But what Edward VIII did not expect was that the British Cabinet, headed by Prime Minister Baldwin, decisively rejected Edward VIII's proposal.

What allowed Prime Minister Baldwin to decisively reject Edward VIII was the support of the Cabinet from the Church and the Dominion governments.

The last time Edward VIII asked to marry Mrs. Simpson, not only the Cabinet, but also the Church of England and the Dominion Governments, expressed their opposition.

It seems that no monarch in the last 50 years has been able to make the cabinet government, the church and the Dominion government stand up against it, except for the current Edward VIII.

Edward VIII's actions had a blow to his throne, the people expressed their dissatisfaction with Edward VIII, and the media openly declared that a woman who had divorced twice was not worthy of being the queen of the British Empire.

It is important to note that under the Statute of Westminster, signed under George V, any change in the title of king and succession to the throne must be approved by all Dominion Governments of the Commonwealth.

The Commonwealth Dominion government includes Canada, South Africa, and Ireland. In this case, in addition to the irish Government's unconcerned attitude, the Governments of Canada and the Dominion of South Africa have expressed opposition.

Edward had no choice but to put pressure on Baldwin's palmistry, and firmly stated publicly: "She is not with me, and the crown means nothing to me." ”

But Edward VIII had wrongly underestimated the English people, and the government and church opposed his determination to marry Mrs. Simpson.

The day after Edward VIII's public statement, British Prime Minister Baldwin gave Edward VIII three options: Or, Edward VIII gave up marrying Mrs. Simpson and found a qualified queen for Britain again, and everyone was happy.

Or, against the will of the British Cabinet, Edward VIII forcibly married Mrs. Simpson, and the British Cabinet will resign as a whole.

The last option is the abdication of Edward VIII. As long as Edward VIII was not the King of England, then it had nothing to do with who he married to the British Cabinet.

Of the three options, giving up marrying Mrs. Simpson was clearly not in line with Edward VIII's wishes. Edward VIII, who was already overly obsessed with Mrs. Simpson, would not give up on her under any circumstances.

The second option is actually unlikely. The power of the British king is not as great as imagined, and against the will of the cabinet, even forcing the entire cabinet to resign, this will only make the British throne more turbulent.

Moreover, it was not only the cabinet government that opposed Edward VIII's marriage to Mrs. Simpson, but also the colonial governments and churches, and even the British people at large.

If Edward VIII could force the resignation of the British cabinet government, could he also force all the colonial governments to resign and abolish the status of ecclesiastical personnel?

Obviously impossible. Edward VIII did not have such a position and did not have high prestige among the people, so he was only asking for his own death.

Prime Minister Baldwin seemed to have given Edward VIII three options, but in the end, Edward VIII had only one last choice, which was to abdicate.

The news that Edward VIII and Prime Minister Baldwin had made a clear card against each other instantly turned into hot news in Europe.

Everyone is curious, in the face of such a fierce conflict with the cabinet government, what will Edward VIII choose?

Should he accept the government's offer to give up marrying Mrs. Simpson and continue to be the noble King of England, or should he give up the throne at that?

In most people's minds, the throne is much more important than a tiny Mrs. Simpson. This also made most ordinary people think that Edward VIII would back down sooner or later, because he could not give up the throne that he had already taken.

News of Britain's descent into chaos soon reached the ears of Germany and Italy.

For the German and Italian governments at the time, this was almost good news.

At least until there is a clear outcome to the crisis on the British throne, the British should have little spare time to meddle in the situation in Europe.

Realizing that this was a good opportunity, the German government decided to seize this opportunity and generate enough benefits for itself.

On April 4, 1936, German troops marched south in large numbers, and Chen soldiers were on the border with Austria.

On 5 April, the German government sent a note to the Austrian government demanding that Austria cede the Sudetenland, a large number of Germans living in the Czech Republic.

The Germans gave the Austrian government only three days to think about it. Three days later, the Austrian government had not yet agreed that Germany would not hesitate to use force to help the vast number of Germans return to the embrace of the motherland.

Such an act of the German government instantly ignited the situation in Europe.

Would the Austrian Reich agree to the demands of the Germans? Not necessarily, I'm afraid

Germany's demands seemed reasonable, but they were completely unacceptable to the Austrian Reich. You must know that the predecessor of the German Empire was the Holy Roman Empire, which had many states.

Austria was also a member of the Holy Roman Empire, but was expelled from the German Empire due to the failure of the struggle for supremacy in the Holy Roman Empire.

In terms of national roots, Austrians and Germans have the same roots, and Austrians also belong to the German class, and everyone speaks German.

According to the Germans, doesn't it mean that the eventual Austrian Empire will also be incorporated into Germany in order to achieve the unification of the Germans?

But there is a price to be paid for rejecting the Germans at this time.

Austria could not bear the pressure of Germany and Italy alone, and could only pin its hopes on its ally France.

French President Albert understood the seriousness of the matter, but he still pinned his hopes on the Germans not to start a large-scale war.

In a letter from French President Albert to Emperor Karl I of Austria, it was already possible to attest to President Albert's attitude: "We are shocked by the enormous ambitions of the Germans, and we will firmly fulfill our responsibilities as allies and stand with our Austrian brothers."

Rest assured, France is ready for anything, and we can support our allies in any place and at any time.

If the Germans had the guts to start a war, let them come. France's loyal army will make them understand that any country that wantonly provokes a war in Europe will be punished by French justice. ”

Whether it is bragging or not is only known to President Albert himself. But fatally, Karl I, as emperor, believed President Albert's words.

Unlike Franz I, Karl's grip on the Austrian Empire had fallen to freezing point with the independence of Hungary.

