Chapter 274: Reasons for Declaring War

There is a reason why Tunisia can attract the attention of France and Italy.

Besides being located in North Africa and across the sea from France and Italy, among Tunisia's 160,000 square kilometers of land, nearly 90,000 square kilometers of land is arable land, which is a quite exaggerated scale.

90,000 square kilometers equals 900 hectares, 22.2395 million acres, 135 million mu of land.

If calculated according to the scale of hundreds of catties of grain yield per mu in later generations, 135 million mu of land, the grain produced annually is at least 70 billion to 100 billion catties, which is between 35 million tons and 50 million tons.

According to the grain consumption of later generations, this grain is enough to feed over 100 million people. If calculated by the current world per capita grain consumption, 35 million tons of grain alone is enough to feed at least 120 million people.

Of course, the actual situation certainly cannot be calculated this way. Even if all these 90,000 square kilometers of land are reclaimed into arable land, there will certainly be some losses.

Between arable land and arable land, there is a need for water channels, roads, farmers' residences, living facilities, and other series of building places. The land finally reclaimed into arable land will certainly not be as much as 90,000 square kilometers, and the current land yield per mu cannot reach the exaggerated hundreds of catties.

But what is certain is that if either France or Italy obtains Tunisia, they can completely occupy this natural treasure land in Tunisia that can be vigorously developed.

Tunisia's land cannot feed over 100 million people at present, but with a little reclamation, providing Europe with enough grain to feed millions of people is no problem.

More importantly, although Tunisia belonged to the Ottoman Empire for a long time, it existed as a vassal, not annexed into the Ottoman Empire.

The Tunisians live in a semi-nomadic and semi-cultivated way. The Tunisia region can not only be used as a grain production area, but also as an overseas pasture, providing a large amount of grain and meat products for either France or Italy.

Although Tunisia's population does not have specific intelligence data, what is certain is that the total population of the entire Tunisia will not exceed 1 million, about between 600,000 and 800,000.

For France and Italy, annexing Tunisia will be very simple, and it will be very easy to complete the localization of Tunisia.

This is also one of the reasons why Italy set its sights on Tunisia. For Italy, whose population is not too large, controlling a piece of land that can be localized is definitely more attractive than a large colony thousands of miles away.

What's more, Tunisia is already in front of Italy's eyes.

The Apennine Peninsula is about 200 kilometers away from Italy's Sardinia at its closest point, while Sicily is less than 150 kilometers away from the Tunisia Peninsula, which can be completely considered at the doorstep.

As for why Italy has not been able to take down this land at its doorstep for such a long time, in fact, one can understand it by looking at the Mediterranean map.

The Mediterranean starts from the Strait of Gibraltar in the west and reaches the west coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the east, with an east-west span reaching an exaggerated 3,600 kilometers.

The shape of the Mediterranean is like the number 7, and Italy is located at the corner of this number 7. If Italy obtains Tunisia, the corner of the number 7 from south to north will be completely controlled by Italy.

This also means that the unified Italy, which has become a Great Power, may divide the vast Mediterranean into two at any time.

Such a situation will not only destroy Britain's layout at the two exits of the Mediterranean in the east and west, but also make France's connection with its African colonies precarious.

This has also led to a relatively rare phenomenon, which is that Britain and France both maintain an attitude of opposition regarding Italy's colonization of Tunisia.

It is precisely because Britain and France joined forces to oppose Italy's colonization of Tunisia that Italy, which set its sights on Tunisia early, has not been able to obtain this land.

France, precisely because it understands Britain's fear that Italy might cut off the Mediterranean, reached a relevant compromise with the British government as early as a few years ago.

France will take the initiative to give up the dispute with Britain in the Cyprus region in exchange for Britain maintaining friendly neutrality during France's colonization of Tunisia.

The so-called friendly neutrality is that Britain can not issue any statement during France's invasion of Tunisia, but it cannot make any hostile or refusal behavior.

The reason why Jules Ferry dared to plan the war of invading Tunisia is precisely because he determined that Britain would not interfere with France's actions.

