In fact, Britain and France are already jumping on the bandwagon, and their emphasis on Romania exceeds Eder's estimation.
The main reason was that the Soviet Union and the Allies signed an armistice treaty, which made Britain and France, who had been fighting very hard on the Western Front, extremely frightened. The thought of millions of German and Austrian troops being freed from the Eastern Front made Paris and London very scared.
It's a headache. Now Britain and France are consulting all night on the news from their embassies in Romania.
In Paris, French Prime Minister Clemenceau was convening the cabinet to discuss the matter.
In this war, because the battlefield was in France, it suffered huge losses. According to later data, France's fiscal deficit reached more than 18 billion francs after World War I. In addition, France also owed the United States 16 billion francs.
Britain's 13 billion francs. In addition to these arrears, what is more important is the loss of population. This war caused the death of more than 1.4 million French people and more than 3 million French people were injured, which accounted for 10% of the French population. Although it has not yet reached
By the end of the war, French casualties had now reached 3.5 million.
According to Pétain, who succeeded Nivelle as the French commander-in-chief at the beginning of the year, the French army is now in a pessimistic state about the war. Desertion and war weariness have spread in the army this year. No matter how much the officers publicize, the soldiers' mood is not enough.
Gao, there are also cases where some officers are infected by the soldiers' emotions and resist military orders.
The bad news in the French army made Prime Minister Clemenceau even more interested in Romania's participation in the war.
As Prime Minister of France, Clemenceau was known as the Tiger of France. As the leader of the French radicals, he had considerable influence in French politics. This year, France suffered a defeat on the front line, with heavy casualties and low morale. Russia withdrew from the war. France
The faction within the government, represented by former Prime Minister Cayo, advocated immediate peace negotiations and the realization of a "peace without victors."
In this emergency, President Raymond Poincaré decided to ask Clemenceau to form a cabinet. This year's replacement of former Prime Minister Caillot was Clemenceau's second time as prime minister. In his first time as prime minister,
It was 1906, and he was also the Minister of the Interior. He established the Ministry of Labor in the cabinet, which was the first time in French history. His policy program included several social reform measures, such as the eight-hour working day.
Imposition of progressive income tax, etc.
Therefore, as a representative of the hardliners, Clemenceau now needs to quickly stabilize the confidence of the French people and the army. At home, he maintains his autocratic characteristics and implements personal dictatorship while retaining parliament. He is decisive in killing and executes orders with authority.
He personally went to the front lines many times to revive morale, vigorously suppressed anti-war forces at home, and denounced them as "defeatists." He also used this as an excuse to suppress the labor movement.
Of course, this is not enough. In order to boost people's hearts and morale, we also need to see the hope of victory. Therefore, the US military on the other side of the Atlantic has become the savior in his mouth. However, given that the US military is still being formed and trained in the country, it has not come.
To Europe, then Romania is its complementary measure.
In addition, unlike the American army, the Romanian army has not been baptized by modern warfare, and its performance in the Balkan wars was also noticed. Therefore, when it comes to Romania joining the Allied Powers, Clemenceau means that it will win.
The current leak of secrets from the Russian Embassy has put Romania in a difficult situation and made Clemenceau nervous. He was afraid that Romania would not be able to withstand the pressure and would turn to the Allies. This meant that Germany could deploy millions of troops to strengthen the Western Front.
This will make France's situation even more difficult, or Paris may be captured by the German army. This will be a huge disaster for France, and peace talks will no longer be impossible.
So Clemenceau wanted to prevent this from happening. In the government conference room, he told the cabinet members present the theme of the meeting. "Now because of the leaks from the Russian embassy, Romania is facing threats from Germany and Austria. We
We need to find a way to prevent them from yielding to their demands. What do you think about this?"
After Clemenceau finished speaking, the cabinet members present all looked at Foreign Minister Pichon. Pichon, who is only 60 years old, knew that this was what everyone was waiting for him to say. This matter completely needs the leadership of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. However,
Pichon, who is also a radical like Clemenceau, has just entered the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as Minister, but now he must come up with a way for everyone to discuss, but fortunately he has been prepared before.
"Our Ministry of Foreign Affairs' view on this matter is that Romania must win over, but how to win over requires skills."
While Pichon was speaking, he asked someone to hang up a map of the Balkans and Eastern Europe. He pointed at Romania and made a speech. "You see, Romania's position is quite critical. It is completely surrounded by the Allies. It can be said that if we want Romania to join us, we need to
It’s a big price to pay. But fortunately Romania is very interested in joining us, and it’s quite good to meet their appetite directly.”
Everyone present knew what Pichon said, and of course they also knew about Romania's appetite. Pichon continued without any nonsense. "Although Romania's appetite is not small, our Ministry of Foreign Affairs believes that it is reasonable at this time. Romania is in a situation where
The location can help us hold back millions of enemy troops and prevent them from reinforcing the Western Front and threatening us. And as long as we pay attention, we can see that Romania’s location is also very important to us in the future. To the east of them is the Soviet Union.
The Russian red regime is not far away, and we must consider the possibility of intervention in the failure of this red devil regime, then Romania can be a reliable guarantee to prevent its spread."
No one present liked Red Soviet Russia, let alone Prime Minister Clemenceau, who could take the lead in forming a Russian intervention force. It was just this war that held them back.
"So how do we make Romania and Soviet Russia hostile to each other?"
A cabinet member asked about Pichon's plans.
"This is very simple." Pichon said while gesturing to Ukraine. "We can let Romania obtain the territory of Ukraine. I think we can still give the territory that the Allies can give, and we should give them more in Ukraine. For example.
You can also give them some in Galicia."
Pichon's words caused a lot of discussion among other members of the cabinet. Among them, Munitions Minister Luscher expressed a different view. "I have some different views on the views of Foreign Minister Pichon. Under these conditions, Romania will gain a large amount of territory after the war. In the future,
How do we check and balance them?”
Luscher's words are also representative of many objections from Britain and France. Those who have reached their current status are all talented people. They can understand Romania's conditions and ideas without thinking about it. Previously, they had too much appetite for Romania, which made Russia
Firmly opposed. Now that Russia has withdrawn from the war, no one will object without a watch.
Anyone with a discerning eye knows that after the defeat of Germany and Austria, the sphere of influence in Central Europe and the Balkans will enter a vacuum, and by then Romania will be very profitable. It is likely that Romania will become a resistance to France's entry into the local area. There are many people in London who are so worried. Therefore.
Luscher's words also represent the views of many British and French officials.
