Unlike the heads of state and foreign ministers strolling in the gardens and showing friendship, delegations from various countries are nervously preparing conference topics and negotiation materials to promote the topic of this external economic reconstruction conference, which is nominally aimed at reviving Europe.
In fact, the remaining colonial empires banded together to protect each other's collective interests.
But in fact, due to the differences in the distribution of colonies, the threats faced vary from big to small. Although the general direction of the conference should be the same among all countries, there must still be some debates at the conference.
Take the current situation of Britain and France as an example, their treatment of colonial issues is absolutely different.
France's attitude after the war was undoubtedly repressive. It can be seen from the fact that the French army had once again embarked on the journey to Asia before the meeting. France's current attitude, including de Gaulle himself, was to maintain all colonies.
The United Kingdom, especially Prime Minister Attlee, is no longer prepared to waste time in British India. Once the local elites in British India eventually lose patience and choose to rise up, with the current ability of the United Kingdom, unless they are not prepared to live well, they will be broken. The wartime rationing system has been maintained, otherwise there is no way to stop it.
The most important thing is that even if the wartime rationing system is maintained, Britain may not be able to suppress the resistance of British India.
This problem has actually appeared for a long time, and it is not even a problem that has appeared in recent years.
During World War II, Britain simultaneously fought against the French in West Africa, Syria and Madagascar, against the German and Italian troops in Egypt, and against the Japanese in Australia and Burma. At the same time, it was an impossible task to maintain shipping lanes in the North Sea, the North and South Atlantics, and the Indian Ocean, and then transfuse blood to Malta.
The colonial empire itself is not a large empire in the traditional sense, but is an isolated overseas component that is interconnected and surrounded by powerful enemies. Defending a colonial empire means fighting different enemies on all fronts at the same time. The geography is extremely bad.
When Germany declared war, Britain and France were able to gather forces similar to those of the German army and fight against them. However, after Italy declared war and France switched sides, the British army was unable to do anything. After Japan also declared war, its troops were even more stretched.
The British Empire has never had the ability to wage war with multiple major opponents on multiple major fronts at the same time. The security of the empire relies entirely on the concentration of troops brought about by the so-called imperial commitment. When war breaks out in India and Afghanistan, troops can be mobilized from Britain. , when the war in North Africa becomes tense, troops can be mobilized from Australia and New Zealand.
It is best to face only one enemy at a time. This is the idea of the Germans when fighting on two fronts. This is not the idea of the British. It must suppress the resistance of the colonies and guard against the peeps of other powers on the colonies. In Asia and the Russia antagonized, intrigued with the United States in America, and fought with France in Africa.
After two world wars, London finally felt that it was really unable to survive with its current national strength. Prime Minister Attlee felt that it had to shrink, kick out the colonies where the input was greater than the output, and concentrate on running the colonies where the resistance was not strong. colony.
British India was a burden that Prime Minister Attlee wanted to kick out in order to complete the shrinkage of the empire and gain some breathing time.
Alan Wilson just hoped that the British Empire would shrink and not collapse, shrinking all the way to the British Isles. He did not think that having Britain follow behind the Americans was his pursuit in life.
If that's the case, it's better to resign and go to work to become a wealthy businessman. That way you have more freedom and don't have to be constrained by your status as a civil servant. Even being a leader in the British-occupied areas makes you wary.
In the meeting within the British delegation, Alan Wilson was also very hard-working and launched an extremely fierce attack on the Soviet Union, but the core argument was that the Soviet Union did not have the strength to start another war.
"According to the German generals I found in the British-occupied areas who have experience fighting in the Soviet Union, the German army caused extremely serious damage in the Soviet Union. It is no worse than the damage in Germany now! I believe that gentlemen, you should
I recently learned from newspapers that the ratio of men to women in Germany is now exaggerated.”
At an internal meeting chaired by Alexander Cadogan, Alan Wilson spoke eloquently, saying that based on the losses suffered by Germany to estimate the losses of the Soviet Union, the Soviet Union's casualties should be more than 15 million, and most of those killed during the war must have been
It's a man.
"Former Prime Minister Churchill once said that we would like to see Germans lying in graves, but we would rather see Russians lying on the operating table. We can conclude that this is the current fact."
"The Soviet Union has not announced its losses in the war until now." A middle-aged diplomat asked, "Are the estimates of the Soviet Union too optimistic?"
"This is where the Soviet Union is guilty. Can't count it? This is impossible. Moscow doesn't know the domestic population. They have done three censuses. It's impossible that they can't come up with the census now. Then it's intentional.
Concealed. And judging from the greedy behavior of the Soviets at the Potsdam Conference, this polar bear must be in very bad condition, so it accepts everything from Germany."
