Chapter 479: Make Britain Great Again

“Me as part of an entourage traveling to the Soviet Union? That’s not appropriate, is it?” Alan Wilson’s frothy self-talk caused Ismay, the Permanent Undersecretary of the Foreign Office, to frown slightly, how come this kind of trip with added burdens seemed to be unpopular?

Alan Wilson’s first return to Europe, in the Potsdam Conference and the Soviet Union backroom maneuvering, Ismay was still in British India as the secretary general, and did not know about this matter, naturally, also do not know why this ministry is not up to date, directly asked in return, “What is inappropriate.”

“Sir Ismay, I am the Boston Consul, and recently I am preparing to return to the United States to continue my work.” Alan Wilson organized his words, “If appearing in the entourage of a visit to the Soviet Union? It always feels a bit strange!”

“Nothing strange!” Ismay spoke flatly as soon as he heard it, “De-escalation is a top priority for the current administration, you can’t work for your country with a picky mindset, you can’t be happy just because the conditions in America are good, and complain because the conditions in the USSR are poor.”

A big speech poured into the ears, Alan Wilson a face of recognition, it seems that all of a sudden the spirit of ownership broke out. At any time to be for the British Empire to go through fire in the fire.

So took over the preparation of the proposal to study the itinerary of this visit to the Soviet Union, which has a proposal London attaches great importance to. Is to be able to make a détente in Germany, the appropriate reduction in the size of the army in Germany.

In fact, this is a request to the Soviet Union, because the size of the Soviet troops in Germany is above the number of troops stationed in the three occupied territories. London wanted to set up a communication mechanism to maintain transparency in the occupied zones.

Alan Wilson believes that this point the Soviet Union is actually not at a disadvantage, the United States all kinds of talk to form a military alliance, the Soviet Union should be aware of, considering that London also has people like the Cambridge Five, Moscow should also know that London has no intention of rushing to start a confrontation, Churchill’s Iron Curtain speech that is just his personal remarks.

Nowadays Churchill is nothing more than a famous House of Commons spitfire, and the opposition party is about as close to a chief of staff as you can get without a belt.

“The proposal has a mechanism for transparency in the armies of the occupied territories. Mediation in a civil war in one of the major powers?” Alan Wilson raised an eyebrow and pulled the proposal straight out, found the Under-Secretary of the Foreign Office, whom he had once met at a cocktail party, and handed the material to the other side.

As a civil servant of the British Empire, Allen Wilson still had to avoid suspicion at critical moments. The most important thing is that this proposal is even more difficult than the motion on the occupation of the army, he can not let the impossible thing smashed inside the hand.

So the more difficult motion Allen Wilson went out of his way to keep his own, the simple and easy to achieve the purpose of the motion to others.

His colleagues also expressed gratitude, probably now Whitehall, in addition to Alan Wilson himself, think the motion of the troops in Germany is more simple, China is just a distant edge of the corner, what is worth caring about?

Because of the accompanying trip to Moscow, Alan Wilson had to ask for instructions with the Foreign Secretary, Ernest Bevan, on the preparations for this visit.

“Oh, Alan, there may be some hand-wringing about this trip to Moscow, but no matter. It won’t hold you up.” Ernest Bevin reached out for Alan Wilson to sit down and then said, “What is your opinion about relations with the Soviet Union?”

“Sooner or later we’re going to have to turn the tables on the Soviet Union, but if we start a confrontation with the current situation, we’re going to have to subordinate ourselves to the United States. Of course this is the idea of the Conservative Party, and I do not comment on whether or not there is a difference of opinion between the parties.” Alan Wilson said this and turned his words around and said, “The current situation facing the British Empire is very contradictory, with the situation in Europe we should stand firmly on the side of the United States, but when it comes to the issue of overseas territories, the United States is a greater threat than the Soviet Union. This is very embarrassing!”

“Yes, I believe the results of the Dutch matter will come in the next two days.” Ernest Bevin said blandly, “Then we will be able to see exactly what America’s attitude is on the issue of the colonies. As you say, it is very paradoxical that Britain has to take different approaches to different problems.”

In fact, from the very beginning of the post-war period Britain became desperate to invite the United States and to protect Europe. Ernest Bevin made great efforts as Foreign Secretary.

But the war had just ended and the United States was not yet very interested in confronting the Soviet Union. Until the independence of British India, the United States had no apparent intention of confronting the Soviet Union. This was quite different from the enthusiasm of the last two years!

And two years before British India’s independence, 100,000 British Indian civil servants worked together and drove all the colonies to scavenge 1.2 billion pounds of wealth, solving London’s great financial problems. As well as through various channels, Britain probably confirmed that the Soviet Union in the loss of manpower, is indeed the realization of Churchill’s words on the operating table.

