Rise of Empires: Spain.

Chapter 274 Peace Negotiation
It can be clearly seen that the Italian government attaches great importance to Tunisia. After learning that the French government had invaded Tunisia, the Italian government not only did not choose to give up, but also urgently deployed various means to force the French government to give in.

The Italian government fully mobilized public opinion.

When talking about the history of Italy's unification, it is inseparable from the three countries of Germany, France and Austria on the European continent.

The unification of Germany indirectly promoted the unification of Italy, because the two biggest enemies of German unification, the Austrian Empire and France, were also the two culprits that hindered the unification of Italy.

At that time, the Austrian Empire occupied the three regions of Veneto, Friuli-Venezia Giulia and Trentino-Alto Adige, while the French government helped the Papal States control large tracts of land near Rome.

The Kingdom of Sardinia had never found an opportunity to unify Italy before Germany launched wars against Austria and France successively. The most fundamental reason was that these two powers were too powerful compared to the Kingdom of Sardinia.

This has also led to Italy's relationship with France not being very good since its unification. The Tunisian incident directly ignited public opinion in Italy. Many Italians took to the streets spontaneously, holding up banners and marching to demand the government to intervene militarily in the Tunisian war.

The Italian government also gained the support of Garibaldi, who, despite being ill in bed, wrote an article on the importance of defending Tunisia and published it in the Sun.

This newspaper was founded when Carlo was still a duke. After more than ten years of operation by the Italian royal family, it has become the most important newspaper in northern Italy, without a doubt.

Garibaldi would occasionally publish some articles about Italy's construction in newspapers. These articles would generally be published in newspapers after being reviewed by the royal family.

It was Garibaldi's huge popularity that made the Sun quickly become the largest newspaper in Italy. The Italian royal family also earned a lot of income every year by relying on the expansion of the Sun, and it could directly influence the public opinion of the Italian people.

If before this it was just a spontaneous march by the Italian people, then when the photo of Garibaldi's manuscript was published in the Sun, the French invasion of Tunisia immediately attracted the attention of the vast majority of Italians.

By this time, the Tunisian incident was no longer a minor issue. If the Italian government did not handle it well, the public anger they had provoked would likely backfire.

While the government was responsible for stirring up public sentiment, Umberto I had already sent a telegram to his brother Carlo, who was king in Spain.

By the time Carlo received the telegram, Garibaldi's manuscript had already been published in the Italian newspaper Il Sole.

Since Italy was aware of France's invasion of Tunisia, the matter was no longer a dispute between European powers and indigenous countries, but a dispute between powers.

On the surface, both Italy and France have good cooperative relations with Spain, and France provides Spain with more funding and related industrial support than Italy.

But for Spain, it is also necessary to take into account the situation in North Africa after the French occupation of Tunisia.

Italy's occupation of Tunisia did not have much impact on Spain, but if France occupied Tunisia, the impact on Spain would definitely be huge.

There are not many African countries along the Mediterranean coast, only five of them are Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya and Egypt.

France has already occupied Algeria. If they were allowed to occupy Tunisia, the balance in North Africa would be disrupted.

At that time, France would only have two directions of expansion: either to the west to occupy Morocco but offend Spain, or to the east to occupy Libya but offend Britain.

Although the relationship between Spain and France was still good at that time, if Carlo put himself in the situation, he would feel that it was better to offend Spain than to offend Britain.

Judging from the current situation in Europe, whether France offends Spain or Britain, it is ultimately two bottles of poison.

But if we consider it from the perspective of choosing the lesser of two evils, offending Britain is definitely more deadly than offending Spain.

Therefore, from Spain's own perspective, Carlo will definitely be more inclined towards Italy. What's more, Carlo himself is from the Italian royal family and is a brother of the current Italian King Umberto I.

Since Umberto I personally sent a telegram asking for help, Carlo still had to provide the help he should provide.

Later that day, Carlo sent a private telegram to his brother Umberto I.

Carlo first reiterated the blood connection between the two royal families, and also mentioned the alliance treaty signed by the two countries during the reign of his father Vittorio Emanuele II, indicating that Spain would stand on the side of Italy in the conflict.

Umberto I, who received Carlo's clear support, was immediately overjoyed and informed the government of the good news.

Carlo's strong support made the Italian side feel relieved, and they were more confident in carrying out the next action.

As for why Carlo was willing to strongly support Italy and even go to war with France, in addition to the threat posed to Spain by the French occupation of Tunisia mentioned earlier, he also took into account the current situation of the French government.

To put it bluntly, France does have the strength to fight Spain and Italy one on one. The question is, what good will it do for France if a war breaks out between two great powers over Tunisia?

