Chapter 524: Attitude Towards Germany
After being slapped in the face by the representatives of Britain, France and Australia, the islanders have completely lost their voice in this meeting.
It is not an exaggeration to say that the islanders are only a joke in this meeting. They can do nothing and dare not do anything except hiding in the dark and breathing alone.
At this time, the island representatives are already very excited. On the one hand, they complain and hate the indifference of the Americans, and on the other hand, they are also afraid of the reaction at home. After all, the island country has very high expectations for the development of the navy. The famous 88 plan has proved that the island government attaches great importance to the navy.
If it is finally exchanged for a relatively low naval size limit, it will be a heavy blow to the island government. No one can guarantee what the fate of the island representatives who led to this result will be.
The face of the island representative at this time is ashen. If he had known that this would be the outcome, he would never regard this meeting as his touchstone, let alone think that this meeting would make him the new foreign minister of the island.
Now, let alone foreign minister, it is a question whether he can continue his political career.
The representative of the island country, Inoue Sanken, even began to complain about the extreme forces in the country. If the domestic government had not been too radical and offended almost all the powerful countries, the current situation of the island country would not have been so bad.
Now, the army and navy will face greater restrictions, which is a burden that the island country cannot bear, and will also have a huge impact on the island country's future development and plans.
After the island people shut up, the progress of the meeting became much smoother.
Most other countries want to save face, and except for their own vital interests, they basically will not stand up and refute the British openly.
After all, the name of the Royal Navy of the British Empire is too loud, even France, which is currently the second in the world in comprehensive strength, will not easily anger the British.
The harmony of most European and American countries makes the previous island people look like a jumping clown.
After all, the island country is the only Asian power participating in the meeting, and its relations with other countries are not very good.
On this basis, even European countries with some conflicts will basically turn their guns around and target the island country intentionally or unintentionally.
Who made the relationship between European countries too complicated? There are countless examples of enemies one second and allies the next. This complex relationship is simply incomprehensible to the islanders.
After discussions among many countries, it was unanimously agreed that the three factors of land area, industrial scale and economic level would be the prerequisites for determining the final naval size and proportion of each country.
The proposal put forward by the islanders to refer to the current military strength was rejected unanimously, because doing so would lead to a new round of naval arms competition. After all, no country wants its navy to lag behind other countries, so expanding its own armaments has become inevitable.
This is a meeting on limiting military strength, so it is naturally impossible to adopt such a proposal to promote military expansion.
The three factors of land area, economy and industry are not good news for island countries, and they are basically the weaknesses of island countries.
At the final vote, the representatives of the island countries looked ashen, but had to raise their hands.
Because the eyes of the representatives of Britain, France and Australia have been on him, as long as he does not raise his hand, I believe that the doubts of the representatives of the three countries will follow.
No one knows how the island country representatives communicated with the island country government, but this reference condition for determining the size and proportion of the navies of various countries is a heavy blow to the island country.
You know, the island country government is far from being so calm. Unlike other powerful countries, the island country's military strength is actually very excessive. A country with underdeveloped industry and economy supports an army of the size of a powerful country, which is bound to cause many problems.
For example, the contradiction between the army and navy of the island country, even agreed that the two sides would not intermarry or make friends, and even the screw models in the weapon supply must be different.
The contradiction between the army and navy of the island country can even be traced back to the shogunate period, the contradiction between Choshu and Satsuma.
During the anti-shogunate movement, Choshu and Satsuma formed the Satsuma Alliance and successfully returned power to the emperor, which also led to most officials in the cabinet government coming from these two clans.
Although they worked together for the emperor, the forces representing the two clans were always accompanied by friction.
At the beginning of the Meiji Restoration, the island nation focused on developing modern army and navy forces. Choshu Domain established an army school, where talents trained mainly served the army, while Satsuma Domain specialized in naval construction, and the navy was mainly composed of Satsuma Domain samurai.
The contradiction between the two domains was also smoothly transferred to the army and navy of the island nation, and has continued to this day, and even intensified.
As a country with a small land area, coupled with the very limited mineral resources, the island nation's investment in military affairs is limited.
However, the army and navy of the island nation are both of the scale of great powers, and both require a very high budget and a lot of investment.
The struggle for budget every year has deepened the contradiction between the army and navy of the island nation, and even evolved into open difficulties.
This is incredible to others. As a country's military force, it actually makes things difficult for each other openly, and even the whole country is not surprised or surprised by this.
This is actually due to the ambition of the island country in developing its military strength. When developing modern military power, the island country referred to the development of the British navy and the French army.
The problem is that the two countries are completely different in terms of the army and navy. One advocates emphasizing the navy over the army, and the other advocates emphasizing the army over the navy.
The army and navy of the island country are deeply influenced by these two military development ideas. It would be strange if they could see eye to eye with each other.
In normal times, such a terminal may not be a big deal. After all, the military budget of the island country can still be guaranteed. It's nothing more than which side suffers a little loss and grabs it back the next year.
But the problem is that this naval meeting is no joke. In the next many years, it is destined to form a huge restriction on the development of military power.
Neither the army nor the navy of the island country is willing to be the one who suffers the most losses.
Although it seems that the island government is fighting for more shares, it is actually a struggle between the army and the navy.
For the island government, this is destined to be a sleepless night.
The result of the meeting is destined to intensify the contradictions between the army and the navy of the island country. In addition to appeasing the army and navy, how to deal with the current diplomatic dilemma of the island country, that is, the lack of any international support, is also a headache for the island government.
