Chapter 273: Falanxi

Facts have proven that the death of Tsar Alexander II had a huge impact on Russia.

In the month Alexander II passed away, several decrees related to reform were abolished. Especially in the publication of literary works and news newspapers, the Russian government launched extremely strict censorship and sealed off several large newspaper offices in a short period of time.

Newspaper offices dared not report news, and Russian commoners also kept silent for fear of disaster from their mouths. This led to Russia entering an extremely oppressive atmosphere since the holding of Alexander II's funeral.

It is worth mentioning that from March 1881, the number of Russian immigrants willing to come to Spain increased sharply.

Usually, it would take a year to gather 50,000 immigrants, and after picking and choosing, only 20,000 to 30,000 people would remain. But this year, it has only been four months, and the cumulative number of registered immigrants has already exceeded 40,000, and it is still continuously increasing.

The rapidly increasing number of Russian immigrants is not a good thing for Spain, and the immigration department soon reported to the cabinet government, asking for the handling method for these extra immigrants.

Gao Da naturally also learned of this news and asked about the government's handling method. Overall, Gao Da is relatively satisfied with the handling method chosen by Prime Minister Canovas.

Although the Spanish mainland does not need too many immigrants, Spain's colonies still need a large number of immigrants. Especially the three West African colonies just obtained from the British, these colonies already possessed many immigrants, and adding more Russian immigrants would not cause any impact at all.

It can even reduce Britain's influence in these regions by reducing the number of local British immigrants, allowing the Spanish government to strengthen control over these regions.

Especially the Gambia colony, as an overseas granary that Spain focuses on developing, the Gambia colony needs a large number of farmers to grow grain.

Russian farmers are clearly good hands at agriculture, and coupled with their characteristics of strong stress resistance and hard work, sending them to the Gambia colony is simply the most suitable.

The only thing to worry about is whether these Russians who are used to living in cold regions can adapt to life in the African colonies. Spain's African colonies are generally close to the equator, and the temperature is quite hot.

Suddenly living from a cold region to a hot region is very likely to make these Russian immigrants suffer from acclimatization. The related difficulties can only be overcome by these Russians themselves; in this regard, Spain does not have a very good way.

In order to accelerate the agricultural development of the Gambia colony, these Russian immigrants can only be wronged to adapt themselves. Even if some people contract diseases due to acclimatization, it is completely acceptable to Spain.

Just when Spain was still racking its brains for the West Africa development plan, Falanxi, Spain's northern neighbor, was also undergoing intense arguments domestically.

The initiator of the argument, Jules Francois Camille Ferry, also known as the famous Jules Ferry, proposed an issue that caused controversy at the French cabinet meeting, which is that Falanxi should send troops to bring Tunisia under Falanxi's colonial protection.

Tunisia is located in North Africa, just east of Algeria controlled by Falanxi, and across the sea from Italy's Sicily.

Jules Ferry naturally knew that colonizing Tunisia would cause conflicts with Italy, but for Falanxi at this time, Falanxi must find some compensation for the defeat ten years ago through colonization, so that the French government can be trusted by the people again.

The Franco-Prussian War ten years ago was equivalent to the Germans giving all the French a hard slap, which all the French kept in mind.

To what extent did the French hold a grudge? Regardless of the level of government officials and members of parliament, as long as they dared to propose not to take revenge on Germany, they would definitely be attacked by the angry people.

Taking revenge on Germany has become a political correctness in Falanxi. Regardless of what the politicians think, they must support the people's point of view on the surface.

Jules Ferry can be said to be one of the representative figures of French politicians in this era. As a politician who served as Prime Minister, Jules Ferry naturally understood Germany's strength.

Although Falanxi's comprehensive strength is not weak, wanting to take revenge on Germany without the support of any allies is definitely just seeking one's own death.

But the people's hatred for Germany is real, which is also something the French government must not ignore. Therefore, the French government must find other ways to divert the people's hatred, or at least attract the people's attention, to avoid the people having dissatisfied moods due to their inaction.

In this era of great colonization, what can attract the attention of the French people most is naturally expanding territory for the country and establishing new colonies.

The Tunisia region is still relatively important. Not only is it connected to Algeria, which Falanxi already controls, but it is also the northernmost region of Africa, which is very helpful for Falanxi to exert influence along the Mediterranean coast.

