Chapter 841 Ambition for Poland

The news of George V's critical illness quickly spread to other European countries and regions.

Although the British tried to block the news, George V had not appeared in public for a long time, and it was hard not to arouse suspicion from other countries.

After all, George V was already 70 years old. After all, at this age, he was indeed at the end of his life.

Unlike the British government, which was more concerned about the succession to the throne, other European countries at this time were thinking about whether the succession of the British throne would have a major impact on the subsequent European situation.

Among them, the most ambitious German Empire and the Kingdom of Italy were naturally more concerned about this issue.

These two extreme nationalist countries in the guise of monarchy could no longer hold back their urge to expand.

After careful consideration by Germany and Italy, they believed that during the period from George V's critical illness to the accession of Prince Edward to the throne, the British would basically not participate too much in the situation and affairs of Europe.

Even if Germany and Italy made some trouble for the succession to the British throne, the British would be busy with the throne crisis and would have no time to care about other things.

However, just in case, Germany and Italy decided to make other countries, including Britain and Australasia, not have enough energy to take care of European affairs.

The best way to contain Australasia is naturally to let the island country create some friction with Australasia on the border to attract Australasia's attention.

The islanders did not intend to do this. After being promised a large amount of material assistance, especially industrial equipment assistance by Germany and Italy, the island country changed its mind very sincerely.

So, the three major powers of the Triple Alliance began to act at the same time. They could no longer hold back their ambitions for expansion and their desire for more land.

For Germany, the best expansion target is actually the Austrian Empire. The Austrian Empire has a large number of South Germans, and these people are of the same origin as Germany.

Moreover, the Austrian region and Czechoslovakia region of the Austrian Empire have quite good industrial scale.

If the Austrian Empire was annexed, the industrial scale of the German Empire would reach the level of the British Empire, and the population would completely widen the gap with Britain and France, becoming a country stronger than Germany before World War I.

But unfortunately, if the Austrian Empire had to be annexed, Germany and Italy might face more than just France and Austria, and the British would never allow the Germans to do so.

There was no way, Germany could only settle for the second best and set its sights on Poland, which was of great strategic importance.

Originally, the German government planned to divide Poland with Russia in the east.

But several contacts with the Russian government were unsuccessful, and after signing an anti-Russian agreement with the island country and Italy, Germany gave up the plan to win over Russia to annex Poland.

For Germany, Poland is just a medium-sized country in Central Europe.

The German rulers once proudly announced in Congress that it would only take one month for the German army to crush Poland.

Because of the large-scale exclusion of dissidents, the current German rulers have achieved complete control over Germany.

In the current Germany, Italy and the island country, we can see more extreme blind personal worship.

This made the armies of the three countries extremely loyal to their rulers, which not only strengthened the combat effectiveness of the army, but also consolidated the power and status of the rulers of the three countries.

Why not choose the three low-lying countries as the target of aggression, but choose Poland, which has a larger population and a stronger army?

The most important reason is that Poland is located between Germany and Russia, and to the south is the Czechoslovakia region of Austria.

The northern part of Poland is the Baltic Sea, and the country has extremely rich mineral resources. Metallurgy, chemistry, machinery and shipbuilding technology are quite developed, which is a huge supplement to Germany, whose industry has not yet been completely perfected.

Secondly, if the whole of Poland is occupied, Germany will have a huge logistics base. The entire Polish plain can become a grain-growing area and pasture for Germany, providing Germany with a large amount of grain and meat, as well as fresh dairy products every year.

After solving Poland, Germany has no opponents in the whole of Eastern Europe except Russia, which is low-key and has no statement.

This is extremely beneficial to Germany's plan to attack Western Europe. With the food and mineral resources provided by Poland every year, even if it is a competition of consumption, it will not be afraid of France in a short time.

In order to occupy Poland, Germany and Italy made extremely detailed plans.

Although Italy could not annex Polish territory, Germany made concessions in Austrian territory and was willing to let Italy annex more Austrian territory and control the Kingdom of Yugoslavia in the Balkan Peninsula after occupying the Austrian Empire.

In a meeting between Germany and Italy, the two sides made detailed plans for attacking Poland. The German and Italian governments agreed that the two sides would be ready to attack Poland at any time within 3 months and guard against possible actions by France and the Austrian Empire.

This world and history are still very different. So far, Germany has not made any territorial expansion except for regaining the Rhineland demilitarized zone.