As long as Britain does not interfere with France's actions, France's invasion of Tunisia will definitely not fail. As for France's neighbor and mortal enemy Germany, it is absolutely impossible to stop France's colonial expansion at this time.

The actual reason is also very simple, which is that Germany at this time also does not want to face a war.

In fact, as early as the negotiations with the French government after the end of the Franco-Prussian War, there was a quite obvious divergence within the German government.

The original plan of the then Prussian Prime Minister Bismarck was to demand 1 billion francs in reparations from the French government, once and for all establishing Prussia's advantage in the dispute with France.

But he did not expect that the Junkers nobles at that time clearly had greater ambitions, and it was precisely the lion's share of the Junkers nobles that finally made the French government's reparations change from 1 billion to 5 billion.

Although the German government obtained more funds, the hatred between France and Germany also became more intense. This is also the reason why Bismarck went all out to build a system to isolate France. Once the French find an opportunity, France is very likely to launch a retaliatory war.

For Germany at this time, if there is anything that can attract the attention of the French government, that would naturally be the best.

As a neighboring country, Germany understands France's public opinion very well. If the French government is not allowed to use a hearty colonial war to release the suppressed emotions in the country, I am afraid that sooner or later an extreme French ruler will come to power, and then a war with Germany will break out.

This also means that before launching this war, France had actually obtained support from Britain and Germany.

About a few days later, Jules Ferry summoned the Minister of War again to ask about the military's preparations for this war.

Considering that Italy is very likely to forcibly interfere in the war, the French army's preparations for this war are quite sufficient.

The French army will invest 50,000 troops in the war of invading Tunisia, among which 30,000 will be invested in the operations against Tunisia, and 20,000 will serve as reserve troops to prevent sudden attacks by the Italian army.

Besides the army investing 50,000 people, Jules Ferry also planned to let the French navy mobilize during the invasion of Tunisia to guard against possible invasions by the Italian navy at any time.

Although the Italians probably do not have the courage to launch a war against France, the necessary precautions are still very necessary.

If they are really accidentally successfully ambushed by the Italians, then the fun will be big. Although the combat effectiveness of the Italian army is not strong, the Italian navy still has a certain scale.

If the French navy is ambushed and loses a portion of its main warships, whether it can win against Italy in a naval battle later is really a question.

Regarding the offensive plan proposed by the army, Jules Ferry was overall relatively satisfied. Using 50,000 troops is not too much of an investment for France. If they can obtain the entire Tunisia with smaller expenditures, that would be a great merit for both the French government and the military.

Regardless of the future of Tunisia, in short, for the current Prime Minister Jules Ferry, this is his solid political achievement, and also a trump card to protect himself from being impeached.

After confirming that the army department had completed preparations, Jules Ferry found the French Minister of Foreign Affairs, Gambetta, and requested the diplomatic department to find a suitable reason for France to declare war.

Although it is launching a war against an indigenous country, for Europe, which already cares about face, a relatively suitable reason for declaring war is still very important.

This can not only prove the legitimacy of launching the war, but also reduce the reasons for other Great Powers to interfere in this war.

Just like Italy, if they want to interfere in the war between France and Tunisia, they must also find a suitable reason, otherwise they would already be at a disadvantage in the legitimacy of the war.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Gambetta did not rush to agree to Jules Ferry's order, but raised a new question to Jules Ferry, which is whether Spain, which is of the same origin as the Italian royal family, would help Italy interfere in the war between France and Tunisia.

Spain and Italy's kings are of the same origin, which also means that the two countries have a quite close relationship. Even if the bond of this close relationship, Vittorio Emanuele II, has passed away for three years, it does not affect the close cooperation between Spain and Italy.

If it were only Italy's opposition, France would not have the slightest worry. But if Spain also joined the ranks of opposing the war, the threat caused to France would be much greater.

First of all, Spain's international influence is still higher than Italy's. Although the comprehensive national strength of the two countries is not much different, Spain, as the world's third-largest colonial empire, has always been at a good level in Europe.

The historical Spain first experienced the chaotic period from the Bourbon Dynasty to the Republic and then to the Bourbon Dynasty, and coupled with the loss of the last two large colonies of Cuba and the Philippines, it finally fell completely from the throne of the Great Powers, and from then on was no longer that first-class country in Europe.

