After being slapped in the face by representatives of Britain, France and Australia, the islanders have completely lost their right to speak at this meeting.

It is not even an exaggeration to say that the islanders are only laughing at this meeting, and they can do nothing and dare to do nothing except hide in the shadows and breathe alone.

On the one hand, they are complaining and hating the indifference of the Americans, and on the other hand, they are also afraid of domestic reactions; after all, the island countries have very big expectations for the development of the navy, and the famous 88 Plan has proved that the governments of the island countries attach absolutely no less importance to the navy.

If it is finally exchanged for a relatively low naval size limit, it will be a heavy blow to the island government, and no one can guarantee what will happen to the representatives of the island country that led to this result.

At this time, the face of the representative of the island nation was as dead as ashes. If he had known that this would be the case, he would never have regarded this meeting as his touchstone, let alone that this meeting would make him the new foreign minister of the island.

Now, let alone the foreign minister, whether he can continue his political career is a question.

The representative of the island nation, Inoue Sangou, even began to complain about the extremist forces in the country. If it weren't for the fact that the domestic government was too radical and offended almost all the powerful countries, the current situation of the island countries would not be as good as this.

At this time, the army and navy will have to face greater restrictions, which is a burden that the island countries cannot bear, and will also have a huge impact on the future development and plans of the island countries.

After the islanders shut up, the progress of the meeting became much smoother.

Most of the other countries want to save face, and in addition to involving their own vital interests, they will basically not stand up and openly refute the British.

After all, the name of the Royal Navy of the British Empire is too loud, even France, which is currently the second largest in the world in terms of overall strength, will not easily anger the British brows.

The harmony of most European and American countries made the previous island people look like a clown.

After all, the island nation was the only Asian power participating in the conference, and its relations with other countries were not very good.

On this basis, even European countries with some contradictions will basically turn their guns and target island countries intentionally or unintentionally.

Who made relations between European countries too complicated? There are countless examples of enemies one second and allies the next, and this complex relationship is simply incomprehensible to the people of the island nation.

After discussions among many countries, it was unanimously agreed that the three elements of land area, industrial scale, and economic level should be the prerequisites for determining the final size and proportion of the navy of each country.

However, the proposal of the islanders to refer to the current military strength was unanimously rejected, because this would lead to a new round of naval arms competition, after all, each country does not want its own navy to lag behind other countries, and it has become inevitable to expand its own military strength.

This was a conference on limiting military strength, and it was naturally impossible to adopt such a proposal to promote military expansion.

The three factors of land area, economy and industry are not good news for island countries, and they are basically the weaknesses of island countries.

At the time of the final vote, the representatives of the island nation were dead faced, but they had to raise their hands.

Because the eyes of the representatives of Britain, France and Australia have already been set on him, as long as he does not raise his hand, I believe that the doubts of the representatives of the three countries will follow one after another.

No one knows how the representatives of the island countries communicate with the governments of the island countries, but this reference for determining the size and proportion of the navies of each country can be described as a bombshell blow to the island countries.

You know, the government of the island country is far from so calm. Unlike other great powers, the military strength of island countries is actually very excessive, and a country that is not very industrially and economically developed can support the armies of great powers, which is also bound to cause many problems.

For example, the contradictions between the army and navy of the island countries even stipulate that the two sides will not intermarry or make friends, and even the screw models in the supply of weapons must be different.

The conflict between the army and navy of the island nation can even be traced back to the shogunate period, when the conflict between the Choshu domain and the Satsuma domain was established.

During the Shogunate Movement, the Choshu and Satsuma domains formed an alliance and successfully returned power to the emperor, resulting in the majority of the cabinet officials coming from these two domains.

Although they worked together for the emperor, the forces representing the two feudal domains were always in conflict.

At the beginning of the Restoration, the island nation focused on developing a modern army and navy, and the Choshu Domain established an army academy in which the personnel trained mainly for the service of the army, while the Satsuma Domain specialized in naval construction, and the navy was mainly composed of samurai from the Satsuma Domain.

