June 1902.
Caracas, the capital of Venezuela.
"Return the 'Queen' to the United Kingdom immediately and release the crew."
"This is impossible. They are suspected of colluding with the rebels. We will neither return the 'Queen' nor release the crew until the investigation is completed."
"President Castro!"
"Don't you understand even after I've said this much? The Venezuelan government will never yield to the pressure from the United Kingdom."
"The British Empire will never tolerate such behavior of the Venezuelan government!"
"Oh, is that so?"
President Cipriano Castro of Venezuela responded to the British ambassador's protest in a cold tone.
There was an obvious lack of respect for the other party in his attitude.
This "dictator" of Venezuela had no intention of listening to the other party's opinion from the very beginning.
The British ambassador felt a surge of anger and issued an ultimatum to Castro.
"Fine. If you insist on this, then I'll leave. But you'd better remember that the British Empire will never tolerate such an insult!"
"..."
Bang!
The British ambassador, still seething with anger, slammed the door of the office so hard that it seemed as if he was going to break it.
Watching this scene, President Castro unhappily put a cigar in his mouth.
"Damn imperialists."
Castro frowned and murmured in a low voice.
Whether they were the British or the Germans, these European imperialists were extremely detestable.
It had been more than seventy years since Venezuela gained independence from Spain under the leadership of Simón Bolívar.
However, the Europeans still arbitrarily manipulated Venezuela with the power of money.
"This country belongs to me, not to them!"
Castro's anger towards the European imperialists reached its peak when the famous Venezuelan banker Manuel Antonio Matos incited a rebellion in an attempt to overthrow him.
Of course, this was not because Castro was at a disadvantage in the civil war against the rebels.
Although the rebels had an advantage in numbers, Castro instead had an overwhelming advantage over them.
This was because Castro's army was equipped with German-made Mauser rifles and Krupp cannons, while the rebels' weapons and equipment were very rudimentary.
"Although these Germans are arrogant and detestable, their weapons are really powerful."
However, these weapons were ultimately bought from the Germans with borrowed money.
And the debt was exactly the problem.
Before Castro came to power, Venezuela had constantly clashed with the Germans and the British over debt repayment issues.
Over the past decade, due to the continuous civil war, Venezuela had failed to repay its foreign debts on schedule.
"Why should I pay off these debts?"
However, if the Europeans had merely demanded the repayment of debts, Castro wouldn't have been so tough.
The greed of the European imperialists went far beyond that.
The Europeans, including those from Germany and the United Kingdom, also demanded that the Venezuelan government and Castro compensate their own citizens who had suffered losses during the civil war.
Using the excuse that "the war between Castro and the rebels had caused losses to the kind-hearted Europeans," they claimed that Venezuela must be responsible for compensating these losses.
"Why should I give them money!"
Castro had no intention at all of compensating the Europeans who had suffered losses in the war against the rebels.
As for the troublesome repayment of foreign debts, he was even less interested.
However, the Europeans kept putting pressure on Venezuela to repay its debts, and the great leader of Venezuela, Cipriano Castro, finally had to make a decision to "save" the country.
"From now on, I, Cipriano Castro, and the Venezuelan government, refuse to repay all debts to Europe!"
Castro announced to European countries such as Germany and the United Kingdom the suspension of the repayment of foreign debts and flatly rejected the Europeans' demand for compensation for the losses caused by the Venezuelan civil war. This undoubtedly enraged Germany, which had made a large number of investments in Venezuela, and the United Kingdom, which had lent a huge sum of money to Venezuela.
This reaction was predictable. How could these imperialist friends stand idly by when such a small country like Venezuela was trying to renege on its debts? The German and British merchants, seeing that their money was going down the drain, rushed to Berlin and London respectively, demanding that their respective governments take action against Venezuela's refusal to repay its debts.
This was the beginning of the Venezuelan debt crisis.
At first, however, the attitudes of Germany and the United Kingdom were not tough. The two governments initially requested mediation of the Venezuelan issue through the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague, attempting to solve the problem in a mild way. However, just like a madman who dared to provoke both the British Empire and the German Empire at the same time, Castro completely ignored these requests and publicly gave the middle finger to the European imperialists.
Germany and the United Kingdom finally couldn't bear it any longer and their anger erupted. At this time, the Kingdom of Italy, which had also suffered losses due to Castro's defaulting on debts, joined in, plunging Venezuela into an unprecedented crisis of facing the military pressure from Germany, the United Kingdom, and Italy simultaneously.
Even so, Castro was still complacent.
His confidence was not without basis. Although the Europeans had dispatched several warships to be stationed along the Venezuelan coast, they didn't take any substantial action. More precisely, they couldn't take action.
"Your Excellency, the Plenipotentiary Ambassador Herbert Bowen has arrived."
Upon hearing the secretary's announcement, Castro immediately stood up and tidied up his slightly messy clothes. His attitude was completely different from when he had faced the angry British ambassador just now. However, there was a reason for his polite behavior.
Herbert Bowen was the special envoy sent by US President Theodore Roosevelt to Venezuela and also the US Plenipotentiary Ambassador. And the reason why Castro dared to oppose Germany and the United Kingdom and remain calm was precisely because of his presence.
"Ah, Ambassador Bowen, you've come."
"President Castro, what on earth are you doing!"
"What do you mean?"
"The matter of seizing the British ship! Do you really want to go to war with the United Kingdom?!"
Ambassador Bowen shouted with his eyes wide open in anger. However, Castro just shrugged his shoulders and looked completely indifferent.
