African Entrepreneurship Records 2

Chapter 1397 Germany’s Dilemma

Berlin.

William II was very dissatisfied with the reversal of the situation in Belarus. In the Prussian palace, William II could be heard insulting Russia for several days in a row.

"Damn Russians, it turns out that no matter what skin they change, it can't change the greedy core of these Slavs."

"This group of Russian Labor Party members are heretics who are worse than Nicholas II. Not only do they blatantly continue the expansion policy of the Tsarist era, and do not conceal Russia's ambitions for Europe and even the world over the past century, but they are also cunningly trying to pave the way for enslaving the world in the name of liberating the world..."

William II was extremely furious, not because he was really worried about Russia's evil ambitions, but because the Russians' actions further shook the people's trust in their own government.

The German people were already filled with anger because of World War I. Although Germany received relatively decent compensation compared to its previous life and then withdrew from the war, the price paid for World War I and the spoils obtained were obviously not commensurate.

After that, Germany experienced a severe blow from the European flu, which made German society even more depressed. The military defeat in Eastern Europe this time made the situation even worse for Germany.

We have experienced rapid development from the last century to the beginning of this century, from national unification to economic and industrial explosions, rapid progress in science and technology, and so on.

Comparing this with the unfavorable development of Germany in recent years, it is easy for the German people to feel a huge psychological gap, especially after the military failure against Russia, which is even more unacceptable.

After all, the German people's impression of Russia is still stuck in the World War I period. Whether it is the Tsarist Russia or the current Russian Labor Party, their performance in World War I can be described as a continuous retreat.

And now, under the leadership of the Labor Party, Russia has achieved military superiority and great breakthroughs in Eastern Europe. The former defeated general has successfully counterattacked, which obviously makes William II very embarrassed.

Although the Russian Labor Party's ability to gain such a great military advantage in Ukraine and Belarus was not entirely the result of the army, the German people only know that the empire's influence in Eastern Europe is now being challenged.

However, after experiencing the beatings of World War I, the German people, although dissatisfied with the situation, were unwilling to truly support the war.

This mentality of the German people is obviously contradictory. After all, if they do not support war, then Germany naturally cannot take too big military actions in Eastern Europe. After all, war will cause deaths.

Since it was impossible to carry out large-scale military operations, the sphere of influence in Eastern Europe was naturally taken back by Russia, which made the German people feel dissatisfied.

All in all, William II is now caught between a rock and a hard place. Both the pro-war and anti-war factions in Germany are putting the blame on him as the emperor.

Prime Minister Hermann felt the same way about William II's irritability and boredom. He said to William II: "Your Majesty, now is not the time to complain. We must respond to what is happening in Eastern Europe. We only have two choices: support the war, beat the Russians back, and stabilize our sphere of influence."

"Or, choose to negotiate with the Russians. After all, the current situation in Germany is indeed not easy to start a new war. Germany has experienced war, plague, and economic depression in recent years. The people are very tired of war, and their distrust and negative emotions towards the government are increasing. So the next choice will inevitably affect Germany's future destiny."

William II also understood the difficulties Germany was facing, so he decided to put some pressure on Hermann: "Do you think we should strike back strongly against Russia, or compromise with Russia?"

Seeing that there was no way out, Hermann said, "If Your Majesty insists on an answer, then my idea is to reach a compromise with Russia."

This answer was beyond William II's expectations, and he asked: "Why choose the latter?"

Hermann was silent for a moment and then said, "There is an old saying in the Far East that one must first stabilize the country before fighting against foreign enemies. I think it makes a lot of sense. The situation we are facing in Germany now is actually that internal problems are greater than external problems, so we should give priority to solving internal problems, so that Germany can be invincible."

"There are undercurrents in Germany right now. Labor Party members, Democrats, pro-war factions, anti-war factions, Jews...all kinds of interest groups are pointing their spearheads at us. This is the biggest problem for the current government."

"The various conflicts in the country are on the verge of breaking out. If a large-scale war is launched at this time, regardless of whether it will be victorious or not, the mere preparation for a large-scale war will probably cause serious social problems."

There is no doubt that war is used to divert social conflicts, but ordinary German people who had just experienced the First World War would certainly not buy it.

