Chapter 148: Europe wants to be united

Unlike the heads of state and foreign ministers strolling through the gardens in a show of goodwill, the delegations of the various countries were intensely preparing the topics of the conference and the negotiating materials to advance the topics of this economic reconstruction conference, which externally was nominally aimed at revitalizing Europe.

In reality, it is the remaining colonial empires that are warming up to defend each other’s collective interests.

But in reality, because of the different distribution of colonies, and face the threat of big and small, although the general direction of the meeting of countries should be the same direction, but in the meeting there must still be some argument.

Take Britain and France as an example, their treatment of the colonies is absolutely different.

France’s attitude after the war is undoubtedly suppression, from the meeting before the French army has once again embarked on a journey to Asia can be seen, France up and down, including Charles de Gaulle himself, now the attitude is to maintain all the colonies.

And Britain, especially the Prime Minister Adderley is no longer prepared to waste time in British India, once the British India’s native elite eventually lost patience and chose to rise up, with the current ability of the United Kingdom, unless they are not prepared to have a good time, broken all the time to maintain the wartime rationing system, or else it is not possible to stop it.

The bottom line is that even if the wartime rationing system is maintained, Britain will not necessarily be able to put down the revolt in British India.

This problem has actually been around for a long time, and it is not even a problem that has arisen only in recent years.

During World War II, Britain was simultaneously fighting the French in West Africa, Syria and Madagascar, the German and Italian armies in Egypt, the Japanese in Australia and Burma, and maintaining the North Sea, the North and South Atlantic, and the Indian Ocean routes at the same time, and then bleeding Malta was simply an impossible task.

The colonial empire itself was not a large empire in the traditional sense, but rather an isolated overseas component linked to each other by powerful enemies, and the defense of a colonial empire meant fighting different enemies on all fronts at the same time, which was geographically harsh to the extreme.

When Germany declared war, Britain and France were able to muster similar forces to those of the Germans, but after Italy declared war and France turned against them, the British were stretched thin, and after Japan declared war, their forces were stretched even further.

The British Empire has never had the ability to go to war with multiple major opponents on multiple major fronts at the same time, and the empire’s security is entirely dependent on the so-called imperial commitment to bring about a buildup of forces, when war breaks out in India and Afghanistan, troops can be mobilized from the United Kingdom, and when the war in North Africa is in short supply, troops can be mobilized from Australia and New Zealand.

It was best to face only one enemy at a time, that was the German idea when fighting on two fronts, and how much more so was it Britain’s idea to suppress colonial revolts and to guard against the prying eyes of other powers on the colonies, confronting Russia in Asia, hooking up with the United States in America, and battling with France in Africa.

After two world wars, London finally felt that with the current national strength is really can not play, Aidley Prime Minister felt the need to contract, the input than the output of the colonies kicked out, to focus on the operation of the colonies that do not have a strong resistance to the colonial power.

And British India is the baggage that Prime Minister Aidley wanted to kick out to complete the contraction of the empire for breathing time.

Alan Wilson just hoped that imperial contraction in the British Empire didn’t turn into an imperial collapse all the way to the British Isles. He didn’t see having Britain as a follower behind the Americans as his life’s quest.

If that was the case, it would be better to resign and go to sea as a rich businessman, that would also be more free, not having to be bound by the status of a civil servant, and even being a man of honor in the British Occupation Zone, he had to be wary.

In the meeting within the British delegation, Alan Wilson was also very energetic, launching 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 major war.

“From what I have been told by German generals I have found in the British-occupied zone, who have experience of fighting in the Soviet Union, the German army has caused extremely serious damage in the Soviet Union. It is in no way inferior to the destruction that is now taking place within Germany! I am sure that all gentlemen, I believe, should have recently learned from the newspapers of the exaggerated extent of the ratio of men to women now in Germany.”

At the internal meeting chaired by Alexander Cadogan, Allen Wilson spoke eloquently, stating that using the losses suffered by Germany to project the losses of the Soviet Union, the Soviet Union’s casualties should be over fifteen million, and the majority of the wartime casualties must have been men.

“Former Prime Minister Churchill once said that we would like to see the Germans lying in their graves, but would prefer to see the Russians on the operating table. We can conclude that this is now the truth.”

“The Soviet Union has not published its losses in the midst of the war until now.” A middle-aged diplomat spoke up, “Isn’t the estimate of the Soviet Union a little too optimistic?”

“This is exactly where the Soviets are weak minded, statistics are not available? That’s impossible, Moscow wouldn’t be ignorant of the population in the country, they’ve done three censuses before. It’s impossible that they can’t come up with a population count now, then it’s a deliberate attempt to hide it. And judging from the Potsdam Conference, where the Soviets were insatiable, the polar bear must be in very bad shape, so it is taking everything from Germany as it is.”

