In the face of domestic resistance, Daladier had no choice but to slow down his plans and give the workers enough freedom and bread. Pen | fun | pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 As a consequence, France's preparations for war were seriously delayed. In 1939, France's defense expenditure was 41 billion francs, or about 230 million pounds, while Britain's defense expenditure in the same year was 730 million pounds, more than three times that of France. Even if France's economy is not as big as Britain's, with a GDP of 430 billion francs just over 40% of Britain's, this disparity in military spending is too great.

The lack of military spending and labor directly led to the fact that the situation of equipment production in France became a complete tragedy. According to the French Minister of the Air Force, Guy ? According to Chambour's statistics, only 161 combat aircraft in France left the production workshop in November 1939, of which only 12 bombers! The fact that huge France has only such a small aircraft production is too incommensurate with its international status and industrial level. You must know that since September, the UK has been producing more than 800 aircraft per month, and even in terms of quality, the British Hurricane, Spitfire, Wellington and other models are more superior than the same type of products in France!

The French Army's equipment production is slightly better, but it still looks unsatisfactory relative to its industrial potential. At this time, France was able to produce about 120 tanks per month, most of which were two lightweight small beans, the Renault R-35 and the Hatch Chase H-35. The latest medium tank Soma S-35 and heavy tank Charles B1-BIS have never been able to form a production scale, and it took almost four years to finalize 400 and 250 units respectively.

Since the military-industrial complex was unable to provide a sufficient number of tanks for the fully mobilized army, the French Army had to unmothroth 1,600 aging Renault FT-17s and return them to service. And this once classic, 22 years later, is too old, except for bullying some infantry squads with no heavy firepower, it is difficult for them to exert residual heat on today's battlefield. You know, even if the sling is like Romania, it did not let its dozens of FT-17s go to the battlefield when Operation Barbarossa was launched in history!

However, despite France's numerous problems in the field of arms production, Daladier still outweighed his hopes for the country's future prospects. Because France is not fighting alone, behind her stands the British Empire and the United States. Ever since the United States amended its neutrality law in early November to allow arms sales to belligerents, France has ordered large quantities of arms from the United States with the funds raised from the issuance of national bonds. M1 Garand rifles, P-36 fighters and other new equipment from the United States are among the orders of France.

France used the money it earned from the development of light industry and service industries to buy war materials from the world's number one factory in the United States, and for a time it formed a strange virtuous circle. The strong Maginot Line also gave Daladier a great sense of security: this line of defense, together with the French Army, which had been practicing defensive warfare for 20 years, had no reason why the German army could not be kept out of the country.

Similar to France's domestic depletion, there is its neighbor to the east, Italy. In contrast to the French, who simply wanted to avoid a recurrence of the hellish wars of the past, the Italians were more free and did not want to harm their leisurely and peaceful life in any way. In the minds of the vast majority of Italians, the Roman Empire, which dominated the Mediterranean Sea 2,000 years ago, is too far away, and only a 40-hour workweek and a sufficient amount of pasta are the real benefits!

There are actually deeper economic reasons why Italians value their lives so much. In 1939, Italy's gross national income was estimated at 142 billion lira, almost 40 percent less than that of France. Italy, on the other hand, has a population of 41 million, which is almost exactly the same as that of France, which means that Italy's per capita income is more than a fraction of that of France.

More critically, there is a huge gap between the rich and the poor in Italy. The northern industrial region represented by Milan is rich and prosperous, among which Milan is the world's super-first-class metropolis on a par with New York, London, and Paris, while the Apennine Peninsula in the south is almost entirely in a state of backward agricultural poverty, forming a world of difference with the flower world in the north.

Under these circumstances, the Italian people, who had been divided into two poles, were opposed to arms expansion. The wealthy in the North hope that the current prosperity will last forever and that the consumer goods industry will not decline due to increased arms production; And the poor people of the south hated the cannon warships, believing that it was the steel that robbed them of the surplus money that could have been used to feed their stomachs. According to a 1939 official national survey, as many as a quarter of young people in Italy were malnourished and unfit to be drafted into the army. Think about it, these people can't even meet the needs of food and clothing, how can they support Mussolini's "Second Rome" ambition?