The naval meeting continued for a few more days, but things were not so efficient.
Representatives from various countries gathered together, tasting fine wine from time to time, and holding a few dances. It seemed that they were not here for diplomacy, but for romance.
The mood of the island representatives was not so beautiful. The next day after the meeting, they said goodbye to the host Britain and hurried back to deal with domestic affairs.
However, the British did not care. After all, the next protagonist was not an islander, and they did not care about the whereabouts of the islanders.
After a few days of relaxation, the meeting finally ended. However, representatives of several powers stayed for a few days at the request of the British because there was another confidential meeting to be held.
This meeting was about the reduction of German war reparations proposed by the British before.
As time entered 1920, the situation of the Germans was not very good, and the development of the country was a mess.
To be more serious, the economic problems of the Germans may threaten the whole of Europe at any time. After all, Germany's cheap industrial products are not only enjoyed by one country, but have been sold to many countries including Britain, France and Italy, filling most of the European market.
Because of the strong demands of the victorious countries, Germany's attitude towards reparations has been very sincere since the defeat.
All German people, including the Junker nobles who were very prosperous before the war, are tightening their belts to live. Most industrial products are used to repay debts, and a small number of industrial products are used to exchange for raw materials. The living supplies in Germany cannot even be guaranteed.
After William II was re-elected as the German Emperor, in order to stabilize the country, he did not take any measures to the domestic political situation, but put the primary goal on saving the German economy.
William II successively issued instructions on banning the use of luxury goods and imported goods to minimize Germany's foreign exchange consumption.
But the primary crisis facing Germany is actually huge inflation.
Inflation turned Germany's official currency, the mark, into waste paper overnight. The mark, which was very valuable before, is now worth less than one twentieth of the previous value.
This is a rather exaggerated ratio. You know, before one pound was equivalent to 20 German marks, now one pound is equivalent to 400 German marks, and it is even higher.
At present, the price of an ordinary piece of bread in Germany has reached hundreds of marks, which is an expense that ordinary people can't even imagine.
If the British hadn't provided a batch of food to Germany in order to maintain the German government, I am afraid that the current food prices in Germany would have skyrocketed.
The huge inflation turned the money in the hands of the people into waste paper in an instant, and even owed a lot of debts to the bank.
Banks and capitalists became the winners of German inflation, but the German people were overwhelmed and the crisis in Germany had come.
It is worth mentioning that the Junker nobles, as the largest political force in Germany, are also important producers of German food.
These Junker nobles are based on land. They do not want the German government to import a large amount of food to calm the domestic food prices. After all, lower food prices are not a good thing for them.
But the problem is that the current food crisis in Germany is already quite serious. The German government cannot give up importing food because the hungry German people cannot remain indifferent.
Under such circumstances, Germany is currently in a double chaos of politics and society. The daily government affairs alone make William II overwhelmed, and William II can no longer see the pride and confidence of the past.
Fortunately, the British will never sit back and watch Germany collapse, because Germany is the pioneer in restricting France and the only country in Europe that can currently prevent France from expanding.
If the Germans collapse, France will be the veritable hegemon of the European continent, which is something the British absolutely do not want to see.
Therefore, even if it is destined to be a loss-making business, the British will help Germany and push various countries to reduce the proportion of German reparations to save the current German market and economy.
Of course, the countries that can stay in London and hold the final talks with the British are naturally the important countries in the British plan.
To be specific, the United Kingdom, France, Australasia and Italy are eligible to participate in this final meeting.
Of course, the key countries for negotiation are actually Britain and France. The Italians have a low sense of presence and are neutral. They will listen to whichever side is stronger.
Australasia had already expressed its support for the British at the previous meeting, so there was no need for further persuasion.
Everyone sat in their seats. British Foreign Minister Gray first clinked glasses with everyone and took a sip of red wine from France. Then he smiled and said to French Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Millerand: "Prime Minister Millerand, I hope you can Have a sincere meeting with you.
I believe you are aware of the current situation in Germany. If we leave it alone, the collapse of the German economy will be a matter of time.
No matter what conflicts we had with Germany before, tens of millions of German people are innocent, and we should not let them bear the consequences of the war. "
At this time, French Foreign Minister Millerand was considered a relatively influential figure in French politics.
Millerand had served as Minister of War during the early years of the First World War and had been elected governor of his native France, Alsace and Lorraine, a year earlier.
He took office as prime minister and foreign minister at the beginning of this year and is already one of the most powerful figures in the French government.
If history is correct, Millerand will become the new president of France this year, which is enough to show Millerand's status in France at this time.
"Having said that, Minister Gray." French Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Millerand chuckled and said: "France also has no responsibility and obligation to bear the crisis of the Germans. The damage caused by Germany to France during the war is the amount of this amount. The reparations are far from enough to make up for it, and it is even less likely that the French government will agree to reduce the reparations in order to alleviate Germany’s economic problems.”
"This is not just to alleviate Germany's economic problems, Prime Minister Millerand. Germany has a huge industrial system, and their industrial products have flooded the European market.
If the German economy collapses, we will lose an important production base for cheap industrial products, and the impact on us will be very serious.
To put it even more exaggeratedly, if the current situation in Germany leads to the outbreak of an economic crisis, who can survive this economic crisis?
My friends, our sacrifice is not for Germany, but for ourselves. If reducing the compensation ratio by a certain amount can prevent the outbreak of an economic crisis, why not do it? Minister Gray retorted with a smile.
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