"From a French perspective, it is in France's best interest to weaken Germany."
"France and Germany are neighboring countries. They are France's biggest and most direct threat on the European continent. They are also France's strongest rival in the fight for Europa hegemony."
Hyōtaro Imamura was talking eloquently. He looked at Kentaro Miyazaki and said, "Kentaro, these comprehensive factors I mentioned can ultimately be summed up in one sentence. Please tell me."
Cheng Qianfan looked thoughtful.
"The French felt the strength of Germany during the European War." He said, paused, and showed a hesitant expression. "Teacher, my feeling is that the French were afraid of being beaten by Germany, so France tried every means to weaken Germany. "
After the European War, the French not only demanded exorbitant prices for reparations from the Germans, but also carved up Germany's overseas colonies, seized Alsace and Lorraine industrial bases, and controlled Germany's Saarland Industrial Zone.
In addition, France also proposed various restrictions on Germany to prevent Germany from rising again.
Even so, the French were still uneasy.
France even joined forces with Belgium to openly dispatch troops to occupy Germany's Ruhr Industrial Zone, causing the situation in Europe to suddenly become tense, and the Germans almost revolted.
"It's just-" Cheng Qianfan frowned.
"Just what?" Imamura Hyōtaro asked.
"It's just that the teacher said just now that France is not afraid of Germany, they are probably buying time." Cheng Qianfan said.
"From the perspective of the European War, although France is the victor, they were indeed frightened by the Germans' fighting power. Your point of view is right." Hyoutaro Imamura said, and he motioned Kentaro Miyazaki to sit down and listen to the lecture. ', "In other words, this fear can be understood as jealousy."
He took a sip of tea and continued, "However, this fear does not mean that France dare not declare war on Germany because of fear."
Having said this, Imamura Hyoutarou frowned slightly, and then his expression returned to normal, "Let's talk about Yingjili."
"From the British perspective, although the British are also very fearful and worried about Germany, it should be noted that there is a change here -" Imamura Hyōtaro smiled slightly, "The British are also worried about the French."
He looked at Miyazaki Kentaro, "Kentaro, I remember I once told you this. Please answer me, what is Britain's foreign policy?"
"Britain..." Cheng Qianfan thought for a moment, "Britain is far away from the European continent. They are most worried about a unified European continent, or they do not want to see a unilaterally powerful country on the European continent."
He saw Hyotaro Imamura's tea bottoming out and stood up to help refill it. "Therefore, the British have been pursuing a continental balance of power policy on the European continent and have been trying to maintain the balance of the major forces on the European continent."
"That's right." Hyōtaro Imamura nodded with satisfaction, "If Germany is weakened too much, it will inevitably cause France to dominate the European continent, which will pose a new threat to Britain. At the same time, Britain is unwilling to lose the huge market of Germany. So the British were unwilling to weaken Germany too much."
It was precisely because of this position that at the Paris Peace Conference that year, French Prime Minister Clemenceau insisted on assigning Germany's Saar Basin to France, but Britain clearly expressed its opposition.
British Prime Minister Lloyd George had a famous remark: You can deprive Germany of its colonies, reduce its army to only the police force for maintaining law and order, and reduce its navy to the status of a fifth-class country, but we Resolutely oppose ceding the German people from German rule to other countries beyond the scope of necessity.
"As for the Americans." Hyōtaro Imamura showed a hint of sarcasm, but there was a hint of solemnity in the sarcasm.
"Americans only have interests in their eyes. They have a clear attitude and do not want Germany to be weakened too much." He looked at Kentaro Miyazaki, "Kentaro, you are good at business and you should be able to understand the reason best."
"I know, I know." Cheng Qianfan said happily and with great interest, "Britain and France owed a huge debt to the Americans in the European War. They needed the German war reparations to repay this debt. It is precisely because of the existence, the United States does not agree to excessively weaken Germany."
Cheng Qianfan raised the corners of his mouth with a look of pride, "In Chinese terms, if the tenant farmers die, there will be no one left to cultivate the land for the landlord."
Hyōtaro Imamura laughed loudly and pointed at Kentaro Miyazaki.
This student of mine has a natural talent for business, or money.
"Yes, if Germany is weakened too much, the Germans will not be able to repay their debts, and the United States' money will be wasted." Hyoutaro Imamura said, "At the same time, the Americans hope to use Germany to contain Britain and France, and use Germany to Enter the European market and participate in various European economic and political affairs.”
