The Sino-Japanese War was a very important event for us in history; it not only interrupted the process of China's attempts to modernize in modern times, but also set off a frenzy of imperialist division of China at that time, and the German, Russian, French, British, and other powers raced around in China and forcibly occupied some areas as their sphere of influence.
At this time, the new Italian kingdom in Europe, seeing that China was weak and deceitful, also wanted to share a piece of the pie, so it began their comical performance in China.
It was not until 1861 that the Kingdom of Italy was formed on the Apennine Peninsula, led by the Kingdom of Sardinia, and in 1970, Italy was unified. Since then, ambitious Italians have begun to look around the world to see where they can put a foot in and show their strength.
In 1895, the Qing government lost to Japan, and the Italian cabinet began to test whether it could get a leased land in China. At that time, the Italian chargé d'affaires in China was still a person who understood and knew the weight of his country, and he dissuaded this matter, thinking that it would be better to talk about this matter in the future. The matter ended with the collapse of the Cabinet.
But this matter has been remembered in the end, and when the new cabinet comes to power, the matter of occupying land in China will be in full swing. After repeated discussions by the Italian government, they set their sights on Sanmen Bay in Zhejiang.
As for the reasons why the Italians chose this place, there are only two points: one is military value, and the other is economic value. Sanmen Bay's superior harbor conditions and rich resources make it of great military and economic value, making Italy salivate and bent on getting Sanmen Bay.
The desire for Sanmen Bay, in addition to participating in China's carve-up frenzy to show national strength and use it as a window for eastern expansion, also has the meaning of Italy passing on the domestic crisis. After the unification of Italy, it also completed the industrial revolution, but it was much behind the developed countries in Europe. The gap between the north and the south of the country also grew, and in addition to catching up with the industrial crisis, the domestic crisis reached its peak in 1894. In order to divert internal contradictions, Italy began the road of colonization. However, the fiasco in Ethiopia in 1895 temporarily curbed its ambitions. But then the revolution in Milan in 1898 led the rulers to pick up the colonial strategy of passing on contradictions, this time targeting China.
Thus, in February 1899, three Italian warships sailed to China with their ambitions and dreams. According to their assumptions, as soon as the warship arrives, the note will be handed over. The Great Qing Dynasty would obediently comply and present Sanmen Bay with both hands. When the note from the Italian minister was submitted, the prime minister did not look at it and returned unchanged. This made the Italian minister angry, and he didn't know what was going on.
In fact, before this, France had revealed Italy's intentions to China, and China more or less knew that although Italy was a European foreigner, its strength was actually not very good, so it had the matter of returning the note. However, this matter was contrary to diplomatic etiquette after all, so under the mediation of Britain and Germany, the Qing government asked for the note to be read back, and sent someone to apologize to the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, but rejected Italy's unreasonable demands.
Out of the consideration of safeguarding their own interests, the European powers also secretly instigated the Qing government to confront Italy. In this regard, the Qing government first had confidence, and second, it also understood italy's strength, so it did not give in to negotiations. Enraged, Italy sent a telegram to its minister in China in March asking him to send an ultimatum to China, replying within four days. But then, Italy assessed internally that it did not currently have the conditions to go to war with China, so it sent a telegram asking its minister to suspend the submission of the ultimatum.
But strangely enough, the order in which the two telegrams were received was mistaken, which made a big joke in the history of world diplomacy. On March 10, Italy issued an ultimatum to China, and the warship sailed into Sanmen Bay, ready to be forcibly seized. Whoever thought that the Chinese government had already reached a consensus and would never agree to Italy's unreasonable demands, the navy also asked Empress Dowager Cixi for war, and the governors everywhere also actively prepared for war, so the Chinese government officially rejected Italy's ultimatum.
This time Italy was dumbfounded, did not expect to play big, fake it came true. But no matter what, it is absolutely impossible to fight. Italy hastened to send a telegram to its minister to show China that there was no such thing as an extortion, and withdrew the ultimatum. On March 12, the Italian minister was recalled to the country for cross-examination, and the storm in Sanmen Bay came to an end. But Italy's ultimatum was withdrawn as a joke in the European media.
After this, Italy did not give up its covetousness for Sanmen Bay, and after the cabinet was reorganized, they sent additional warships to China in an attempt to force China to submit by force. Italy claimed that if China did not use Sanmen Bay to deal with Italy, it would have to set aside another land for Italy, and at the same time promised not to hand over Sanmen Bay to other countries, as well as to build railways and mine mines. However, the Chinese side did not give in at all, and also put on a posture of preparing for battle, which made Italy in a dilemma, did not dare to fight, could not retreat, and dragged until August when the logistics of the fleet were insufficient, and the fleet had to withdraw.
In order to save some face, Italy proposed that it was enough to obtain a coal refueling station along the coast, but the Qing government also ruthlessly refused this minimum request, and Empress Dowager Cixi said at the court meeting that not a handful of loess would be given to the Italians. In October, the Italians, who had nothing to do, had to abandon any demands on the Chinese coast and returned home in ashes.
In the Sanmen Bay incident, the confident Italian did not expect to kick the iron plate, and also made an international joke, which was really humiliating to lose home. There are roughly two reasons for their failure, one is their lack of strength, and the other is the covert interference of the European powers, which has led to the chinese government's tough confrontation with them. But in the final analysis, it is mainly a problem of Italy's own strength, and if you want to do something beyond your own ability, you can't fail.