The Rise of Australia

France has become a frequent topic among British officials at current cabinet meetings, and is often frowned upon. new

Although the French suffered very serious losses in the war, after Russia fell into civil war, the French were still the overlord of the European continent and now had no rivals.

Looking closely at all the great powers on the European continent, Britain is outside the European continent and cannot actively participate in disputes on the European continent.

After all, what the British Empire is better at is the continental balancing policy. Rather than actively confronting the overlords of the European continent, supporting one or more competitors is what the British want to see more.

In addition to the British Empire, Russia was originally a good pawn, but because of the civil war, it was too busy to take care of itself and it was impossible to contain the French.

Another victorious country was Italy. Italy was far inferior to France in terms of army, navy and overall national strength, and was excluded by the British without even thinking about it.

Currently, the one that truly has the strength to confront France on the European continent, even if the British have looked at all European countries, they can only focus on the German Empire.

Of course, to be precise, Germany's current name is the German Federal Reich, and the country's system has undergone major changes at the request of the Allies.

Wilhelm II won the German election of emperor with an overwhelming advantage and retained his throne as German emperor.

This is very different from history. Historically, Germany has already entered the Weimar Republic period, and Germany is still a monarchy, but the domestic situation is relatively chaotic.

At present, the German states have considerable power, especially the Kingdom of Bavaria. The number of troops is similar to that of the imperial government. How William II handles the relationship between the imperial government and the states will determine William II's role in the new era. the basis of Germany's status.

You know, because of the interference of the French, Germany currently has no clear idea of ​​whose hands the real rights are.

William II had good prestige and was followed by some troops and nobles. new

The military government and the Junker nobles behind it still control a lot of power in the government. However, after some of the high-level officials who started the war were liquidated, the military government's strength also dropped a lot.

Furthermore, under the strong support of France, the situation in Germany, a country that has been given a lot of power, can be described as quite chaotic.

But there is no way. The only one who currently has hope to curb France's expansion is Germany, which was defeated by the British Empire with all its strength in World War I.

Although the enemy of the British Empire was Germany in World War I, now the British Empire's main competitors are France and the United States, and Germany has become the target of the British.

Although this seems a bit complicated, it is actually quite normal for the interests of various countries.

The country's foreign policy follows the truth that there are no permanent friends between countries, only permanent interests.

No matter what the current relationship between the two countries is, it will not affect or determine the future relationship between the two countries.

When common interests exist, two countries can become good allies and friends. When common interests disappear or there is a conflict of interest between the two parties, no matter how good the allies are, they will turn against each other in an instant.

Although France's intervention caused the political situation in Germany to become chaotic, the British were not without any countermeasures.

Under the support of the British, Germany preserved part of its industry. Although it was only some small civilian industries and relatively basic industrial products, the overall industrial scale was relatively large.

Coupled with the industrial losses of European countries during the war, these German industrial products quickly flowed into the major victorious countries.

German industry has always been known for its excellent quality and low prices. These relatively cheap industrial products currently occupy a considerable part of the market, which is why the Germans are able to fulfill their reparations every year.

However, compared with Germany's current financial situation, the compensation of up to 20 billion pounds is an important reason why the German economy has not been able to recover.

In order to give Germany the capital to contain France, the British government was determined to propose a reduction in Germany's reparations at the next regular meeting of the World Alliance. New 𝘹.𝘤𝘰𝘮

It is actually not difficult to implement the proposal to reduce Germany's reparations. It only requires the consent of the four major Allied powers.

It can be seen from the distribution ratio of this compensation that more than 8.5% of the compensation was occupied by the four major Allied powers, and the remaining 1.5% was shared by the other victorious countries.

As long as the four major Allied powers agreed to reduce Germany's reparations, other countries could not say much. After all, the four major powers would reduce it even more.

Moreover, due to the civil war, Russia now urgently needs material support from Britain and France, and it is impossible to reject the proposals of Britain and France at the World Alliance meeting.

As long as the French agree, and with the support of Australasia, the proposal to reduce the German reparations can basically be said to be a certainty.

But the question is, how to get the French to agree to reduce the proportion of German reparations?

You know, the proportion of the reparations occupied by the French is not low. When converted, it amounts to 5.1 billion pounds, which is not a small amount.

Even if it is only reduced by 10%, it will still be as high as 5.1 pounds, which is enough to build a powerful fleet. The French will definitely not give up this fund for no reason.

