On January 13, 1935, the German state of Saarland, which had been occupied by France for 15 years, finally received a referendum to decide its ownership. Despite the French efforts to encroach on the coal-rich region, the patriotic fervor of the German people, which had been suppressed by the German people, was strongly sparked with Hitler's coming to power. In the end, the votes in favor of returning to Germany outweighed the 48,000 votes against, with 477,000 votes in favor of Hitler, and Hitler justifiably captured his first gains in foreign affairs.

Despite the praise of the propaganda machine, led by Goebbels, for this "feat" of recovering territory from a long-cherished enemy, celebrations abounded; But Hitler was not satisfied with this. The referendum was a procedure laid down in the Treaty of Versailles, and even if the Weimar Republic still existed, it would be possible to return the 2,600-square-kilometre territory to Germany today. What he needed was to enable Germany to withdraw from the Conference on Disarmament and to be able to get rid of the oppression of its military power by the Treaty of Versailles.

A little more than a month later, the French government introduced a bill extending the period of military service from 18 months to two years to make up for the shortage of able-bodied men born during the world war, which immediately gave Hitler, who was wide-eyed and looking for an opportunity, an excuse. On 16 March, Hitler issued a decree reinstating universal compulsory conscription and providing for the creation of 12 corps and 36 divisions of troops of about 500,000 men for peacetime. The restrictions imposed on the German Army by the Treaty of Versailles came to an end. When the news came out, the whole of Germany suddenly boiled, and people could hardly believe that Hitler had just torn apart the heavy shackles that had oppressed Germany for 16 years!

In the early morning of March 17, the German Army held a memorial ceremony in front of the Berlin State Opera as scheduled. However, due to the resolute measures taken by Hitler the day before, the atmosphere was calm and gloomy. It became full of ecstasy and excitement for the sake of the no. Before the time came, the entrance to the opera house had become a sea of military uniforms: the pre-imperial nohara gray and pointed helmets, the iron gray green and large ear brims of the new army, and many of the sky-blue uniforms of the army air corps, which had not been seen before, were reflected in the wide square.

In this plane, because Goering had been killed by Fang Yan in advance, the organizational structure of the German army also underwent a huge change. Hitler could no longer find a man like Goering. A person who is not only a confidant whom he absolutely trusts, but also has excellent organizational and professional skills, to form the Air Force; People such as Hess and Frick were only suitable for internal affairs, and were incapable of dealing with the army at all. After careful consideration, Hitler finally gave up his intention of allowing his partisan forces to intervene in the army, and returned the cake of the aviation forces to the Wehrmacht. The overjoyed army immediately set up a new aviation structure with its own personnel as the team; And Fang Yan also got his wish, so that the German Navy has its own land-based and carrier-based aviation.

Compared with the historical troika of the German army, the navy and the air force, the current pattern of the army and navy forming their own air forces will undoubtedly have more advantages than disadvantages. The naval fleet is no longer fighting alone, carrier-based aircraft and land-based long-range reconnaissance aircraft. will be a key boost to its victory on the battlefield and cut off Britain's sea lines of communication. Although the air support received by the army has weakened with the division of the navy, Fang Yan has greatly improved its combat effectiveness on land by strengthening its armor strength, so there is still no problem in bulldozing the European continent in general. Needless to say, the German Army, which adopted a new type of blitzkrieg, was not at all able to resist the rigid and sluggish manners; The Soviet Union could only rely on a large number of people, and there was a clear gap between the performance of its air force fighters and the quality of its land personnel and that of the German army. As long as the Germans can match the Soviet T-34 sea in the field of armor. Then this fragile Red Army, which had undergone a great purge, would never be able to stop the Germanic iron cavalry. Not to mention in this plane. Stalin had already invested much more money and manpower in the construction of the Grand Fleet than in the same period in history, and the army, which would decide the fate of the Soviet Union, would become even more vulnerable!

When Hitler appeared at the meeting, the attitude of all the generals changed significantly. All of them had respectful and grateful looks on their faces, and some of them had tears in their eyes. Even those who disliked Hitler and his autocratic dictatorship the most had to admit that the Führer had accomplished the grand feats of the republican government that he did not even dare to try. In the eyes of the generals, as well as the vast majority of the German population, the honor of the country was finally restored. Ultimately. What was originally a memorial to the fallen has become a joyous celebration of the death of the Treaty of Versailles and the resurrection of the German conscription army.

