From Mountbatten's point of view, even if Britain is weak, it cannot be bullied by everyone. Forget about rising stars like southern Africa and the United States, a small place like the Lion City can only survive by relying on the shadow of the British Empire.
.
Before the 19th century, the Lion City was part of the Kingdom of Johor. In 1819, the British Stamford Raffles entered into a contract with Johor on behalf of the British East India Company to set up a trading post in the Lion City, and the Lion City entered a period of rapid development.
From this perspective, Mountbatten believed that the Lion City should be grateful to the British Empire for its colonization.
What the War Commission did was considered by Mountbatten to be completely ungrateful.
Although Britain has reaped fruitful rewards in its more than 100 years of colonization of the Lion City.
Although the Chinese were squeezed by both the British colonists and the Malays during the British colonial period.
Although the British army abandoned Lion City when the Japanese army approached.
But as long as Britain is still willing to colonize the Lion City, the people of the Lion City - especially the Chinese in the Lion City - should be grateful and grateful, and they should act as obedient subjects of the British Empire and continue to transfuse blood for the British Empire.
Henry MacDonald, a member of the War Council, thought otherwise.
Henry Macdonald was not related to the deceased Labor leader Ramsay Macdonald, but their experiences were somewhat similar. They were from ordinary backgrounds and sympathized with the Communist International. Henry Macdonald graduated from a missionary school in his early years and served as a soldier.
Journalist turned lawyer who worked in corporate legal departments in South Africa.
Because of his work experience in a South African company, Henry Macdonald opened an agricultural product company after leaving the South African company. The main business scope is to sell agricultural products from southern Africa to Southeast Asia, as well as purchase various specialty products from Southeast Asia.
Products are sold back to southern Africa.
Such as coffee, natural rubber, and various specialty fruits.
Unlike the white people who fled Lion City during the war, Henry MacDonald did not leave Lion City when the Japanese army approached Lion City, but chose to stay in Lion City and live and die with the city.
This is not because of the deep relationship between Henry Macdonald and the Lion City, but because Henry Macdonald has experience working in a South African company, knows the country of Southern Africa very well, and has more faith in the Southern African Expeditionary Force.
strength, so Henry Macdonald took a huge risk to stay in the Lion City.
The rewards were of course very generous. When the War Commission was established, Henry Macdonald successfully became a member of the War Commission with the blessing of his dual identity as an Englishman and a wealthy businessman.
On the issue of British colonization, the war committee's attitude was not unified. Some people thought that we should take this opportunity to get rid of British colonial rule and fully embrace southern Africa. Others thought that we should take it slowly and first imitate southern Africa in that year to obtain autonomous status.
Then let’s talk about other things. After all, the prosperity of the Lion City cannot be separated from the protection of the United Kingdom.
Both of these statements are very popular and have a lot to do with the identity of the committee members.
Not all committee members are Chinese, there are also British and Malays.
For the Chinese, Southern Africa is definitely the best choice. Even if identity is not considered, the performance of these two countries when the war came fully proved that the support of Southern Africa is more important to the Lion City, and the United Kingdom is already a thing of the past.
.
For British and Malay people, they are all in the same trap, and there is no difference between choosing southern Africa and the United Kingdom.
As for independence——
The people of Lion City are still very sensible and have not discussed this possibility at all.
This is the tragedy of a small country with few people.
The Lion City is indeed prosperous, but it does not have enough strength to ensure its own security, so it can only choose to rely on big countries to survive.
For the Lion City, the United Kingdom, southern Africa, and even Johor and East India across the strait are big countries.
If he had to choose a country to be attached to, Henry Macdonald thought it could only be Southern Africa.
"The Lion City is not southern Africa. Southern Africa is too big, and the expenditures are greater than the returns. The UK lacks sufficient motivation - the benefits of the Straits Settlements are greater than the costs for the UK, so London will not allow the Lion City to be autonomous unless it is forced to do so." Henry
Macdonald is sober and may be the Lion City man who understands Britain best.
It’s funny to say that in the British overseas colonies, the people who were most opposed to British colonial rule were not the indigenous people in the colonies, but British people like Henry MacDonald.
