Chapter 389 A Generation of Dollars

It was the event of the time in Paris in recent years, and the Parisians had not seen such a scene since the Paris Peace Conference.

As for the American delegation, people, after all, are now wealthy, of course, have the privilege of arriving late.

There was no doubt at the time that the citizens of Paris were uplifted by the opening of this international conference in the city, as the fireworks along the river proved.

Early in the morning homes and stores were closed, and crowds of citizens, men and women, poured into the streets from all directions. Everyone has a plan in mind, some go to watch the fireworks, some go to the opera.

No need to feel the French people’s expectations, Alan Wilson can also be seen from the cold data.

Industry has always been France’s pain point, since Germany began to rearm, Britain began to secretly prepare for war, as of the outbreak of war, steel production increased by sixty-four percent, compared to France fell by five percent.

That is to say, by the time Poland was wiped out by Germany, instead of increasing steel production because of the imminent war, France’s industry was weaker than it had been before the Great Depression.

Post-war steel production remained weak in France, which produced seven million tons of steel this year, compared to Britain’s fifteen million tons, plus seven million tons in British-occupied territories, and as for steel production outside of British-occupied territories, France crushed that figure.

Because of the two-winged plan, the British Occupation Zone has unlocked the steel industry, and according to the plan of the British Occupation Zone Board of Trade, next year the British Occupation Zone will be fully opened for reconstruction, and is ready to increase the steel production to ten million tons.

So the steel production has been the pain point of the French industry, this is a little bit right, if the response to domestic demand are problematic, then what to talk about exports? Historically in such a scenario, post-war German competition felt even sharper.

He took business from Egypt for dam materials, Australia for steel plates and bars for railroads, China and India, and so on. Some products even competed with Britain and the United States.

This is still established in the framework of the Coal and Iron Community, Germany in the unfavorable framework on the establishment of the advantage over France, if there is no this framework for direct competition, it is just the economic field of the Second World War re-enactment.

So it is understandable why France had its heart set on annexing the Saarland.

Alan Wilson took the initiative to invite the French to the opera, deciding to see if he could get some consensus before the Americans arrived, so that there would be more room for bargaining in the negotiations.

In the theater, the upper end panel was visible throughout the hall and served as the stage when the time came. The cage was surrounded by curtains, and the inside served as a dressing-room for the playwrights. Outside, a ladder was plainly laid out, linking the stage with the dressing-room, and the actors climbed up and down the sturdy rungs of the ladder to get on and off the stage. Randomly assigned roles, organ sets, sudden plot changes, etc.

It looked a bit of a mess, but it didn’t detract from Alan Wilson’s good mood at the moment; he didn’t mind other countries being dirty, especially this one being France, so he chose a theater so close to the people.

There is no doubt that now Britain is stronger than all European countries, if you let Alan Wilson say, in addition to the Soviet Union’s situation is not yet very clear, at this time to be able to observe the country, should not be able to compare with the United Kingdom.

Several actors on the stage were reciting poetry, and the audience was more interested in the costumes of the actors than in the parts they were playing.

“Pierre, the Americans will be here soon, and we all know the purpose of the Americans in coming this time; but how the money is to be divided, and how to get the largest share of it, is, I believe, a matter of the greatest concern to you Frenchmen.”

Allen Wilson then took advantage of the poem recitation to confer with the negotiator France had already appointed.

“Of course, there is no doubt that we have some ideas, and are not now refusing to have some communication with England to discuss the matter.” Pierre said a typical nonsense, appearing to speak but actually saying nothing.

“Then I’ll take the initiative!” Alan Wilson laughed and said, “There is no doubt that the only remaining major power in Europe at the moment will take the lion’s share of this aid, and don’t look at the fact that no Germans are coming, I’m sure there will be a share of Germans, I’m sure. So the representatives on the surface are not nineteen countries, but Germany will have to be added.”

“According to the calculations of the Board of Trade of the British Occupied Territories, the industrial curtailment of the Ruhr by the war is only about ten percent. So after reconstruction was carried out, the Ruhr quickly recovered to over eighty percent of its pre-war level. The progress of reconstruction after the war is certainly gratifying, but it also proves the war potential of the Germans, in our position in Britain and you in France, I believe that it is not all happy.”

Before the war, Germany was the second largest economic power in the West after the United States. During the war, German industry expanded again.

According to a rough estimate, the entire three occupied areas by the war caused by the reduction of industrial production capacity of only about ten percent. Germany’s original high level of science and technology and culture, once reintroduced into the production index recovery is extremely fast.

