Chapter 1694 Security Work
Germany's military parade and exercises put immense pressure on the Soviet Union, and the German media began to create momentum, attacking the Soviet Union's political, economic, and other issues. At this point, almost everyone believed that Germany was targeting the Soviets.
Conversely, the atmosphere among dignitaries from various countries at the Villanuf Palace in Warsaw was quite harmonious at this time.
Wilanowski Palace is located in the suburbs of Poland. Construction began in 1677 and it was built by King John III Sobieski of Poland as a summer palace for his queen.
Like the Russians, the Slavic Polish people also greatly admired Western civilization, so this Polish king specially hired an Italian architect to build this palace.
The palace is predominantly Baroque in style, full of artistic flair, with beautiful and exquisite fountains and sculptures, and also houses a library and a museum with a large collection of artifacts and books.
Therefore, Wilanowski Palace is also known as the "Versailles of Poland," an honor that may evoke certain associations for those interested on this special day.
Fortunately, this is Warsaw, Poland, not Paris, France; otherwise, the French in Villanueva Palace would probably be on their guard.
Of course, the dinner being held here was not intentionally done by the Germans, but rather arranged by the Polish government.
The Polish government chose Wilanowski Palace as the venue for banquets and the rest of dignitaries because of its location and its special status among the many palaces in Warsaw.
The scenery here is beautiful, and its location in the suburbs makes it convenient for security work. Moreover, Wilanowski Palace is the most artistic of Poland's many palaces, so it is the perfect place for banquets and for leaders of various countries to relax.
An inconspicuous corner outside the Villanueva Palace.
"There can be no mistakes at tonight's banquet. No suspicious persons are allowed to approach or appear here. The slightest carelessness could lead to a major scandal, and we might both be shot and become traitors to Poland," a Polish officer in charge of security at Wilanowski Palace instructed his men.
Patrol leader Vakovsky said, "Don't worry, Lieutenant Poltov, we wouldn't let even a mosquito in, let alone a suspicious person."
Lieutenant Poltov was satisfied with his subordinates' attitude. He said earnestly, "It's not that I'm deliberately making things difficult for you. We're all brothers normally, but that depends on the occasion."
“Now, every important figure in the Wilanov Palace is a well-known figure in Europe. Any small mistake could trigger a diplomatic incident and make Poland lose face on the international stage.”
"Poland is not peaceful right now, so don't think that there aren't any reckless madmen who wouldn't dare to come here and cause trouble."
"Especially the Labor Party members and extreme nationalists, they've caused quite a bit of trouble in Poland in recent years!"
Sandwiched between Germany and the Soviet Union, Poland is clearly not going to be stable even in peacetime, which has led to some chaos in Poland in recent years.
Warsaw, as the capital of Poland, is no exception; on the contrary, it is a place where spies from various countries and various social organizations are extremely active.
Soviet spies and extreme nationalists are the two groups that give the Polish government the biggest headache.
The Soviet Union was not a stable country to begin with, especially Poland, a hostile neighbor that the Soviet Union also valued highly. Therefore, the Soviet Union never stopped exporting its ideology to Poland.
Correspondingly, the Polish Workers' Party organization, even without Soviet support, would obviously not have been able to quiet down.
Although Poland is indeed an agricultural country, it has been actively developing its industry since independence, especially Warsaw, which, as the capital of Poland, is a major industrial center.
With more factories, the working class naturally grew and expanded, making Warsaw a fertile ground for the development of labor organizations.
Compared to rural Poland, it is no exaggeration to call a large city like Warsaw "high-quality soil," especially considering that farmers demonstrated their loyalty to the current Polish government during the last war between Poland and the Soviet Union.
Of course, the contempt for peasants, or even the "tyranny" within the Soviet Union, was also an important basis for Polish peasants to recognize reality. Not to mention that Poles have always disliked Russians. Whether in the Tsarist era or the Soviet Union, they were not good people in the eyes of the Poles.
Polish working-class workers in cities shared a strong sense of empathy with the Soviet Union, for a simple reason: the Soviet social system itself was extremely attractive to them.
At the same time, the lives of Polish workers at the bottom of society could only be described as "horrible." They didn't need the Soviet Union or the Polish Labor Party to instigate them; they were already extremely dissatisfied with the reality.
Incidentally, the lower-class workers also harbored extreme hostility towards Germany, especially after the Great Depression of 1929.
As is well known, after Poland gained independence, for whatever reason, they had to develop industry, since industrialization was the answer in the 20th century.
Even though Ernst prioritized agriculture during the colonial period in East Africa, it was merely a roundabout route. The ultimate goal was to lay the foundation for East Africa's population, economy, and initial capital for industrialization.
Poland is a well-established agricultural country, so after independence, Poland did not need to put as much effort into agriculture as East Africa, which was completely impoverished in the 19th century.
In addition, Poland is an ambitious country, so after independence, Poland naturally wanted to develop its own industry.
Moreover, after Poland's independence, it also caught up with the "Prosperous Twenties" in post-war Europe. Taking advantage of this trend, investing in industry at that time was a sure-fire way to make money.
However, Poland faces serious problems in developing its industry. One of them is its weak industrial base. During the Tsarist Russian era, Poland was an agricultural region, and it faced numerous difficulties in developing its industry on its own after independence.
Therefore, the industries that Poland was capable of developing were naturally those primary industries with little technological content and low profits. As for industries that relied on foreign investment, the capitalists were obviously not doing charity and would inevitably take a cut.
Therefore, Poland's industry, from top to bottom, could not avoid the problem of very low industrial profits, and Poland obviously could not learn from the Soviet Union to pass on the costs to farmers.
