Chapter 1429 De Gaulle Died of Illness

In the short term, the UK should do two things. The first is to promote the reconstruction of Bangladesh and use the demand brought by reconstruction to increase currency circulation and production in the pound area. Then he was waiting for the opportunity to return to the traditional market. For this reason, Alan Wilson really got in touch with South Korea through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to discuss earning pounds.

Forget it about Scam Island. After all, blood is thicker than water. Don’t bother people with such hard work. Koreans feel a little more at ease when using it.

A relatively large project that South Korea needed in particular at this time. As the United States gradually withdrew its troops from South Vietnam and handed the war back to the South Vietnamese government, the weight of the South Korean army was also decreasing.

It is said that the South Vietnamese government may be reluctant to reduce the number of US troops, but it definitely does not treat the Koreans this way. I wish these two devils would get out of here.

Under the leadership of Park Chung-hee, South Korea has initially solved the problem of food and clothing, but it is still one dimension away from the miracle on the Han River, and the starting capital for heavy industry is also far behind. Originally, at this time, South Korea had already tied with North Korea. The only difference was the gap between rich and poor in South Korea due to its system. People at the bottom may not be as good as North Korea.

But now it is obviously a long way to go to catch up with North Korea. In order to quickly pull Bangladesh out, Alan Wilson deprived millions of Korean workers of their jobs in the Middle East. Think about whether Koreans need the opportunity to work in Bangladesh. The treatment may not be comparable to that in the Middle East, but at least you can earn foreign exchange.

Alan Wilson would never default on the wages. Even if the printing factory was allowed to work for two more days, the Bangladeshis would have to repay the debt to the British in the end anyway, so it was not a special loss.

The second thing is the follow-up of the shipbuilding plan. When Harold Wilson said in a resolute manner in the House of Commons, "We will not ignore national security and pursue the so-called false and blind economy! Bangladesh!" What happened proved that the Royal Navy will still have to shoulder a huge role in the future, working with our American allies to maintain peace in the world's oceans."

When he said this, it showed that this shipbuilding plan had gained support in the parliament.

Of course, this is not the same shipbuilding plan at the beginning. It is impossible not to be cut off at all. The plan for a 10,000-ton cruiser and a 5,000-ton frigate has become a plan for an 8,000-ton destroyer and a 4,000-ton frigate. Not to mention that the Labor government has an advantage in this matter.

Regardless of how much it has achieved, the Labor government has indeed been clamoring to control military spending. It seems that controlling military spending has become one of the Labor Party's signatures. When the Labor government launched its shipbuilding plan, the Conservatives had nothing to say.

"Eighteen destroyers, twenty-six frigates." Alan Wilson, holding the fruits of his hard work, looked up at Frank, the permanent undersecretary of the Ministry of Finance, wondering why this god of wealth came to visit.

Could it be that the Ministry of Finance has a problem with spending? After all, it is the Treasury's money, so it is normal to have opinions, but Alan Wilson will definitely not listen to such opinions.

"The Chancellor of Finance is not very satisfied with the content of the financial summit. Washington does intend to increase the proportion of the yen in the world. You once said that this was possible, and you were right." Frank frowned and referred to Finance Minister Callahan. The dissatisfaction at this summit was revealed.

"It turns out that this is what happened. I thought the Prime Minister was assassinated." Alan Wilson raised his eyebrows and said in an unsurprising tone, "We firmly disagree. Why does Japan? What does Japan have to support the yen? Things? The poor food self-sufficiency rate, or the local natural resources that can only be used as specimens. If you ask me whether Bangladesh has more natural resources or Japan has more natural resources, I may not even answer you. Even the Americans can't find it. Reason, you still want us to agree.”

It has to be said that during the Cold War, the United States was indeed no worse than the Soviet Union in the field of benefits. It did give up its own market to support Japan for a long time, and even Israel expressed dissatisfaction.

But Japan’s foundation is there, and economic development is not a one-way road. There will be times when development is good and there will be times when it is not. This hope cannot be placed on the conscience of the United States.

When the United States' own situation is good, other countries can drink some soup. If it itself has problems, it will be good if it does not kill you and eat meat.

Otherwise, when the Soviet Union was about to lose its hold, Britain, France, and Italy all took the initiative to offer benefits. As long as the Cold War persisted, economic support would be easy to negotiate.

Frank hesitated to speak, and finally said with a wry smile, "You don't agree with this, so you won't agree with the other suggestion from the United States. Washington believes that the U.S. dollar and the pound can be pegged to a fixed exchange rate to highlight the special relationship between Britain and the United States. "

Alan Wilson took a tactic back and said in confusion, "In other words, the United States is considering annexing the pound area to solve the problem of excessive currency issuance? I think it is better to talk to the French first."

"Maybe we can talk. I heard that President de Gaulle is not in good health." Frank shrugged, "De Gaulle has not appeared in public recently."

