Chapter 754 Territory Ownership
The Ottoman Empire's vast territory in West Asia was also the focus of competition between Britain and France, and now the United States has joined in. Traditionally, the market and population are the dominant factors for valuable land in West Asia.
This is why the British Empire's world hegemony was supported by British India, not Canada and Australia. For a long time, population and market have always been the most important factors for colonial empires, not resources.
The belief that resources are an important factor was not widely recognized until around World War II. Therefore, the Arab territories that the Ottomans had in mind were of course the Mesopotamian Basin and the eastern coast of the Mediterranean. The Hejaz region was of lower value, and the Najd was just a large desert of value.
The Ottoman territories in the Middle East mainly revolve around Greater Syria and Iraq, which are the focus of competition between Britain and France. As for the long strip from Basra to Oman on the west coast of the Persian Gulf, it is 220,000 square kilometers of land, which is second only to Iraq and Greater Syria in value.
Lawrence of Arabia was destined to be disappointed, as the slave owners had never even let the other side see him, yet they won the battle. Britain and France had their own ideas about the division of Ottoman territories. After being indoctrinated by the slave owners about the Persian Gulf, President Wilson also felt that the United States should establish its own influence in the center of the Eurasian continent.
This was not easy either. Concerning the division of Ottoman territory, the three parties each held their own opinion and none of them had any intention of giving in.
In addition to handing Syria over to France, Britain also wanted to take away all of the Ottoman territories in the Middle East. Clemenceau was of course strongly opposed to this, as there was no reason to let the British take advantage of the Middle East after giving up their African colonies.
For this reason, Clemenceau and Wilson, whom he called a pro-German, adopted a coordinated strategy on the Middle East issue. Seeing that France and the United States took a common position, Lloyd George had to take a step back and, on the basis of Greater Syria, gave France the southeastern part of the Anatolian Peninsula, which was mainly inhabited by the Ottomans.
Britain retained Iraq and Jordan, occupying the Mesopotamian Basin, the most valuable land in the Middle East. Then came the battle around the west coast of the Persian Gulf. Lloyd George questioned what role the Eighth Army in the Middle East played, hoping that President Wilson would give in on this issue, at least giving up access to the sea.
"This is something that was created by the public. It does not represent the position of the federal government." Wilson said with a relaxed expression, "Let's be honest. For thousands of years, no one has paid attention to the fate of Christians in the Middle East. But now there is an opportunity for Christians to have their own country in the Middle East. I personally welcome this."
"But this army is obviously pro-German and has killed many of our soldiers." Lloyd George said aggressively, "Does Sheffield think that if he stays in the country, no one will do anything to him?"
"From a personal perspective, he may think so." President Wilson said noncommittally, "This war has nothing to do with the United States. The domestic citizens are far more concerned about the Christians in the Middle East than whether the war itself was wrong by Britain or Germany. Dear British Prime Minister, regarding the German telegram, did the British Secret Intelligence Service play an ignominious role?"
The telegram that led to the United States' entry into the war was essentially a trick used by the British. President Wilson simply thought that it was time to join the war and acquiesced to the British operation, but it did not mean that nothing had happened.
At this time, President Wilson used this matter to question Lloyd George, indicating that Britain's previous cutting off of the German-American submarine cable and subsequent monitoring of intelligence had actually played a role in infringing on the sovereignty of the United States to a certain extent.
"If the Christians in the Middle East establish an independent country, this government will have an explanation to the citizens who oppose the war at home." President Wilson said in a high-profile manner, "The United States is not trying to establish a colony. In a few years, a new country will surely emerge in the Middle East. I also hope that the leaders of the two major countries will do the same."
As time went by, public opinion in France was swaying. Today, President Wilson was a notorious pro-German, and tomorrow he was a defender of the free world. Lloyd George was a man of great shrewdness. In order to maintain Britain's hegemonic position, which was beginning to waver, he did his best to maneuver at the Paris Peace Conference. Sometimes he stood with France to deal with the United States, and sometimes he formed an alliance with the United States to suppress France. When the United States and France were fighting, he often acted as a mediator, thus gaining a lot of benefits for Britain.
"Hmm, hm? You want me to be responsible for the death of Japanese soldiers in the Persian Gulf?" Sheffield, who received the call from Konstantinovich, doubted his ears and snorted, "Tell Japan not to play tricks on me. If the Japanese army's combat effectiveness was not poor, would such a shameful scene have occurred? Take back this unreasonable request yourself, otherwise, I will not care about Minako's feelings and get the Japanese out of Hawaii."
