My Italy

Chapter 203 The situation worsens

The result of the contact was not good, but it seems that the Vatican's attitude is not as tough as before.

They went from asking Italy to return all the confiscated church property to asking for only half, which was a huge improvement. But it is a pity that the Italian government plans not to withdraw even one lira, because this is related to the correctness of Italy's unification. Even if it withdraws one lira, it means that Italy has invaded the Vatican, which is a very troublesome matter.

As for why the Vatican sent such a telegram, the reason is very simple. The Vatican cannot have the final say by the Pope alone. Some people feel that procrastinating like this is not an option, so they want to try to see if there can be one that everyone can send. steps.

As for why it was chosen at this time, it is also due to timing issues. If there is no response from the Italian government, the Vatican can say that this is for the two murdered priests.

But it is a pity that the Italian government is currently very poor and has no money to give to the Vatican, so this contact ended in vain. However, this cannot be considered a failure, because at least both parties know that everyone wants to end this situation.

After the Vatican episode was exposed, Italy continued to increase its momentum domestically, trying to make people's emotions even higher.

The Italian actions made the Ottoman ambassador in Rome, Mansu, very worried. He sent no fewer than five telegrams to Halim Pasha, who was in charge of domestic diplomacy. In the letter, he described the domestic situation in Italy in detail and begged for help. Halim Pasha should come up with a solution as soon as possible, otherwise if this continues, war with Italy will be around the corner.

Ambassador Mansu sent several urgent telegrams, and finally received a response a week later. The efforts from Halim Pasha allowed the Ottoman government to come up with a solution.

Speaking of which, this time it was really thanks to Halim Pasha's efforts that we were able to get such a quick response.

Because in Istanbul, the Ottoman upper class had no impression of this at all. Isn't this just the death of two foreign missionaries? How big a deal could this be.

It was just a telegram from Rome that let Ottoman officials know that this matter was unusual, but even if it was unusual, there were unusual ways to deal with it, so Ambassador Mansu received a compensation telegram.

With this compensation telegram in hand, Mansu immediately hurried to the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs to submit Ottoman's handling opinions.

Bakona took the document, which still smelled of ink, and looked at the terms listed above. He couldn't help but sigh in his heart. If he hadn't been determined to go to war with the Ottomans this time, the compensation would actually be quite generous. Sincerely.

Of course, this is also possible. Italy's constant propaganda and hostility frightened the Ottoman senior officials, so they came up with a speechless clause in an attempt to suppress Italy's anger.

This reparation document sent from Istanbul lists several items. The first item is that the Ottoman government will impose capital punishment on the murderers of the two missionaries and 29 principal and accomplices including the Agali imam. Hanging was carried out. In addition, Ottoman allocated 800,000 lire to build a larger church at the original site of the burned church. As for the name of the new church, it can be named after the two murdered missionaries.

In addition, the Ottoman government will also provide compensation of 500,000 lire to the families of the two missionaries, and will also send special personnel to apologize.

These three terms are only on the surface. In addition, privately the Ottoman government is willing to negotiate with Italy and sell a batch of goods worth 30 million lire at a low price. This can be regarded as Ottoman compensation to Italy. Of course, all this was done in private, and Osman apparently only compensated the victims.

Let me say here that the Ottoman lira is much more valuable than the Italian lira. Basically, 2.4 Italian lira is exchanged for 1 Ottoman lira.

If Italy were not determined to fight the Ottoman Empire this time, then this condition would be really good. It not only takes into account the face of the Italian people, but also provides benefits. It can be said to be comprehensive.

But it's a pity that such a carefully prepared plan can no longer be used.

After Bakona glanced at it casually, he placed it on the table, then he took out a document and spoke. "I don't need to look at your plan for now. Let's look at ours first."

Bacona's words made Ambassador Mansu feel a tremble in his heart. He felt that something was very wrong. Because Bacona's words mean that Italy has no intention of solving this incident at all, or in other words, they just want to solve it in their own way.

Thinking of this, Ambassador Mansu felt that the document handed over must be full of malicious intent.

When he opened it, Ambassador Mansu was immediately furious. Because in his opinion, this is not a solution to the problem, it is completely the terms of Ottoman defeat. How could these Italians have the nerve to make such exorbitant demands?

In addition to the issue of compensation for the two missionaries, the plan proposed by Italy focused on the Ottoman areas in Tripoli and Cyrenaica in East Africa and Albania.

For the above-mentioned areas, Italy required the Ottoman Empire to fully consider Italy's opinions when sending officials and judges, because the Italians had their own interests in the above-mentioned areas.

To put it simply, the appointment of officials by the Ottoman Empire in the above-mentioned areas must be approved by Italy. This is not a cession of territory, but the name is more pleasant.

Faced with such a shameless plan from Italy, in Mansu's view, this was completely a defeat clause. And it's the most demanding one. What gave Italy the courage to treat the Ottoman Empire like this? Although the empire has not developed enough strength in recent years, it cannot accept such humiliation.

"I'm sorry, but I think your country's conditions are simply unacceptable. This is not a solution, but a defeat clause."

Mansu, who was very angry, expressed his opinion to Italian Foreign Minister Bacona in a righteous manner.

Looking at the Ottoman ambassador in front of him, Bakona said with a smile on his face. "So what the Ambassador is saying is that your country does not accept this well-intentioned plan?"

Bacona's words made Mansu immediately alert, as if he thought of something terrible, he immediately changed his words. "No, I can't make the final decision on this plan. It must be reported to Istanbul, so I still need to wait for a reply from the empire's high-level officials."

Faced with Mansu's words, Bacona stretched out a finger and said, "We will only wait for one week. If your country has not received the letter after one week, then our country will treat it as your country's rejection, and the consequences will be It will be your country’s responsibility.”

Bacona's words made Mansu's veins pop. Now he knew the attitude of the Italians.

"Sorry, I have to get back to the embassy."

After leaving these words, Mansu flew out of the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

After riding a carriage back to the embassy, ​​Mansu truthfully sent Italy's request back to Istanbul, and then also sent back his understanding of the situation.

"Dear Halim Pasha, I have a very urgent situation to inform you. This missionary incident has given the Italians an opportunity. They want the empire's territories in East Africa and Albania, and they are in conflict with their Foreign Minister Pasha. During the meeting in Cona, the Italian Foreign Minister did not hide their intentions at all. I think Italy is already preparing for war with the Empire, so I also ask the distinguished Halim Pasha to inform the distinguished Sultan that the Italians There is going to be a war with our country.”

At the end of this telegram, Mansu used the word "war", which I believe will make the empire prepared.

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