The diplomats at the conference nodded very approvingly, as did Alexander Cadogan, Permanent Undersecretary of the Foreign Office. Alan Wilson would have been the most qualified civil servant to question the Soviet Union, and it was he who had been operating in the dark on behalf of the British and Soviet sides at the Potsdam Conference.

“Alan’s estimate, although overly optimistic and without direct evidence, is partly explained by the corroboration of various factors combined. For all the cruelty and ruthlessness of the Germans, it is true that great destruction was wrought in the Soviet Union. If the Soviet Union and Germany are on the same level of destruction to each other, it makes perfect sense that the Soviet Union would see a loss of fifteen million young men of school age.”

“That is so, Sir Alexander. The USSR is certainly no better off than Germany, and if we could send a delegation to the USSR, picking a few major cities as visits, we could have some conversations with ordinary Soviets, mentioning the German invasion, and if the interviewees expressed hatred, mentioning that they had relatives who had died in the midst of the war, and we could get an approximate estimate when we brought these visits together. ”

“By the way, before coming here the Foreign Office received a message from Moscow that the Soviet Union wants to make an artistic visit to London in the form of a civic exchange, and it seems that a team called the Red Flag Song and Dance Troupe is going to be sent over.”

Alexander Cadogan nodded his head as he listened to Alan Wilson, “The Foreign Secretary’s intention is to welcome this kind of civil exchange, and our reply is that we can have a reciprocal visit to show that the British Empire has no intention of being an enemy of the USSR, and make a show of unity and harmony. Since it’s a civil exchange, the team returning the visit can naturally communicate with the general public of the USSR, that way we can confirm if it’s true that the USSR is incapable of starting a world war in a short period of time.”

“That’s really great!” Alan Wilson could not hide his excitement, he believed that for ordinary people, Britain in the delegation among the masters of rhetoric, will be able to set out the desired information.

The Red Flag Song and Dance Troupe, it was that very famous male chorus, right? If the time is not too late, he would like to go and listen to it, after all, the opportunity is rare, miss it will not come again.

The reason why the Soviet Union should be slammed for being strong from the outside and letting this idea become a consensus is actually quite simple, if there was a war with the Soviet Union, according to the experience of the previous two wars, there would be enough to beat the entire British Empire without leaving a single young man in a few years or less.

This is the same way that the Soviet Union thought that imperialism would start a world war, Britain was also afraid of the Soviet Union and thought the same way as the Soviet Union, both thought that in these trying times the other side must be deterred from raising the idea of starting a war.

The Soviet Union’s solution was to create a buffer zone in Eastern Europe to prevent an invasion by Britain and America, especially the United States, and Britain’s solution was to pull the United States into stationing troops in Europe in order to prevent a Soviet invasion.

If it had been clear that the Soviet Union was not capable of starting a world war and was lying on an operating table healing, the British Empire would not have had to put up a welcoming front to allow the United States to enter Europe, or at least limit its garrisoning rights to the territory of the Federal Republic of Germany.

It is important to realize that the North Atlantic Treaty was actually established by Britain, along with France, who first convinced the U.S. to establish it; it is just that this history of Britain’s initiative in mentioning the establishment of NATO is not well known.

What is also unknown is that after the collapse of the Soviet Union, Britain’s continental balance instinct kicked in, and once suggested that Russia join NATO, but according to the strength of the United States at that time had already been a dominant force, and the British tradition of breaking down the fortresses from the inside is very well understood, and all as if they did not hear this kind of suggestion.

Before the start of the official meeting, the British delegation internal meeting, has taken out the consensus, that is, the Soviet Union is strong on the outside is only superficially strong, the U.S. has a nuclear bomb in hand, the Soviet Union will not be desperate to start a world war.

As for the main topic of the colonial issue, is the real top priority, the Far East has come to the news, Jakarta, Indonesia, Indonesia’s Sukarno declared independence, which makes the army is still on the road of the Netherlands angry.

The Dutch are now the country most anxious for the conference to take place, but it is the French who are first contacted by the British delegation.

Meeting with Nino Bertrand, the diplomat of the French delegation, Alexander Cadogan offered to open his hand and embrace the other side, setting a tone of unity for this Brussels conference.

“The French army has to move a little faster, Vietnam is not a colony of the British Empire. We have no reason to stay there for long.” Alexander Cadogan took the initiative and said.

“The unity of Europe lies in the relationship between Britain and France.” Nino Bertrand gave a positive response, “How to safeguard the interests of greater Europe requires the joint efforts of our two countries, and by the way, regarding the Saarland, we believe that it should likewise be resolved at this meeting.”

“In principle, London will not object!” Alexander Cadogan made an official remark, “Who made Britain and France allies.”