Empire in Progress

Chapter 8: Calculation

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After months of wrangling and compromise, the Treaty of Versailles reached Germany on May 7, 1919. The Treaty of Versailles is divided into 15 parts and 440 articles. According to the treaty, Germany lost 10% of its territory, 12.5% of its population, all overseas colonies (including German East Africa, German Southwest Africa, Cameroon, Togo and German New Guinea), and 16% of its coal producing areas. and half of the steel industry.

When the armistice came on November 11, 1918, Alsace and Lorraine were ceded to France and France's borders before the Franco-Prussian War were restored.

North Schleswig returned to Denmark after a referendum.

Recognize Polish independence and grant Poland a coastline. Return the territories originally belonging to Poland, including West Prussia, Posen Province, part of East Prussia and part of Upper Silesia; east Upper Silesia to Czechoslovakia.

Danzig was administered by the League of Nations as the Free City of Danzig.

Ceded Yuben and Salmedi to Belgium; Klaipeda area to Lithuania (1923).

The Saar coal mining area will be administered by France for 15 years, and then its ownership will be decided by referendum.

Germany recognized the independence of Austria and could never merge with it.

Recognition of Luxembourg's independence.

The rights and interests in Shandong were returned to China; but later due to the Article 21, they were transferred to Japan. This triggered the May Fourth Movement and the refusal to sign the Treaty of Versailles. China declared the end of the war with Germany in 1919 and signed another peace treaty with Germany in 1921.

All overseas colonies were distributed by the victorious powers.

The territory on the west bank of the Rhine (Rhineland) was occupied by the Allied forces for 15 years, and the German troops were not allowed to set up defenses within 50 kilometers of the east and west banks.

The Army was limited to less than 100,000 men and was not allowed to possess tanks or heavy artillery. The establishment of the German General Staff was abolished.

The number of naval personnel is limited to less than 15,000. In terms of ships, there can only be 6 battleships with a displacement of 10,000 tons, 6 cruisers and 12 destroyers. Submarines are not allowed.

The air force may not be organized.

No weapons may be imported or exported.

Chemical weapons must not be produced or stored.

In order to limit the number of people receiving military training, the compulsory military service system was abolished and the service period was extended to 12 years for non-commissioned officers and 25 years for officers.

Germany must admit full responsibility for the war and its crimes against Allied civilians.

Former Kaiser Wilhelm II was tried for war crimes.

Some German troops were tried for war crimes, and some were sentenced to death.

Germany had to pay a total of 226 billion marks (approximately 11.3 billion pounds) in compensation, paid in gold, which was later reduced to 132 billion Reichsmarks. The amount of compensation in 1921 was set at 4.99 billion pounds, or 132 billion marks.

When Germany learned about the contents of the treaty, anger and humiliation quickly spread within Germany. It seemed that Germany did not realize that they were responsible for starting the war and that they had lost the war. At first, the German government refused to accept the treaty, and the German navy even scuttled its ships. way to express dissatisfaction with the treaty.

On June 28, 1919, the Allies issued an ultimatum to Germany, and the president of the newly established Weimar Republic, Friedrich Ebert, decided to accept the treaty.

Greater chaos ensued across Germany, as royalists, nationalists, and former army generals began to question the treaty. Politicians, Social Democrats, Communists, and Jews of the Weimar Republic were regarded as traitors by them, because these so-called "November criminals" were vested interests of the Weimar regime, and they were the ones who "stabbed Germany in the back."

It's our protagonist Lin Wei's birthday. To be honest, Lin Wei is still very happy today, and maybe he can see his classmates in the military school. Lin Wei put on his home clothes, got everything ready, and quietly waited for the birthday party to begin. Lin Wei's birthday party started at ten o'clock in the morning. Lin Wei walked down the stairs. When the guests saw Lin Wei coming down, they stopped talking. They were all big Junkers and big capitalists in Germany. They controlled everything. The economic lifeblood of the entire Germany. People have the impression that the German Juncker landowners reject outsiders and have a deep sense of aggression. However, few people know about the unity of the Juncker landowners. For example, Hitler in Germany during World War II can be said to be the supreme dictator of Germany. However, he was still helpless against the Wehrmacht controlled by the German Junkers Honorary Corps. In the end, he had to establish an SS army that listened to him to fight against the Wehrmacht.

By the time of the Second German Empire, Junkers held important positions in the military and government, and had extremely high social status and strong social influence. There is a proverb that explains the problem well: Prussia rules Germany, and Junkers rule Prussia.

Lin Wei greeted the visiting guests one by one. Among the dozens of guests, Lin Wei only knew a few of them. This was because Lin Wei saw Stark and Hoffman. But this does not affect Lin Wei, because Lin Wei knows that the people who can be invited by his father Gustav Krupp are either big Junkers or big capitalists.

After a routine speech, Gustav & Krupp announced the start of the banquet. Lin Wei was not interested in the social banquet at all. He was talking to Matthew, Hoffman, and Stark on the side. What happened after returning home from military school.

I don’t know when all the Junkers and capitalists started to go to Gustav’s study. Their wives and the servants of the Linwei family were left in the hall. At this time, Linwei’s mother Berta and Krupp were in the hall. Lin Wei didn't listen to the discussions with the ladies, because Lin Wei seemed to think that they were just things that women were interested in, such as clothes.

"Stark, Matthew, Hoffman, do you want to know what your father is talking about?" Lin Wei said. "Yes, but who knows where they went," said Stark. "I know. There is a small reception room on the right side of the second floor. They should be there. Follow me," Lin Wei said.

