Chapter 1047 From Community to United States 3
"If the Emperor of the French had won the world wars in the early 19th century, Europe would have been a united, strong, and prosperous United States now. And ruling the world, there would not have been so many wars, all Everyone can live a comfortable life until old age in a Europe of freedom, equality and fraternity..."
On the morning of June 16, at the Frank Palace in Fort Europa (property of the French government in Fort Europa), Adolf Hitler poured ecstasy into French Prime Minister Darlan in German with a strong Bavarian accent.
He waved his arms, just like in his usual eyes, his eyes were strangely bright. Darlan thought to himself that this guy must think that he is the emperor who conquered Europe, which seems to be true.
"France is blessed with unique conditions - she has a long coastline, with coastlines on the English Channel, the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea. This allows France to easily obtain any resources it wants from underdeveloped continents around the world. And France The land is very fertile and the terrain is flat. It has always been the granary of Western Europe and can raise the largest number of children in Europe. In addition, France's brilliant culture and ideas are also destined to be extraordinary - so it will definitely become the most prosperous and wealthy core in Europe. It is also a paradise that everyone around the world longs for.”
Listening to Hitler describe a France as the center of the world and Europe, Marshal Darlan couldn't help but burst into tears. This is the French dream! But the reality is so cruel. The French lost their dreams after the Franco-Prussian War and were willing to be the "second child", first following Britain, and now following Germany...
Hitler continued in a seductive and persuasive tone: "Now, once again, a historic opportunity is before the French. Together with their Aryan brothers, the French can realize the ideals that Emperor Napoleon failed to realize. France and Germany will become the center of Europe and the world together. Germany will be the center of manufacturing and science and technology, while France will become the center of humanities, art, fashion and finance. In the future, Paris will be similar to New York. status in the United States. I don’t think anyone would think that the center of the United States is not in New York but in Detroit and Pittsburgh?”
What a tempting prospect! Darlan thought that the Germans must have been attracted by Hitler's vision of a greater German thousand-year empire and devoted themselves wholeheartedly to the war to conquer the world, right?
"Mr. Chancellor," Darlan was silent for a while after Hitler finished speaking about his ideals, and then said in less proficient German, "do you really think that Paris can become the center of the financial industry? I think London can be the same in this regard. Very competitive, right?”
Hitler looked at Darlan and said word by word: "Strictly speaking, London is not part of Europe. Geographically and psychologically, Britain does not belong to our continent. France and Germany have always been The center of Europe is equivalent to the east coast of the United States. If the European Community becomes a United States, our two countries will undoubtedly be the biggest beneficiaries."
Darlan also knew that what Hitler said was true. Europe's financial center must be in Europe! The UK is at best a "semi-European country". As for Germany, it is definitely not a suitable place to build a financial center. Even if the European Union Bank is located in Frankfurt, it will be useless.
Because the core of the financial industry is credit. If you don’t have credit and you can’t even open a bank, how can you have finance? Germany's credit actually went bankrupt after the end of World War I. First, the mark collapsed, and then it defaulted on repaying its debts. In the 1930s, Jewish financial capital was used to attack it!
It is much more difficult to rebuild credit than to destroy it. Without the efforts of several generations, investors will not trust Germany again.
In addition, France also has a natural advantage over Germany in communicating with regions outside Europe. Germany has few sea outlets, and they are concentrated in the northern region. France, on the other hand, has coastlines in three directions, and two of them face the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea, which is much more convenient than Germany.
If measured purely from an economic perspective, France may gain greater benefits from a unified Europe than Germany.
However, Germany will undoubtedly have more power, and there are many more Germanic-speaking European countries than French-speaking European countries. Once the European Community becomes the United States, German will inevitably become the first official language of the United States!
Darlan was silent for a while, seemingly hesitant, "Mr. Prime Minister, although I personally agree with your opinion, I need more supporters."
In fact, we need more benefits!
Hitler looked at Darlan quietly, who said slowly: "Mr. Chancellor, we have a lot of investments in Russia, and we are also creditors of the Russian Empire..."
Historically, the industrialization of the Russian Empire was built using French investments and loans, but these investments and loans were all confiscated after the Soviet Revolution, causing heavy losses to French capitalists.
