43) Overview

Geórgios I is now in a bad mood, the same thing in the Ottoman Empire, but Bulgaria did a lot of things that did not go wrong; it is not the same when it comes to Greece. A Cretan uprising will be the Greek trap, so he is riding a tiger!

Geórgios I asked wistfully, "Minister of Foreign Affairs, contact Bulgaria and Montenegro and ask them to fulfill the pact, I want a clear answer from Bulgaria, is there a problem?"

Weak countries don't have human rights, and Montenegro is only in the interim. Who told them to have fewer soldiers?

The Minister of Foreign Affairs said seriously, "No!"

Geórgios I nodded with satisfaction. Bulgaria will not join the war. This problem does not even have to be considered. It is only a matter of time or how much benefit is wanted!

Geórgios I asked again, "Prime Minister, how are the internal readiness? If we were the only ones, could we launch a war against the Ottoman Empire now?"

With a slightly pale face, the Prime Minister said cautiously: "I'm afraid there are still problems with this. We are not ready for war! When the Balkan League was established before, the Bulgarians asked to put the war after 1900, and the war reserves we made were made according to this plan.

Not only us, but even Montenegro and Bulgaria have drawn up a set of plans for war against the Ottomans in 1900, and it is estimated that their war readiness is not much better than ours!

Bulgaria's reserve training, which goes a little faster, started in full swing last year, so if war breaks out now, they should have no problem mobilizing!"

Geórgios I face paled. It is the biggest bad news: not only is Greece not ready for war, but the two allies are not the same!

After thinking about it, Geórgios I said: "We are not the only ones who are not ready, right? The Ottoman Empire is estimated to be no better. In the last two or three years, the Ottoman Empire is also full of domestic uprisings. I do not believe that they are now ready for war!

We at least have a plan, don't we? How much time do we need to start the national mobilization now to be able to finish it?

At the limit, how many troops can we mobilize? How long can strategic material reserves support? And how long can government finances support a war?"

The Prime Minister thought about it and said: "In theory, with national mobilization, we can mobilize 250,000 troops, but due to the lack of specialized training, in the short term, only the current 110,000 land forces have the ability to fight!

The naval situation is better because of the presence of that Bulgarian fleet, the main force of the Ottoman navy is dragged into the Bosphorus, and we are not under great pressure!

For strategic supplies, this is a bit of a problem. With 250,000 land troops in a high-intensity combat situation, our current reserves can only support two months at most!

Of course, this problem is not too big. We can still buy from the British, the French, the Italians, we can still solve it!

The trouble is money. The government's revenue has been bad, especially in the years after the outbreak of the economic crisis. The fiscal has been in deficit!"

Geórgios I nodded, the lack of strategic reserves is simple. With the geographical location of Greece, one can go to buy it! Even if the embargo on countries in times of war, as long as there is money, the capitalists will always think of a way!

Running out of money is a headache. Greece has a long history of financial problems, it's normal to run out of money, but it's hard to solve financial problems!

And he is now more worried about the attitude of Bulgaria instead. If the Bulgarians are not ready to join the war soon, then there is no Bulgaria to hold back the main forces of the Ottoman Empire, then the pressure on the Greek Army would be too big!

Geórgios I sighed and said, "Let's wait for Bulgaria to decide before we decide whether to declare war on the Ottoman Empire!

First, conduct a national mobilization, and the Ministry of Finance has to find a way to raise a war fund! The Ministry of Foreign Affairs will first approach the Great Powers to buy strategic materials. Whether we end up fighting or not, we have to be ready for war!"

...

In fact, just look at Geórgios I's preparations. You know that the war is set, the Greek domestic forces have dominated the war, even if not this time, they will still create other excuses to declare war!

The Greeks' readiness allowed Ferdinand's suspended heart to ease. Whether Geórgios I wanted it or not, Greece had to be the one to start this time!

The Greeks demanded that Bulgaria fulfill its obligations as an ally, and Ferdinand instantly said there was no problem. He reassured them that Bulgaria would do absolutely what the pact required!

The Greek ambassador to Bulgaria was in trouble. An early outbreak of war and Bulgaria's entry into the war within three months? If that were to happen, Greece would be a big loser! How would he be able to explain such a result to his country?

Then there was a war of words, and the Bulgarian government agreed to make compromises. And Ferdinand said that Bulgaria could declare war at the same time if the Greek government could delay the declaration until next year!

Geórgios I was furious. Is this a joke? Is this something the Greek government can decide? Even if the Greeks were willing to wait, the Ottoman Empire had to agree to it!

With such a round of bargaining down, the Ottoman Empire also began to make war preparations. The Greek government knew it could not be delayed any longer. Otherwise, it is estimated that the conflict broke out, and the two sides still can not talk about a result!

The Greek government dropped its demand for Bulgaria to enter the war instantly, but of course, Bulgaria could not really wait three months before entering the war.

Finally, the two sides reached a compromise. Once the war broke out, Bulgaria had to mobilize the whole country, hold the Ottoman army in check, declare war, and attack the Ottoman Empire within fifteen days of the start!

At the same time, Ottoman envoys arrived in Sofia, asking Bulgaria to remain neutral in the war, and in return, the Ottoman Empire agreed to cut tariffs on Bulgaria!

Well, the gap between the two sides of the offer was too big. Ferdinand went directly to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to deal with it. The Ottoman Empire is also unlikely to talk about the false sense of security results, or the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is more competent!

In order to get the Ottoman Empire and Greece to enter the trap a little early, Ferdinand also added some fuel to both sides. It was a simple operation. It was a public opinion campaign!

Nowadays, it's still safe to speculate on public opinion like this without any fear of being found out!

"Patriotic intellect!"

They preached the Greek threat theory in the Ottoman Empire. Describing Greece as a pawn of the Great Powers, a pawn of the Great Powers to divide the great Ottoman Empire!

The Ottoman government was required to destroy the evil Greek government in order to deter the preying Great Powers!

If we compromise with Greece, it will trigger the partitioning trend of the Great Powers, and the Ottoman Empire will be finished!

In short, Greece is evil and must be eliminated. Whoever dares to participate in peace is a traitor to the country, and the slogan 'Allah punishes traitors to the country' has been shouted!

As soon as they put these theories forward, they were widely shared by all walks of life in the Ottoman Empire, and these contents were already there, just not as serious as the newspapers made them out to be!

Since it exists, it's easy to find evidence, and the Bulgarian intelligence officers who guided a wave of public opinion have, in one leap, also become patriotic intellects of the Ottoman Empire!

The propaganda in Greece was similar, only in a different version. The uprising in Crete, planned by the Greek government, was described as a national liberation movement in Greece.

And it advocates that 'the liberation of all Greeks under Ottoman enslavement is the greatest sacred mission of modern Greek youth!'

Well, this slogan is very good in appealing to the fervent youth of Greece and in line with the interests of the main war faction, so politicians quickly used it, and the people in power have taken it as a campaign slogan!

Ferdinand let the 19th-century people understand 'how to drive civil opinion'! Of course, no one really sees this era, even if you know the government is not good, but they all think it is the cry of the patriotic youth from the heart!