"1.5 billion gold marks? It's all gold? ”

"Yes, it's all gold coins, and they're in the vault of the German National Bank branch in Switzerland."

The gold content of 1.5 billion gold marks is equivalent to more than 300 tons and almost 400 tons of gold! This can be said to be a relief for Germany, whose foreign exchange reserves have almost been depleted, although there is Soviet-German cooperation to provide raw materials to Germany, and Germany itself is an industrial power, so it does not need to import foreign technology and machinery.

But the necessary gold reserves were indispensable, which gave German diplomacy some leeway: in the absence of gold reserves and the inability to tap into sterling deposits (in the Bank of England), Germany had to rely on Soviet-German barter for most of its industrial raw materials. Once relations with the Soviet Union were broken, it would be difficult for the German economy to sustain itself.

And Hitler's action to clean up the Bolshevik Party is likely to quickly cool down Soviet-German relations, which were already hot.

"Germany needs that gold!" Hitler looked at Hersmann, "I can compensate His Majesty the Emperor accordingly, whether it is land or company stock!" ”

But what Wilhelm II wanted was the crown!

Hersman smacked his lips and nodded, "Okay, you can go and persuade Your Majesty." He loved the German homeland, so he would definitely give the gold to the Reichsbank. But...... It won't last long on 1.5 billion gold marks. Therefore, cooperation with the Soviet Union must be maintained, and preferably expanded, in order to obtain more war supplies. ”

Germany is a resource-starved country, lacking almost everything but coal. But the country is an industrialized powerhouse, and it needs to consume a huge amount of raw materials every year. If it were transferred to wartime, the consumption of raw materials would be even more staggering.

Thus, under Hersmann's auspices, Germany began stockpiling raw materials 10 years ago. A strategic reserve system has been established for various raw materials including petroleum, copper ore, bauxite, chromite, tungsten ore, molybdenum ore, antimony ore, tin ore, manganese ore, lead ore, zinc ore, magnesium ore, uranium ore, nickel ore, opium (for the production of morphine), silk (for the production of parachutes) and so on.

But the raw materials that had been collected and stored were far from meeting the needs of a world war - according to Hersmann and Schleicher's plan, the Second World War would be prepared for five years, not months! So the various raw materials that will be consumed are also astronomical.

Moreover, Germany has a history of "unleashing" a world war. The act of collecting and storing raw materials from the international market must not be too conspicuous, otherwise it will provoke interference from Britain, France and other countries.

Hersmann's approach was to buy long-term and small quantities by setting up shell companies in friendly countries such as the Netherlands, Finland and Sweden.

However, this can only solve a small part of the storage needs, and most of it has to be carried out through barter trade cooperation. The Soviet Union, on the other hand, had an urgent need for industrialization because of its vast land and resources, and its domestic extractive industry also had a certain foundation. It was able to provide a large amount of raw materials, so it became the main source of German strategic reserves.

"But our cooperation with the Soviet Union is also strengthening the power of the Bolsheviks!" Hitler paused, "This will adversely affect future wars!" ”

He looked at Hersmann, "Ludwig, you don't really think that we can always be at peace with the Soviet Union, do you?" ”

In fact, the power of the USSR is not much stronger now than it was in history. Because while Soviet-German cooperation was strengthened, economic exchanges between the Soviet Union and the United States weakened. The reason was that the Soviet Union's capacity to export raw materials was not unlimited, and the speed of their industrialization was also limited - industrialization was not only about importing some foreign machinery and technology, but also required a large number of supporting construction projects and a large number of labor "transfers" from agriculture to industry.

The Soviet Union imported more than a billion marks of machinery and technology from Germany, and its domestic investment often needed ten or twenty times the amount of investment to match. At the same time, it will also involve the distribution of benefits between industry and agriculture - in order to meet the demand for labor in the process of industrialization. A large number of young and middle-aged peasants have become workers, and the state needs to provide them with food rations, housing rations and other related guarantees. So the process of industrialization in the USSR was, in fact, also a process of urbanization.

The scale of investment involved is staggering, and it is accompanied by a serious imbalance in the shortage of industry and agriculture - the agricultural labour force is decreasing, the number of people to be supported has increased dramatically, and at the same time the burden of export is constantly increasing, which naturally leads to great difficulties.

Therefore, it was impossible for the USSR to be able to do so in a situation where the scale of Soviet-German cooperation increased several times. Again, as in history, the same amount of American machinery was imported - there was a relationship of substitution between Soviet-German cooperation and the American machine, and there could be no simple addition. Otherwise agriculture in the USSR could not afford it!