To offend Spain and Italy to death will only make France's diplomatic situation worse. As long as the French government is wise, there will be no war with Italy and Spain.

Of course, unexpected things may happen.

However, this war is not destined to be a total war. If necessary, it would be good to let the Spanish soldiers see blood.

Even if a war breaks out, the great powers will certainly mediate at the right time. After all, for the British, whether France or Italy wins, it will affect their regional balance policy in Europe.

The Italian government, which has the support of Spain, is in high spirits. They have also decided to indulge domestic public opinion and allow domestic demonstrations to develop.

At this time, angry Italians gathered on the streets of Rome, shouting slogans such as "French get out of Tunisia!" and holding up banners that read "The government must stop this evil war!" They marched in the streets of Rome.

At first it was just a parade, but when the parade passed by the embassy area and saw the French flag fluttering in the wind on the roof of an embassy, ​​someone instigated the angry crowd to rush towards the French Embassy.

If there were no guards protecting the embassy, ​​this once magnificent embassy would have been completely destroyed by the angry Italians in the first place.

Inside the embassy, ​​the French ambassador's face was pale. The French never thought that the Italians would react so violently. Tunisia did not belong to Italy, so where did the Italians get so much anger from?
Although he was surprised, as an orthodox Frenchman, the French ambassador certainly understood how destructive this group of angry Italians could be.

If this incident is not handled properly, regardless of the relationship between France and Italy, as the French ambassador, he will definitely not be able to leave the embassy intact.

"Hurry up and send a telegram to the Italian government. How could they allow these people to attack the embassy district? Damn it, do the Italians want to start a war?" The French ambassador first took a trembling look at the situation outside through the window, and after finding that the guards could still hold on for a while, he quickly gave orders to his subordinates.

With a series of tapping sounds, a series of telegrams were sent to the Italian government.

"Haha, the French are finally getting anxious." After reading all the contents of the telegram, Prime Minister Benedetto Cairoli first handed the original text of the telegram to Umberto I, and then said to the cabinet members with a smile.

"Mr. Prime Minister, it seems that our guess is correct. The French do not have the confidence to fight us to the death. They are also worried about the threat posed by the Germans.

In this case, I think we can ask Spain to act as a middleman and ask the French government to negotiate with us.

Unless France is willing to go to war, I believe the Tunisian incident can be resolved well." The Italian Foreign Minister said to Prime Minister Benedetto Cairoli with a smile.

Inducing the public to attack the French embassy was a plan of the Italian government to test the attitude of France. France certainly understood how much Italy valued Tunisia. If they dared to launch an invasion of Tunisia, they would certainly have anticipated Italy's reaction and made full preparations.

If France is willing to resort to war, the French ambassador to Italy will definitely receive relevant news and may even submit a declaration of war at a critical moment.

This also means that the French ambassador will be quite tough and will not worry about falling out with Italy.

Of course, in order to prevent the situation from backfiring, the Italian government also prepared some guards in advance. As long as the guards of the French Embassy could not hold on, these guards would rush forward to ensure the safety of the French Embassy.

After all, to put it bluntly, the embassy is the dignity and face of the country, which cannot be violated. If the Italian government allowed the Italian people to destroy the French embassy, ​​and even the French ambassador was not spared, then even if France did not want to start a war, it must be responsible to the French people.

It can be seen from the telegram sent by the French ambassador to the Italian government that the French government's attitude is not that tough.

This also means that France's invasion of Tunisia is negotiable. As long as Italy is a little tougher, France will have to consider the cost of completely breaking off relations.

"Add more personnel to protect the embassy, ​​and use the police to disperse the crowd as much as possible. Be careful not to use force, and if the crowd cannot be evacuated peacefully, let them stay there.

It is also a good opportunity to tell the French that it is not just the Italian government that is angry, but the Italian people are even more angry about their unprovoked invasion of Tunisia. "After laughing for a while, Prime Minister Benedetto Cairoli gave the order.

The French Embassy must still be protected. If the embassy is damaged, it would be no different from slapping the French government in the face.

As long as the French government still cares about its face, international status and dignity, it will not be able to remain indifferent to such behavior.

But then again, the French embassy is important, but it is equally important not to anger the Italian people.

If the Italian government chooses to use force to suppress the people, it will only arouse greater anger among the people, which is completely unnecessary.

After all, at this time, the Italians were angry about France's invasion of Tunisia, and they were not too dissatisfied with their own government.

If the Italian government takes the initiative to suppress the incident by force, it will absorb all the hatred of the people. The Italian government will not absorb the hatred of the French government, at least not before the incident is settled.