The conflict between the two feudal domains was smoothly transferred to the army and navy of the island nation, and it has continued to this day, and even intensified.

As a country with a small land area, coupled with the very limited mineral resources, the island country's military investment is limited.

But the army and navy of the island nation are the size of the great powers, and both require a fairly high budget and a lot of investment.

The annual struggle for the budget has deepened the contradictions between the army and navy of the island countries, and even turned into difficulties on the surface.

This is inconceivable in the eyes of others, as a country's military forces, they actually make things difficult for each other in an open and honest manner, and even the whole country is not surprised or surprised by this.

In fact, this is also due to the ambition of the island countries to develop their military strength. When developing modern military forces, the island countries referred to the development of the British navy and the French army.

The problem is that the two countries are very different in terms of land and navy, one advocating the importance of the navy over the army, and the other advocating the importance of the army over the navy.

The army and navy of the island nation are deeply influenced by these two ideas of military development, and it is strange that they can look at each other in the eye.

In normal times, such a terminal may not be a big deal. After all, the military budget of the island country can still be guaranteed, and it is nothing more than whichever side suffers a loss, and then grabs it the next year.

But the problem is that this naval conference is no joke, and for many years to come, it is destined to impose huge limits on the development of military power.

Neither the army nor the navy of the island nation is willing to be the side with the heaviest losses.

Although on the surface it appears that the government of the island nation is fighting for a larger share, it is actually a struggle between the army and the navy.

It was destined to be a sleepless night for the island government.

The outcome of the meeting is destined to exacerbate the contradictions between the army and navy of the island countries. In addition to appeasing the army and navy, how to deal with the current diplomatic dilemma of the island countries, that is, the matter of not having any international support, is also a headache for the governments of the island countries.

The next naval meeting lasted a few more days, but it wasn't as efficient.

Delegates from various countries gather together, sip fine wine from time to time, and hold a few balls, as if they are not here for diplomacy, but for sexual encounters.

The mood of the representatives of the island countries was not so beautiful, and the day after the end of the meeting, they bid farewell to the host, Britain, and hurried back to deal with domestic affairs.

But the British don't care, after all, the next protagonist is not an islander, and they don't care about the whereabouts of the islanders.

After a few days of relaxation, the meeting finally came to an end. However, the representatives of several powers stayed for a few days at the request of the British, because there was still a confidential meeting to be held.

The meeting concerned the matter that had been proposed by the British to reduce the German war reparations.

As we entered 1920, the Germans were not in a good situation, and the development of the country could be described as a mess.

To put it more seriously, the economic problems of the Germans could threaten the whole of Europe at any time, after all, Germany's cheap industrial products are not only enjoyed by one country, but have been sold to many countries, including Britain, France and Italy, and flooded most of the European market.

Because of the strong demands of the victorious powers, Germany's attitude towards reparations after the defeat of the war can be described as very sincere.

All the German people, including the Junker aristocracy, who were very glamorous before the war, tightened their belts to live, most of the industrial goods were used to pay off debts, a small part of the industrial goods were exchanged for raw materials, and the domestic necessities of life in Germany could not even be guaranteed.

After Wilhelm II was re-elected as Emperor of Germany, he did not take any measures to stabilize the domestic political situation, but set his primary goal on saving the German economy.

Wilhelm II successively issued directives prohibiting the use of luxury goods and imports in order to reduce Germany's foreign exchange consumption as much as possible.

But the first crisis Germany is facing today is in fact huge inflation.

Inflation has turned Germany's official currency, the mark, into waste paper overnight, and the mark, which was worth a lot before, is now worth even less than one-twentieth of what it used to be.

This is a rather exaggerated ratio. You must know that one pound was equivalent to 20 German marks before, and now one pound is equivalent to 400 German marks, or even higher.

