The old men of the Orthodox Church have been getting a little impatient lately, and they have been preparing for such a long time, but they have never seen a certain immortal do it, and they can't wait to drive the Turks away and take back Constantinople.

Yes, the Orthodox Church has never recognized the new name of Constantinople (Istanbul) by the Turks, and only by retaking Constantinople will the Orthodox Church regain its footing with the Catholic Church in Rome, a day they have been waiting for for too long.

Of course, Li Xiaofeng also hopes that these guys can succeed in one fell swoop, but it is obvious that these guys do not have this ability, in fact, Li Xiaofeng is just making an excuse to find these guys, after all, it is not convenient for the Soviet Union to directly attack Turkey.

In fact, the problems of the Balkans are not at all simpler than those of the Middle East, and they are the same as the extremely acute ethnic and religious problems, and the same chaotic places where forces converge. Especially now, World War II is still going on, and some key chess pieces are not yet in place.

So who is Li Xiaofeng's so-called key chess piece? There were two, one Yugoslav and the other Bulgarian. These two countries are the most famous-stirring sticks in the Balkans, and anyway, this bit of in the Balkans is inseparable from these two countries.

Let's talk about Yugoslavia first, to be honest, the name Yugoslavia is similar to India, it is difficult to say that it is a geographical concept, and it is difficult to say that it is a national concept, and later the Yugoslavia we know was still a big platter before World War I, and this country is actually a multi-ethnic state with the Serbian nation as the main body established by the spoils of World War I.

So to talk about Yugoslavia, we have to talk about Serbia first, and the Serbs are the foundation of this kingdom. Of course, we know from history. The Serbs did not mix as well as they wanted. After the end of the Eastern Roman Empire. Turkey came, and the area where the Serbs lived was the frontline of the confrontation between Ottoman Turkey and the Habsburgs.

Fortunately, with the gradual decline of Ottoman Turkey, the Serbs gained independence, and in 1804 "Black George" Petrovich led his troops to revolt and successfully expelled the Turks from Serbian territory. It's just that it's not always easy for the weak to resist the strong, and there are often repetitions, and in 1813 Black George was defeated by the Turks again, and he had to go into exile in Austria.

Of course. And that's still not all, again with the help of Russian friends, another leader, Miloš. Obrenović once again led the Serb uprising, successfully forcing the Ottoman Turks to recognize Serbia as a principality (note that this is important!). ）

Serbia existed as a highly autonomous principality of the Ottoman Turkish Empire. In other words, the Serbs were still bound by the Turks and did not achieve full independence. And the important reason for this is the leader of the 1815 uprising, Miloš. Obrenovic is a politician through and through.

What this brother is best at is to make deals with compromise in order to preserve his position and the "independence" of the Serbs. It should be said that this dancer on the egg has a very high level, because there were three major empires that directly intervened in this - Ottoman Turkey, Austria-Hungary and Tsarist Russia. In addition, there are two major hooligans eyeing each other -- Britain and France.

Among them, the tsar has always been a supporter of the Yugoslav brothers, and has been working to liberate the oppressed Yugoslav brothers (including Serbia and Bulgaria) from the iron heel of Ottoman Turkey.

But what's interesting is Milosh. Obrenović chose to compromise with the Ottoman Turks, and in doing so, he did not hesitate to kill the eldest brother who led the uprising of 1804. That is, the Black George in exile in Austria (Petrović was assassinated by Miloš when he returned to Serbia).

Until 1878. When the Slavic elder brother Tsarist Russia finally defeated the Ottoman Turks, Serbia became truly independent (and Bulgaria as well) according to the agreement reached at the Berlin Conference. Of course, the descendants of Miloš Milan. Obrenović IV did not declare independence immediately in 1878, but proclaimed the Kingdom of Serbia four years later.