After letting the French ambassador feel the anger of the Italians, the Italian government also contacted the Italian ambassador to France, asking him to question the purpose of the French war and declare the attitude of the Italian government and the Italian people.

French Foreign Minister Gambetta also felt very troubled when being questioned by the Italian ambassador to France.

The development of events at this time was clearly beyond France's expectations, and the French army did not fully occupy Tunisia before the Italian government discovered it.

This also means that a fierce diplomatic dispute is about to begin between France and Italy. Unless one side can take the initiative to give in, this diplomatic dispute is very likely to evolve into a war.

As the French Foreign Minister, Gambetta was naturally aware of France's diplomatic situation in Europe. If this matter was not handled properly, it would not only lead to a war for France, but it might even push France's diplomatic situation to an extreme.

There are only seven major powers on the European continent. Apart from Britain, which remains neutral, and Russia, which remains neutral after being wooed by France, only Spain and Italy have not yet clearly joined the German diplomatic alliance to isolate France.

If France completely offends Spain and Italy through the Tunisian incident, it will also mean that it will no longer be possible for France to reach close cooperation with other European powers except Britain and Russia.

As for the United States, which is far away on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean, it is not within France's consideration at all. After all, the United States is too far away from the European continent. Not to mention the comprehensive strength of the United States, the distance alone is enough to ensure that the United States is unable to influence the situation in Europe.

With a sigh inwardly, French Foreign Minister Gambetta, with a kind smile on his face, assured the Italian ambassador to France that France had no war ambitions against Tunisia and that France's war actions were merely revenge against the Tunisian government while ensuring that French citizens living in Algeria were protected from attacks by bandits and natives on the Tunisian border.

When the ambassador to France conveyed French Foreign Minister Gambetta's original words back to Italy, the Italian government breathed a sigh of relief.

The attitude of French Foreign Minister Gambetta also proves once again that France does not want to go to war with Italy, which is of course a good thing for Italy.

As long as they can sit at the negotiation table, Italy is not afraid of France at all. After all, Italy has the support of Spain, which is more numerous than France.

Although France did not know what price it paid to obtain Britain and Germany's tacit approval of France's invasion of Tunisia, under such negotiation circumstances, it was almost impossible for Britain and Germany to clearly support France.

For Italy, as long as it can get France to the negotiating table, it means that France will not be able to swallow Tunisia alone.

The best outcome, of course, would be for France to abandon its invasion of Tunisia, for Italy to increase its colonial investment in Tunisia, and to completely occupy this land within the next few years.

The middle-range outcome is that Italy and France divide Tunisia together, which is also the bottom line that Italy can accept.

As for France's exclusive possession of Tunisia, this was absolutely unacceptable to the Italian government. Italian Prime Minister Benedetto Cairoli even reported to King Umberto I that if France was determined to take over Tunisia, the Italian government would have no choice but to start a war, otherwise the angry people would start a war against the government.

This is the double-edged sword of detonating public opinion. The Italian government will indeed gain great support for the war against France, but the disadvantage is that the Italian government must go all the way and there is no room for regret.

Seeing that the situation had developed to a similar point, the Spanish government also felt that it was almost time for it to step in.

After the Italian government asked the Spanish government for help, Spanish Prime Minister Canovas summoned the Italian and French ambassadors to Spain and expressed Spain's willingness to act as a mediator to help Italy and France negotiate peace.

The French ambassador must take Spain's attitude seriously.

Things are different now. France is becoming increasingly weak, while Spain is becoming increasingly powerful through reforms.

Although Spain's comprehensive national strength has not yet surpassed France, France also dares not ignore Spain's international status and influence.

The combined strength of Spain and Italy, even if it is not as strong as that of France, can still drag France into the abyss of war.

The French ambassador to Spain was quite respectful. He said that he had no authority to decide on negotiation matters on behalf of the government and that he needed to seek the advice of the French government before making a decision.

Prime Minister Canovas nodded. His goal was only to put some pressure on the French government and let France know that Spain did not support France's occupation of Tunisia.

As for the Italian ambassador, he agreed to Prime Minister Canovas' proposal with a smile as soon as Prime Minister Canovas proposed peace talks.

After all, peace talks are good news for Italy and Italy can fully accept it.

The French ambassador did not make Prime Minister Canovas wait for long. On the second day, he expressed the French government's attitude to Prime Minister Canovas, which was that it was willing to conduct peace talks.

The French government certainly understood that Italy, which had the support of Spain, was no longer an easy target. If the French government insisted on its own way, the Italians might have the guts to start a war.

It is not known what role the French ambassador to Italy played in this. Anyway, the French government felt the anger of the Italians at the time through his description, which made the French government think of the scene when the Parisians were angry, which was really terrible.

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(End of this chapter)