Chapter 131: Destroying the Pound Means Destroying Germany?

“…Since the decline of the Roman Empire, our continent has been torn apart. People with similar blood and appearance, similar culture and traditions, the same faith in Jesus Christ, and all of whom have made Europe, the continent where brilliant civilization was born, their home, are separated by national borders and become Germans, British, French, Italians, Spanish, Poles or something else.

We are no longer our own people. We dig trenches and build defenses on our respective borders. We have established the world's most powerful army, navy and air force, and have formulated offensive plans that can be executed at any time, preparing to provoke war again at some point in the future to destroy other Europeans who we regard as enemies, and also prepare to destroy Europe is the home of all Europeans.

Some people may say: We Europeans have lived like this for thousands of years, killing each other, guarding against each other, launching wars one after another, and then the winners enjoy the joy, the losers shed tears and resentment, and either become depressed from then on, or work hard to try to taste the joy of victory in the next war. For thousands of years, our continent has been advancing in wars, and only the fittest can survive here. Therefore, the most brilliant civilization in human history has been produced-industrial civilization!

But the European War from 1914 to 1918 was very different from any war that occurred in Europe after the advent of the industrial age. The power that determines the outcome of the war is no longer the power of Europe, but the power from other continents!

The United States on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean had become the world's largest industrialized country before the war, producing the most steel, the most oil, and the most coal. Its population exceeded that of Britain and France combined, its territory and resources exceeded that of the entire Europe excluding Russia, and it held more gold than the entire Europe.

We can no longer regard the land outside Europe as a wilderness and a source of our raw materials. The most powerful industrialized country has been born outside Europe, and this country has begun to exert a huge influence on the European continent...

And the United States of America is not the only country that may take away Europe's position as the center of the world in the future. To our east, a country spanning the Eurasian continent, with a territory, resources, and population exceeding The Soviet Union, a great country that surpassed the United States, has also begun to rise!

Although their industrial output value in 1927 was less than half of that of Germany, they have overcome the difficulties brought about by the world war and civil war, and have formulated an ambitious five-year industrial development plan, preparing to build an industrialized country that is as powerful as the United States in the shortest possible time!

There is the United States in the west and the Soviet Union in the east. They are both extremely powerful and have unlimited room for growth. If they continue to develop, they will inevitably replace European countries such as Britain and France, whose land area is only a few hundred thousand square kilometers, and become the leaders of this world.

Now many European capitalists who are good at seizing opportunities have recognized this inevitable trend. The weakness of the pound and franc and the strength of the US dollar illustrate the problem. Funds are flowing out of Europe to the United States, and we Europeans still owe Americans a huge debt of more than 10 billion US dollars. Once the United States starts to collect debts, Europe's progress will become even bleaker.

If we don't try to change, then in the not too distant future, we Europeans will lose our pride and become slaves of the United States and the Soviet Union. The center of power in the world will no longer be London, Paris and Berlin, but New York and Moscow.

How will the United States and the Soviet Union, which have world power, treat us and our descendants?

I think we can imagine our future by referring to the current situation in Africa, India and China.

If we don't want our descendants to fall to that level. Then now, while the world's power is still in Europe and we in Europe still have industrial, economic and scientific capabilities that exceed those of the United States and the Soviet Union, we should put aside our prejudices and grudges and unite for the interests of future generations. From now on, starting with the establishment of a unified European Central Bank, we will move towards a unified, united and powerful European Community..."

In the Matignon Palace (the Prime Minister's official residence) in Paris, Raymond Poincaré was reading a thin book called "Our Dream" in a sarcastic tone. The author of this book is an army colonel named Ludwig von Heinsberg Hersmann. According to the investigation of the French military intelligence department, this German colonel is also the chairman of the German Army Policy Council and the director of the Military Intelligence Bureau. He also served as the Polish The deputy chief of staff of the Romanian Defense Forces is a core figure of the young German Army. Moreover, he is a key figure in the Soviet-German cooperation and is highly regarded within the German Army. It is said that he has a nickname called "Little Ludendorff".

With a snap, Prime Minister Poincaré threw the book in his hand on the desk and looked at the two visiting guests. One of them is George Leger, a core figure in the cabinet and former French Prime Minister. The other is Edward Alphonse Rothschild, a director of the Bank of France.

