NOVPUBAfter several hundred years of concerted effort, the image of the Ottoman Empire in European folklore became synonymous with the devil, far outstripping other latecomers in the rankings of hatred and maintaining its top position unshakably for centuries.
After the outbreak of the Near East War, the Vienna Government propagated another round of their ancestors’ glorious achievements, which directly led to the Ottoman Empire’s reputation among the public even further. From time to time, people would organize activities at the doorstep of the Ottoman embassies.
There was no need to besmirch their name, as the history of the Ottoman Empire was dark enough. Just picking up any piece of information could attract a massive wave of hatred.
With the support of public opinion, Hummel Envoy had the moral high ground at the London Conference. While governments criticized Russians for invading Poland, no one condemned Austria for invading the Ottoman Empire.
That’s the importance of propaganda. In the Europe of this era, denigrating the Ottoman Empire was politically correct, and a little guidance was all that was needed.
In the original timeline of the Russo-Turkish War, the Tsarist Government was slandered just as much. Besides their failure to conduct proper propaganda, their reputation wasn’t much better than that of the Ottoman Empire. 𝒏𝒐𝙫𝙥𝙪𝙗.𝒄𝙤𝙢
Of course, the recapture of Jerusalem was also a political boon. After the outbreak of the Near East War, the Austrian army immediately launched a campaign to reclaim the Holy Land, which shut many people up.
Franz already had the title of King of Jerusalem, which was recognized by European society. Now, to reclaim his own territory was completely legitimate, without any moral pressure – it couldn’t even be called an invasion.
But what decided the political direction were the interests, Austria had enough reasons for war, and beating up the Ottoman Empire was no problem.
However, the idea of destroying the Ottoman Empire was different, European society was very averse to the annihilation of countries. Especially for the many small European countries, such acts of annihilation made them feel insecure.
If no one took the lead, these countries, no matter how discontented they were, could only choose to keep silent.
The Near East War was Austria and Russia ganging up on the Ottomans, and they didn’t have the capital to get involved. Now that the British were willing to step out, everyone naturally was happy to give support.
At the beginning of the conciliation meeting, Hummel noticed this changes. Despite the representatives of various countries being very tactful, he still distinctly felt the inclination toward the Ottoman Empire.
His message was a persuasive one: for the sake of world peace, let’s resolve the conflicts through negotiation and end the Near East War as soon as possible...
One person was not a concern, but it was different when a group said it. If one’s heart wasn’t strong enough, it would be very easy to get swayed.
Hummel waved his hand dismissively, "Gentlemen, the responsibility for the war doesn’t lie with us. This involves historical issues, which I believe everyone is aware of and doesn’t need me to educate you about.
We are now merely driving out the invaders and reclaiming our lost land, shouldn’t we?"
This was a mess of debt, history simply couldn’t be untangled. With hundreds of years having passed, it was impossible to verify the facts.
Moreover, over the years, for the sake of smearing the Ottomans, many had added fuel to the fire and doctored informational sources.
It hadn’t mattered much in ordinary times, but if we continued on this topic now, the Austrians would certainly use these artistically enhanced materials as reasons to make difficulties for the Ottomans.
What was more troublesome was that many of these documents had been taught by forefathers and widely accepted by European society. For the sake of political correctness, they couldn’t come out and refute them.
Seeing the atmosphere had become awkward, Marquis of McLean, the British Foreign Minister, took over the conversation, "Your Excellency, the Envoy, history is in the past.
What happened and what shouldn’t have happened, have both occurred. Dredging it up is meaningless, now we should focus on the future.
This Near East War has already led to the deaths of eight hundred thousand people, over three million left homeless, dozens of cities turned to rubble, with countless economic losses.
No matter what the Ottoman Empire did back then, this punishment has been sufficient. If it continues, it will only cause more families to be broken and lives lost.
Children without fathers, wives without husbands, elders without sons, these tragedies are being enacted every day.
You may not know, but now in the Ottoman Empire, there are corpses everywhere, with tens of thousands of people falling daily, and in some areas, even incidents of people exchanging children for food.
