Chapter 69 The Blockade Continues

While the Germans were busy with rebellion, suppression and elections. In Paris, France, the heads or representatives of the five countries of Britain, France, the United States, Japan and Italy were holding a preparatory meeting for the Paris Peace Conference - no Russian representatives attended! Neither the mentor in Moscow nor the empress in Tallinn received an invitation to the Paris Peace Conference.

The preparatory meeting formulated rules of procedure, stipulating that the five major countries of Britain, France, the United States, Japan and Italy were "belligerents with universal interests" and could participate in all meetings of the conference. Belgium, China, Serbia and other countries were "belligerents with individual interests" and could only attend meetings related to their own countries. The United Baltic Principality, like Russia, did not exist and was nothing.

As for the defeated Germany and Austria-Hungary, they basically had no bargaining power - there should be none! They could only sign the treaty obediently.

In order to force the defeated countries to surrender, on January 20, the day after the Germans suppressed the Bolsheviks and held the National Assembly election. President Woodrow Wilson, who loves peace and democracy, met with Lloyd George from Britain and Clemenceau from France, the host, in the American Embassy.

"How about a toast, both of you?" The slender and elegant American president invited the guests into his office, and a waiter brought champagne. "Now it's time to celebrate with champagne. This is our American champagne, no worse than the French."

The French Prime Minister picked up a wine glass from the waiter's plate and took a sip of the sparkling wine inside - he didn't think this kind of wine could be called "champagne."

"It's really good wine!" The French Prime Minister said with compliments, "I don't think it's time to let the Germans drink this kind of sparkling wine now?"

The Germans don't need to drink champagne now, they need food! A man named Woodrow Wilson promised German Chancellor Albert on November 14 that as long as the Bolsheviks were suppressed and the National Assembly elections were held, they would get food aid.

However, the French Prime Minister's words had nothing to do with aid. Clemenceau knew that Woodrow Wilson would not fulfill his promise to the enemy. Clemenceau was referring to the blockade against Germany! Not only was there no food aid, but even money was not allowed to buy it!

"Can't the blockade be lifted now?" Woodrow Wilson was holding his glass, hesitant.

"Of course not!" British Prime Minister Lloyd George took a big sip of champagne and nodded appreciatively. Then he said: "The blockade suffocates Germany, so they will accept a more fair punishment."

"Then how long will the blockade last?" Woodrow Wilson asked thoughtfully.

"It will last until we reach an agreement on various issues of the treaty with Germany!" The French Prime Minister said triumphantly, "Let them starve first, and we will discuss it slowly."

"Okay, that's it." Woodrow Wilson nodded in agreement.

Lloyd George raised his glass and smiled: "Although we still have huge differences on many specific issues, today we have reached an agreement on a key issue. This is worth celebrating, cheers!"

"Cheers!"

"Cheers!"

The blockade will continue until the end of the peace conference, and hundreds of thousands of German citizens, women and children will starve to death!

Many German boys who survived this senseless catastrophe would rush into France fully armed 21 years later...

...

"Marshal, there are large-scale strikes in Hamburg, Munich and the Ruhr area, with a total number of more than 1 million people participating in the strike. In addition, the Soviet regime in Bremen has just announced a news censorship system, and they also firmly demanded the resignation of the Ebert and Scheidemann governments..."

Hersmann closed the folder in his hand and stood upright opposite the Chief of Staff Marshal Hindenburg.

It is now February 1919. As the Allies continue to blockade Germany, the Social Democratic Party government that won the election cannot provide enough food to feed the working class. Therefore, the flame of the proletarian revolution has not been extinguished by repression, and major cities in Germany are still in chaos.

So much so that the National Assembly did not dare to hold a meeting in Berlin to formulate a constitution, and has been hiding in the small town of Weimar for the past two days.

And Hersmann has been very depressed during this period, and many things are not satisfactory. First of all, the relationship with the Soviet Union has almost broken down, and the business of the Russian-German Economic Promotion Company has completely stopped.

This should be the sequelae of Lenin's internationalist fighters assassinating the Tsar's family. Olga was originally just a monarch of the Baltic Principality. Although she was an enemy of the Soviet Union, she was not a mortal enemy.

But now, her parents, brothers and sisters were all killed by the internationalist fighters sent by the Soviet Union. Not only did she have a blood feud with the Soviet Union, but she also became the "little mother" of the Russian empress and hundreds of thousands of White Russian troops.

Although the Red Army would most likely not provoke the Courland Defense Forces-except for fake fighting-but the business between the two sides would definitely not be done.

Secondly, the United Baltic Principality has not yet been recognized by the Allies, and the country has been completely ignored. However, this result is not bad, ignoring is better than sending troops to attack. Moreover, the Allies have only been relatively powerful in the past two years. When the Soviet-Russian civil war was decided, American isolationism rose, and Britain, the United States, France, Italy and Japan began a naval arms race. The hearts of the Allies were scattered, to the point where they could not even deal with Turkey.

The third thing that gave Hersman a headache was that the Industrial Promotion Committee was basically paralyzed! Because the factories involved were busy dealing with strikes. Even some of the machinery and parts of the Fokker Aircraft Factory and BMW that were previously shipped to Riga are now piled up in the warehouse and have not been unsealed. Because the situation in the Baltic was too unclear, Tallinn has now become the temporary capital of the Russian Empire. The war between the Soviet Union and the White Russia seems to be on the verge of breaking out.

The fourth is that the Military Intelligence Bureau headed by Hersman has been reorganized-from "bureau" to "department"! The chief of the bureau has become the director of the department. Since January 1919, Germany has begun to disarm. This is not only because of the Compiègne Forest Agreement, but also because the German government cannot afford the expenses of millions of troops.

Since October last year, Germany has been in a state of increasing chaos. Although the National Assembly has been elected, the situation has not eased. Strikes, protests, small-scale civil wars, and the continued blockade of the Allies have brought the German economy to the brink of collapse. The fiscal revenue of the People's Committee and the newly established German government has been reduced by more than half compared with the revolution. Naturally, they are unable to maintain a huge army, and disarmament has become an inevitable choice.

The Intelligence Bureau headed by Hersman has become the hardest hit area of ​​disarmament - this is related to the fact that officers in the old era generally do not pay attention to spies, and it is also related to Hersman's shallow qualifications - the Intelligence Bureau was severely slaughtered and turned into an intelligence department directly under the Chief of the General Staff, with a staff of only 80 people. Fortunately, Hersman's rank of lieutenant colonel has not been reduced, but if he wants to become a colonel (German colonel), it is probably a long way off.

As for the Stasi organization, it is not included in the list of disarmament. Because this organization is not part of the official establishment of the German army, and does not need to be paid by the German Ministry of Defense. But Hindenburg still ordered Hersman to put the Stasi under the strict control of the General Staff Intelligence Group. Moreover, the secret police function of the Stasi will be extended to Germany, and it will also be responsible for monitoring and infiltrating various political parties in Germany.

However, the Stasi cannot rely on the German army for funding... It still has to rely on trade and cooperation with the Soviet Union to make money, and currently it can only rely on old capital. Seeing the limited gold marks in his hands becoming less and less day by day, Hessman is not happy.

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