Alan Wilson is really dealing with money. Although it seems a bit inappropriate for him, a civil servant of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, to attend a meeting of the Ministry of Finance, but the rule in this kind of thing is that the dead are alive, as long as the supreme authority is willing
Do special things, nothing is impossible.
After arriving at the Treasury conference room, Alan Wilson greeted several Treasury colleagues. Not all of them were strangers. Many of them had attended the Whitehall reception, at least they were familiar with them.
The conference room was bustling. After a while, Edward Bridges, the current civil servant and permanent undersecretary of the Ministry of Finance, walked in, and the conference room fell silent for a moment.
When Edward Bridges sat down and glanced around with a scrutinizing gaze, he said, "This meeting involves the development and prospects of the national economy, as well as the prospects for European economic recovery, because there will be an important international event soon.
The meeting is about to be held, and colleagues from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will attend the meeting to prepare for the meeting."
"Now that we are meeting, everyone has some understanding of the current domestic situation. Although various indicators have returned to pre-war levels, it does not mean that the British Empire does not need assistance from the Americans."
Edward Bridges set the tone for the meeting, "Both Lord Stafford and the Prime Minister are very concerned about this."
Stafford Cripps is the current Chancellor of the Exchequer of the Labor Party. The Chancellor of the Exchequer and the Foreign Secretary are the right-hand men of the Prime Minister. It is not an exaggeration to say that they are both the number two figures in this government.
Stafford Cripps had a very good relationship with the Communist Party of England and was considered an extreme leftist figure in the Labor Party.
However, Stafford Cripps was very suitable for post-war Britain. Without this Chancellor of the Exchequer, Prime Minister Attlee wanted to maintain both the National Health Service and the National Health Service at a time of monetary tightening.
Alloy tube planning is certainly not that easy.
Also, it was the support of Stafford Cripps that allowed the Trade Commission in the British-occupied area to establish a rationing system in an instant, so one cannot simply distinguish between left and right, it is all complicated.
Just because the Labor Party came to power, and based on their resume, they were very extreme when they were in the opposition party, we cannot think that these Labor Party ministers must not do good things. Otherwise, the Marshall Plan was historically accepted when the Labor Party was in power. How?
Explain how these ministers who participated in the labor movement in their early years accepted assistance from the Americans?
Talking about the concerns of Chancellor of the Exchequer Stafford Cripps, Edward Bridges went on to explain the current situation in the UK and what cards it has in hand to bargain with the United States.
"There is no doubt that the current developments show that after Senator Churchill's Iron Curtain speech, the hostility between the United States and the Soviet Union is deepening. From my personal point of view, there is no doubt that the most valuable card currently in the British Empire's hand is
It is a British-occupied area. As the most essential part of German territory, as long as we hold it in our hands, Britain will recover sooner or later. Even if the Americans throw money at it, it will be useless. The coastline is in our hands, the industrial zone is in our hands, and the money spent by the United States will only be destroyed.
The British-occupied area, which had a larger industrial scale, attracted them, which is why we did not even spend a single pound, but the British-occupied area was still better than the American-occupied area, which had invested hundreds of millions of dollars."
"Even the US military in the US-occupied areas came to the British-occupied areas to purchase some things. The US-occupied areas, dominated by Bavaria, cannot be compared with the British-occupied areas in terms of industry."
After hearing what Alan Wilson said, Edward Bridges raised the report in his hand and nodded in approval, "Alan is right, and the report in my hand can also prove it. Regarding the existence of the siphon effect, it is now known
It has become a subject of research by the Ministry of Finance. Of course, it is too optimistic to make a judgment like this. The increasingly obvious hostility of the United States and the Soviet Union is both a danger and an opportunity."
When the United States first entered the war, representatives of the British financial community also made optimistic estimates for the United States. Due to the national sentiments of Britain and the United States, they believed that after the war, "Americans and British people will help each other and jointly adopt the Lend-Lease Act."
system and industrial cooperation to jointly lead the world."
And his hopes would be dashed. As Keynes discovered for himself in Washington, Americans saw the coming peace as an opportunity to put the British Empire to shame, not to support it.
After the establishment of the Braston Woods system, Warburg concluded pessimistically that "Britain's solution to post-war problems is to connect more closely with the Commonwealth of Nations and Western European countries, and cannot rely on the United States at all."
He felt that the aggressive economic policies of the United States frustrated him. After the war, the United States immediately canceled the Lend-Lease Act, which confirmed that Britain would first have to defend its own security. It also confirmed that the United States might invest more resources.
