Chapter 733 The Establishment of the Federal Reserve

The German Chief of Staff Falkenhayn came to the palace to meet with German Emperor Wilhelm II. After waiting for a long time, the stern-looking German Emperor Wilhelm II finally arrived. The news of the severance of diplomatic relations between the United States and Germany made Wilhelm II feel heavy-hearted. According to information from secret channels, after repeated and comprehensive considerations through democratic resolutions, it might take another two months for the United States of America to go from severing diplomatic relations to declaring war. Of course, no one knows how long the subsequent training of the US military will take before it can rush to the European battlefield.

A country that is maneuvering outside the two major camps and is about to join the enemy's camp is not good news in any way. The final result may make Germany pay a heavy price. Thinking of this, William II frowned.

"Your Majesty!" Falkingham was hesitant to speak when he saw William II's look, and finally he sighed. How could he not know that in terms of grand strategy, Germany had narrowed its path?

"Chief of the General Staff, you are here. What's the matter?" William II spoke while forcing himself to stay awake and maintaining the dignity of the emperor.

"I have a new battle plan. I hope Your Majesty will approve it." Falkenhayn said solemnly, "I hope this attack can save the war situation."

"Oh? Are we still going to launch an attack on the Western Front? Since the beginning of the year, I have been hearing news about the British and French forces taking the initiative to attack." William II did not comment, obviously having some understanding of the character of the Chief of Staff who launched the Battle of Verdun.

If the German army had not suffered less losses than the enemy on the battlefield, and if the British Indian Army had not lost a lot of people in the Battle of the Somme, Falkingham would not be able to still be the Chief of the General Staff today.

"I believe that after this offensive begins, the British and French coalition forces will attack soon." Falkenhayn cheered up. "Since I succeeded Moltke as Chief of the General Staff, all I have thought about is how to end the war while gaining an advantage. Today, I am willing to speak my mind in front of Your Majesty without hiding anything. This time, I strongly support Hindenburg and Ludendorff's idea of ​​launching an offensive on the Eastern Front with unprecedented force to force Imperial Russia to withdraw from the war."

"Oh? This is something new." William II was a little surprised. Falkingham's attitude was very different from before. The two generals Hindenburg and Ludendorff on the Eastern Front had always advocated taking a defensive stance on the Western Front, concentrating troops and focusing on uniting with the Allies to defeat Imperial Russia. This was contrary to Falkingham's idea.

Seeing that the Chief of the General Staff and important generals on the front line were in agreement, William II rarely smiled and acted as if he was ready to listen. Falkenhayn laid out his thoughts.

On the western front, the German, Austro-Hungarian and Italian armies were assigned positions in a 1.5:1:1 defensive line. In addition to a section of positions, the rest of the German army took a flexible defensive posture, waiting for the attack of the British and French coalition forces. The main force joined the Austro-Hungarian army on the eastern front to launch an attack.

A total of 1.3 million soldiers were deployed on the Eastern Front, together with the Austro-Hungarian Empire's million-strong army, to launch a decisive offensive against Imperial Russia.

"Ever since I took over as Chief of the General Staff, I have been thinking all the time about how to end the war with an advantageous position. Your Majesty, please give me your full support this time. For the sake of the empire and for Your Majesty, the soldiers who are about to enter the battle will surely fight to the death." Falkenham bowed slightly and spoke very sincerely.

"I hope you can unite Generals Hindenburg and Ludendorff. The situation has reached the point where you must unite." William II thought for a long time and said, "Forget your previous arguments about whether to focus on the Eastern Front or the Western Front. Focus on the place where the greatest progress has been made."

For German soldiers, three years of war had already made many soldiers accustomed to the high frequency of war, running from the Eastern Front to the Western Front, and then from the Western Front to the Eastern Front. Some troops were not even running back and forth for the first time. In mid-September, 700,000 German soldiers had arrived at the Eastern Front.

The news that the German army would transfer its main force to the Eastern Front did not escape the British and French forces on the Western Front. After learning that the United States was optimistic about joining the Allied camp, the British and French leaders believed that Germany's defeat was a foregone conclusion and that Germany's final offensive power would be exhausted. At that time, Germany would have no choice but to surrender. However, the leaders of the two countries also knew that the Russian Empire on the Eastern Front was actually Germany in their eyes. Since the beginning of the war, the Russian Empire had been surrounded by the Allied camp. Wasn't it almost exhausted?

The news of the large number of German soldiers appearing on the Eastern Front became known to the British and French forces through British and French reconnaissance on the Western Front and telegrams sent back by Imperial Russia. By now, of course, they could guess what the Germans were thinking. Just as the German soldiers arrived at the Eastern Front, the British and French forces on the Western Front launched another offensive to save Imperial Russia, which was about to face a catastrophe.