Of course, controlling Tunisia can also help Falanxi continue to expand eastward in North Africa. Southeast of Tunisia is Libya, and east of Libya is Egypt, which is where the Suyishiyunhe is located.

There is no need to say how important the Suyishiyunhe is. Even if Britain used various means to obtain most of the shares of the Suyishiyunhe, Falanxi has never given up its attention to the Suyishiyunhe.

If Britain completely controls the Suyishiyunhe, Falanxi's fleet in the Mediterranean will be blocked within the Mediterranean. The French naturally understand this truth; they have always opposed Britain's complete control of the Suyishiyunhe and would jump out from time to time to question the status quo of Britain controlling most of the shares of the Suyishiyunhe.

Back to Tunisia. The current Tunisia nominally belongs to the Ottoman Empire, but in reality, the Ottoman Empire can no longer manage this place.

The reason for this is naturally that the failure of the last Russo-Turkish War exposed the full strength of the Ottoman Empire.

As a super empire that once spanned the three continents of Europe, Asia, and Africa, the Ottoman Empire is still a strong country for most countries, as the saying goes, a lean camel is bigger than a horse.

But for Falanxi, which dominated Europe ten years ago, this lean camel is like fat meat on a chopping board, only to be slaughtered by Falanxi.

But because Tunisia is closer to Italy, Italy is also quite concerned about this piece of land. Considering that invading Tunisia will inevitably attract the attention of the Italians and may even cause the intervention of the Italians, before provoking the war against Tunisia, the current French Prime Minister Jules Ferry still consulted several important officials and several high-level generals of the French cabinet.

The first to be consulted was naturally an important member of the French cabinet, the current Minister of Foreign Affairs, Gambetta.

As the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Gambetta understood the situation in Europe quite well. Upon learning that the Prime Minister intended to launch an invasion of Tunisia, Gambetta immediately asked his first question, which was the handling method for Italy.

Times have changed, and Italy is no longer the Kingdom of Sardinia that could be manipulated by Falanxi. Although the unified Italy is not as perverted as Germany, it is also a country at the level of a Great Power.

If it were Falanxi in its prime, it would naturally not consider the views of the Italians too much. But Falanxi at this time is in a situation of being diplomatically isolated by Germany; if it offends Italy to death again, it will only make Germany's policy of isolating Falanxi even more aggressive.

Facing the question from Minister of Foreign Affairs Gambetta, Jules Ferry thought for a long time before giving his attitude, which is to respond to Italy's possible intervention with tough means.

Although the Franco-Prussian War caused Falanxi to lose Alsace and Lorraine, Falanxi is still the hegemon of Western Europe and one of the top three strong countries in the world.

Falanxi wants to expand a colony; it is not something a small Italy can stop. Furthermore, Italy may not have enough courage to stop Falanxi from invading Tunisia.

Italy lags behind Falanxi in industry, economy, and population, and its army's combat effectiveness is far behind Falanxi.

Even if they really fight, Falanxi is not afraid of Italy at all. Even if Italy is disobedient, Falanxi can completely attack Rome and let the Papal States regain control of the situation in Rome.

After learning the Prime Minister's attitude, Minister of Foreign Affairs Gambetta nodded, and there were no more questions.

He and the Prime Minister come from the same party and must stand on the Prime Minister's side on such major matters. What's more, invading Tunisia is not a big deal for Falanxi, so there is naturally no need to sing a different tune from the Prime Minister.

Besides consulting the opinions of Minister of Foreign Affairs Gambetta, French Prime Minister Jules Ferry also consulted the opinions of the French Minister of War.

But there was nothing to ask; it was just attacking an indigenous country, and the Minister of War would definitely not refuse.

This would not only allow the military to gain many merits for nothing, but it was also a war that would definitely not be lost, equivalent to giving away merits for free.

As for the attitudes of other Great Powers, that is not something the military should consider. The military is only responsible for winning the war; which countries will be annoyed is something the government and diplomatic departments should consider.

After obtaining the support of the Minister of Foreign Affairs and the Minister of War, Jules Ferry was also full of confidence and proposed the proposal regarding invading Tunisia at the French cabinet meeting.

It is worth mentioning that Jules Ferry also played some small tricks before proposing the proposal.

