Unexpected Incident

The incident escalated far too quickly, leaving the political leaders of every European nation stunned. The negotiations had broken down so fast—this was completely against the usual script!

Under normal circumstances, shouldn't they argue for several months first, wait until their war preparations were complete and public sentiment had been stirred up, and only then officially fall out?

Mediation was necessary. Even if only to make their presence felt, they had to take a stance.

Before April had even ended, the Vienna Government had received diplomatic notes from more than a dozen countries, all calling for calm and peace.

Perhaps moved by everyone's sincerity, the Vienna Government made concessions and decided to resume the second round of negotiations on April 29, 1882. However, it politely declined the international mediation proposed by the various countries.

Affected by the tense situation in the Near East, Sir Gladstone, hailed as Britain's greatest prime minister, could no longer remain composed.

Gladstone said, "Gentlemen, the situation is already very clear. The Austrian Government has made up its mind to launch a war. The massacre incident is merely an excuse.

"From Britain's standpoint, I do not wish to see anything that disrupts stability in the Near East. Unfortunately, France is in the midst of a civil war, so even if we wanted to intervene, we could not.

"What we must discuss today is this: after the great upheaval in the Near East, how can we ensure that Britain's interests do not suffer?"

Foreign Secretary George said, "Being affected is inevitable. At the very least, our interests in the Ottoman Empire are doomed to go unprotected.

"If all we wanted was to compensate for the losses caused by the war, we could still exchange interests with Austria.

"However, I do not recommend doing so. From the