676 Ireland

The United Kingdom, now officially known as the United Kingdom of Great Britain, is made up of the Kingdom of England, the Kingdom of Scotland, and the Duchy of Wales on the island of Britain. Pen, fun, pavilion www. biquge。 The INFO flag is also made up of St Andrew's Cross (Scottish flag) and St George's Cross (England flag). It was not until 1801 that the St. Patrick's Cross, the red diagonal fork, representing Ireland, was added.

The problems of Britain and Ireland were a bad debt even in the pre-Bai Nan era. It was once home to the Celts BC, and the Roman Empire tried to conquer it without success. However, the spread of Christianity eventually led to the loss of Celtic culture in Ireland in the fifth century AD, the introduction of the Latin alphabet, and the preservation of some tribal forms and customs. Later, the Vikings invaded Ireland, and although they did not gain a permanent foothold in the country, they had a significant impact on Irish culture.

In the 12th century, the Anglo-Normans invaded Ireland, and although the Normans had many victories, only one county in the eastern part of Ireland was effectively controlled by England at that time. In 1542, Henry VIII ordered Ireland to be directly administered by the King of England, elevating Ireland from a principality to a kingdom and positioning Ireland's relationship with England as a confederation. His successor, Edward VI, began a large-scale colonization of Ireland. Ireland at this time was one of the most backward regions in Europe, where there were no advanced weapons and organizational structures. However, the Irish resistance was tenacious, and uprisings and riots broke out from time to time.

It was not until the time of Elizabeth I that the uprising in Ireland was completely suppressed, and many nobles were forced to leave Ireland and many to go to the Americas. Britain began to intensify immigration in Northern Ireland's Oster County, and the issue eventually became the Northern Ireland Problem for generations to come. Puritan immigrants and Irish-majority Catholics attacked each other, killing people throughout the English Civil War. Lord Cromwell was brutal in the war, slaughtering and destroying the city, and ordered that only the Irish should be allowed to live west of the Shannon River. King James II, who failed after the Glorious Revolution, used the power of Ireland to attempt restoration, but after his defeat, the rights of the Irish were further curtailed.

Throughout the 18th century, Ireland continued to revolt, the largest of which was an uprising in 1750, which was followed by a number of independent movements.

Speaking of which, there were a large number of Irish in the British army, but the Irish were always discriminated against by the English, and the Irish peasants never gave up the idea of independence. For a long time, England plundered the Irish economy and practiced strict protectionism, allowing only Ireland to export wool to England. On the other hand, in the mid-19th century, Ireland starved to death by more than 2 million people in a few years due to the ****** of the potato crisis, while the British government stood by and watched the Opium Wars and the World Expo. At that time, the Sultan of Turkey asked for a donation of 10,000 pounds, and the Queen of England said that a donation of 1,000 pounds would be fine, because she only gave 2,000 pounds. During the famine, Ireland was still exporting grain to England. This can be seen in the brutal British rule over Ireland.

Bai Nan listened to the navy's plan, and couldn't help but be surprised, he smiled: "This plan is very constructive, and even to operate it is a good idea to really let Ireland become independent from Britain." ”

Deng Xiyi is more pessimistic about this, he said: "Ireland is one of the most backward regions in Europe, and it is not much better than many places in Eastern Europe. The population is also relatively small, just over 3 million, and many of them are Puritans who lean towards England. With no people, no money, no weapons, it is still very difficult to rely on them to take the initiative against the British. ”

Assistant to the President, Pan Pu, also spoke: "Historically, during the Napoleonic Wars, Napoleon once sent an army of 2,000 men to the south coast of Ireland, but soon the British defeated the French and the local peasants who revolted. We will certainly do a better job than the French, but it will probably take as much money and energy to support Irish independence as we do to support German unity. The development of the National Revolution in Ireland was relatively average, and after the members of the National Revolution of the Irish ethnicity that we absorbed in the United States returned to Ireland, although they developed a certain number of members, they were not enough to lead a large-scale uprising. If we had gone into battle shirtless and sent troops to fight in the war in Ireland, the overall scale would probably be much larger than the scale of our current war on the continent. ”

Bai Nan nodded, he still agrees with this analysis, now the main axis of Datang is development, war is just a collateral thing, and it does not ask for much return, including dealing with the Netherlands, Datang taking away Ceylon and South Africa is just a collateral matter, and it is impossible to carry out large-scale colonization here after taking it, and it cannot be compared with the large-scale development of several overseas territories in previous years.

In fact, the purpose of this war was very clear, to disintegrate the anti-French alliance, weaken the strength of the European powers, and enhance its influence on the European continent. The goal of the Tang Dynasty was to establish a pro-Tang Netherlands (not necessarily a nationalized Holland), to help Germany eliminate Prussia, to establish a nationalized Poland, and to use the power of Germany and Poland against the barbarian bear Russia in the east. As for what the consequences of France are, Datang actually doesn't particularly care. Naturally, if Datang achieves a series of set goals, then France will definitely take advantage of it.

Bai Nan also knew that the first anti-French alliance was just an appetizer for the germination of the European war, and Datang would not get involved in it. Strategically, occupy the Netherlands and Prussia, drive Tsarist Russia back to Smolensk, and force Britain and Russia to armistice; On the French side, Napoleon won the Italian campaign, forcing Austria to withdraw from the alliance.

Datang understood what he wanted, so Bai Nan and the others could accurately calculate how Datang would spend the least amount of effort to do this.

So Bai Nan decided: "The navy continues to act according to the plan, and the First International side should give a proper tilt towards the development of the Irish national revolution, and we will not turn over this card now, but it will definitely be used in the future." ”

Deng Xiyi also said: "After beating the UK, Ireland is also a good coercive bargaining chip. ”

In fact, compared to Ireland, Scotland is also a good point to add to the UK's blockage. Although the country of Britain has never set its achievements, there are actually many unclear entanglements at the root. Maybe when the Scots and Irish are thriving, they will follow England, but when things go wrong, everyone will definitely have their own ghosts. Just as Blanc traveled through the former Scotland for an independence referendum, Scotland is naturally interested in leaving the British government alone when the United Kingdom is unable to provide better conditions for Scotland. (To be continued.) )