1917 was undoubtedly a very lively year.

First, the Russian Empire collapsed with the February Revolution, and then the United States declared war on Germany. Perhaps particularly striking was the speed with which the United States declared war on Germany.

After all, before this, the United States had always maintained a neutral posture, and no matter how the Entente and the Allies invited it, it never wavered, and it was completely like sitting on the mountain and watching the tiger fight, but now...

Regardless of what they think, at least to the outside world, they seem to be acting a little ......... Bursting?

There is no doubt that the party that has the initiative usually has a greater advantage, and the party that takes the initiative, even if it can get some benefits, will sometimes weaken some because of their initiative...

This is the case in the United States today.

Originally, the United States sat on the mountain and watched the tiger fight, and the Entente and the Central Powers had a place to ask for them, so they could naturally wait for the price and sell it, and win greater benefits from it. Of course, they will definitely not choose the Allies, after all, the interests between them and the Entente are obviously greater, Britain alone owes the United States more than a billion pounds, counting the rest of the Entente—————— it is obvious that even if the United States helps Germany win this war, Germany will certainly not help Britain and France repay this money...

So in order to recover this money, the United States can only help the Entente.

However, with the Allies there, they can undoubtedly raise their own value and obtain greater benefits, and the benefits can be imagined.

But now. Since the United States has become very proactive, this part of the benefit will definitely be reduced, but the Americans can't help it. After all, no one expected that Russia would suddenly perish. Although there is now a new provisional government in charge of the overall situation, whether it is Britain and France, or China and the United States, it is clear that it is usually difficult to expect such a provisional government to stabilize the situation after the chaos, not to mention that there are still millions of Russian troops fighting the enemy on the Eastern Front, let alone that they can settle the problem.

For the time being, even the Provisional Government will not be in fornication with the Allies. I am afraid that they cannot be expected to continue to contain the Allies on the Eastern Front. In this way, without Russia's containment on the Eastern Front, the Allies could draw at least a million troops to the Western Front. Even if the coalition forces on the Western Front had hundreds of thousands of Chinese expeditionary forces more than in history, I am afraid that they will fall into disadvantage in the confrontation with Germany...

And it is obvious that the United States, no matter how busy it is, wants to really send troops to support the Entente. I'm afraid it will take half a year —————— know the way. It takes a long time just to get to Europe by boat, not to mention a lot of preparations, such as transporting troops to the front line, adapting to the European environment, etc.

Naturally, if you just send troops, two months is enough, and in history, it took the United States more than two months to transport the first batch of American expeditionary forces to Europe.

The problem is that this part of the expeditionary force can only be symbolic. Mao can't be used.

And if the Entente is defeated by the Allies on the Western Front, I am afraid that even if the United States can really mobilize a million reinforcements—————— it will not be able to reach the British Isles first. And then help the British counterattack the mainland, right? The Germans are not vegetarians, not to mention that if the combat effectiveness of the troops is compared, the United States may be difficult to compare with Germany...

Therefore, in order to prevent the situation from getting out of control, the United States can only declare war as soon as possible, and even if it is impossible to send a large number of reinforcements to Europe immediately, it is still possible to boost the morale of the Europeans.

In this way, although the benefits will be less, it is much better than losing all of them.

If we really want to make the war situation erosive, let's not mention whether the United States can clean it up for the time being, and even if it does, the efforts it has made will probably not be comparable to the return...

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As the news of the United States formally joining the Entente and declaring war on Germany spread, Europe and the Far East were suddenly boiling, and citizens from London, Paris, and several major Allied cities spontaneously went to the American embassy to lay flowers.

No way, although since 1913, the morale of the people has been much boosted, and the self-confidence of the people is much stronger than before. But after all, it's only a short period of three or four years, even if you can improve some self-confidence in such a little time, well, how to say it, it's like a sponge, it looks like a big one, but when you press it, there will be more water.

Nowadays, the Chinese people are also the same in self-confidence, the Shandong Campaign, the Verdun and the Somme River in Europe, the Wehrmacht played very well, especially in Verdun, Cai Yi's expeditionary force can be said to have saved the entire war situation in one fell swoop, even in the picky people can not find the slightest fault, many foreigners in China are even more grateful for this.

