Chapter 75 Rhineland 2
In a room more than 1,000 meters away, a French recruit in his early twenties looked at the lively scene in the distance and stamped his feet angrily. "These bastards are just blatantly tearing up the agreement, I'm going to drive them away!!" He said, reaching for the rifle next to him, and with a click, the bullet was loaded.
The veteran who was looking at the lively scene in the distance was startled, grabbed the rifle from the recruit's hand, and scolded him loudly. "Crazy, are you crazy?! Didn't you hear what they were shouting?! It's the German Crown Prince! If you accidentally injure or kill the German Crown Prince, it will trigger another world war, so what? How many people died? "Although he did not participate in the last war, his father did and came back with one leg missing. But my father often said that compared to his comrades who were sleeping on the battlefield, he was considered a lucky one. Therefore, veterans are well aware of the cruelty of war and do not want to experience it personally.
Watching the veteran pull the bolt of the gun to eject the bullet, the fresh-blooded recruit pointed in the distance with an unwilling look on his face and shouted loudly. "But we can't just watch them being so provocative, right?!"
Putting the rifle back to its original position, the veteran patted his shoulder and motioned for him to calm down. "Well, politics is something that should be left to those high-level bosses to worry about. We just need to get our salaries safely. There has been no order from the top for so long. It seems that they have acquiesced to the Germans' behavior. We can go back Home. "This is not French territory after all. I feel a little homesick after staying here for a long time.
As the veteran said, the news of the German invasion of the Rhineland had already reached Paris, France, and an emergency high-level meeting was held in the Elysée Palace to discuss countermeasures.
However, everyone present felt at a loss.
Did the Germans eat the heart of a bear and the courage of a leopard? ! How dare you so blatantly tear up the Treaty of Versailles and march towards the Rhineland? !
"The Germans are openly provoking the majesty of France! We must fight back immediately! We only need to send an infantry division to drive away the invaders! According to our original agreement, this is the Germans actively provoking a war!!" First The person who made an angry counterattack was Maurice Gustave Gamelin, the French Army Chief of Staff and Vice Chairman of the Army High Military Council.
As soon as he finished speaking, there was immediate opposition. "Chief of Staff Gamelin, have you forgotten? When we entered the Ruhr Industrial Area, the whole world was blaming us." The person who spoke was the current French President Albert Le Brun. "Now, we must not act rashly!!"
It can be said that France entered the Ruhr Industrial Zone with great arrogance, but was forced to leave there in despair not long after. Not only did it lose face, but it also lost the dominance of the European continent that it had temporarily gained after World War I. It's like stealing chicken and losing rice. Thinking about it now makes me sick.
Just as Gan Molin was about to retort, he heard a feeble cough from the side. "Marshal Pétain, are you okay? Do you want to call a doctor for you?"
The man who was coughing was Henri Philippe Pétain, who became famous in the last battle of Verdun and became a French hero. He is 79 years old this year, and his health is no longer what it used to be. He often suffers from back pain, colds and coughs. Hearing Gan Molin's concerned words, he waved his hands feebly, coughed for a while before regaining his breath, and spoke slowly. "I agree with Mr. President. I heard that Crown Prince Yannick went to the UK a few days ago and met with the British Prime Minister, Minister of Defense and others. If they reach an agreement, we will only be passive if we act rashly."
Hearing that the marshal supported him, President Lebrun breathed a sigh of relief and took the opportunity to add. "Yes, maybe this incident is a conspiracy of the British. We are not out of the economic crisis yet, and the people will not support us even if we provoke a war. What the people need now is someone to help them get through this economic crisis. The government. If it falls into a war because of this, I'm afraid the government will be criticized even more seriously! "He still wants to make great achievements, but he doesn't want to become a president who is ousted by the people.
The meeting lasted until the evening before it came to an end. Many young people insisted on driving away the Germans and maintaining the dignity of France. It's a pity that their power is nothing compared to the conservatives. Although the discussion on this day seemed fruitless, looking at the British side, which had not made any movement, everyone knew that it was impossible to drive away the Germans.
An emergency meeting was also held in the British Prime Minister's Office to discuss how to deal with the Germans' entry into the Rhineland.
Prime Minister McDonald said helplessly. "Actually, Crown Prince Yannick mentioned this matter to me last time when he came to visit. I didn't express my position at that time. It seems that he mistook me for acquiescing, or I was too young." But he didn't say much about it. In his opinion, Germany's invasion of the Rhineland was no big deal. After all, it was originally German.
Britain lost almost an entire generation in the last war, and a total of 1.2 million people were killed including the British Allied forces. Britain has never had so many people die in a war. Even in the Second World War, only 300,000 people died. Therefore, the greatest trauma in the hearts of British people in later generations was World War I, not World War II.
But after the end of World War I, Britain's attitude towards its enemy Germany on the battlefield was far more lenient than its ally France.
One of the reasons is that the British elite believed that it was France that dragged Britain into the war. Even Lloyd George, who served as the British Chancellor of the Exchequer, Minister of War, and Prime Minister, publicly stated many times that World War I was provoked by France to avenge the Franco-German War of 1870. He and most British people believe that Britain was forced to join World War I.
France is Britain's Allied partner, and Britain needs to give France certain support. But the British also believe that France is their natural enemy and a completely different race from Britain.
The three dominant races in Europe are: the Latin race represented by the French, the Slavic race represented by the Russians, and the Anglo-Saxon race represented by the British and Germans. (Even the extremely racist mustache believes that the British are also a relatively excellent race, and has repeatedly tried to pull Britain into his camp, but Churchill didn't care about him at all)
Now that World War I is over, William II and Germany have also learned the "due lesson". In the eyes of the British, the war has brought Germany back to the big family of Anglo-Saxons. Therefore, on the issue of reparations, Britain tended to favor Germany.