After giving up his Republic of China nationality, the Paris Peace Conference actually had nothing to do with Qin Zhiyuan.
Lanfang was not a participant in the war, so the division of spoils after the war naturally had nothing to do with Lanfang. However, at the same time, the Foreign Legion made significant contributions in World War I. Therefore, how to compensate the Foreign Legion became an unavoidable issue for the Allied Powers.
Economic compensation is impossible. Britain and France both owe the Americans huge debts and they really can't pay for it.
Then it can only be compensated in other ways.
Machines from German factories are a good choice.
In fact, during this period, there were constant disputes within the Allied Powers. The British first demanded that the Germans pay 2 billion pounds as war reparations. This amount was exactly ten times the amount that the Germans originally blackmailed the French.
But just one day later, this figure became 10 billion pounds.
This is far beyond the ability of the Germans to pay. Let alone 10 billion pounds, even if it is 2 billion pounds, the Germans will not be able to raise half of it even if they sell everything.
So Americans with deep pockets appeared again, and they were willing to lend money to the Germans and let the Germans pay the compensation.
The money dealers in the United States are very shrewd in their calculations. Even if they give money to the Germans, the Germans will still have to use it to pay compensation, and then the money will be used by Britain and France to repay what the United States owed during the war.
People’s foreign debt.
Look, the United States just talked, and the money went around in circles, and finally returned to the pockets of the Americans, but with the added interest that the Germans had to pay, and the benefits that the Germans promised to pay when they loaned money.
If this continues, the debts of Britain and France will definitely be transferred to the Germans, and in order to ensure that Germany has the ability to repay the loans, the United States will inevitably support Germany and enhance the economic strength of the Germans.
This seems to be a dead end.
In this cycle, Britain and France got nothing. They did get compensation from the Germans, but it was transferred to the Americans. Although Germany owed a lot of debt, it got a chance to rise again.
The only ones who benefited were the Americans. They made a lot of money during the war of the century. They joined in at the right time at the end of the war and reaped another benefit. There are still benefits to be reaped after the war.
The British and French understood this, especially the French, who suffered the most losses in the war, so the French did not want to give the Germans any chance.
Clemenceau proposed the dismemberment of Germany at the first meeting held by Britain, France and the United States. Then, after encountering strong opposition from Britain and the United States, Clemenceau proposed a package plan, which included the return of Alsace to Germany.
Lorraine was given to France. France occupied Germany's coal-producing Saar region for 15 years. After the expiration, the ownership issue was determined by a referendum. Germany had to cede part of its territory to Belgium, Czechoslovakia, Denmark, Poland and other countries. At the same time, the Allies occupied the west bank of the Rhine for 15 years.
etc.
As for reparations, Clemenceau did not specify how much the Germans should pay, nor how they would be paid.
Clemenceau was firmly opposed to the Germans borrowing money from the Americans. Clemenceau hoped that the Germans would never be able to repay the indemnity, so France could occupy the Rhine forever.
For now, Lloyd George and Wilson have not put forward a more feasible plan, so these conditions of Clemenceau are discussed as basic conditions. The only thing worth discussing is the time, whether it is 15 years or 10 years.
Or 20 years, these all need to be discussed.
No matter how you look at it, these conditions have nothing to do with Lan Fang. Lan Fang will not get even a single mark from Germany, and Lan Fang will not get even an inch of German territory.
As for the Papua Island and the Solomon Islands Colony that once belonged to Germany, although they are now owned by Lanfang, they were bought by Lanfang with money, and they were bought from Australians, and they have nothing to do with dividing the spoils.
So the Allies acquiesced to Lanfang's large-scale demolition in Germany. Anyway, the money Lanfang paid would eventually go to the Allies. No matter how much money Lanfang would pay, it would be much better than selling it to the Japanese as scrap iron and steel.
While the Lanfang delegation was plundering Germany, the Allied Powers launched a wave of calls for the Kaiser to be hanged.
This is not the first time.
As early as the end of the war, the sailors in Kiel Port launched an uprising. The direct reason at that time was that the soldiers in Kiel Port learned that they would be sent to the battlefield to die. For the first time, the sailors raised the question of whoever started the war.
Slogan to let anyone die.
Then came the workers' uprising in Berlin.
Just after the armistice agreement was signed, workers in Berlin also held an uprising. This was a hasty move. The workers originally just marched to celebrate the end of the war, but somehow it turned into an uprising.
The workers at that time demanded that Germany be transformed into a Soviet state like Russia, and directly raised the slogan of hanging the Kaiser.
This not only crossed the bottom line of the Junker aristocracy that controlled the German power, but also crossed the bottom line of the Allied Powers.
The Allies hated Germany, but that didn't mean they wanted Germany to turn into a Soviet state, which was another nasty extreme. So the German troops on the front line were allowed to return to Berlin to suppress the workers' uprising that was getting stronger, and then France released another 400,000 German troops.
