As the summer of 1933 approached, Hitler, in power, had three problems to solve: politically, he needed to reconcile the troubling relationship between the SA and the Wehrmacht, and economically, there were up to 6 million unemployed people who needed employment. Strategically, Hitler was under even greater pressure: he needed to make good on the promise he had made to his army and people before the elections to break free from the Treaty of Versailles without provoking sanctions, and to rearm without provoking war.

On the first issue, Hitler had temporarily eased the contradictions between the two sides through his own efforts. Röhm's letter of compliment from Hitler and his overtures to the cabinet government put aside the idea of a "second revolution" to replace the Wehrmacht; The Wehrmacht, with Hitler's reaffirmed support, eased its hostility towards the National Socialist Party, and Hitler's position as chancellor was secured. Although this was only a palliative solution, it was already a rather rare favorable situation for Hitler.

Compared to political and muddy delays, Hitler faced a much better situation in the economic sphere. Although Hitler himself did not understand economics, the genius of the rich man Dr. Schacht had become the new Minister of Economy: 10 years earlier, he had been appointed President of the Bundesbank and had saved the Deutsche Mark from the abyss of a catastrophic devaluation. To this day, in the face of this super mess with no foreign exchange, no gold, no resources, and depressed domestic and foreign markets, Schacht, who has long exceeded his destiny, is like a long-distance old man: when he heard the desolate and majestic and generous war horn, he once again leaped up, and rushed to the forefront of the crisis with no hesitation and ambition.

Soon, Schacht set off a stirring storm that shook the world. In the flash of light, I saw him on the international stage, empty gloves, white wolf, original soup into original food; That series of brilliant and astonishing methods created an invaluable credit for the miraculous poverty of Germany. The more money Germany owes to whom, the more they want to do business with Germany. In order to avoid the loss of foreign exchange. He signed deals with dozens of countries that were "astonishingly beneficial" to Germany. At home, Schacht stimulated the economy by putting rings on rings and white stripes everywhere, and sent a large number of unemployed workers back to the labor-intensive production position of infrastructure construction; The issuance of military coupons, which are guaranteed by the state and paid exclusively to arms dealers, take into account the needs of various parties, such as solving employment, not causing overproduction, and maintaining secrecy, and have brought the procrastination trick into full play.

Thanks to the brilliant pen of Schacht, the German economy quickly got on the right track from the abyss of collapse. The unemployment rate has fallen for the first time after nearly four years of soaring, and the German public has begun to hope that the National Socialist Party dictatorship will be significantly different from the incompetent and weak democracy of the past.

The only thing that made it difficult and intractable for Hitler was to get Germany to rearm beyond the limits of the peace treaty. This harsh shackle could not be broken if it was wanted to be broken, and it was backed by the Entente bloc, whose military power was much higher than that of Germany: compared to the Allied armies armed to the teeth. With only 100,000 officers and soldiers, and no tanks, heavy artillery, and aircraft, the German Army was simply a thin child in front of a strong man, and if the Allies responded as fiercely as they did in the Ruhr in 1923, Germany would have no power to resist at all!

However, Hitler at this time really seemed to be God's favorite. After nearly four years of the Great Depression, the world situation in 1919, the year after the end of World War II, once again underwent earth-shaking and fundamental changes.

The decay of the British Empire, a key balancing power in Europe, was already evident in the winter of the world economic crisis: its defence spending plummeted from £776 million in 1919 to £102 million in 1932. The military industry has shrunk sharply, and the productivity of special armor steel is not even enough to meet the needs of the Navy for the construction of new light cruisers. On the other hand, the people do not want the government to do anything that would exacerbate the situation and undermine the UK's existing national strength, because it would affect their already difficult standard of living. "Pacifistism" with a strong sense of appeasement began to prevail in England. And through the parliament deeply influenced the decisions of the Downing Street government. As long as the existing interests and position of Britain can be preserved, then there is nothing to talk about!