"I understand." Cheng Qianfan nodded, "So the United States actually united with the British, and they jointly opposed France's proposal to excessively weaken Germany."
There was a look of reverence in his eyes, "I remembered that the teacher told me about the Ruhr crisis."
In order to force France to make concessions, the United States and Britain used various means.
During the Ruhr crisis, the United States and Britain directly dumped France's huge overseas treasury bonds and stocks, causing France to almost go bankrupt. France had no choice but to withdraw from the Ruhr.
"Kentaro, you must have discernment and be able to look at the relations between these countries with a wise eye." Hyoutaro Imamura said with a serious expression, "You have seen that the United States and Britain oppose France to weaken Germany. At the same time, you must also see that Britain and France also United against the United States because they do not want the United States to interfere in European affairs."
"In fact, the attitude of the United States, Britain and France towards Germany is actually a multi-party game between the three countries' interests in the European continent and the overseas colonies of the European powers." Imamura Hyoutaro said solemnly.
"Students have learned a lesson." Cheng Qianfan bowed respectfully to Imamura Hyoutarou and thanked him.
Some of what Imamura told today was something that he already knew, and some of it was something that he seemed to have understood before, but he didn't really see through it. Now that Imamura Hyoutarou's serious lectures, he felt quite enlightened.
Therefore, Cheng Qianfan's bow to Imamura Hyoutarou was sincere.
To be honest, Imamura Hyoutarou was very attentive to his teachings. In the past three years, Cheng Qianfan studied seriously with Imamura Hyoutarou, especially international history, analysis of the international current situation, and the policy of the 'Empire of Japan' towards China since the Meiji Restoration. He absorbed enough knowledge about the changes and the reasons behind them.
The most important thing is that Cheng Qianfan has been trained to look at problems from a broad perspective as a qualified and even excellent diplomat. Of course, in his daily student life, he will deliberately hide his clumsiness when needed.
It can be said that with Cheng Qianfan's current rich and substantial knowledge reserves, extraordinary vision, and international outlook, he is fully qualified to be an outstanding diplomat in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. (PS1)
"Teacher, you just said that France would not dare to declare war on Germany because it is afraid of the Germans." Cheng Qianfan asked cautiously, "I noticed that you don't seem to be sure."
"You boy, you observe carefully." Imamura Hyōtaro said with a smile. He would not blame Miyazaki Kentaro for observing his expression secretly. On the contrary, Imamura Hyōtaro would be satisfied, which shows that he, as a student, respects him very much. , cautiously, for fear of making him unhappy.
"There will be no problem if France declares war on Germany. The French are not lacking in the courage to declare war." Hyōtaro Imamura said. He shook his head, "It's just that I previously thought that although the French were afraid of Germany, this was just a With this pre-war thinking, after the formal war begins, the French army's combat effectiveness will still be good, but I suddenly have a feeling that it will be difficult for the French to win this war."
"Teacher, are you saying that the French will lose the war?" Cheng Qianfan asked in surprise.
This is not an act. France is the strongest country in Europe. This is recognized and is the result of the European War.
"Losing the war?" Imamura Hyoutarou frowned and thought, "With France's military and national strength, it is difficult to lose the war."
He shook his head, "However, winning is not easy, and it may lead to a stalemate."
He told Kentaro Miyazaki, "The stalemate I am talking about may not be limited to the Polish battlefield and the French-German border."
"Maginot Line? The teacher said it was the Maginot Line." Cheng Qianfan was stunned. "Pete often showed off the Maginot Line to me. He said that once France and Germany went to war again, the Germans would bump heads in front of the Maginot Line. Blood flowed, and even corpses littered the fields."
"That's the crux of the problem." Hyotarō Imamura smiled slightly, "According to what you said, Peter is a very proud French soldier. Even such a person thinks that the Maginot Line is the pride of the French military. "
"Do you know what this Maginot Line of defense, which makes the French proud, means?" Hyotarō Imamura asked.
"It means that the French are already prepared." Cheng Qianfan said.
"This line of defense means that France has completely given up attacking Germany." Hyoutaro Imamura said, "Because this line of defense is to prevent German invasion, it means that France knows that Germany will attack itself sooner or later, and it has already been preparing."
"Doesn't this mean that the French are preparing for a rainy day..." Cheng Qianfan said, and then he himself fell into deep thought.
Hyōtaro Imamura smiled and did not disturb his student's thoughts.
Cheng Qianfan raised his head with a look of "understanding" and said, "Teacher, I understand. The French only have the courage to defend and no longer have the courage to attack."
