Chapter 1433 Germany's Plan
When the Habsburgs were struggling with the Hungarian incident, Germany had already decided to help the Habsburgs suppress the revolution.
Berlin.
The day after the fall of Budapest.
William II ordered the German Bavarian army to enter a state of war readiness.
If the situation in Hungary worsens, the German army will not hesitate to enter the Austro-Hungarian Empire to help the Habsburgs suppress the rebels.
For Germany today, the Austro-Hungarian Empire is absolutely not to be lost, because the Austro-Hungarian Empire is Germany's most important and reliable ally in the world today.
The Berlin City Palace is the German imperial palace in the general sense. At this time, William II was here discussing the issues of the Austro-Hungarian Empire with German senior officials.
William II said to his ministers: "On the issue of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, we must help our allies and strangle the Hungarian Labor Party in the cradle."
"For the Empire, the importance of the Austro-Hungarian Empire is self-evident. It is our only reliable ally at present, and it is also an important partner of the Empire in its struggle for European hegemony and global expansion strategy."
"Compared to East Africa, there is no doubt that among the world's major powers, only Austria-Hungary is truly standing in the same trench with us."
German Prime Minister Hermann hurriedly said, "Your Majesty is right. Among the current world powers, Britain and France are in the same group. The United States and East Africa are staying out of it. The Soviet Union cannot be won over. The only one we can unite with is Austria-Hungary."
"Austria-Hungary is the Empire's most important partner in Europe and the world, and an indispensable link in the Empire's world interest chain."
"In order to stabilize the European situation and the world interests of the empire, there must be no problems with the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Therefore, we must help the Habsburgs stabilize the situation with regard to the Austro-Hungarian Empire."
Nowadays, when Germans discuss allies and geopolitical situations, they like to talk about East Africa. This is mainly because Germany was very dissatisfied with East Africa's behavior during World War I.
Especially German Emperor Wilhelm II, who was outspoken before World War I, causing some embarrassing situations in Germany's European diplomacy.
Although they had restrained themselves a lot after experiencing the setbacks of World War I, it was difficult for them to change their nature. Therefore, East Africa, which had "offended" Germany, was recorded in the little notebooks of William II and many Germans.
So now William II often expresses his resentment towards East Africa in private.
This is not just William II's personal idea, but the attitude of most Germans towards East Africa today.
In the eyes of many Germans, it was precisely because of East Africa's control that Germany was unable to expand its victory in World War I and seize European hegemony.
Unlike the miserable Germany after World War I in the previous life, in this time and space, the Germans believed that they were the "victorious nation". Although they paid such a huge price, they only expanded their territory to nearly 600,000 square kilometers.
However, compared to the Allied Powers, which gained nothing, the Germans believed that they had won by a narrow margin.
Therefore, Germany's national sentiment was even higher. After all, in World War I, Germany almost relied on its own strength to fight against the four major powers of Britain, France, Russia and the United States. Of course, several allies such as the Austro-Hungarian Empire and the Ottoman Empire also made certain contributions.
As for the supply of materials to East Africa during World War I, in the eyes of the Germans, East Africa contributed the least but gained the most, and it would not be an exaggeration to describe it as eating and taking at the same time.
Before the war, Germany's colonies of millions of square kilometers were taken over by East Africa, which has always been a thorn in Germany's side.
During the war, a large amount of social wealth accumulated by Germany fell into the pockets of East Africa, and the country also owed East Africa a large debt.
Of course, these were not the things that hurt Germany the most. After all, Germany had received payment from East Africa for the colonies it had bought and sold to East Africa. Moreover, although these colonies looked large, their value was actually not high. At least during the German rule, the expenditures on these colonies far exceeded the income.
Take the major colonies of Cameroon, Gabon and New Guinea for example. Most of the areas were tropical rainforests with extremely harsh conditions. Construction was difficult and the population was sparse. Even black slaves could not be captured in sufficient numbers to carry out large-scale development of the colonies.
As for the issue of wealth, East Africa did make a lot of money from Germany, but a large part of it was used by East Africa to repay the loans it had made to Germany before World War I. Therefore, Germany actually cared the least about this issue.
If we really talk about the loss of German social wealth, Germany's neighboring countries such as the Netherlands, Switzerland, Denmark, and overseas countries such as the United States have all gained a lot from early trade with Germany.
