Chapter 1355: Iron-Blooded President
The reason why Clemenceau chose to go all out was not only because he had no way out, but more importantly, it was out of a desire to protect France.
France was hit hard in World War I and lost a large number of people. France's outcome in World War I also made French high-level officials further realize the importance of population. If France was not inferior to Germany in population, it would not have fallen into its current predicament.
Although France's industry is now lagging behind Germany, it can be traced back to the population problem. After all, France lacks the basic minerals needed for industrial development compared to Germany, but France's colonial resources are still not bad.
However, the development of resources in these colonies also requires population support, otherwise the colonial resistance movements alone would be enough to overwhelm the French government.
East Africa has done very well in this regard. The rapid population growth since the colonial era has been the foundation for East Africa to expand and monopolize half of the African continent.
If traditional European colonial methods had been used, East Africa would never have expanded to its current size. Of course, this is also due to the high fertility rates of German and Far Eastern immigrants. The same is true for Slavic immigrants, who are the third largest source of immigrants in East Africa. However, the Slavic immigrants in East Africa have long been Germanized.
Of course, the French government, or the current French government leadership, is very envious of East Africa's fertility rate.
Clemenceau said in a sad tone: "France lost a large number of precious lives in the war, including many young people. They should have been the future of France and shouldered the heavy responsibility of France's breeding work, but they died on the battlefield because of our misjudgment of the war."
"Therefore, for the future of France, we must cherish the French people who are still alive today even more."
"If what is described in East Africa really happens, this round of plague will probably claim more lives, which is something I cannot accept."
Seeing that the President's will could not be changed, the government officials stopped struggling and asked, "Mr. President, what should we do?"
Although Clemenceau's future is bleak, it is undeniable that he is still the supreme leader of France. Moreover, he is known for his tough measures during the war, so no one in the government dares to provoke Clemenceau and do things that are hypocritical.
Seeing that the morale was high, Clemenceau said with great satisfaction: "Ladies and gentlemen, let us fight once more for France. As for our reputation after death, let future generations judge us. All we have to do this time is to have a clear conscience."
"Pass on my order. France has entered a state of emergency. From now on, the government will return to a wartime state and strictly control the country's supplies, especially medical resources."
"All French citizens must carry out their production and life activities under the arrangement of the government. For the hardest-hit areas, strict control will be implemented, and registration and filing work will be done well."
"The health department, army, police department and other relevant organizations, under the unified command of the government, are carrying out large-scale disinfection work across the country."
"Especially the ruins from the war and the corpses on the battlefield must be handled professionally to prevent the formation of new sources of infection and to be vigilant against the emergence of other plagues..."
On the Western Front, France was also the main battlefield, especially in the north of France, which resulted in a large number of buildings being destroyed by artillery fire and a large number of casualties.
In some ruins and battlefields, there is a high probability that there will be corpses that have not been cleaned up yet, so Clemenceau emphasized this point.
"We must strictly control the flow of drugs and crack down on those who drive up prices. If anyone dares to go against the government at this time, they will be charged with treason."
"We need to take inventory of the supplies stored in the warehouses requisitioned by the government and the military during the war, and strictly investigate the reselling of supplies. Although the war is over, fighting the plague is a new war, and I don't want to hear any bad news..."
France had stockpiled a huge amount of supplies for the war, and now these supplies were still piling up in warehouses because of the end of the war. Clemenceau planned to recycle them.
"Special governance measures will be implemented in the epidemic-stricken areas. Before the crisis is resolved, a strict isolation system will be implemented. The government will coordinate the delivery and transportation of medical and health resources across the country and daily necessities..."
Clemenceau arranged the tasks in an orderly manner, but other government officials became more and more frightened the more they listened.
There is no other reason. As a world sports powerhouse, France’s rulers know best how difficult it is to serve the French people.
You have to know that France had just emerged from the war and the French people had been suppressed for five years. Now Clemenceau's orders one after another were tantamount to shrouding France in shadow again.
It’s just that before it was the shadow of war, and now it is the shadow of plague. When the destructive power of this round of epidemic cannot be fully confirmed, Clemenceau’s series of measures are tantamount to telling the French that this epidemic crisis is no less serious than war.
If the epidemic develops as Clemenceau expected, it would be fine. But if it ends abruptly, the image of Clemenceau's government in the hearts of the French people will really be impossible to clear.
Moreover, there is a question mark as to whether the French government has the ability to suppress the plague within a controllable range on its own. If, like in the Black Death era, all means are helpless, then the situation will be even more hopeless.
With this in mind, someone asked President Clemenceau anxiously: "Mr. President, isn't this an exaggeration? If the situation is beyond our expectations and control, I'm afraid all of us will not be able to explain to the people."
President Clemenceau waved his hand and said, "Don't persuade me anymore. No matter how bad the situation is, it can't get any worse! You don't need to worry. Just follow my orders. I will bear all the consequences in the end. Even if I have to bear the blame, I will bear it!"
Seeing that the president was very determined and took the initiative to take responsibility, others did not dare to say more.
In fact, even though Clemenceau’s reputation among the French people has dropped significantly, his power has not been shaken in the slightest.
As the saying goes, "Misfortunes often come from the root of fortune, and fortune often comes from the root of misfortunes." It is precisely because France is a mess now that Clemenceau's competitors are unwilling to take over. Clemenceau's power has not been damaged in the slightest, which makes him more confident in implementing his own policies.
In early 1920, when East Africa was on high alert and prepared to deal with the plague, France followed suit and imposed martial law across the country.
The actions of the two governments have naturally been watched by other countries in the world and have been the subject of much discussion. Some countries support the attitudes of the two countries, but there are also many countries that sneer at the practices of the two countries and even want to watch the show.
Countries outside Europe believe that it is none of their business and keep a distance from the matter. Many of them do not realize the destructive power of this plague. In addition to delayed news and insufficient awareness, many people do not think that the plague will spread so quickly.
What's more, there has never been a plague of such a scale in the world before. After all, the world pattern today is very different from that before the 19th century. Now the world market has taken shape, which has also led to increasingly frequent trade, cultural, military and other exchanges between continents and regions.
This has also intensified the flow of people between countries and regions. The frequent flow of people naturally means that if a large-scale infectious disease breaks out, the possibility of it developing into a global disease will greatly increase.
This was the case with the Spanish flu in the previous life. Almost half of the world's 1.8 billion people were affected.
There are even estimates that during the Spanish flu pandemic from 1918 to 1919, between 50 million and 100 million people died in the world.
If this data is true, it would even far exceed the casualties of the entire First World War.
(End of this chapter)
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