The Rise of the Third Reich

In the early morning of May 12, 1932, the lights in the Matignon Palace, the French Prime Minister's Office, were brightly lit all night long. In the conference room, dignitaries from the Edward Herriot government and the leaders of the French Army gathered together. The smell of cigar smoke and coffee mixed together, it was so strong that it was choking.

The door of the conference room was suddenly pushed open, and a burst of fresh air rushed in. Then a panic-looking secretary of the Prime Minister's Office quickly walked to French Prime Minister Edouard Herriot, who had just taken office less than two days ago, and handed over the A copy of the telegram.

Definitely not good news!

Everyone is thinking this in their hearts. Now France seems to be in isolation. No friend is willing to stand up for France. What good news can we expect?

"The Poles said: The Rhineland has belonged to Germany since ancient times, so there is not sufficient reason to oppose the German army's entry..." Edward Herriot read the beginning in a hoarse voice, and had no desire to read any more.

What does "since ancient times" mean? Is this what international politics is about? International law since ancient times? Total nonsense! The basis of public international law is treaties, treaties written in black and white! The Rhine Demilitarized Zone is stipulated in the Treaty of Versailles and the Treaty of Lorgar Security. What has it been since ancient times? These Poles are so shameless that they have completely forgotten who raised them.

"Mr. Prime Minister," Edward Herriot's confidant, Foreign Minister Edward Daladier, said at this time, "the attitude of the Poles is irrelevant. Cooperation with the Soviet Union is the guarantee of peace. Without the Soviet Union, the Germans would not be able to do anything. It can’t be done. We should find ways to further win over the Soviet Union, and even make the Soviet Union a permanent member of the League of Nations.”

"But we still have to rely on the Poles to fight Germany!" General Maxime Weygand, Vice Chairman of the French Supreme Military Council and Director of the Army, who has close relations with Piłsudski, interjected, "The Polish Federation will be able to control the Army within a month. The number has increased to 3 million, and another 3 million can be mobilized within 6 months. This number has even exceeded France!”

Due to the acquisition of Ukraine and Lithuania on the right bank, Poland's population in this time and space exceeded that of France, reaching more than 50 million, making it the third most populous country on the European continent. Moreover, the Polish Federation has faced pressure from the Soviet Union and Germany at the same time since its restoration. Therefore, a very complete mobilization system has been established, which can mobilize a large number of troops in a short period of time.

In addition, Polish domestic public opinion (mainly Polish ethnic groups) supported the war far more than France. As long as Piłsudski gives the order, millions of passionate young people will take to the battlefield.

"The Poles are useless," said French Army Minister Joseph Paul Boncourt, shaking his head. "All Europe knows that Lenin's will must be to destroy White Poland! As long as the Poles declare war on Germany, the Soviet Union will definitely stand by On the German side, no matter how hard you try to win over, it will be 220 million people fighting 50 million people, and the Poles will definitely lose..."

How could it be 220 million versus 50 million? Maxime Weigang was stunned again and again. There were not 40 million French people. It should be at least 220 million to 90 million.

The French Army Minister looked at Maxime Weygand and said with a wry smile: "General, I think you know very well how the 40 million French people view war."

No one wants to fight! At least now, few French people want to go to the battlefield to fight the Germans... Since the end of the World War, war-weariness has spread in France and the United Kingdom, and it has become more and more intense.

The reaction of this sentiment in French politics is that the "Left Madonna" party that advocates peace has been in control of France for longer and longer, while the "Big Right" party that wants to teach the Germans a lesson has been on stage longer and longer. short.

In the decade of the 1920s, the right-wing national groups were in power for a total of 6 years, which looked quite prosperous. In the 1930s, the right-wing Democratic Alliance (reorganized from the National Group) was in power for only 14 months. The rest of the time, the political power is controlled by the left, either the left-yi alliance or the Popular Front - in fact, it is just a different sign, both composed of a group of white left parties.

Later, some history books said that the rightists engaged in appeasement and condoned Germany's anti-Soviet struggle, but they were actually telling lies. Throughout the 1930s, French politics was basically dominated by a group of peace-loving socialists.

These leftists neither want to oppose Germany nor the Soviet Union. Their foreign policy boils down to one sentence: they really don’t want to fight!

This kind of foreign policy is also the reason why these white left parties were able to control power for a long time in the 1930s - the French people who did not want war voted for a French government that did not want war, and then "various policies that did not want war" took turns.

Therefore, whether the French tried to win over the Soviet Union or appease Germany in the 1930s, or spent huge sums of money to repair the useless Maginot Line, they were actually all trying to avoid war.

