African Entrepreneurship Records 2

Chapter 1716 Ultimatum
Britain was the backbone of France. Without Britain's support, France had no confidence to engage in equal dialogue with Germany, and its status required the foundation of strength.

Renault clearly looked down on Britain, saying, "If it weren't for the British's indulgence and compromise, Germany wouldn't have been able to push its luck. We should have joined forces to suppress Germany before it became too powerful."

"We had many opportunities to prevent Germany from expanding to its current state."

"Especially the Austro-Hungarian civil war and the Spanish Civil War, two major events that changed the landscape of Europe."

Foreign Minister Bonne said irritably, "Minister Reynolds, you make it sound so easy. Given France's situation at the time, what could we really do?"

"If we had gotten involved in the affairs of Austria-Hungary and Spain, there would only have been one outcome: we would have gotten ourselves into trouble and the war between Germany and France would have started prematurely. Besides, the French leadership at that time was not ours, so the current consequences are not entirely our fault."

Foreign Minister Bonne's words also received the support of Prime Minister Daladier.

"Even without annexing Austria-Hungary, Germany was still a force that France couldn't afford to mess with. Without Austria-Hungary, Germany's population was still more than 20 million larger than France's."

"If we were to go to war with Germany earlier, it would not change much. France would not be in a much better situation than it is today. Even if we could defend our territory and defeat Germany, the price we would pay would be extremely high, and in the end, it would only benefit Britain and the Soviet Union."

"Moreover, as Foreign Minister Bonne said, France's diplomatic work with Germany is itself a serious historical legacy issue. Our internal struggles are too severe, which has interfered with France's stable strategic direction toward Germany."

The French government after World War I was like a carousel, changing leadership almost every so often. Policies were unstable and inconsistent, greatly hindering government decision-making and work.

This in itself demonstrates that there are serious problems with the current system in France. Others may not be aware of this, but Prime Minister Daladier, as the leader of the highest power, feels it most acutely.

Socialist Party, Labour Party, Conservative Party, extreme nationalist parties, and even royalist parties are all intertwined on the French political stage.

In addition, due to its unique parliamentary system, France has many active small parties that are also participants in French politics today.

The pro-war faction, the surrender faction, and the appeasement faction are another way of classifying them.

Therefore, no matter what decisions Prime Minister Daladier makes, he will always face opposition within the government and parliament.

Even if a staunch advocate of war like Reynolds were in his position, it would be difficult to reorganize French politics and create a unified voice in foreign policy.

In fact, when it comes to the German issue, the current French Prime Minister Daladier is extremely clear-headed. At least compared to British Prime Minister Chamberlain, he has always known that Germany is a threat to France.

Daladier's appeasement was more of a tactical delay, but he failed to use this "time gained" to effectively rebuild the military.

He once complained that parliamentary politics was "a never-ending ballet where everyone is stepping on each other's feet and no one can move forward."

This also shows that even if Daladier had any ideas, he could not implement them due to political constraints in France, and any major action could immediately lead to the collapse of the cabinet.

……

Chancellor Daladier's "prisoner's dilemma" is something German Chancellor Adolf clearly cannot empathize with. In contemporary Germany, almost everyone is completely under his command, rushing headlong towards war.

Berlin, Germany.

Adolf was discussing the Strasbourg bombing with his subordinates at that moment.

"Now that the pretext for war has been created, the final link in our declaration of war against France is complete. Next, as planned, we will issue an ultimatum to France, demanding that they hand over the mastermind behind the Strasbourg bombing. They will certainly refuse."

Germany was the mastermind behind the Strasbourg bombing, so how could France possibly hand over the "culprit"? Even if France were to forcibly find a "scapegoat," it would be useless, since Germany could completely deny the French account.

Hermann said, "The truth of the Strasbourg bombing is now completely irrelevant. The initiative is entirely in our hands. France simply refuses to acknowledge it, and the blame for the Strasbourg bombing has been pinned on them, which is now a fait accompli."