Alan Wilson also took the initiative to mention, the Marshall Plan must have a share of Germany, although once very difficult, but the United States in the first three years after the war to Germany two billion dollars in aid, to alleviate the crisis in this area of the occupied territories.

Of course the United States so far the effect of spreading money is not good, and can even be said to have been sucked out of the British Occupation. It became a capital that Britain could now barely stand to make money out of.

But it is clear that this time the Marshall Plan, certainly not before the add oil tactics, spreading money without effect and then spread money, the kind of headache to heal the headache, the United States is not going to do it again, such a large amount of aid, the United States will certainly set up an organization to track the use of this large amount of aid.

“The Germans?” Pierre frowned, “I just don’t understand the need to rearm the Germans. At this point, the United States is as short-sighted as you Brits are.”

“Uh, esteemed Mr. Pierre, it’s no longer a British problem, it’s an American problem.” Being connoted face to face with Britain’s long-standing policy of continental equilibrium, Alan Wilson also had some burning cheeks, but immediately pushed the matter onto the Americans, “Times have changed, Britain is not opposed to France’s occupation of the Saarland, but it’s the Americans who can’t say so and so make us oppose it, and if you can recall Britain’s pronouncements of the previous two years you’ll know that we’re not interested in France’s occupation of the Saarland was understood.”

“So America has been able to command the British.” Pierre sneered, “That’s not like you.”

“We owe the Americans a lot of money, it can’t be helped. There’s no need to scoff so much, once the Americans arrive you French are in the same position as we are. What will you do if the United States uses the amount of the Marshall Plan as bait to get France to give up the idea of merging the Saarland?”

Allen Wilson looked straight at the Frenchman in front of him, and Pierre stiffened for a moment; it was indeed a dilemma.

“You see, there are some things that aren’t entirely within our control, Chamberlain thought he could control Hitler back then.” Alan Wilson shrugged, “Can you refuse American aid just for the Saarland? And even if you could, could the French?”

“Good, a tough choice indeed.” Pierre was about to say something, but finally said grimly, “Just as Chamberlain claimed to have gotten peace for a generation when he returned to England.”

“And you and I aim to get a generation of dollars.”

Allen Wilson, deaf to the Frenchman’s sarcasm, whispered without the slightest hint of disguise, “Actually I don’t trust a few of the countries in Eastern Europe, and the thing is quite simple, the more countries that are aided, the less they can share with us. So what with Poland, Czechoslovakia, Finland, Yugoslavia, countries that have been profoundly influenced by the Soviet Union, it would be better to kick out and take the amount that belongs to them and use it on us.”

“It should have been used on us, with the kind of population their countries have, how could they resist the Soviet Union? Like our two countries plus Germany and Italy have that ability. There are too many countries involved, and it’s also easy to reach unfavorable kits, so Britain and France should have been on the same page when it comes to this issue of a generation’s worth of dollars.”

“Reasonable as that may be, you Brits wouldn’t expect to just move your lips to help France, would you? It’s well known that the British can’t be so bright in times of war.”

“Dear Mr. Pierre, let’s think calmly about how to face the future. Europe is the birthplace of modern civilization, there is no doubt about it, but now we are under the pressure of the two behemoths, the United States and the Soviet Union, if we don’t think of a way out, what will be the consequences, let me tell you a story, originally there were several beverages in this market, and two of them were a little bit more powerful, and these two companies were hostile, and they fought against each other every time, and so the other beverages in the market were all faded away.”

Alan Wilson has modified the story of the oldest and the second fighting and eventually losing the third a bit. But it doesn’t detract from the clarity of the story, and it even fits the current situation perfectly.

The United States against the Soviet Union, the Soviet Union against the United States, in the long run, the whole world will be left with only the United States and the Soviet Union inside the impression, what about the United Kingdom and France, take nothing more than a small partner standing next to the United States.

“If France can firmly stand with Britain, about integrating the European market, London is by no means as cold as it appears. I even have a plan in my head, of course this plan is as a backup plan after France cannot get the Saarland.”

“I’m very interested in this backup plan!” Pierre lowered his voice, showing that France was not going to see a rabbit without a hawk, don’t say something ambiguous to put it off, if you have a plan, just say so.

Well, Alan Wilson sighed softly and said a rough idea in response to how to suppress Germany’s Coal and Iron Community plan to show Britain’s sincerity.