All of a sudden, many Chinese people thought that China could be placed side by side with the great powers, and some self-confident Chinese people even regarded themselves as the saviors of the Entente, and believed that the Germans and other small partners could only be defeated in the face of the siege of China, France, Britain and Russia.

This kind of public opinion has a large market in China, and some foreigners have not said anything even if they laugh secretly in their hearts.

Because in their opinion, this argument cannot be said to be incorrect. After all, in addition to Germany, Austria-Hungary and Ottoman Turkey were also Bulgaria, which were much inferior in comparison.

On the side of the Entente, not to mention a teasing country like Italy, Britain, France and Russia are all old powers, although China is only an emerging power, but it also shows strong strength in Europe, even if Germany is strong, it can only end up with hatred in the face of these four countries at the same time.

Moreover, the foreigners at home are different from those in Europe, which is facing the threat of the Germans, and even London, the capital of the United Kingdom, has been bombed by German airboats. And what about China? The situation seems to be much more peaceful, since some time ago the warships of Britain, France and other powers withdrew from the Yangtze River and the coast of China, even the drunken sailors have disappeared, and this part of the people in China can not imagine the tragedy of the war in Europe. The idea is obviously much more optimistic than those at home.

Who would have thought that in the blink of an eye, the situation would change...

It has a history of hundreds of years. Across the Eurasian continent, the Russian Empire, which had the largest continuous territory during this period, collapsed, and all of a sudden, the three battlefields that originally surrounded Germany suddenly collapsed (the three theaters were the Eastern Front and the Western Front, as well as the Italian Front, in which Britain and France were responsible for the Western Front, and Russia was responsible for the Eastern Front. Italy was in charge of its own part, although it could not be completely encircled because Germany was connected to Austria-Hungary, but below that part of Austria-Hungary was the Black Sea and the Mediterranean. And the superiority of the Entente at sea is very obvious, so theoretically it can be considered a complete encirclement), and for this reason.

Even if the new Provisional Government does not compromise and continues to fulfill the promises of the former Romanov dynasty. I am afraid that it will not be able to pose any threat to Germany and other Allied powers in the short term. The Allies could easily transfer a large number of troops from the Eastern Front to the Western Front, forming an advantage over the Allied Forces in all aspects, and for a while, the situation was unprecedentedly bad...

Those foreigners in China don't say it, they are all worried, even those well-known critics in China who have inflated their self-confidence, that confidence is like a sponge injected with water, just a gentle pressure. And all the moisture comes out...

There is no way, it turns out that it is the four major powers of Britain, France, Russia and China. Coupled with a somewhat powerful but very funny Italy, the Allies came out of a Germany and all pig teammates, the odds are really high, but now Russia has suddenly collapsed, if the Entente fails to withstand the sudden increase in pressure from the Allies, then...

I am afraid that the war situation in Europe will not be saved, and if it is not done well, it may even collapse for a thousand miles.

And there are also people who are worried, what if the Germans do not directly deal with the Allied forces on the Western Front, but transfer troops from the Eastern Front to the Italian battlefield? In the Italian battlefield, the Allies did not have many troops, but they were able to hold back Italy's million-strong army, and even gave them a few defeats.

If the Allies really send tens of millions of troops to the Italian battlefield, I am afraid that the Italians will not be able to withstand it, if that is the case, the original three-sided encirclement will become the Western Front alone, and the southeast of France even needs to worry about the threat from the southeast, and the situation is very dangerous.

Of course, this is only a concern for some people, and most people are not very worried about it.

Russia will fall, of course, because of the tragic war, which can no longer support Russia—————— of course, mainly because the Russian government is too incompetent, and it has lost successive battles in the face of Germany, and each time the losses are very large, and some people in the country are not even full of food, coupled with the corruption of the Romanov dynasty, it will become normal like this.

But in the same way, if Russia could not support the collapse, how much better could the situation be in Germany?

Even if it is stronger, I am afraid that it will not be much stronger, which is also a reason why not many people are worried, because since the war situation has reached this point, if it does not want to become like Russia, Germany can only fight a quick battle, try to make the Entente surrender, so as not to lose too much, that's all...

