"Mr. Renault, you shouldn't be so weak!"

On May 7, in Tours belonged to former French Prime Minister Paul Brown. In Renault's residence, Charles de Gaulle, who had just returned from England, was trying to persuade Renault.

"How can you abdicate the responsibilities of history so easily?" He looked at the sluggish former prime minister, and his heart was a little angry, "The fate of France is now in your hands, whether to submit to Germany forever and become a second-rate country, or draw strength from defeat and get a new life, it is up to you to choose now." ”

Paul. Renault looked at de Gaulle, "General, I'm not prime minister now, what else can I do?" ”

"You can leave mainland France and go to Algeria to form a free French government!" De Gaulle looked at Renault and said word by word, "The British will support you, the entire French overseas empire will be on your side, and the United States will support you." The Free French government would have enough support to lead a long war against Germany. ”

"But no one wants a long war!" Paul. Renault shook his head, "Germany is not making unacceptable demands, and the prospect of Franco-German union becoming the heart of the European Community is quite tempting......"

The creation of a European Community was not a bad thing for industrialized France, which had a large colonial empire. If realized, it will not only ensure the long-term security of France, but also bring many economic benefits.

"No, there is no Franco-German common core," de Gaulle waved his hand, "France should be the center and the head of Europe, and without France in a leading position, the European Community cannot be formed." Because the French nation is accustomed to being the giants of Europe! ”

"Charles, you mean you're not against the European Community?" Renault heard de Gaulle's voice.

"Of course not!" De Gaulle said, "Europe should indeed be united, united, and only in this way can it compete with such continental powers as the United States and the Soviet Union!" But this European Community must be led by France, not Germany! ”

"But now France has been defeated...... Renault shook his head, "defeat is defeat, the army has been completely defeated, and there is no longer the strength to fight." ”

"No, Germany has not yet won!" De Gaulle walked around Reynold's reception room and began to analyze the situation: "There is also a superpower on the European continent, the Soviet Union, which, like Great Britain, does not want to see a strong European community emerge. And the United States on the other side of the ocean must have the same view...... Thus, the German ambition to unify Europe will be attacked by the United States and the Soviet Union at some point in the future.

Germany alone could not defeat the United States and the Soviet Union unless they could defeat Britain before the United States and the Soviet Union reconciled, and obtain British privileges in the Middle East, North Africa, and India, from which they would receive sufficient resources. With resources, Europe's productive forces can be used to the fullest, enough weapons and ammunition can be produced, Germany can win, and the European Community can be truly formed. ”

De Gaulle took a deep breath, "And if Germany wants to defeat Britain in the short term, it must have the support of our France, so we cannot support Germany!" ”

Paul. "But even if we can mess with the good things for the Germans, we will not be able to replace Germany as the leader of the European Community," Renault said. ”

"The possibility is there!" De Gaulle pondered and said, "We will drag Germany down, defeat Germany, dismember Germany, and then unite with Germany when it has to rely on us France for its survival and development." In this way, a European Community led by France could be created! ”

"It's incredible...... "Paul. Renault looked at de Gaulle and smiled wryly, "Charles, you may be right. But I'm not the genius politician who was able to realize such an idea, I'm just a mediocre person. I lost the war, my political life was over. If you really want to achieve your vision, then do it yourself and achieve your ideals. ”

……

"Why are there peace talks on the train in Compiègne? What's the point? On 7 May, the day the new French Prime Minister Pétain sued for peace, Hersmann objected to Hitler's proposed location for peace talks at a meeting of the High Command.

"The only place to be right is Geneva." Hersman said with great certainty that "the process of peace negotiations should be open and that the representatives of all countries in Geneva should be aware of the content of the negotiations." We want the whole world to know about the German ideal...... Let the whole world know that we in Germany are not devils and war maniacs. We have been forced to go to war in the pursuit of justice, for a better Europe and for a better world. ”

From now on, the League of Nations was no longer an instrument of Britain but of Germany, and Hersmann certainly would not throw aside this tool of world leadership.

