Chapter 1179 British and French Mediation

The wind is freezing in the waters off Cuba, and the waves are surging.\nIn the sky with sparse clouds, a group of U.S. bombers may appear at any time, and on the vast ocean to the north, hundreds of ships of the U.S. Navy fleet The boats fanned out.

The United States and the Soviet Union made harsh words to each other, making the whole of Europe restless, and war seemed to be exaggerated to be about to break out.

Finally, at this time, France took a stand. The De Gaulle government fiercely accused the United States of putting the world in danger by going to war. However, de Gaulle also announced that the French army was in a state of combat readiness.

The Federal Republic of Germany later expressed the same views as France, but expressed more of a call for peace.

The attitude of the two countries can be summarized by scolding the United States first and then announcing that it stands with the United States.

"Obviously, the farther away from the Soviet Union, the tougher it gets. France's attitude is obviously tougher than Germany's. At the same time, France also deliberately criticized the United States to demonstrate its independent and self-sufficient status."

In a discussion with Foreign Secretary Rab Butler, Alan Wilson commented on the positions of Germany and France.

Just as Rab Butler was about to say something, Chief Private Secretary Dixon came in and reported, "France hopes to mediate this crisis together with the United Kingdom."

"Okay!" Rab Butler replied simply, he was waiting for the Frenchman to take the initiative to speak.

Alan Wilson stood aside and said nothing. All glory goes to the minister. He just needs to cheer and shout from the side.

In fact, British citizens are still interested in the war in the former colonies. All newspapers report and comment on it every day. The first time a British newspaper paid attention to the distant Caribbean was Kennedy's televised speech two days ago, and the handling of the news by countries around the world. at the same time.

According to reports this morning, public opinion is discussing how people should live their lives in a nuclear winter.

A large number of people in the UK are dissatisfied with the fierce reaction of the United States, and especially express doubts about the US Navy's blockade. Is Cuba an independent country? What's more, the United States invaded Cuba a year ago, but was defeated by Cuba.

Many British people believed that this was caused by the US bases deployed near the Soviet Union.

It has to be said that every era has its own characteristics. In later generations, one-click and three-click network control can silence dissenting voices, but the cost is that there are too many people expressing their voices, and some programmers are busy.

Now let’s silence the dissenting voices,

In a sense, it is not as convenient as what comes in later generations.

This cannot be said to say that the British citizens of this era are extremely sober. Mainly the generation that went through the World War clearly understands the consequences of a fight between the United States and the Soviet Union over Cuba.

Just this morning, the Labor Party wrote an article in The Times stating that the United States is practicing double standards. The direction that Britain should work towards is to allow the United States and the Soviet Union to have a good talk as much as possible.

There are voices that accuse the United States, but there are also voices that understand the United States, and voices that support the United States believe that the free world on land cannot be the opponent of the Soviet Union. The missile bases around the Soviet Union are just barely maintaining Europe's fragile balance.

After all, the position of key politicians is in the minority. In fact, most people simply do not believe that a nuclear war is coming. I wonder if this is because the psychology of avoiding threats is at work.

But this mentality is exactly the same as that of Alan Wilson. When the Foreign Secretary and the French envoy were discussing how to exert diplomatic influence, Alan Wilson, the permanent undersecretary, was broadcasting on the radio, saying that he did not believe that a nuclear war would break out. On this day 's broadcasts were very influential.

The silent majority liked the broadcast of the Secretary General’s assertion that nuclear war would not break out, “Our policy is to stand firmly on the side of the United States and resolve this nuclear crisis.”

In such a public place, as a walking figure in the special relationship between Britain and the United States, it is impossible for Alan Wilson to say anything about independence. Even if he wanted to, he could not say that.

When asked about European security, Alan Wilson responded with an almost stupidly brave tone, "The Soviet Union should understand that Britain and France also have nuclear weapons. If in this crisis, the Soviet Union feels that challenging one country is not enough, it must take France and France. Britain also joined in, so I was very shocked by Moscow's courage."

"The independent nuclear power of the British Empire, like the United States and the Soviet Union, is on standby at any time. It is enough for any adventurer to keep calm. The British position is not to allow any wavering and division in the Free World Alliance at this time. At the same time, We are doing everything we can to get through this crisis smoothly."

"Some voices believe that the issues in Cuba, the conflict in Katanga in Congo, and the war in Asia are a source. If the speculation is reasonable, the risks of the latter two are controllable, and we should be committed to making Cuba a priority. Consider the issue.”