The British on the other side of the English Channel had similar choices to France when it came to war. They are equally unwilling to fight, and whether it is the left-wing Workers' Party or the right-wing Conservative Party, their opinions on this issue are basically the same. The only exception is probably Churchill. However, in the early 1930s, he did not have much political influence.

"Mr. Prime Minister, Italian Prime Minister Mussolini called to ask about our attitude towards the Rhineland incident."

In the conference room at No. 10 Downing Street, Foreign Secretary John Simon had just reported the call from Italy.

Mussolini is quite "good" now. He is now planning to invade Ethiopia, so he is actively seeking support from Britain and France, and is as consistent as possible with Britain and France when formulating foreign policies.

But being diplomatically consistent does not mean sending troops to fight Germany. That's Germany, a country that is as powerful as a god in fighting! If the Italian leader had the courage, he would have rolled up his sleeves and invaded Ethiopia by now. Why would there be any need to look at the faces of Britain and France?

"Our attitude?"

Perhaps because of fatigue or depression - because the Prime Minister was very depressed - Macdonald's face was ugly. He just snorted twice: "We don't have that many pounds for the Italians to send troops to deal with Germany, so we just Don’t bother the Italians.”

"Yes, the financial situation is very bad!" Finance Minister Neville Chamberlain agreed with Macdonald's opinion. "The current financial situation simply does not allow Britain to fall into another war... That will be the end of the British Empire. And The current situation on the European continent is actually in line with the European balance of power policy that the British Empire has always implemented. "

The British Labor Party opposed the war because of "progress." The Conservative Party is anti-war because it is "conservative" - ​​Britain's continental European policy has always been about balance of power. The recent changes in Europe, in the Conservative Party's view, are moving in the direction of achieving a balance of power rather than breaking it.

Of course, British voters now hate war too! Because in the last world war, although they were the victors, they did not see any "war dividends". The country fell into a debt crisis, and they themselves became poorer and poorer.

Chamberlain continued: "Germany's current Prime Minister Hitler is an obvious pro-British faction. He is keeping Germany away from the Soviet Union, which is conducive to maintaining a balance of power in Europe. We have no reason to attack him."

Compared with the German army marching into the Rhineland, what really worried Neville Chamberlain was the Soviet-German alliance. The close relationship between the Soviet Union and Germany is obvious to all in Europe, and the growing strength of these two countries can be felt by everyone.

If you include the Baltic Republics, Germany now has a population of 70 million and ranks second in the world in terms of industrial strength after the United States. The Soviet Union has a population of 140 million to 150 million. According to the Soviet government's propaganda, the Soviet Union is now the third largest industrial country in the world, surpassing the United Kingdom!

Once the Soviet Union and Germany form an alliance, Britain will face a military group with a population equivalent to two United States and an industrial strength equivalent to 1.5 United States. The United States itself is now holding high the banner of isolationism and seems to be as far away from Europe as possible.

"If we remain silent on the Rhineland issue, Germany is likely to continue to distance itself from the Soviet Union." Viscount John Simon told the Prime Minister. "Because the French have recently signed a non-aggression pact with the Soviet Union and will support the Soviet Union's joining the League of Nations... Moreover, Soviet Foreign Minister Litvinov recently proposed the concept of 'collective security.'"

"Collective security?" Macdonald asked. "What does that mean?"

"The Soviet Union hopes to establish a European collective security mechanism. When any country is attacked, other countries should automatically provide military assistance to the attacked party."

"We cannot participate in such a mechanism," Macdonald said immediately. "It is inconsistent with the national policy of the British Empire."

"But this mechanism can contain Germany," Chamberlain said. "In fact, it is used to contain Germany, which will rapidly deteriorate Soviet-German relations in the next few years."

He leaned back in his chair and showed a very relaxed and happy expression, "As long as Sud and Germany are separated, Europe will have nothing to worry about."

Macdonald had understood what Chamberlain meant, and the Conservatives were now unwilling to get too involved in the conflicts on the European continent. As the Prime Minister, he must follow the baton of the Conservative Party - a very interesting "puppet Prime Minister" has appeared in the British political arena now, and that is Macdonald. The Labor Party he led was severely defeated in the last election, and he himself was criticized for policy mistakes and finally quit the Labor Party to form the National Labor Party. However, the Conservative Party that won the general election supported him, the leader of a small party, to continue to serve as prime minister. However, the power was in the hands of Neville Chamberlain and John Simon of the Conservative Party, two famous "appeasement" politicians of later generations.