He thought for a moment and said, "And we should not close the door to peace with Britain, even though we do not welcome Britain in the European Community." But we should let everyone know that we have no intention of destroying Britain. If Britain agrees to abrogate the unjust Treaties of Versailles, Saint-Germain, Trianon, Sèvres and Lausanne, we can make peace with Britain. ”

"Shake hands with the British?" Schleicher was stunned, "Ludwig, haven't you always advocated a complete defeat of the British?" ”

"Yes, I still advocate the complete defeat of the British." Hersmann smiled coldly, "Because the British would never agree to abolish the Treaties of Versailles, Saint-Germain, Trianon, Sèvres, and Lausanne." But we still have to propose the abolition of these unequal treaties in Geneva, because the abolition of these unequal treaties is the basis for a strong, united and prosperous European community! ”

Hersmann was clearly very good at wrapping up aggressive expansion, and he put forward the theory that the treaties imposed by the victorious Entente on other countries after World War I were unequal and unjust, and should be corrected and restored to the status quo ante before World War I (not necessarily completely, but most of them). Then, on the basis of the pre-World War I situation, the borders of the countries were rationally adjusted - for example, by annexing part of the Crown Territories of Luxembourg and Austria, which had historically belonged to Germany, and by restoring Greater Hungary.

After the reasonable adjustments, Germany and the countries controlled by Germany, such as Poland (including Lithuania and Western Ukraine), Slovakia, Denmark, Belgium, etc., plus Germany's allies, such as Italy, Hungary, Bulgaria, Spain, Sweden, Norway and Finland, etc., and France, which was defeated and forced to choose to side with Germany, basically put the whole of Europe together.

"But Britain will not agree," said Foreign Minister Ribbentrop, "and they will not even negotiate peace with us." ”

These days, German diplomats in Geneva have been instructed (by order of Hitler's government) to make contact with the British delegation in Geneva, but to no avail.

"The Treaty of Versailles, the Treaty of Saint-Germain, the Treaty of Trianon, the Treaty of Sèvres and the Treaty of Lausanne could be abrogated by the League of Nations," Hersmann said. ”

"But Britain is a permanent member of the Council of Nations," Ribbentrop said, "and they can exercise their veto." ”

"So what?" Hersman smiled, "As long as the majority of the members of the League of Nations voted in favor, we can assume that those treaties have been abrogated." And in order to gain the support of the majority of countries, we can even propose a resolution in the League of Nations: abolish all unequal treaties and liberate the colonies and semi-colonies! ”

……

"Abolish all unequal treaties? This is good...... So does the Bessarabia Treaty look equal? ”

In the Kremlin, the great leader of the Soviet Union, Stalin, and the chairman of the Council of Ministers of the USSR, Molotov, are receiving the German ambassador, Count Schulenburg.

The Count of Schulenburg brought with him letters from the German Emperor Wilhelm and Chancellor Hitler, which mainly contained three points: 1) to inform the course of the Western campaign (the French Campaign), 2) to express his willingness to mediate the Soviet-Finnish war, and 3) to propose the convening of a peace conference in Geneva under the auspices of the League of Nations and to seek the support of the Soviet Union.

Stalin, of course, could not refuse the demands made by Germany. The fatherly leader of the Soviet Union had a rather depressed past month, on the one hand, the Red Army's offensive on the Mannerheim Line suffered setbacks, suffered heavy casualties, and made slow progress (in fact, it was much better than the historical situation, after all, it was not fought in winter); On the other hand, the German army shined in the Western campaign, and the once invincible French army looked vulnerable in front of them, and the Soviet Union had to pinch its nose and sing praises for Germany's victory in the West!

Now that Germany seemed to have won a great victory on the Western Front, Italy could not wait to join the Germans, and most of Europe was already under German domination. And there was no longer an army to rival Germany in the west of the continent - which meant that Germany was no longer in danger of "fighting on two fronts", and most of their powerful land forces could be used to attack the Soviet Union.

But even in the face of a great threat to the western part of the Soviet Union, Stalin did not forget that in the province of Bessarabia, the land that Russia had seized from Turkey during the Seventh Russo-Turkish War, but which belonged to Romania under a Treaty of Bisharabia signed by Britain, France, Italy, Japan, and Romania. (To be continued.) )