"Ludwig, are we really going to transfer to the Russians the key technologies for the production of Mercedes-Benz cars and Fokker aircraft?"

In the best suite of the National Hotel in Moscow, little Rudolph had fallen asleep, and Paulus had gone to the German embassy, where he would telegraph to Berlin and Riga, where he would telegraph his safety, and now only Hersmann and Chloe were left to discuss Natalie's questions in the car, eating delicious Russian snacks.

"It's a must!" "If we don't want to transfer, someone else will transfer it in a few years," Hersman said. ”

That other person is the United States, in history, Germany first transferred technology and equipment to the Soviet Union, allowing the Soviet Union to enter the door, and it was the Americans who really helped the Soviet Union get on the fast track to industrialization!

After the Thermasian Conference, relations between Britain and France with the Soviet Union were relatively cold, Germany and the Soviet Union began a honeymoon period, and relations between the United States and the Soviet Union were second only to those of the Soviet Union and Germany. Although the United States and the Soviet Union did not have diplomatic relations, the United States helped the Bolsheviks a lot in the Siberian intervention war and later in the Soviet ******, so the "people-to-people exchanges" between the United States and the Soviet Union were very warm throughout the 20 years. During the NEP period, the United States also invested heavily in the Soviet Union.

And later during the Great Depression, the United States opened its doors to provide complete sets of technology and equipment to the Soviet Union! Including the famous Gorky Automobile Plant, the Moscow Automobile Plant, the Yaroslav Automobile Plant and the Moscow Automobile Assembly Plant, they were either purchased in their entirety from the United States (they bought American factories and shipped them back to the Soviet Union) or they bought American equipment for re-equipment - these factories were the main force of the Soviet automobile industry before World War II!

The most important tank production base in the Soviet Union before World War II, the Stalingrad Tractor Plant was imported from the United States in its entirety. The Kharkov Tractor Plant used a lot of American equipment (some of which was German) and was built by an American as chief engineer – without American help, the Soviet tank flood during World War II would have been severely compromised.

In addition, the Soviet aviation industry, especially aero engines, also received a large amount of technology transfer and spare parts supply from the Americans.

And the only thing that the Americans did not let the USSR get what they wanted was the transfer of naval shipbuilding technology. Whether it was the transfer of technology, the transfer of equipment, or the purchase of finished products, the Americans strictly controlled it and did not allow the Soviet Union to acquire the ability to build large surface ships.

"I think we can add the ......shipbuilding industry," Mr. Hersman said, "and I think the Soviets will need our help to upgrade the technology of their shipyards." If possible, I would like to help the USSR build a naval fleet with battleships and aircraft carriers around 1940. ”

In Hersman's impression, Stalin was fascinated by large surface ships, and before World War II, he started construction of four 60,000-ton super battleships, including "Soviet Union", "Soviet Ukraine", "Soviet Belarus", and "Soviet Russia"!

Unfortunately, because of the German invasion, these battleships were not really built. However, Hersman would have liked the Soviets to equip the four super-battleships in 1941 or 1942......

"Ludwig, do you want to unite with the Soviet Union to attack the British Isles?" Chloe frowned, she couldn't imagine the red flag planting at Buckingham Palace.

"Or the United States!" Hersman shrugged, "Red flag in the White House!" Such a scene must be shocking, right? It could also be Japanese...... If the USSR had battleships and aircraft carriers, it would most likely be deployed in Vladivostok. ”

"What is the sea?"

"Uh, it's Vladivostok." Hersman scratched his head, no one here in Europe knew the Chinese name "Vladivostok".

"Their Pacific Fleet?"

"Where else would I put it? Baltic? Hersman laughed, "It's going to make the British jump." He waved his hand, "But it's none of our business, the Soviet Union doesn't need battleships and aircraft carriers to fight us." ”

"But you can use a Fokker and a Mercedes car." Chloe said in a worried tone. "The Reds may enter Berlin in Mercedes cars!"

"But we still have to work with them," Hirschman sighed, "we need Soviet resources and gold." This is the only way for the Keynes Plan to continue. ”

According to the Keynes Plan, Germany was to deliver coal, automobiles, airplanes, and ships to the Allies from 1926 onwards. But this is given for nothing, and there is no return for pounds and resources.

Not to mention the fact that the German government paid the manufacturers who produced these things, which seemed to have to be only through the issuance of bonds, but the various resources required to produce those products were a big problem that could kill Germany.

Germany has little foreign exchange to import, and it is difficult to export large quantities to the West to achieve a surplus. People are no longer happy to give away things for nothing, and dumping industrial products will definitely lead to a trade war.

"Only the USSR!" "We need oil, non-ferrous minerals and grain from the Soviet Union, and possibly some gold from the Soviet Union to import Swedish iron ore, American cotton and Australian wool," Hersman said. ”

It's an economic cycle that's barely working. Germany first used the pound sterling borrowed from Britain to invest in production capacity - the German government borrowed money as a guarantee for the issuance of the mark, and then resold the loan mark to invest in large German companies. This is the consequence of Germany's loss of monetary sovereignty! The only role of these pounds when they entered Germany was to lie in the vaults of the Reichsbank, which served as reserves for the issuance of marks. Without them, the Deutsche Mark is waste paper and cannot be used for investment.

After Germany used "pound capital" to increase its own industrial capacity, it handed over the products produced to the Entente countries as compensation. At the same time, the German government will recoup the debts lent to large companies to pay for the purchase of "compensation products".

In this way, the Entente received "reparations", German industry received the funds and markets it needed to develop, and Britain controlled Germany through loans, while at the same time consolidating the position of the pound, while the German government owed a debt that could not be repaid......

For such a cycle to be sustained, two prerequisites are needed: first, the German government must have a surplus in its finances to slowly repay its debts; The second is that Germany must not run a large deficit in its trade program -- that is, Germany must obtain enough resources through Soviet-German cooperation to meet the normal domestic needs and the consumption of the production of "reparations", and at the same time reserve some supplies as much as possible just in case.

"We are now able to stay afloat, on the one hand, borrowing from the pound; On the other hand, by the resources of the USSR. Hersman was silent for a moment, "This cycle is unsustainable in the long run, but it must be maintained in the short term. ”

Historically, Germany was sustained by borrowing dollars and Soviet resources, and now the dollar has been exchanged for pounds. However, the Keynesian Plan was still better than the Dawes Plan, and it had a greater effect on German industry, and at the same time could theoretically allow Germany to pay off the reparations. Moreover, Germany's war reparations were calculated in pounds, if the pound collapsed......

"From 1926 onwards, we had to pay reparations, first £100 million (equivalent to more than 2 billion marks), and then gradually increase until we had £200 million a year." "If we don't get enough resources from the Soviet Union, our economy will collapse because of the trade deficit!" Hersman said. So what I am worried about now is not that the USSR became strong through such cooperation, but that the business was robbed by the Americans. Then we're done...... Therefore, we must give conditions that the United States cannot give! ”

Hersmann thought to himself: when the Great Depression came, there would be problems with both sterling borrowing and Soviet resources, and then Mr. Hitler would have to come to power and settle the bills.

At this moment, the phone in the guest room suddenly rang, Hersmann walked over and picked up the receiver, and the Russian with a Georgian accent remembered: "Is it Ludwig?" I'm Stalin! ”

――――

Ask for collections, ask for recommendations