Chapter 860 President Cleveland's Dilemma
"What is this?" said Cleveland, the 24th President of the United States, as he looked at the documents his secretary brought to the desk.
"Mr. President, there has been a coup in the Kingdom of Hawaii. Our business community overthrew the Kingdom of Hawaii and established the Republic of Hawaii. But now they are in trouble, so they asked us for help."
Cleveland picked up the document and read it with great displeasure, although many people in the country had plans for Hawaii, especially the Democratic Party had the highest voice.
But President Russell, a Democrat, was obviously not among them, because in terms of diplomacy, Cleveland advocated that the country continue to adopt an isolationist policy abroad, opposed territorial expansion, and opposed the annexation of Hawaii.
That's right, Cleveland was categorically opposed to the United States' annexation of Hawaii. Of course, although he had no feelings about Hawaii, Cleveland was obviously not a pushover. In the Americas and the Pacific (mainly the Far East Empire and Japan), Cleveland's attention was very high, and he actively promoted the expansion of the United States' power in related regions.
The most typical example is forcing Britain to accept arbitration of the Venezuelan border dispute. In his previous life, Cleveland stood on the side of Japan in the war between the Far Eastern Empire and Japan, openly supported Japan, and sent Marines to the capital of the Far Eastern Empire and Tianjin under the pretext of "protecting" the "security and commercial interests" of American missionaries and expatriates.
Of course, although Cleveland opposed the argument of domestic annexation of Hawaii, if everything went smoothly, he would naturally turn a blind eye and condone their behavior. However, now the Hawaiian businessmen have obviously caused trouble and now they want to ask him to "clean up" their messes. This practice makes him very unhappy.
"Humph!" Cleveland said coldly, "This so-called Republic of Hawaii didn't communicate with us before. It will be difficult for us to clean up the mess now, especially since East Africa is not a weak country."
When he took office, East Africa had just ended the South African War and became an important power in the world. The United States was actually quite welcoming to the rise of such a great power as East Africa. After all, the United States was also keeping its head down and becoming smaller at that time. Although its economy surpassed that of Britain, it was still suppressed by Britain.
This is the case for many countries. In an era when hegemonism prevails, weak countries naturally hope that other countries can share the pressure they face from the hegemon. East Africa and the United States are actually the targets of British suppression.
"This Hawaii coup was initiated by our minister to the Kingdom of Hawaii. In addition to demanding that we send troops to retake Kauai, he also asked the government to pass a bill to incorporate Hawaii into our territory." The secretary said on the side.
Cleveland said: "There is no room for negotiation on this matter. As Americans, we must oppose this kind of aggression with strict moral standards and a sense of justice. Moreover, this time it involves a third country, East Africa. Our international reputation is not very good to begin with. If we learn from East Africa, we may become as notorious as them."
There is nothing wrong with what Cleveland said. Hegemony is not only at the military level. Britain also has top influence in guiding world public opinion. Words like "upstarts" for the United States, "savages" for East Africa, and "barbarians" for Prussia are not good words, but they are widely accepted around the world. These suppressions of public opinion are the privileges of being a world hegemon. It is a bit like the United States' designation of "freedom and democracy" in its previous life. Anyone who does not conform to "American freedom and democracy" will be torn apart madly by the United States and its domesticated Western countries and running dogs.
The reason why France can be independent from Britain is that France’s current cultural influence in the world is very strong. The two countries dominate the world’s colonial system and at the same time dominate the world’s cultural and public opinion hegemony.
Therefore, after the South African War, East Africa's international reputation became even more disastrous, and all kinds of good words such as "despotism, colonialism, barbarism, and slavery" were thrown at East Africans without any mercy.
Ernst readily accepted these terms. The 19th century is not the 21st century. It would be most terrifying if the whole world praised East Africa.
Of course, because of the war, East Africa temporarily replaced the United States as Britain's second "hatred" object. In fact, it was not too prominent. After all, the contradiction between Britain and France was more prominent than that between East Africa and Britain. Britain did not have the advantage in the South African War, but it was not defeated either. Moreover, East Africa's comprehensive national strength did not pose a threat to Britain for the time being.
The United States and Germany, two countries with rapidly developing industries, are Britain's biggest concerns, especially Germany under the leadership of William II, which will attract more and more British firepower and hostility in the future.
To be honest, except for a few important industries that are mainly supported, East Africa's industrial products have very weak competitiveness in the international market. This is also the main reason why the UK does not take East Africa seriously.
Although Cleveland's words are somewhat unbelievable, he did so in the original history. In December 1893, in the message submitted by Cleveland to the U.S. Congress, he asked Congress to assist the government of the Kingdom of Hawaii "in a manner consistent with the honor, justice and morality of the American people." This delayed the official annexation of Hawaii by the United States until 1898.
Now Cleveland is just using East Africa as an excuse to repeat what he did in history, and this will save him a lot of trouble.
Historically, after Cleveland vetoed the annexation of Hawaii, American newspapers frequently accused Cleveland of failing to expand the territory of the United States, but he always insisted on what he believed to be just.
Now that East Africa has emerged, the same approach can completely avoid the dissatisfaction of some people in the country, after all, East Africa can share the firepower.
The secretary said uneasily, "Mr. President, what about the Republic of Hawaii? Even if we don't support this illegal organization, can we let the East Africans annex the entire Hawaiian Island?"
His words did cause Cleveland's concern. It was true that Cleveland did not support the United States' annexation of Hawaii, but that did not mean he would give up Hawaii's power.
Especially since there are other national forces in Hawaii, an important location, this is bound to affect the national security of the United States.
Cleveland supported the United States' vigorous development of its naval power. As a Democrat, he supported external expansion. The only exception was Hawaii. Now East Africa had made the situation in Hawaii even more turbid, so negotiations with East Africa were also necessary.
I don't want it and you can't take it away. This is Cleveland's attitude. In fact, if Cleveland's attitude towards the Hawaiian Islands was not so "self-contradictory", there would be no such troubles.
"Contact the East African embassies in the United States. We need to communicate with East African officials. After all, East Africa is a big country. We can't go to war with them for Hawaii, but we can't give up the Hawaiian Islands either," Cleveland said.
The current situation is not only about the attitudes of Cleveland and the Republic of Hawaii, but also depends on the attitude of East Africa, a third country. After all, if East Africa does not agree to withdraw its troops, the ideas of Cleveland and the Republic of Hawaii will not be realized.
This was the most difficult issue for Cleveland. He was completely morally kidnapped by the Republic of Hawaii. After all, the Republic of Hawaii was a unilateral act of the American ministers and businessmen on the island and had not been authorized by him. However, these were his own people and he could not leave them alone.
At the same time, if the East African factor is not handled properly, it will become an international dispute, so it is most important for Cleveland to find out the attitude of the East African government.
(End of this chapter)
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