Chapter 861: Dividing the Loot
"Ambassador Russell, just now a White House staff member came to our embassy and said that President Cleveland invited you to the White House for a chat."
At this time, Russell had no idea why Cleveland invited him to the White House, because the changes in the Hawaiian Islands were a special operation in East Africa. Except for the East African senior officials, the military and the National Defense Security Agency, even the East African people rarely knew about it.
However, Russell was not too surprised. Since East Africa and the United States resumed diplomatic relations, such high-level exchanges were not uncommon. It was just that President Cleveland had only taken office in March this year and had not had any exchanges with Russell.
The previous President of the United States before President Cleveland was actually Russell Benjamin Harrison, so Russell was relatively unfamiliar with President Cleveland.
Of course, it's not that he was completely unaware of it, because Cleveland was the 22nd President of the United States. Yes, Cleveland had served as President of the United States once, and this time he was just returning to the throne.
The main reason why Russell failed to be re-elected was that he advocated an economic "isolationist" policy, which led to economic depression and caused dissatisfaction among domestic capital. After all, the United States is already the world's largest industrial country, and his policies made the American capital feel that their interests were damaged.
Although Cleveland was a supporter of "liberal economics", in fact, the policy remained the same after he came to power. The United States still maintained a "high tariff" policy, but it was weaker than during Russell's period.
Russell himself had a general attitude towards Cleveland, because the two did not have much interaction before, and the restoration of diplomatic relations between East Africa and the United States was mainly the achievement of President Russell. Although Russell also made flexible adjustments in response to the international situation after the South African War, Russell only looked at the results. When Cleveland took office as the 22nd President of the United States, he did not have much communication with East Africa.
However, as a diplomat, Russell would not act on emotion. He still went to the White House as scheduled to communicate with the unfamiliar American president and see what he was up to.
…
Meeting room.
"Hello, Ambassador Russell, I think this is the first time we meet." Cleveland greeted Russell enthusiastically.
"Hello, President Cleveland!" Russell replied politely.
Cleveland noticed that the East African diplomat was very young. Of course, this was not his first impression. Rather, Russell seemed a little difficult to deal with as a diplomat. After all, he greeted him with a smile, but Russell's reaction was nothing like that of a qualified diplomat.
His feeling was correct. Russell came from a military background and had the rigidity and seriousness of a military personnel. East Africa, a country with a history of less than 30 years, did not have many professional diplomats. Of course, in other words, there were not many professionally trained diplomats in East Africa who held high positions.
The military system in East Africa is the fastest to get promoted. Most of the people in the East African government come from the military system. In addition, East Africa has been at war all the time, so it is easier for soldiers to be promoted.
"Why did President Cleveland invite me here this time?" Russell asked straight to the point.
This further confirmed President Cleveland's guess, but he still smiled and said, "East Africa and the United States are both great powers in the world, so our exchanges are not necessarily for state affairs, but can also be for increasing the feelings between the two countries! I wonder what Ambassador Russell likes to drink?"
"It will be all right."
"Yablen, prepare a cup of coffee for Ambassador Russell." Seeing Russell's answer, Cleveland instructed his secretary.
"Ambassador Russell, you are a straightforward man, and I am also frank with you. What do you East Africans think of Hawaii?" President Cleveland asked directly.
"Hawaii, what does this have to do with us in East Africa?"
"Well, don't you know?" President Cleveland thought Russell wanted to play dumb. You East Africans have already swallowed up Kauai, and you still want to deny it!
Russell was puzzled and said, "Hawaii should be an island country in the Pacific Ocean! The distance between East Africa and Hawaii is very far."
Seeing that Russell really didn't know the situation in the Hawaiian Islands, Cleveland explained to him what happened: "...So, what is your attitude in East Africa?"
It is no wonder that Russell did not know about this. After all, Hawaii is far away from the mainland of East Africa. If one wants to pass the message back to East Africa, one must first take a boat to the South Ryukyu Islands and then transfer it back to East Africa via telegram.
The East African troops in Hawaii have not yet returned to the South Ryukyu Islands. After all, they have to ensure the stability of Kauai first, so there is a lot to do.
Naturally, the mainland would not send a message to Russell before receiving the news. After all, it was a special military operation, so the fewer people who knew about it before the dust settled, the better.
But now that Russell had heard from the President of the United States, he naturally did not dare to act on his own. He said to Cleveland: "I will go back and discuss this matter with the local people first."
Cleveland could only send Russell back first, but with Russell as the link, there was a communication channel between East Africa and the United States. If it was before the South African War, this kind of thing might really cause trouble.
The next day, East Africa reported the specific situation to Russell and explained East Africa's attitude. Russell returned to the White House again.
"It is true that our country sent troops to Kauai, but East Africa has no interest in the Hawaiian Islands other than Kauai. Moreover, this time we sent troops at the invitation of King Kumali to help him avoid exploitation by unscrupulous merchants. He was also dissatisfied with the Kingdom of Hawaii, so he wanted to secede and restore his country."
Only the first part of Russell's words was honest, while the latter part was complete "slander" by East Africa. After all, Kumali didn't know any East Africans before, so how could he invite East Africa to send troops?
However, after knowing East Africa's plan, Cleveland was relieved. If East Africa was just supporting a puppet regime on Kauai, it would be barely acceptable.
After all, the most important thing about Hawaii is Pearl Harbor. If East Africa was heading for Pearl Harbor, even Cleveland, who opposed the US annexation of Hawaii, would not agree.
Moreover, the United States itself is in the wrong. The coup in southern Hawaii was done by its own people. Therefore, the United States cannot morally attack East Africa. In this way, scolding East Africa is the same as scolding itself.
Therefore, morally, the United States cannot drive the East African forces out of Hawaii, and it is even more impossible to achieve it militarily. Now the United States is very cautious in military affairs, and Cleveland is not a warmonger. Moreover, the military strength of East Africa deserves the respect of the United States. Therefore, it is obviously impossible to expel East Africa from the Hawaiian Islands through tough measures.
If the United States does it on the first day of the month, East Africa will do it on the fifteenth day. As for the conflict between East Africa and the United States, Britain, France and other countries would probably be the happiest. Therefore, Cleveland tended to divide Hawaii equally with East Africa.
That's right, after East Africa expressed its attitude, Cleveland's original decision not to support the annexation of Hawaii changed.
After all, if the United States does not take action, the Kingdom of Hawaii will not be able to resist the invasion of East Africans. In this case, it is better to recognize the illegal government of the Republic of Hawaii and then incorporate the southern Hawaiian Islands into the United States' sphere of influence.
Moreover, in Cleveland's view, East Africa's involvement in the Hawaiian Islands is not a bad thing. Originally, the United States' annexation of the Hawaiian Islands would have attracted negative public opinion from the international community, but now East Africa is involved! Sharing the blame can distract the attention of other countries.
In the end, President Cleveland made a decision that went against his own heart and incorporated Hawaii into the United States ahead of schedule. Of course, the future of the state of Hawaii will be incomplete without Kauai.
(End of this chapter)
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