Chapter 119 Former Cabinet Secretary

With the end of the war, there was also a need to resume production on the British mainland, especially after Prime Minister Adderley came to power. By this time there were no more foreign enemies, and the group of civil servants was actually a very hateful group.

The civil servants did not have to do laborious work, received a guaranteed salary, and compared to the British citizens who were setting out on a new course of action, they were particularly conspicuous at a time when they had to save money.

There was no guarantee that Prime Minister Adderley would be tempted to make cuts over time, and Edward Bridges had to find a way to prove that there was a lot going on right now and that civil servants were needed to keep busy before the Prime Minister could move on that idea.

In hard times, the Prime Minister wanted to save money, but at any time, the Cabinet Secretary wanted as many people at his disposal as possible, and that was why Edward Bridges was anxious to be on fire as soon as he heard that the Prime Minister wanted to give up British India.

The colonies were important to the Prime Minister of the British Empire, but they were especially important to the Cabinet Secretaries.

But the Cabinet Secretary could not oppose the Prime Minister’s administration, and could only find a way to neutralize the negative impact, preferably by letting the Prime Minister know what to do.

This evening, Edward Bridges had an appointment with a guest, and when the person came, a rare hint of anxiety appeared, “Sir Maurice, what do you think I should do, this is ten times more troublesome than what you encountered in nineteen nineteen. At least at the end of the last great war your Prime Minister didn’t want to give up the colonies, did he?”

“That’s true!” Sir Maurice Hankey laughed, looking at a somewhat frazzled Edward Bridges, “I see the new Prime Minister has got you overwhelmed?”

Maurice Hankey was Secretary of the Imperial Defense Board during the First World War, and Director of the Cabinet Secretariat for the war effort.

The civil service of the British Empire was shaped by Maurice Hankey. Until his retirement in 1938, he remained head of the British Civil Service for twenty-two years, until Edward Bridges took over as Cabinet Secretary.

It is fair to say that everything Edward Bridges has today was shaped by Maurice Hankey.

Maurice Hankey joined the Conservative Party after his retirement and became Minister for Whatever in Neville Chamberlain’s Cabinet after the outbreak of the Second World War.

In front of the former creator of the Cabinet Office, Edward Bridges has nothing to hide, the other side is now a politician, but as the original Cabinet Secretary, the civil service chief’s distress can not be hidden from the other side, nodded and said, “Once the abandonment of British India, 100,000 civil servants will have to return to the mainland, unless we can find a place to divert. ”

“Oh, things are really serious!” Maurice Hankey nodded in realization and muttered to himself, “The cornerstone of the British Empire is crumbling. What is your response to this?”

“I am using Field Marshal Montgomery’s telegram as the basis for my request today for the Prime Minister to send civil servants to organize the civil service in the British Occupied Territories.” As Edward Bridges spoke, he eyed Maurice Hankey, who held out four fingers directly, and admitted painfully, “Yes, I have come up with a four-step program, and I am prepared to send two thousand civil servants from all departments to Germany at once.”

“Good, at this moment all civil servants of the British Empire should recognize that the crisis is not far away, take out the efficiency.” Maurice Hankey nodded his head very approvingly, “I also heard the Prime Minister mention the establishment of a linked two-track system in the British Occupied Zone in Germany and British India, this is a very good idea, did you come up with it?”

“Since even Sir Maurice feels it is a good idea, there is nothing to worry about.” Edward Bridges breathed a sigh of relief and didn’t answer the question head on, Sir Maurice Hankey, although retired long ago and retired as a minister, was still the chairman of the Colonial Advisory Council and had a big say in colonial things, “If the Prime Minister asks the Sir …… ”

“I would be in favor of this proposal!” Sir Maurice Hankey raised his eyebrows and said, “In fact, we all know in our hearts that the prosperity of the British Empire was built on top of the colonies, and it’s not impossible to give it up if the cost is too high, but we want to avoid a repeat of what happened in North America, and we need to find a way to prove that the colonies would go wrong if they left the British Empire’s administration, chaos, famine, religious conflicts, ethnic massacres, whatever. If such a wonderful scenario occurs, it will be our duty to continue to manage those backward peoples before the colonized populations are unable to manage themselves.”

“Oh, would it? That would be a tragedy!” Edward Bridges raised his glass heartily, clinked it with Maurice Hankey, and thumped it! “But this is something that had better happen naturally, we need to find someone who seems harmless and preferably hasn’t been fumbling around in the civil service for a long time, and I’ve recently learned of just such a candidate ……”

Achoo! Far away in Berlin Alan Wilson sneezed twice in a row for no apparent reason before looking at the shocked Mihajlovic, knowing that getting so many people out of Europe was not a fact that could be easily accepted by these people. But there was nothing that could be done about it at the moment.

“Can’t we just stay in Europe?” Mikhailovich said with a dark gaze, “We are Europeans, how can we go to that part of Africa and be with a bunch of black people.”

“Mr. Mihailovich, since the group you led across the border has become me handling again, can’t you see that the Americans are not prepared to take you in? Even General Patton, who allowed you to cross the border, has now been relieved of his duties.” Alan Wilson said with a sympathetic look, “Everyone knows that the United States has not been affected by the war, but the United States was established by the hard work of the Americans, and allowing you to migrate to the United States, the American citizens are not willing to do so.”

Alan Wilson stifled a sigh of relief, now the United States has not gone off the deep end, foreign immigrants are not very welcome. Even if they are welcome, they are welcome to quality immigrants, simply put, immigrants with money. And Mihailovich’s subordinates, apparently, had nothing but military skills.

“But to Africa?” Mihajlovic’s heart was indescribably hard when he thought of uprooting his family, he even wanted to lead the refugees to kill back to Yugoslavia and fight for his life with Tito, which was also better than going to Africa.

“What’s wrong with Africa?” Alan Wilson said with dissatisfaction, “You don’t know what that place is, Rodneyia, where the British Empire is letting you go, is rich in land and resources. One of you can completely share a hundred acres of land, happy to be a farmer, which is not even thought of in Yugoslavia, look at Yugoslavia, one country, two scripts, three languages, four religions, five nationalities Serbia, Croatia, Slovenia, Macedonia, Montenegro. Maybe the Yugoslavs who didn’t run away will envy you later.”