On May 2, 1914, the Amsterdam peace talks, which had been interrupted and broken, took a turn for the worse than everyone expected. In the face of the departure of the British and French representatives, who were full of pathos and resoluteness and were ready to go back to fight with the German-Austrian alliance, German Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs Kidren, who had always been stubborn and unwilling to let go, suddenly made an astonishing change. In the face of French Foreign Minister Briand, Kidren said that Germany was willing to reconsider the amount of French reparations, and was even ready to consider the question of France's borders; In the face of British Foreign Minister Gray, Kidrun also made a statement of intention to reduce the reparations and revise the quota of the two navies.

The German concessions took the world by surprise. Journalists from all over the world, who had already packed their bags and were ready to return home, rushed back to Amsterdam from all directions; The Washington Post and other major newspapers and magazines around the world have also brushed up on this change, and literati and politicians have written countless special issues of articles analyzed from various angles. Seeing that the European war, which was about to collide with the skyrocketing Mars again, there was another dawn of peace, and countless people sighed and grieved, and countless people cheered and burst into tears.

A day later, the German crown prince landed in Amsterdam from Berlin, and in the ensuing negotiations, the young man who had just arrived at the meeting played a leading role even more than that of German State Secretary for Foreign Affairs Gidren, and explained Berlin's will to the British and French delegations. Combined with the current détente of the German government, those who are closely following the meeting cannot help but make a faint guess: it seems that it is the role of this young man that has allowed the peace talks that had been interrupted to be resumed and continued.

Such a change made the British and French governments feel a sense of happiness that they were in a desperate situation. In fact, they have given up the delusion of an honorable end to the war. It's just that the conditions offered by Germany were too frustrating. Only then was forced to choose to fight to the death; Now the other side has finally given in. Then everyone can sit back at the negotiating table. Looking at the sharp-eyed figure on the other side of the long table, the British and French representatives felt a trace of gratitude in their hearts: if the negotiations broke down, their own country would also be destroyed by the blow of the collapse of the sky, and it would definitely be a catastrophic scene even more severe than all previous history!

After the young man joined, the German government's demand for an armistice turned out to be much more "mild". The reparations paid by France plummeted from 130 billion francs to 50 billion, a reduction of more than 60 percent; In addition to this, Germany agreed to join France in releasing all prisoners of war, which was far more captured by the French than the other side. It is even a rather favorable clause.

At the same time, the post-war restrictions imposed on the French army were greatly weakened. The Army was reinstated in the possession of heavy artillery and machine guns, and the total number of troops was relaxed to a reasonable 300,000 for its population, with only the prohibition on the possession of combat aircraft, tanks, and poison gas retained. The French Navy also left most of its belongings, except that the four Kolbe-class battleships needed to be handed over to the Allies as a sign of peace and "safekeeping" and the unfinished battleships were dismantled. Originally, the French Minister of the Navy Organieuux was ready to be the commander of the light pole after the war, but he didn't expect that the other party would leave him so much money!

However, not all of what this angel-faced young man brought to the French was good news. On issues concerning the colonies. The Germans demanded that France surrender all of its overseas colonies for distribution by the Allies, a demand that was even more stringent than the previous terms of negotiation. This suddenly brought the French who saw the place of hope back to the cruel reality. To know. At present, France is the second largest colony in the world, with an overseas colony area of nearly 8 million square kilometers. After a long period of operation, these colonies themselves also possessed a large amount of assets and wealth, and the blow of losing so much land and wealth is unimaginable!

"Your Royal Highness, we sincerely hope that your country will give further consideration to the terms of the cession of colonies. The French Government is willing to make amends for its previous mistakes in the Moroccan affair and to put Morocco and part of Africa under your rule, but it is simply not possible to surrender all its overseas colonies. Briand said with a heavy face, with three points of regret, three points of sorrow, three points of pleading, and even a point of flattery, his expression is enough to make future generations of Oscar winners ashamed of themselves, "These lands are the foundation created by the French predecessors in a barbaric wilderness through a lifetime of hardship, if we lose them all, this pain is equivalent to France losing Bordeaux, and your country losing East Prussia." We are always grateful for the changes Your Highness has made to the amount of reparations and the limits of armaments; On the colonial question, I also ask His Highness to be sympathetic to the French national sentiment once again; If this is the case, the whole of France will feel the kindness of His Highness. ”

