Chapter 165: The Reason for Non-Alignment

Chapter 165: The Reason for Non-Alignment

Two events in 1914 prompted Germany to strive for a quick war. 89 Reading Network //// First, in June, Germany completed the widening project of the Kiel Canal, so that the newly built "dreadnoughts" can sail directly into the Baltic Sea from the North Sea through the Guò Canal, accelerating the flexibility of military mobilization; Second, in April, Britain began naval negotiations with Russia, and Moltke Jr. was greatly disturbed when he learned of this. On 1 June, Moltke said to Echard Stein, who had been in England for many years: "We are ready, and the sooner we are, the better." Germany knew that if the war dragged on until 1917, when Russia and France completed a new military expansion, the balance of power would change. In a letter to the ambassador to Britain in July 1914, German Foreign Minister Yagov said: "At present, Russia is basically not ready for war. France and Britain also did not want to go to war now. According to the speculation of all authoritative sources, in a few more years, Russia will be ready for combat. At that time, it will be able to overwhelm us with the number of its own soldiers; The Russian Baltic Fleet and strategic railways will be built, but the power of our group will weaken day by day. ”

The Germans, with a premonition that Russia would grow in power and that Austria-Hungary, which now seemed to be mighty, would decline, wanted to go to war in a favourable balance of power.

Interestingly, both of the warring parties in this war were optimistic before the war! They all thought that they would win the war very quickly. The militaristic Germans jumped excitedly, and the French, who were bent on revenge, did not change their romantic nature, thinking that victory in this war would come easily. The French also prepared a lot in order to win this war, and with Britain as an ally, the waist pole was even harder.

On 5 July, Germany made clear its support for the Austro-Hungarian use of force against Serbia.

It is interesting to note that before the outbreak of the war, Britain's largest trading partner was Germany, and there were 12 members of the British cabinet who were clearly opposed to the war. However, the British government saw very clearly that the Germans had stronger manufacturing capabilities, and if they started a few years later, Germany's naval strength might catch up with Britain.

Let's put it this way, starting from the Moroccan crisis in 1911, European countries have accelerated the pace of war preparations, and the frenzied armaments have overwhelmed all countries, and the pressure on European countries has reached a critical point.

While Europe is gearing up, Asia is not quiet. After convening a meeting of his favored ministers and military officials to determine the need for war, Wilhelm II immediately instructed Minister Hahausen to pull China onto the German ship at any cost. At this time, one more strength is one more guarantee of victory. Sino-German relations have always been good, but now that China and the United States have entered into a friendship agreement, it would be a shame if China could be brought in and then the United States could be brought in.

Hahausen asked to see him, and he easily met Fang Dashuai. This treatment made him very proud, on the territory of China, as far as the American minister and the German minister have this treatment, the minister of other countries, if he wants to see Fang Dashuai, he will definitely be blocked. The handsome man is not involved in politics! Whoever came for this reason, other ministers have also come in the past two days, but they have all been blocked.

Why can the Chinese and German ministers meet the marshal, and the reasons are also very good, and the meeting between private friends can be managed?

This apparent eccentricity cast a shadow over the hearts of other countries in the last two days of June. Fang Dashuai was a madman, and when he was a small warlord, he dared to challenge the dignity of the British Empire. Now there are hundreds of thousands of mercenaries under his command, and his guts must be fatter. What if this guy impulsively joined the German allies? Russia's ** will be itchy, as for Japan, the British government still has to prevent him from becoming big in China, and it doesn't dare to let Japan fight China at all.

It is clear that the British Empire believes that there is no comparison of strength between China, Japan, China and Russia, and now the key is Europe, and the Germans are not easy to deal with. Asia can only be used as a resource area, and Britain needs a stable China, and it has to prevent Japan from becoming bigger in Asia. As for Japan, Britain has always used and suppressed. It is not easy to say that Japan is not easy, following behind the butt of the United Kingdom, the country is small and has few resources, and a little money is used to build warships to fill the army, and the national living standard is very poor.

This meeting coincided with the fact that Sun Baoqi and Tang Hualong were both here with Fang Jianxiong, not that these two were idle, but it was really the matter of the Sino-US friendship and cooperation agreement in the past two days, and Japan protested very much. After Sun Baoqi protested, he went to Tang Hualong to protest. Japan had troops stationed in China, and Ijiin even threatened war. The president and the prime minister couldn't stand it a little, so they came to Fang Jianxiong to ask for an accurate word.

"Your Excellency, it is an honor to meet you. According to the Chinese, I will not detour today, and I will only convey to Your Excellency the meaning of His Majesty the Emperor on behalf of the Emperor of the German Empire. The German Empire was willing to give up the Gengzi indemnity, grant China the most-favored-nation status, and provide China with an interest-free loan of 200 million gold marks. The premise is that China and Germany are aligned! "Hahausen is a Chinese expert, and his Chinese is quite good. Speaking Chinese at this time, Hahausen did his homework.