Please note that if according to the traditional concept of the Chinese people, Serbia has finally become independent, this is considered a complete achievement, and it will start a beautiful life without shame in the future. But life is never so simple, the Obrenovich family is all wonderful, and the desire for power is very strong, it is these two points that caused a series of tragedies later, and it can even be said that the outbreak of World War I is inseparable from the rule of this family. This, combined with the unprecedented expansion of Serbian nationalism and national chauvinism since independence, has clouded the country's future.

Life in Serbia after independence was not happy at all, and the kings did everything they could to increase their power, and did not hesitate to use the constitution as a rag, anyway, to smear it casually. In less than a hundred years, the Obrenovic family squandered the prestige they had saved for the uprising and the independence of Serbia.

By the time Milan's son Alexander came to power, the contradictions reached a climax. But before I do that, let me say a little more about the of this strange father and son. The fledgling Kingdom of Serbia in 1883 was hit by a number of crises, starting with a massive local uprising, the Timok Rebellion.

The King of Milan brutally suppressed the rebellion and purged the Belgrade elite suspected of involvement in the uprising, and in the parliamentary elections of the same year, overwhelmingly opposed the current Serbian system. But the King of Milan held power in his own hands and did not refrain from the Parliament, not only refusing to form a government with the dominant Popular Radicals, but also abolishing it less than ten minutes after it was formed.

In 1885, Serbia fought another bloody war with Bulgaria, but the King of Milan made his decision without consulting the Cabinet Ministers or the Parliament. To make matters worse, the Serbs, who first provoked the war, were beaten by Bulgaria and almost captured Belgrade.

Not only did the King of Milan lose a lot of points in state affairs, but he also couldn't stick to the glue in personal discipline, and his rivalry with Queen Natalie and the divorce scandal made the Serbs feel so bad about him (the King wanted to marry his personal secretary, a young and beautiful woman).

In 1889, Milan had to abdicate to give an explanation. The reins of the state were transferred to the Obrenović family. By 1893. Milan's son, 16-year-old Alexander, staged a bizarre coup d'état. Cabinet ministers are invited to dinner. Then all the ministers were arrested at the beginning of the dinner.

The young King Alexander was in power, but it was his father Milan who actually dominated everything behind the scenes. At that time, it was difficult to find such a strange situation in Europe, where the abdicated father became the chief staff of the son who succeeded him.

From 1897 to 1900, this Milan-Alexander situation persisted, with Milan appointed as the supreme commander of the Serbian army, dominating everything behind the scenes. It's just the last calm before the storm. Because the Serbs were fed up with the father and son, and Alexander was not at all enlightened by his father, the king removed all the enlightened clauses of the Serbian constitution. and shut down all newspapers in the country. When the People's Radical Party protested, it was told that it was deprived of all political rights.

The king of Alexander, who ruled Serbia as an absolute dictator, never respected the authority of the so-called law, and even openly carried out assassinations. And after his father's marital troubles, His Majesty also angered the Serbian kingdom on the issue of women.

In 1897, Alexander met an unknown engineer's widow, Draga. Mahin, who at the time was Alexander's mother's maid. The widow was ten years older than the king and had a bad reputation in Belgrade - everyone knew that she had a rather disorderly private life and that she had lost her fertility.

At that time, everyone advised Alexander not to marry this amorous widow, the Minister of the Interior, Jorger. Gencic even bluntly said to Alexander: "Your Majesty. You can't marry her. She could be anyone's mistress - including me, of course! ”

Alexander's father, Milan, was also vehemently opposed to the marriage. In his letter to Alexander, he said: "You are pushing Serbia into the abyss...... After you've done such a stupid thing, if any government deportes you. Then I'll be the first to applaud! ”

It can be said that this marriage directly ruined the last bit of Serbian thought about the rule of the Obrenović family. After trying to persuade the king to no avail, Gencic resolutely became the core of the anti-Aubreno family, and he was the one behind the assassination of Alexander and his queen. At a heated cabinet meeting, the acting prime minister even suggested that Alexander be arrested, tied up and forcibly deported.

But Alexander, who was good at death, did not realize the danger coming, and he tried to make the people accept his queen by some small means, such as declaring that Draga was pregnant. However, this was quickly debunked, which only made the people even more disgusted with it.