What Germany was most concerned about was that East Africa, as a German country, was at the mercy of the enemy during World War I, which caused Germany to lose the best opportunity to dominate the European continent.
To a certain extent, European hegemony in the early 20th century meant world hegemony. As long as Europe's hegemony was seized, all of Germany's losses would not only be compensated, but the benefits would also be doubled.
By then, Germany would have taken advantage of the situation to collect war reparations and various social wealth from the Allied Powers such as Britain and France, and would have taken over their vast colonies. In comparison, the things that East Africa had "extorted" from Germany were completely insignificant.
However, the actual result was that World War I resulted in the defeat of both the Allies and the Central Powers, while East Africa and the United States made a fortune. After the war, Germany shifted the main responsibility to East Africa.
This is not an isolated case. In fact, the British have similar views on the United States. Of course, East Africa and the United States, on the other hand, believe that they owe nothing to Germany and the British.
The most aggrieved people are definitely the Americans. After all, the United States really joined the war in the later period, and now American veterans are still asking for pensions and retirement benefits.
Of course, given the character of the United States, even if they gained a lot of benefits from World War I, I am afraid that the American soldiers who participated in the war would not have a good ending, just like in the past.
In short, Germany's attitude towards East Africa is extremely psychologically unbalanced, which has also led to a cooling of relations between East Africa and Germany in recent years.
However, although the relationship between the two countries has cooled, this does not affect the development of trade and cultural exchanges between the two countries. After all, hatred of East Africa cannot solve practical problems. Moreover, when World War I just ended, Germany also needed help from East Africa to restore the German economy as soon as possible.
For example, on issues such as debt extension, market opening, and material supply, Germany had to negotiate with East Africa during the difficult period just after the war.
Now that Germany has basically recovered, it is not surprising that Germany has started to calculate backwards. Moreover, the Germans themselves have a certain degree of discrimination against mixed-race countries like East Africa in their bones.
Nowadays, a certain orator in Bavaria, Germany, often says in public places such as beer halls: "... there is an incredible cognitive error: to think that blacks or yellow people can become Germans, because they have learned German and are willing to speak German in the future, they can become Germans. We can never clearly see that this process of 'Germanization' is actually a kind of 'de-Germanization'... This process is not 'Germanization', but destroying the vitality of the German nation..."
There is no doubt that Adolf's remarks were tantamount to scolding East Africa, but this was precisely a way for Adolf to win support for the election, and it achieved good results.
Adolf's remarks won the support of many people in the lower classes of German society.
However, Germans like Adolf today cannot develop as smoothly as they did in their previous lives, because the overall situation in Germany today is much better than in the past, which limits the development of extreme nationalists like Adolf in German politics.
As for the German government, some of their people may agree with Adolf's theory, but they will never show it.
Compared with East Africa, a "mixed" German country, there is no doubt that the Austro-Hungarian Empire under the leadership of the Habsburgs is more trusted by Germany today. Although the Austro-Hungarian Empire is not a German country, East Africa is at least flying the German banner.
But as long as the Habsburgs continued to rule the Austro-Hungarian Empire and Austria played a leading role in that empire, it would be far more important and reliable to Germany in the eyes of Germany than East Africa.
So, Hermann said: "The rule of the Habsburg family must be consolidated. This is necessary for the empire."
"Hungarian nationalists are a destabilizing factor for the Austro-Hungarian Empire. If the two groups merge, the Austro-Hungarian Empire could face the risk of disintegration at any time."
"So, in this situation, it becomes necessary for us to be prepared for military intervention."
In response to Hermann's remarks, some German officials also expressed their own views: "Your Majesty, and Mr. Prime Minister, the situation in Hungary should not be so bad."
"After all, no matter how irrational Hungarian separatists are, they are unlikely to risk the world's disapproval and choose to join forces with the Labour Party. Only those Hungarian extreme nationalists who are not doing well in their lives are likely to make irrational choices, but their own influence is very limited."
Hungarian extreme nationalists can also be divided into two types: one is the Hungarian aristocracy, capitalists and elites with a certain social status; the other is the common people.
There is no doubt that the disputes between Hungary and Austria in the past were mainly dominated by the former. After all, they hold the power in Hungary. If they do not support it, the so-called Hungarian independence will be a mirage.