Therefore, Hermann did not believe that war could solve the problem. In fact, once a new war was launched, it would itself be a huge problem and might very well become the fuse that detonated Germany.

Therefore, Herman analyzed: "So, once we support the war, we will fall into the trap of political crisis, which is disadvantageous to us. The second point is that even if launching a war does not cause public dissatisfaction, if the war fails..."

He didn't say anything else, but William II knew in his heart that the risk of starting a war was much greater than not starting a war.

William II asked: "But if we stop the war now and compromise with the Russians, I am afraid that it will not satisfy the people."

After all, from the perspective of the German people today, the empire’s defeat in Eastern Europe is also difficult to accept.

Herman said: "Don't pay attention to the existence of such voices. In fact, those who really support the war are the military-industrial interest groups or the profiteers of World War I, but they are only a very small minority."

"As for the opposition of some ordinary people, it is not worth mentioning. Compared with ordinary people who have experienced the world war and long for peace, they are just a minority, or a 'minority' in Russian terms."

"Their voices seem to be loud and powerful, but in fact, the vast majority of people are not keen on expressing their opinions. After all, most people are busy making a living and have no time to jump up and down."

"We should not be bothered by such voices and have illusions. Before the World War, we were misled by public opinion. If we had made more preparations at that time, we would not have fallen into trouble because of the hasty war."

Before the World War, the public opinion atmosphere in Germany could be described as arrogant, as if if Germany made any move, the whole of Europe would crawl at its feet.

The actual result is that Germany did demonstrate strong combat capability, but due to insufficient territory, resources, food, manpower, etc., it was unable to support a long-term large-scale war.

As someone who had experienced the war firsthand, Hermann learned a lesson from his mistakes. In his post-war review, he believed that he was indeed too irrational at the time.

Of course, Hermann's statement was also recognized by William II. After experiencing the beating of the World War, William II himself became more mature, or cautious, than before. The First World War greatly consumed his energy.

Just like Russia's current offensive against Eastern Europe, in the past, William II would have already insisted on launching a war against Russia.

Hermann went on to say: "Germany needs to recuperate now, and summarizing the world situation over the past few decades, we can also conclude that Germany itself is in a stage of rapid development. Our population, economy, and industrial vitality are far higher than those of Britain and France." "Even if there is no war, Britain and France will decline day by day, and as for Russia, Russia is indeed a major concern for the empire, but the current Russian people, under the instigation of the Labor Party, have shown greater resilience than in the Tsarist era."

"The idealism of the Labour Party has indeed united the Russian people, but this political model can only work in the early stages. We should start with the economic and diplomatic fields."

"Let Russia fall into the dilemma of economic blockade. As long as the economic development is in trouble, then Russia's idealistic government will inevitably fall into self-consumption due to the practical problems of bread and milk."

According to Hermann, the Russian Labor Party is like a young man who is inexperienced in the world and has visions and passions for the future. However, as time goes by, faced with the harsh reality of society, it will eventually fall into the petty intrigues of life, eventually becoming mentally exhausted and even self-collapsed.

Of course, William II did not think so. He said: "Who cares about the future of the Russian Labor Party? Rather, it is the impact of the Russian Labor Party on Russia's destiny. Under the leadership of the Russian Labor Party, whether it can enhance Russia's national strength and thus affect the future strategy of the empire towards Europe."

What William II said also makes sense. The Russian Labor Party does not represent Russia. What he is worried about is the changes in Russia, just like Russia in the feudal era. Without reform, there will be no progress. That is the "good" friend of Germany and the whole of Europe.

The Russian Labor Party was obviously different from the Tsarist government. William II was worried that some of their policies would greatly increase Russia's national strength.

Herman said: "So, Your Majesty, I just said that I would impose a comprehensive economic blockade on Russia, as well as sanctions in various fields, to restrict Russia's development."

"And this requires the cooperation of the rest of the world and us. After all, the Russian Labor Party is not only a threat to Germany, but also a threat to the world."

"Just like in Ukraine and Belarus this time, the Russians' military capabilities are still poor, but their ideas are extremely dangerous, and the spread of ideas knows no boundaries or countries."