"That ship is suspected of supporting the rebels. We seized it just for investigation, and this is completely within Venezuela's legitimate rights."
This was simply being unreasonable. If such an excuse could convince the British Empire, the Opium War wouldn't have broken out back then. However, even though Ambassador Bowen gritted his teeth in anger at Castro, he was helpless.
"Besides, the United Kingdom will never declare a full-scale war on Venezuela. You know this very well, Ambassador. Because of the existence of the Monroe Doctrine, if it attacks Venezuela, it can't avoid the intervention of the United States."
"President Castro! The Monroe Doctrine is not meant to indulge your crazy behavior!"
"But the fact is that as long as the United States doesn't allow it, Europe can't interfere in American affairs. After all, we, Venezuela, are located on the 'American continent', aren't we? Hahaha!"
"You bastard...!"
The Monroe Doctrine.
Even in the 21st century, it is still a traditional foreign policy of the United States. In simple terms, the United States means that the Americas are its territory, and the European powers should stay away.
When the Monroe Doctrine was first proposed, the United States was just a weak country that had just gained independence from the United Kingdom, and even the White House had been burned down. So, no powerful country cared about it. But now, the situation is different.
Although the United States is still not as powerful as the European powers, it has become the overlord of the Americas and possesses great economic and industrial strength, and is just one step away from surpassing the British Empire. Therefore, it is obviously not worth it for Germany and the United Kingdom to risk a full-scale conflict with the United States for the sake of Venezuela. And this has also become the capital for Castro to act with impunity.
Of course, the United States doesn't like Castro's wanton behavior.
Although the United Kingdom and Germany are afraid of the United States, conversely, the United States also has scruples about the United Kingdom and Germany, which respectively have the world's strongest navy and army.
Therefore, in the original history, when the United Kingdom, Germany, and Italy jointly blockaded the waters of Venezuela, although the United States received an urgent request for help from Castro, it clearly stated that as long as the powers didn't directly occupy Venezuelan territory, it wouldn't be considered a violation of the Monroe Doctrine.
The United States just spoke out as the hegemon of the Americas, warning Germany and the United Kingdom that if they took this opportunity to plunder Venezuelan territory or seek special privileges, the United States wouldn't stand idly by.
However, the actions of the United States at this time seem to be slightly different from history.
"Then, when will the gift that President Roosevelt promised to send arrive?"
"Just be patient. There's no use in rushing."
"Okay, it doesn't matter. It will take at least a few months for the European imperialists to take formal action."
Castro stared at the tired expression of Ambassador Bowen, who was sighing, and slowly exhaled a ring of cigar smoke. There was a cunning smile on his face that made Ambassador Bowen not know whether to laugh or cry.
...
[Venezuela seizes the British ship "Queen"! Will the United Kingdom eventually draw its sword against Venezuela?]
"Crazy man."
Hans murmured to himself as he looked at the morning newspaper.
The dictator of Venezuela, Cipriano Castro, had caused a major incident.
It was understandable for the United Kingdom to seize Venezuelan ships, as this was a common practice of the United Kingdom.
But Venezuela actually dared to seize a British ship!
Hans, who knew about the United Kingdom's common use of double standards, no matter how he looked at it, Castro didn't seem like a person with a clear mind.
Moreover, it wasn't just the United Kingdom that had a conflict with Venezuela.
At this time, Venezuela had serious frictions not only with the United Kingdom but also with Germany, and even Italy, which was caught in the middle.
The German Empire, the British Empire, the Kingdom of Italy.
If he were the leader of Venezuela, making just one of these countries an enemy would probably be a situation that would make him consider "suicide", and yet Castro had made all three of these countries his enemies at the same time.
How on earth did he plan to end this?
"Ah, it turns out that in history, he couldn't end it either..."
This was also one of the reasons why Cipriano Castro was rated as one of the worst leaders in Venezuelan history.
Of course, even without the Venezuelan crisis, as a typical dictator of a South American military government, he could never have received any good reviews.
Dong dong——
"Your Lordship, Chancellor Bülow is here."
"The Chancellor is here?"
Upon hearing that Bülow was here, Hans couldn't help tilting his head.
Bülow came to see me on purpose? It really puzzles me.
Since Hans returned from Russia, he had been living a very low-key and quiet life.
Anyway, since the Chancellor had come, Hans couldn't turn him away.
Scratching his head, Hans went to greet Chancellor Bülow.
However, the moment he saw Bülow, he heard something completely beyond his expectations.
"Please persuade His Majesty."
"What?"
Suddenly being asked to persuade Wilhelm II, what on earth was going on?
Looking at Chancellor Bülow with a puzzled expression, Hans asked,
"Persuade? Persuade him about what?"
"The issue of Venezuela. It's about the issue of Venezuela."
"Venezuela?"
Bülow nodded seriously.
Of course, Hans already knew that the German Empire was also involved in the Venezuelan crisis.
But he didn't care too much about it, because in the original history, the outcome of the Venezuelan crisis was that Venezuela couldn't withstand the naval blockade by the United Kingdom, Germany, and Italy, and it requested mediation from the United States. In the end, the three countries of the United Kingdom, Germany, and Italy accepted the mediation, and the crisis was successfully resolved.
But now he was actually asked to persuade the Emperor about the Venezuelan issue?
Given Chancellor Bülow's usual attitude towards him, he usually just regarded Hans as a "somewhat useful troublesome kid". This request of his was quite unexpected.
"Could you please explain the situation in detail?"
It seemed that he had to listen to what Bülow really wanted to say.