It is wrong to say that the British are the descendants of the colonists. Strictly speaking, they are no longer British.
The colonial natives were born shorter in front of the colonists. Due to the pressure of the colonists, they were in a psychologically weak position.
The descendants of the colonists don't think so. We are all white, so why should we give part or even most of the tax revenue to London and keep all of it to build a better home?
So Henry Macdonald never thought of appeasement.
Of course, he has never thought of directly annexing southern Africa. This is simply impossible. The Lion City is not a barren land like Yin Elizabeth Port.
Before oil was discovered in Yoon Lisa Bai Port, it was just a small fishing village with no profit at all.
The Lion City is the most prosperous commercial city in Asia, and Britain will not let it go until it has no choice but to do so.
"But if the conflict intensifies, it may trigger British sanctions or even break out a conflict and destroy the entire city. That would be a disaster for us." A committee member who owns an ocean shipping company and several plantations
Shen Jiayu was mature and prudent, and he was worried that excessive stimulation of Mountbatten would make Mountbatten take risks.
Mountbatten was not a qualified governor and had no affection for the Lion City. If the Lion City was at risk of losing control, Mountbatten might choose to die together.
Mountbatten's method of sending troops to take over the Lion City forcefully proved that this man was reckless in doing things. If the Lion City wanted to break away from British rule, Mountbatten would rather destroy the Lion City than let the people of the Lion City get their wish.
"No, London will definitely give in at the last minute, and Britain cannot bear the consequences of destroying the Lion City." Henry Macdonald had confidence in London.
Even if Mountbatten takes another desperate risk, he will still have to accept the constraints of London.
As for those parliamentary gentlemen, Henry Macdonald was too confident.
The British policy of appeasement was essentially compromise.
Compromise, once it becomes a habit, can cause endless harm. Just like domestic violence, once it happens the first time, it will happen countless times.
"Now, whether it's Canada, Australia, or even India, they are all demanding independence or autonomy. We can't be impulsive -" Shen Jiayu is worried that he will be killed.
It is indeed possible.
Although the Lion City is important to the UK, it pales in comparison to Canada, Australia, and India. London can naturally decide which one is more important.
If it kills the Lion City chicken in exchange for stability in the Commonwealth, London will not hesitate.
"This is the general trend. London should also be having a headache now -" Henry Macdonald was not making groundless speculations. Attlee was indeed having a headache.
The European War has ended, but for the British Empire, not only has the trouble not ended, but it has just begun.
During the war, the United Kingdom, as the sovereign state, had enough excuses to suppress the reasonable demands of the Commonwealth member states. Everything would wait until the war was over.
In order to win the support of the Commonwealth member states, Winston made many promises at the time that now seem impossible to fulfill.
For example, giving Canada and Australia more autonomy, such as giving India autonomous status.
After the end of the last world war, in order to repay Canada and Australia for their selfless support to the United Kingdom, the United Kingdom has granted Canada and Australia completely independent status. The Dominions and the sovereign state formed the Commonwealth on the basis of "common loyalty to the British King", and both parties have equal rights.
Not affiliated with each other.
After the passage of the Statute of Westminster, the British Empire existed in name only and the Commonwealth was formally formed.
The Commonwealth is not a country and does not have a central government. The King is only the nominal monarch and head of state of the Commonwealth. The UK has no retreat.
If we continue to give in, even the titular monarch and head of state will be gone.
Winston was so happy when he made the promise in order to win the support of the Dominion, but now Attlee is so depressed.
Winston made a lot of promises, and after losing the election, he returned to the House of Lords and became a member of the House of Lords.
Attlee has become the scapegoat. If the Commonwealth is disbanded under Attlee's hands, Attlee will be destined to "go down in history."
It just won't be the way Attlee hopes.
Now Attlee is in trouble both internally and externally. After he became Prime Minister, he realized how difficult it is to be Prime Minister. It is not as glamorous as it seems on the surface.
Although the changes in the Lion City also attracted Attlee's attention, now Attlee has more important things to do and cannot take care of the Lion City at all.