In this case Britain’s heart for confrontation was again not so urgent, while the United States was not as calm as it had been when the war first ended. The attitude of Britain and the United States towards the Soviet Union is now exactly the reverse of the first two years after the war.

The problems facing the current Labor government go much further than that, as Ernest Bevin and Adderley actually want to get closer to Europe.

However, Bevan’s attempts to push aggressively for the realization of a customs union have always been met with strong opposition from those sectors of the British government that shape economic policy towards Europe, with the mantra being that European economic integration will inevitably harm trade between Britain and the Commonwealth countries.

Opponents argued that it was unlikely that a Labor government would make the choice to weaken Commonwealth ties in favor of integration with a weak and volatile Europe. It is therefore incorrect to suggest that the Labour government has given up leadership of a united Europe, as Bevan did try to lead a united Europe out of selfishness.

It is essentially correct when the union of Europe refers to the movement for European integration, because Bevin’s idea of a “third force” could not, for whatever reason, cross the line of national character.

The Foreign Secretary should be grateful to Alan Wilson for the way in which the three rings of diplomacy were wrapped up and the Labor Party was able to overcome its many detractors and take a step towards European domination.

Britain’s previous spread was too big, while after the World War but not strong enough, resulting in the United Kingdom to face different problems, may appear different opponents, sometimes have to sway with the wind.

It is difficult for the Foreign Secretary, who until 1947 had been trying to pull the United States against the Soviet Union, now to have to talk to the Soviet Union about removing hostility, to take exactly the opposite position.

The current Labor government’s view of a civil war in one of the big countries tries to sit back and watch with an attitude of non-interference.

The main thing is that it is so far away that it is not in the mood to pay attention. As for the Greek civil war which is close by, it is also the foreign minister in front of us who, using the example of the first apple falling to the ground when spring comes, says that once the first apple falls to the ground, the whole apple tree will fall to the ground, a theory which is close to the collapse of dominoes, and asks the United States to take over the support of Greece and Turkey in resisting the Soviet Union’s pressurization.

In fact, the current situation in Asia fits the circumstances of Ernest Bevin’s appeal to Washington to intervene in Greece at that time.

But Ernest Bevin, at this time, had absolutely no idea of being hostile to the Soviet Union in the first place. A time has a time to think, and Ernest Bevin doesn’t think the same way he did two years ago.

“Actually, Alan, wouldn’t you consider being a minister or something in due course? Your first Cabinet Secretary in Whitehall resigned after leaving office and ended up as a minister.” Ernest Bevan smiled and snapped.

“It’s not about being ready to run for office, so let’s see what kind of slogan would be appropriate?” This was the Foreign Secretary’s question, Alan Wilson certainly couldn’t give the other’s a death stare, and spoke from his heart, “How about Make Britain Great Again, absolutely appropriate for the situation facing Britain at this time.”

Ernest Bevan’s face changed, in fact, this slogan can really be, simple and easy to understand, but also in line with the current chaotic situation faced by Britain, is not impossible to adopt.

Almost four years have passed since 1945, when the Labor Party defeated the Conservative Party in power. Since the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom is the head of Parliament, this means that the term of office of the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom coincides with the term of Parliament.

The term of office of each Parliament is usually five years, but it may be dissolved temporarily, so that its exact term of office is uncertain. It also means that the term of office of the British Prime Minister cannot be fixed, but each term will not exceed five years.

Now that the Labor Party has been in power for four years, it will have to hold an election next year before its term expires. This involves whether the Labor Party can really compete with the long-ruling Conservative Party, rather than just a flash in the pan.

For being able to get re-elected this time around, Ernest Bevin, who is the number two man in the Labor Party, is taking it as seriously as Prime Minister Adderley.

“Make Britain great again!” Ernest Bevan muttered, not even realizing that Alan Wilson had left.

Ernest Bevan came back to his senses, the current issue of visiting the Soviet Union still had to be considered, and if he could succeed in achieving his goal, it would not be too late to be great again.

Before visiting the Soviet Union, the biggest problem in the current diplomatic field, not in London not in Moscow. Rather, it lies in the United Nations General Assembly and in Amsterdam.

The Dutch government formally announced that it would not continue to strongly maintain its rule in the East Indies, and immediately came up with a program. This is the first time that the Netherlands, after several military operations against Indonesia, the treatment of the symptoms of the depletion, said that the future of the East Indies can be negotiable.

The change of attitude of Holland not only aroused the attention of the Indonesian native independents, but likewise of Britain, France, Spain, Portugal, Belgium, and Australia and New Zealand, and in the capitals of Europe, diplomats of various countries were in secret communication.