On February 12, Austrian Chancellor Schuschnigg held a meeting with Hitler at his mountain villa in Berchtesgaden. Although this event was not publicly announced and carried out in a high-profile manner, it was not very secret either. Several interested countries
Intelligence officers are paying attention to this matter. Although no country has come forward for Austria yet, it does not mean that they are not paying attention to this matter.
Sitting back and watching Germany annexing Austria means that the Nazi power will expand even more in Europe, and it means that the "Contract of Versailles" will be torn up again. No one except Italy wants to see this. But taking action to save Austria is very likely to allow Austria to
If your own country is dragged down, in the worst case, it may even fall into a war with Germany. It can be said that all European countries are now afraid of Germany. It is not that Germany is stronger than all European countries, but because all European countries are now afraid of Germany.
Even Italy is afraid of war, but Germany is not.
Hitler seized on the fear of war among the major European powers after World War I, and adopted a life-threatening bachelor attitude, frequently using war to engage in diplomatic blackmail. Several major European powers also held the belief that "it is better to offend a gentleman than to offend a gentleman."
The mentality of "offending the villain" has forced Germany to indulge itself time and time again, even at the expense of the interests of smaller countries, just to get Hitler's promise to "stop here" and to give his country and voters a promise to "keep peace"
Longing.
The appeasement mentality of Britain, France and other countries can be summed up in one sentence: they are afraid of German expansion, but they are even more afraid of their own country being involved in the war. - Choose the "lesser" of the two evils, or "Look first before anything else."
In addition to European countries, there are two powerful countries in the world that can stay out of the matter and watch this matter, namely the Ming Dynasty and the United States. Needless to say, the United States is now a neutral country, and even selling a little arms has to rack its brains to get through the Neutrality Act.
"There is no loophole, and it has no way to intervene in the Anschluss between Germany and Austria. As for another powerful country, the Ming Empire in East Asia, its attitude is very speculative.
The relationship between Ming Dynasty and Germany is very close, and there are many close cooperations in the economic and technological fields. However, the social systems, political concepts, ideologies, and values of Ming Dynasty and Germany are very different - far from those of Germany, but different from those of Britain.
The United States, Japan and other countries are closer. Moreover, the Ming Dynasty is not only closer to Germany, but also closer to Britain, France and other countries, and has a longer history of friendship. For these reasons, many people believe that the Ming Empire will be the same as Britain, France and other countries.
, adopted a "half push and half give" attitude toward Germany's plot against Austria. It neither supported nor took actual actions to oppose it.
But what outsiders don’t know is that Ming Dynasty’s choices are not so free now. According to the “Mingde Secret Pact” signed two years ago, Ming Dynasty must express its support for the merger of Germany and Austria. Now it faces two choices: either comply with
Make a secret agreement, express your support clearly, or tear up the secret agreement. It is absolutely impossible to stay out of the matter.
After entering 1938, the Ming cabinet was most worried about this matter. They had been discussing what options to take. If it were the Ming Dynasty two years ago, it would be a good choice, just support the German-Austrian merger. At that time, the Ming Dynasty was not
A "world power" in the full sense, at that time, 80% of the Ming Dynasty's energy was focused on fighting the Northern Qing Dynasty. Whether it could maintain independence and survive under the threat of the Northern Qing Dynasty was the top priority of the Ming Empire. At that time,
If anyone can give Ming real help, Ming will do anything. Even make a deal with the devil. At that time, it was Germany that gave Ming real military and technical help. These were provided by countries such as Britain and France.
It has never been given. Ming Dynasty actually made a deal with Germany, promising to stand on Germany's side when Germany plots against Austria in the future.
From this perspective, at that time, the Ming Dynasty just made the same choice as Britain, France and other countries now - compared with the security of their own country, everything else does not matter.
Now times have changed, the Ming Dynasty is no longer the Ming Dynasty of two years ago, and Germany is no longer the Germany of two years ago. The Ming Dynasty has now unified China and has become one of the most powerful countries in the world. Instead, it has spread the war outside its borders.
Ming Dynasty is no longer the "little red riding hood" that trembled under the clutches of the Northern Qing Dynasty, but has become a muscular fighter fighting "Bolshevism" in the west and "Japan" in the east.
The struggle against militarism plays the role of international police in Asia.
And Germany is not the Germany it was two years ago. Germany in early 1936 was still very weak, and basically still had a weak image in Europe. Although Hitler controlled the media internally, enslaved and brainwashed, persecuted dissidents, and persecuted Jews, after all, the Nazis came to power.
Not long ago, all this was not very serious. At least other European countries did not feel the threat from Germany. And at that time, Hitler had just eliminated unemployment in Germany and revitalized the German economy. This was what surprised the whole world.
At that time, many countries learned from Germany and regarded the "German model" and the "Soviet model" together as a shortcut to the success of late-developing countries.
