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 with Bulgaria is much less threatening to other countries. On the other hand, the merger of the Balkan countries was far less impactful than that of Germany and Austria.

Therefore, in the world, not much attention was paid to the merger of Bulgaria and Romania, and more attention was paid to the merger of Germany and Austria.

However, although other countries did not pay enough attention to it, there was one country that took it very seriously, and that was the Soviet Union.

As the number one enemy of the Soviet Union in Eastern Europe, Romania's every move made the Soviet Union pay great attention. And how could the Soviet Union ignore the merger of the two countries. However, the Soviet Union did not have a good way to deal with it, because Romania was not weak, and the relationship between the two countries made any warnings from the Soviet Union ineffective.

Not to mention the fact that in the Spanish Civil War, the two countries did not fight each other once or twice, and Romania showed off new equipment that put the Soviet Union under heavy pressure. So unless a war is waged against Romania, it is impossible to prevent this from happening. And will the Soviet Union start a war with Romania in this regard, from the moment Eder ascended the Bulgarian throne, the Soviet Union has lost the possibility of using force. So the USSR shouted at most, but there was no possibility of starting a war at all.

And in addition to the Soviet Union, there is another country that is paying attention to Romania's moves, and that is Germany.

After the German-Austrian merger sparked a fervent admiration for Hitler among the German public, the German helmsman had long since recovered from his ecstasy. Now he has set his sights on his next target, the Czech Republic.

However, the Czech Republic is very different from Austria in that its ethnic groups are mainly Czechs and Slovaks, and the population does not have much affection for Germany. This doomed Hitler to be unable to march with flowers as Austria did. Moreover, the Czech military industry is well developed (which is why Hitler valued it), and the combat effectiveness of its army should not be underestimated.

However, the Czechs still had weaknesses, and they were unusually unfriendly to the Germans at home, which gave Hitler enough excuses. Moreover, the Germans in the Sudetenland, who had an unusually close attitude towards Germany, also wanted to return to Germany.

The region was originally inhabited by ethnic Germans for generations, and during the Austro-Hungarian Empire, it was under the rule of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, along with Bohemia, where the Czechs had lived for generations. After the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Czechs forcibly occupied the territory despite the opposition of the local population. And in the subsequent Treaty of Saint-Germain, the Czech occupation of the Sudetai region was confirmed by the League of Nations.

And Hitler planned to start with this and meddle in Czech affairs.

However, this time compared with the annexation of Austria, the acquisition of the Sudetai region is much more risky. So Hitler was also in the Chancellery, deliberating to seek more support from his allies.

In the Chancellery, Hitler was discussing Romania with the top brass of the party. Unlike other countries, Germany, with its many years of military cooperation and a large number of German technicians in Romania, has long been aware of Romania's arms expansion.

And this negotiation was that Hitler had the idea of getting closer to Romania.

"Ladies and gentlemen, what do you think of Romania at the moment?"

As Führer, Adolf Hitler was the first to ask others in the room what they thought of Romania.

"Führer, I think that Romania is strong and needs to be taken seriously by our country. In particular, on the Czech Republic and Poland, it would be better for our country to reach a consensus with them. ”

As the new foreign minister, Ribbentrop was the first to explain the importance of Romania to Germany from a diplomatic point of view. Ribbentrop's speech made many people nod silently.

At present, Germany's strength is still slowly recovering, but the fear of Britain and France still exists. So they are desperate to find strong allies, and after a round and round in Europe, the only ones who can become their allies are Italy and Romania. Italy's military strength is limited, and its land forces are questionable, and the only thing that can be guaranteed is its navy.

In this time and space, Italy has developed three super-powerful battleships equipped with 380 calibers. Italy, which was not dragged down by the old battleships, started construction of two new battleships in 1936 in order to defend Libya's oil. It is equipped with the same caliber 406 naval gun as Romania, but its armor, speed, cruising range and other data cannot be compared with the new Romanian battleships, but it can still be ranked first in the world.

And Italy not only started construction of these two new ships, but last year, with the income of 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 definitely be suppressed by Britain and France in the Mediterranean.

In response, the French government also started construction of two new battleships last year and this year, equipped with 380-caliber guns, which are enough to compete with the Italian Navy. On the British side, in order to cope with Italy's expanding naval strength, it also started construction of two battleships with 380 guns in 1937. And two battleships were also drawn 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 to World War I, this naval race is not worthy of the name.

Therefore, Italy, which has a strong navy, is worth the effort of Germany to win over.

Romania, on the other hand, is different from Italy, and its perennial tensions with the Soviet Union have allowed it to guarantee a strong army. The strength of this army, which has been tempered by the war, is well known to the German side, which has cooperated militarily with it for many years. Moreover, the military concepts of the two countries have a lot in common, both of which are combat methods in which the air force covers the sky and tanks are the protagonists on the ground.

Therefore, for the formidable army of Romania, the German side privately discussed that the probability of winning the battle against it would not exceed 60%. Because in the Spanish Civil War, the German side found that its new weapons were no worse than their German counterparts, and in many ways they were stronger than Germany. This makes it a little difficult for Germans, who have always thought that they are only the best in the world, to accept it.

And the Romanian navy was also a sight to behold, with the exception of the Mircea, all of its 5 battleships of 406 caliber. And through private understanding, the battleships of this class exceeded the standard by more than 10,000 tons (who made so many German mechanics in the naval shipyard).

This gave Hitler new ideas, so he had more ideas about the Bismarck class of his own navy. First of all, the main guns of the battleships of this class must not be less than 406 calibers and the speed must not be less than 31.5 knots (compared to the Romanian Vlad-class battleships), and then the large range and independent combat capability.

Since Romania was so powerful, it was clearly not in Germany's interest to make an enemy of it. Therefore, it is generally believed in Germany that it is possible to talk about cooperation with Poland, especially since Poland and Romania have a de facto alliance, and breaking the alliance between the two has become an urgent need for Germany.

That's why Ribbentrop's words were echoed by so many people. However, although closer relations with Romania were conducive to solving the problems of the Czech Republic and Poland, the German side was still afraid of Romania's strong strength.

Mainly in the Balkans, due to the presence of Romania, German influence was slow to penetrate. If you really want to get closer to it, then the sphere of influence will inevitably be talked about.

At this time, Germany did not overwhelm Romania's strength, otherwise it would have made concessions elsewhere. This was somewhat uncomfortable for Hitler, who was bent on bringing Germany to the top of the world, but the situation was stronger than men, and negotiations with Romania were imminent.

So after thinking about it, Hitler spoke. "I will next visit Romania to discuss these issues with King Eder."