Chapter 664 The head of state's trip to Romania (1)
The merger of Romania and Bulgaria has caused far less repercussions in the world than the previous German-Austrian merger. On the one hand, the merger of Romania and Bulgaria is much less threatening to other countries. On the other hand, the merger of the Balkan countries is far less threatening.
Deao has impact.
Therefore, the world did not pay much attention to the merger of Bulgaria and Romania. People focused more on the merger of Germany and Austria.
However, although other countries did not pay enough attention to it, there was one country that paid extraordinary attention to it, and that was the Soviet Union.
As the Soviet Union's number one enemy in Eastern Europe, Romania's every move attracted the Soviet Union's unusual attention. How could the Soviet Union ignore the merger of the two countries? However, the Soviet Union actually had no good solution for this, because Romania was not weak.
Moreover, the relationship between the two countries made any warning from the Soviet Union ineffective.
Not to mention that during the Spanish Civil War, the two countries fought in the air more than once or twice. The new equipment displayed by Romania put heavy pressure on the Soviet Union. Therefore, unless a war against Romania was launched, it was impossible to prevent this from happening.
Will the Soviet Union launch a war with Romania? From the moment Edel ascended the throne of Bulgaria, the Soviet Union has lost the possibility of using force. Therefore, the Soviet Union can only yell a few words, but there is no possibility of launching a war.
In addition to the Soviet Union, there is another country that is paying attention to Romania's actions, and that is Germany.
After the Anschluss triggered the German people's fanatical admiration for Hitler, the German leader has long since calmed down from his ecstasy. Now he has turned his attention to his next target, the Czech Republic.
However, the Czech Republic is very different from Austria. Its domestic ethnic groups are mainly Czech and Slovak, and the people in the country do not have great feelings for Germany. This is doomed that Hitler will not be able to march in front of flowers like Austria. And
The Czech military industry is developed (which is why Hitler valued it), and the combat effectiveness of its army cannot be underestimated.
However, the Czech Republic still has weaknesses. It is extremely unfriendly to the Germans in the country, which gives Hitler enough excuses. Moreover, the Germans in the Sudetenland have an extremely close attitude towards Germany, and they also want to return to Germany.
This area was originally a place where the Germans had lived for generations. During the Austro-Hungarian Empire, it and Bohemia, where the Czechs had lived for generations, came under the rule of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. After the disintegration of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Czech Republic ignored the opposition of local residents.
, forcibly occupied the area. And in the subsequent Treaty of Saint-Germain, the Czech occupation of the Sudetai area was confirmed by the League of Nations.
Hitler planned to use this to intervene in Czech affairs.
However, this time compared with annexing Austria, the risk of seeking the Sudetai area was much greater. Therefore, Hitler was also discussing in the Chancellery to seek more support from allies.
In the Chancellery, Hitler and a group of top leaders of the Communist Party were discussing Romania. Unlike other countries, Germany had already discovered Romania's military expansion and war preparations with its years of military cooperation and the large number of German technical personnel in Romania.
In this discussion, Hitler had the idea of bringing closer relations with Romania.
"Everyone, what do you think of the current Romania?"
As the head of state, Hitler was the first to ask others present what they thought of Romania.
"Head of State, I think Romania is strong and needs to be taken seriously by our country. Especially on the Czech and Polish issues, it is best for our country to reach a consensus with them."
As the newly appointed foreign minister, Ribbentrop took the lead in elaborating on Romania's importance to Germany from a diplomatic perspective. Ribbentrop's speech made many people silently nod.
At present, Germany's strength is still slowly recovering, but the fear of Britain and France still exists. Therefore, they are eager to find powerful allies. After traveling around Europe, the only ones that can become its allies are Italy and Romania.
.Italy’s military strength is limited, and its army’s strength is questionable. The only guarantee is its navy.
In this time and space, Italy has developed three super powerful battleships equipped with 380 caliber. Italy, which was not burdened by old battleships, started construction of two new battleships in 1936 in order to protect Libyan oil. Its equipment was the same caliber as Romania's 406 ship.
Although its armor, speed, cruising range and other data cannot be compared with Romania's new battleships, it still ranks among the best in the world.
And Italy not only started construction of these two new ships, but last year, with the income from Libyan oil, Italy started construction of two more. When the construction of these four super battleships is completed, the strength of the Italian Navy will surely suppress the British and French countries in the Mediterranean.
In response, the French government also started construction of two new battleships last year and this year. The 380-caliber main guns equipped with them were enough to compete with the Italian Navy. In order to cope with Italy's expanding naval strength, the British also started construction in 1937.
It acquired two 380-gun battleships. It also transferred two battleships from the Home Fleet to strengthen the Mediterranean Fleet.
This small upsurge in shipbuilding triggered by Italy is known as the naval race before World War II. However, compared with World War I, this naval race does not live up to its name.
Therefore, Italy, which has a powerful navy, is worth Germany's efforts to win over.
As for Romania, unlike Italy, its long-term tense relationship with the Soviet Union ensured that it had a strong army. The strength of this army that had experienced war training was well understood by Germany, which had cooperated with it in the military for many years. Moreover, the two
The military concepts of China and the United States are very similar. They both use the air force to cover the sky and tanks as the protagonist on the ground.
Therefore, regarding Romania's powerful army, Germany privately discussed that the chance of winning a battle with it would not exceed 60%. Because during the Spanish Civil War, Germany discovered that its new weapons were no worse than similar German weapons.
It is still stronger than Germany in many aspects. This makes the Germans, who have always considered themselves number one in the world, find it a bit hard to accept.
Moreover, Romania's capable navy also makes Germany jealous. Its five battleships, except Mircea, are all 406-caliber battleships. And through private understanding, this class of battleships exceeds the standard by more than 10,000 tons (who
Let there be so many German technicians in the naval shipyard).
This gave Hitler new ideas, so he had more ideas about the Bismarck class of his navy. First of all, the main gun of this class of battleship must be no less than 406 caliber, and the speed must be no less than 31.5 knots (compared to Romania's Vlad
-class battleship), and then the long range and independent combat capability.
Since Romania is so powerful, it is obviously not in Germany's interest to be an enemy of it. Therefore, it is generally believed within Germany that it can talk about cooperation with it, especially under the premise that Poland and Romania have a de facto alliance and break the alliance between the two.
It has become an urgent need for Germany.
That's why Ribbentrop's words were approved by so many people. However, although closer relations with Romania will help solve the problems of the Czech Republic and Poland, Germany is still wary of Romania's strong strength.
Mainly because of the existence of Romania in the Balkans, German influence has been unable to penetrate. If we really want to get closer to it, then the sphere of influence will inevitably be discussed.
At this time, Germany did not have the strength to overwhelm Romania, otherwise it would have made concessions elsewhere. This was a bit uncomfortable for Hitler, who was determined to bring Germany to the top of the world, but the situation was stronger than Romania.
Negotiations are imminent.
So after thinking about it, Hitler said, "Next, I will visit Romania to discuss the above-mentioned issues with King Edel of that country."
