NOVPUBLondon, after the news of the Ankara coup reached London, Prime Minister Gelson knew things were going to get worse.
The problems of the Ottoman Empire couldn’t simply be solved by changing a government; whoever took power would first have to deal with the refugee crisis and the suppression of the rebellion.
The Sultan Government failed to accomplish these two tasks not merely because they were decayed and incompetent, but because they truly couldn’t manage it. A clever woman cannot cook without rice. Whoever succeeded them would face the same fate.
Prime Minister Gelson asked, "How much funding is needed at the very least for the Ottoman Empire to begin restoring agricultural production?"
Foreign Minister Marquis of McLin shook his head, "Prime Minister, I’m afraid no one can answer that question for you. The Russians went too far: before their withdrawal, they destroyed all the infrastructure they could.
According to intelligence from the embassy, in the areas occupied by the Russian Army, it is almost impossible to find a building that hasn’t been destroyed, excluding the churches. They blew up every building.
They didn’t spare the countryside either, demolishing houses, farms, bridges, dams, and even deliberately blocking rivers, turning the downstream farmlands into swamps.
It is said that for the sake of destruction, the Russians expended tens of thousands of tons of explosives alone. The areas occupied by the Russians were virtually reduced to no man’s land.
The Ottoman Government’s plan to resume spring plowing completely failed under Russian sabotage. According to the current situation, even by 1876, the Ottomans could at best only restore half of the local agricultural production.
The Sultan Government doesn’t have the financial strength to endure this for such a long time. In order to provide relief to the refugees, the Sultan Government reallocated most of the government funds, including those for education.
The coup was triggered by the Sultan Government’s diversion of education funds. Now, this problem belongs to the Ottoman Young Turks."
Prime Minister Gelson nodded his head. The Russo-Turkish enmity had a long history, and he was not surprised by the Russians’ extreme measures of retribution.
The previous Russo-Turkish war had been bloodier than this, with massacres of tens of thousands not being uncommon.
The reason that destruction of farmlands and rivers didn’t occur before wasn’t that the Russians were soft-hearted, but primarily because industrial technology hadn’t developed to the extent it has now.
This time, the logistics supplies were provided by Austria; the Russians didn’t need to be frugal. Now that they were withdrawing, the ships were also provided by Austria, no longer able to conceal the hidden comprehensive resources.
Food and other necessities of life could maybe be justified as spoils of war, but ammunition produced by Austrian arms factories could by no means be explained away.
The Russians were ruthless enough to vent all these explosives on the Asia Minor Peninsula. Apart from showing respect to God by sparing the churches, they blew up everything else that was destructible.
After imagining the scenario, Prime Minister Gelson developed a headache. The Russians had their fun, but what was next for the Ottoman Empire?
Helping them would come at too high a price, yet if they weren’t helped, the Ottoman Empire would surely be brought down by the refugees and ultimately end up annexed by Austria.
"What are the Foreign Office’s plans?"
The Marquis of McLin frowned deeply and replied with difficulty, "This problem is not hard to solve, at least for the Ottoman Empire. As long as they’re ruthless enough, they can completely..."
The faces of everyone present changed drastically. The number of refugees in the Ottoman Empire was not small. Even if several hundred thousand had died that winter, there were still at least two million people left.
Following the Marquis of McLin’s plan would indeed be a permanent solution to the refugee crisis, but it would also bring disastrous losses to the Ottoman Empire.
However, no one objected. Having climbed to their current positions, everyone present was of firm resolve, not easily swayed by personal feelings.
What did it matter to them whether Ottomans lived or died? In an era when millions die of starvation worldwide every year, their compassion had long been exhausted.
After pacing for a moment, Prime Minister Gelson said, "This matter is not our concern; everything is the choice of the Ottomans themselves.
What we need to do now is to provide them with a fund to pacify the rebellion and quickly stabilize the situation in the Ottoman Empire. The Foreign Office must monitor their use of these funds.
Also, the Foreign Office must be prepared; once the Ottoman Government takes action, they will certainly be condemned by everyone. It doesn’t matter if the international community scolds us, but we mustn’t allow the Austrians to catch hold of anything that they could use to meddle in the Ottoman internal affairs."
In this regard, Prime Minister Gelson was quite reassured. Intelligence indicated that Austria was currently nibbling away at the Arabian Peninsula, and it would take several years to settle it fully.