Now that the Russian Empire has been restored, Empress Olga has no way to repay the loan - not because she is unwilling, but because she has no money.
Adolf Hitler frowned slightly, "If I remember correctly, you claimed more than 18 billion gold rubles from the Soviet government at the Genoa Conference, and also demanded the return of investment."
"Yes," Darlan said, "we still want to make this request."
"It is right to return the investment," Hitler said, "but I am afraid that there is no more than 18 billion gold rubles. That is equivalent to more than 400 million ounces, which is almost tens of billions of European marks."
Tens of billions of European marks may not seem much at first glance, but this money is not returned to the French government, but to the French financial industry. That is financial capital!
"I think Russia has the financial resources to repay." Darlan looked at Hitler and said, "Aren't we going to claim 500 billion European marks from the United States?"
"But the Russian Empire itself needs money, very much!" Hitler said. He actually didn't want to give the Russians a penny, but to fight the Caribbean-Atlantic War, cannon fodder was necessary, lots of cannon fodder! If the Russians were not allowed to go, then the Germans would have to go.
The German Wehrmacht General Staff estimated that in order to defeat the United States in the Caribbean-Atlantic War, Europe would probably have to pay 1 million lives. And the countries in Europe that were willing and able to give up so many lives were only Germany and Russia.
Who will pay this huge price is directly related to the population structure of Europe in the future, because the 1 million people who will die in the Caribbean-Atlantic battlefield are the fathers of millions of people in the future (according to Hitler's idea, German women must learn from Chloe in terms of fertility). If they die, there will be millions less Germans in the future, and millions more Russians...
This in and out is directly related to the population structure of the future European United States. Therefore, it is certain that a large sum of money from the US reparations will be allocated to Russia for construction, and this money must not be saved.
"The Russian Empire can get money," said French Prime Minister Darlan with a smile, "It can get a lot of money, there is no problem. Because the loans we have recovered are just on the books, and then we will invest more money in Russia. In the near future, we in France will have a lot of money to find investment opportunities."
In Europe, France has always been a rich man. And unlike Germany, Germany invests in black technology and heavy industry when it has some money, and France likes to invest in lending when it has money, so it is called usury capitalism.
Before coming to Fort Europa, French Prime Minister Darlan also discussed the issue of building a financial center in Paris with major domestic bankers.
At that time, bankers in Paris did not know that the Germans would use atomic bombs to blackmail Americans, but they still believed that the future of Paris was promising. Because once the United States loses the war, capital will inevitably flow out in large quantities. And there are only two places where these capitals may flow-Paris and London!
In addition, France has deposited more than 2,000 tons of gold in the United States, and Darlan and his financial advisers believe that this money can be recovered. With this additional gold, France is eligible to gain greater power in the European Union Bank, which will help Paris defeat London!
And now, Darlan wants to turn Russia into a French "economic colony" by recovering loans, then lending and reinvesting, so as to consolidate France's position as a European economic and financial center in the future.
"In addition," Darlan proposed the conditions that he had discussed with the financial experts in Paris at this time, "we have another condition, which is about the European Bank. The French government requires an increase in shares and voting rights in the European Bank to reach the same share as Germany."
"Same as Germany?"
"Yes!" Darlan said, "We will use the 2,000 tons of gold shipped back from the United States and the compensation we deserve as capital. At the same time, Germany should also pay the same amount of gold as capital to the European Bank. Moreover, all countries that have shares and voting rights in the European Bank must contribute corresponding gold or silver as capital."
Now Britain and Russia are very poor and it is impossible for them to pay gold or silver to the European Bank, while other European countries are not worth mentioning. Even if they join the European Bank, they will be small shareholders with little say.
In other words, Darlan requires that France and Germany jointly control the European Bank!
Although Hitler is not a financial expert, he has a talent for economics and naturally understands the thoughts of Darlan and the French. However, at this moment, it is very reasonable for the French to make such a request.
"Marshal," Hitler said thoughtfully, "Can I assume that as long as I agree to your request, France will stand with Germany?"
"No!" Darlan thought for a moment and nodded heavily, "It's just that I and the Frank Legion will support the United States... As for whether France will become a member of the United States of Europe, we must look at the result of the referendum."