In early 1936, Germany's image, even if it was not very good, was at least mixed. Although it was also one of Europe's "problem children", it was at least a model of self-improvement and relying on its own efforts to get back up after falling.
But in early 1938, Germany had become a monster. Internally, all kinds of enslavement and persecution were intensifying, and the Germans felt to the whole world that they were becoming more and more arrogant, extreme, and unreasonable. Externally, Germany's military and national strength was growing by leaps and bounds, and its wings were full.
, and formed the Nazi-Fascist axis with Italy, which not only made some weak countries in the east insecure, but also made France, recognized as "the strongest in Europe" at this time, somewhat insecure.
But at this time, the Ming Dynasty was completely opposite. Every time the Ming army liberated a Soviet concentration camp and restored freedom in a Soviet high-pressure area, it would attract a lot of praise from the international community. At this time, the Ming Dynasty also valued its "feathers" more and more.
Exactly at this moment, Ming Dynasty has to face the torture of the "Mingde Secret Pact". At this time, nothing can hurt its own feathers more than publicly endorsing the "German-Austrian Anschluss". Especially now, the door of US arms purchase has just opened.
Public opinion in the United States also overwhelmingly hates Hitler. There is absolutely no benefit in standing on Hitler's side at this time.
The Ming Dynasty's intelligence agency also knew about the meeting between Schuschnigg and Hitler in Berchtesgaden on February 12. As for what they talked about, Dongchang had no idea at all. But Xiang Xiaoqiang's People's Guard gave
A very detailed revelation was made that made Dongchang extremely jealous.
Because of this, and also because Xiang Xiaoqiang single-handedly promoted the "Mingde Secret Pact" back then, and now that the cabinet will meet again on the 13th to study this issue, Xiang Xiaoqiang cannot be bypassed.
In front of a bunch of fuming ministers, Xiang Xiaoqiang also held a cigarette between his fingers and said while thinking:
"Obviously, whether from intelligence or common sense, yesterday's meeting was entirely the result of Hitler calling Schuschnigg over to threaten him. Hitler pressed forward step by step, and every step of pressure was pre-planned, and there was no trace of it.
There was no room for maneuver. And Schuschnigg had no power to fight back. He basically let himself be slaughtered. They didn’t talk about anything practical in the morning, but mainly about Hitler’s mental suppression of Schuschnigg. In the afternoon, Ribbentro
Fu and Papen gave Schuschnigg a 'draft' of the agreement and asked him to sign and agree. They said that this was the final opinion of the head of state, and no modification or discussion was allowed, and it must be agreed directly.
"As for the general content of the agreement, we have also come to inquire about it. The main order is that Austria must lift the ban on the Nazi Party, which means that the Austrian Nazi Party must be fully legalized in the future. In addition, all imprisoned Nazis must be released immediately. To
Seth Inquart should serve as the Austrian Interior Minister, and he should have the power to take charge of police and security affairs. We know that Inquart is an out-and-out Nazi. We should also let Glass Halls
Tenau is the Austrian Minister of Defense - this man is also a Nazi. In addition, several measures will be taken to allow Germany and Austria to exchange 100 officers in a step-by-step manner, which means to establish closer ties between the two armies - in fact, to put it bluntly
The only thing is to infiltrate the Austrian army. Also, to appoint Dr. Fischbock as the Minister of Finance. Of course, he is also a Nazi... Needless to say, you adults will understand at a glance that this agreement is for Xu Shi
Nigg handed over the entire Austrian government to the Nazis."
Foreign Minister He Ziguang looked around at the crowd and said slowly:
"If Schuschnigg accepts this agreement, it will only be a matter of time before Austria loses its independence. This may actually be good for us. As long as the Nazis control the Austrian government, I believe they will soon actively invite Germany to 'annex'
——Or it may not be called a merger, but it can be called something else. Anyway, that’s what it is. Since it is Austria’s own request, no one can say anything. It seems much more natural for us to follow behind and express our support.
At least it gives the impression that we are not working for the tiger, but that we are following the current. Our cooperative relationship with Germany is well known to the world, so if we follow the current and issue a statement, all countries will understand it."
He nodded to Xiaoqiang and sighed:
"Master He's analysis makes sense... It would be best if Schuschnigg accepted the agreement happily. It would be much easier for us. But Schuschnigg is soft on the outside and strong on the inside. On the surface,
He sounds gentle and scholarly, but very opinionated. After all, he has gone through various political turmoils and experienced the cruel power struggle of the Austrian high-level before he got to where he is today. This person is by no means a softie. I estimate that he is now
In Berchtesgaden, we have no choice but to deal with Hitler first. But as soon as he returns to Austria, he may fall out. This matter will not end so easily. We must be mentally prepared, and it is very likely that we will have to deal with Hitler in Germany and Austria.
When tensions between the two countries escalate, come and join this team."