By the spring of 1903, the whole Serbian nation had reached an agreement to let Alexander and his wife die. On 6 April, a protest against the king's arbitrary changes to the constitution broke out in Belgrade, but Alexander suppressed it with iron and blood.

Of course, none of this was the root cause of Alexander's doom. This stupid dictator made two mistakes, the first being to maintain his pro-Austro-Hungarian position (while the Serbian nation generally held an anti-Austro-Hungarian tradition) - because it was beneficial to the Obrenović family. This family imprisoned the Serbian economy under the monopoly of Austria-Hungary and deprived and blocked the Serbian capitalists of their access to the world market, thereby benefiting the family.

And this pro-Austro-Hungarian stance made Tsarist Russia probably less friendly to the Obrenovich family, after all, Tsarist Russia paid for the independence of Serbia and Bulgaria. And Serbia dared to make eye contact with Austria-Hungary, how could this be endured!

Of course, this is not a special death, after all, the Austro-Hungarian Empire was also considered to be a skinny camel bigger than a horse. The real death was the general Alexander, who was offended miserably. The reason why his father Milan had been able to retain his position after his death was that the king was very generous to the army - he generously allocated funds to the army and expanded the ranks of officers.

But after the expulsion of Milan by Alexander in 1900, the superior life of the army came to an end. The new king constantly cut the military budget, which led to the fact that the salaries of the officers were getting lower and lower every month. Later, it was even more simply white. And the new king is cronyistic. Only relatives of the king and queen were promoted to key positions. This made the officers furious!

By June 11, 1903. Twenty-eight Serbian officers broke into the royal palace in Belgrade, where Alexander and his queen were shot dead indiscriminately, then their bodies chopped up with rebel knives and axes, and then thrown like garbage from windows into the garden. This assassination changed the national situation in Serbia, and it can even be said that it directly led to the outbreak of World War I.

Why? There are two reasons for this, after the killing of Alexander, the nationalist forces in Serbia have risen rapidly, and the nationalists are no longer satisfied with just settling for a damn king. They want more. For example, the liberation of Bosnia, Croatia, Romania, Bulgaria and Montenegro, Herzegovina, Albania and Greece together with their native compatriots to create a unified Serbian state.

We can see that after this the Serbs continued to seek expansion, which caused unrest in the neighborhood. Later in history, Serbia seems to be a weak person in the textbook, and it seems that the high-pressure reaction of Austria-Hungary led to a series of conflicts (for example, the annexation of Bosnia and Herzegovina by Austria-Hungary, which annoyed the Serbs, but to be honest, the annexation of Bosnia and Herzegovina by Austria-Hungary was tacitly approved by the Berlin Agreement of 1878, and it took nearly 30 years for Austria-Hungary to start). That's interesting enough).

But let's be honest, the over-expansion of the Serbs is also an important reason. After all, a slap doesn't make a sound. And judging by Serbia's relationship with its neighbors, they are really not popular.

The second reason is that the Serbs have gone into a misunderstanding, and they have solved the disgusting king by assassination, which should be said to be a last resort. But this success gave them the false impression that assassination would help them succeed.

It has to be said that this kind of thinking is extremely dangerous. Because assassination is not as useful as imagined, it is not just one or two people who will decide history, but the general trend. For example, if the end of the Obrenovich family hadn't been for the king's anger, even if the officers could kill him, I'm afraid it wouldn't have changed the overall situation, right?

Unfortunately, the Serbs did not realize this and were more enthusiastic about assassination. For example, Dragutin, the mastermind of Alexander's assassination. After the successful assassination, Dimitrivic became the head of Serbian military intelligence, and he single-handedly created a fanatical underground organization, the United or Death Society (known as the Mafia Society). Under the leadership of this association, in the cafes and bars of Belgrade, hot-blooded youths could openly discuss plans for assassinations or secret sentinels and riots. For example, Princip, the Assassin who later shot Archduke Ferdinand and his wife, was a member of the Mafia.

