The U.S. retaliation against France came immediately and swiftly, and at Eisenhower's behest, Congress immediately canceled economic aid to France. The secretary of state also issued a tough warning against France www.biquge.info

In Eisenhower's view, this was a warning, a call for de Gaulle to pull back from the brink. According to the thinkers around the five-star general, the French should have succumbed.

Yes, in the eyes of the Americans, France's proximity to the Soviet Union was in fact a hooligan's coercion, nothing more than a little more economic aid to be extorted from the Soviet Union. As long as the United States gives the French a little color, the French will be honest in no time.

But something happened to the Americans that they did not expect, and after learning of the suspension of American economic aid to France, de Gaulle announced two things: "The first is to restore tariffs on American goods and ban the import of some American goods." The second was the announcement of the signing of an agreement with the Soviet Union on a preferential interest-free loan. ”

These two pieces of news were like two sticks that hit the Americans on the head, and it was only then that they realized that the French were not hooligans at all, but were real. Immediately, the Eisenhower administration was a little panicked, especially the big financiers behind Eisenhower were quite dissatisfied.

DuPont, for example, was quite angry and demanded that Eisenhower solve the problem immediately. So why is DuPont so angry? As the world's largest chemical group at the time, DuPont took advantage of the Marshall Plan to successfully occupy the French market in World War II. At one time, it was like a fish in water in the French market. And now that de Gaulle has announced a ban on imports from the United States, a significant portion of which is DuPont's chemical products, if the French do so, DuPont's sales in France will take a dive. Do you think DuPont can be happy?

As a big financier who supported Eisenhower's rise to power, DuPont was quite influential in this US administration. And Eisenhower soon felt the influence.

Not only DuPont, but also General Motors' general manager and current Secretary of Defense Wilson immediately came forward to warn the president: "Some of GM's products are also on the list of prohibited imports in France...... This has aroused strong concern from the board of directors of GM Group, and the board of directors hopes that you will resolve this trouble as soon as possible......"

Well, Eisenhower was a little anxious, and a series of American companies sent representatives or congressmen to lobby one after another, and for a time he was extremely supposed.

In desperation, Eisenhower had no choice but to send Secretary of State Dulles to France urgently for consultations, hoping to find a solution to the problem.

So did the talks between Dulles and de Gaulle go well? How so? For Dulles, I'm afraid it's not so ideal, it's not that de Gaulle doesn't eat oil and salt, and he doesn't like Dulles at all. De Gaulle was not so stupid, and De Gaulle's attitude was beyond reproach, and even his posture was very low. It stands to reason that Dulles, secretary of state, should have been received by the prime minister or the foreign minister, but de Gaulle personally greeted the US secretary of state, and in his words to reporters: "The French people will never forget the great contribution made by the American people to the liberation of France, and in order to express our sincere gratitude to our American friends, it is only fitting that I should personally go to greet him." ”

It has to be said that de Gaulle was too clever and his low profile won unanimous appreciation. Even the French people, who had previously felt that he was more friendly to the Soviet Union than to their allies, or who were simply close to the United States, changed their views on this somewhat domineering president, and in later fashionable terms, it was a black road or a road to a fan. In short, his low profile has made his approval rating even higher.

Later, de Gaulle said to his friend proudly: "Just lowering his profile has won a lot of popular hearts, and this deal is too cost-effective." And this also puts the Americans on fire! ”

Why did de Gaulle say that he put the Americans on fire? Because Dulles's attitude on this visit to France is very clear, not to say that he is completely tough, at least he is relatively tough, and to put it mildly, he is here to ask the teacher for guilt.

And when Dulles stepped down the ramp of the plane and saw that it was de Gaulle himself who was greeted at the end of the red carpet, he couldn't help but be surprised. He was certainly not flattered, Dulles was an old fox, and as secretary of state, he was actually more difficult to deal with than Eisenhower as president, because he was well versed in international politics and international relations, and he often dealt with old foxes in various countries. Eisenhower, on the other hand, was more of a professional politician, and he was good at internal office politics and developing interpersonal relationships, but he was not as sensitive as Dulles in international affairs.

Seeing that it was De Gaulle who came to greet him, Dulles knew that this trip to France would not be easy, so judging from the photos taken by reporters later, the secretary of state could see a trace of worry and seriousness between his eyebrows when he shook hands with de Gaulle.

Similar to Dulles's conjecture, although de Gaulle did not appear immediately during the formal talks, but was talked to by the French prime minister, the conversation was almost fruitless, and the French were very resolute in their attitude and did not agree to lift the ban on some American goods, nor did they agree to suspend cooperation with the Soviet Union.

After n rounds of back and forth, Dulles finally got tired and demanded direct talks with de Gaulle, giving an ultimatum: "If the French government has no intention of solving real problems and does not care about friendship with the United States, then the United States government does not want to waste time." ”

To be honest, this is already a way for Dulles to have no choice, he must let the French see the true attitude of the United States, and he must force France to abandon those foreign policies that are unacceptable to the United States. It's just that what Dulles didn't expect was that his statement was quickly poked out by the "incompetent" translator of the French Foreign Ministry, and the French public opinion circles immediately opened the pot.

As mentioned earlier, de Gaulle's strategy toward the United States and toward the Allies was a displeasure to a part of the French people, who were pro-Allies and pro-Americans, and who were viscerally disgusted with the communist Soviet Union. However, de Gaulle's greeting made them more satisfied, and this part of the French people thought that the president still respected the will of the people and the United States.

And now as soon as Dulles's hegemonic remarks came out, coupled with the sincere guidance of the relevant French departments, they soon made this group of French people who were originally pro-American feel very angry, although this group of people is ideologically pro-American, but in essence they still love their motherland, if their motherland has done everything that should be done, and the Americans are still aggressive, then they will think that it is the United States that is at fault.

