Before the end of the year, several things happened that could have a major impact on the future.
On December 28, U.S. President Woodrow Wilson proposed the far-reaching "Fourteen Points" in his speech to the U.S. Congress.
Some contents in the "Fourteen Points" were welcomed by the Allied Powers, such as the withdrawal of German troops from Belgium and ensuring Belgium's independence, as well as the German army returning Alsace and Lorraine to France, and the Austro-Hungarian Empire returning the occupied Italian lands, etc.
These proposals, which were in the interests of the Allied members, were generally welcomed.
Other contents have caused huge controversy, such as the elimination of all economic barriers and the establishment of equal trade conditions; and when dealing with colonial issues fairly, we must take into account the interests of the colonial people and the legitimate requirements of the colonial government.
Everyone knows that the current international order was established with Britain and France as the core. Britain and France have vast colonies around the world. The role of these colonies in the British Empire was undoubtedly demonstrated in the world war. It can be said that without the blood transfusion of the colonies, Britain
It is simply impossible to persist until now, or it is simply impossible to form a British Expeditionary Force of the current scale and win the current voice in the Allied Powers.
The same is true for France. After the outbreak of the World War, France's colonies in North and Central Africa formed servant armies and went to France to participate in the war. Although the behavior of these servant armies caused some controversy, overall, the colonial servant armies still play a huge role. Now
Woodrow Wilson's frivolous suggestion was like "justly" solving the colonial problem. One can imagine the mood of the British and French governments.
What aroused strong dissatisfaction in Britain and France was the removal of all economic barriers and the establishment of equal trade conditions.
The main reason why colonies are important is that they can provide the host country with cheap production raw materials and serve as a sales market for the host country's goods.
The raw materials and markets here are exclusive, such as Southern Africa. After the establishment of the Southern African federal government, American businessmen have always wanted to sell goods to Southern Africa, but they were opposed by the British government, thus winning the opportunity for smooth development of Southern African enterprises.
space.
If Woodrow Wilson's suggestion comes true, then British industrial products will lose their exclusive status in the British colonies, which is equivalent to the complete elimination of British privileges in the colonies.
Not to mention Britain and France, Locke did not agree with Woodrow Wilson's proposal.
Although on the surface, Woodrow Wilson's "Fourteen Points" are very beneficial to emerging economies like Southern Africa, in fact they are not, because Southern Africa is also part of the British Empire, so Southern African goods are sold to Canada.
At the same time, overseas territorial colonies such as Australia and India can also be sold to the British mainland without restrictions. At the same time, they do not need to face competition from American goods. This is an unparalleled and huge benefit for southern Africa. Once this benefit disappears, then the south
The profits of African companies will soon drop to a new level.
Therefore, Woodrow Wilson's "Fourteen Points" are typically well-received but not well-received. Everyone praised Woodrow Wilson's "Fourteen Points", but when it came to implementing them, no country responded.
On the same day that Woodrow Wilson proposed the Fourteen Points, the Brest-Litovsk Peace Agreement was reached between the Allied Powers (German Empire, Austria-Hungary, Kingdom of Bulgaria), led by Germany, and the new Russian government.
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This agreement is a complete humiliation to the new Russian government. According to this agreement, the new Russian government gave up all sovereignty over Courland, Estonia, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, Livonia, Ukraine, Poland, and Belarus.
The "renunciation" here does not mean ceding the above-mentioned lands to Germany, but allowing Germany to establish a puppet government to rule the above-mentioned places.
After the signing of the "Peace Agreement", Russia lost 55 million people, equivalent to one-third of the total population of the Russian Empire. At the same time, Russia also lost hundreds of thousands of square miles of land, 90% of the country's coal mining volume, and 73% of the iron ore.
Industry and 33 railways.
It can be said that after signing this agreement, the foundation for Russia's existence as a powerful country no longer exists. The new Russian government has paid a huge price to withdraw from the war. Some people do not agree with this "Peace Agreement", but they cannot change the reality.
After obtaining the above-mentioned areas, the Allies, who were in desperate need of blood transfusions, could finally take a breather, but this was a huge disaster for the Allies.
After the news reached Paris, high-level officials of the Allied Powers held a meeting to discuss countermeasures. By this time, it was already January 1917.
Both Winston and Clemenceau attended the meeting, as did King Albert I of Belgium, Prime Minister Vittorio Emmanuel Orlando of the Kingdom of Italy, the exiled King Alexander I of the Kingdom of Serbia, and
Edward House, senior advisor to U.S. President Woodrow Wilson.