Prisoners of war, let them also suppress the workers.
After the fall of the Russian Empire, France lost a traditional ally, so the French hated the Soviets extremely, even more than the downtrodden Germany.
Thanks to the efforts of all parties, the labor movement was quickly extinguished, but the calls for the Kaiser's abdication became increasingly louder.
The call for the Kaiser to be hanged at the end of January came from Britain where public sentiment was agitated.
The British demanded that the Germans pay 10 billion pounds in reparations. For this reason, a very widespread slogan was even derived to search their pockets. Here they refer to the Germans.
The British also knew that the Germans were unable to pay so much war reparations, so Kaiser Wilhelm II became a punching bag.
At this point, regardless of whether he will be hanged or not, William II's abdication has become settled.
On January 25, Kaiser Wilhelm II announced his abdication, and Crown Prince Wilhelm ascended the throne on the same day as Wilhelm III.
Crown Prince Wilhelm: No, on the day Wilhelm III came to the throne, a lot of things happened in Berlin.
On this day, someone proposed that Germany should end its imperial system and establish a republic recognized by the Allied Powers in order to participate in the Paris Peace Conference.
This proposal aroused the interest of many people. They were not against the German royal family or William III, but wanted to try a different political system.
The military did not express its position during this process. From the moment the armistice agreement was signed, the military was forgotten in the corner. No one asked for their opinions on anything.
The prisoners of war released by France played a key role. The 400,000 prisoners of war were the strong backing of William III. They used force to suppress all voices of resistance.
When dawn broke on the 26th, one of the three most active members of Congress who called for the establishment of a republic was shot dead in front of his own home. A fire broke out in one's home and his whole family died in the flames. The last one was found dead on the street with an ax hacked into his body.
on the back of his head.
As a result, the republic proposal was violently nipped in the bud before it even had a chance to be voted on.
On the 26th, William III sent a note to Clemenceau, stating that he would send a delegation headed by Prince Marx to France in early February to participate in the Paris Peace Conference.
Clemenceau agreed to the proposal.
This also marked that Clemenceau and the French government recognized the Germany represented by William III.
The next thing happened naturally, and the most intuitive manifestation was that the work progress of the Lanfang delegation suddenly accelerated.
At the end of January, the first batch of cargo ships loaded with machines left Germany for the Far East. Due to the use of containers, the transportation volume was greatly increased. The four cargo ships carried more than 15,000 machines, which is equivalent to two Krupp factories.
In Corsica, a fleet of six destroyers is waiting. Those warships now belong to Lanfang, and they will become the team of Lanfang Navy.
At the same time, the withdrawal of the Foreign Legion began. The first batch of 14,000 soldiers will all withdraw to Lanfang within ten days. The reason why it takes so long is because this is the artillery led by Zheng Dali and Cheng Feiming.
They will bring their own equipment back to Lanfang, totaling nearly 500 large-caliber artillery pieces.
Qin Zhiyuan did not need to pay extra for these artillery pieces. They were a small gift from the French government to Lan Fang to express the French government's friendship with Lan Fang.
The reason why it is said to be a small gift is because France and Lanfang have bigger moves.
On February 1, 1919, Lanfang and France signed the first alliance contract. Lanfang and France will support each other's interests worldwide, whether military, economic or territorial. As long as the interests of one party are violated, the other party must
Support is provided unconditionally.
And this day, according to the Chinese calendar, is the first day of the New Year.
The reason why it was the first alliance was that Lanfang would definitely sign alliances with other countries in the future, such as Germany. On the second day after Kaiser Wilhelm III came to the throne, Kaiser Wilhelm III proposed to conclude an alliance with Lanfang.
Considering France's reaction, Qin Zhiyuan did not agree immediately.
Qin Zhiyuan himself was more inclined to conclude an alliance with Germany, although in the original history, Germany launched World War II and was defeated again.
But today’s Germany is no longer the Germany it was in history. Whether the mustache will still appear remains to be seen. Germany under the leadership of William III may not necessarily repeat the same mistakes.
In fact, if all objective factors are put aside, is it really evil for Germany to launch World War I and World War II? Did the Allies really uphold justice?
In Qin Zhiyuan's opinion, this is not necessarily true.
History is written by the victors. It is only because the Allies or Allies won that the Germans became evil Germans. What if the Germans won?
Putting these aside, World War I gave rise to nationalist trends, and World War II directly led to the disintegration of the colonial system dominated by Britain and France. From this aspect, the Germans made a contribution.
Of course, this explanation is limited to Germany. Regarding Japan, that is another situation.
Qin Zhiyuan did not pay much attention to the Paris Peace Conference of the Allied Powers or the turmoil before and after William III came to the throne, which had nothing to do with Qin Zhiyuan.
On February 1st, after Qin Zhiyuan presided over the signing ceremony with France, he returned to Black Swan Castle and prepared for the first Spring Festival in the world.