"Disarmament is imperative. The British Empire cannot afford the cost of maintaining millions of troops. This time disarmament includes not only the army, but also the navy and air force. The size of the army must be maintained at a level that is financially affordable, otherwise we will sooner or later
Being dragged down by the army." Attlee was determined to disarm, otherwise Britain would go bankrupt in a short time.
There are too many places to spend money. It costs money to maintain the army, it costs money to fulfill promises to improve national welfare, and it costs money to rebuild and restore the economy after the war.
During the war, the member states of the Commonwealth provided various armaments and supplies to the United Kingdom regardless of cost, and sent troops to ensure the security of the British Empire. For this reason, all member states were burdened with huge foreign debts. The United Kingdom could not remain silent and had to show some attitude.
To appease the growing dissatisfaction among member states.
Under this situation, the Conservative Party, led by Winston, is still trying to find various money-spending projects for the Labor cabinet. Attlee now finally understands the pain of the ruling party.
Now Attlee has forgotten how the Labor Party undermined the Conservative Party when the Conservative Party was in power.
Seeing Winston working hard to find a project, Attlee gritted his teeth.
When Winston was Prime Minister, if he could have performed 1% of the current working conditions, Britain would not be where it is today.
"Washington is willing to provide us with the loans we need for recovery and reconstruction -" Bevin was still very grateful. This was one of the achievements of his time in Potsdam.
Regarding the loan, Bevin is now numb, and the lice no longer itch.
The foreign debts from the last world war have not been paid off yet, and now the situation is getting worse. Bevin now dares not read the financial reports.
Fortunately, Bevin is the foreign minister, not the finance minister.
"What about the conditions?" Attlee was not grateful, only deeply tired.
It is difficult to get money from southern Africans, and it is also difficult to get money from Americans.
It's not a question of how much money you have. If it's just more money and less money, then Attlee doesn't have to worry about it no matter how high the interest rate is.
At worst, in a few years, when the foreign debt is concentrated, Attlee and the Labor Party led by him suddenly perform weakly and lose the election, allowing the Conservative Party to come to power again. The debt issue will give Winston and his Conservative Party a headache.
Bar.
This is the essence of so-called British democracy.
The key is the conditions attached to the loan, which is what worries Attlee.
Before approaching Americans for loans, Bevin had already tried to contact southern Africa.
Unfortunately, the conditions offered by southern Africa were too harsh for Bevin to accept, so Bevin approached the Americans.
When he found the Americans, Bevin was already prepared to be blackmailed by the Americans.
Who knew that the conditions offered by Americans were even more outrageous than those offered by southern Africans, which made Bevin even more unacceptable.
"Americans, like southern Africans, have imposed extremely harsh conditions because of our stance. We may try to contact the Russians -" Bevin said whimsically.
Attlee frowned.
The main battlefields of the European War were all in Russia. Almost all major cities in Russia were completely destroyed in the war. Russia itself needs massive funds for post-war reconstruction. Is it capable of providing loans to the UK?
As for the attitudes of southern Africa and the United States, Attlee is actually not surprised.
Southern Africa and the United States are both capitalist countries, and the United Kingdom is currently governed by the Labor Party.
Although Attlee's Labor Party is selling dog meat with a sheep's head, it still needs to have a certain attitude and is naturally opposed to the bourgeoisie.
Under this premise, if the Labor cabinet wants to get help from southern Africa and the United States, it will pay a higher price than the Conservative cabinet.
"No, contact with the Russians should be maintained to a certain extent and not too close -" Attlee now realized that the Russians were unreliable.
When he came to Potsdam, Attlee still had illusions about Russia. Everyone was from the Communist International. If you don't look at the face of a monk or the face of a Buddha, you have to give some face.
In order to win Russia's support, Attlee even took the initiative to prepare a generous gift for the bearded man.
Attlee was still naive and did not fully understand the character of the Russian people. He thought that the bearded man would reciprocate the favor and would reciprocate Attlee's kindness in return.
Unexpectedly, the bearded man turned his back and refused to acknowledge anyone else. Not only did he not make any concessions in terms of interests, but he also reached a tacit agreement with Southern Africa, which severely damaged Attlee's self-esteem.
No matter what, Attlee was also the Prime Minister of the British Empire, one of the most powerful countries in the world, and he should not be treated with this level of contempt.