On January 10, Winston arrived at Rock's headquarters in Ame, preparing to attend the high-level Allied Powers meeting in Paris on January 14.
As the Commander-in-Chief of the British Expeditionary Force, Rock did not need to attend this meeting. Winston participated with full authority on behalf of the United Kingdom. If there were any results, it would be discussed in the British Parliament and submitted to King George V for approval after the meeting was over.
Winston was not optimistic about the prospects of the meeting. In front of Rock, Winston expressed his pessimism unscrupulously.
"This kind of meeting will achieve nothing at all. The only effect is to waste all of our precious time. If possible, I would like to have Edward (British Foreign Secretary) come to this meeting. I would rather go fishing in Woodstock.
I don't want to go from one foggy city to another." Winston was very venomous. Woodstock was Winston's hometown and Winston was born there.
There was no need for Winston to stress, Rock could also imagine what would happen in the venue.
Looking at the people who participated in the meeting, it can basically be said that this was the Paris Peace Conference that started in advance. Everyone participating in the meeting had their own interests and demands. The purpose of the meeting was probably not to defeat the Germans, but after the war.
How should Germany and Austria-Hungary be dealt with? The Germans have not surrendered yet. How can such a meeting be fruitful?
"It doesn't matter, you don't have the conditions to attack in the winter anyway, so you have nothing to do. Going to Paris to quarrel will help exercise your lung capacity." Rock laughed, looking at what was once called the "European Steamroller" and "European Steamroller"
The Russian Empire of "Gendarme" has fallen to this point, and Rock doesn't know how to evaluate it.
These days, no one should be laughing at anyone. The Russian Empire is miserable, but the Chinese are not that strong. Britain and France are now in sight of victory, but their countries are also in chaos. If they want to restore their strength before the World War, it is estimated that
It will take ten or twenty years.
Relatively speaking, the Allies were even worse. The Ottoman Empire had already been destroyed. Because Constantinople was captured first, the Ottoman Empire didn't even have a government in exile. It was even worse than the Russian Empire.
Germany and the Austro-Hungarian Empire are not much better. After the World War, the Austro-Hungarian Empire will definitely split, and Germany will be brutally dismembered.
It seems that the only winner is southern Africa, but southern Africa also paid a huge price to win this war. Since the outbreak of the world war, southern Africa has lost nearly one million people. Almost half of the casualties in the British Expeditionary Force came from the south.
Africa, so there is no real winner in the world war.
In another time and space, the United States became the ultimate winner.
But in this time and space, the United States has gained nothing yet, and the rewards it can obtain after the World War is extremely limited.
"How are you and Pétain going to defeat the Germans?" Winston was still concerned about the expeditionary force. The division of spoils was a matter after the war. It was a bit early to raise this issue now.
"Pétain and I have reached an agreement. Regardless of whether the British Expeditionary Force or the French army is attacked by the Germans, the other party must provide support of up to six divisions." Roque answered the question, and Roque still has not changed his strategy.
, even if Germany can get certain supplies from the new Russian government, Roark will still eat the Germans alive.
After signing the "Brest-Litovsk Peace Agreement", on the surface it seemed that Germany had made a huge profit, but in fact it was unclear whether it could make a profit. Do you still remember the Polish government that Ludendorff advocated for? Ludendorff arrived.
I haven't gotten what I want now.
In order to form the Polish puppet government, Germany stationed about 250,000 troops in Poland. These troops needed about 30 wagons of food every day to meet their consumption, and the supplies Germany obtained from Poland——
Less than three wagons a day.
This is just Poland, and now Germany has gained a lot of areas that are already on the verge of collapse because of the war. These areas have complex personnel structures and many conflicts between ethnic groups. The staff of the expeditionary force predicts that if it is just Ukraine,
If Germany wants to form a puppet government, it will need at least 400,000 German troops to stabilize the situation.
Now Ludendorff simply does not have enough troops to maintain stability, and neither does the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Germany is no longer able to form more troops unless they are transferred from the Western Front.
And once Ludendorff draws troops from the Western Front, it will look good.
"Then what?" Winston couldn't help but ask, unable to wait for Rock's next words.
"What then? That's it -" Rock didn't say anything at all. Since the defense could kill the Germans alive, Rock would not take the initiative to throw his troops into the attack.
"Then what do you, the Commander-in-Chief of the Expeditionary Force, do? What's the difference between having a dog behind this desk and you?" Winston and Rock were not seen. This metaphor was a bit hurtful.
"Winston, the person behind the desk now is you -" Rock immediately turned his back, the Prime Minister is amazing!