The Rise of the Third Reich

The opening ceremony of the 1936 Berlin Olympics was undoubtedly the most spectacular in history, with the Imperial Stadium in Berlin, which could accommodate 110,000 spectators, packed to capacity. When Ludendorff and Hitler appeared on the rostrum, everyone stood up, raised their hands, and shouted the slogan "Long Live the German Reich". The scene was moving.

Italian leader Mussolini and his son-in-law, the newly appointed Foreign Minister of the Kingdom of Italy, Ciano, were also on the rostrum of the Imperial Stadium, feeling the re-emergence of Germany, a barbaric country that has always been "riding on" Italy's neck.

Although Italy's fascist leaders were reluctant to admit it, Germany was after all a powerful industrialized country that was difficult for Italy to match. This country's industry, technology and education are outstanding in the world. As early as the second half of the last century, the German Empire took advantage of the opportunity of the second industrial revolution to become Europe's number one and the world's number one. Two industrial countries. Although they experienced a disastrous defeat in a world war, the German industry is still growing at a rapid pace, always keeping pace with the industrial giant on the other side of the ocean, the United States.

No matter how hard Italy tries, it will always rank last among industrialized countries. In Mussolini's view, Italy's weakness in industrial strength was not due to a lack of technology. Italians were able to produce the best cars and aircraft in the world - although Italy's air-cooled engine technology was far behind Germany's, Italy's liquid-cooled engines are not lagging behind, and in the field of military aircraft design and manufacturing, Italy is a world leader.

But watching Germany, which was already leading the way in development, advance by leaps and bounds since 1931, Mussolini felt quite unfair in his fate. He worked hard for Italy for more than ten years, but his achievements were far less than one-tenth of what Hitler achieved in Germany in just a few years.

Moreover, due to the rise of Germany, Britain, France and the United States also successively began to expand their arms and prepare for war. The naval holiday era is over, and all countries are planning to build new battleships and aircraft carriers. Various new aircraft and new tanks and armored vehicles are also emerging one after another. The theory of mechanized armies also became popular in Britain, France and Germany.

Judging from current trends, the funds required to arm a powerful future mechanized army will be astronomical!

And such a mechanized army also needs strong industrial strength to back it up. The Germans have such industrial strength - when it comes to steel alone, Germany produced 20 million tons in 1935! Italy only has 2.3 million tons, which is one-eighth of the former. It was only slightly more than the 1.7 million tons of the Bohemian Federation, which had just been controlled by Germany, and the 1.5 million tons of Poland. And because Italy is extremely lacking in the various resources needed to develop heavy industry, it is already very difficult to develop further.

Therefore, Italy's fascist leaders believe that if the major European powers begin to expand their armaments and prepare for war, then with their strong industrial advantages, they will be able to quickly catch up with Italy - just like what happened after Germany began to expand its armaments and prepare for war.

In a few years, Italy's military advantage may be gone!

Therefore, it is necessary to take advantage of Italy's military advantage to expand its sphere of influence in and around the Mediterranean as much as possible.

Now Abyssinia has been stepped on by Italy. If the Spanish Civil War can be used to turn Spain into a vassal of Italy, then the revival of the Roman Empire will probably be half successful...

With his heart full of thoughts, the Italian fascist leader did not pay attention to the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games. He did not know how long it took before he heard the voice of his son-in-law Ciano: "Leader, Chancellor Hitler will meet with you in the VIP lounge. "

Only then did Mussolini realize that the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games had ended. Both Ludendorff and Hitler had left the rostrum. The Germans in the stadium stands were exiting in an orderly manner - this was different from the Italians who liked to leave in a hurry. Not the same style at all!

Mussolini stood up, looked around, and found that his "old friend" Infantry General Hessmann was standing in the aisle, smiling and waving to him. There was also a plump blonde beauty beside him. It was his Countess wife, Chloe.

"Okay, let's go to the VIP lounge with Count Hersman." Mussolini straightened his military uniform, "I think the first director of munitions (Hersman is the deputy chief of staff, but he is now (whose power is almost comparable to that of Ludendorff, the first munitions director in World War I) will definitely participate in the talks. "

…

"Leader, the General Staff of the National Defense Forces told me that Spain's Defense Executive Council (referring to the rebels) has suffered great setbacks in the past ten days."