This last paragraph is very selling off to teammates, if the Soviets heard today's broadcast. Juxtaposing the Cuban Missile Crisis with the Congo War and the wars in Asia, once the Cuban Missile Crisis retreats, it will inevitably have to find its way back to other issues.

The Deputy Secretary's broadcast implemented the British diplomatic philosophy of flexibility, independent interests, and not being influenced by emotional likes and dislikes. At the same time, Prime Minister Eden also expressed the same central point in his statement in the British House of Commons.

We firmly support the United States and try our best to resolve this crisis peacefully.

Prime Minister Eden's speech was immediately recognized by Washington, praising the indestructibility of the special relationship between Britain and the United States.

"Without my years of hard work, would Washington look down on London?" Alan Wilson, who returned to Xiameng Apartment, was watching Prime Minister Eden's speech on TV.

In the original history, by 1962, the special relationship between Britain and the United States had turned into a relationship between a superpower and a small partner. The United Kingdom had long ago transformed from the three giants of World War II to one of the many small partners of the United States. .

Britain is in relative decline, and its suggestions in many fields no longer have reference for the United States. As this fact is established, many people in the United States no longer regard Britain as a mother country. The two countries are not related to Greece and Rome. The United States does not need Britain at all. What to teach.

Britain's importance is declining, and naturally it doesn't have much ability to play chess. Britain in its original history certainly did not connect several events in 1962 to shape the strength of the Soviet bloc's general offensive.

Although the United States values ​​Britain's views, it will not always take care of Britain's interests.

But it is different now. The United States must also take care of the interests of the United Kingdom. The United Kingdom has not yet fallen from the seat of a world power and is still a major country with global mobilization capabilities. Similarly, France is far stronger than France in history.

With such support from Britain and France, the pressure faced by the Soviet Union was much stronger than it had been in history.

"Will war break out?" Xia Meng asked a man of the same status as her husband, "I'm a little scared."

"If you believe me, you can rest assured." Alan Wilson held Xia Meng in his arms and comforted him, "We are all living well now. How can we not think about it before we start a nuclear war?"

There are no major crises in major countries now, and there is no need for war to divert attention, let alone a nuclear war. As long as everyone is doing well, the situation is not as dangerous as it seems.

"Some people make things very serious, while others are not worried at all." Xia Meng sighed, feeling that she was too cowardly.

"Isn't this the real world?" Alan Wilson smiled. It is impossible for everyone to have the same attitude.

"You seem to have said that the purpose of Britain joining an organization is to disintegrate the organization from within." Xia Meng suddenly stared into the man's eyes, "Is this true?"

"It also needs to be divided into some organizations. If you are talking about NATO? The French have replaced our role." Alan Wilson made a haha. France now is much stronger than France before.

What if the France of this world were to cause trouble within NATO? It is much more difficult to deal with than the original history, but this is not a bad thing for Britain. The existence of such France will make the United States need Britain more, and the status of the two countries will be more equal.

Just for once, didn’t Britain give France the opportunity to express its stance first? The French envoy also came to London specifically and expressed his intention to unite with the United Kingdom to mediate this crisis.

Today, Britain and France are still two countries that retain considerable strength, and their successive statements are absolutely different.

In the evening of this day, French President de Gaulle and British Prime Minister Eden had a phone call to discuss how to resolve this crisis. De Gaulle said that now both the United States and the Soviet Union need third-party countries to speak out and give the two countries a step down. At this time, giving steps to the United States and the Soviet Union is the solution to the problem.

Eden agreed, so the question is, who is visiting Washington and who is visiting Moscow? In theory, Britain should naturally side with the United States, but now that the U.S. Navy is blocking Cuba, it can be said that it has an advantage.

What if the Americans think that the United States can solve this problem, and the United Kingdom is responsible for solving the problem, and the United States does not appreciate it?

It seems that the Soviet Union needs this step more. In the diplomatic field, it can greatly add points to the United Kingdom.

But what if Britain's visit to the Soviet Union and France's visit to the United States were inconsistent with its previous statements? Britain's statement paid more attention to the special relationship between Britain and the United States than France, and then gave France the opportunity to visit Washington for the sake of diplomatic influence?

At this time, the British government was caught in the greed of wanting both and unable to extricate itself. It wanted to maintain the special relationship between Britain and the United States, but also wanted to gain influence from Moscow.

"Just visit Washington and Moscow. Once the matter is settled, who has a greater role, Britain or France, shouldn't it depend on whose public opinion is stronger?" Alan Wilson said with the Times on the left and the Daily Times on the right. Looks like, in the war of public opinion, is the UK still afraid of France?