Despite Mussolini's absolute power and 18 years of fascist rule had already made Italy full of secret police, this surging public opinion still frustrated Mussolini's wishful thinking. The war between Britain and France and Germany has lasted for nearly four months now, but the pace of military production in Italy is the same as before, like a truly neutral country out of the way. During this period, Mussolini tried to speed up the production of armaments several times, but because of continuous resistance from below, he finally implemented only some insignificant decrees.

In order to make his armed forces strong as soon as possible, Mussolini chose the same trick as the French, that is, to purchase arms directly from abroad. And his turn for help was Hitler.

Although relations between Italy and Germany were far less than they had been half a year ago, and the Soviet Union and Finland had recently become more politically opposed, Mussolini had always had an inexplicable loyalty to Germany: he firmly believed that this country was the future of Italy, and was determined to join Berlin in the war against Britain and France in the future. Considering the maintenance and maintenance of weapons in the future, Italy at this time could only turn to Germany for weapons assistance. Otherwise, if you buy American goods, you will fight with Britain and France in the future, and you will no longer be able to get spare parts because the route is cut off.

"Gary, how is our plan to make money from the Finns going?" In the official residence of the prime minister in Rome, Mussolini asked little Ziano in front of him. At present, when Italy buys weapons from Germany, it is clear that what it needs most is hard currency. Although Italy at this time could rely on its strategic position to wait for the price and get some of the equipment it wanted from Germany through inducements and threats, these were obviously limited. After all, now the Germans themselves are at war, and if there is no real money, why should Germany put the needs of Italy in front of its own army? If it provokes Germany too much, it will also run counter to Italy's current core policy of being left and right.

Little Ziano smiled a little and said, "Everything went very smoothly. On the 18th of this month, Continental Airlines completed all the foreign-related procedures for opening international routes: Germany allowed our passenger planes to fly to the Swedish city of Norrköping through its airspace, and the Swedish side also approved our comprehensive plan to aid Finland. In fact, the Swedes hated the Soviet Union even more than we thought, and less than a month after the outbreak of the Winter War, more than 3,000 Swedish volunteers left for Finland to fight the Soviet Union! Stockholm expressed its readiness to fully cooperate with our plan. ”

"As for the Finns, they are even more anxious for our help. According to Marshal Mannerheim, the Finnish army has only 100,000 mortar shells in stock, and now it has used up more than 60,000 rounds in less than a month. The number of 76-mm shells is also extremely scarce, and only 100,000 of the 200,000 shells have not yet been fired. Had it not been for the fact that my German brother-in-law had sold the Finns a batch of 60,000 mortar shells and 40,000 76-mm shells in advance, the Finnish army's grassroots artillery would have dried up in the second month of the war. At the end of the day, Ziano's expression turned solemn and he said, "We need to support the Finns as soon as possible." ”

Mussolini nodded slowly. To this day, the Finnish army's resistance has exceeded the world's expectations, and its defenses in the Karelian Isthmus remain impregnable. Their casualties were not serious, and many estimates did not exceed 15,000, which was completely acceptable for the Finnish front-line army, which had swelled to more than 150,000 at this time. Anyone who has even the slightest analysis of the war situation now no longer thinks that the Soviet Union can easily conquer the small Nordic country of Finland. Not to mention another 1 month, even if it is the beginning of spring next year, Finland is very likely to still grit its teeth and persevere!

Therefore, Italy's arms aid to Finland was a matter of great significance that could directly influence the tide of the war. In addition to political factors, the wealth of Finland also made Mussolini, who was expanding his armaments at the moment, jealous. Mussolini was well aware that Italy's supply of arms to Finland and its purchase of equipment from Germany did not actually contradict each other: Italy supplied Finland with only a small amount of insignificant ammunition, while Germany bought high-end and sophisticated heavy equipment, and there was almost no comparison between the two.

On the contrary, by providing ammunition to Finland, Italy was able to earn funds to expand its own arms purchases from Germany, which further improved the combat effectiveness of the army.

"Let Continental Airlines and the Air Force dock as soon as possible. Since New Year's Day, I want to see 40 tons of supplies being delivered to Finland every day. Mussolini breathed a sigh of relief and said calmly. (To be continued.) )