Dulles's private ultimatum provoked outrage across France, with many radical French people even putting up signs demanding that Dulles be ousted and immediately withdraw from NATO, which would have been almost unthinkable just a few years ago.

And Dulles knew that he had been trapped, needless to say, this must have been at the behest of de Gaulle, otherwise a little translator would have dared to divulge diplomatic secrets. But Dulles was tricked again and there was nothing he could do, and although the French did not do it properly, he still said it, and had to say it, and if he were asked to do it again, he would still make a similar ultimatum.

An old fritter like Dulles will not be soft in the field of diplomacy, so even if French public opinion is one-sided shouting and shouting to kill, he is unmoved, since the French are shameless, then he can also be shameless, who is afraid of whom!

Therefore, in the talks with de Gaulle, he was also quite tough, almost explicitly threatening de Gaulle: "If the French government does not end its insistence, it will be isolated soon, and the US government will do everything possible to safeguard the common interests of the allies. ”

After these words, Dulles went straight away, in his opinion that what should have been said had already been said, and if the French did not know how to advance or retreat, then there was no need to talk nonsense.

So what was de Gaulle's attitude? Judging from the memoirs of several of De Gaulle's henchmen later, De Gaulle appeared very calm, not to mention calm, at least mentally prepared for the threat of the Americans.

On the very evening of the unpleasant meeting with Dulles, de Gaulle suddenly made a national address. The suddenness of the national speech caught many French people by surprise, because de Gaulle's speech was shocked: "Many citizens are paying attention to the negotiations between us and the United States Government, and the main reason for this negotiation is that according to the Americans, it is because of the Soviet Union, yes, many people will echo this opinion, thinking that it was France's proximity to the Soviet Union that caused the crisis." However, I would like to tell the people of the whole country that this is not the case. The most fundamental reason for this crisis is hegemonism, the Americans see them as the saviors of Europe, that they can dominate and decide everything in Europe, and that we must live the way the US government wants it, as if we were US puppets. Because of the needs of the United States, we want to alienate the Soviet Union, we want to open our own markets, and we want to deprive our workers of valuable jobs. And this is just the beginning, the Americans have prepared a noose for us, and if we don't resist, they will have to tighten the inch more and more...... France is forever free, we refuse to be enslaved, we refuse to be exploited, we refuse to live the American way. This is the root of this so-called crisis, and the free French must say no to the hegemony of the United States, because our freedom is above all else! ”

After a pause, de Gaulle continued: "My meeting with the American Secretary of State, who told me, with American arrogance, what must be done and what should be done, who thought he was the Emperor of France. He even told me, not without threats, that if I didn't, then France would be spurned by its allies. I know what the subtext of his words is, nothing more than a warning to me that if I don't obey, France will be driven out of NATO, leaving us alone in the face of the Soviet threat...... Aha, what a direct threat! The Americans thought I was going to give in, and now I want to tell him that I refuse to accept the threat, because I know that millions of French citizens refuse to accept it as much as I do...... Well, there are citizens who may indeed be worried about the threat of the Soviet Union, about the Soviet nuclear bombs that will fall on our homeland, and I am also worried, so this afternoon I held urgent consultations with the Soviet side through a special hotline, and now I want to tell you the results of the consultations, the French and Soviet governments have reached an agreement that in the future the two governments will jointly guarantee that they will not be the first to use nuclear weapons against each other, and that Soviet nuclear missiles will no longer be aimed at France!! ”

This was the end of de Gaulle's speech, and he did not continue, because he thought that what had to be said was done, and that the French would naturally understand what he meant, and that the French should be pleased with what he had achieved.

Of course, we all know that such a major agreement will certainly not be settled in one afternoon, and in fact France and the Soviet Union have been talking on this issue for a long time, and the draft has been reached before Dulles's visit to France, and with Dulles's strong statement, the last obstacle to preventing the French from signing a formal agreement is gone.

For the French, the most important role of NATO is the nuclear protection of the United States, and once the Soviet Union announced that it would no longer take the initiative to carry out nuclear threats against France, this protective effect was greatly weakened. On the contrary, because of the hegemony of the Americans, the French will be very dissatisfied in their hearts, and this nation is already very emotional, and once the rebellious psychology breaks out, no one can stop it.

Dulles also heard de Gaulle's national address, and it was at this point that he realized that he had fallen into a trap. As a seasoned diplomat, he naturally knew the tricks in that agreement, and it was very likely that France and the Soviet Union had already reached an agreement, and it was only when he came that he deliberately announced it. The reason is very simple: there must be a reasonable excuse for such a major event as withdrawing from NATO, and his domineering US Secretary of State is undoubtedly the best excuse. For de Gaulle, the only concern is not the threat from the United States, but the real French public opinion. Afraid of a bird!

In other words, Dulles was really used, and Dulles, who figured out all this, was half angry, he no longer had the face to stay in France, and flew away without saying hello. In response to this, the French press bluntly expressed in the newspapers with joy and disgust: "Dulles is out!" ”

However, what is more interesting is that Dulles is gone, but de Gaulle did not immediately announce his withdrawal from NATO, in fact, he did not say anything about it, as if he had forgotten that there was such a thing as NATO. Because he is no longer angry, he will not do things impulsively. He can indeed use this to withdraw from NATO, but this is only a temporary pleasure, after all, the French people are just angry now, so they haven't figured out the taste yet, but once this anger is over, maybe they will change their minds again, so it is not the right thing to take the initiative to withdraw from NATO, stay calm for the time being, kick the ball to the Americans, and let them have a headache! (To be continued.) )