Chapter 3 The Dawes Plan

"Master, there is a telegram from France asking if you have any German rags that you are interested in. If so, they will help you one last time before retreating." Antonio said this with a smile on his face. , as if he was commenting on something interesting.

Contini couldn't help but laugh: The 6 million US dollars paid by the United Group not only caused the Ruhr area to lose more equipment and production lines, but also caused major changes in the entire historical process. Due to the butterfly effect of time travel, many historical events did not occur. He appeared again in his familiar face, and his form of action was greatly changed.

For example, the Beer Hall Riots lasted longer and had a greater impact and scope than any other event in history. Hitler was also treated more harshly than in history. If Contini had not come forward to protect him, his life would have been over long ago. Even so, Hitler, who historically was released after eight months in prison, has now been in prison for one year. Although he has successfully reduced his sentence to 12 years through various operations, there is no prospect of being released from prison for the time being. , Hitler and Hess continued to write hard in prison.

Another example is the German business community. Although they suffered more losses due to the prolonged occupation of the Ruhr area by the French and Belgian coalition forces, they also got the opportunity to update their equipment. At the same time, the four-year, $42 million order signed by Contini also affected them. promotion effect;

Another example is the Dawes Plan, which was launched later than historically due to interference from various factors.

But now that Contini heard that France was withdrawing its troops, he knew that the Dawes plan was almost in talks.

The entire plan included two special committees, one to study methods to balance the German budget and stabilize Germany's finance, and the other to investigate the situation of German capital outflows and design methods to bring them back. Both were chaired by American banker Dawes. After coming up with preliminary plans, , an international expert committee composed of representatives from France, Belgium, Italy, the United Kingdom, and the United States went to Germany to investigate and study the issue of German reparations, and finally concluded that it would never be possible to obtain full reparations from Germany without restoring the German economy. Finally, after discussion, a consensus was reached:

1. Under the supervision of the Allied Powers, the Deutsche Bank was restructured, currency reform was implemented, and the Allied Powers loaned 1 billion gold marks (equivalent to nearly 250 million U.S. dollars) to stabilize its currency. The most important thing was to replace the German rent mark with a new rent mark. Mark of waste paper.

2. While the total amount of reparations has not yet been finalized, the annual limit for German reparations is stipulated, starting from 1.2 billion gold marks in the first year (1925) and increasing year by year, to an annual payment of 2.5 billion gold marks in the fifth year (1930); Germany's financial resources for paying reparations came from tariffs, monopoly taxes on tobacco, alcohol, and sugar, railway revenue, and industrial and commercial enterprise taxes;

3. Issue 11 billion gold marks for railway bonds and 5 billion gold marks for industrial bonds;

4. Germany’s financial foreign exchange, railway operations and tax collection matters are subject to international supervision;

5. If any disputes arise on the issue of compensation in the future, they will be settled by the arbitration committee. No country can impose sanctions on Germany alone.

From a practical point of view, it means that Germany's finances are subject to the supervision of the Allied Powers, which is a harm to German sovereignty. However, from an economic point of view, because the US banking community, especially the Morgan Department, agreed to provide the loans required for the Dawes Plan, Germany can be stabilized as soon as possible. economy.

"Germany is ready to accept the relevant conditions, and the condition is that France and Belgium withdraw their troops from the Ruhr area..."

Contini knocked on the table and asked: "Uncle Antonio, do you think I can do something about this plan?"

"You want to?"

"I want to convert the reparations that Germany owes Italy into industrial products and equipment. These equipments will be handed over to the United Group, and then we will pay the Italian government the relevant reparations..."

"What's the benefit of this?" Antonio asked doubtfully, "Then we might as well just pay the Germans to buy it. At least there is room for negotiation."

"Of course there are benefits." Contini smiled, "I want all the reparations that Germany will pay to Italy in the next 10 years to be delivered to us in equipment and products within 3 years, and we will continue to pay the Italian government at the original pace. Here There is a logic... I am not optimistic that the German government can properly perform its obligations, so we need to take advantage of someone to lend money to Germany and get the 10 years of compensation in advance. "

"But the United Group can't get any benefits..." Antonio said doubtfully, "No matter if Germany can pay the compensation in full, we still have to repay it to the Italian government..."

