In 1934, the situation in Europe, which had been dormant for two decades, was once again broken: in the face of a new round of military expansion by France, the German government issued an unprecedentedly strong statement. In front of the spotlight of journalists from various countries, German State Secretary for Foreign Affairs Newright declared that the French military junta headed by Charles de Gaulle was deliberately sabotaging peace in Europe and creating tension in the surrounding area, which Germany could not tolerate. At the end of the statement, on behalf of Germany, Newwright ordered France to immediately halt the expansion of its forces and to return to the situation under the framework of the Peace of Amsterdam, otherwise France would bear the consequences. Austria-Hungary, Germany's number one ally, also supported it at the first time.

The spring breeze is blowing, the sun is warm, and the sonorous and powerful voice of the German government at the turn of spring and summer makes the world seem to recall the situation more than 20 years ago. In the same season of 1913, France brazenly tore up the Agadir Accords signed in 1905 and sent troops to occupy all of Morocco; After many negotiations were fruitless, Germany, which had been looking at France for more than 40 years, drew its sword against its old enemy, and through a year of magnificent war, it set the situation of absolute dominance on the European continent today. And today, it seems that history is about to repeat itself one step at a time, and in any way, France today does not have the strength to compete with Germany!

At a time when the hearts of all countries in the world were hanging in the heart of the suddenly tense situation in Europe, France, which knew that its current strength was inferior to its opponent, wisely chose to retreat; French Foreign Minister Daralier said that his side had no intention of undermining peace in Europe, but was only prepared to have a reasonable armament worthy of France's status in the world and capable of protecting its own security. As a sign of its sincerity for peace, the French Government has decided to suspend the implementation of most of its provisions. The clouds that had suddenly cast over Europe began to dissipate. But after this episode. In Britain and France, however, there was a massive anti-German wave. The uprisers likened this German approach to a robber armed to the teeth. But the civilized people under the pressure of his guns cannot even have a small dagger for cutting fruit, and his extremely vicious and arrogant image has been clearly exposed. The citizens of the two countries, who had long been disgusted by the unfavorable status quo under the economic crisis, were also invaded and coerced by this voice, and although the official attitude towards Germany was still cautious, the domestic voices were already very loud and wanted to deal with this group of Prussian beasts as soon as possible.

As Qingying expected, his act of throwing stones to ask for directions really attracted the reaction of the United States on the other side of the ocean. Because of this economic crisis, the impact of the economic crisis on the United States is more long-lasting. As a result, the isolationism that was originally ingrained in the United States has also been greatly weakened under the oppression of reality; In the conflict between Germany and France, the US government headed by Roosevelt stood on the side of France without any suspense. However, compared with his own policy towards the United States during the European War, Qingying today no longer has any scruples; Due to the huge impact of the Great Depression on the United States, the gross national income of the United States has fallen almost to the same level as Germany, and its steel production has shrunk to 23.6 million tons, which is less than half of Germany. Even if Roosevelt's current New Deal will prompt a rebound in American heavy industry, Germany is fully capable of fighting it!

Although the turmoil was surviving and did not lead to a major war as in the previous Agadir crisis, all countries were wary of the attitude of the opposing camp and began a new round of large-scale arms race. From the second half of 1934. Germany, Austria, Italy, the United States, Britain, and other countries have all increased their military expenditures by a large margin, and orders for the production of various equipment have been sent to major arms factories like flowing water. The British, who lived on the islands, planned to expand their home army to 30 divisions. in order to give France the strongest support in the event of war; Although France did not carry out the planned expansion of its army, it began to build extensive fortifications on the eastern border and in deep areas, and it was clear that it would hold on to the reinforcements. Even the U.S. National Guard has greatly expanded to 300,000 people, and all kinds of new equipment are constantly being produced from the assembly line and entering the troops. Although the American people still had no intention of participating in the war in Europe, the far-sighted Roosevelt undoubtedly began to prepare for it.

In contrast, the naval rivalry between the two camps is particularly eye-catching. With the end of the Washington Naval Treaty, countries no longer have any constraints in the field of shipbuilding, and whether it is for the Allies led by Germany and Austria, or the new Entente led by the United States and Britain, the sea will be the main battlefield of decisive significance for the victory or defeat of future wars: if the Allies control the ocean, then not only France will not receive any external assistance, but even Britain will collapse because the sea lines of communication are cut off; And if the Entente were able to dominate the North Atlantic, the United States and Britain would be able to use France as a springboard and get the ideal opportunity to attack the heart of Germany!

