Greece to roman road

Thinking of the risk of paying the deposit in advance, Yakov, who has rich business experience, hesitated. After all, this was a commission from Crown Prince Constantine, and it must be treated with caution. In case the sales of the cigarette factory's products were not smooth, the remaining balance would have to be paid. With a deposit, a newly established cigarette factory may be in trouble immediately. read

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If you pay the deposit in advance, hundreds of thousands of drachmas will have to be paid first. Although the cigarette factory construction funds approved by the Crown Prince are 6 million, which is very sufficient, such a move will increase your financial pressure. After all, you still need to retain sufficient funds. Funding and coping with the riskiest marketing are the most difficult steps in building a cigarette factory.

Whether it is factory construction or the source of raw materials, as long as it is superficial, it can always be done. Promoting the cigarette factory's new cigarettes to the market cannot be done by simply throwing money, and the uncertainty is the greatest.

However, if these newly formed agricultural cooperatives are not given some sweeteners, they may be less willing to grow tobacco and their scale will be limited.

After all, the people in these areas have been war-torn for a long time, and now that they are suddenly granted land by the Greek government, they will be more inclined to be conservative and plant crops that can directly satisfy their hunger, such as wheat, potatoes, etc., to give priority to meeting their own food needs.

As a cash crop, tobacco has a price advantage, but if it cannot find a suitable market, it will be worthless.

The worst outcome for crops such as wheat and potatoes is that they can be eaten by themselves.

If the cigarette factory fails to fulfill Crown Prince Constantine's request and try to use tobacco grown in Greece, it will be criticized by the Crown Prince.

After thinking about it for a moment, he noticed the large number of eyes on Lundhardt and realized that he could not be timid in front of this local snake and appear too hesitant.

If his performance is too poor, it may affect Lundhart's confidence and shake his trust in himself.

Lundhart is so active because he wants to use his own thread to expand his influence locally by taking advantage of the opportunity of promoting tobacco cultivation in Kavala.

Yakov still admires Lundhart's shrewdness and ability.

After he explained that he would invest in building a cigarette factory in Thessaloniki on behalf of the Purple Robe Foundation and the Royal Greek Educational Foundation, he immediately realized that this was an opportunity and volunteered to help him try to get in touch with local agriculture. Cooperative, find out information.

The Royal Educational Foundation is famous in Greece. Almost most Greek students have received academic support from the foundation. The foundation is personally managed by the royal family and has the nature of a national sovereign fund. On the one hand, it sponsors compulsory education in Greece, and on the other hand, it sponsors compulsory education in Greece. On the one hand, the industries involved in investment are very wide and the returns are huge. Almost all Greeks know that this is a foundation with strong funds.

Although the Purple Robe Foundation is not as well-known in society as the National Education Foundation, it is very influential in the Greek army, and this foundation, whose shareholders are all nobles, is not a secret in the middle and upper classes of Greece. You'll know just by asking.

With two well-funded and powerful foundations jointly investing in a cigarette factory, Lundhardt knew after a moment's thought that it made sense, and that's why he was so active.

"Let's do this, Mr. Lundhart, you will take the lead, we will organize a meeting, and you invite agricultural cooperatives interested in growing tobacco to participate. We can gather together and discuss the conditions together," Yakov said with a smile.

In order to enhance Lundhart's confidence, he continued: "If the agricultural cooperative must pay a deposit in advance before the agricultural cooperative is willing to grow tobacco, then we will have no problem. Although the Thessaloniki Cigarette Factory is newly established, our funds are very limited. Sufficient and a strong enterprise.”

After the meeting, Yakov immediately went to the telegraph office to report information to Crown Prince Constantine and asked Constantine about his plans for the cigarette factory.

In the office of Tatoi Palace, Constantine and Prime Minister Venizelos sat across from each other and were talking about how to speed up the digestion of the newly occupied territories of the Ankan Peninsula and actually incorporate them into the rule of the Kingdom of Greece.

After all, occupying these territories and gaining control here is only the first step. There is still a lot of tedious work to do next.

After hearing that Crown Prince Constantine summoned him and once again talked about digesting the newly occupied territory, Venizelos was a little helpless and did not understand why Constantine was so impatient.

