African Entrepreneurship Records 2

Chapter 1350 Reaching Agreement

A weak country has no diplomacy, and this is the case with Serbia being targeted. Even now, Serbia is not even a country, and the government in exile is just a chess piece that can be thrown away at will. Britain has done its utmost by choosing to preserve Serbia.

Freer said: "This way, the Serbian issue is properly dealt with, so any conflicts can be resolved."

"We can take this as an example to gradually resolve other disputes and problems. I believe that with everyone's joint efforts, the end of the war is not far away."

As Freer finished his words, it meant that the interests of many small and weak countries would be abandoned. After all, there was now a balance of power between the Central Powers and the Entente, and both sides could gain even less benefits.

In order to promote peace, the major powers will certainly not give up their own interests, so they can only target small and weak countries like Serbia.

Subsequently, countries engaged in fierce bargaining over this point.

Germany naturally wanted to take over the fruits of this war, especially the results on the Eastern Front, namely Poland and the Baltic coast.

This was naturally opposed by Britain and France. After all, Germany was already at its peak and could fight against Britain and France. If Germany were to further expand its territory, it would not be what Britain and France wanted to see.

France's demand is that while Germany withdraws its troops from France, Lorraine and Alsace should also be set up as demilitarized zones.

From France's perspective, it naturally hopes to recover Lorraine and Alsace, but it is at a disadvantage on the battlefield and France knows that this is unrealistic, so it can only settle for the second best and ask Germany not to deploy troops in the two places.

Britain demanded the reduction of each country's naval forces, the redefinition of each country's naval standards, and the consolidation of the position of the Royal Navy through treaties. This was originally one of Britain's goals before World War I.

The Austro-Hungarian Empire's natural desire was to annex Serbia and the lands along the Black Sea coast. Serbia had been settled, but the controversy over the Black Sea coast was more serious. After all, this so-called Black Sea coast involved countries such as Ukraine and Moldova in the previous life.

In general, the dispute over interests between Britain, France, Germany and Austria mainly lies in the issue of how to deal with the Eastern European region. Germany and Austria want to digest as much as possible the benefits gained from Russia and the Balkans, while Britain and France are just the opposite. They would rather these regions be independent rather than fall into the hands of Germany and Austria.

British representative Fromm said: "Germany can get some Polish territory as compensation, but the Baltic region and Poland should also be independent states."

The German representative and Prime Minister Bethmann said: "We can allow Estonia and Latvia to be independent, but the former Russian territories including Minsk should be incorporated into the imperial territory."

Bateman's request was quite high. According to his request, it basically covered large tracts of land in Poland, Lithuania and Belarus in his previous life.

This was obviously unacceptable to Britain. After all, if so much land was ceded to Germany, it would be equivalent to Germany annexing the territory of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth that existed in history. It should be noted that around the 16th to 17th centuries, this country was the most populous, largest and most powerful country in Europe.

Fromm directly refused: "Impossible, Lithuania must be independent, and even Poland must be independent. This is our bottom line, otherwise we would rather continue the war."

Before World War I, Germany occupied part of Poland, so Britain did not want to see the whole of Poland incorporated into Germany and Austria, but it was obviously impossible for Germany to completely give up Poland, so Britain could only settle for the second best and prevent Germany from becoming bigger as much as possible. Britain would allow Germany to expand its area by a maximum of about 50,000 square kilometers.

Moreover, the premise is that Germany must guarantee and limit the development of its own navy. In this way, although Germany has expanded its territory, it can still only be regarded as a land power, and sandwiched between France and Russia, its geopolitical situation is still within the scope of British intervention.

Fromm did not believe that the Russian Labor Party was easy to mess with. Because of the delay of the European war, the Russian Labor Party had basically stabilized its regime. After stabilizing its regime, the Russian Labor Party would inevitably cause trouble for Germany, and this would form a new check and balance.

So Fromm said: "Germany will obtain the land east of Warsaw, and at the same time in Eastern Europe, four independent countries will be established: Poland, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania."

According to Fromm's consideration, Poland will become a medium-sized country with an area of ​​more than 300,000 square kilometers, covering parts of the previous Poland, Lithuania and Belarus, so that Poland can form a certain balance with Germany and Russia.

At the same time, Fromm said: "If Germany continues to push its limits, then let the war continue. Our bottom line cannot be crossed. Although you have made considerable progress on the southern front, your domestic problems are on the verge of breaking out."