There is no way, although even if the Entente is defeated, the Allies will not be able to do anything with China—————— the current China is not the China of the past after all. But the problem is that China spent hundreds of thousands of casualties in exchange for the Entente's promise to divide Iraq, Kuwait and other places to China.

And even after the end of the war, the Allies suffered heavy losses, I am afraid that there is nothing to do with China, but the problem is that the self-confidence of the Chinese people comes and goes quickly, even after the fall of Russia, there have been many newspapers that have carried out a series of reports, claiming that there will be no problems, and there are also articles pointing out that Russia is defeated, and the United States will definitely not stand idly by, unless he is willing to lose more than a billion pounds, but even so, there is still no bottom in the hearts of the Chinese people...

But now, after learning the news of the United States' entry into the war, the Chinese people can finally breathe a sigh of relief.

Russia is strong in the military, while the United States is strong in industry. Although the United States, which has been at peace for many years, may not be the opponent of the Germans in the war, with its industrial capabilities, the heavily armed Americans may not be weaker...

What's more, this is a new force of millions of people, and the impact on the war situation is very great.

There were even many Chinese and even local councillors and parliamentarians who suggested that the national government should also send more troops to Europe. It is best to maintain the size of the expeditionary force at more than one million, and together with the coming American expeditionary force, we can quickly resolve this tragic war that has been going on for three years. Ensuring China's interests in the Middle East and other regions...

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Leaving aside the fact that it is not for nothing that those local councillors and MPs would make such a proposal.

The reason, it's simple...

Just like the United States in later generations, there are often entrepreneurs who donate money to politicians. Although in those countries of later generations, political contributions were legal, and there were many who argued that. It's not the same as bribery, but it's actually the money from the entrepreneur, and it's hard for the politicians not to give something in return...

The same is true at home. Although there is no such thing as political donations in China, because this kind of thing is basically equivalent to bribery in the minds of Chinese people. But in fact, whether it is a local councilor or a member of parliament, there is a sense of disconnection with local entrepreneurs, and some of them are even entrepreneurs themselves.

Trade between China and the Entente is now in full swing. Many parliamentarians have made a lot of money as a result. If the Entente is suddenly defeated, its blow to them can be imagined, not to mention that at the beginning, because the Entente had a lot of funds, they bought things from China in cash, but later, more or less...

If the Entente suddenly collapsed, wouldn't they have to lose as much money as the United States?

Even if their losses are not comparable to those of the United States, these Grandet are probably no different from killing them. The rest is simple. Only the victory of the Entente in favor of the Entente, and that's it ...

However, after their proposal was submitted. Soon there was no follow-up.

For Yan Shao, who is about to become a father, there is really no need to waste time reading these suggestions, not to mention, he has no intention of continuing to increase troops in Europe.

The reason is simple, because he is not very worried about the situation in Europe.

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“………… The situation in Europe is indeed very complicated. After coming out of the room, Yan Shao, who came to the conference room with everyone, looked at Duan Qirui, Fu Xiuming, Song Jiaoren and others and spoke. However, we don't need to worry about the affairs of the Western Front, even if Russia can no longer play a role in containment, it will take a long time for the Allies to transfer their troops from the Eastern Front to the Western Front, and after considering the preparations, the Allies can only rely on the forces on the Western Front to launch an offensive in a short time, and with our forces with Britain and France on the Western Front, it is absolutely not impossible to resist the arrival of the Americans..."

Yan Shao didn't know as much about World War I as he did about World War II, not surprising, after all, China was a direct participant in World War II, and it fought with Japan for eight years, if you count the Northeast or something, or even longer, and China at that time was also one of the four major powers, although the name of the four major powers is somewhat unworthy of the name compared with the other three countries, but —————— is better than France, which was destroyed just after the war, right?

Although many Chinese people in later generations believed that China was not worthy of the status of a permanent member of the Security Council and that China did not make any contribution at all in World War II, considering that France was a permanent member of the Security Council, at least Yan Shao felt that China was still very qualified to sit in this position.

After all, even if China's contribution is small, it is much stronger than that of France at that time, and since France is qualified to sit in this position, why is China not qualified to do so?

