Chapter 787 Dissolution of the Third International
Portsmouth, England, located in the middle of the English Channel, has been famous for its status as a British Royal Navy port for centuries. It is now the most important military town in southern England.
The British Southern Command is stationed here. According to the original plan, the Supreme Allied Command will also move here in the middle of 1943 - but plans cannot keep up with changes. The Supreme Allied Command no longer exists. The main force of the American Expeditionary Force led by Eisenhower has now withdrawn to Edinburgh, and another group of American troops are trapped near Stoddonk. They are out of ammunition and are about to surrender.
As the commander of the Southern Military District, Baron William Edmund Ironside is in no mood to consider what will happen to the besieged American troops. Because the Britain he loves and is loyal to is undergoing an unprecedented change.
A proletarian revolution took place in London! And a socialist republic was announced!
This was not the most shocking thing for him and Viscount Brooke, the Chief of the Imperial General Staff, who arrived in Portsmouth on the 17th. Baron Ironside and Viscount Brooke had already discussed on the evening of the 17th that they could not let the Bolsheviks mess up Britain, and Britain must restore its democracy and rule of law!
At the same time, Baron Ironside and Viscount Brooke both believed that what was happening in London was similar to the Paris Commune movement in 1871. The revolution would not gain widespread support, and the difficulty of eliminating it would not be greater than the difficulty of the Thiers government in extinguishing the Paris Commune.
Moreover, both believed that the "London Commune" would definitely be beneficial to the peace talks between Britain and Germany. If Germany did not want the "London Commune" to become a big deal, it would have to abide by the Cairo Declaration and give Britain a decent peace.
In addition, the two British military leaders were both old-school figures, and they were quite persistent in the democracy and rule of law of the British Empire. They did not want to stand out in the "turbulent times" in Britain and become military dictators.
Therefore, Baron Ironside and Viscount Brooke tried to restrain the army and prevent them from turning to the Bolshevik Party; on the other hand, they contacted Conservative, Labour, Liberal politicians and members of the House of Lords (Upper House) in various places, hoping to organize a temporary parliament and elect a "legitimate" temporary government to suppress the "London Commune" and negotiate with Germany.
But just when the organization of the "legitimate" government and parliament had just begun, something unexpected happened in London. Princess Elizabeth, who was trapped in Buckingham Palace, suddenly started to act recklessly, throwing aside the "Bill of Rights" and the "Act of Succession", and openly demanded that the British army and subjects be loyal to her! And she also ordered the Royal Guards loyal to her to kill in London!
What does she want to do? Does she want to become the D monarch of the United Kingdom? Does she want to trigger another revolution to overthrow the D monarch?
The two British army bosses lost their direction for a while. They were unwilling to pledge allegiance to the underage princess. The democracy and rule of law of the British Empire could not be ruined like this.
But it was impossible to send troops to attack the queen... because it was also illegal! Moreover, Baron Ironside and Viscount Brooke were not warlords, nor did they intend to be warlords, nor did they have the ability to be warlords. So they could not use illegal attacks to deal with an illegal queen.
In addition, many of the hundreds of thousands of soldiers in uniform under the Southern Military Region also supported the "bloody queen".
Because everyone knew that the "queen's" fiancé was the son of the German emperor, and the rule of this "bloody queen" could bring certain peace to Britain and the most favorable conditions for peace.
So starting from the 19th, the commanders of the troops under the Southern Military Region successively issued statements of allegiance to the queen on behalf of the troops they commanded!
And just when the two "law-abiding" generals were in a dilemma, the Germans suddenly intervened-they wanted to take advantage of the short good weather on the 22nd to send planes to bomb the East End of London, the base of the "London Commune"!
"The Bolsheviks in London are finished now!" Viscount Brooke smiled bitterly, "Most of the people who follow the Bolsheviks now are incited because they are tired of war. As long as the German bombs fall on these people's homes tomorrow, everyone except the core members of the Bolshevik Party will leave.
Now, the Bloody Queen, no, the respected Queen Elizabeth will soon completely control London, which is loyal to her..."
"Then what should we do?" Baron Ironside asked with some embarrassment.
Viscount Brooke shook his head, "She will soon have a crown forged in blood! Since the Tudor dynasty, there has never been such a crown in Britain. And people like us obviously can't be Cromwell, and the current situation in Europe does not allow a Cromwell to appear in Britain."
To stop the Bloody Queen, a civil war must be fought! Britain has just experienced a disastrous defeat in foreign wars, lost world hegemony and half of the empire, and half of the remaining half of the empire is controlled by the United States. If another long civil war is fought, it will really be over.
For the UK now, having a central government that can unify commands and get the support of Germany is more important than anything else.
