Chapter 653 Migration Order
Enver Pasha was silent for a long time. He suddenly said, "You are a businessman. This will definitely be good for you. You want to use a force you can rely on to rule this territory, so you want to borrow Christians."
"Yes!" As expected by Enver Pasha, Sheffield did not deny the questioning, but admitted the speculation confidently, "The surrounding areas are all Arabs. If I don't use any power that has nothing to do with them, who will recognize that this territory belongs to me?"
This was originally the purpose. The slave owners felt that there was nothing to deny. To the west of the Persian Gulf were Arabs, and to the east were Persians. In fact, this was just an approximate range. In reality, the ethnic composition of the surrounding areas was much more complicated than this.
Don't blame Sheffield for focusing on Christians in the Middle East. There are enough Christians here. At least before World War II, there were far more Christians living in the Islamic world than in the Christian world. There are Christians in major countries in the Middle East, and in Lebanon Christians are the main political force. Because the Islamic world regards Christians as "people of the book", their status is higher than that of atheists and polytheists. Except for paying more taxes, they are no different from ordinary Muslims. Therefore, the Arabs had no interest in converting Christians at the beginning, which was much more civilized than the Christians in the Middle Ages who killed all the Muslims.
However, most of these Christians belong to Eastern Christian sects and are not valued by the Western world, which is dominated by Catholicism and Protestantism. In the Middle Ages, Eastern sects had religious freedom in the Middle East, but it was not uncommon for them to be forced to convert to Europe.
As one of the current rulers of the Ottoman Empire, Enver Pasha's political literacy determined that it was impossible for him not to see the deeper meaning of the slave owners' attack on the Armenians, and the slave owners also did not hide their intentions.
"I can agree to this!" Enver Pasha said after careful consideration, "Although I am not completely willing, I have to think of a way."
Enver Pasha was speaking the truth. Since the Balkan Wars, as a great feudal empire, the Ottoman Empire could no longer ignore the ethnic issues at home. Similar policy adjustments made before could no longer resist nationalism supported by European countries, and Christians in the Ottoman Empire already felt like targets of public criticism.
It was this trend of thought that urged the Ottoman Empire to kill the Armenians during World War I and prevent the land inhabited by Armenians from becoming independent from the Ottoman Empire.
How can I explain this? According to the theory of the Western world, of course, the nation-state is very stable. However, according to the Eastern tradition, it is not wrong to say that the killing was a good thing. Politicians in every country must be responsible for their own country. Later, the Republic of Turkey forcibly refused to recognize the Kurds in the country, despite opposition from the whole world, and instead called the Kurds mountain Turks, which was also for the integrity of the Republic of Turkey.
According to a lot of data, the ratio of Christians to the total population of the Middle East was about one to five in the early 20th century, which means that one fifth of the people in the entire Middle East are Christians.
Even if white leftists are rampant in Europe a hundred years from now, the proportion of whites in Europe's population will definitely not be even one-fifth.
Enver Pasha already felt that Sheffield was actually ill-intentioned, but the Ottoman Empire had its own difficulties. If it were just a feudal empire in the agricultural era, the Ottoman Empire would not have encountered such a problem.
Now that European nationalism has begun to ferment, many of the previous methods are no longer feasible. The key reason is that the Turks are not the main ethnic group in the Ottoman Empire. Within the vast territory of the empire, the largest population is the Arabs. In the agricultural era, everyone could unite as one nation, but now it is no longer possible.
After nationalism came to the Ottoman Empire, it not only affected the Christians in the country, but even the Arabs, who had a faith, began to become alienated from the Turks.
Moreover, if the Arabs were unstable, the harm would be much greater than that of the Christians in the country. Sheffield might have used the Armenians for his own benefit, but Enver Pasha took other aspects into consideration, hoping that the minority Armenians could form a check and balance against the majority Arabs in the Middle East.
For this reason, Enver Pasha still expressed his willingness to consider Sheffield's proposal.
"I don't know whether I should trust William Pasha. Don't do anything that is detrimental to the Ottoman Empire." After carefully weighing the pros and cons, Enver Pasha gave his support.
"Maybe this is the right decision for the Ottoman Empire?" Sheffield laughed. "By ruling this land, I can curb the Arabs' restlessness and also shoulder part of the responsibility of resisting British infiltration. In a difficult environment, I can choose between an unfavorable environment and a relatively favorable environment."