As for persuading Fang Jianxiong, Hahausen feels very confident in himself, citing Fang Jianxiong's consistent pro-morality. This reason is actually very untenable in relations between countries, and the problem is that Chinese always give foreigners an impression, that is, to talk about relations.

Hahausen's words did not surprise Fang Jianxiong, but they surprised Tang Hualong and Sun Baoqi and were overjoyed. Sun Baoqi was involved in the alliance between China, Germany and the United States, and the Qing government at that time was so bad that the Japanese made this matter yellow. Or in the entire Entente system, no one wants to see this happen.

Now that Japan is aggressive, Sun Baoqi and Tang Hualong are in a mess, Hahausen came to form an alliance, and these two are really overjoyed. Compared to Germany, Japan is embarrassed to be called a great power? With Germany as an ally, can you still be afraid of Japan? Pull another United States, and then you will live. The point is that Germany has offered to form an alliance, which is really encouraging news. At least Sun Baoqi and Tang Hualong are happy to see it happen.

In fact, the alliance between China, the United States and Germany was much more powerful than that of the Entente once it became very powerful. The problem is that this thing will not be done, and the Americans will definitely not do it, because of the country's geographical location and political system. If the Americans don't do it, Fang Jianxiong will not agree to an alliance between China and Germany. Besides, the United States was not very strong in this period, and it was okay to do something to rob while it was hot, and it was okay to join the Allies to start a war with Britain, France, Russia and Japan, and the US government really didn't have the courage to do so.

If either Sun Baoqi and Tang Hualong are in charge, the alliance will definitely be done. Cancel the Gengzi indemnity, the most-favored-nation treatment, and the interest-free loan of 200 million gold marks, such a big pie fell from the sky, and it was not difficult to stun these two at all.

"Mr. Minister, the sincerity of your country is touching, and I will consider this matter carefully. Of course, the final decision still has to comply with the legal process, and it is not for one or two people to decide. Please understand that this will take time. "Fang Jianxiong's method will continue to drag on, and in another month, Europe will fight.

"Your Excellency, I can understand your feelings. Sometimes, though, it's not possible not to take risks in order to reap huge benefits. The alliance between China and Germany will objectively have some negative impact on China's situation, but one thing is certain: once China and Germany form an alliance, Germany will help China arm its people. And what China needs to do is to burden a small part of Japan's power against Russia. Hahausen's words were really full of temptation, of course, he didn't expect Fang Jianxiong to take it seriously. The distance between China and Germany is too far, and the worst thing is that China is not an industrial country. What little industrial foundation there is simply cannot support a modern war of millions of people.

If you wait for three years and five years, Fang Jianxiong will dare to take a look. Now, forget it.

"Yes, I know!" Fang Jianxiong nodded, expressing his approval of this statement, but his tone changed, ignoring the eager eyes of Sun and Tang, and he still did not let go: "Mr. Minister, please be a little patient." ”

"Well, since that is the case, I have to go back and wait for news." Hahausen reluctantly said goodbye, and he couldn't say anything more. At this time, Germany really did not necessarily think that it must pull China on board, and without China's accession, Germany still thought that it could win the war. At this time, Germany was optimistic.

Hahausen left, and Sun Baoqi immediately spoke: "Fuguo, why don't you promise him?" I thought you had to at least show some tendencies. Fang Jianxiong glanced at the teacher, and then at Tang Hualong, who wanted to speak and stopped, these two most powerful politicians in China today, except for the military power, they did not hold it, and all other powers were handed over to them. Both men wanted to form an alliance with Germany, not because they were not afraid of the British Empire and their allies, but because they felt confident that they could pull the United States in the picture.

"Look at the map, this is Germany, this is the United States, and this is China." Fang Jianxiong walked to the wall and pointed to a world map to speak. "The geographical location of the United States is the best, and the Atlantic and Pacific oceans are the best shields for American defense. Today, the United States, which has the largest industrial capacity in the world, is not very strong militarily. The U.S. system determines this, as can be seen from the fact that the U.S. and even the Japanese Navy are difficult to suppress. Next, Germany's position, in the middle of Europe, after Bismarck, Germany abandoned its original policy of isolating France, and put it in an unfavorable situation of being caught between France and Russia. Once war broke out in Europe, there was a question mark over whether the German navy would be able to do anything in the face of the powerful navy of the British. If Germany could not defeat France within a month of the start of the war and force France to surrender, then I think the alliance between China and Germany would be meaningless. China even had to join the Entente camp at the right time. (To be continued.)