At present, the price of an ordinary loaf of bread in Germany has reached hundreds of marks, which is an unimaginable cost for ordinary people.

If it weren't for the fact that the British had given emergency aid to Germany in order to maintain the German government, I am afraid that the current grain prices in Germany would have skyrocketed.

The huge inflation has turned the funds in the hands of the people into waste paper in an instant, and even owed a lot of debts to the banks.

The banks and the capitalists became the victors of inflation in Germany, but the German population was already overwhelmed, and the crisis in Germany had come.

It is worth mentioning that the Junker aristocracy, as the largest political force in Germany, was also an important producer of German grain.

These Junker aristocrats, who were based on land, did not want the German government to import large quantities of grain to calm the price of food at home, after all, it was not a good thing for them to reduce the price of food.

But the problem is that the current food crisis in Germany is already quite serious, and it is impossible for the German government to give up food imports, because the hungry German people cannot remain indifferent.

Under such circumstances, Germany is currently in a political and social chaos, and Wilhelm II is anxious about the daily handling of government affairs, and the pride and self-confidence of the past can no longer be seen in Wilhelm II.

Fortunately, it was absolutely impossible for the British to sit idly by and watch Germany collapse like this, because Germany was the vanguard of limiting France and the only country on the European continent that could currently prevent French expansion.

If the Germans collapsed, France would be a veritable hegemon on the European continent, something the British would never want to see.

Therefore, even if it is destined to be a loss-making transaction, the British have to come to Germany's aid, and they also want to push other countries to reduce the proportion of German reparations in order to save the current German market and economy.

Of course, the last person who can stay in London for the final talks with the British is naturally the important country in the British plan.

In detail, the United Kingdom, France, Australasia and Italy are eligible for this final meeting.

Of course, the countries that focus on negotiating are actually Britain and France, and the Italians do not have a high sense of existence, they belong to the neutral faction, and they listen to whichever side is stronger.

Australasia had already expressed its support for the British at previous meetings, and naturally there was no need for further persuasion.

Sitting in their respective seats, British Foreign Minister Grey first clinked glasses with everyone, took a sip of red wine from France, and then smiled and said to French Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Millerand: "Prime Minister Millerand, I hope to have a sincere meeting with you."

I believe that you also know the current situation in Germany, and if we let it go, the collapse of the German economy is a matter of time.

No matter what contradictions we had with Germany before, tens of millions of people in Germany are innocent, and we should not let them bear the consequences of the war. ”

At this time, French Foreign Minister Millerand was considered a relatively influential figure in French politics.

At the beginning of World War I, Millerand served as Minister of the Army, and a year earlier he was elected Administrator of Alsace and Lorraine, the native land of France.

He took office as prime minister and foreign minister at the beginning of this year, and is already one of the biggest powerful factions in the French government.

If history is correct, Millerand will become the new president of France this year, which is enough to see Millerand's status in France at this time.

"That being said, Minister Gray." French Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Millerand chuckled and said: "France also has no responsibility or obligation to bear the crisis of the Germans." The damage inflicted by Germany on France in the war was far from being reparable by this reparation, and it was even less likely that the French government would agree to reduce the reparations in order to alleviate Germany's economic problems. ”

"It's not just about easing Germany's economic problems, Chancellor Millerand. Germany has a huge industrial system, and their industrial products have flooded the European market.

If the German economy collapses, we will lose an important source of cheap industrial goods, and the impact on us will be very serious.

To put it mildly, if the current situation in Germany leads to the outbreak of an economic crisis, who will survive it?

My friend, our sacrifice was not for Germany, but for ourselves. Why not if an economic crisis could have been avoided by reducing the reparation ratio by a certain amount? Minister Gray retorted with a smile.

4000 words for the first update, ask for a monthly pass, ask for support!

Today, it continues to be 10,000 days, and it has been changed to 4000/10000, ask for a monthly pass, ask for support!

(End of chapter)