"We are not afraid of a confrontation with you. This will only benefit the Labour Party in the end. As far as I know, the situation in Germany is not good now, especially your economy. How long can you support the German army?"

With the United States as their new blood pack, the British were not at all afraid of a war of attrition, but the fundamental reason why the British wanted a ceasefire was that they were afraid of East African intervention.

Today, the threat from East Africa in the Indian Ocean has exceeded the critical point that Britain can bear. If East Africa joins, or even just supports the Allies, it is possible to shake the foundation of Britain's rule. After all, among Britain's three major colonies, namely India, Canada, and Australia, India and Australia are both threatened by East Africa.

Therefore, the British government has always maintained a cautious and worried attitude towards the sword of Damocles hanging over its head in East Africa.

This is the fundamental reason why Britain accepted the mediation in East Africa. After all, the reason why Britain has not been greatly affected by the war is because of the support of India's human, material and financial resources.

East Africa happens to be a country that can control India, the Achilles' heel of Britain, so what the British want to do most now is to weaken the naval power of various countries to achieve a new balance, and at the same time take the opportunity to curb East Africa's military expansion in the Indian Ocean.

The British were certainly aware that Germany was a serious threat, but compared to the threat posed by East Africa in the Indian Ocean, the German threat was a minor problem.

After all, Britain's hegemony is in the ocean, not in the European continent. As long as Germany does not occupy the Netherlands and other Western European countries, its navy will always be able to cruise in the Baltic Sea. In addition, if Germany limits its navy to a certain size, Britain will be more willing to negotiate with Germany.

East Africa is completely different. It is already a de facto maritime power. It has a military presence in all four oceans, especially the Indian Ocean, which is very important to Britain. The strength of the East African navy even exceeds that of Britain's naval power in the Indian Ocean.

This also requires taking into account the growing strength of the navies of the United States, Japan and other countries in other regions. Therefore, the most important thing for the United Kingdom now is to restrict the navies of other countries, especially East Africa, so that naval powers such as the United States and Japan, which are not controlled by the United Kingdom, from further expanding their navies.

Afterwards, Fromm and Bateman had a heated discussion on the two countries' land issues in Eastern Europe. Finally, the two sides signed a roughly acceptable plan.

According to the plan, Germany will obtain most of the eastern part of Poland in the past, plus East Prussia and the Polish territory that Germany already owned, Germany's area will expand to about 600,000 square kilometers. According to the plan, Germany only got more than 50,000 square kilometers of land, but before World War I, Germany's territory was only 540,000 square kilometers, which is about one-tenth of Germany's original land area, so it is already quite considerable.

What's more, these 50,000 square kilometers of land are considered to be relatively fertile areas in the former Russia. They are mainly plains and hills, with dense water networks, which is conducive to economic development.

Therefore, although Germany is not satisfied with this plan, it is not unacceptable. After all, it can appease the emotions of its people. What's more, obtaining this fertile land will greatly solve Germany's original problem of tight arable land.

To a certain extent, the German government has realized that if it does not solve its own food problem, it will not be able to challenge British hegemony. In this world war, the lack of basic supplies such as food can be said to be Germany's biggest obstacle.

Therefore, to a certain extent, Germany could accept the acquisition of large tracts of Polish land.

After solving the Polish issue, the countries focused on solving the Ukrainian issue. Fromm proposed: "I suggest that the Ukrainian region become independent and become the new Ukrainian Republic, and the Moldova region will be the spoils of war of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Romania and Bulgaria."

Originally, Britain planned to use the Ukrainian region as a base to support the old Russian forces, and the former Russian Crown Prince Alexei was a good choice.

After all, the Tsar has a large number of supporters in the former Russia and has strong appeal. Now there is a high probability that Nicholas II has met with an accident, so Alexei has become a good choice.

However, because of the East African issue, Britain did not trust Alexei. After all, Alexei and the Tsarist Russian government-in-exile he led were in East Africa, so Britain was afraid of supporting an ungrateful person.

The representatives of the Austro-Hungarian Empire did not express much opposition to this. Although Ukraine was very tempting, the Austro-Hungarian Empire simply did not have the ability to digest such a large area. There were already too many Slavs in the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

Mauterndorf said: "We can allow Ukraine to become an independent country, but we demand more war reparations, so Ukraine, as a former Russian territory, should inherit this responsibility."

In other words, although the Austro-Hungarian Empire did not require Ukraine to become its territory, it wanted to turn Ukraine into its own economic colony, which was also the plan of the Austro-Hungarian Empire before the war began.