"George, Edward, what do you think? Are the Germans and the British colluding with each other? Is the establishment of the World Bank the beginning of European integration?"

"Mr. Prime Minister," Edward Alphonse Rothschild was the first to answer the question, "I don't think the British will really engage in European integration. Their thinking for hundreds of years has been to let the major players on the European continent Maintaining a balance of power and balance among the powerful countries cannot be broken in a short period of time, but forming an ECB and controlling the currency issuance in Europe is indeed what the British want.”

Historically, the theory of issuing an "international currency" that transcends sovereignty was proposed by Keynes. However, this idea was firmly opposed by the Americans, so it was not implemented.

But now, the Germans, who have long linked the mark to the pound, have come out to support the British "World Bank Plan." Considering that this is a critical moment in the struggle between the pound and the dollar, the Germans' move is tantamount to giving Britain timely help.

"Prime Minister, the British will get closer to Germany because of this!" Edward Rothschild said to the French Prime Minister in a deep and worried tone. "Their reaction to the Karl Marx proves it."

The appearance of the aircraft carrier "Karl Marx" certainly caused an outcry. But what Schleicher worried about did not happen, at least Britain did not make any protests to Germany. The United States also ignored the "Karl Marx".

"This aircraft carrier cannot be used for Atlantic operations," Secretary of the Navy George Legg interjected. "According to the photos taken by intelligence personnel in the Bosporus, this is an aircraft carrier with poor seaworthiness and can only operate in the Atlantic Ocean. Fighting in less stormy waters. Vladivostok is its home port. Considering the Soviet Union's support for the Chinese Wuhan government, the British may have determined that the Soviet Union's expansion direction has turned to the east, so this aircraft carrier is Japanese. "People's troubles are not the British's."

"No, George, you are wrong." Poincaré frowned, "The British will definitely restrict Germany from continuing to export naval technology to the Soviet Union, but...the British adopted private negotiations with Germany this time. And superficially ignoring the Soviet aircraft carrier! This means that the British are putting British-German relations above British-French relations!”

"This is inevitable," Edward Rothschild analyzed in a cautious tone. "Due to the implementation of the gold exchange system, Britain and Germany have considerable common economic interests. Now Germany hopes that the pound will remain stable so that the mark can Being able to maintain stability is a necessary condition for capital to flow into Germany, and the UK also hopes that Germany's economy can remain strong. Only in this way can Germany continue to send gold to the UK. Mr. Prime Minister, I think you should understand that the common interests of both parties are far greater. When there are disagreements, it’s not hard to find ways to resolve them.”

The French Prime Minister glanced at Edward Rothschild and said, "Edward, do your friends on Wall Street think so too?"

"Yes, our consultant Mr. Owen Young believes that after the implementation of the Keynesian Plan, the pound and the mark have a symbiotic and co-prosperous relationship. This relationship will inevitably prompt the United Kingdom to adopt a series of pro-German policies... because if Germany appears What's wrong, it also means the pound will collapse."

"In other words, there is nothing we can do now except build a defense line?" The line of defense that Poincaré mentioned was the later Maginot Line of Defense. Construction of the defense line has not yet officially started, but the construction plan has been finalized.

"No, that's not the case." Edward Rothschild paused, as if he had thought of some very destructive method.

"Edward, if you have any idea, just tell me!" the French Prime Minister urged impatiently because he was impatient.

"Chancellor, actually the reverse is also true... the collapse of the pound also means the collapse of the German economy!"

"The pound collapsed?" Poincaré was stunned and shook his head quickly, "That's not possible. The Bank of France also has a lot of pounds in reserve, as if it's tens of millions, right? Do you want all that money to depreciate? "

"No, Mr. Prime Minister, that money is our weapon! It is our weapon to break up the quasi-alliance between Britain and Germany!"

"Weapon? How to use it?"

Edward Rothschild replied: "If we exchange all pounds for gold and dollars, it will cause greater panic and selling... and the Bank of England does not have so much gold and dollars, they have no choice, We can only give up on our commitments, which means the depreciation of the pound and a massive outflow of funds from Germany!”

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Note: Historically, the crisis of the pound in the late 1920s and early 1930s directly led to the abandonment of the gold standard. The crisis was triggered by a run on the pound by the Bank of France. Britain and France were by no means close allies during the interwar, so much so that Hitler once thought he could win over an Anglo-German alliance.