To the west, the French Gallic rooster has also been stripped of its bright red crown by the economic crisis, and has become weakened and languished like never before. Its industrial output in 1932 was 40 percent higher than in 1929. Bankrupt businesses and unemployed workers are countless; The surging workers' movement led by the French Communist Party frustrated the capitalist elite in Paris. Under these circumstances, the main struggle of the French government has quietly shifted from the rise of Germany to the pacification of domestic contradictions. There was no intention of interfering with the rearmament of Germany. A similar situation occurred in the three minor Entente members, Poland, Belgium, and Czechoslovakia, whose leadership made solving domestic problems a top priority, while largely ignoring the vigilance and oppression of Germany.

As the financier of the loan to Germany, the United States on the other side of the ocean would be more than happy to see Germany rearmament. When Schacht visited New York in May 1933, he had already profoundly described the stakes to the new US President Roosevelt: Because of the early implementation of the Dawes Plan, American capital had already been trapped too deep in Germany, and if Germany could rearm and expand its purchases, it would also be a good stimulus for the economic recovery of the United States. As for who Germany will deal with if it buys arms, it will not be the United States anyway. "If Germany were able to develop economically by obtaining its own raw materials, it would only help to stimulate world trade in general. It will help increase consumption, promote prosperity and raise the standard of living not only of the German people, but of the entire industrial world". Schacht even attributed the cause of anti-Semitic behavior to "the performance of a people in economic despair and terrible predicament" and assured that "once Germany enjoys fairness and prosperity, these manifestations will disappear completely".

Although Roosevelt did not like Schacht and even more hated Hitler, who pursued ultra-nationalism, his first priority, like Britain and France, was to save the United States from the whirlpool of economic depression. As long as he can benefit from the new policies he implements, Roosevelt does not mind shaking his dirty hands, not to mention that under the current situation, Germany is unlikely to pose the slightest threat or trouble to the United States. The Bank of America soon concluded an agreement with Germany to defer the repayment of the loans, and promised that all the income of American capital and industry in Germany would be used only in Germany in the future, and that the money would be used for the construction of new military enterprises or the restructuring of old ones.

With his incredible instinct and keen vision, Hitler quickly seized this once-in-a-lifetime international opportunity. On 17 May, in response to the new World Disarmament Conference in Geneva, Switzerland, Hitler adopted a tactful strategy of retreating into advance: he declared that "Germany is fully willing to respond to President Roosevelt's call to abandon all offensive weapons, and if there are armed countries that destroy their offensive weapons...... Germany is also fully willing to disband its entire army and destroy the few weapons it has at hand, if its neighbours do the same...... Germany is willing to agree to any solemn non-aggression pact, because it does not want to attack other countries, but only seeks security. But in the midst of this, Hitler issued a warning: Germany demanded equal treatment with all other nations. Germany would prefer to withdraw from the Conference on Disarmament and the League of Nations if it did not receive equal treatment.

What came out of the mouth of this irascible Nazi dictator was not the threat of force, as many had expected, but sweet words that fascinated the whole world. The Daily Herald, the organ of the Labour Party, demanded that Hitler's words be believed. The conservative London weekly Spectator believed that Hitler had heeded Roosevelt's call, a gesture that gave new hope to a panicked world. The London Times also held that Hitler's demand for equal treatment was "irrefutable." In Washington, Roosevelt's secretary also revealed to the media: "The President is encouraged by Hitler's acceptance of his proposals. ”

However, the small Entente powers, which currently dominate the Western European continent, were not willing to bury their German superiority so easily. France's insistence on reducing its land forces to German levels after eight years allowed Hitler to find an opportunity to turn the defensive. On 14 October, Hitler announced to the world that Germany would withdraw immediately from the Conference on Disarmament and the League of Nations because the other Powers refused to give Germany equal treatment in Geneva. At the same time, Hitler announced the dissolution of the Reichstag and submitted his decision to withdraw from the Geneva Conference to a national referendum.

There is no doubt that this was an extremely bold venture of Hitler. If the four countries of France, Poland, and Guinea had united to impose military punishment on Germany, Hitler's regime would have been wiped out in the blink of an eye. But what is remarkable about this former Austrian tramp is that, for a long time, he knew as much about his foreign opponents as he had estimated his domestic opponents, to the point of incredible. The victorious Entente did nothing because their differences were too deep, too dull, too short-sighted to understand the nature or direction of what was happening on the other side of the Rhine. (To be continued.) )

PS: The Year of the Monkey has arrived, and the author wishes all book friends a happy New Year and a happy family!