Chapter 861: British Throne Crisis

Minister Roman's first move when he arrived in London was to meet with the famous British war faction, expressing his fear of Germany's terrifying military strength and his firm idea of ​​​​war.

Although Winston Churchill has stayed away from the government, he has served in the British cabinet as Home Secretary, Admiralty Secretary, Munitions Secretary, War Secretary, Air Force Secretary, Colonial Affairs Secretary and Finance Minister. He still has a considerable influence in British politics. status.

This former cabinet member who has turned into a writer and well-known critic once said meaningfully after hearing Minister Roman’s firm pro-war attitude: “Perhaps the fate of the country behind you and me will be decided by tomorrow’s meeting. ”

On April 10, 1936, British Prime Minister Baldwin met with Minister Romain representing France, and the two sides held a diplomatic meeting.

At this meeting, Minister Roman mentioned the German-Austrian War that broke out two days ago, and said very bluntly: "I don't think this is just a war between Germany and Austria, this is a war throughout Europe.

France needs support from Britain, which is an important guarantee for our ability to defeat Germany. Without the support from Britain, France will fail in this war, and we have to find ways to reduce casualties to save France, which is about to perish. "

What Minister Roman said is very simple and can be summed up in one sentence: If Britain joins the war, I will fight. If Britain does not join the war, I will surrender. This is a threat to Prime Minister Baldwin and the British government.

If it was a year ago, Prime Minister Baldwin would have definitely scorned the French threat, and would even directly ridicule it, without paying any attention to the French behavior.

But it's different now. Germany is far more powerful than a year ago, and the threat it poses to the British is far greater than before. More importantly, Prime Minister Baldwin saw extraordinary calmness and determination in Minister Roman's eyes, which made Prime Minister Baldwin hesitate.

If Secretary Roman was just a person, Prime Minister Baldwin would definitely not care about what Secretary Roman said. But the problem is that Minister Roman represents the entire French government.

If this is the unified opinion of the French government, then the British government will have to consider it. If France was really forced to give up resistance, could Britain still defeat Germany, which dominated all of Central and Western Europe?

Although there was a high probability that France would not surrender, Prime Minister Baldwin did not dare to bet on that slight probability. If Germany is really allowed to dominate Central and Western Europe and threaten the hegemony of the British Empire, his career as prime minister in the UK will also come to an end, and he will definitely bear the anger of the majority of the people.

But directly participating in the war and helping France was something Prime Minister Baldwin did not want to see. The damage caused to Britain by the last super war is still vivid in our minds, which has also led to many peace advocates in the British government.

For the conservative Prime Minister Baldwin, it was much more difficult to go to war against all odds than to force Edward VIII to abdicate.

After all, Prime Minister Baldwin held the right position on the issue of Edward VIII and received support from the church, colonial governments and the British people.

But the consequences of launching a war are definitely not something Prime Minister Baldwin can bear alone.

Seeing Prime Minister Baldwin's hesitation, Minister Roman took the opportunity to put forward his own plan for Australasia: "Dear Prime Minister, I understand what you are worried about. But please believe that if your country can join the battlefield, France will Have an absolute chance of winning.

As long as we can persuade Australasia to join this war - relying on the alliance between your country and Australasia, I believe the Australasians will not refuse.

As long as we have Australasia's help, we have an absolute chance of winning this war. At the same time, we can prevent any country from profiting from this war.

After the war, your country will still be the most powerful country, and France will not ask for more land. Our goal is to maintain the status quo. "

"Australasia?" Prime Minister Baldwin nodded silently, less doubtful of Minister Roman's absolute chance of winning.

According to the currently recognized strength rankings of various countries, the United Kingdom, France and Australasia should be the top three in the world. Even though the sudden rise of Germany makes this ranking less reliable, it is generally similar.

Among the German-Italian League, only the Germans are firmly in the top five. Italy and the island countries each have their own shortcomings. They can only be said to be fighting for the top five, but they are definitely not the top five powers in the world.

From the perspective of Britain > Germany, France > Italy, Australasia > island countries, this war does have a good chance of winning.

Although Germany also had Spain as an ally, France also had the Austrian Empire as an ally, and its overall strength was still stronger.

However, these assumptions did not prompt Prime Minister Baldwin to agree to join the war. After all, the conservative Prime Minister Baldwin still had various problems.