"Who has presided over the government operations for de Gaulle recently?" Alan Wilson asked with a straight face. He was indeed very concerned about this issue. He could not care less about France if he did not care about anyone.

This person was originally Pompidou in history, but the identity of Pompidou's successor to Charles de Gaulle was not due to his own cancer. As a result, it was leaked by the Cabinet Secretary-General who did not want to be named. As a result, it became a bubble and the existence of the French Prime Minister was lost. Not high, I don’t know who he is now.

"Pierre Mesmer, he has been attending events in place of de Gaulle recently." Frank answered directly, and then introduced this man's resume.

Pierre Mesmer became a senior civil servant before the war, serving as a doctor of law in the colonial administration. After the outbreak of World War II, he served as a lieutenant in the 12th Regiment of the Senegalese Light Infantry and refused to surrender after the defeat of France.

After that, he took a boat to London to join the Free French troops and served as a member of the 13th Brigade of the French Foreign Legion. He participated in various battles in Eritrea, Syria, and Libya, as well as the battles of Bir Hakeim and Tunisia, and the Battle of El Alamein in Egypt. He was one of the first followers of General de Gaulle to oppose German aggression.

His resume after the war was relatively simple. For a long time, he was very similar to Alan Wilson. He served as governor and high commissioner in major French colonies for about ten years.

After listening to Frank's words, Alan Wilson suddenly became more fond of the French Prime Minister out of thin air. He directly picked up the phone and asked MI6 to send the photos. There were so many similarities between the two people's experiences, at least. We can expect that the perspective on overseas interests should be similar.

"Dear Foreign Secretary, if you have time, oh, that's great, how about we talk about it?" Alan Wilson took the resume of the French Prime Minister and stared at the photo for a long time. Judging from his appearance, he matched the appearance of a generational hero.

During the critical period when de Gaulle disappeared, Britain always had to be prepared. After all, France was Britain's most important neighbor, and they still had to cover each other when facing many problems.

In the eyes of Alan Wilson, the efforts of the French after the war are certainly worthy of respect. If France had not lost Algeria and its base in Europe was a little smaller, making it very difficult to face the United States, it might have been possible to come out on its own. line of great power.

Now that Algeria is firmly under control, France's united front value is significantly higher. In this way, on issues that may harm the interests of both Britain and France, the two countries will have a higher success rate in jointly facing problems.

The UK and France are very similar in one respect. Although both countries are important members of the European Community, their trade in Europe is less than 50%. France’s control over the franc zone is greater than the UK’s control over the pound zone. The franc zone countries alone account for 50% of their trade with France, and the rest is trade with other countries.

The trade in the pound area is obviously more diversified. After all, Australia and New Zealand have long been independent. Canada does not belong to the pound area at all, but only recognizes the value of the pound as part of its foreign exchange reserves.

"I have also noticed President de Gaulle's physical condition. In fact, many countries are very concerned about it, but they just don't show it." Foreign Secretary Patrick heard the question about De Gaulle and immediately answered, "France is our most important neighbor. De Gaulle The president is also loved."

"What the minister said makes sense." Alan Wilson added, "Especially since France's strength has not been reduced much, and half of Africa is still under France's influence. The British Empire respects powerful countries, and sometimes it can even Respect India."

When it comes to the issue of the Japanese yen, Britain and France must take a firm stance. If necessary, they can release the Mark to break the bonds between Japan and Germany, but the Japanese yen must not be released. It is a country completely controlled by the United States, even if the Japanese Prime Minister Being destroyed is not surprising.

"AFP reported that President Charles de Gaulle passed away early this morning." Then the news began to broadcast de Gaulle's life in memory. He was not only a national hero in the eyes of the French people, but also a father worthy of praise.

At a critical moment in history that was related to the survival of the country, he stood at the forefront of the struggle and made important contributions to the victory of the war and the liberation of France.

It is hard to imagine that the death of a French president from illness would be so popular in the UK, but that is the fact. As the last of the European and American wartime leaders to die of illness, he attracted the attention of the world. Harold Wilson was the first It was immediately decided that he would attend de Gaulle's funeral.

"I believe that there are many leaders who have made the same decision as the Prime Minister." Alan Wilson looked serious. This time he was definitely not pretending to be serious, but sincerely. After the war, France's foundation was much worse than that of Britain. Its ability to achieve today's momentum has a huge relationship with de Gaulle.

France has been in a weak position in the relationship between Britain and France since at least forty years ago. In fact, France relied on Britain's relationship, but this relationship ended when de Gaulle came to power. The current equality of Anglo-French relations is entirely due to de Gaulle. In fact, if it had not been for Alan Wilson, the Anglo-French relations during the Cold War would have been the result of Britain's initiative to ask France not to shut Britain out of the European Community.