April 28, 1919, Bern, Switzerland. After the Battle of Portugal, the Allies and the Central Powers also fought on land, with the result that the American offensive from the southern front was successfully broken up by the Germans, and the German plan to break through the Paris line fell through. After paying a huge price, but the front in some areas was pushed forward by 4 to 7 fronts! Both sides are very unwilling, always thinking that they can get some advantages at the last moment. But the fight was fought, and the two sides were almost tied. Since we don't want to fight, let's sit down and talk, as a neutral country, Switzerland has become a mutually acceptable place to hold a meeting. The bigwigs of the Central and Entente powers came to Bern, Switzerland, and Huaxia, as a mediator, also sent Gu Weijun as a representative to participate in this crucial meeting.

The Russian Provisional Government did not participate in this conference, and as a government supported by Germany, the Entente naturally did not fight for their interests, and the former friends had become accomplices of the enemy. What's more, Germany has signed a treaty with Russia, and even Russia has signed a treaty with China, redefining the borders between the east and west of Russia, and the things that need to be discussed have almost been discussed, and even the troops under the command of Denikin and Kolchak, who once had high hopes for the Entente, were wiped out under the encirclement and suppression of Germany and Russia and China. Eventually, the remnants surrendered to Huaxia. Give up weapons in exchange for residency in China.

Now that everyone has decided to talk, let's start with some of the more critical and easier points to reach a consensus, where the Allies agreed to withdraw from the French border. Both sides returned to the state of affairs after the end of the Franco-Prussian War. Belgium was also restored, which was the bottom line for the British. As a middle ground between France and Germany, it must not fall into German hands. The problem in the Netherlands is more troublesome. Shortly after the fall of the Netherlands. Germany has installed another member of the Dutch royal family as its head. And this clashed with the Dutch government-in-exile in England, and no one wanted to give up, and the two sides of the negotiations fell into endless verbal cannons.

After arguing for three days without discussing anything, the two sides decisively shifted the battlefield and began to discuss the Mediterranean and North African issues. Here, the divide between the two sides is much larger than before, starting in West Africa and the Ibilisi Peninsula and working eastward. Until the Suez Canal, there was not much in common between the two sides! "The fighting between the two sides at the negotiating table is even fiercer than on the North African battlefield! The French wanted to reclaim their colonies, the British wanted to secure their place in Egypt, and the Italians lived like misers and did not spit out what they had gotten. And Germany is holding on to the Suez Canal issue and not letting go! A Chinese diplomat who attended the meeting said. At one point, the negotiations were at an impasse. There was even a one-week recess for this purpose.

And the role of Huaxia at this time is shown. In line with the principle of putting its own interests first, Huaxia "persuaded" both sides to accept a plan that everyone could agree to according to their own needs. In the case of the Dutch question, Huaxia's principle was to tilt the new Dutch government in favor of Britain and the United States, and Huaxia's ultimate goal was to bring the balance of power in Europe back to the United States. In the case of a two-front battle at the beginning. Germany has not yet been dragged down. If the Netherlands were to be charged by Germany again, the Entente's power on the European continent would be too thin. Therefore, Huaxia actually supported the demands of Britain and France, but for the sake of face, some words could not be said directly. In line with the principle of harmony, China built yì Germany to abandon this lowland country. And then in exchange for concessions from the Entente in the North!

Where is the North? Norway, of course! Norway has the iron ore and other resources that Germany needs, and more importantly, there are too many good ports. Norway is more valuable than the Netherlands in terms of economy and resources, and strategically speaking. The possession of Norwegian ports would inevitably weaken Britain's naval blockade capabilities. No way. The coastline is too long. This was a great attraction for the German government, after all, it was the continuous naval fighting that finally cut off the opponent's maritime superiority, and finally threatened the vital sea lines of communication for Britain and France, so that Germany had the opportunity to swallow the fruits of victory and negotiate with the other side. It was to be expected that after the war, the position of the German Navy in the political life of the country would be further enhanced.

As for the losses on land? In fact, for the strong German Army, in the case of only taking into account one front, the presence or absence of the Netherlands is not so important to Germany, it is nothing more than a few more days, the German Army lacks not combat power but enough resources to support these combat forces, after obtaining a large area of land in Eastern Europe and the resources on it, the German Army believes that if a major war breaks out again in more than ten years, the time for France to survive can only be calculated in days. Therefore, the German Army did not attach much importance to the presence or absence of the Netherlands. Comparatively, they are more interested in how much ore they can get from Scandinavia.

