Chapter 861 860 [Jewish History]
White House.
President Roosevelt of the United States sat by the fireplace, holding a cigar in one hand and reaching toward the fire with the other. Next to him was a middle-aged man with a semi-bald head, Henry Morgenthau Jr., the U.S. Secretary of the Treasury.
A symphony came from the radio, and Morgenthau, accompanied by the music, began to report the progress of the work to the president: "The negotiations with the Chinese envoys have basically entered the right track. But they changed from their old attitude and asked for a loan of US$150 million... …”
"These are details that don't need to be told to me," Roosevelt interrupted. "The key is the reaction of those consortiums."
Morgenthau smiled and said: "The Rockefeller, Kuhn-Loeb, Mellon and Morgan consortium reacted the most violently. They tried every means to prevent this loan to China. But please don't worry, everything is still under control. I will let them change Be honest. DuPont, the Boston and Cleveland consortium are staunch supporters of borrowing from China, and they will definitely stand up and deal with each other for their own interests."
Roosevelt nodded and said: "I hope the negotiations can be completed before New Year's Day. China is in urgent need of help and cannot delay it any further."
As the saying goes, everything is for profit.
The four major financial groups of Rockefeller, Kuhn-Loeb, Mellon and Morgan opposed borrowing money to support China, not because they were hostile to China. Rather, their oil, steel, aluminum products, etc. are strategic materials that Japan urgently needs, and they do not want to break up with Japan by aiding China.
As for the three major consortiums of DuPont, Boston and Cleveland, they are either mainly engaged in light industrial products and have fierce competition with Japan in the local and Asian markets, or they are mainly engaged in the chemical industry and have huge demand for China's tung oil.
Kong Xiangxi sent Chen Guangfu to the United States to obtain loans, mainly because Chen Guangfu had a close relationship with the Morgan consortium and wanted to obtain more favorable results through personal relationships. But the actual situation is very embarrassing, because the Morgan consortium strongly opposes borrowing money to aid China, and they prefer to support Germany, Italy and Japan.
Roosevelt had to use various political and financial means to convince several major financial groups, including Morgan, otherwise the tung oil loan would not be discussed in Congress at all - even if it was ostensibly a commercial loan.
Several major financial groups in the United States fought with each other for their own interests, and saw back and forth between aiding China and aiding Japan. But they also have a common appeal, which is to oppose the United States' involvement in the war. Only a few families who are mainly engaged in the arms business can't wait to fight the war.
Roosevelt was an excellent chess player, and major financial groups and families were pawns in his hands. Sometimes he is cautious, sometimes he is bold, taking advantage of the contradictions and interests of all parties to play with the American plutocrats.
The big American capitalists have very complicated feelings towards Roosevelt, including respect, hatred, submission, resistance, appreciation, anger... to name a few.
Roosevelt and Morgenthau discussed repeatedly by the fireside and finally came up with specific countermeasures.
That is to let the Morgan consortium take the lead in borrowing money from China, and use the tung oil trade to penetrate the U.S. chemical industry to lure the Morgan consortium into becoming a "traitor" and thus support the loans to China. At the same time, several medium- and large-scale banks and some institutions on Wall Street were used as reins to put around the neck of the Morgan consortium to prevent accidents.
In this way, the Morgan consortium will inevitably choose to stand on the hostile side of the Rockefeller, Kuhn-Loeb and Mellon consortiums for the sake of greater interests. Involving more banks and institutions can distract the energy and attention of the Morgan consortium, allowing a hungry wolf to compete with a group of hungry dogs for fat. Roosevelt can sit back and watch the results with peace of mind.
Even if the Morgan consortium knew it was a trap, they would still dive into it. Because it dominates the tung oil trade, it is equivalent to extending its hands into the chemical field. In the future, DuPont and other consortiums will need to see some expressions of the Morgan consortium. For its own interests, the DuPont consortium would not completely oppose the Morgan consortium's leading loans. Instead, it would compete and cooperate at the same time, making Roosevelt, the referee, more comfortable.
The two were chatting when they suddenly heard "Kristallnacht" and other content coming from the radio, and Morgenthau immediately turned his attention.
The current U.S. Treasury Secretary Morgenthau, whose father is a German Jewish immigrant, naturally pays close attention to Kristallnacht.
Historically, it was not until 1943 that Morgenthau discovered that the German Nazis were trying to exterminate the Jews. He spent a lot of time and energy, put together various clues and discovered a shocking fact, that is, Roosevelt had long known about the Nazi plan to exterminate the Jews, and had adopted a sit-down attitude.
Morgenthau was very hurt by this. He and Roosevelt were good friends who had known each other for many years. It was simply unforgivable that such a thing was hidden from him!
Morgenthau ultimately chose to forgive, but his anger remained. He spent half a year coming up with the "Morgenthau Plan" in an attempt to completely eliminate Germany's industrial potential. To put it bluntly, he wanted to turn Germany directly into an agricultural country after the war, so that the Germans would never be able to stand up.
However, due to the strong opposition from the U.S. military and Congress, as well as the Soviet Union's uncooperation, Roosevelt had no choice but to abandon the "Morgenthau Plan."
The host's voice came from the radio: "Just a few days ago, members of the German Nazis beat, smashed, looted, and burned Jews. Countless synagogues, shops, and homes were turned into ruins. Hundreds of thousands (data does not match) in Germany and Austria The Jews were arrested and sent to concentration camps. Not only that, the German Nazis counterattacked, believing that the incident was caused by the Jews, and forced the Jews to pay 1 billion marks to the Nazis. Now, the Jews in Germany and Austria not only cannot find jobs, but also have to pay The German government paid compensation, and their lives have fallen into despair. Today, we invited the famous historian and writer Mr. Zhou Hexuan, and the great physicist Mr. Einstein to ask them to interpret this incident from different perspectives .”
Zhou Hexuan: "Hello American listeners, I am Zhou Hexuan."
Einstein: "I am Einstein."
Moderator: "Mr. Zhou, you are a famous scholar of history. Can you analyze why anti-Semitism emerged from a historical perspective?"
Zhou Hexuan: "The causes of anti-Semitism are very complex. The first is the religious issue. I must declare that I am not hostile to any religion. I understand and respect any religious belief. The following content is discussed from a historical and academic perspective. The initial life of the Jews In Egypt, they left due to oppression, which is the source of the biblical story "Exodus". The powerful Alexander the Great did not allow extremely conservative and xenophobic peoples under his rule, so Judaism faced Hellenization Threat. So the Maccabean Rebellion broke out, successfully preventing Judaism and the Jewish nation from being assimilated. However, where there are conservative orthodox people, there are development reformers. At this time, Jesus appeared. Under Jesus’ explanation, Jehovah is no longer unique to the Jews. not God, but the God of all mankind, so non-Jews could also practice Judaism, and Christianity appeared on earth.”
Host: "So, Christianity was a branch of Judaism at its very beginning?"
Zhou Hexuan: "Yes. After the death of Jesus, Hellenistic Judaism turned into Christianity. In order to clear up the relationship, Christians began to attack Judaism. For example, in the Book of Jude, the Jewish nation is described as greedy and cruel, and it is believed that Jews kill Jesus died. For thousands of years, Christian believers have spread all over the world. Under the natural influence of the Bible, religious hostility towards the Jews is inevitable."
Host: "Besides religion, what other reasons are there?"
Zhou Hexuan: "Money..."