The Rise of the Third Reich

June 29 and 30, 1940 were the last two days of the Geneva Peace Conference. The resolution of the Executive Council of the League of Nations passed on the 27th abrogated the Treaty of Versailles, the Treaty of Saint-Germain, the Treaty of Sèvres, the Treaty of Lausanne, the Treaty of Trianon and the Treaty of Bessarabia. This also led to a series of new troubles, mainly territorial changes caused by the abrogation of treaties.

Among them, the territorial changes caused by the abrogation of the Treaty of Versailles have been resolved in previous wars; the abrogation of the Treaty of Sèvres and the Treaty of Lausanne did not cause any territorial changes due to Turkey giving up the pursuit of territory; and the " Changes caused by the abolition of the Treaty of Saint-Germain, the Treaty of Trianon and the Treaty of Bessarabia will require final judgment through meetings on the 29th and 30th.

"Your Excellency Marshal, this is a fatal verdict!"

In a reception room used by the German delegation in the Palais des Nations, Marshal Hersmann met with Prince Paul of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia after the verdict was announced. The prince, who was as young as Hessmann, seemed very excited, with tears in his eyes.

The result of the ruling was quite unfavorable to the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. The entire Croatian province (including some Croat-inhabited areas in Bosnia) was abruptly carved out of the territory of Yugoslavia and would form a common monarchy with Hungary, just like the situation between 1102 and 1860. Same. Croatia would have its own parliament and government, and its king would be Otto of Habsburg, the legitimate heir to the Croatian throne. At the same time, Otto will also take over the crown of St. Stephen of Hungary and become the King of Hungary.

However, Otto von Habsburg, who holds two crowns, will not receive real power. The Hungarian government is still controlled by the regent Horthy Miklós, while the Croatian government is controlled by the leader of the Ustasha. Pavelic is in control.

In addition, the province of Vojvodina, which was also obtained from the Austro-Hungarian Empire due to the Treaty of Saint-Germain and the Treaty of Trianon, will also be divided. About 50% of the land in the north belongs to Hungary, and the remaining part belongs to Serbia. At the same time, The population of Vojvodina Province will also be resettled according to different ethnic groups. Hungarians, Croats, Slovaks, etc. will all move to the part that belongs to Hungary, while the majority Serbs will move to the southern part of Vojvodina and still belong to it. Serbian territory.

As for Bosnia, which also belonged to the Austro-Hungarian Empire before World War I, more than 80% of it was assigned to Serbia in this time's Geneva ruling. Montenegro, which was an independent country before World War I, did not regain its independent status in this "Geneva Judgment" and is still part of Serbia. The land acquired by Serbia under the Treaty of Neuilly was also ruled to be Serbian territory because Bulgaria did not raise any objection.

In general, this time the "Geneva Judgment" was very unfavorable to the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, but it was actually beneficial to the Serbian nation. After losing some land and population that did not belong to them in the first place, the Serbs will gain an overwhelming majority status in the remaining lands of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, and can completely assimilate the remaining minority people (Serbia is not in vain in this era) Left Mary), established a Serbian nation-state and adopted Orthodox Christianity as the state religion.

However, most Serbians are unaware of this favorable situation. Due to the support and connivance of the Allies, the Serbian nation became arrogant after World War I and completely forgot the suffering and slavery they had suffered. (During the period of being ruled by Turkey), they also forgot that they were a weak nation.

Hessman looked at the regent of Yugoslavia and smiled faintly, "It seems that you Serbs don't have a deep enough understanding of the nation-state, and you don't know how difficult it is to assimilate foreigners with different languages ​​​​and different religious beliefs, especially in our era. We cannot use extermination as a means. In this case, we need to use absolute numerical superiority to assimilate them. Even we Germans are so powerful that we do not dare to swallow too many foreigners who have the nationality of the German Empire. Of the more than 100 million people, only a few million do not identify as Germanic. We did not dare to directly annex ethnic groups such as Poland, Lithuania, Ukraine and Slovakia, but you actually abolished their nation-states. This is incredible for the country of Croatia and Slovenia. Now that we have used the League of Nations ruling to help you correct your mistakes, we have given you a historical opportunity to create a greater Serbia. You still own 80% of Bosnia, all of Serbian Macedonia and all of it. Montenegro still retains half of Vojvodina, which is about 150,000-160,000 square kilometers. This belongs to you Serbs. Go and establish a nation-state. Your Majesty, if there is a political crisis in Yugoslavia. We in Germany will firmly support you.”