He said to Hyotarō Imamura, "You cannot win by just defending, so the teacher said it would be difficult for France to win."
Hyōtaro Imamura nodded slightly, showing an expression of satisfaction that said, "You are a teachable boy."
At this moment, the phone on Hyoutarou Imamura's desk rang.
Hyōtaro Imamura glanced at Kentaro Miyazaki.
Cheng Qianfan then stepped forward and picked up the phone receiver, "This is Counselor Imamura's residence."
"Your Excellency, Consul General." Cheng Qianfan had a solemn expression, stood with his feet together, lowered his head, and leaned forward, in a standard posture of respectfully listening to the instructions on the other end of the phone.
"Hai!"
With that said, Cheng Qianfan bowed slightly and handed the phone receiver to Imamura Hyoutarou with both hands, "Teacher, this is the phone number of His Excellency the Consul General."
Hyōtaro Imamura answered the phone, "Sir, it's me."
Cheng Qianfan stood straight beside Imamura Hyoutarou.
He is testing.
If Iwai Eiichi personally called Imamura Hyoutarou so late, there must be something extremely important.
Therefore, he did not choose to leave.
Although this was an instant decision, it was not a risky trial, but a trial with a safe bottom line.
As expected, Hyōtaro Imamura just glanced at him and seemed quite satisfied with his respectful attitude.
He didn't wave him off either.
Cheng Qianfan knew that his bet on this performance was right:
He was respectful, reverent, and even more intimate to Imamura Hyoutarou.
Now facing Eiichi Iwai's phone call, he showed a strong sense of respect. This does not mean that he does not respect Imamura and only wants to please Eiichi Iwai. He showed this subconscious respect for Iwai in front of Imamura Hyoutarou. This means that this is in line with the normality of Japanese society with strict hierarchies, and this just shows how precious his closeness to Imamura Hyoutarou from his heartfelt respect is.
Putting down the phone, Imamura Hyōtaro glanced at Miyazaki Kentaro, "Britain and France have decided to declare war on Germany tomorrow."
Cheng Qianfan nodded first, then frowned, showing surprise and thought.
"You can see that this is unusual." Imamura Hyōtaro nodded with satisfaction.
"Teacher." Cheng Qianfan nodded and said, "Britain and France decided to declare war on Germany tomorrow, but we actually found out tonight?"
"Tony Kethaway had a phone call with Mr. Iwai and informed the British government of the decision." Imamura Hyoutarou said lightly, with a hint of sarcasm involuntarily revealed on his lips.
Cheng Qianfan knew that Tony Kessaway was the chief executive of Jardine Matheson and a director of the Public Settlement Industry Bureau. Although he was a businessman, the Iwai Mansion had long suspected that he was serving the British government.
"The British government wants to declare war on Germany, why do they want to go through a businessman from the Far East..." Cheng Qianfan said.
Suddenly, he looked thoughtful, and there was a hint of surprise in his eyes, but there was also some uncertainty and hesitation.
"What have you thought of?" Imamura Hyoutarou smiled, "Speak boldly. It doesn't matter if you are wrong."
"Britain and France are not hoping that through us they will 'secretly' reveal to the Germans the news that they are preparing to declare war on Germany tomorrow?" Cheng Qianfan looked at Imamura Hyoutarou and said in an uncertain tone.
"Why is it impossible?" Imamura Hyōtaro smiled, and he patted his student's shoulder, "Kentaro, I'm very pleased. My expectations for you have lived up to my expectations. You have the potential to become an outstanding diplomat."
With that said, he patted Kentaro Miyazaki on the shoulder again, "It's just that you have to have more confidence in yourself in the future and don't hesitate."
"Yes!" Cheng Qianfan said quickly, with joy, gratitude, and respect in his eyes, "Kentaro was originally stubborn and stupid. His progress today is all due to the teacher's good teaching."
Imamura Hyōtaro laughed loudly. He took a sip of tea and looked at Kentaro Miyazaki expectantly, "What do you think about this matter?"
PS: Please subscribe, ask for rewards, ask for monthly votes, and ask for recommendation votes, thank you.
Please give me some monthly tickets (please hold your fists) PS1: You may think that the content taught by Imamura seems to be of average level and very simple, because everyone knows it - in fact, the knowledge that everyone knows now is historians and political science. What strategists, military strategists, and economists have summarized, written down, and become teaching materials, and the ways to obtain information now are beyond the reach of people at that time.
(End of chapter)