In addition, there are many well-known figures in World War II, such as the very famous mustachioed head of state in later China, as well as Churchill, who has always held a cigar and is famous for scissorhands, as well as Roosevelt, who is disabled, and President Jiang, who has a first-class property level, although he played a purge and almost washed the Soviet Union away, but in the end he successfully counterattacked the bearded Stalin.

Add in a number of famous generals from Germany, plus generals from several other countries, as well as the Italians in the history of World War II, and the only war in history that affected four continents—————— Asia, Africa, Europe and Oceania (although only one side), but unfortunately the Japanese only hit Hawaii, otherwise it would be five continents...

No matter how you look at it, World War II is more interesting than World War I.

However, for some important things in World War I, Yan Shao still knows more or less about the Tao, and he wants to ask what he is...

The legend of the knife stabbed in the back...

Anyone who looks at the history of World War II cannot fail to look at the reasons for its occurrence.

Among them was the war between China and Japan. The reason for this was simple, it was because of the weakness of China at that time, as well as Japan's desire for territory and its ambitions for China. In addition, China's policy of non-resistance at that time made it very easy for Japan to obtain the Northeast, such a small price, but to get such a large territory, anyone will have a desire to swell, and it will become inevitable that it will eventually evolve into such a war...

But in Europe, why Germany will start World War II in Europe, it is entirely because of this knife stabbed in the back...

The beginning of the war. In the beginning, it did eliminate the divisions of German society. Catholics, Jews, Lutheran religious, socialists, right-wing forces and liberals were united by the war. However, as the war changed, the original division reappeared. Catholics, SPDs and Jews were less enthusiastic about the war. Calling into question his loyalty to the country. Those who made a fortune from the war and the workers who participated in the strike were also criticized. Friedrich? Alfred? Krupp was condemned for providing armaments to both warring parties. Personal interests are often pulled by other industries. The German government intervened in the economy by imposing price caps, while businessmen responded by shifting production targets, resulting in shortages. The above situation has caused social tension. The economic order was disrupted. In 1917. In Germany alone, there were 500 strikes, causing serious economic losses.

Social unrest is often a matter of economic factors, rather than whether the people are patriotic. Although Germany's productivity fell sharply between 1917 and 1918, it was at its peak and could no longer increase its production. According to later statistics, Germany was simply incapable of winning a war of attrition with Great Britain, France, and the United States. Germany is indeed a continental power, but its industrial output and population are not at all comparable to that of the entire Entente bloc. Although she defeated Russia. However, the entry of the United States into the war in the same year had already doomed Germany to defeat later. The United States entered the frays only a year after the end of the war. However, he was a new force after all, and his industrial strength was far stronger than that of Germany.

If the United States had not entered the war, Germany alone and a few other small partners would indeed have the possibility of defeating Britain and France in the case of leveling Russia. After all, in the case of a two-sided war, Germany had already reached a draw with Britain and France on the Western Front, and if one side was missing, the situation would undoubtedly change greatly, and Germany would have a better chance of winning.

And then...

Although Russia withdrew from the war, Germany's allies, Ottoman Turkey, Bulgaria, and Austria-Hungary, sustained the war and led to economic collapse and revolts among the various ethnic groups in the country. Later, there was a coup d'état in Germany and peace with the Allies, and the First World War ended.

However, although they had lost hope of victory, the Germans still believed that they had great military power. So when requesting an armistice, Germany put forward the condition that it wanted to be able to retain the Belgian territory it occupied...

It was only contrary to what many German statesmen thought, Ludendorff asserted that the peace demanded by the Entente would be no different from a Dragu-style treaty. However, the German people did not believe in his theory, but in Wilson's Fourteen Points of Peace. The socialists, liberals, and the SPD had long been prominent democrats in Germany before the war, and the Entente promised peace and peace to restore German sovereignty thereafter, and won the unanimous support of the armistice.

As a result, the Treaty of Versailles was unexpected: Germany had to cede about 10% of its territory, demilitarize the Rhineland, allow France to occupy the Saarland, and pay a large amount of reparations (the debt was repaid in 70 years until 1988, although it is remembered that it was not paid until previous years). For them, the most important thing was the war guilt treaty: Germany had to admit full responsibility for waging war.