Dong Dong Dong... Lin Wei knocked on the door of the reception room. Gustav Krupp opened the door and saw his son knocking on the door. He said to Lin Wei, "Lampard, what are you doing here? We have a lot of friends." We are talking about important things," and Lin Wei said, "Father, that's why I came to disturb you. As the heir of the Krupp family, I think I have the right to know what you are talking about." At this time, a voice came from the room and said, "Gustave, are they little Lampard and his friends? Just let them in. It's not anyone else anyway."

When Lin Wei and the others came in, they saw that their fathers were all here, and when they saw that some of them had red faces, they knew they must be too excited.

"Gustave, I think what we are talking about should be known to our heirs. They also have the right to take over our matters now," said a thin man in the center. The person who just let Lin Wei in is a very influential Juncker in Berlin. Called Liszt & Schroeder. As a result, the Junckers once again began to talk freely, from how to transform the defeated enterprises to how to rebuild the 100,000-strong Wehrmacht, from how to use the Freikorps to suppress the left-wing revolution to how to ban the Freikorps (the Freikorps were established in 1920). Banned by the Weimar government in 2001), from how to revitalize Germany to when to go to war with Britain and France again. Lin Wei and the others were dizzy after hearing this. This is the result of the discussion at this meeting.

(1) Establish new companies, set up new factories, buy new coal mines, and conduct comprehensive transformation. It mainly produces light industrial products and some heavy industries, mainly tractors, axles, blankets, toothbrushes...

(2) It was decided to make von Seeckt the commander-in-chief of the Wehrmacht in 1920 to preside over the reorganization of the army. Before World War I, Germany had a standing army of 780,000 people. At the end of World War I, it had 3 million people. At this time, it had to be significantly reduced to 100,000 people. Von Seeckt's work was fruitful and the essence of the German army was preserved intact. During the Weimar era, the Wehrmacht did not intervene in domestic political turmoil, deeply reviewed the lessons learned from World War I, and strengthened the research and development of new tactics. During World War II, a number of influential figures in the German army, such as Guderian and Manstein, all grew up during this period. From another perspective, the newly formed Wehrmacht also fully inherited the control of the Junker aristocracy over the military. Just glance at the roster of the Wehrmacht officer corps and you will find that the vast majority of names contain the word "Feng".

(3) Use the civilian paramilitary group Freikorps to spontaneously and effectively extinguish left-wing rebellions and uprisings across Germany. (At first these activities were approved and supported by the government, but in the end they were gradually regarded as riots and threats. The Freikorps also launched a Kapp coup on March 13, 1920, occupying Berlin and electing right-wing journalist Wolf Gun Kapp became Chancellor. The Weimar government retreated to Stuttgart and launched a general strike. The strike brought the economy to a halt, so Kapp's government collapsed after just four days. The Weimar Republic later announced the banning of the Freikorps).

(4) Reserve talents so that Germany has a group of military talents who are not lagging behind the world, and secretly experimented with the production of military products in the following years. (This is what Germany did historically)

(5) Restore Kaiser Wilhelm II at the appropriate time. (Hindenburg was the leader of the royalists)

(6) It plans to launch a war against France in 1935. By then, Germany must have 2.8 million troops and 512 generals. (Checked from the Internet)

This is an ambitious (can also be called ambitious) plan. I don’t know what Britain and France would think if they knew that Germany had just lost the war and began to retaliate. This group of Junkers were currently in the midst of their own sexual intercourse, and each one of them was so excited that they couldn't help themselves. Lin Wei and the others were too embarrassed to disturb the Junkers who were in the midst of their sexual intercourse.

Ahem... Looking at the Junkers who wanted to indulge in endless sexual intercourse, Lin Wei had no choice but to interrupt their sexual intercourse when Stark and the others frequently made small moves.

Hmm... Lin Wei's father, Gustav Krupp, regained consciousness first. Lin Wei couldn't help but secretly praise him. At this time, these Junkers also woke up one by one. "Lampard, do you have anything to say?" Gustav Krupp said. I don't have anything to say. I just don't want to look at you anymore. Lin Wei was just thinking about these words in his heart. He Now we understand the huge power of the Junkers. No one on the left or right can be their opponent. As for Hitler, he has not yet come to power. So Lin Wei said, "Father, fellow Junkers, I see the ancient glory of the Junkers nobility in you. And we, the future heirs of the family, will take you as an example to follow and fight for the great German Empire." . We will inherit all the glory of Juncker and carry them forward." Lin Wei secretly despised himself while speaking. It was so shameless.

However, the Junkers here were extremely useful to what they heard, forcing Lin Wei to continue talking. So Lin Wei recalled the discussions about Germany's advantages on the Internet in later generations, and organized what he said into what he said and what these Junckers were saying. The master is fooling around from here. On the grounds that the battlefield was in France, it was discussed that France was more difficult to recover from the damage than Germany. Since Germany itself was not attacked by the Allies, Germany's industrial base was not seriously damaged. It was talked about that Germany was not defeated in World War I. At that time, Germany has signed a treaty with the Soviet Union. After the war, Germany still has greater influence on the Balkans than the Allied Powers. Britain and France are afraid that the Soviet Union will influence Germany's revolutionary party and will relax their containment of Germany in the next few years.

I heard that the eyes of these Junkers were getting bigger and bigger. They finally listened to Lin Wei's nonsense and didn't have time to take a drink of water. They saw the big man who had cheated and defeated them all looking at their father Gus with wide eyes. Taft, Lin Wei understood that expression, it meant that Gustav, you gave birth to a monster. And Gustav looked back at them proudly.