"Captain, the core issue of the Courland Plan is the land question and the national question."

"Land? Ethnic group? Captain Falkenhorst looked at Hersmann, "Major, you want to concentrate all the Germans in the Baltic region to Courland?" ”

"And Livlan." "About 65,000 square kilometers of land, centered in Riga, more than half of it is arable land, and the rest is hills, lakes and swamps. ”

He's talking about Latvia in the future! Before the end of the First World War, there was no concept of a Latvian state, only Latvians. It is a small people with a population of only seven or eight hundred thousand, with no country of its own, and has historically been ruled either by Germans or by Russians.

Hersmann continued: "According to the statistics of the Baltic Provisional Government, there were about 1 million non-Germans in the Courland and Livland regions, of whom 60% were Latvians (and Latvians at this time were not all in Courland and Livland), 20% were Russians, and the rest were Estonians, Lithuanians, Poles, Ukrainians and Jews. In addition, in the Baltic region and Lithuania, there are also Austrian Poland and Austrian Ukraine, and there are currently about 800,000 Germans, most of whom are around Riga, that is, in the Courland and Livland regions. And the Courland Plan proposed to rearrange the population of Courland and the entire Baltic region, concentrating the Germans in Courland and Livland. Then move the Latvians of Courland and Livland as far as possible. To ensure that the Germans could become the number one nation in the future Courland Autonomous State! At the same time, the Courland Autonomous State was to be prepared to admit Germans from Poznan and West Prussia if necessary. ”

Hersmann's "Courland Plan" is not complicated, the core idea is to use the population and womb to occupy Courland and Livland! The first goal was to bring the German population of the Courland Autonomous State to 1 million. Considering the agricultural conditions of Courland and Livland and the diligence of the Germans, 65,000 square kilometers of land will definitely allow 1 million Germans to live well, so that they can continue to attract immigrants from Germany proper. By the eve of World War II, the Courland Autonomous State might have a population of 3 million (including non-Germans), more than later Latvia.

And no matter how unreasonable the Entente is, there is nothing they can do with 1 million Courland Germans - there is Europe after all! Moreover, the Germans of the Courland Autonomous State will not be without force.

"If the future Courland Autonomous State can have 1 million Germans, then after full mobilization, the Courland Defense Forces will have 100,000 fighters. Relying on the terrain of hills, swamps and forests, it can withstand 200,000 to 300,000 Entente ** teams from afar......"

Of course, you still have to do the preparation for the fight! In the Courland Plan, Hersman proposed the creation of a standing army of about 50,000 people, the Courland Defense Army. The backbone will be volunteers recruited from the German army on the Eastern Front, who will have dual citizenship of the Courland Autonomous State and Germany, and will also be allocated land in the Courland Autonomous State.

"What's going on with land allocation?" Nicholas. Feng. Captain Falkenhorst had a copy of the Courland Plan in his hand, and he listened to Hersmann's explanations as he flipped through the copy and wrote notes on it with a pen. He found that the copy contained a lot of information about "land allocation".

"Every Baltic German who wants to live in the countryside should be given enough land to sustain the middle class." "This is the key to uniting all Courland Germans," Hersman said. There's a lot of land in the Courland Autonomous State, right? If we don't give the land there to our fellow Germans, how can we convince them that Courland is a home worth defending with their lives? If a part of the German landlords suffers damage in the distribution of land, we can compensate them in other ways, such as a bond in the Autonomous State of Courland, a civil service in the Autonomous State, or a property in the city of Riga. ”

Nicholas. Feng. Captain Falkenhorst glanced at Hindenburg, who nodded. The Courland Autonomous State was arguably the only possible victory of the German Empire after the World War. This is in exchange for the blood of 2 million people! The interests of the German landlords of Courland simply cannot be compared with the blood of 2 million people. Moreover, if the Courland Germans lose power, sooner or later their land will be confiscated.

"In addition, we should also resettle the displaced Latvians as much as possible...... It was possible to settle in Poland and Lithuania and give them some of the land that belonged to the Russian nobility. It would be desirable to form a few or a dozen Latvian settlements in Poland and Lithuania. ”

Hersman also referred to the resettlement of Latvians in the Plan. He did not want hundreds of thousands of Latvians to hate Germany...... If you can be generous to others, why not? It's not bad to create a Latvian problem for Pilsudski!

"Major, you also mentioned in your plan the possibility of Courland joining the Polish Confederation or forming a Confederation with Estonia." Captain Falkenhorst frowned slightly, "Can't we consider making Courland independent?" ”

"It is obviously advantageous to form a federal state," Hirschman explained, "and the first choice is, of course, for the Courland and Estonian states to form the Baltic Union...... It can be a Grand Duchy or a republic. ”

In Hersman's Courland Plan, the fate of Estonians and Latvians is completely different, the latter will be displaced from their homeland, while the former will have a self-governing state and become the main ethnic group in the lands of the former Estonian Province (formerly Tsarist Russia) and Livonia. The two autonomous states were then merged to form the United States of the Baltics, with their capital in Riga...... The advantages of this are obvious, because the Estonian nation is very weak and the population is not large, a little less than that of Latvians. If a federation were to be formed with the powerful German nation, then the power of the federal state would be manipulated by the Germans. In addition, the Germans had always been the upper echelons of the Tsarist provinces of Estonia and Livonia, controlling much of the land and industry. If Estonia and Courland form a federation, then the Estonians cannot confiscate the property of the Germans.

"So who is the Grand Duke of the Grand Duchy?" Captain Falkenhorst asked again.

"Currently a German monarch...... This is something Your Majesty considers, not something we can decide. Hersman said. In his Courland Plan, there was no mention of the choice of the monarch of the United Duchy of the Baltic - it would be disrespectful to discuss this issue now that Kaiser Wilhelm II was still in power.

However, Hersmann had a perfect fit in his mind.

"Say," Hindenburg waved his hand, "the Grey Plan was meant to deal with extraordinary times. I don't think that by that time a duke of the German Empire would be the monarch of the United Duchy of the Baltics. ”

This is obviously impossible! The Entente were not so good at talking, unless the Courland Germans were ready for war! Although it is not necessary to lose, war should be avoided as much as possible, after all, the vast German Empire has been defeated......

"The ideal candidate is Olga. Grand Duchess Nikolaevna. ”

"The Tsar's daughter?" Hindenburg frowned, "That's a good idea!" She was indeed qualified to be the monarch of the United Duchy of the Baltics, and neither England nor France could say anything. ”

The land of the United Duchy of the Baltic was originally owned by the Romanov dynasty, and the titles of Nicholas II included the three princes of "Prince of Estonia", "Prince of Livonia", and "Prince of Courland and Semigalia", which referred to the monarchs of the United Duchy of the Baltics. This was recognized by Britain, France, and the United States, so there was no legal problem with the tsar passing the three princes to Olga. And given the position of the Entente against Soviet Russia, they would not have objected to this arrangement.

"But what about the Russians?" Hindenburg's brow furrowed even tighter. "Will they accept the Romanov dynasty to power in the Baltics?"

"Probably not, right?" Hersman smiled, "But it's nothing, when the Entente's intervention in Soviet Russia fails, we will ask her to step down!" Then it will be the Baltic Union Republic. ”

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It's time to ask for favorites and recommendations again, do you still have tickets? Can you make Rolls-Royce's weekly recommendations exceed 10,000?