But the current Spain is different. Although the Cuba colony is gone, what Spain obtained is a larger Congo plus several pieces of land in West Africa.

The Philippines colony also ushered in expansion, and the scale of Spain's colonies has generally increased several times.

Coupled with the fact that Spain has already built several ironclad ships, the navy has become more powerful, and the colonies are getting more and more, the international influence naturally rises with the tide.

Spain and Italy joining forces is indeed a trouble for France. More importantly, Spain is also related to whether France can crack Germany's isolation plan.

If Spain and Italy are forced to the side of Germany for the sake of a Tunisia, then what France will have to face next may be the joint blockade of Germany, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Russia, Italy, and Spain.

Facing the blockade of five Great Powers, even the British Empire would be seriously affected. For France at this time, this may be the worst ending.

This is also the worry of Minister of Foreign Affairs Gambetta. If Spain is really willing to stand on Italy's side, then this war is very likely to push France into the abyss.

"This is also what I am worried about." Jules Ferry did not hide his worry about Spain's attitude, but he also had sufficient confidence in the plan he had carefully prepared: "

But don't forget, France is a first-class Great Power, while Spain and Italy are only second-class Great Powers. As long as we can achieve a rapid occupation of Tunisia and establish the Tunisia colony before Italy and Spain react, we don't have to worry about these problems that may not happen."

Jules Ferry's action plan is just four words, which is to fight a quick battle to force a quick decision.

Anyway, Tunisia's population is only hundreds of thousands. In the situation where France dispatches 30,000 troops, there is a good hope of occupying several important cities in Tunisia within a few days.

As long as the situation in Tunisia is controlled, even Spain and Italy cannot say anything about France's war.

Because by then, if they want to change the situation of the war, they must be prepared to break out in a full-scale war with France.

Although France has some slowness compared to the development of Britain and Germany, this still cannot stop France from becoming one of the most powerful countries in this world.

The current France has a population of over 38 million, while the total population of Spain and Italy combined is only over 11 million more than France.

Is France afraid of Spain and Italy? Not at all. France is only afraid of Spain and Italy leaning towards Germany; in the final analysis, it is still fearing Germany, this most powerful enemy.

French Minister of Foreign Affairs Gambetta nodded. In the absence of any better way, fighting a quick battle to force a quick decision is indeed the best solution.

As long as France controls the situation in Tunisia, how the war develops will be up to the French.

Subsequently, Gambetta nodded and said to Jules Ferry with a solemn face: "I will prepare a reasonable reason for declaring war for the military, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is ready for your next order at any time."

In this era, wanting to find a reason for declaring war is still very simple; it completely depends on whether European countries want to launch a war against indigenous people or not.

Since the French government has already decided to launch an invasion of Tunisia, the actions of the diplomatic department will naturally be quite rapid.

Just on the second day, the French diplomatic department found a suitable reason for declaring war.

Although Tunisia is a whole region, this region also exists with different indigenous tribes and ethnic groups.

Different tribes of the same ethnic group will break out in contradictions, let alone different tribes of different ethnic groups; that contradiction will only be more intense.

Indigenous people in Africa live by hunting, which also means that adjacent tribes will often have great contradictions due to the ownership of prey and land.

Different from the past, this time the two tribes that broke out in contradictions in Tunisia were located in the border area close to Algeria, and two European white people happened to be affected by the two conflicting tribes and unfortunately died miserably.

Two French people were slaughtered by indigenous people; for the French government, this is the best reason for declaring war. If a government cannot even protect its own citizens, then how can the people believe that the government can protect the country's land and all the people?

Facing this excellent reason for declaring war, the French government did not hesitate at all. The diplomatic department immediately launched a condemnation against the tribes that broke out in contradictions in the Tunisia region and demanded that Tunisia immediately hand over the murderers who killed the two French people, with a deadline of 24 hours to execute.

If Tunisia does not hand over all the murderers who killed the French people within 24 hours, then France will dispatch troops to personally avenge its citizens.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 275 =====