It is a well-known fact that the British have infiltrated the Middle East. Similarly, as the main population, are the Arabs on the same side as the Turks? Not to mention Iran. You should know that the Iranians and the Turks fought several times for Iraq.
The majority of Iraq's population is Shia, which is the result of the struggle between Iran and the Turks for Iraq. In short, the affairs of the Middle East cannot be summarized in a few words, they are very, very complicated.
For a place like this, if it weren't for the huge oil resources blessed by God, who would be willing to come here and risk their lives?
The most important thing is that Sheffield is very capable. Even if this matter is also beneficial to the Ottoman Empire, he will still pay. Relationships are relationships, benefits are benefits, but the money must also be paid.
Suddenly, the aura of internationalism of the slave owners began to shine in Enver Pasha's eyes.
With one million dollars, William Pasha's moral aura shone throughout Constantinople. In the difficult times of the Ottoman Empire, Sheffield always appeared at the right time to help this great empire.
At first, Enver Pasha was only willing to help from the perspective of the country, but now he is willing to go through fire and water, and he is absolutely capable of doing this. The Ottoman Empire is now under the control of the pro-German faction. And through the Second Balkan War, it can be regarded as a small saving of face, which of course is also attributed to the pro-German faction that just succeeded in the coup.
From Enver Pasha's perspective, although he was a pro-German, his main purpose was to save the Ottoman Empire. From the perspective of the Ottoman Empire, it was difficult for it to trust any powerful country.
After all, all the great powers have a criminal record. Five years ago, Germany supported Austria-Hungary in annexing Bosnia, which was still legally Ottoman territory; three years ago, Italy, the weakest of the great powers, was able to tear a piece of flesh from the Ottoman Empire; and just before that, in the Balkan War, with the support of Imperial Russia, the Balkan countries almost seized all of the Ottoman Empire's European territory, and Britain's way of mediation was to make the Ottoman Empire admit defeat and internationalize Constantinople.
So before the World War, the Ottoman Empire was in a very pitiful position. This powerful empire that had previously swept across Europe, Asia and Africa wanted the powerful countries in the two camps to guarantee its survival, but these powers were unwilling to make verbal guarantees. It cannot be said that there was not a single country that promised the Ottoman Empire independence. The country was called the Russian Empire!
If the Ottoman Empire still trusted the Russian Empire after more than a dozen Russo-Turkish wars, then the Ottoman Empire was really naive. The only country willing to give security guarantees was its sworn enemy. As for other countries, almost all of them believed, like the Navy Minister Churchill, that the Ottoman Empire's role was two battleships.
Compared with these European countries, the world's richest man today, waving his money to show his support for Constantinople in balancing the separatist forces in its Asian territories, looks extremely conscientious.
Enver Pasha left, returning to Constantinople with the slave owner's deep desire.
"Boss, is this man reliable?" Brown asked after he and Sheffield sent Enver Pasha away.
"Do you think I am more reliable or the Russian Empire is more reliable?" Sheffield asked his subordinates. "My family has served the Ottoman Empire for decades. To be honest, we have never been so loyal to the United States. Although it is for the issue of labor trade, after decades of cooperation, there should be some trust. I even formed a mercenary corps to help the Ottoman Empire resist the attack of the Italians. After such a long time and such a great effort, isn't it enough to gain the trust of the Ottoman Empire?"
Brown asked whether Enver Pasha was reliable, while Sheffield asked whether he was more reliable than the Russian Empire, especially to the Ottoman Empire.
It is normal for Constantinople to make such a decision now. The Balkan War has just ended, and there is public opinion to relocate an unreliable ethnic group. As long as Enver Pasha is willing to help, this will not be a problem.
Sheffield forgot one thing, that is, although Greece has become independent, there are still many Greeks in the territory of the Ottoman Empire. After Constantinople made a decision a few days later, it not only included Armenians, but also the Greeks who remained in the Ottoman Empire.
The atmosphere became tense again, and it seemed that the Third Balkan War was about to break out. Greece and the Ottoman Empire were engaged in a war of words, while the Ottoman Empire secretly accelerated the pace of migration. Local soldiers dragged Armenians and Greeks from their homes and announced that they would be exiled to the Middle East.
(End of this chapter)
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