The news of Greece's defeat had a huge impact on Yugoslavia, as well as other countries, but the greatest impact was on Britain and France.
Churchill, who had been Prime Minister for less than a month, hurriedly boarded the car. With a tired look on his face, he was still thinking about his conversation with French Prime Minister Daladier in Paris.
"What's the matter, Your Excellency Prime Minister, are the negotiations with France going well?"
Foreign Secretary Halifax, who was in the same car to greet him, asked.
Churchill rubbed his sore eyes and replied. "It didn't go well. The French did not agree to incorporate the Syrian region into our Middle East command system. They believed that their troops were enough to defend the coast. However, on the issue of Libya,
They promised to coordinate with our country."
Having said this, Churchill couldn't help complaining. "What's the use of this? Our troops in the Middle East need to give priority to protecting Egypt instead of attacking Libya. Although the oil there is vital to the Axis powers, we can't reach it now."
any solution."
Having said this, Churchill thought that Air Force Secretary Sinclair was preparing a plan and skipped this point. "Now our country needs troops everywhere, but there is a shortage everywhere. It would be great if this damn war could break out three years later."
"
When Churchill said this, he suddenly thought of something and asked Halifax. "By the way, how did the United States respond to our country's request?"
"Not yet. At present, President Roosevelt is unable to approve the Lend-Lease proposal at all, because there are too many objections and Congress will not approve it."
Churchill did not feel the impact of Halifax's words, but he continued. "Then let's continue talking. We must not let the United States stay out of the matter. They should end as soon as possible. This is not the last war. There is not that much
Time to prepare.”
Yes, he had plans to draw the United States into the scene after the outbreak of World War II, but he was serving as Lord of the Navy at the time and had no power to dictate foreign affairs. After he came to power, he became even more eager to win U.S. aid because there was an extra Romania.
, putting more pressure on Britain and France, and they urgently need a significant ally.
The fact that the Sudro Three Kingdoms carved up Poland also told them that the Soviet Union could no longer become an ally and declare war on the Axis, so the only option was the United States.
At this time, the United States' foreign attitude was also changing, and its foreign policy was gradually changing from isolation to intervention. However, Churchill thought that the U.S. policy change was too slow, so he planned to speed up the change in U.S. foreign policy.
In fact, Chamberlain had already done this before. In June, King George and his wife of England visited the United States and were warmly welcomed by the American people.
US President Roosevelt was also promoting changes in foreign policy because he had already foreseen changes in the situation in Europe.
From 1935 to 1937, three neutrality laws were promulgated in succession. The main content of the first neutrality bill stipulated that an embargo of weapons, ammunition, and military supplies be implemented for all diplomatic countries, which was valid for 6 months. This bill also stated that the United States
The foreign policy is to strictly maintain neutrality and implement a policy of isolation.
Roosevelt was not satisfied with this, and then he continued to demand greater presidential disposal power. After a month of discussion, the second neutrality bill was introduced. In addition to the above clauses, a clause prohibiting the granting of loans was added, and also
Denied presidential discretion over the arms trade.
Roosevelt did not give up. He later made another request, but this time it was rejected, maintaining the previous terms. He only added a cash and carry clause.
This was mainly the major European countries that were the main trade rivals of the United States at the time. Regarding their armed preparations for war, the mainstream idea of the United States at that time was to make huge war profits.
This naturally made Roosevelt very dissatisfied, so he first delivered a speech on epidemic prevention, condemning the aggression of certain countries without naming names. At the same time, he warned not to imagine that the United States could stay out of the matter.
Later, when the Czech Republic was annexed by Germany, Roosevelt even said in Congress: "The current neutrality law may help the invading country to deal with the victimized country."
As Germany declared war on Poland, the U.S. attitude began to change after studying the strengths of the two parties. Especially after Romania air raided Alexandria, the U.S. attitude became even more relaxed, and Roosevelt took this opportunity to promote the Neutrality Act.
The biggest change in the revision is to cancel the arms embargo and change it to cash purchase and transportation.
In fact, Roosevelt had been involved in arms sales before. After Germany annexed Czechoslovakia, Britain and France also began preparations for the war. The French government requested the United States to order 600 aircraft in early 1939 and requested an expedited order.
President Roosevelt personally approved the order and lowered the loan price, so France placed a second large order.
At the same time, Roosevelt put pressure on the military chiefs to provide Britain with strategic supplies necessary for combat so that Britain could fight against the Dro Alliance. He ordered the Army and Navy Departments to "rummaging through boxes and cabinets" and handing over all available weapons and equipment.
to private companies and then resold through them to the UK.
However, this kind of assistance did not satisfy Churchill. Currently, Britain is most in need of large warships. Because of the loss of the Mediterranean Fleet, the detour distance of ships has increased by nearly 70%, reducing the transportation efficiency between Britain and Asia.
The current shortage of British and French warships made Churchill especially want to lease warships from the United States. To this end, he proposed to exchange islands for warships. He planned to exchange six islands including the Bahamas and Jamaica plus US$300 million in marketable bonds and valuables.
Metal in exchange for 4 US battleships and 2 aircraft carriers.
Facing Churchill's proposal, Roosevelt was stunned. Although from all aspects, the United States was making a bloody profit, he was not optimistic about selling its own warships, especially the large warships it used, to Britain.
Although he very much wants to promote the success of this matter and help Britain make up for the loss of Mediterranean warships, his reason tells him that the chance of success of this matter is very low. This is because it is too exciting for the current United States.
No, because the American people are not even mentally prepared.
Sure enough, after the British proposal was handed over to Congress, it immediately caused an uproar. Faced with the British proposal, these MPs rejected it without hesitation.
Because although the isolation mood has subsided, most people and public opinion are still not ready. They dare not agree to such a proposal. Because the sale of warships represents too strong political implications, the United States is not ready for the end.
Although he was rejected this time, Churchill would not give up, and he would think of other ways to drag the United States into the water.