For the sake of God, for the sake of these innocent people, please end this war as quickly as possible!"
While saying this, Marquis of McLean, fully immersed in his role, was not so much the British Foreign Minister as he was a compassionate priest.
Everyone present understood that the British were attempting to play a game of moral abduction. This was in line with John Bull’s style, given the current international situation which made military intervention impossible. The British, wanting to preserve the Ottoman Empire, naturally had to find another path.
Hummel was disgusted; anyone could speak of "compassion," except for the British, who had no right to do so.
As the world’s leading colonial empire, ruling over five hundred million people, the number of people who died each year from exploitation and oppression was well beyond this figure.
Despite his annoyance, Hummel still controlled his emotions, "Your Excellency, the Minister, you should be saying this to the Ottomans.
The massive number of people left homeless and suffering from cold and hunger is due to the incompetence of the Sultan Government. If you find them pitiable, then what about these photographs?
They record an Armenian village that was slaughtered by these same ’pitiable people,’ with the soldiers of the Sultan Government also participating.
And these photographs, which document the killing of a Priest and the destruction of churches..."
These photos had cost the intelligence organization a great deal of money to acquire, but despite the outbreak of war in the Near East, there were still plenty of British and French remaining in the Ottoman Empire.
No matter how chaotic, it didn’t affect these high and mighty "important figures." With the Sultan Government’s utmost protection, as long as they weren’t killed by bombs from above, they were safe.
This was a unique product of the era; even a little ruffian from the streets of London could become an untouchable "important figure" in the Ottoman Empire.
Where there are great rewards, there will be brave men; if the intelligence organization is willing to spend the money, surely someone would be able to provide photos. After all, as a privileged class in the Ottoman Empire, even if they were caught, the Sultan Government wouldn’t dare to touch them.
If there were professionals present, they would notice that many of these photos were not freshly taken, but were old photos that had been stored for several years.
However, this was all unimportant; the photos proved that these atrocities had truly occurred, and that was enough.
Marquis of McLean had a headache; he could already imagine the sensation these photos would cause when they appeared in London’s newspapers the next day.
"Envoy Hummel, I believe that the Ottoman Empire will offer everyone an explanation for the issues depicted in these photos, and these perpetrators will be punished by God.
The causes of these tragedies are actually due to war leading to social disorder, with the government losing control over the country.
I propose that after the war, we form a joint delegation to enter the Ottoman Empire to specifically capture these criminals."
To preserve the Ottoman Empire, Marquis McLean was willing to go all out. This posed an awkward dilemma for the nearby Ottoman Foreign Minister Albij, who hadn’t been consulted before the decision was made.
Upon seeing the content of the photos, all of Albij’s dissatisfaction vanished. Such matters weren’t a big deal in ordinary times, but discussing them publicly changed everything.
He immediately stated, "Please be assured, those criminals depicted here will be held accountable. The Ottoman Empire is a country of religious freedom; there is absolutely no religious persecution, and we will not let these criminals go unpunished."
After a pause, Albij redirected the conversation that had veered off topic: "I am deeply ashamed that such a tragedy occurred.
Because of the war, the government has poured all its energy into the battlefield and overlooked local governance, leading to the tragedy.
To make amends and prevent similar incidents from happening again, I hope to end this war as soon as possible. For world peace, the Ottoman Empire is willing to contribute."
Inwardly, Albij was cursing, unable to fathom how such fools could exist, so irredeemably foolish.
In those days, cameras were bulky, and setting them up was no small task, hard to do unnoticed. This meant that at the time of the photographs, these individuals did nothing to stop it.
Ignorance is bliss; cameras were still a novel concept, and over eighty percent of the Ottomans had never seen such a device and were unaware of its capabilities, which was the reason for all this happening.
After imagining the scenario, Albij decided that he would suggest to the Sultan upon his return that camera regulations be tightened. The Ottoman Empire had too many things that couldn’t stand the light of day; carelessness was not an option.
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