And due to the loss of this agricultural region of right-bank Ukraine. Let the scale of agricultural production in the USSR be smaller than in the same period of history. Although Stalin made up for it to a certain extent by developing Kazakhstan, it was not as good as the granary of right-bank Ukraine (which is the best land in the world).

So the power of the USSR did not increase much compared to history. On the contrary, after the establishment of Pilsudski's "dictatorship", the Polish Confederation began a round of industrial construction - since the right-bank Ukraine belonged to Poland, the Polish Confederation obtained a lot of foreign exchange through the export of grain and meat. Therefore, with the help of Britain and France, some construction related to military industry and heavy industry was carried out in Galicia, which is rich in coal reserves, and the coal mines there were also expanded. Quite a few power plants were opened.

Moreover, Poland's military power is also stronger than it has historically been! And not only because of the industrial construction of Galicia. Right-bank Ukraine and Lithuania brought more grain not only to Poland. And it also brought more than 20 million Ukrainians and more than 2 million Lithuanians. As a result, the population of the Polish Commonwealth is now close to 53 million.

"Adolf, you forgot about Poland with a population of 53 million!" "It is a powerful country, 100,000 square kilometers larger than Germany and the Baltic republics combined," Hersmann noted. And it has the second or third most powerful army in Europe! ”

According to the analysis of military observers in Europe now. The strength of the Polish Army far outnumbered that of Germany, which numbered just over 900,000 even if the Baltic Army and Waffen-SS were included. And most of them are recruits with an inferior level of weaponry. There were basically no tanks, and heavy artillery and machine guns were very lacking.

The Polish Army, on the other hand, currently maintains a large size of 1.5 million men (not that many, in fact, when all units reach 80% fullness) and has a number of tanks, heavy artillery and machine guns.

In addition, in order to defend against the invasion of the Soviet Union, Poland is currently building the Pilsudski Line on the right bank of Ukraine, western Belarus and eastern Lithuania on the basis of the Maginot Line, for which it has also imported a lot of German cement.

"Well, Poland, everybody hates Poland......" Hitler gritted his teeth, "this may be the reason for our cooperation with the USSR, this is the only reason!" ”

"No, it's not the only one!" "Actually, we have a similar political position to the Soviet Union," Hersman said. ”

"What?" Hitler stared at Hersmann with grayish-blue eyes.

"Socialism!" Hersman said, "We and the USSR are both socialist countries!" ”

"What? Both we and the USSR were ...... Ludwig, I think you misunderstood National Socialism! This is not the same as socialism in the USSR! ”

"That's right! There is a difference between the two," Hirsman paused, "but National Socialism is also socialism, and Soviet socialism is also socialism." From this point of view, both Germany and the USSR belong to the socialist camp! ”

"Stalin will not admit this!" Hitler reminded.

"I'll let him admit it," Hersman laughed, "and that's not a problem. Now it is not only Germany that needs the USSR, but the USSR also needs Germany. So the differences that existed between National Socialism and Soviet Socialism were differences between comrades. Therefore, Stalin had to admit that National Socialism was socialism! This is very beneficial for us. It is not only conducive to tethering the Soviet Union with ideology, but also conducive to exporting the idea of National Socialism to the international community...... This will win many friends for Germany! ”

"Surname capital" or "surname society" actually had no constraints on Hitler and the Nazi Party, and they were not very particular about this set. But it was not the same for Stalin and the USSR.

If Stalin and the USSR had recognized Germany as a socialist country, then the friendship between the USSR and Germany, from the standpoint of the USSR, would have been even more consolidated.

Because once the Soviet Union recognized the National Society as socialism, then the Nazi Party's coming to power in Germany was a sign of the "victory of the German socialist revolution". It was bound to be trumpeted by the propaganda apparatus of the Soviet Union and the Third International as a symbol of the victory of socialism over capitalism.

Later, when Germany went to war with Britain and France, it was very likely that the Soviet propaganda apparatus would call it the beginning of a "world revolution." In this way, the national position of the USSR would be swayed by its ideological position.

Even if the Soviet Union would not go to war against Britain and France on the side of Germany, it would not easily turn its back on Germany, the "socialist brother". Otherwise, it is easy to create confusion at home - to turn your back on Germany, at least for a period of propaganda, not to be the vanguard of the world revolution today and the enemy of socialism tomorrow. That would have made the Soviet people suspicious of the Bolshevik Party.

Moreover, in the 30s, socialism was a symbol of progress in the eyes of working people and oppressed peoples all over the world. Once Germany's socialist identity was "recognized", it would be easier to export National Socialist activities abroad. (To be continued.) )