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We need to find a more suitable reason to propose a reduction in German reparations, and we also need to find an excuse that the French cannot refuse, or that can persuade the French.

But this is what the diplomatic department should worry about. Fortunately, the British Empire's diplomatic department is relatively professional, and Minister Gray's diplomatic ability has been recognized by people at home and abroad.

For the first time, representatives of one country requested to reduce the proportion of Germany's reparations, reducing the original 20 billion pounds in reparations to about 15 billion pounds to ease Germany's domestic financial problems and prevent Germany from going bankrupt due to high reparations.

The British representative's proposal aroused the surprise of the entire audience. Unlike before, this time the British representative's proposal did not arouse the agreement of the entire audience. Most people were immersed in thinking, and a few people opposed it clearly, such as Representative of France.

The Australasian representative took an indifferent attitude to this, because Arthur had already said in the cabinet meeting that it was impossible for Germany's finances to bear the 20 billion pound compensation, and that reduction of compensation would be faced sooner or later.

The more hesitant was the Russian representative. At present, Russian representatives can receive tens of millions of pounds in compensation from Germany every year, which is very helpful in the Russian Civil War.

Similarly, the support of the British was also very important to Russia, which also put the Russian government in a dilemma. It did not know whether to insist on Russia maintaining the reparation figure or agree to the British proposal.

"Representative John, I do not agree with your country's point of view. Germany's economic situation may be bad, but the economic situation of all our victorious countries is not good either.

Germany’s financial situation deserves to be taken care of. Isn’t our financial situation worth taking care of?

At present, many countries rely on Germany's reparations to restore their domestic economies. If the share of reparations is rashly reduced, it may save Germany's economy, but it will damage the economies of all victorious countries.

If all the countries suffering from the war are allowed to suffer losses in order to save the devil who started the war, I don't think it is mercy, it is cruelty to the victorious country. "The French representative stood up directly and clearly opposed the British representative's proposal.

For the French, they do not want to give up any of the 5.1 billion pounds in compensation.

The French economy and industry suffered a lot of losses during the war, and this compensation can help the French better restore their domestic economy.

More importantly, the Germans owe such a huge indemnity, which will bring the German economy to near collapse, and Germany will naturally not have the strength to compete with the French.

If Germany's compensation is reduced and Germany is given a chance to survive, for the French, it is actually helping Germany, its enemy.

France still has some younger brothers. After the French representative stood up and clearly opposed the British representative, the French younger brothers also stood up one after another and began to agree.

"What we have to do is not to completely cancel Germany's reparations, but to reduce it by a certain percentage. Everyone here can still get reparations from Germany, and it will remain at a relatively good number.

Everyone, we do not want to give up punishing the Germans, but we want all the countries here and all of you here to be able to successfully obtain reparations from Germany.

Please imagine, if this compensation really crushed the German economy and caused the German government to declare bankruptcy, would you still be able to successfully obtain compensation?

Reducing Germany's share of reparations will not only relieve the German economy, but also ensure that all the countries here can successfully receive reparations from Germany.

This proposal is not for the benefit of a particular country, but for all weak countries to successfully obtain reparations.

I hope you can carefully consider my proposal and not be blinded by immediate benefits. "The British representative did not care about the French representative's objections, but looked at other small and medium-sized countries, and said with sincere persuasion.

The statement made by the British representative is not completely unreasonable. After all, everyone understands the principle of fishing for the best.

To put it bluntly, some people are just unwilling to give up their immediate interests. After all, they can get a large amount of compensation from Germany every year, and the reduced share also represents their own losses.

This is the role of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. It promotes a proposal that is made for its own interests and becomes a proposal that is forced to be put forward in the interests of everyone, tying all small and medium-sized countries to the British front.

Countries like France may not worry about Germany not being able to pay reparations, but small and medium-sized countries will always be worried.

After all, if Germany really declares bankruptcy, these small and medium-sized countries will not have the confidence to ask the German government for debts.

Although Germany failed, its industrial scale and economic status remained at the level of the great powers, and it was not something that these small and medium-sized European countries could touch.

Even if it weren't for the various terms and restrictions imposed on Germany by the Allies, Germany's current comprehensive strength would still surpass France, and it would still be a superpower second only to Britain and the United States.

This is the foundation of a country and the reason why Germany, once the second great power, is strong.

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