"This dangerous ideological weapon can go beyond Germany and affect other countries and regions in the world, so opposing the Labour Party is the common responsibility of all countries in the world."

"Moreover, we have long been dissatisfied with the passive resistance of other countries. We in Germany are on the front line against Russia, but they are gloating behind the scenes. We should find a way to make them work harder."

"On the issue of the League of Nations, we should be able to reach a compromise with Britain, but the League of Nations must regard the fight against Russia and the Labour Party in various countries around the world as a necessary political issue."

Regarding the League of Nations, also known as the League of Nations, this international organization was proposed by the British.

As for why the British still want to form the League of Nations, it is actually related to Britain’s current predicament. The British need a stable international order. Only in this way can they avoid the decline of their own hegemony as much as possible.

After all, the transition of world hegemony has never been a peaceful transition. Britain gained world hegemony by defeating the Spanish Invincible Armada, the Dutch, the coachman of the sea, and its old enemy France.

Therefore, the British are very clear that if they want to maintain Britain's world order, they must prevent the outbreak of war as much as possible.

Of course, this was also a helpless move. World War I had proved that Britain was no longer able to cope with the war. Facing the newly emerging world powers such as Germany, East Africa and the United States, Britain's military authority was greatly reduced.

Unable to gain an overwhelming military advantage, Britain could only think of other solutions, and the League of Nations was an important measure for Britain to continue to maintain its world hegemony.

However, unlike in the previous life, Britain was the victor of World War I, so it was possible for Britain to form and lead the League of Nations, an international organization.

However, under the influence of East Africa, the First World War in this time and space became unrecognizable. If Britain wanted to form the League of Nations, it had to win over "collaborators".

At present, the UK is actively wooing Germany and France.

As for why Germany, the mortal enemy in World War I, was chosen, it was the lesser of two evils.

Now in Europe, Germany has the balance of power of Russia, so Britain is not worried about the threat from Germany. Moreover, World War I proved that Germany, a semi-landlocked country, has too obvious geopolitical disadvantages, so Britain can still suppress it.

However, this is not the case with East Africa and the United States overseas. Not only do they have terrifying size and scale, but they are also difficult to be contained by Britain.

Therefore, if the UK wants to restrain these two countries, the best way it can think of is to integrate the power of the whole of Europe to suppress the development of the two countries.

Now on the European continent, Germany is obviously a country that Britain cannot avoid. Without resolving the issue of Germany, the League of Nations cannot be formed.

Although bringing Germany into the League of Nations would divide Britain's power, it is much better than having no unified management in the world.

The so-called unified management of the world is mainly aimed at stabilizing the old international order and serving Britain and the whole of Europe.

In other words, the League of Nations in the previous life was dominated by Britain and France, but in this time and space, Britain plans to have Britain, France and Germany dominate the League of Nations. After all, the three countries are all European countries. Of course, in this new League of Nations, Britain still has the greatest voice.

At first, Germany was actually not interested in Britain's formation of the League of Nations. After all, the League of Nations was still in fact inferior to Britain.

However, Hermann now intends to use the League of Nations to share the pressure now faced by Germany, which is a manifestation of pragmatism.

Of course, he also had his own thoughts in mind, that is, what the British said was correct, that is, "The development of the current world pattern no longer allows us to consume within Europe. In the past, Europe was the center of the world and had an overwhelming advantage over other regions."

"But now the rise of non-European countries such as the United States and East Africa has posed a major threat to European hegemony. If Europe declines, no one will be better off."

"Therefore, we should try our best to eliminate differences to deal with threats and competition outside Europe. Otherwise, given the economic size and industrial scale of the United States and East Africa, it is only a matter of time before they surpass Europe."

"Look at the large number of industrial products made in the United States and East Africa that are beginning to appear in the European market. This is a common threat we face, and Germany is no exception. After all, Germany is now the country with the largest industrial scale in Europe. If the United States and East Africa are allowed to grow, Germany will also be a victim."

German industry did face competition, especially in East Africa. During World War I, a large number of East African industrial products flooded into Germany's traditional markets.

Therefore, after the end of World War I, the German government headed by Hermann and William II secretly wanted to squeeze East Africa's influence out of Eastern Europe, the Middle East and other regions.

(End of this chapter)