Helping its former enemies rebuild, not its former allies.
"From the current perspective, if the US aid can be in place, the UK can end the rationing system within a year. The Prime Minister and the Chancellor also want to receive aid. Of course, we also know that nothing comes in vain.
, Americans have already shown this in times of war."
After Edward Bridges finished speaking, Alan Wilson replied, "In fact, there is no need for us to wait like begging. One thing can be seen from the example of the British-occupied areas in Germany, that is, areas with concentrated industries have a certain impact on backward areas.
Siphon effect. From the perspective of Europe, which is currently in ruins, American industry is unscathed. It also has this condition!"
"So the so-called aid plan is not so much the United States coming to the world as a savior, but it is a trick played by the Americans to let European countries borrow money to buy American goods. I think there may be some problems with the wording, but in fact
That's it. Just like our two-wing plan, it's just a variant."
This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! "Think about it, during the war, the United States guided its economy to the war track. Enterprises that mass-produced civilian products switched to producing military products and increased their output.
In the past, a large number of housewives walked out of their homes to work in factories. As a result, the war ended and disarmament took place, and the demand for military products plummeted. There was no market to absorb the huge production capacity of these enterprises for a while. But at this time, Europe was facing the problem of reconstruction, and various types of
There is a strong demand for heavy industrial machinery products, and even countries such as Portugal and Iceland, which have not experienced war, also have large construction needs."
Everyone in the Ministry of Finance nodded in approval, and one of the deputy secretaries-general said, "We also have our own advantages. According to the news from the U.S. Embassy, there are some conditions attached to U.S. aid."
"This is not surprising, Americans never do business at a loss." Alan Wilson chuckled, "The recipient country must purchase a certain amount of American goods, withdraw tariff barriers as soon as possible, and cancel or relax foreign exchange restrictions. This
There must be a few, right?"
Seeing the colleague who spoke nodding, Alan Wilson said, "To be honest, once the foreign exchange controls are lifted, with the current strength of the US dollar, the pound will definitely encounter a run crisis, leading to exchange rate problems."
"We can give up the interests of the British-occupied areas, but we must be immune to these restrictions. After all, the domestic recovery is far beyond expectations. From a larger perspective, the United States also needs us. After all, we do not have a million-dollar French Republic in the country.
Communist Party of Italy, we can cooperate with the United States to a certain extent, but too much concession is not a good thing."
"That can't be said. If the Americans give enough, we can agree to some conditions appropriately." Edward Bridges finally expressed his opinion, "It depends on the amount of aid provided by the United States."
If you want the UK to cooperate, you have to add more money. This is what Edward Bridges means, and it is also what his colleagues in the Treasury say.
After the meeting, Edward Bridges informed Chancellor of the Exchequer Stafford Cripps of the outcome of the meeting, who then went to the Prime Minister's Office.
At this time, Prime Minister Attlee was looking at the report on the estimated value of the colonies, and happened to see the Persian Gulf chapter. The next part, the Suez Canal chapter, had not yet been seen.
"Stafford, you're here." Prime Minister Attlee put down the report in his hand. When the Chancellor of the Exchequer came in, he asked him to sit down and asked, "Is it about the European Recovery Plan?"
"Yes, the Ministry of Finance has already had the results of the discussion." Stafford Cripps took out the minutes of today's meeting and said, "Isn't it too optimistic? Although the recovery is better than expected, but for the current situation
As far as Britain is concerned, American assistance is also very important."
Although Europe has clear needs historically, it does not have much qualifications to consider bargaining.
The UK has now returned to pre-war levels, but huge foreign debt still exists. If it can receive this aid, it will still be a great financial benefit.
"If the Americans don't attach too many conditions, we will continue to resume production in the British-occupied areas." Prime Minister Attlee shrugged. "We have just signed a tin ore and rubber supply agreement with the Soviet Union. If the United States does not show sincerity,
If so, we don’t have no room for maneuver.”
Although the sky in British India was bluer, the sky in the British-occupied areas was also bluer. And because of the geographical location and industrial scale of the British-occupied areas, the sky in the American-occupied areas that were blocked inland was also higher.
More blue.
As Prime Minister, Attlee knew the role that the British-occupied areas played in promoting British economic development. If the Americans took too much advantage, Attlee might not cooperate.
Before Alan Wilson's trip to Paris, he received another negotiable condition. He did not rule out supporting France's annexation of the Saarland. He could use this as a condition to talk to the Americans. He was right, he was talking to the Americans about France.