Bang! Sheffield hung up the phone heavily and muttered, "How dare you threaten me!" Before the slave owner could vent his anger, the phone rang again. He picked up the phone impatiently and asked, "William Sheffield, who are you?"
"Is it me who has such a bad temper?" Konstantinovich said with a wry smile, "I haven't finished what I'm saying yet. The land in the Middle East controlled by the mercenaries you formed should be recognized by Britain and France. And Henry and his people seem to think that the government failed in this pandemic, and they think that you have a strong influence on the federal government."
"Republicans? They don't do anything every day. Why don't they come to Oak Manor to talk to me?" Sheffield said nonchalantly, "These elected people have nothing better to do. You should criticize the government instead of throwing dirty water on me. And my friend, you are not elected. The executive branch must remain neutral to party affiliations."
However, this was only a minor problem for the slave owner. The temporary trusteeship of the Middle East territories would not hinder his next plan. After all, he had been the Pasha of Kuwait for many years and had a very high reputation in the eyes of Middle Eastern Christians. As long as Britain and France were not allowed to get involved in this place, he was confident that he could transform it into a country under his control.
In addition to the punishments imposed on the Allied countries at the Paris Peace Conference, there is one country that must never be forgotten, and that is the former Allied ally, the Russian Empire, now the Soviet Union.
The League of Nations was organized to oppose the Communist International founded by Lenin. The League of Nations commanded the armies of various countries to suppress the revolutionary people. Although Soviet Russia was excluded from the Paris Peace Conference, the issue of Soviet Russia was always involved in the Paris Peace Conference. Although several imperialist countries were united in opposing socialist Russia, they had different opinions on the methods of opposition.
At the suggestion of French Marshal Foch, Clemenceau proposed to form a two million Allied coalition army to expedition to Soviet Russia, and believed that this army should mainly be composed of the American Expeditionary Force, because the United States joined the war relatively late and its morale was still relatively high.
"If this task is to be accomplished, it should be mainly composed of French troops, because everyone knows the status of the French Army in the world, and the American Expeditionary Force has no experience." Wilson retorted calmly. Although the United States had always appeared in the role of a sucker before, it was different after four years of world war. Even if there was no world war, he would not accept such opinions that weakened the strength of the United States.
As a result of the debate, the opinion of British Prime Minister Lloyd George was finally adopted, that is, to use economic blockade, support for the opposition and the establishment of epidemic prevention zones in the Baltic countries to curb the spread of the influence of the Russian Revolution.
"Do you want William to fight your country on behalf of the Chinese?" Anne said with a cold face at Arlington Manor, her phoenix eyes sweeping over Sato and her daughter. "Now that the war is over, everyone wants to do something to my husband. Black Gold Company has plenty of assassins who can kill anyone who threatens my husband."
"Madam, the old lady asked you to go over there." Padra's voice swept away the atmosphere of disunity in the room.
"I understand, Aunt Padella." Anne became obedient instantly. She was still afraid of the old manor who was just 90 years old and still very young.
"They are just minor conflicts. I will go back when the flu gets better, dear. Grandma is right. Our country's politicians are still not able to change their ways and dare not do anything to the colonial empire." Sheffield comforted his wife after receiving her call, "Why don't we think of something easier? Who will be the Pasha of my territory? Two hundred and twenty thousand square kilometers of land is not small."
"You just say nice things!" Annie complained softly, "I've become a bad guy, and when you come back those women will flatter you even more."
"When the war is over, I should have time to take good care of you." Sheffield laughed and said, "Just don't look down on me for not making money then."
The Paris Peace Conference lasted until the middle of the year, and finally produced a settlement on Germany, which determined Germany's new borders after the war. In addition to returning Alsace and Lorraine to France, Germany also ceded large tracts of territory to Denmark, Poland, and the newly independent Czechoslovakia.
Germany gave up all its overseas colonies and territories. Most of them were divided up by Britain, France and Japan in the form of League of Nations mandates. For example, the Marshall Islands, Caroline Islands and Mariana Islands north of the equator in the Pacific Ocean were occupied by Japan; New Guinea south of the equator was assigned to the British Dominion of Australia, and Samoa was assigned to New Zealand; German Southwest Africa and Tanganyika in East Africa were assigned to Britain; Togo and Cameroon were divided between Britain and France.
As for Germany's other allies, they were no longer enough to keep President Wilson in Paris, and after issuing the draft to establish the League of Nations, President Wilson returned home.
(End of this chapter)
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