Chapter 604 Türkiye (1)

Greece, Iran, Iraq, Serbia, and Bulgaria are preparing for combat operations against Turkey.

Iran and Iraq are pro-German, needless to say; Greece, Serbia, Bulgaria and other countries dare not have any objections.

Now Germany has become the hegemon of Europe, and it may become the world hegemon soon. If these small countries anger Germany, Germany does not need to do it itself, and several countries will come to beat you up with a call, just like Turkey now.

How did Turkey provoke Germany? They don't want to care too much. Anyway, they have a feud with Turkey. It's just the right opportunity to teach it a lesson and expand their territory. It's killing two birds with one stone.

Germany sold fighters and tanks that were about to be eliminated to several countries. Because the German army's weapons and equipment are updated too quickly, these equipment eliminated by the German army are still very advanced for small countries.

The actions of several neighboring countries to mobilize troops to gather at the border with great fanfare naturally aroused the vigilance of the Turks, and they also smelled a strong smell of gunpowder.

President Ismet İnönü called Prime Minister Refik Sedam to discuss countermeasures.

Ismet İnönü was a comrade-in-arms of Kemal, the father of the Turkish nation, and one of his main military assistants. During the Greco-Turkish War, he led his troops to defeat the Greek invading army in two battles of İnönü (January 10, March 31 to April 1, 1921). In the first battle, he prevented the Greek General Plas from breaking into central Anatolia. After the reinforcements arrived, he handed over the command, but the position was breached again, and he returned to repel the enemy. In July, he was deceived by the feint of King Constantine I of Greece and was bypassed by the enemy. He recognized the situation and quickly withdrew his troops to the Kasarya River defense line. At the end of August, he crushed the Greek army's attempt to bypass its southern wing. On September 10, Kemal launched a counterattack and repelled the enemy. In October, he assisted Kemal in the reactionary counterattack and wiped out the invading Greek army.

In 1922, he served as the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the National Assembly Government in Ankara. In dealing with the powers, he won the sympathy of world public opinion as a victim and forced his opponents to compromise as a victor. He demanded that the Greek army withdraw from Eastern Thrace unconditionally and that the British and French troops withdraw from the Straits area, and expressed his willingness to use force for this. British Foreign Minister George Curzon forced him to accept an agreement that undermined Turkey's sovereignty and threatened him, "There is only half an hour left to save your country." He firmly replied, "Please remember how to talk to the victor." He secretly divided the British, French and Italian alliances, and sought public support in newspapers, recounting the harm done by the Allies to Turkey and stating, "I cannot accept a plan that undermines Turkey's territorial integrity, and I cannot accept a status equivalent to slavery." Through strong public pressure, he put his opponents in an embarrassing and passive position, and through some small concessions, he finally signed the Treaty of Lausanne, took back Istanbul without a fight, and opened a huge gap in the Versailles system.

A strong man like him would naturally not be afraid of provocations from neighboring countries. But what scares him now is the mastermind behind these countries, and he has to worry about the fate of Turkey.

Prime Minister Saidam said puzzledly. "Could it be the Germans? But we are a neutral country?"

Turkey's predecessor was the Ottoman Empire, which was once a great power spanning Asia, Europe and Africa. In World War I, in order to revive its former glory and overthrow Russia, Turkey chose to join the German camp. However, after the defeat, Turkey, as a defeated country, was severely sanctioned by the Allies, lost all its external territories, and almost perished.

Turkey lost its pants in World War I, and the Russo-Turkish War also caused Turkey heavy losses. In World War II, Turkey was afraid and dared not rashly participate in the war again, so it chose a neutral strategy to see the excitement and not take risks! In addition, although Turkey is the strongest country in the Middle East, it is still a second-rate country compared to Britain and France. Turkey does not have its own complete industrial system, nor does it have the strength to challenge the great powers. Even the trauma of World War I has not recovered, so it has been recuperating in World War II. For Turkey, no matter which side it participates in, it can only be cannon fodder!

President Inonu said with a serious face. "Who else can there be besides the Germans? Neutrality in this world is no longer up to us." A neutral country is just a "consciousness" and "attitude" and cannot guarantee that it will not be invaded. Whether a neutral country can maintain its neutral status depends on whether the international community (especially the big powers) recognizes it. The essence of international diplomacy is: there are no eternal friends, no permanent enemies, only eternal interests. Since the interests of different countries are different at different times, international relations are always changing.

Prime Minister Saidam said to himself. "Could it be that the previous trade dispute angered the Germans?"

Before the war, Germany had already carried out extensive trade cooperation with Turkey. Germany imported chromium and other iron ore necessary for the arms industry from Turkey. It was also the main customer of Turkey's other raw materials such as leather, goat hair, cotton, oil and tobacco. In exchange, Germany supplied Turkey with the light and heavy industrial products it needed.

After the outbreak of the war, Britain, France and the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs negotiated, and as a result, Turkey transferred most of its original trade with Germany to Britain and France, so that Britain and France jointly monopolized Turkey's remaining chromium for export.

But no one expected that France would be so vulnerable on the European battlefield and was easily defeated by Germany; and the British Empire also did not last long.

This made Turkey very embarrassed. When Turkey wanted to resume previous trade with Germany, Germany ignored him. Although Turkey’s chromium ore reserves are among the highest in the world, it is not unique. South Africa and Finland are also rich in chromium ore.

"Would you like to talk to the German ambassador? Find out what the Germans want?"

President Inonu shook his head. "It's obvious that the Germans are determined to deal with us. Instead of talking to the German ambassador, it's better to talk to the American ambassador. Maybe the Americans will provide some help."

"Americans?" Although the Americans declared war on Germany, they could only stare blankly when their homeland was bombed twice by the Germans, without the ability to fight back. What can they do?

Sure enough, they called the US ambassador for help, but the other party regretfully said that he was unable to do anything. According to Turkey's geographical location, the United States could not help even if it wanted to.

But he still had an idea. "How about you ask the Soviet Union for help?"

"impossible!"

The Black Sea is basically an inland sea of ​​the Soviet Union, but the entrance to the sea is controlled by Türkiye. Turkey has almost always been a thorn in the side of the Soviet Union. The Soviets always want to capture Turkey's Black Sea Strait and the Transcaucasus.

Therefore, Turkey has always been on guard against the Soviets. After all, since the establishment of the Soviet Union, it has almost inherited the Russian style and continued to expand externally. When it was still the Ottoman Empire, Turkey had been constantly dealing with this kind of old Maozi. Expanded externally.