Adolf also said smugly, "These Gauls only have one choice: to surrender to the Reich when the German army is pressing in."

"General Halder, how long do you think it will take for us to defeat France after the Empire goes to war against it?"

Compared to his previous life, Adolf clearly has stronger confidence and more assurance, thanks to the support of Germany's current strength.

General Halder said, "I think the final outcome of the war against France will depend on the contribution of our two allies if they can launch a large-scale offensive against France from the southwest and the southeast at the same time."

"With the Empire's current strength, it may only take a few months to destroy France. Even if the two countries try to shirk responsibility, we are confident that we can defeat France within a year."

The allies that Chief of Staff Halder refers to here are naturally Italy and Spain.

Adolf said, "If Italy and Spain actively cooperate with our military operations, that would be ideal; if they only go through the motions, that's fine too."

"Germany is fully capable of defeating France on its own, and the fact that there are two fewer spoils to be divided is a good result."

Clearly, Adolf was not keen on sharing the spoils of victory with his allies, so he didn't pay much attention to the actions of his two allies.

In his previous life, Adolf would obviously not have said such a thing. Even after completely defeating Poland, Adolf still harbored some doubts about France, so he wished that Italy and Spain could help Germany share the burden.

Now, let alone dealing with France, even if Britain and France joined forces, Adolf would not be afraid at all. However, Adolf still harbors some illusions about Britain, believing that the two countries have a basis for cooperation.

He said, "Hopefully Britain won't make the wrong decision next, otherwise we wouldn't mind treating them the same as France."

At this point, Chief of Staff Halder added, "We should also be wary of the Soviet Union. The Soviet Union is the Empire's greatest enemy in Europe, and it is entirely possible that they will launch a surprise attack on our rear while we are at war with France."

Adolf nodded and said, "That is indeed a possibility, but there is no need to worry too much. We have also deployed a million troops on the Eastern Front to guard against the Soviet Union. Moreover, even if the Soviet Union wants to take advantage of the situation, they will have to attack our allies first."

"As long as we can quickly deal with France, we can then calmly turn our attention to the East. Now, let's proceed with our plan and demand the murderer from the French!" The Strasbourg bombing, as a conspiracy orchestrated by Germany, was not entirely aimed at France. More importantly, it was intended to incite anti-French sentiment among the German people.

After all, morale is a very important factor in war, and if the German people were not hostile to France enough, it could very well have hampered the course of the German war against France.

Therefore, the opinions of the French are not important to the German government; what is important is whether the German public is willing to believe that the Strasbourg bombing was planned and carried out by France.

Guided by this ideology, German news and media did not hesitate to smear France with all sorts of accusations.

The German public was immediately outraged and called on the German government to seek justice for the victims of the bombing.

The German government also "timely" stepped forward and began demanding the return of the "culprits" from France to avenge the innocent German victims of the Strasbourg bombing.

The Strasbourg bombing has officially escalated into a political event, becoming a difficult problem facing France. The French public also feels humiliated and bullied by Germany's coercion and is demanding that the government immediately retaliate against Germany.

Before the war broke out, many people in France were naturally indulging in mindless self-congratulation. They didn't care about France's actual situation and only wanted to have their emotions vented.

As for the Strasbourg bombing, any French person with a sound mind understands that this so-called terrorist attack could not possibly have any connection to France, let alone be led or participated in by the French government.

As a result, public sentiment in Germany and France was completely stirred up, and relations between the two countries plummeted to a freezing point in an instant.

Meanwhile, other European countries also reacted in various ways.

The various Axis powers naturally spared no effort in supporting Germany and demanding that France hand over and punish the perpetrators.

Meanwhile, Britain began a new round of "mediation," with the British government attempting to calm Germany down and suppress German public opinion, which was naturally rejected by the Adolf government.