For this reason, the naval investment of all countries is almost always in order to gain superiority over the imaginary enemy. In addition to Germany, which began to implement Plan Z, the shipbuilding frenzy of the new Entente navies in the post-treaty era was also in full swing. In 1934, while the construction of five George V-class battleships was started in one go, the British Navy pushed five 23,000-ton Tejli-class armored aircraft carriers onto the slipway; The performance of these aircraft carriers is roughly comparable to that of historical products, but it is slightly lacking in power output. The reason for choosing this tonnage is that the four conventional aircraft carriers built by the British Navy during the treaty, Brave, Fury, Glorious, and Ark Royal, are all of this size, and have accumulated extremely mature technical experience. Due to the limitation of the tonnage of a single ship, the British were able to mistakenly hit the aircraft carriers from the very beginning, not equipping them with large-caliber artillery, but using aviation as their only combat direction. However, the German Navy did not have much to worry about this. Because according to the information they had, the carrier-based aircraft of the British aircraft carriers were still in the era of biplanes, and these aircraft could not pose a threat to German naval aviation and warships full of anti-aircraft guns, either in aerial combat or against ships.

In order to counter the H-44 class battleships newly launched by the German Navy, the British Navy, which feared that the George V class with a standard displacement of 40,550 tons and nine 406 mm L45 guns would be suspected of insufficient performance, asked the design bureau to propose a heavy battleship scheme called the "Lion" class: this type of battleship will be equipped with nine 457 mm L45 main guns, and the speed can also maintain the speed of its predecessors at 30 knots. However, due to the severe impact of the Great Depression on the British military industry, the relevant units made it clear that the development of the triple 18-inch turret would not be completed in the next three years, and the budget for this type of warship was forced to be delayed. Faced with this situation, the British were full of bitterness and helplessness. More than 20 years ago, they led the way in shipbuilding, and their unfinished Hood-class battleships won both tonnage and caliber. Today, however, after five years of the Great Depression, they are not as good as they used to be in the development of the navy. The only thing the British Navy could count on now was that their Saxon cousins would be able to muster enough capital battleships to rival the Germans.

Compared with Britain's obvious weakness in the new round of naval competition, the United States has used practical actions to tell this former big brother what it means to be the last. After a year of stimulus by the New Deal, the United States has recovered significantly, and its naval expansion plan launched with the world's largest economic aggregate has also attracted the attention of the world: in January 1934, when the South Dakota-class No. 4 ship Alabama laid its keel, the new battleship "Iowa" began construction at the New York shipyard in June of that year, and its standard displacement increased significantly from the former's 37,375 tons to 47,825 tons, and the planned total number of battleships of this type reached six! The increase in displacement of more than 10,000 tons is undoubtedly a significant increase in performance. The barrel length of its nine 406mm guns has been increased from 45 to 50 times, and the muzzle kinetic energy has been increased by nearly 20%. In terms of speed, its design speed has increased from 26.5 knots in the South Dakota class to 31.5 knots, a two-thirds increase in power. This means that in actual combat, the Iowa class will have far more flexibility than the South Dakota class.

Upon learning that Britain could not afford to start construction of the Lion-class in a short period of time, the top brass of the US Navy privately ridiculed the landing Phoenix, but also upheld the consideration of its own interests and designed a new battleship planned to be named the "Montana" class. With a standard displacement of 60,500 tons and nine 457 mm L47 guns, the new battleships built by the Germans should be at this level, according to the forecasts of the US Navy. In order to gain the capital to face off with their opponents, the American designers applied unprecedented protection to the Montana class: its main armor was 410 mm and 20 degrees inward, and the total thickness of the horizontal deck was more than 250 mm. Although its speed was reduced to 27 knots as a result, and the nearly 37-metre width of the ship could not reach the Guò Panama Canal, the US Navy thought it was well worth it. When all five ships of this class are completed, together with six Iowa-class, four South Dakota-class, and two North Carolina-class, the U.S. Navy is fully confident that it will be able to compete with the main German fleet in a pinnacle showdown beyond the Battle of the North Sea.

In addition to these new battleships, the U.S. Navy has also planned a large number of ships in the next five years, including 20 Essex-class aircraft carriers and 40 cruisers of various types, and its total investment is even more than the German Navy's Plan Z. Since the current U.S. has not yet expanded significantly in the Army, this funding is not an unaffordable expense for the current U.S. (To be continued......)

PS: Thanks to book friend Yuan yh1234567, Golden Crab, and zhouyu1976 for their tips~~~