Given the cautious nature of the Vienna Government, they would not cause any trouble in the short term until they had digested the Arabian Peninsula.
...
Ankara, the Ottoman Young Turks who had just seized power, had not yet had the chance to enjoy the thrill brought by their newfound authority when they fell into a state of confusion.
The script was not unfolding correctly; under normal circumstances, after overthrowing a decrepit government, shouldn’t the Ottoman Empire be on the fast track to revival under their leadership?
Yet, the reality was quite the opposite: after overthrowing Abdul-Aziz Sultan, they found themselves at a loss.
It was merely a coup, not a revolution, so the Youth Party quickly took over the state powers. Of course, it was inevitable that a bunch of Conservatives and religious figures got mixed into the government.
Politics always requires compromise. How can one win support if they are unwilling to share power?
Once in power, the members of the Youth party became bewildered. This wasn’t a prosperous and strong empire, but a decaying one full of holes and on the verge of disintegration.
As the leader of the Youth Party, Midhat had just taken charge of great power and soon realized the gravity of the situation. Setting aside the issues of power struggles, the problem of financial bankruptcy was already pressing.
The overthrown corrupt government wasn’t wealthy either. Perhaps many of its officials were fat, but for a country, that was negligible.
After the release of the government’s overdue administrative expenses, their wallets deflated once again. The most costly efforts to provide relief to refugees and suppress rebellions remained unfunded.
"Not being in charge, one is unaware of the expense of household staples"; now, Midhat finally understood the hardships of the Sultan Government. The government’s funds were insufficient for any endeavor.
"What did the UK and France say, are they willing to provide us with a loan?" Midhat asked.
When out of money, borrowing was the most common approach of the Ottoman Empire. In this era, the UK and France were the most eager to extend loans, with over eighty percent of the world’s international loans issued by them.
"Grand Vizier, the French refused our loan request, and though the British have not refused, they imposed a condition that this loan must be used solely for suppressing rebellions.
Furthermore, they demanded that we resolve the refugee crisis swiftly to prove the government’s ability to govern," said Foreign Minister Hadfao with bitterness.
The refugee crisis would be easy to solve with money. If there was a shortage of food, it could be purchased from the two neighbors—there would be as much as needed.
Unfortunately, what the Ottoman Empire lacked the most was money, and now even trying to secure loans, they struggled to find collateral.
This was the burden left by the previous government, which had exhausted all efforts to raise funds for war. Without international loans, the former government wouldn’t have the money to relieve the refugees either.
Midhat was unlucky; he took power just after the previous government had spent everything, inheriting a complete mess.
Of course, had the former government not been completely drained, the coup likely wouldn’t have succeeded, and he wouldn’t have come to power.
Midhat slammed his hand on the table, "What’s the solution? Millions are reaching out for food, and the government’s supplies will last at most two months.
In such a short time, even if we manage the spring planting, we won’t see the harvest. Besides, our farmlands have been severely damaged, and most of the land won’t be fit for farming this year.
Our food shortfall this year is estimated to be over 3.16 million tons, and we need at least 5 million tons to thoroughly resolve the refugee crisis and overcome this predicament," Midhat explained.
The British data were not accurate; the number of refugees in the Ottoman Empire was not just the original three million but also included those who were expelled back by Austria.
This number kept increasing every day, and the Vienna Government implemented the repatriation of Ottomans very effectively.
Beyond that, civil wars were also a main reason for the increase in refugees. As rebellions were suppressed, the battling parties created another wave of refugees.
Against such a background, even though many perished over the winter, the total number of refugees still increased.
If someone were to tally, they’d be shocked to find that the number of refugees in the Ottoman Empire had neared 30% of the total population, far above what a normal country could bear.
Hadfao, downcast, said, "The British suggest that we expel those who have lost their livelihoods to Persia to alleviate the domestic food crisis.
Alternatively, establish quarantined zones and separate the refugees, leaving them to fend for themselves."
Midhat was utterly astonished; he had never imagined such actions were possible. Whether expelling them or setting up quarantined zones for refugees to be left to their own fate, either way meant millions would die.
Compared to direct slaughter, these two methods were not fundamentally different, with the only discrepancy perhaps being the avoidance of the reputation of a butcher.
This surpassed what Midhat could bear; the newly seated Grand Vizier retained a shred of conscience.
Always priding himself as the savior of the Ottoman Empire, the idea of decisively sacrificing millions of people posed a significant challenge to him.
…