In an elegantly decorated lounge, after exchanging pleasantries with the visiting Mussolini, Adolf Hitler told him all he knew about the Spanish Civil War in German with a heavy Austrian accent.

“The uprising failed in most of the densely populated and industrialized provinces, and the Council of Defense lost their leader, General San Juljo. The Republicans also formed a large militia.

In addition, Spain's navy and air force mostly sided with the Republicans. Without strong external intervention, the failure of the National Defense Council is inevitable. "

Hitler spoke in a very cold tone, as if he had little interest in intervening. However, this attitude reassured Mussolini - he had long regarded the Mediterranean coast as the territory of the "Roman Empire".

"So Italy is ready to intervene!" Mussolini answered in clear, standard German, "Before coming to Berlin, I had agreed to the request of General Franco (who became the leader of the Spanish rebels after his death in a plane crash in San Jurjo)."

More than 10 billion liras are gone! Hersman sat alone on a leather sofa, calculating Italy's expenses in this war - first the Second Abyssinian War, and then the Spanish War. Before World War II, Italy fought two expensive wars and spent too much money on its colonial cause in Abyssinia. So much so that by 1940, the treasury was empty and the strategic reserves were seriously insufficient, so it could only be a burden to Germany during World War II.

However, Hersman did not intend to dissuade Mussolini - this was impossible, and Germany really needed a battlefield to test weapons.

In addition, a weak Italy is also conducive to Germany's establishment of the leadership of the Axis.

"In fact, we and the Portuguese have begun to intervene in the war." Mussolini added, "Our planes have transported 14,000 Spanish soldiers from Morocco to the Spanish mainland. The Salazar government of Portugal also stands on our side and allows us to transport weapons and troops through Portuguese ports... With the support of us and Portugal, I believe that the Spanish National Defense Executive Committee will soon reverse the unfavorable situation."

The Italian leader cleared his throat, clasped his hands, leaned forward and said: "If Germany is willing to stand with us, victory will come sooner."

"Do Britain and France know about your actions in Spain? Do they agree?" Adolf Hitler asked.

"Of course they know, Mr. Prime Minister." Mussolini smiled contemptuously, "You should know the systems of these two countries... democracy, freedom, peace, these useless concepts have turned their people and governments into spineless. They clearly hate the Bolsheviks in Spain, but they dare not send troops. So they can only rely on us Italy!

And the Catholic Church is on our side!"

The revolutionary actions of the Spanish left-wing party to burn churches and kill priests certainly have their progressive significance, but this behavior has also turned the powerful Roman Catholic Church into a mortal enemy. And the Roman Church has influence on the politics of many European and American countries in this era-many devout Catholics will listen to the church's opinions to vote!

"Mr. Prime Minister, Britain, France and the Soviet Union are planning to establish a non-interference committee." German Foreign Minister Neurath told Hitler who was present. "Obviously their attitude is non-interference."

"Well," Hitler nodded and glanced at Hersmann again. Hersman smiled and said, "Mr. Prime Minister, the Soviet Union hopes that we will not interfere. As a condition, they can recognize our merger with the Baltic, Bohemian and Austrian states and restore the empire!"

Mussolini seemed to have anticipated these problems and immediately said with a smile, "We in the Kingdom of Italy can support Germany in restoring the empire. That is Germany's internal affairs. As for the Baltic, Bohemian and Austrian issues... South Tyrol has always been an obstacle."

"The Germans there can be relocated to Germany," Hitler said. "After merging Bohemia, Austria and the Baltic states, Germany will be a European power with 750,000 square kilometers. We have a lot of open space. So we don't care about the hundreds of square kilometers of South Tyrol."

"And the population in Trieste who speak German and Slovenian..." Seeing that Hitler was easy to talk to, Mussolini improvised and added more.

"All ours!" Hitler said with a wave of his hand, "But... we need to sign a treaty with Italy. Our two countries should establish a special relationship, which will be the political basis for us to participate in the Italian-led intervention in the Spanish war!" Hersmann added: "We will send a total of no more than 10,000 volunteers to Spain, including air force, army armored forces, and artillery." This number is just right, it will not steal Mussolini's limelight, and it is enough to test the effectiveness of Germany's new weapons and tactics. In addition, it can also allow up to 100,000 backbone personnel of the German army to go to Spain to smell the smoke of gunpowder before the outbreak of the world war through rotation.