"Should we pledge allegiance to Her Majesty the Queen?" asked Baron Ironside.
"Make a statement in your personal name..." Viscount Brooke nodded and said, "Because the troops of the Southern Military Region are not our property, we are not qualified to pledge allegiance to Her Majesty the Queen on their behalf. However... we can let the hundreds of thousands of soldiers under the jurisdiction of the Southern Military Region vote to decide whether to pledge allegiance to Her Majesty the Queen."
"Vote?" Baron Ironside sighed, "This is really a good idea without leaving a bad name in history! But is this result really the best for Britain?"
Viscount Brooke shrugged, "This is a question that will take decades or even hundreds of years to answer... We can't see such a distant future, so we should take immediate interests into consideration first."
…
"Comrade General Secretary, the East End of London was bombed 5 hours ago! At the same time, Viscount Brooke and Baron Ironside issued a statement in Portsmouth, personally loyal to Elizabeth. At the same time, the British Southern Military District will hold a vote to Decide whether the entire military district is loyal to Elizabeth..."
Dimitrov, Secretary of the Executive Committee of the Third International, had a slightly trembling voice when he reported his work to Stalin. This time the British Revolution can be said to have gone up and down. It started like a volcano erupting, but in the blink of an eye it was on the verge of failure.
The civil war in London is now coming to an end, and all areas except the East End of London have been recaptured by the Royal Guards. And even in the East District, the situation is extremely bad!
After German planes dropped bombs, the foundations of the British Social Democratic Workers' Party (the Bolshevik Party) collapsed. Even the most confused British workers now know that it is impossible for the Social Democratic Labor Party to negotiate peace with Germany - only the Bloody Queen Elizabeth can accomplish this task.
The "voting" in the British Southern Military District is even more bad news. The possibility that the vote will not pass is almost zero - unless the soldiers in the Southern Military District are crazy and ready to fight the Germans.
The voting was just a formality. Once the voting was over, the Bloody Queen had hundreds of thousands of troops!
"The battle in the East End of London is meaningless!" Stalin smoked his pipe and made a decision in a low voice, "Now we must preserve the strength of the British Social Democratic Labor Party... The struggle will be long-term, and Elizabeth's dictatorial rule will inevitably not be defeated by the British The people welcome it, and there will definitely be a democratic revolution in Britain in the future. The Social Democratic Labor Party should become the force that leads the British democratic revolution!”
"I understand, General Secretary." Dimitrov said, "I will immediately ask the representative of the Third International in the UK to inform the British comrades of this opinion."
"No, not a representative of the Third International." Stalin shook his head and said, "The Third International will be disbanded!"
"What? Disband the Third International..."
Dimitrov was stunned again and again. What is going on? The Third International is about to break up. What will happen to the world revolution?
Stalin took a puff of cigarette and said solemnly, "This time in the British Revolution, the Third International made a mistake, a very serious mistake!"
Dimitrov was suddenly frightened. He made a mistake... Then he would have to go to reform through labor! I don’t know who should be unlucky?
“Furthermore, the United States has also protested to us, believing that the relationship between the Third International and the American Bolshevik Party is a threat to the national security of the United States.” Stalin said, “The United States requires us to disband the Third International, otherwise aid will be suspended. "
It turns out it’s because of the United States…
Dimitrov breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Comrade General Secretary, I understand... We must temporarily move the work of the Third International underground."
Stalin was noncommittal, but said in a serious tone: "This is another major setback for the world revolution... Our cause is facing unprecedented difficulties, not only around the world, but also within the Soviet Union."
The Soviet Union's domestic setbacks occurred in Leningrad and Kiev - the joint rescue operation conducted by the Kalinin Front Army and the Leningrad Front Army ended in failure. The two front armies lost no less than 300,000 people, but still could not break the German encirclement.
On the Ukrainian battlefield, the German army has been maintaining its offensive since last autumn and has now occupied most of the right bank of Ukraine. Kiev, the capital of Soviet Ukraine, has also fallen into a bloody battle and is about to fall!
In this case, Stalin had to follow Roosevelt's suggestion and use the method of disbanding the Third International to quell the antipathy against the Soviet Union in the United States.
Dimitrov's expression was consistent with Stalin's, looking very heavy. He asked: "Then shall all our aid to the world revolution also be stopped?"
"No," Stalin shook his head and said, "Aid to the world revolution must be reduced... This is for sure, but it does not mean stopping. Moreover, for the key areas of the world revolution, not only can we not reduce aid, but we must also increase investment! "
"The key areas are..."
"India!" Stalin said, "India will be the focus and turning point of the world revolution!"