…

"Gentlemen, the Germans have just made two more huge mistakes," Churchill said to his cabinet ministers with a smile at the cabinet meeting on July 1. "They forced Yugoslavia to hand over Croatia, Slovenia and Semi-finals. At the same time, they forced Romania to hand over half of Transylvania and most of Bessarabia."

He took a puff of his cigar and said with a smile: "It looks like we will have two new friends soon."

"But the Germans have gained more friends," Dalton, the wartime economic secretary, interjected. "There are many countries willing to join the European Customs Union. Almost half of Europe has joined, and some of them have very good industrial strength. The factories and workers of countries such as France, Sweden, Belgium and the Netherlands now supplement Germany's wartime economy! And Germany will soon have a super-sovereign hard currency - the European mark. It will greatly enhance Germany’s ability to integrate the European economy!”

Paying currency and issuing bonds is certainly a more efficient approach than directly occupying and then forcing the factories and workers in the occupied territory to produce. In doing so, at least you don't have to bear the cost of occupation (garrison troops and resource supply in the occupied area), and you won't be hated by others.

"But Germany still has to solve the big problem of resource supply," Churchill raised his thick lips and said with a smile, "If the Germans can produce enough oil, food and other resources to supply the entire Europe, they will issue the European Of course, marks can be turned into hard currency, but in fact, Germany does not have enough resources. Germany is a poor country, and their current war resources are supplied by the Soviet Union.”

"Prime Minister," Admiralty Alexander reminded, "but those neutral countries can still import resources from overseas...According to international law, we cannot intercept merchant ships of neutral countries."

Since the British Empire is still the maritime hegemon, European neutral countries still need to communicate with Britain when importing resources. It is enough to meet domestic demand in quantity, and they cannot blatantly serve as a transit point for Germany to import overseas resources.

At the same time, the British Empire itself also needed to import some things from neutral European countries, such as bearings from Sweden and tungsten ore from Spain and Portugal. In addition, there are trade exchanges between various neutral countries in Europe and the United States, which are important overseas markets for the United States.

Therefore, since the beginning of the war, Britain has not completely blocked the foreign trade of the entire European continent, and still allows Germany to obtain some overseas strategic supplies through neutral countries.

"International law?" Churchill glanced at the Lord of the Admiralty and took another drag on his cigarette. "I don't remember that there is such an international law... and joining the European Customs Union is helping Germany and opposing the British Empire! So we need to consider the impact on Europe Customs Union trade sanctions and embargoes.”

"Sanctions on the European Customs Union?" Foreign Minister Viscount Halifax was startled by Churchill's proposal. "Prime Minister, do you want to push all the countries on the European continent to the side of Germany?"

"Joining the European Customs Union means siding with Germany!" Churchill lowered his voice. "Viscount, I think our diplomats have clearly expressed the British Empire's objections to them, right?"

"Of course, Prime Minister. But..."

Churchill waved his fat hand holding a cigar and said: "There is nothing wrong with it... The European Customs Union is Germany's tool to integrate Europe. If the Germans succeed, Europe will become as big as the United States." An intercontinental state, something the British Empire had staunchly opposed over the past several hundred years.

Moreover, the only means we can use to defeat Germany now is blockade. How can we give up this most effective means just because those European countries that are helping Germany are using the sign of neutrality? "

It is unthinkable to counterattack the mainland now. The British troops who have escaped from Europe are still empty-handed, and the Germans are already burning incense without having fought. As for bombing, there is no hope. Germany's air superiority is huge. It is lucky that there is no large-scale bombing of the British mainland. How can the British dare to ask for trouble and bomb Germany on a large scale?

The British Prime Minister was silent for a moment and said in a very serious tone: "If we do this, there will be any adverse consequences. It will also be based on Germany's ability to provide sufficient oil and other necessary resources to European countries that are subject to sanctions. If Germany If it really can be done, even if we don’t impose sanctions, those European countries will completely fall to Germany. Therefore, I suggest that the war cabinet immediately adopts a resolution to sanction the European Customs Union!”