The first war broke out inexplicably, and Serbia, which was bent on establishing a Serbian state, was soon pacified by Austria-Hungary, and it was not until the war in November 1918 that Austria-Hungary withdrew its troops.

As the victorious power, the Serbs reaped a large amount of war dividends, and their demands were almost completely satisfied, annexing Croatia, Bosnia, Montenegro, Herzegovina, and Slovenia.

During World War II, the Kingdom of Yugoslavia boarded the Nazi chariot, but because of Tito's existence, Yugoslavia was not affected after the victory in World War II. On the contrary, because of the needs of the Cold War, it has become a wall grass that the two major blocs want to win over.

However, there is no one who is not stabbed, whether it is the Kingdom of Yugoslavia or Tito's Yugoslav Federation, the main body of which is Serb, that is, Serbs. But Croatia really does not recognize itself as a Serb, and once the dominance of the Serbs declines, the separatist forces will inevitably rise, and later the big guys will see the disintegration of Yugoslavia.

With regard to Yugoslavia, Li Xiaofeng's attitude was that if Tito was satisfied with that one-third of an acre of land and tossed around on the territory of the Serbs, then he would turn a blind eye, but if Tito was not greedy enough to dominate the entire Balkans, then he would not be polite. Because this direction was the focus of the future of the Soviet Union, especially Bulgaria, because of its strategic proximity to the Aegean and Black Seas, he would never allow the Serbs to reach out to this area.

If Tito did this, or Dimitrov was unaware of the fact that he was ready to join forces with Tito to create a Balkan federation, then he would not mind directly dismembering Yugoslavia, anyway, there were a lot of other nationalities who were not used to the existence of the Serbs, and it was too simple for them to make trouble!

So in Li Xiaofeng's established plan, Bulgaria was more important than Yugoslavia. In the next stage, the first thing he had to solve was the Bulgarian problem, and Bulgaria was also strange to say, in addition to Germany, there was also Bulgaria in the world that had been on the wrong side in two world wars in a row, and I am afraid that many comrades could not have imagined it.

What is even more unexpected is that the independence of this country turned out to be the greatest contribution of the Russians, and in World War I Austria-Hungary was different from Russia, and in World War II Germany and the Soviet Union were also inextricably fought. Why did this little brother of Orthodox Christianity with Slavic blood have to oppose his eldest brother every time (the important reason is actually Serbia, Serbia and Bulgaria were quite tense at that time, and the Russians could only choose between Serbia and Bulgaria)?

It can only be said that in this strange place in the Balkans, anything can happen. Of course, this is not the point, the point is that after the liberation of most of Romania, Bulgaria, which followed the Nazis, was already in the range of the Red Army. In the next stage, in addition to advancing in the direction of Hungary and Austria, will the liberation of Yugoslavia or Bulgaria be given priority?

In the ******, there are two opinions on this issue, one is to liberate Yugoslavia first, because Yugoslavia has Tito, the anti-fascist forces are relatively strong, and it is relatively easy to liberate Yugoslavia. Moreover, after the settlement of Yugoslavia, the front can be directed at Austria, Germany and Italy. At that time, Bulgaria will be completely isolated, and at that time, I am afraid that there will be no need for the Red Army to pay any price, and Bulgaria will change its attitude like Romania, isn't it much easier? (To be continued.) )

PS: There may be comrades who are going to spit out this chapter again, saying that this is a review of history or something. After thinking about it for a long time, I still decided to write this, mainly because our history textbooks describe the problems of this region too simply, and it seems that the Serbs could not bear the oppression and threat of Austria-Hungary to rise up and assassinate the Archduke Ferdinand and his wife, and they are weak people who deserve sympathy. But in fact, things are not so simple, since the second half of the nineteenth century, Serbia has been expanding under the banner of nationalism, and their toss intensity is not low at all, in fact, it is also an active activity.

Bow down and thank you to Comrade Zmcyhh, Farmerking, Huang L Lanhua and Juventus!