"There is a time difference here!" Contini smiled, "With 10 years of compensation, I got all the equipment in 3 years, saving 7 years of interest! And these equipments join the United Group in advance, so they can grow faster and better Our productivity... As for the Italian government, it doesn’t matter if I serve the country. Anyway, the government still owes us 9 million US dollars and cannot pay it back. The Army intends to process and give me a batch of scrap steel, but I still have to find a way to clear this gap. Fill in."

"You'd better talk to the leader about this matter." Antonio pondered for a moment and said, "Although the Germans lost a bit by delivering the 10-year compensation in advance, they did not have to deliver funds but instead delivered equipment and products. They actually made a profit. It’s cheap, I believe it won’t be so difficult for Germany to accept it.”

"By the way, let's reduce the sentence for Adolf. For a politician, 12 years is too long. Two years in prison is enough for him to finish his book."

Antonio shook his head and didn't understand why Contini was so obsessed with Hitler, but anyway, he wouldn't object if it was just by the way.

After hearing Contini's intention, Mussolini's eyes lit up: This exchange not only did not transfer the main body of compensation from Germany to the United Group for the Italian government, but was more beneficial. The Germans may still cry poor and pretend to be stupid and refuse to pay compensation. As an Italian company, especially as a Fascist-controlled company, United Group will naturally not do this.

The more advantageous point is that this way, the money will be in Contini's hands, and it will be much more convenient for the government to use it at critical moments. He immediately agreed: "Calais, I will let the Ministry of Foreign Affairs work hard. I am personally optimistic about this. Doesn’t the government still owe you a large amount of money? This will be used to offset the first year’s compensation!”

Well now, the United Group is not only a national policy group, but can also play the role of a second finance: if the money is not enough, the United Group will take the lead first, and after passing the test, it will be cheaper, and then let the United Group take over. This practice of always being prepared to solve problems for the party and the government is an understatement of collusion between government and business. At the very least, there is no distinction between government and enterprise...

As expected by Mussolini, after the Italian amendments were reported, Germany and the Dawes Committee were very interested and immediately approved it. The committee even encouraged the United Kingdom, France, and Belgium to launch such a large group to follow suit. This method realizes the decomposition of reparations responsibilities. The question is, do Britain, France, and Belgium all hope to make money from Germany? Who wants German industrial products and equipment?

On March 2, Dawes planned to pass the Italian amendment and then enact it. As a reward for the United Group, the well-understood Weimar government instructed the Bavarian District Court to reduce the sentence again from 12 years reduced to 7 years.

The reason why he is so easy to talk to now is because Albert, who did not have a good deal with Contini, died a few days ago. Now Hans Luther (German National People's Party) serves as the transitional president until the new president is elected. Luther himself was sympathetic to the Munich Revolution. On the one hand, some people were selling it well, and on the other hand, he also agreed. Therefore, Hitler's sentence was commuted very quickly.

On March 3, Contini and Sickert met secretly in Frankfurt. The two parties reached a number of package cooperation intentions, including the development of semi-automatic rifles, light machine guns, and new fighter jets and tanks, all of which were placed in Milan, Rome and Genoa. Responsible for the joint group's base.

Contini told Sickert that the light machine gun was already in sight. He preferred to use the newly developed product from the Brno State-owned Arsenal in Czechoslovakia, which still used 7.92mm bullets. However, it was different from the current design of the factory. He requested that the magazine be Make improvements:

First, the magazine should be changed from the current upper structure to a lower drum structure to improve the shooter's sight and facilitate aiming;

Second, the magazine capacity needs to be increased from the current 20 rounds. A light machine gun that needs to have at least 48-50 rounds and needs to change the magazine only after 20 rounds is not conducive to the continuation of the battle.

Sickert expressed doubts about this, but did not simply refuse. He said that he would send a special person to inspect it. If it can pass the acceptance of the expert group, he would have no objection.