The diplomats at the meeting nodded with great approval, and Alexander Cadogan, the permanent undersecretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, also agreed. Alan Wilson should be the most qualified civil servant to question the Soviet Union. At the Potsdam Conference, he represented the United Kingdom and the Soviet Union.
Perform black-box operations.
"Although Allen's estimate is too optimistic and there is no direct evidence, the combined evidence of various factors can also explain part of the problem. It is true that the Germans were cruel and ruthless and caused huge damage in the Soviet Union. If the Soviet Union and Germany
The degree of damage to the other party is at one level. The Soviet Union suffered a loss of 15 million young people of working age, which is very reasonable."
"That's right, Sir Alexander. The Soviet Union will definitely not be any better than Germany. If we can send a delegation to visit the Soviet Union and select a few big cities as a visit, we can have some communication with ordinary people in the Soviet Union.
"When it comes to the issue of German aggression, if the interviewee expresses hatred and mentions that relatives died in the war, we can get a rough estimate by gathering these interviews together."
This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! "By the way, before coming here, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs received news from Moscow that the Soviet Union wants to conduct an art visit to London in the form of people-to-people exchanges, and it seems that it will send a
Call the Red Flag Song and Dance Troupe to come over."
Alexander Cadogan listened to Alan Wilson's words and nodded, "The Foreign Secretary meant to welcome this kind of people-to-people exchanges, and our reply was that we can conduct a mutual visit to express that the British Empire has no intention of being an enemy of the Soviet Union and has made plans for unity and harmony."
Since it is a non-governmental exchange, the returning team can naturally communicate with ordinary people in the Soviet Union, so that they can confirm whether the Soviet Union really does not have the strength to launch a world war in a short period of time."
"That's great!" Alan Wilson couldn't hide his excitement. He believed that for ordinary people, the British masters of conversation in the delegation would be able to extract the desired information.
The Red Flag Song and Dance Troupe is that famous male chorus, right? If he had time, he would also like to listen to it. After all, the opportunity is rare, and if you miss it, you will never get it again.
Why should we criticize the Soviet Union for being strong on the outside and weak on the inside and let this idea become a consensus? In fact, it is very simple. If we go to war with the Soviet Union, according to the experience of the previous two wars, within a few years it will be enough to defeat the entire British Empire without leaving a single young person.
Just like the Soviet Union believed that imperialism would provoke a world war, Britain was also afraid of the Soviet Union, and had the same idea as the Soviet Union, believing that at this difficult moment, the other side must be prevented from having the idea of provoking a war.
The Soviet Union's approach was to establish a buffer zone in Eastern Europe to prevent invasion by Britain and the United States, especially the United States. The British approach was to prevent the Soviet Union from invading and keep the United States stationed in Europe.
If it could be made clear that the Soviet Union was incapable of provoking a world war and was lying on the operating table recovering from its injuries, the British Empire would not have to welcome the United States to Europe, and would at least limit the right to station troops within the Federal Republic of Germany.
You must know that the North Atlantic Treaty was actually established by the United Kingdom and France, who first persuaded the United States to establish it. However, this period of history in which the United Kingdom actively mentioned the establishment of NATO is not well understood by others.
What is also not well understood is that after the disintegration of the Soviet Union, Britain's continental balancing instinct kicked in and it once suggested that Russia join NATO. However, at that time, the United States had already become the dominant force and was very familiar with the British tradition of breaking down fortresses from within.
, pretending not to have heard this suggestion.
Before the formal meeting began, the British delegation's internal meeting had reached a consensus that the Soviet Union was only superficially strong externally and internally, and the United States had nuclear bombs in its hands, and the Soviet Union would not take risks to provoke a world war.
As for the main topic, the colonial issue, which is the real top priority, news has come from the Far East. In Jakarta, Indonesia, Indonesia's Sukarno declared independence, which made the Netherlands, whose troops were still on the way, furious.
The Dutch are now the country most eagerly awaiting the convening of the conference, but the British delegation first contacted the French.
When meeting Nino Bertrand, the diplomat of the French delegation, Alexander Cadogan took the initiative to open his arms and hug him, setting a tone of unity for this Brussels meeting.
"The French army is faster. Vietnam is not a colony of the British Empire. We have no reason to stay there for a long time." Alexander Cadogan took the initiative to express his kindness.
"The unity of Europe lies in the relationship between Britain and France." Nino Bertrand gave a positive response, "How to protect the interests of greater Europe requires the joint efforts of our two countries. By the way, regarding the issue of the Saarland, we
I think it should be resolved at this meeting as well.”
"In principle, London will not object!" Alexander Cadogan said in an official tone, "Who makes Britain and France allies?"