Chapter 265: Detonating Public Opinion
The atmosphere in the village of Colkit was not ordinary today, and the frightened villagers leaned close together, looking at the Italian officers and soldiers who surrounded them.
"Ladies and gentlemen, according to the decree from Rome, Italian nationality cannot be granted to you, and according to the immigration decree, you have half a day to pack up your belongings and leave Albania for the Ottomans, now please pack your things."
A government official, accompanied by an interpreter, loudly announced orders from Rome to the walled-off villagers.
Sure enough, the order to drive them out immediately caused a commotion in the crowd. If it weren't for the fact that the Italian officers and soldiers were surrounded by loaded guns, the villagers would have wanted to tear the shouting official alive.
And at this time they can only fight back with their own words.
"My family has lived here for generations, and you can't do that."
"Why drive us out, we have to protest!"
"We don't want to leave!"
The gossip voices expressed the anger of the residents at the scene, but in the face of the anger of the locals, the government officials present did not care.
I saw him take out his pocket watch, look at the time on it, and say. "It's 9:12, and at 13:12 you have to leave."
Although his voice was not loud, it was very intimidating, and the noise of the scene was silenced.
He was pleased with the result, so he looked at the crowd and continued. "So, you better hurry up and pack your things, otherwise you forgot what you didn't take, but you won't be able to come back."
With his words, the scene was another jump, and the big cadres immediately rushed back to their respective homes to clean up, and only two or three kittens remained at the scene.
Among these two or three, one of the old men was dressed as a government official, because he was dressed as a priest and looked like an imam.
I saw him walk up to this government official with a serious face. "Your Excellency, isn't your country afraid of the violent reaction of international public opinion and the vast number of *** followers when you treat us like this?"
Facing this imam, who still has some worldview, the government officials looked at each other with a little seriousness. "So which country will stand out for you? The Ottomans have just suffered a defeat, and other powerful countries will not pay much attention to you, and as for public opinion, they will not be able to influence the government. As for your followers, what does it have to do with our country, if you dare to make trouble on our territory, we will make them regret not returning to the arms of Allah. ”
In the face of government officials who do not have oil and salt, this imam has no other way but to encourage everyone to resist, look at the heavily armed Italian officers and soldiers around him, and don't let the people of Allah suffer again.
At 13:12 p.m., the regrouped local people, dragged their families and brought what they could with them, and left their hometown under the escort of Italian officers and soldiers, and the sound of crying and crying along the way was not desolate.
As for the bookmakers in the houses, there will be a large number of Italian immigrants to take care of them in the future, and of course they will not be able to take them away from them in the future.
Tragic events in villages like the one in Kolket are common in Albania and Kosovo. On this day, Italy dispatched 100,000 officers and government officials to detain and drive away villages and towns.
Most of these expelled people would pass through Macedonia and be sent to Ottoman territory, while the few Orthodox and Catholic people would be received by the three countries of Sebauś.
Of course, these local residents are not all obedient people, and many people are unwilling to leave like this, and various rebellions break out. Most of these rebellious people have been suppressed by heavily armed officers and soldiers, and what awaits them will be to be thrown into various mining areas for labor reform.
And there are some lucky escapees, who are out of danger for the time being, but will face endless encirclement and suppression.
Beginning in February 1891, a wave of revolt between Albania and Kosovo began. In the highest month of March, there were more than 400 attacks of various kinds, and these Albanians who were unwilling to leave tried every means to attack the Italian government, army, and immigrants.
However, although the frequency of attacks was very high at the beginning, the resistance of these people was rootless, and after the local people were driven away, they lacked the necessary supplies, weapons and personnel to replenish them.
After the Italians drove away most of the local population, they even mobilized troops to intensify the crackdown. The results were also surprisingly good, with attacks falling to less than 30 per month in the second half of September, and showing an irreversible and sustained decline. By January 1893, the last rebels had been exterminated, and Albania and Kosovo had become a sacred and integral part of the Kingdom of Italy.
This is all a follow-up result, as for now, although Italy has made various moves to block the news, how can it not be known about the large-scale operation to expel nearly 600,000 people in the two places at one time.
France's Free Star newspaper was the first to report on the humanitarian catastrophe caused by Italy's eviction of locals in Albania and Kosovo.
It was then quoted in other newspapers, and in less than three days, the whole civilized world knew about it.
For this reason, the Italian government was consulted on this matter, but it was dismissed on the grounds that the Italian army was exterminating the rebels.
However, the Ottoman side issued a serious protest for this, and in response to the Ottoman protest, the Italian government casually threw its protest letter into the garbage heap.
However, this matter was not kept secret for long, because a large number of expelled local people passed through the Macedonian region and appeared in Austrian South Macedonia.
And with the advent of these refugees, a large number of Italian actions on the ground have been exposed.
In the face of such a situation, the Italian side cannot shirk it, and the pressure of international public opinion on Italy is not small.
For this reason, the Ottoman Empire, which had just lost the war, issued a serious statement, declaring that Italy was carrying out ethnic cleansing in Albania and Kosovo. Led by Italian Foreign Minister Jemini Bacona, the Ottomans also carried out ethnic cleansing of the local Armenians in Armenia.
The Ottoman cleansing of the Armenians was no secret to Europe. Although the Ottoman massacres had not yet occurred in Armenia at this time, they had never been soft on the Armenians who believed in Christianity, and all kinds of exorbitant taxes and arbitrary oppression were commonplace.
No one paid attention to it before, and it was more that the region in which it was located was of no interest to all countries, with the exception of Russia. However, it is not very good for Armenians to live in Russia, they are all eldest brothers, not to mention second brothers.
In the face of the incident that Italy pulled out of Armenia, the Ottomans didn't know what to say for a while, but in the end it became a dog-eat-.
Although Italy used the Armenian question to settle the Ottoman blame, the government was still under tremendous pressure.
Because British Prime Minister Cecil issued a statement condemning Italy's actions in the Balkans.
As for why the British suddenly jumped out, it is more because Italy has threatened the security of the eastern Mediterranean after seizing a large number of Ottoman territories, especially the Suez Canal, which is crucial to it, and it is an Italian colony at both ends.
Although Britain needs Italy to contain France, it does not want to see Italy's power in the Mediterranean greatly increased, so it is reasonable for Whitehall to add some obstacles to Italy's actions in the Balkans.
After Britain expressed its opinion, France, the United States, Russia and other countries issued statements condemning Italy for ethnic cleansing in the Balkans. This gave Italy a not-so-good reputation internationally.
However, no matter what the outside world says, Italy's actions in the Balkans have not stopped at all.
And while the Balkans were carrying out vigorous operations, the Libyan region, which also belonged to Italy, was not idle.
"My Will"