And for Britain and France, the withdrawal from Scandinavia in exchange for the Netherlands was also an acceptable deal. The German Army was too terrible in the eyes of the Entente, especially the explosive combat effectiveness in a short period of time, which made the Entente even more frightened, and the key to dealing with this explosive force was depth, so even if the Netherlands was rotten, it could provide a certain depth. As for the loss of Norway? Although the British were heartbroken, they had realized that it was impossible to completely lock the German Navy in the North Sea. Now that the prison door has been opened, isn't it open to open a small point and a big point? And more importantly, Britain and France believe that they have no way to effectively control the situation in Norway. Moreover, if the land campaign was lost, Germany would be able to reach the west coast of France and face the Atlantic, so how much point could the British have in caring about Norway in this case? As for France, it naturally wants its eastern border to be safer.

After five days of negotiations, the fate of the two small countries was thus decided. The Dutch Provisional Government, in exile in Britain, was to return to the Netherlands after the war. In exchange, Britain would have made no interference in Germany's actions in Norway. The fact that a few large countries can decide the fate of a small country for the next ten years or even decades in just a few days fully proves the sorrow of small countries. If this is the case for small countries, the fate of those dependent countries or colonies in Africa will be even more uncertain, and that land and people can only wait for the decision of the strong.

However, the competition between the two sides is more intense than on the northern front, after all, the northern front only involves Germany, Britain and France, while North Africa to the south involves too many countries. Spain, Italy, and the Ottoman Empire all had demands, while Britain and France wanted to restore the original order. And this makes every step of the negotiation very difficult. The British first proposed the restoration of the fort of Gibraltar and the ownership of the island of Malta. But this was firmly opposed by Spain and Italy, the former was Spanish territory, and Germany would not allow this fortress holding the western mouth of the Mediterranean Sea to be controlled by the British, so Germany fully supported Spain. Not only that, but the Germans also privately implied support for the Spanish government's control of Morocco.

As for the island of Malta? Germany didn't really care about this, and in the eyes of the Germans, as long as they could control the two ends of the Mediterranean, a small island in the middle would be abandoned, and it didn't matter. What is even more surprising is that the result of Austria-Hungary's private high-level communication with Germany is that "Italy should not be so strong." The implication is clear: Austria-Hungary wanted to sell part of the benefits gained by Italy in exchange for concessions from Britain and France, if necessary! This began to catch the German military community, especially the navy, a little off guard.

The German navy was worried that this kind of behavior would lead to a backlash from the Italian side, after all, whether it was according to the "reward for meritorious deeds" or the pre-war agreement, this kind of behavior was tantamount to betrayal, of course, betraying a weak person naturally did not have to worry about any consequences, but if it betrayed a country with a certain strength, then even if there would be no problems now, it might be counter-attacked at some point in the future.

"As the country with the second strongest navy and air force within the group, Italy deserves our respect. Their interests should be assured, and this will have a great impact on our future strategy, and after this great war, we have opened the cage of the North Sea, and the next step is that we will control the entire Mediterranean and gain the keys to the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. And the Italian Navy was to fight alongside the German Mediterranean Fleet as an important force of the Allied Mediterranean Fleet. How can we sacrifice the interests of such an important ally? The Mediterranean will be the core of the future German naval strategy, and Italy is an indispensable ally, the Austrians have only one super-dreadnought left, and the Italians have 4 more! In a private meeting, Tirpitz bitterly admonished Wilhelm II.

"There are no permanent allies, only eternal interests, and what will the Italians do when they find out after the war that they have not been able to get enough out of this alliance and have been betrayed by their original allies? The fleet of Austria-Hungary was simply no match for the Italians, and the German fleet had to deal with the British, the French, the Americans, plus an Italian at the same time. It's nothing short of a disaster. One of the important factors in our eventual ability to force our opponents into submission was that the Mediterranean Fleet, led by the Italian Navy, took control of the Mediterranean and entered the Atlantic, and the other side used their actions and strength to tell the world that they were a capable partner. We can't push such partners aside! Looking at the hesitant Wilhelm II, Tirpitz felt a sense of powerlessness, he was no longer the "forever Tirpitz". He was already old, and there was someone in the German High Seas Fleet who could replace him, and he was like a sugar cane that had been drained of sugar, and he was becoming less and less useful. Even if he was right, the Kaiser would not have trusted and supported him like that! Tragedy.

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