Because there was no military action against the Austrian Empire, the attitude of Britain and France towards Germany at this time was mainly appeasement.

This also facilitated Germany's plotting of Poland's territory. Germany's true ambitions had not yet been exposed, and the British and French people had not yet seen the Germans' true purpose.

According to the agreement reached between the German and Italian governments, after three months of preparation, the two sides would launch an attack on Poland on October 15, 1935.

If the Poles were willing to give in before then, the war preparations could be canceled. But if either Britain or France decided to maintain Poland's independence, Germany and Italy would prepare for a super war to force Britain and France to give in.

On July 21, 1935, at a regular meeting of the German Congress, the German ruler gave a very wonderful speech for two hours.

The German ruler reiterated the vast territory of the former German Empire, and stated that Danzig was the legitimate territory of Germany at any time, and the sovereignty of Danzig could not be violated by any country.

Seeing that the speech had a good response, the German ruler took the opportunity to reiterate the fact that Poland occupied German territory after World War I.

By transferring national hatred to Poland, the Germans' desire for war against Poland was greatly increased.

This speech was not made public, and it quickly spread throughout Europe in the form of major news.

Before Poland made any statement, the German government publicly stated in a media interview the next day that Germany would take back the sovereignty of Danzig by force at all costs and defend all of Germany's legal territories to the death.

The statement of the German government quickly caused tensions in Europe. Poland, in particular, was very wary of its neighbors.

The Polish government responded quickly. The Poles said that whether it was the Free City of Danzig controlled by Poland or the annexed German territories, they were all ceded to Poland by Germany as a way of atonement for the guilt of the last European war.

The Germans' attempt to take back Danzig and territory was not only a provocation to the majesty of the Polish government, but also a provocation to the Allied Powers' judgment on Germany's crimes.

The Polish government stated righteously that the Poles would never forget Germany's crimes in the last European war, and would never accept Germany's request to return the territory.

At this time, Poland still fantasized about the Greater Polandism it proposed more than ten years ago. After taking control of the Kingdom of Lithuania from Russia, the self-confidence of the Poles has been infinitely improved.

Although they are facing the world's first land power before World War I, for the Poles, Germany is not as powerful as they imagined.

What's more, as early as after Poland's independence, it has reached cooperation with many European powers including Britain and France.

The treaties signed by Poland and European powers include the Franco-Polish Mutual Assistance Treaty, the Anglo-Polish Mutual Assistance Agreement, the Polish-Russian Treaty, etc.

With the support of Britain and France, the Poles have no intention of retreating to Germany. After Germany frequently mobilized troops to the German-Polish border, the Poles announced an expansion of the army and mobilized most of their troops to the border with Germany.

Now, Europe is no longer shrouded in the fog of war, but the flames of war have been ignited.

Seeing that the two sides are very likely to break out in a war, France, which has nothing to do with this conflict, is panicking.

For France, the possible war between Germany and Poland is actually pushing France into the abyss.

If France does not help Poland, Germany, after annexing Poland, will completely surpass France in comprehensive strength, and will be on par with or even surpass the former German Empire.

But if France helps Poland, fighting a large-scale war with the Germans at this time is not what the French want to see.

What's more terrible is that Germany does not only have Italy as an ally at this time. The National Army, which has already gained an advantage in the Spanish Civil War, and the island countries in the Far East are also allies of the Germans.

At this time, the only country that clearly supports France is the Austrian Empire. The two countries of France and Austria combined are only barely balanced with Germany and Italy.

Even if the Germans can be defeated in the end, the French will definitely face huge casualties no less than those of the last world war.

Experiencing two huge casualties in just over 20 years is a heavy loss that the French government cannot bear at all, and it is also a horrible experience that the French people do not want to experience again.

For the sake of their own safety, the French government decided to let Poland, which was determined not to compromise, make certain concessions.

In the eyes of the French peace advocates, Germany's territorial demands on Poland are reasonable. Just like France was eager to cede Alsace and Lorraine after the Franco-Prussian War, the powerful Germans wanted to retake Danzig and other territories that were ceded, which was not too much.

Even though the Germans had not yet made territorial claims on the republics that were once German territories controlled by France, the French decided to transfer the sovereignty of the republic to Germany.

If a little bit of territory can bring long-term peace, for the current French government, this is a good thing that is enough to solve its own big troubles.

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