After the surrender of Germany, the Allies never occupied German territory, while the German army on the Western Front was still in northern France at that time. Moreover, Lenin negotiated peace with the German army, and in March Russia signed the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, seizing a large amount of Russian territory and reparations in Eastern Europe. This represented that Germany had defeated Russia, and it also meant that Germany still had a chance to win at that time. As a result, many Germans were convinced that the German army was invincible and could not be defeated. In other words, as long as the representatives of the government did not "sell the country for glory" and the country did not collapse as a result of the revolution, the German army would have won. For some Germans, even if peace had to be sued, they believed that the Allies would treat Germany leniently according to the Fourteen Points of Peace.

The treaty was called humiliating because the Germans believed that they had strength. But they had to accept such a treaty.

As a result, Germany's conservative nationalists and former military leaders have used this to blame others. The most famous scapegoats were the leadership of the Weimar Republic, the socialists, the communists, and the "international Jews", the Jews who were considered "rich and unkind." All of these individuals are known as the "November Criminals". Accused of betraying the nation, including criticism of German nationalism, sedition, inciting strikes in the military industry, and profiteering. Most importantly, the "November criminals" were accused of treason and contrary to the so-called national righteousness.

Naturally, Germany will eventually fail in any case, but this is human nature. Always find an excuse, and the result is that the legend of the stab in the back spreads widely.

Of course, if only that's it, it's fine. If the Germans are knocked to death with a stick, even if the Germans are always resentful, I am afraid they will not be able to start another big war.

But here's the problem. On the issue of dealing with Germany. Wilson advocated leniency with Germany, and he also advocated fairness and less harshness in the British position. The reason is that there is a lot of economic activity between Germany and Britain, on the side of interests, and although Britain belongs to Europe, in fact, it has always been outside the European continent, in other words, if there is no stronger country, will France not unify Europe? Just like that Napoleon back then. This was not a good thing for Britain, so Britain and the United States advocated that Germany should not be punished severely. However, as the country with the greatest losses. France, however, was haunted by revenge and advocated severe punishment of Germany. Finally, the Treaty of Versailles, a peace treaty signed between the powers and Germany, added extremely harsh clauses in response to France's demands, imposing huge land reparations and arms limitation clauses on Germany.

As a result, the Entente forced Germany to sign a treaty full of humiliation, but at the same time could not knock the Germans to death, although later Germany was made miserable due to economic reasons, and the Weimar Republic was scolded from beginning to end.

And after that? However, because of the threat of Soviet Russia, Britain and the United States and other countries gave Germany considerable support, which made Germany resentful of them while helping the Germans to be reborn.

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What should I say, one day, you and your own neighbor because of the conflict over the land, so you fought with a knife, and finally when the other party had already admitted defeat, because he had also suffered a lot of knives, in order to vent his anger, he broke the other party's tesuji that had already admitted defeat, and the house and land were also robbed a lot.

If you do these things to the other person, the other person will inevitably resent you.

But because the tendon was broken, the house and land were robbed, and even the knife was not used, so even if the other party resented you, there was nothing he could do about you.

But at this time, suddenly a guy who seemed to be more dangerous than the original one moved to the neighborhood, in order to avoid his own land, house, or something being robbed, so you want to help the one in front of you heal, and by the way, buy him some family business or something, and let him help you in front...

It seems naïve to do that...

That's right, it turns out that that guy does seem to have some contradictions with the newcomer, but even if the grudge is big, can it be bigger than you? As a result, after you broke other people's tendons and robbed the house and land, you wishfully helped others heal, thinking that the other party would repay you or be beneficial to you, which is also too naïve.

And the historical Germany showed Britain and France in a practical way how naïve their behavior really was...

This way is revenge...

The newcomer has a grudge against the Germans? This is true, after all, it is a contradictory position, so Germany did act against the Soviet Union as Britain and France expected, but before doing so, the Germans beat Britain and France first.

In the end, it only took a long time for France to declare its demise, and Britain also lost its superpower status because of Germany, although it was not as miserable as France, and was replaced by the United States and the Soviet Union...

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Because of his understanding of these histories, Yan Shao has always had a general idea of World War I. Although this part is not remembered for many reasons, most of the useful ones are still remembered clearly.