As for the Austro-Hungarian Empire's demands, Fromm also expressed that he could accept them. Even if the Austro-Hungarian Empire could effectively use Ukraine, it also meant that they had to bear the responsibility of helping the new Ukrainian government fight against the Russian Labor Party.

From this point of view, Russia was the biggest victim of World War I. This country, originally a member of the Allied Powers, became the main bargaining chip for mutual compromise between the Central Powers and the Allied Powers.

After dealing with the main problems in Eastern Europe, countries finally began to debate other areas.

France's political demands were also met. Germany and France reached an agreement that after the armistice, Germany would not deploy troops on the border of Lorraine and Alsace, reserving a buffer zone.

After the interests of Germany, Austria-Hungary and France were basically met, Britain finally began discussions on maintaining its own hegemony and the new world political structure.

Fromm said: "The world war caused serious damage to the whole of Europe, so for the sake of peace in Europe and even the world, all countries should carry out large-scale disarmament and only retain a small number of troops."

"Especially in terms of the navy, countries like Germany and Austria-Hungary do not need to retain a large navy, and other countries should also make corresponding cuts, including the United States, East Africa, Japan and other countries outside the region."

"As the world's hegemon, Britain should retain the largest navy to maintain fair and orderly development of world maritime trade. I think everyone should not object!"

"Except for the Empire, the naval forces of other countries should not exceed the size of the Imperial Royal Navy. This is our only request in the UK. What do you think, Lord Freer?"

Fromm asked Foreign Minister Freer, focusing on East Africa.

As for the navy, Germany and Austria-Hungary could naturally accept it. After all, the navy was not the strong point of the two countries before. Although Germany had the second largest navy in the world, its geographical location meant that the German navy could not play a big role during the war, not to mention Austria-Hungary.

Therefore, Germany and Austria did not object to Britain's restrictions on the two countries' navies. Judging from the course of the war, there was indeed no need for them to compete with Britain. As for France, it did not object to Britain's plan, or it could be said that Britain was not worried about France's efforts in the navy because France's national strength was not enough to support its competition with Britain.

What Britain is most worried about now are East Africa, the United States, Japan and other countries outside Europe. Needless to say, East Africa and the United States have very favorable marine conditions, and their size and industry are also very strong. If restrictions are not imposed quickly, Britain's maritime hegemony will be disintegrated by these two countries.

A country like Japan will undermine Britain's regional maritime hegemony. In recent years, Japan has gradually freed itself from its dependence on Britain, and Britain has huge interests in the Far East.

The United States and Japan were not present at this secret peace conference, so Britain naturally had to make East Africa the host of the conference.

Freer said: "We can accept a reduction in the size of the navy, but the premise is that countries such as the United States and Japan also accept your proposal. At the same time, the Imperial Navy must at least maintain the third place in the world in tonnage, which also corresponds to the current strength of the Imperial Navy."

Now, in terms of naval tonnage, East Africa is actually about the same as Germany, and the two countries are on par.
Hearing Freer's words, Fromm felt relieved. He said, "Of course there is no problem. As long as the major countries like us remain consistent, the United States and other countries that did not attend the meeting will have no choice but to comply."

"After all, Europe is the center of the world. Our few countries, plus East Africa, can determine the basic structure of the post-war world. I believe the United States also understands the times."

Britain does not mind at all the size of the East African Navy in the world, as long as it can ensure that the navies of other countries cannot pose a threat to the British Royal Navy, the world's number one navy. Of course, according to Britain's thinking, it is naturally best to continue to maintain the "two-power standard".

That is to say, the strength of the British Navy exceeds the sum of the second and third place. According to Britain's plan, the second and third most likely are the United States and East Africa. After all, as the basis for the armistice, Germany must give up developing a large navy, and the Austro-Hungarian Empire has never attached importance to the navy. France is, to a certain extent, a collaborator of Britain and is unable to compete with Britain in the navy.

Therefore, among the world's major powers, what Britain attaches the most importance to now is to restrict the development of the US and East African navies. Now that East Africa has chosen to compromise, the United States is powerless to prevent Britain from formulating post-war naval standards for various countries.

The reason why East Africa agreed so readily was also out of consideration for ending the European war as soon as possible. After all, the end of the European war does not mean the end of European conflicts. Now Europe has just returned to the situation before World War I. The peace in Europe will only last for a few decades at most. By that time, when East Africa has developed thoroughly, it will be able to take over and divide the world's hegemony more calmly.

(End of this chapter)