12) The Anglo-Boer War Breaks Out
In line with the principle of making trouble for the British, the Germans and the French have expressed their willingness to support the Boers, and the Dutch, as the home country of the Boers, have formed a volunteer army at home to prepare to go to South Africa to fight in the war.
These moves by the European nations gave the Transvaal Republic the confidence to defeat the British invasion, but at the same time brought disaster!
The Boers decided not to compromise with the British and began preparations for war, ready to expel the British invaders by force.
The Boers, perhaps lacking in other things but not gold, perceived the danger and frantically purchased weapons from European countries and trained their soldiers.
With war on the horizon, Britain could no longer tolerate it at home. With the efforts of the capitalists, a bickering Parliament finally passed a resolution to wage all-out war against the Boers.
At the end of 1895, British troops began to focus on the two Boer republics (the Transvaal Republic and Orange Free Estate).
At the beginning of the war, the British army consisted of about 30,000 men, which was reinforced by a conscription system with obsolete weapons, poor training, and lax discipline.
Apparently, the British underestimated the strength of the Boers and sent a bunch of arrogant men straight into battle, suffering a big loss early in the war.
The ending has nothing to do with Ferdinand. The British actions in South Africa provoked the discontent of the European countries, especially the Germans!
Although it did not support the Boers, it sold weapons and equipment and helped train soldiers. All kinds of small actions have not stopped!
The sudden outbreak of the Anglo-Boer War successfully diverted the attention of the British, the Anglo-German conflict, the Anglo-French conflict was intensified, and the plan of the Marquis of Salisbury came to nothing!
It reached Ferdinand's objective, but he knew that South Africa was a mess and that the Boers were not to be messed with as well!
Now they have the Germans and the French as their nannies, which is much better than the historical "Anglo-Boer" war.
Historically, the Anglo-Boer War was fought for three years, and this time there was a large number of nannies, and the British were not as well-prepared as in history. Under this and that, how can it not be shorter than its historical duration of it!
Historically, the Germans abandoned the Boers due to the Anglo-German compromise over the division of the South African colony.
The British also drew in the Portuguese to cut off the land supply route from the Portuguese colony, and the Royal Navy used the Portuguese military port in Mozambique to seal off Delagoa Bay to cut off the Boers' only access to the sea and cut off the Boers' access to supplies from the outside world.
With a series of unfavorable factors, the Boers had to fight alone, and after holding out for three years, they finally failed.
Now all this has not happened yet. Once the Anglo-Boer War broke out, the Germans, the French, the Dutch, etc., ships from various European countries kept going in and out of Delagoa Bay.
They sold shiploads of strategic supplies to the Boers. The British government could do nothing about it, and it was clear that the European countries did not want the British to get to South Africa easily!
If the German-French conflict had not been too great, the two countries would have joined forces to intervene by now. Even so, the two countries had agreed that "the British should not be allowed to gain South Africa so easily"!
In the era of the gold standard, whoever has gold in his hands dominates the world's finance, and South Africa happens to be one of the most crucial links!
The British Empire has not yet reached that point, and there is no pressure to trip up a little.
In January 1895, the German diplomat publicly expressed his support for the Transvaal Republic to take harsh measures against the British.
After the failed invasion by the British African Colonial Army, Wilhelm II personally sent a congratulatory telegram to President Kruger of Transvaal, saying congratulations to them: A bandit invasion crushed entirely on their own!
The French La Gazette also published the stance of the French government towards the Boers: the French Republic was willing to support the Transvaal Republic against the British colonial rule.
Le Figaro, the editor-in-chief, even put the Boer resistance to the British invasion in the same breath as the American independence movement, calling on the French public to donate to the Boers and support them in their continued efforts for national independence!
In addition to calling for donations from the Dutch public, the Dutch De Telegraaf also directly solicited volunteers from all over the world, ready to resist the British in real action.
If we just look at the public opinion, the British are furious this time. From Western Europe to Eastern Europe, the national media are bashing the British and calling on the world to unite and organize the British atrocities in South Africa!
In essence, what to do is fool a few hot-blooded young people into going to the battlefield in South Africa to tear up with the British!
Either that or sell all kinds of supplies to the Boers and make a big profit in gold. It is estimated that except for the Dutch, who are really angry, all other countries are trying to trip up the British for the sake of profit.
Not only that, the pressure of public opinion is still useful, at least during the Anglo-Boer War, the British trade exports to Europe, down ten percent; the trade exports to the Netherlands fell to an all-time low in more than ten years, less than a third of its heyday.
Ferdinand knew this might be the central factor in the collective opposition to Britain throughout Europe!
Britain is taking a bitter pill, with no allies to reveal the evils. Although they are the world's first power, they are also powerless to stop the European continent collectively from coming trip!
It also set the stage for the British to abandon non-aligned diplomacy and adopt a new diplomatic strategy.
In order to be able to cut off the logistical supply lines of the Boers and block the supply lines from the European continent to it, the British Foreign Office approached the Portuguese for support. Still, it was a pity that it was not so easy at this moment.
The Germans, the French, and the Spaniards have said, we disagree! Faced with pressure from all countries, the Portuguese easily dared not take a stand and hesitated to declare neutrality!
They could still top the other countries' pressure on them. The Spanish move to increase troops at the border terribly frightened the Portuguese.
The Spanish move, we all understand, the British stepped on the bones of the invincible fleet and rose to power, not to mention the lost colonies, and still occupy the Gibraltar Strait.
The Spanish did not have the strength to seek the bad luck of the British, but to teach a lesson to the independent Portuguese, it was still no problem, and this time there were European countries behind the support!
Moreover, before the Spanish-American War, Spain is still the first European power, and Italy is in the same class and has not declined. There is still the ability to throw a little temper.
Historically, in 1898, the U.S.-Spanish War broke out, the Spanish did not have the energy to interfere when the Portuguese drew closer to Britain, and now the U.S.-Spanish conflict has not yet intensified, the war is even more shapeless.
In the intervention of European countries, the Portuguese are a perfect sense to express the neutrality. For the countries to and from the merchant ships carrying arms, the Portuguese pretend not to see. Anyway, they are determined not to lie in this messy situation.
The British intended to use Portugal's financial crisis to force Portugal to compromise the calculations, yet have not had a chance to start falling short. The French usurers have long been sharpening their knives and have clarified that they are willing to provide loans to Portugal.