Looking at the French Foreign Minister in front of him, the corners of Qingying's mouth not only hooked up a sneer. Compared with the Treaty of Versailles, which France imposed on Germany in another time and space, the peace plan he proposed at the moment is not only several times more tolerant? If it weren't for the sake of reaping more benefits in the long run, he wouldn't have any mercy on his subordinates at all. His gaze gradually turned solemn, and his tone became slightly colder: "Mr. Brian, I also hope that your country can think more about my German side. At present, the empire's 6 million troops are already waiting on the front, and the 3 million troops of Austria-Hungary have also completed the transfer and assembly of the Western Front. Your country has just lost 400,000 people in the past month, what is the future probability of victory, I am afraid that my husband knows better than me, right? Germany's ability to make these concessions today is the result of due consideration of your country's feelings. What your country needs is to recognize the reality, not to always demand that Germany make concessions at an untimely time. ”

Brian's heart was bitter when he heard this. After the collective resignation of Viviani's cabinet, Briand, who was supposed to leave with him, was forced back to the foreign minister's seat by President Poincaré: in order to save the fate of France, Poincaré pleaded with him to continue to deal with the Germans to the end, and never give up no matter what difficulties he encountered. At this moment, seeing the other party's cold and resolute gaze, Brian knew that it would be difficult to make a breakthrough in a short period of time; After a pause, he chose to change the subject, and began to cautiously ask the other party another crucial question about the post-war German-French border.

"Your country's post-war borders depend on your government's expression." Qingying opened his mouth lightly, but the words he said made Brian's heart suddenly sink, "If your country is willing to surrender all its overseas colonies to us in its entirety, then Germany will also consider giving up its territorial claims to your country, and withdraw its entire army to the periphery of the German-French border surveyed in 1871." And if your country does not accept this condition, we will only be able to rule part of your territory on our behalf, so as to comfort the nearly one million German officers and soldiers who shed their blood and died on the Western Front. The sacrifices of these warriors must be rewarded, and this is the bottom line that the German government cannot cross. ”

Thirty minutes later, the latest news of the negotiations had reached Bordeaux, more than 800 kilometres away. Most of the French government officials were relieved and still frowning at the new armistice conditions proposed by the Germans: the reparations of 50 billion francs and the surrender of all the colonies were undoubtedly far beyond their psychological expectations. Even if we can't be completely satisfied in all areas, at least we can't have such a situation where both sides are frustrated. Moreover, the two clauses themselves were incompatible: without the investment and blood transfusion of the colonies, France alone would not be able to afford such a large war reparation. At that point, France will not be thinking about how to rebuild its homeland from the ashes, but how to save the country's economy from collapse!

After a heated discussion, the Bordeaux government sent a telegram to Briand, telling him that he had to make another breakthrough in these two areas. Bai Lian, who was bitter in his heart, could only bite the bullet and show some bitter love in front of Qingying, hoping that the other party could discount the armistice conditions again. What surprised him somewhat was that the other party did not bite the bullet on the issue of compensation, but gave himself a certain amount of room to return.

Bai Lian, who seemed to have an understanding in his heart, immediately hit the snake with the stick and raised objections to the colonial issue, but Qingying's attitude on this issue did not change in the slightest. His firm stance, which always linked the complete surrender of the French colonies to the renunciation of the German army's territorial claims to France, suddenly deprived Briand of the basis for further talks. Because from any point of view, the rich and prosperous mainland France is not the same as the barbaric and backward lands of the Outer World, even if they are now devastated by the ravages of war. Overseas colonies are like commodities that can be exchanged and given away at will, but the homeland is as valuable as the flesh and blood of one's own body, especially for a developed European country like France.

In fact, it was precisely because of the territorial dispute that France had a deep enmity against Germany after the Franco-Prussian War: whether it was the old Janissaries or the republicans, whether the Jesuits or the Freemasons, it was the verdant Vosges Mountains that united them. At present, the German army has occupied more than one-fifth of France's territory, and the hope of all the French army and people to recover the lost territory is stronger than ever: if Germany is attracted to maintain the overseas colonies, the consequences will undoubtedly be absolutely undesirable to every Frenchman! (To be continued......)

PS: Thank you for the reward of 1m for returning to the book friend ~~~