My Italian

If the failure of Foreign Secretary Jemini Bacona's visit to the UK was to be expected, then the failure of Count Beverly Garland's visit to Germany caught the Italian government by surprise.

Knowing that Germany has considerable overlapping interests with Italy in some respects, Germany is a natural fit to be an ally. Moreover, Germany's investment in Italy has not been small in recent years. At present, funds from Germany account for 37.1% of Italian foreign investment, surpassing the United Kingdom and France, and winning the first position.

Since the political and economic ties are so close, the relationship between the two countries should go further. It's just a little unexpected that Germany is careless about wooing Italy, assuming they only care about economic interests.

Of course, DePretis, who is Prime Minister, also knows the reason, that is, there is an Austria between the two countries. In Germany, Austria is much better than Italy.

Even so, De Pretis believes that the importance of Italy is not inferior to that of Austria, and this visit to Germany, he also gave the count of Beverly Garland a bottom line, and can hint if necessary, as long as Germany is willing Allied with Italy, then Italy is willing to make a little concession on tariffs.

This condition is a huge concession for Italy to insist on. As we all know, the quality of German products is not good at present. Except for the cheap price, there is no strength to compete with British and French products (yes, Germany in this era is like the Celestial Dynasty in the 20th century).

If Italy reduces tariffs on Germany, it will further reduce the price of German products in Italy, expand its share of sales in Italy, and even hurt local Italian companies.

The reason for Depretis to do this is not to find a reliable ally. After comprehensive consideration, the Germans are a little more reliable. If nothing else, their powerful army is worthy of trust.

However, what people did not expect was that even if Italy gave up such a big benefit, Germany was still not tempted, and still stood firmly on the side of Austria, which made Depretis miscalculated.

In fact, this is not a miscalculation, the main reason is that Italy is not as strong as Austria. Austria has its own heavy industry. Although its Skoda heavy artillery is not as famous as Krupp, it is not much weaker. The people in the country are better off than farmers in Italy, which is a little more than half the size. As for the army, although the Austro-Hungarian army is not known for its bravery and skill, it is one heaven and one underground compared to the repeated defeats of the Italian army.

As a practical consideration, why did the Germans choose a weak ally instead of a strong one?

In addition, the Austrians all have historical origins. They belong to the Germanic family. They can communicate in terms of culture and language. How many Germans know about the Latin language family in Italy?

Besides, Germany is not as strong now as it was in the future and has no friends. There are still people who can be the opponents of the Germans. Therefore, it is also reasonable for Germany to choose the Austrians as allies.

As for the conflict between the Germans and Austria, this is completely unlikely in De Pretis's view.

First of all we need to see where the dispute between Italy and Austria is.

At present, the dispute between Italy and Austria is mainly in the Tyrol region, which is currently under the control of Austria-Hungary, but Italy has never given up its claim to the region.

Why do the two countries attach so much importance to Tyrol and do not hesitate to fight?

Tyrol is located in the eastern part of the Alps. Its territory is dominated by (northern) mountains and (southern) plains. In addition, the Inn River and the Drava River Valley in its territory are the main road from Vienna to Italy. Today a battleground for the military, the area was annexed by the Habsburgs in 1363 and became their main line of control over northern Italy.

By the time of the Italian Unification War, the Italian army wanted to retake the Tyrol region many times. com but failed for various reasons (mainly not playing). Therefore, this has also become the reason why Italy has been obsessed with it after reunification.

In addition, Italy's terrain is very suitable for defense. The Alps separate Italy from other countries, but only in Tyrol, Italy is safe.

This is like the relationship between the Northern Song Dynasty and the sixteen states of Yanyun in the Liao Kingdom. Of course, Italy would not accept it. Isn't this the northern region that has its essence at the point of being threatened by Vienna at any time?

So in recent years, the focus of Italian diplomacy has been on how to retake the Tyrol region from the Austrians. Whether it was in 1878 with Russia and France trying to start a war against Austria, or before that, Italy's eyes were always on the Austrians' every move.

Therefore, it is more difficult than reaching the sky to get Italy to recognize that Tyrol belongs to the Austro-Hungarian Empire. If Prime Minister Depretis dares to agree to this condition, then the angry people will be enough to tear it apart.

Therefore, if you want to resolve the conflict with Austria, unless there is a powerful mediator, the conflict between the two countries will be suppressed by force. Currently only Germans are qualified to be mediators, but the Germans have no intention of intervening.

Since the Germans have no intention of intervening, the negotiation of the alliance between Italy and Germany has reached a deadlock. Even the prime minister has no good solution in the face of such a deadlock.

However, in the current situation, the Austrian side can also send someone to test it.

Thinking of this, Depretis called someone. "Telegram Earl Beverly Garland to go to Vienna and try the Austrian attitude."

Following Depretis's order, Count Garland, who was planning to return directly to his country, was about to get off the bus in Vienna, hoping that his visit to Austria would be fruitful.

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