Digesting newly occupied territory does not happen overnight. The scars of war will take time to heal, so there is no point in rushing.

Constantine also learned lessons from his previous experience in Greece.

In its previous life, Greece was defeated in the war with the Ottoman Empire in 1897. As a result, there was no victory. Instead, it ceded territory and paid compensation. This greatly frustrated the "glorious ideals" of the Greeks. It was not until 1912, after signing an alliance with Bulgaria and Serbia, that they dared to War again with the Ottoman Empire.

After the First Balkan War in 1912 and the Second Balkan War in 1913, which successively defeated the Ottoman Empire and Bulgaria, the Kingdom of Greece more than doubled its territory and occupied Macedonia and Western Thrace in the Aegean Sea.

But then in 1914, World War I broke out, and soon the Ottoman Empire entered the war. Greece had no chance to absorb more than half of the territory north of Thessaly.

In 1916, Bulgaria joined the Allies after the Battle of the Dardanelles. Austria-Hungary, with the help of Germany, occupied Serbia, and the war spread to the Greek border.

After that, Greece entered the war in 1917. It was not until 1921 that Greece was defeated in Asia Minor and was defeated by the Turkish army led by Kemal. The Greek army had no time to spare.

In fact, in the original time and space, from the beginning of the First Balkan War in 1912 to its defeat by Turkey in 1921, for nearly ten years, either Greece was at war or the countries surrounding Greece were at war. Hundreds of thousands of Greeks The army has been in a state of general mobilization since it was drafted.

In other words, in the ten years before and after World War I, Greece maintained hundreds of thousands of troops in a war-ready state and never relaxed for a moment.

As for the Aegean Sea Macedonia and Western Thrace that Greece acquired in 1912 and 1913, the Greek government had no scruples at all, let alone digesting and absorbing them.

The world's overall impression of Greece during this period was that it was a weakling that could not even defeat Turkey, whose army was ordered to disband by the Allies.

In fact, the Greek army performed very well when fighting the Turkish army led by Kemal. The Greek soldiers were brave, tenacious, tenacious, and very powerful. They defeated the Turkish army many times in the early and middle stages of the Greco-Turkish War.

It was just that Kemal was really smart and sensed the weakness of the Greek economy. He learned the Russian tactics to deal with Napoleon, retreated and delayed, that is, without fighting a decisive battle. It was not until the Greek economy collapsed in 1921 that he began to counterattack the Greek army.

The center of power of the nationalist movement led by Kemal was located in Ankara, in the center of Asia Minor. However, the Asia Minor plateau has rugged and difficult roads, winding mountain roads, and backward transportation. The Greek army simply did not have such long-distance projection capabilities.

As a small country in southern Europe, before and after World War I, Greece's industrial capacity was weak, or almost non-existent. With a population of about six million, it supported an army of three to four hundred thousand for nearly ten years, with only Thessaly and Thessaly The territory to the south was mature for development, and the rest was just for occupation. By 1921, it had indeed reached its limit and could no longer hold on.

In fact, before the Greco-Turkish War in 1920, Greece was already at the end of its war effort, and its army was already exhausted.

With a little analysis of this war, it can be seen that the Greeks have lost their minds and were knocked unconscious by the pie falling from the sky.

In the original time and space, after the end of World War I in 1918, Greece did not think much about it. It just followed the provisions of the Treaty of Sèvres and went to Asia Minor to receive the Izmir region as the result of its war.

The Treaty of Sèvres stipulated that Izmir was placed under Greek occupation.

After all, according to European rules, the Ottoman Empire failed in the war and the treaty was signed (in fact, it was signed by the Sudanese government), and all that was left was to implement it.

As a result, the Turks refused to admit their debt, the army was disbanded, and they all had to fight the Greeks.

The national movement led by Kemal did not recognize the Treaty of Sèvres. British, French and Italian troops entered the occupied areas in accordance with the treaty, and clashes broke out with the Turks.

At that time, in order to implement the Treaty of Sèvres, it was unrealistic to march into Asia Minor again. After World War I, anti-war sentiment was rising in Britain, France, and Italy, and the three countries suffered heavy losses and had no intention of continuing the war.