When the news reached the British government, they finally realized the reality: their previous efforts for "peace" had come to naught, and Prime Minister Chamberlain himself was plunged into a political crisis.

Compared to Britain, the reactions of smaller European countries that were not part of the Axis powers, especially the Low Countries and Denmark, were more intense, or rather, filled with anxiety and worry.

While strongly urging Germany to remain calm, they also began to mobilize their own forces in hopes of preventing the war from affecting them.

This involves their own survival. After all, Germany has gone to war with France, and the fate of France is still uncertain, but they are definitely not immune to the consequences.

Leaving aside the question of national survival, if war breaks out, the battlefields of Germany and France will inevitably extend to their respective regions.

This was fully demonstrated during World War I, when even the Netherlands, which did not participate in the war, suffered from the problem of war refugees.

In February 1939, the Strasbourg bombing became a new hot topic throughout Europe, accompanied by the shadow of the Franco-German War.

Now the world's attention is focused on Germany and France.

On February 17, France officially responded to Germany's questions regarding the Strasbourg bombing, with Prime Minister Daladier's voice broadcast around the world via radio.

"...The Strasbourg bombing was a complete conspiracy against France. The French government and any French civil society organizations have nothing to do with this bombing. France will not suffer an injustice because of this."

"We hope the German government will remain rational and refrain from any actions that could harm the feelings between the two countries. For nearly two decades, France has been making its own contributions to peace in Europe."

"We are a peace-loving country, and we also hope that Germany can calm down for the sake of peace in Europe, and that the German people will not be provoked by the conspiracies of a few with ulterior motives and go down the wrong path."

France's statement immediately received support from countries such as Britain. British Prime Minister Chamberlain took the time to issue a statement saying, "We also want to believe that France is innocent and has absolutely no motive to carry out the Strasbourg bombing."

"At the same time, Britain also emphasized that we do not want to see another world war break out, which is also the common wish of the people of Europe."

"Germany should exercise restraint and remain calm, and not go astray, thereby dragging the whole of Europe into the abyss of war, which would be an unbearable disaster for the whole of Europe and even for Germany itself."

Besides the parties directly involved, such as France and the United Kingdom, other countries have also expressed their opinions. For example, the United States and East Africa have been making insincere appeals to European countries to maintain peace and calm.

The Soviet Union's attitude toward the Strasbourg bombing was somewhat wavering.

After all, the Soviet Union naturally did not want to see war break out, but if Germany attacked France first, the Soviet Union would certainly be happy to see it happen. After all, if Germany did not cause trouble for the French, it would only cause trouble for the Soviet Union. So it would be best to let Germany and France fight like dogs.

This led to the Soviet official media being very conservative and objective in their reporting on the Strasbourg bombing, completely failing to reflect the Soviet Union's own subjective thoughts.

After the major world powers had largely voiced their opinions, all eyes finally turned to Germany. On February 18, 1939, German Chancellor Adolf Ebenezer formally responded to France's statement.

"Germany is also a peace-loving country, but some European countries are not sincere in maintaining peace in Europe..."

"...We have conclusive evidence that France was behind the Strasbourg bombing, so France must hand over the perpetrators..."

"Although Germany does not want to see turmoil in Europe and the outbreak of war, when the safety of the German people is threatened, I, Adolf, as the German Chancellor, must stand up to seek justice for the citizens of the Reich and uphold justice for those innocent German victims."

"Therefore, we hope that France will not cover up the murderer and continue down the wrong path. If France cannot give Germany a satisfactory answer, then for the safety of the German people and for the sake of politics, we will have no choice but to take tough measures."

"This is absolutely not alarmist, but an ultimatum. We hope the French government will not remain obstinate."

Adolf's statement was no different from a war ultimatum. After all, it was clear to everyone that no matter what response or action France took, it would not satisfy Germany's wishes. Apart from the entire country surrendering, the final interpretation would be entirely up to Germany.

(End of this chapter)