Actually, it wasn't that bad at first. Take the Japanese invaders as an example, the signing of the "Beijing Special Article" was simply unreasonable, because the Qing Dynasty actually won the war by itself at that time, and the reason why it won the war was because of the so-called mediation of the great powers.
The reason why the powers mediate is by no means good intentions, but because they are afraid that their own interests will be damaged.
Because at that time, the national policy of the Qing dynasty was to close the country and didn't want to do business with foreign countries at all. At that time, Britain, France and the United States had made some achievements through various means, namely, the trade rights of Kaohsiung, Keelung, Anping and Danshui ports in Taiwan Province Province.
The Japanese invasion of Taiwan Province province made them panic, fearing that the Qing army would close the port under the pretext of war.
The diplomatic envoys of the three countries colluded to put pressure on the Qing government to ensure their own interests, which coincided with Russia's invasion of the border. Because of the weak national strength, I have no time to take care of both land and sea, and finally I agreed to sign the contract under pressure.
The treaty not only recognized the independence of the Ryukyu Kingdom, but also recognized the legitimacy of Japanese aggression. The most enjoyable thing was that it was blackmailed for 502,000 silver. Basically, territory, reputation and interests are lost.
▲ The Japanese army celebrated the occupation of Ryukyu.
It can be seen that it is absurd to hope for mediation with other countries in international disputes. The so-called mediation is actually China's naked oppression, and there is no justice at all.
However, the Qing government obviously didn't learn the lesson, and they became more and more naive in the Sino-Japanese War.
At the beginning of the Sino-Japanese War, the development of the situation gave China enough time to prepare, but the pacifists headed by Cixi and Li Hongzhang hoped that the powers would mediate, and the military generals proposed to occupy favorable terrain, just in case, which was beneficial to the war. Li Hongzhang actually stopped it. He naively believed that as long as the Qing Dynasty didn't go to war first, Japan wouldn't go to war first.
At the same time, Li Hongzhang is among the great powers, and I hope they will come forward to mediate. First of all, Britain's attitude is not clear. Li Hongzhang turned to Russia for help. Japan assured Russia that it would not weaken Russia's interests in North Korea for Russia's non-interference. Russia put down its mind and immediately turned pressure into suggestions, completely changing its attitude.
▲ Li Hongzhang
When Britain saw Li Hongzhang approaching Russia, it turned to Japan to fight against Russia and signed a trade treaty with Japan.
At this point, all China's diplomatic efforts failed, and the deployment of the war began at this time, but it was too late. The Japanese, who had understood the attitudes of all parties, launched a surprise attack, and the Qing army rushed to fight, resulting in losing ground.
Seeing that the war was unfavorable, the imperial court was in danger. Once again, the Qing government turned to the big powers for help, seeking only to quell the war, but no big powers fought for the interests of China. The so-called treaty of shimonoseki is actually a complete acceptance of Japanese conditions.
At this point, China's national strength was damaged and its international status plummeted.
Of course, this belongs to the history of China, but it is also the reality of many countries. Have you noticed that Iraq is a country with large oil reserves, ranking second in the world? In this era of oil everywhere, it could have enjoyed prosperity.
However, for its own interests, the United States spread a large number of chemical and biological weapons out of thin air, joined hands with some countries, and flagrantly launched a war against Iraq. Some Iraqis listened to American lies and cooperated with the United States very much. On the way of the American invasion of Baghdad, there was basically no resistance.
▲ American troops invading Iraq
But what happened? The Americans came and destroyed their old world, but did not build a new one for them.
Ten years after the invasion, not to mention the establishment of a democratic and free country in Iraq, even the normal power supply in Baghdad can not be realized, not to mention the weapons they used destroyed the original ecological environment and the war conflicts that broke out from time to time all over the country.
Do you mean relying on other countries? The United States invaded Iraq without the consent of the United Nations. The United Nations has long declared this war illegal, but so what? No one can do anything about it.
As for other countries that oppose it, what they can do is to continue to help Iraq. The United States alone has invested nearly hundreds of billions of dollars in this war, not to mention other countries.
The destructive power of war is not calculated by input. How much aid can countries that support Iraq give Iraq to repair the war wounds?
▲ Today's broken wall capital of Iraq.
So the best way is to keep all the invaders out of the country, solve the problems in your own country, and never covet other people's paintings.
For a country, it cannot rely on external forces. Tell me about a small country. His name is Nicaragua. Because he accepted the government supported by the Soviet Union during the Cold War and offended the United States, he was retaliated by the United States. The United States sent someone to plant a bomb in its own port.
This is not an accidental underground activity, but a blatant military action that lasted for several years. This can be said to be no different from war.
Nicaragua, because of its weak national strength, could not confront the United States, so it sued the United States in the United Nations International Court of Justice, which accepted it despite the opposition of the United States. After a long investigation, people believe that the situation is true. At Nicaragua's request, it demanded that the United States stop its aggression and compensate for the losses.
▲ The geographical location of Nicaragua
Justice is highlighted here, but what is the situation? Because the International Court of Justice is different from ordinary domestic courts, it has no executive function. Although the judgment has been made, but the United States does not implement it, Nicaragua can only appeal to the United Nations Security Council for a vote.
Unfortunately, since members of the Security Council have the veto power and the United States is a member of the Security Council, things in the United States are simple, so we vetoed it five times in a row with this veto power, and these five times are five years. Nicaragua finally couldn't afford it and finally dropped the lawsuit.
Just like history repeats itself, just like Qing won the war and lost the lawsuit, Nicaragua won the lawsuit and lost its interests, wasting time and energy and getting nothing.
Therefore, the external power of the country either does not exist or is limited. The people of every country must rely on themselves, unite as one, solve their own problems and stand on their own feet in order to stand firm in the international arena.
Because the so-called justice can never be unconditional, it generally only appears between forces with equal strength.