Politicians care most about their reputation. Before proposing the relevant proposal, Jules Ferry had already let several newspaper offices report the news that he would push the country to launch a war and help Falanxi obtain a new colony.

Although it is not recovering Alsace and Lorraine, expanding territory is also a great merit.

More importantly, compared to Jules Ferry, who was full of confidence shortly after taking office, his 11 predecessors had almost no achievements in the position of Prime Minister.

Yes, since the establishment of the Republic after the Franco-Prussian War, Falanxi has changed eleven Prime Ministers in these ten years or so; such a speed can be said to be quite exaggerated.

Although Falanxi has two positions, President and Prime Minister, in the French Third Republic, the actual power of the Prime Minister is greater than that of the President.

The head of state is naturally the French President, but the French President is only responsible for diplomacy and military affairs, while administrative power is in the hands of the French Prime Minister.

Changing a Prime Minister on average once a year, one can imagine how chaotic the situation in French politics was during this period.

The French President at this time is elected by the people, while the French Prime Minister is appointed by the party that wins in the parliamentary election. The frequent replacement of the Prime Minister also represents one thing, which is that the contradictions and disputes between French political parties are also extremely deep.

The reason why the French Third Republic weakened the power of the President can also be considered the lesson of Napoleon III.

Napoleon III served as the French President through elections before becoming the French Emperor. At that time, the power of the French President was extremely great, which also laid the foundation for him to later realize military dictatorship and re-establish the French Empire.

The French Third Republic weakened the power of the President precisely to prevent events like the restoration of Napoleon III from happening.

Diplomatic power and military power are in the hands of the President, which is actually the reason why Jules Ferry consulted the Minister of Foreign Affairs and the Minister of War.

As long as the two cabinet ministers support Jules Ferry, even if the President opposes, Jules Ferry has ways to deal with it.

After all, the public opinion in Falanxi at this time supports the war. After the humiliating Franco-Prussian War, the French also need many war victories to wash away their shame.

If the French President at this time dared to directly refuse Jules Ferry's proposal, I am afraid the first to be dissatisfied would be the French people who elected him.

Sure enough, because the news had already been reported, after Jules Ferry mentioned the proposal to invade Tunisia at the cabinet meeting, no cabinet minister dared to refute such a proposal.

The public opinion in Falanxi is not a joke. Even if the people of other countries are angry and dissatisfied, most of the time they only break out in related parades.

The French people do not joke; the war was refused on the first day, and the parade would break out on the same day. As for the second day, that is naturally related revolutions and uprisings.

The French people, especially the Parisian citizens, have a lot of experience in this. They know the location of the Paris municipal government and the French government very well, and they also know the location of the weapons depot in the urban area of Paris very well.

Even the King of Falanxi could be sent to the gallows, let alone a President elected by public opinion. As long as one is not stupid, one would definitely not refuse the relevant war proposal.

Unless the French people do not support such a war, but for the French people at this time, it is almost impossible.

The humiliation brought by the Franco-Prussian War to the French people was too intense, and they urgently needed a hearty war to vent.

The officials of the French government naturally also understand this truth; whether it is the cabinet government or the French parliament, they are all in favor of it with both hands and feet.

Under a chorus of approval, the French government also immediately began preparations for the war.

Jules Ferry is not stupid. Although Falanxi is not afraid of Italy, if it can colonize without Italy knowing, that would certainly be the best.

By the time Falanxi fully occupies Tunisia, even if the Italians discover it, they have no way to change the situation in Tunisia.

Although Italy unified relatively late, it is worth mentioning that the time the Italians set their sights on Tunisia was even earlier than the time it unified.

As early as the Kingdom of Sardinia period, a large amount of Italian capital and individuals went to Tunisia across the sea to conduct related colonization and business activities.

With the industrial and economic development of the Kingdom of Sardinia, the government also personally entered the field and participated in the infiltration of Tunisia.

Although located in Africa, Tunisia is a relatively fertile land. Tunisia's area reaches 160,000 square kilometers, which is already more than half of Italy.

This is also one of the reasons why Italy set its sights on Tunisia: the land is fertile, there is a lot of arable land that can be cultivated, and it is very close to the mainland. Isn't this a natural colony?

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 274 =====