For example, the cause of World War I is the Battle of Qingdao in relation to China. Coupled with Verdun, the Somme, etc., in the same way, Yan Shao naturally remembers the collapse of Russia clearly. After all, later generations of China pursued the doctrine of hammer and sickle, and later Soviet Russia came to power precisely after the October Revolution of February...

This kind of thing, even if it is not Baidu, it will be clearly written in the textbook, how could Yan Shao forget?

But because of this, Yan Shao remembered it very clearly. Not to mention the February Revolution, even after the formation of Soviet Russia and its collusion with Germany. Germany still failed to defeat Britain and France.

Although history has changed a lot, Britain and France, after all, have the help of China, and still have a certain advantage over Germany in Europe, at least. It's okay to stick to the U.S. arrival. This is also the reason why Yan Shao is not worried...

Let alone...

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"Even if Britain and France really lose, it's nothing..."After signaling his subordinates to get him something to drink, Yan Shao chuckled at Duan Qirui and the others. It's a big deal that we can help the British and the French win the war, not to mention that we are in the Far East, and Germany is in Europe, even if the war is won, Germany will not be able to threaten us, even if there is really no way, it is a big deal to negotiate peace with Germany. What else can the Germans do with us? ”

"This..."Seeing that Yan Shao was so confident, Duan Qirui and the others couldn't help but smile bitterly.

In their opinion. The Germans are definitely not easy to mess with, although China does have a relatively strong strength nowadays......... It was nothing to help Britain and France defeat Germany in a stalemate, but if the war was already in shambles, they didn't have that confidence...

As for peace talks??? This is somewhat possible, but will Germany still give up Iraq and other places to China at the expense of the Turks?

In the eyes of many Chinese people, maybe they didn't get it, they didn't get it, anyway, the Middle East is very desolate, since they can't get it, it's not a pity, as long as you don't have to pay compensation for land cession.

However, Duan Qirui and the others knew very well that the reason why they were willing to pay such a big price to help Britain and France win this war was entirely because there was a huge amount of oil buried under the land there, which might be easily abandoned in the eyes of ordinary people, but for them it was a battleground for them.

So after paying the price of more than 100,000 casualties, they could only continue to walk, and because of this, the expressions on their faces were relatively heavy...

Looking at their appearance, Yan Shao couldn't help but laugh. "Look at you, you don't have confidence yet, don't forget, this war is indeed in our great interests, but don't the Americans have it? Even if the war situation is really rotten, it's a big deal that we can cooperate with the Americans..."Saying that, Yan Shao got up from his seat to fight, although he was over thirty years old, he was still in high spirits.

"With our capabilities, we can mobilize millions of troops, but what is missing? It's just weapons and equipment, and it is precisely because we do not have an industrial base capable of supporting millions of troops that we can only succumb to the British and French powers, and what does the United States have? The strongest industry in this era, and the interests of the Entente are at stake, if the Entente is really destroyed, it is not impossible for the United States to go bankrupt, so what? ”

"If there is really a change in Europe, we can unite with the United States, and then we will bear most of the troops, and the United States will bear the problems of weapons and equipment and logistics, if this is really the case, even if it is impossible to mobilize five million expeditionary forces to Europe, as long as Britain and France can give us a place to settle down, we can give them a counterattack to see..."

"Judging from the situation in Russia, it can be seen that the situation in Germany does not seem to be very good, even if it can defeat Britain and France on the Western Front, it is only the end of the crossbow, a small number of troops may have nothing to do with them, but as long as we mobilize more than three million troops with the United States, it will be enough to flatten the already Germany..."

"Of course, the problem of this equipment cost is indeed a bit of a headache, but I think Britain and France will be willing to bear this cost in order to win this war, anyway, they have already borne more than a billion pounds, I believe they will not mind bearing a part, after all, even if they owe more money, it is better than losing the country, so naturally, there will be no problems..."

"Of course, we will definitely suffer a lot of casualties by doing this, but as a mission to turn the tide of the war, there will undoubtedly be many benefits, but ......... Generally speaking, I still hope that the Western Front can hold out until American reinforcements arrive, after all, this is not our war, and we don't need to fight for Britain and France to this extent........."