Just as when Germany withdrew from the Conference on Disarmament a year and a half ago, Hitler's sleepwalking-like "rampage" was only met with empty condemnation and penal criticism from Britain, France, and other Entente countries. Britain was happy to see Germany rearm to restore the balance of power on the continent, and Wall Street financiers in the United States openly applauded Hitler's actions: to this day. The DuPont consortium, along with the Chemical Company, the Rockefeller consortium, the Mobil Oil Company, the Morgan consortium, and the telegraph and telephone companies controlled by it, all rushed to sign huge orders with Germany for strategic raw materials and military projects. In the first eight months of 1934 alone, the number of American exports to Germany increased more than fivefold compared to 1933. The recovery of Germany's military strength is undoubtedly an excellent stimulus and stimulus opportunity for the US economy, and Roosevelt's New Deal can work, and it does not need to rely on it!

As Germany's greatest enemy and adversary, France should have punished Hitler harshly for his adventures; However, its political chaos and sluggish response to the economic crisis prevented the chaotic parliament from coming up with a resolute opinion, and the proposal for tough punishment was quickly aborted. At this time, French politics was largely a shadow of Weimar Germany a few years earlier, and the political parties were at loggerheads and unable to form an efficient administration to save the country. The only strategy that the French can think of is to strengthen collective security by finding allies. In addition to strengthening cooperation with traditional allies such as Czechoslovakia and Poland, France also set its sights on the Soviet Union, a giant red bear, in distant Eastern Europe.

It is true that the Soviet Union was a close ally of Weimar Germany in the past, and there are still a considerable number of German technicians working in this vast Eastern European land. But with Hitler's rise to power, his sharp and intense anti-communism and the idea of opening up so-called "living space" in Eastern Europe cast an insurmountable shadow over German-Soviet relations. Although the two countries still maintain a good relationship on the surface, the big and small beards have long been in the same bed and afraid of each other. When the French approached the Russians with a green franc loan, as they had done 40 years ago when they had seduced the Russian Empire, the Soviet Union, which was in dire need of financial support for the implementation of the Second Five-Year Plan, immediately refused to come and happily shook hands with the French.

On May 2, France and the Soviet Union signed a treaty of mutual assistance in Paris. The five-year agreement stipulated that if either side of France and the Soviet Union became the object of aggression, the other country should give full support and assistance. Some figures in the German Foreign Ministry and the military were concerned with anxiety about the rapid convergence of France and the Soviet Union, believing that this would greatly affect the security situation in Germany, but Hitler was obviously not part of it. After all, he took a risk and ended up unharmed. Hitler decided that it was time to play his old peace-loving tune again and see if he could find a loophole in the great powers that had united against him to undermine that unity.

After more than half a month of meticulous preparation, Hitler delivered a moving "peace" speech to the Reichstag on 21 May. More than any previous public speech, Hitler's speech was more eloquent, subtle, and more deceptive. The speech did not express displeasure or contempt for the countries that condemned him for abandoning the military provisions of the Treaty of Versailles, but there were many assurances. Hitler claimed that all he wanted was peace and understanding on the basis of justice to all; War is meaningless, useless and extremely repugnant.

"The blood that has been shed on the European continent over the past 300 years is quite disproportionate to the consequences of these events for all countries. At the end of the day, France is still France, Germany is still Germany, Poland is still Poland, and Italy is still Italy. Imperial ambitions, political **, and patriotic prejudices have caused a great deal of bloodshed, but the results they have obtained in terms of what they can see have only touched the surface of the countries. If these countries had spent only a fraction of their sacrifices for more sensible purposes, the achievements would undoubtedly have been greater and more permanent. ”

Hitler declared that he had no intention of conquering other nations: "Our racial theory holds that every war which attempts to conquer and dominate a foreign nation is a matter which, sooner or later, will change and weaken the victor within himself, and finally lead to his defeat...... National Socialist Germany needed peace, hoped for peace, because of its fundamental beliefs. To further appease and confuse the nations, Hitler also said that Germany would "unconditionally respect" the non-military clauses of the Treaty of Versailles, including those relating to territory. Germany pledged to observe the demilitarization of the Rhineland, and at the same time not to interfere in the internal affairs of Austria, annex or annex it. (To be continued.) )