reparations, so that the Confederation could begin post-war reconstruction. However, both the Union and Mexico are firmly opposed to this.

Because there are huge differences on these two issues. So the armistice negotiations in North America dragged on slowly, and the Confederate countries, which actually occupied several important industrial cities in the Great Lakes region, were in no hurry to sign a peace treaty. Anyway, what is uncomfortable now is the federal side, due to the occupation of major coal and iron towns and grain-producing areas, the entire federation's industrial chain has been broken, factories and banks in the eastern states have closed down one after another, prices have skyrocketed, and people's real incomes and living standards have plummeted.

A section of the population despaired of the future of the Union was divided. The large number of unemployed and difficult living conditions of the working class at the bottom of society gave the left-wing trade unions great room for development, and the American Workingmen's Association, supported by the International Workingmen's Association, was formally established in the second half of 1863. The radicals among them shouted the slogan of a revolutionary war against the reactionary forces of the South and international intervention!

Some of the upper echelons of the United States of America were intimidated by this revolutionary atmosphere and the desperate future of the country. They pinned their hopes on British support. He also raised the banner of racism and even shouted "Anglo-American union." white supremacy", which sought to establish an Anglo-American dualistic white empire as a way to resist the so-called Yellow Peril and regain the lost lands of the South and West......

It seems that Palmerston's wishful thinking is coming true, so the British Empire is in no hurry to end the state of war in North America. I'm afraid that some of the negotiations on the North American issue will be delayed!

In contrast to the delays in North America, negotiations to help Black Africa progress were swift. In previous negotiations, Britain and France had agreed on the division of spheres of influence. France's withdrawal from East Africa, and Britain's withdrawal from West Africa, including the British Gold Coast (part of Ghana), British Senegal, British Sierra Leone, and British Lagos, all of which were transferred to France, and France handed over Madagascar, which had been painstakingly operated for many years, to British protection, while recognizing British dominance over the East African coast and the British Cape Colony over the Orange Free State and the Republic of Teresa.

After Britain's exit from West Africa, the situation in West Africa became simpler, and in the area of sub-Saharan near the coast, part of it was "terra nullius", including Namibia, Congo, Cameroon, most of Nigeria, Togo, Benin, etc. These territories were not really ownerless, but were ruled by local black kingdoms or tribes, and most of them had unequal treaties with European powers.

The other part is, of course, the "Lord's Land", which, in addition to the French possessions, consisted of the colonies of Portugal and Spain, two declining empires, including Spanish Guinea, Portuguese West Africa, Sao Tome and Principe, and Portuguese Guinea. Of course, the colonial power of Western colonizers in black Africa in this era was still limited to the coastal areas, and did not penetrate deep into the vast interior of Africa. For them, much of Black Africa is too vast and primitive to be habited permanently. This is why Napoleon III decided to foster a black African empire, hoping to transform the primitive black interior into a rich land that could create wealth for France and Europe through the domination of the uncivilized black people by the civilized blacks.

Of course, all the colonies that European countries already had in Black Africa should be protected. The Black African Empire could only be built on uncivilized lands.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I think the mission of helping the people of black Africa to civilization is very daunting! A black African federation alone simply cannot do it. This work needs to be shared by the entire white civilized world. Therefore, before finalizing the approximate territory of the Black African Federation, I would like to ask all of you again whether the country you represent is willing to be more obligated to help the Black African people! ”

It was Napoleon III who was telling a lie, and it was the representatives of the whole civilized world who listened to his nonsense, not just a few powers, but all the independent European countries who came to London to participate in this congress to help black Africa. Of course, Wu Chunqiu, the envoy of the Ming Empire, and Juarez, the prime minister of the Mexican Empire, were also present, but the matter of helping black Africa was not shared by the two countries - Napoleon III said that the entire white civilized world should bear the burden of this matter...... There's nothing about the two of you yellow civilizations.

"Prussia's hope to help the people of Cameroon to progress is a very meaningful undertaking and the beginning of the international obligations of the unified German Empire." Prussian Prime Minister Bismarck was the first to stand up and speak, and as France's number one ally on the European continent, they certainly wanted to help the French with a little responsibility.

Napoleon III nodded gratefully, "That's great, the Black African people of Cameroon will be forever grateful for Germany's help." ”

"Spain wants to help the blacks and Taíno people on the island of Hispaniola." The Spanish Minister of Foreign Affairs, who was present at the meeting, also made a request.

"Hispaniola?" Napoleon III frowned, this island is in the Caribbean. There are two countries on the island, Haiti and Dominica. Dominica is under invasion by Spain, which wants to turn the country into a colony of its own.

"Okay, Spain does have a responsibility for Hispaniola, and France can support Spain's demands!" Napoleon III thought about it for a while, but still supported Spain's request. Because Spain was also an important ally of France on the European continent, second only to Prussia in status. Moreover, the expansion of the Mexican Empire in South America also needed the support and cooperation of Spain. (To be continued.) )