"Although you have counted most of the great powers, you have not thought of the Russians." Prime Minister Baldwin thought for a while and then said: "The Russians are also a threat. If there is no way to get the Russians to join the war, I will not Thinking this war would be good for the British Empire."

"It is impossible for the Russians to avoid this war." Prime Minister Roman said with a smile: "It can be seen from Russia's invasion of Poland that the Russians still maintain the huge territorial ambitions of Tsarist Russia.

Moreover, they will never allow Germany to rule Europe, and Germany will never allow such a powerful country in Eastern Europe to threaten their capital Berlin at will.

We have built the Maginot Line on the border, and we can rely on the Maginot Line to block the German army outside the border. Once the offensive in Western Europe stagnates, the war between Germany and Russia will not be far away.

At that time, we only need to quietly guard the Maginot Line and watch the super war between Germany and Russia. "

Although he has his own unique ideas, Minister Roman's impression of the Germans is still stuck in the First World War and the previous wars. Naturally, he would not have thought that the Maginot Line built by France with great effort would basically not play a role in the next war.

As a contemporary of Prime Minister Baldwin, there is no doubt about what Minister Roman said. Prime Minister Baldwin also knew that the French spent a lot of money to build the Maginot Line.

Even if the Germans have made careful preparations, it will take at least several months to bite off the French Maginot Line.

This time can also be used for war preparations. If it can force the Germans to focus on Eastern Europe, it would naturally be great.

"Minister Roman, the war still needs to be discussed by Congress and the Cabinet. Please forgive me for not being able to give you a definite answer. If possible, I hope you can attend tomorrow's meeting, and I will try my best to get you a chance. "At the end of the negotiation, Prime Minister Baldwin smiled and gave Minister Roman a big cake.

Minister Roman could only nod helplessly and pin his hopes on tomorrow's meeting.

At present, it seems impossible to directly persuade Prime Minister Baldwin and use his power to directly let Britain join the war.

This also means that Minister Roman must pass the British Cabinet and Parliament and get the support of the British war faction before he can win over Britain to join the anti-German alliance.

What Prime Minister Baldwin didn't expect was that he had not waited for the meeting the next day, but he had waited for a more serious crisis.

On the afternoon of April 10, the famous politician and author Churchill published an article in the newspaper, clearly explaining the ongoing war between Germany and Austria, and said very pessimistically: "Britain is gradually heading towards the end. She has made concessions to a failed country step by step, and successfully put it on the position of a competitor for European hegemony.

If the British government cannot wake up in time, when Germany defeats Austria, Britain will face a terrifying hegemon on the European continent. "

At the end of the article, Churchill vaguely mentioned the ongoing crisis of the throne in Britain, and the constant quarrels between Edward VIII and the government - for the woman who had been divorced twice.

The effect of public opinion was achieved.

With the participation of a large number of newspapers, this news report quickly spread throughout Britain. It was impossible for the British government to block all newspapers reporting the news in a short period of time, because this was like a premeditated action. All newspapers quickly published the news and distributed newspapers to all parts of Britain at a very fast speed.

"The crisis in Britain has arrived, and our king is still arguing with the cabinet over a woman. "Some newspapers with ulterior motives quickly understood similar news, which aroused widespread heated discussion among the British people.

Although such newspapers and newspapers were quickly closed down by the British government, the heated discussion among the people not only did not stop, but became more intense.

Only the next day, the British people broke out in a demonstration to oppose Edward VIII's inaction and oppose Edward VIII's marriage to Mrs. Simpson, who was divorced twice.

Now, the conflict between the British royal family and the cabinet has directly evolved into a conflict between the British royal family and the people.

Although the key figure in the conflict is Edward VIII, as the king of Britain, he directly The British royal family was implicated.

On the second day after the demonstration, in the conference hall of Buckingham Palace, Edward VIII, the Duke of York, the Duke of Gloucester and the Duke of Kent held a private meeting within the British royal family, and the debate lasted for two hours.

This crisis between the British government and the royal family also postponed the meeting that Minister Roman was looking forward to indefinitely.

However, the good news is that Edward VIII is likely to be forced to abdicate. And his successor, the Duke of Albert, seems to be a capable potential war lord who disagrees with the appeasement policy in the words of the famous Churchill.

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