If we don't find a way to make some improvements and make the people trust us, I am afraid that the Austrian imperial power will come to an end.

At such moments, the rhetoric of French President Albert gave confidence to Karl I. As long as you can defeat a strong enemy like the Germans, no matter how heavy the casualties are, you can still stabilize your throne.

After all, after the victory of the war, Karl I was the hero who led the Austrians to victory and avoided the cession of the country.

As soon as the media is used to publicize it a little, the goodwill of those people will rise.

With confidence, Karl I's response to the Germans became very confident.

Because he had already made up his mind to win over the hearts and minds of the people, Karl I's attitude was very firm, as if he was ready to live and die with the country.

In response to the Germans, Karl I said: "The Austrian Empire will not give up any territory, and I am willing to live and die with every citizen."

The economic crisis could not destroy the Austrian Empire, and neither would the war. If your government (Germany) wants to take away our land and property, then please step on my corpse! ”

On April 7, the secret general mobilization of Germany began. That evening, all German radio stations broadcast the peace agreement proposed by the German government against the Austrian Empire.

On the radio, the German government portrayed itself as a peaceful party. The German government is doing nothing but to provide a more uniform and stable living environment for all German peoples.

But all this is just a disguise, and the German top has already begun preparations for war. All they lack is an excuse to make it look like they belong to the side they are forced to fight.

In the early morning of April 8, the residence of the German Prime Minister.

"Your Excellency, the Austrians have just attacked our border outpost, and we have two border soldiers killed in this attack." Suddenly, a high-ranking military officer broke into the prime minister's office with joy and said to the German prime minister with an excited face.

Obviously, it was his side that caused the casualties, but everyone in the office, including the prime minister, couldn't help but look happy, which made people look very weird.

"Good!" The German Chancellor sneered and instructed the general who had just spoken: "These are all evidence of the Austrians' initiative to invade us, keep these evidence."

And now, what we have to do is to avenge the dead soldiers. Gentlemen, the war is coming! ”

The words of the German Prime Minister are the highest order for all the top military leaders here, and they are also the most willing to hear.

Although the attack looked foggy, after all, the Austrians were not fools and could not have taken the initiative to attack the German army for no reason.

Half past two in the morning, the German Reichstag.

At this time, the Reichstag hall was brightly lit, and most of the German parliamentarians and the German military's top brass, as well as many domestic media outlets, were temporarily called out of their beds.

Everyone was sleepy-eyed, only the media were excited, waiting for the Germans to reveal the big news.

The German Prime Minister walked to the podium step by step with a sad face and anger in his eyes, and glanced around with heavy eyes, and then said word by word: "Ladies and gentlemen, I have just received the unfortunate news that a border post on our southern border has been attacked by the evil Austrians.

Although our soldiers bravely repelled the enemy, it still ended in the death of two of our soldiers and the wounding of four.

I don't want to say who was right and who was wrong in this attack, because it's obviously already clear. The appearance of the enemy at our posts and the launch of an attack on our soldiers was a blatant declaration of war against the German Empire.

Now, I declare that Germany has been forced into a state of war with the Austrian Empire because of the Austrian Empire's attack.

Ladies and gentlemen, the war is coming. This is not what we want, but we must launch a counterattack against the enemy.

I will use everything to defend the dignity of the German Empire from being violated, for the sake of Germany, for the sake of the soldiers who died in the attack just now, we can only take more violent revenge and make the enemy disappear before our eyes! ”

The words of the German Prime Minister can be described as a stone that stirs up a thousand waves. The majority of MPs were more in favor of war.

After all, it was Germany that was forced to declare war after it was attacked, but it was not an active declaration of war.

And those foreign media who were invited were a little wide-eyed at this time. They didn't expect that tonight's big news was actually the outbreak of war, and it was a war between the two great powers, Germany and Austria.

Now that war has broken out between Germany and Austria, will the entry of France and Italy be far away? Doesn't this mean that they have experienced the opening of another European war tonight, and it also means that tens of millions or even tens of millions of people will be forced to go to the battlefield because of tonight's news, and finally die in a foreign land

"Mr. Prime Minister, do you have any evidence for what you said about being attacked by the Austrian Empire?" A media outlet from France asked the German prime minister, who was about to leave the podium, in disbelief.

"Absolutely." The German Prime Minister nodded, took out the photo that had been prepared a long time ago, and said angrily: "Since you asked so, then please take a look."

This is evidence of the attack of Austrian troops on our border posts. With expedited transportation from the Air Force, it was delivered to my office before this meeting.

The two soldiers who died in the attack have been urgently transported back to Berlin and buried at the Mausoleum of National Heroes. If you don't believe the photos, we also keep the bodies of several Austrian soldiers who carried out the attack, which is evidence of the Austrian attack on us.

Whatever they thought, the incident had already violated the bottom line of the German Empire. I know that you are allies with Austria, and if you want to fulfill the so-called covenant in spite of the guilt of the Austrians, then come.

Germany will not be afraid of any threat, and we will fight any enemy bravely. The German army will show the world that the countries that provoke Germany's anger will pay a heavy price for their actions. ”

After speaking, the German Prime Minister left the podium without looking back.

The men of the diplomatic department came up to organize order, and when they were leaving, they gently advised the foreign press: "All right, gentlemen, the war has come, and I advise you to leave Germany as soon as possible."

Especially that French gentleman, your country is likely to be at war with us, please leave Germany as soon as possible, thank you. ”

Among the many foreign media, the least panicked should be the one from Italy.

After all, Italy and Germany are allies, and as long as they don't die, Italians are still safe in Germany.

Go out to play today, for the time being, thank you for your support!

(End of chapter)