In fact, if these elites did not support Hungarian independence, the assimilation of the Austro-Hungarian Empire would have been completed long ago, and would not have developed into the current divided situation.
As for this group, no matter what their attitude is, it is impossible for them to cooperate with the Labour Party. In fact, they are already in a situation of life and death with the Labour Party. In this case, they have to rely on the Austro-Hungarian Central Government to eliminate the Labour Party elements and take back their property and rights.
"So, the rebellion launched by the Hungarian Labor Party may not be an opportunity for the Austro-Hungarian Empire. You know, the Hungarian Labor Party will definitely deal a heavy blow to the Hungarian elite this time."
"If the Austro-Hungarian Empire can make good use of it, it may be able to solve the problem of national assimilation that has always been difficult to promote."
"For us in Germany, the stability of the Austro-Hungarian Empire is more beneficial to us. As we have seen before, the combat effectiveness of a divided Austro-Hungarian Empire is too low."
“So, if Austria-Hungary does not solve the nationality problem, it will also be detrimental to our alliance with Austria-Hungary.”
This German official obviously wanted to help Austria-Hungary, because as a world power, Austria-Hungary's performance in World War I was really not in line with its overall strength and status.
In the past, Germany certainly did not want to see the Austro-Hungarian Empire become strong, because at that time, Austria was an obstacle to Prussia's unification of Germany.
However, the situation has changed now. It has been several decades since the unification of Germany, and the country is relatively stable as a whole. Even if Austria revives, it is unlikely to have much impact on the stability of Germany itself.
What's more, the Austro-Hungarian Empire has now become Germany's yesman. At the same time, in World War I, the Austro-Hungarian Empire has completely offended Britain and France, which also means that it must stand with Germany.
Therefore, it is in line with Germany's current interests to moderately support the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Even if the Austro-Hungarian Empire can complete national integration, the gap between it and Germany has already widened too much. In terms of military, economy, industry, technology, population and other aspects, it is impossible for it to become a competitor of Germany in a short period of time.
Not to mention, the national integration of the Austro-Hungarian Empire is basically impossible to achieve. Given the current situation of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, it can only be achieved through a thorough change in the political system and the establishment of Austria's complete core position.
Therefore, Hermann said: "Indeed, if the Habsburgs can seize the opportunity, it will indeed help alleviate their national problems. At least in the near future, we do not want the Austro-Hungarian Empire to disintegrate. Instead, we hope that their cohesion can be improved."
"Of course, we must be cautious about Austria-Hungary's intervention. After all, we cannot tolerate another Labour Party regime in Eastern Europe."
"So, once the situation in Hungary exceeds the threshold, our troops should move in. We cannot have too much hope in the Austro-Hungarian Empire's ability to respond."
"Just like the Bosnian incident, the Austro-Hungarian Empire has been on a downward spiral over the years. A small cold could cause serious damage to them."
Hermann was skeptical about the ability of the Austro-Hungarian government, a conclusion based on the Austro-Hungarian Empire's poor performance in World War I.
Although the Austro-Hungarian Empire's combat effectiveness seemed good in the middle and late stages, it was premised on the organization and assistance of Germany. Moreover, the Austro-Hungarian Empire's opponent at the time, Tsarist Russia, was considered very backward by Germany.
In addition, the Austro-Hungarian Empire also fought against the British, but at that time the British troops on the southern front were completely second-rate troops, and were mixed with a large number of colonial vassal troops.
Therefore, Hermann believed that the Austro-Hungarian Empire could only fight when the wind was favorable. If the Hungarian Labor Party performed slightly better, it might be difficult for the Habsburgs to cope with it.
At this time, Germany had to take action personally to help the Austro-Hungarian Empire resolve this political crisis.
Most people in the German government thought the same, so the government successfully passed various plans to help the Austro-Hungarian Empire eliminate the Hungarian Labor Party and made military preparations.
However, before the Austro-Hungarian Empire formally asked Germany for help, Germany could only wait and see. It was not that Germany did not want to end it now.
Rather, as a world power, the Austro-Hungarian Empire itself had its own self-esteem, so they certainly hoped to completely suppress the Hungarian rebellion without the help of Germany.
(End of this chapter)
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