Then the Allies (mainly Britain, with the acquiescence of France and Italy) supported, or rather encouraged, Greece to attack Asia Minor.

As mentioned before, all the Greeks were stunned by this huge pie.

The Greeks suddenly found that an opportunity to rebuild their empire and restore their glory appeared in front of them.

The lure was so tempting that six million Greeks collectively climaxed and fell into a frenzy.

As for the heavy pressure on the Greek economy caused by the protracted war, it was ignored.

In this case, even the sane Greeks would not dare to say no.

Even if you notice Greece's overwhelmed economy, you may be willing to take a gamble because the benefits of success are simply too great.

If such a precious opportunity is given up, will there be another one?

This is an opportunity to rebuild the Eastern Roman Empire.

In fact, in the Greco-Turkish War in 1920, the Greek army performed very well, but the Greek economy could not survive. After the economic collapse, the Greek army fighting in Asia Minor also began to collapse.

The combat effectiveness of the army is only one aspect that determines the outcome of a war. The most fundamental decisive factor is the country's comprehensive strength.

Therefore, taking advantage of the short period of peace and without the threat of war in the surrounding area, the Greek government can concentrate on dealing with internal affairs. Constantine is now eager to integrate Greece's newly occupied territories in the Balkans into the domestic economic system. , Enhance Greece’s comprehensive strength.

The investment and establishment of a cigarette factory in Thessaloniki, as well as the promotion of tobacco cultivation in Macedonia and the promotion of commercial exchanges and trade flows in Macedonia are also based on this consideration.

According to Constantine's memory, after World War I, the Aegean Macedonia region of Greece was finally effectively developed, and the tobacco growing industry developed rapidly.

Tobacco is a temperature-loving crop and is relatively sensitive to temperature. Different temperature conditions have a greater impact on the quality and yield of tobacco.

Northern Greece is particularly suitable for growing tobacco due to its Mediterranean climate.

Before World War II, tobacco was Greece's most important export commodity.

Later, after Germany occupied Greece, Greek tobacco was imported to Germany at a low price by the German authorities and made into cigarettes for the German army.

Although the refugees in Kavala had no experience growing tobacco, tobacco was no mystery to the Greeks around Thessaloniki.

Around Thessaloniki, there will be many farmers who grow a small amount of tobacco on their own land, mainly to meet the needs of family and friends.

Since cigarettes in Greece are entirely imported, tobacco cultivation has not developed and the cultivation areas are also very scattered.

Since the Macedonian region in northern Greece is suitable for growing tobacco, and tobacco is also a mature cash crop with high economic value, once a war breaks out in Europe, the price of tobacco as a strategic material will naturally rise. Greece can not only let its own tobacco occupy In the domestic market, you can also make a lot of money by exporting.

At present, Greece's population is only about ten million, but the cigarette market is very hot and the total market volume is considerable.

The smoking rate among Greeks is extremely high. According to Constantine's observation, the Greeks may be one of the countries with the largest number of smokers per capita in the world. Not only do men like it, but you can often see women smoking.

Greeks spend a considerable portion of their income on smoking.

According to the information collected by Constantine, Greeks currently spend more than 60 million drachmas on cigarettes every year.

Therefore, Constantine naturally wanted the Greek government to introduce some supporting measures to encourage people to participate in tobacco cultivation, and at the same time begin to support the country's cigarette manufacturing industry.

"Your Royal Highness, the railways and roads invested and built by the government in Macedonia are already being worked overtime. As long as this project is completed and the railway and road network with Thessaloniki as the transportation center is completed, the Greek economy will be developed and develop. The mature southern region, personnel exchanges and commodity transactions with Macedonia will go further, and the government is already doing this," Venizelos said.

"The completion of the construction of transportation facilities will only play an indirect role. Is it possible to build some special industries in Macedonia to directly and effectively help the economic recovery there?" Constantine handed a piece of information in his hand to Prime Minister Venizelos.

Venizelos looked down and saw the words "Prospects of Tobacco Planting Industry in Macedonia" written on the cover, so he opened it and roughly browsed through the contents.

In fact, Venizelos is no stranger to tobacco cultivation. After all, he, the prime minister, is not completely unsympathetic to the fact that the Greek domestic cigarette market is completely occupied by foreign brands.