In early September, the Allied Forces launched a full-scale offensive against the German forces in front of them. The British Fifth Army was the main attacker; the French First Army and the British Second Army were the assisting forces. On that day, the Allied Forces broke through the first German position at a heavy cost. On September 16, the Allied Forces launched a second offensive, but the offensive in the main direction was blocked. The German Fourth Army organized a "flexible defense", placing its main support on the Italian front between the German and Austro-Hungarian positions, building a series of bunkers surrounded by water on three sides, which were easy to defend and difficult to attack, at the front positions, equipped with some troops to block the enemy, and deployed the main force in the depth to counterattack, forcing the Allied Forces to pay a heavy price for every step forward. The German army's new tactics and bad weather once again delayed the Allied Forces' offensive.

After five days of attack, the Anglo-French forces suffered heavy losses. At this time, Britain once again mobilized two Indian army groups to maintain the offensive. Countless Indian soldiers entered the battlefield and were exposed to the Allied soldiers.

At the same time as the British and French forces on the Western Front sounded the clarion call for attack, Russian Emperor Nicholas II also understood that the Allied camp was preparing to deal him a severe blow, so he met with Grand Duke Nicholas and General Alexei Alexeevich Brusilov, commander of the Russian Southwestern Front, to ask if they could take the initiative and disrupt the Allied offensive.

General Alexei Alexeevich Brusilov, a frontline general, was worried and said that the frontline soldiers were exhausted and it was unrealistic to attack. Nicholas II was greatly disappointed!

"Are we going to wait for them to come knocking on our door?" Nicholas II said angrily. "What we need now is persistence. We are already standing on the eve of victory."

Finally, Brusilov agreed to try an offensive to boost the low morale of the Russian soldiers. The battle was set on the southwest front. Brusilov took the capture of Lemberg, an important town in Galicia, as a phased goal. This was the transportation and communication center between the Austro-Hungarian army and the German army. The offensive aimed to cause as much damage as possible to the Austro-Hungarian army in Galicia, and if possible, to force it to withdraw from the war.

The capital of the United States of America, this day is not a particularly important day in the First World War, but for some people, this day is much more important than any world war.

Sheffield, along with a group of New York banks, representatives of banks from various regions, plus Mellon and DuPont, as well as J.P. Morgan and Rockefeller, negotiated the formation of the Federal Reserve System with Secretary of the Treasury William Gibbs McAdoo.

McAdoo worked as a lawyer in Tennessee in his early years. Later, he moved to New York, established two companies and dug a tunnel under the Hudson River. In the 1910 New Jersey gubernatorial election and the US presidential election, he supported Woodrow Wilson. When he was the Secretary of the Treasury, he won the trust of President Wilson.

Sheffield actually trusted McAdoo very much, although on some issues, such as the loan to the Allies, McAdoo also stood with the majority, not with him. The latest loan to the Allies has been put on the agenda, and is being communicated with Britain and France. Once the fundraising is successful, including the first three loans, the United States has already issued loans to the Allies to reach 18 billion US dollars.

This is an astronomical figure. If we ignore the expenses of slave owners in the Persian Gulf, the net profit of the joint company in recent years has not even reached one-tenth of this figure.

When slave owners attended major events, they would always bring Edith Rockefeller and Louisa Morgan with them, as if to remind the villains all the time that there were two tough guys around them to deter other people with ill intentions.

The establishment of the Federal Reserve received strong support from the Federal Treasury Secretary and even went too smoothly.

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"I have some knowledge of the country's financial history. Several finance ministers have failed in the National Bank incident." Louisa Morgan sighed, "But this time it went so smoothly."

"The connections are here?" Sheffield said disapprovingly, "McAdoo has good relationships with all the major bankers."

"Of course, the relationship with you is even better," Edith Rockefeller said with a smile, "You are in the Democratic Party base, who dares to offend you?"

"That's not the case. Since McAdoo is President Wilson's son-in-law, we have a pretty good relationship. But it's not closer than his relationship with the New York banking group. But he likes to travel, and Gail has a good relationship with him." Sheffield corrected Edith Rockefeller's thoughts, "When we went to Puerto Rico, Gail personally entertained us."

"The president's son-in-law!" Louisa Morgan glanced and obviously grasped the key point of the problem, but said nothing.

There is no point in complaining, as the slave owners will certainly evade the issue by saying that the best people are promoted regardless of their relationship with them and that democratic decision-making is the result of consensus reached through discussion by everyone.

From the perspective of the Federal Reserve, the negotiations with the Secretary of the Treasury this time were extremely fast. All procedures were completed the next day, and the Federal Reserve was officially established. At the same time, McAdoo, as the Secretary of the Treasury, initiated a fourth round of loans to the Allied camp, which also received everyone's support.

Sheffield also supported it. For many reasons, he could give strong support to the president's son-in-law, but he would not pay a penny.

(End of this chapter)