With the end of the Soviet-Finnish War, the already unpredictable situation in Europe entered a new stage.
First, Germany, which sat back and watched the defeat of a pro-German country like Finland, surrendered Finland's interests and ignored the completion of the Soviet attack on Finland, and then asked the Soviet government for a new round of "political concessions and compensation."
As compensation for Germany's support of the Soviet Union's attack on Finland, Ribbentrop and Molotov signed a new round of cooperation plan. In the new plan, the Soviet Union will further provide ports in the Arctic Ocean, Black Sea and Pacific Ocean to facilitate Germany.
Import the war raw materials you need from various places.
Since Germany and Britain were already at war, Reinhardt's Third Reich had already been blocked by the British Empire. Without the help of the Soviet Union, Germany would not have been able to obtain imported supplies from the British Royal Navy's blockade.
.This is also an important reason why Reinhard accommodated Stalin's demands as he did in history.
On the other hand, even during the Soviet-Finnish War, the Soviet Union still did not forget to provide supplies to Germany in accordance with the cooperation agreement. During the more than 100 days of Germany's selective silence, the Soviet Union shipped a total of 500,000 tons of grain to Germany.
, 200,000 tons of wheat, 400,000 tons of oil, 50,000 tons of cotton, and considerable amounts of various other important raw materials.
The Soviet Union, which relied on Germany and needed Germany to give up aid to Finland, only received a small number of locomotives and some old working machines from its partner Germany during the war.
It is worth mentioning that the locomotives sent by Germany were all produced according to German railway standards. In other words, these locomotives could not be used on the railways built by the Soviet Union before, and could only be used on the European railways built with the help of Germany.
Standard rail network.
The cooperation between the Soviet Union and Germany also made Mussolini, a decent ally of Germany, increasingly dissatisfied.
On the day after the Soviet Union won the war in Finland, Mussolini warned Reinhardt in the tone of a senior: "As a born revolutionary, I want to tell you, don't sacrifice our long-term interests for some temporary political strategy."
revolutionary principles. If the relationship between Berlin and Moscow goes further, it will cause extremely negative repercussions in Italy..."
Mussolini's mood when he said this was actually quite complicated. After all, he originally thought that Germany was incompatible with the Soviet Union, so he actively made many anti-Soviet remarks.
Now, Italy has offended the Soviet Union to death, and Germany, which was recognized as the main anti-Soviet force at the beginning, suddenly said it was no longer fun. This, this, this... isn't this a scam!
He, Mussolini, did not want to take the title of Germany's anti-Soviet vanguard. How could he be the first to do this kind of hatred?
Finally, after receiving a letter from Reinhardt in his own hand and receiving Reinhardt's personal confirmation that Germany would not deepen cooperation with the Soviet Union, Mussolini felt relieved.
However, Reinhardt, who had always regarded keeping his promises as a bad habit, did not slow down his cooperation with the Soviet Union at all because of his guarantee to Mussolini.
And Mussolini was still selling war supplies to Britain, which had declared war on Germany, behind Reinhard's back.
These two half-hearted genuine allies are not good old people who are willing to help others. They only care about the interests of their own countries.
In addition to the above two leaders, the one who felt most aggrieved was the Prime Minister of the British Empire, Churchill.
Churchill, who had long planned the plan of "false passage to conquer Guo" and planned to borrow passage from Norway in the name of the expeditionary force to assist Finland, took the opportunity to occupy major ports in Norway. Finally, he persuaded his country's parliament and the French president of the coalition, Jean-Claude Seaugan.
Mo Lin, after a British and French expeditionary force landed in Norway in the name of aiding Finland, the original plan encountered changes.
When the expeditionary force was about to set off, Finland, the target of their aid via Norway, had already surrendered.
It's not like this. It took a lot of effort to win over the stubborn Congress and get the authorization to send troops to occupy Norway, a neutral country. It also took a lot of effort to convince the narrow-minded Gamelin to come and be worthy of a regiment.
In this way, Churchill pieced together a few things, finally managed to create an expeditionary force, and obtained authorization to occupy some ports in Norway. After painstakingly completing all the procedures, the reason for borrowing the passage disappeared!
Churchill's saying "fuck you" must be said, and it must be said now!
"We can't wait any longer. I heard that the Germans have fished in troubled waters. They took advantage of the Soviet Union's defeat of Finland to divert our attention and quickly took over the entire Denmark." Churchill paced back and forth anxiously, facing the members of the war cabinet.
Said: "I came up with the plan 3 months ago, but I haven't been able to implement it until now. In contrast, the Germans took over the entire Denmark in just one morning. There is such a huge gap in efficiency.
Shouldn’t we reflect?!”
Just as the British wanted to invade Norway and campaigned for "borrowing roads to help Finland", Germany had already begun campaigning for revenge against Denmark. The difference was that the German army had already occupied Norway before the British army set foot on it.
all of Denmark.
"Reflection is definitely necessary." Chamberlain, who was sitting aside, said calmly: "It's just that we have lost the reason to march into Norway now. For the sake of the reputation and international influence of the British Empire, we cannot send troops rashly."
Contrary to Churchill's emphasis on strategic significance, Chamberlain valued political influence more. He did not want to make Britain passive in international public opinion by starting a war against a small neutral country.
Churchill was originally very angry because the plan was delayed again and again. Now when he heard that the plan was being cancelled, he immediately stood up from his seat and said, "The plan cannot be cancelled!"
In Chamberlain's surprised eyes, Churchill plucked up the courage to continue: "The big deal is that we, together with France, send troops in the name of the League of Nations. Anyway, our two countries are the only two permanent members of the League of Nations. We have to do this."
It’s not impossible.”
By dragging the entire League of Nations to bear the charge of invasion, Churchill's move could be regarded as an expedient measure to reduce the pressure of public opinion. At least, that's what all the members of the war faction who supported him were willing to think.
Of course, Churchill did not forget to analyze the politician Chamberlain from a military perspective: "First of all, the existence of a neutral Norway is a disguised support for Germany. Because Germany can use their ports to import Sweden through neutral Norway.
Iron ore, strengthen strength."
"The strength of Germany means that the winning rate of our future opponents will increase. Therefore, a neutral Norway is what our country does not want to see!"
"As long as we want to fight, we can always find a hundred or ten thousand reasonable reasons. The question is whether it is worth fighting." Churchill made the final impassioned speech: "When we are driven by rigid moral principles
While their hands and feet are tied, the Germans who do not abide by all this have already enjoyed the benefits they need. This should not be like this and cannot be like this!"
