More than a hundred people gathered beneath the Foreign Ministry building, pulling out the banners they had prepared long ago and shouting, "Protest!" "Protest!"...
Inside the building, reporters from countries across Europe were still waiting for the conference results. At this moment, they all turned to watch the spectacle. The photographers hurriedly adjusted their cameras, preparing to capture this historic scene.
Without the slightest hesitation, Wessenberg immediately ordered a crackdown. Upon receiving the order, the police who had rushed over wasted no words, charging straight in with batons and dispersing the demonstrators at top speed.
The protesters were gone, but Austria's face had been thoroughly disgraced as well. This premeditated demonstration had thrown the international conference into an awkward position.
The Italians' protest could not affect the outcome of the conference. With France and Austria sharing the same position, the assembly swiftly passed a new international law dividing regions according to cultural traditions.
To a certain extent, this law was also beneficial to the United Kingdom. They could use it as grounds to bring English-speaking regions into their sphere of influence.
Great powers, after all, usually had little shame. Even this international convention could be interpreted in many different ways; these loopholes had been deliberately left behind.
Whenever necessary, they could interpret it in whatever way best suited their own interests and thereby reap the greatest benefits.
International conventions had always applied one standard to great powers and another to small countries. If stretched far enough, they could even become one of the legal foundations for colonialism.
The objective had been achieved, yet Wessenberg could not feel happy in the slightest. The sudden appearance of the protesters had badly damaged the Vienna Government's reputation.
Keeping it secret was impossible. So many national representatives were present, along with reporters from Europe's