Chapter 113 The Attlee Project

The core of the so-called economic revitalization plan is that the British Empire will never surrender until the blood of India is shed. Of course, this only refers to the part that belongs to the United Kingdom, and there are parts involving other countries.

The European colonial community has hurt the feelings of other regions and peoples too much, and in fact this generalization is wrong.

It just so happened that the countries that the British Empire wanted to contact happened to be colonial countries. In a very coincidental situation, everyone has common interests, so they sat down quietly and talked about how to restore the legal system and order in Europe.

The basis of the economic revitalization plan is the establishment of what Alan Wilson said, the connection between British India and the British-occupied area of ​​Germany, adopting a dual-track price system, restoring and utilizing Germany's industrial strength as soon as possible, supplementing the insufficient production capacity of the British mainland, and utilizing British India The market is a dumping ground for German products.

Of course, in principle, it is not too much for the British Empire to sacrifice its own interests to help Germany recover its vitality, and it is not too much to extract some negligible rewards from it. This is very reasonable.

The United States has not been affected by the war and now has strong funds. The Soviet Union has a vast land and abundant resources, and has an overwhelming advantage in conventional military and administrative power, so for Western European countries, they can only find advantages from themselves.

From Alan Wilson, a civil servant eager to improve, to the cabinet secretary Edward Bridges, and finally to the Prime Minister of the British Empire, Attlee, this European economic revitalization plan, later known as the Attlee Plan, has been published for a long time. Getting closer.

As for Xiao Xiami at the Potsdam Conference, Alan Wilson, the liaison officer of the Ministry of Indian Affairs to British India, conveyed the instructions of Cabinet Secretary Edward Bridges to Sir Barron in New Delhi.

The fall of the Japanese Empire is not far away, although the Soviet Union's war in the Far East has basically nothing to do with the British Empire. But according to some intelligence, the Soviet Union has already attacked Hokkaido.

The part related to the British Empire lies in the battlefields of Southeast Asia, according to the division of the Potsdam Conference. With the exception of the Japanese in the Philippines and North Vietnam, all Japanese soldiers in Southeast Asia, known as the Japanese Southern Army, would surrender to the British Empire.

The surrendered person, Alan Wilson, could figure out with his eyes closed that he must be Pamela Mountbatten's father. Most of the nearly 800,000 Japanese Southern Army will fall into the hands of the British Empire, which is about 500,000 to 600,000 people.

In the telegram to New Delhi, it was stated that in view of the destruction of the Japanese army in Southeast Asia and the idea of ​​participating in post-war reconstruction and atonement, this is not new. There are now 400,000 German soldiers in the UK to repair bridges and roads. What the British Empire is happy to show is the humane treatment of German soldiers in the British-occupied areas of Germany, not the German prisoners in the country. It must show flexibility in moral terms, not pedantry.

After the paragraph about the detainment of Japanese soldiers to participate in the reconstruction, Alan Wilson added the statistics of the population ratio of Chinese and Malays in British Malaya after returning to British Malaya.

Of course, it has not been forgotten that in view of the fact that the Netherlands may not be able to arrive in Jakarta on time, the British army can control the situation in Jakarta first and wait for the Dutch army to arrive before dealing with it.

After the paragraph about the treatment of Japanese prisoners of war, it belongs to Thailand. People in the UK may not understand this point, but the civil servants of British India are very clear about Thailand's role. Sir Barron must be very understanding of Thailand's treatment as a defeated country and some appropriate punishments.

The civil attack and military intimidation against Thailand has begun from now on. Thailand has always had a grudge against France for seizing Laos and Cambodia, two long-term younger brothers of Thailand. In the eyes of many Thais who care about politics, the imperialist countries are Britain and France, and have nothing to do with Japan.

However, the enemy that punishes Thailand is not Japan, but the United States, which appears as its current ally. The pro-Japanese Luang Phibun government fell and was replaced by a civilian government.

All this has a lot to do with the "Free Thai Movement" launched by the ambassador to the United States.

Thailand gave up the northern Malays and Shan State allocated by Japan, and was willing to repay the loss of British and American interests in Thailand during the war.

Coupled with the fact that Luang Phibun itself was the tyrant who expelled the seventh and manipulated the eighth, the US government stated that this military government could not represent the Thai people, and advocated giving up further liquidation of Thailand. The interest behind this is that further punishment of Thailand will only make Britain bigger in Southeast Asia. The United States needs a Thailand that can check and balance the British and French colonial systems and has a deep impression on itself.

Alan Wilson has stated clearly in the telegram that the new Prime Minister Attlee's attitude towards British India is not as tough as Prime Minister Churchill, and once he judges that he cannot suppress the wave of resistance in British India, he may abandon British India.

Then the next 100,000 civil servants in British India will become unemployed overnight. The British mainland cannot accept so many civil servants, so whether it can cede land from Thailand is related to the potential of British Malaya in the future.

In the telegram, it was stated that the seriousness of the matter was related to the reemployment of 100,000 civil servants. I believe Sir Barron would take it to heart, and now that the war is not over, it is a good opportunity to strike in the name of liquidating Japan.

In fact, in the last few days of the Potsdam Conference, the representatives of various countries had nothing to talk about. Specifically, on the British side, Prime Minister Attlee, who has always wanted to save costs and restore local prosperity, has not met face to face in recent days. The dealings with the United States and the Soviet Union were all handed over to Churchill, who had no official position but only a consultant title.

Prime Minister Attlee himself discussed the post-war economic recovery plan with Cabinet Secretary Edward Bridges. Specifically, the European Colonial Community.

"France, Holland, Belgium, Spain, Portugal." Attlee was talking about the surviving colonial empires in Europe, and at the same time, he was very interested in the dual price system in which Britain dominated the German-occupied areas and British India.

"Will this arouse the dissatisfaction of the Germans?" Attlee had some doubts, the world hegemon still wanted face.

"The Germans have lost everything, and they are lucky to be alive now. Compared with the prisoner-of-war camps in the Rhine River camp and the no-man's land in Siberia, what else can the Germans be dissatisfied with?" Edward Bridges said earlier Prepared, he said, "I'm saying it's temporary, it's good for British India, it's good for Germany, and it's appropriate but insignificant for the British Empire."

"Then let's find an opportunity to talk to the French. If the French are dealt with, the problems of other countries are not big." Prime Minister Attlee nodded, officially approving the economic revitalization plan, "Arrange a time, let's talk together .Hey, how do we get the French on our side?"

"You can support the French to return to Asia. They are going to do so. I believe that the support for the British Empire will not be rejected." Edward Bridges sincerely gave suggestions.