As a result, the plight of Polish workers was predictable. With low industrial profits, capitalists, in order to save costs, could only squeeze workers' labor and wages to the extreme. Moreover, due to Poland's weak industrial base and poor technology, it was obviously difficult to reduce pollution and manual labor.
Long working hours, low wages, and unsafe work conditions can range from harming health and shortening lifespan to causing disability and death due to workplace accidents. This is the current plight of Poland's working class.
It is also important to mention that the level of education among Polish workers was clearly not comparable to that of Germans, nor was it nearly as good as that of neighboring Soviet Union.
Therefore, Polish workers were more likely to get injured in Poland's already risky industrial system in the early 20th century due to their incorrect operation of machinery and failure to follow safety procedures.
"Safety is no small matter" has become an empty phrase due to capitalists' relentless pursuit of production efficiency, workers' lack of education and disregard for their own safety, and the pressure of life that forces them to knowingly venture into dangerous territory.
In fact, in most countries of the world in the early 20th century, workers' lives were not regarded as human lives at all, but rather as mere consumables.
If someone gets sick or disabled due to work or production, the worst that can happen is being fired. Even if someone dies, the only compensation is some money, and capitalists may not even be willing to pay some compensation.
In short, the Polish working class was destined to live a very difficult life during this era, and the resistance of workers in big cities like Warsaw against Polish capitalists and the government never ceased.
In reality, these problems are not enough to lead to the large-scale chaos in Polish cities in recent years. After all, no matter how difficult the conditions for industrial development are, the job opportunities created can at least allow Polish workers to make a living.
However, after the Great Depression of 1929 broke out, many Polish workers suddenly lost even their cooking pots. Those who could work in factories were obviously unable to survive in the countryside, so they went to the cities to seek their fortunes. In Poland, land was privately owned.
Therefore, after the economic crisis spread to Poland, Polish workers, having lost their livelihoods, had nothing left to lose!
At this point, even if the Labour Party doesn't contact them, they will take the initiative to contact the Labour Party.
The promises the Labour Party made to them were all realistically achievable, especially since the Soviet Union had entered a phase of rapid development and, after entering the planned economy era, the country's industry had taken off.
At the same time, the various welfare benefits and extremely high social status enjoyed by Soviet workers were things that the penniless Polish proletarians dreamed of.
Of course, judging from the current results, even though Polish workers highly "admire" the Labor Party and even join it, the Polish government's rule remains stable.
The reason for this situation is quite simple: although the Polish working class has gained some influence, the Polish government is clearly more powerful.
After all, Poland is still an agricultural country, and the support of farmers for the government ensures that the Polish government's rule is relatively stable.
Although the economic crisis of 1929 was accompanied by an agricultural crisis, making life difficult for Polish farmers, they were able to accept their situation after learning about the living conditions of Soviet farmers.
Finally, there was the support of Germany. Even if a large-scale uprising broke out in Poland, Germany was willing to step in and nip the "Labour Party elements" in the bud.
As a result, Germany became an accomplice of the Polish government, and naturally, the attitude of Polish workers at the bottom of society towards Germany was not good.
In addition, Polish industry has undoubtedly received investment from German capital, with many German-owned factories in Warsaw.
Therefore, some Polish workers had direct contact with these German factory owners, and the exploitation of Polish workers by these German factory owners further deepened the Polish workers' resentment towards Germany.
Lieutenant Poltov emphasized in a low voice, "In other places, we might be able to relax a bit, but especially in Warsaw, a big city like this, it's a place where Labour Party members are more active."
"Moreover, the attitude of our people towards Germany is also very unfriendly, which also means that those extreme nationalists may also engage in some irrational acts of retaliation and venting."
"They are a bunch of lunatics, just like the Labour Party. You can't judge them by common sense, so everyone needs to stay alert. Once we get through these few days, we'll be able to relax."
The hostility of Polish extreme nationalists towards Germany should not be underestimated, and their main supporters are concentrated among some petty bourgeoisie and the bourgeoisie.
These people have relatively high and stable incomes, which gives them the time and energy to reflect on Polish society.
They are dissatisfied with some of the government's policies and work, such as corruption, the rigidity of the bureaucracy, and the government's foreign policy.
In terms of government diplomacy, they can be described as "fierce and aggressive," looking down on and being hostile to the Soviet Union while harboring deep hatred for Germany. It can be said that Poland's two most important countries were enemies in their eyes.
Needless to say, the reason why the Soviet Union held a hostile attitude towards Germany ultimately boiled down to the territorial issue.
Their idea was naturally to restore all of Poland's "ancient" lands, and Germany could be said to be the country that had seized the most Polish land.
Even though the two countries are now in the same camp.
In this regard, we can refer to the attitude of the Far Eastern Empire towards the Soviet Union in the previous life. Even during the best periods of relations between the two countries, the territorial issue was destined to be an unavoidable contradiction.
Therefore, there was a great deal of resentment towards Germany among the Polish people. This resentment, combined with Polish nationalism, gave rise to extreme nationalist groups in Poland.
Many of them are extremely radical, much like the extreme nationalist party led by Adolf before he came to power in Germany. They also like to use violence without regard for consequences and engage in terrorism in Poland.
With the Axis powers gathering in Warsaw this time, the Polish government naturally wants to prevent them from using this opportunity to cause trouble. If a repeat of the "Sarajevo incident" occurs and Adolf is left behind, the Polish government will be in serious trouble.
"Lieutenant Poltov, rest assured! We also know the importance of this security operation. Anyone with ill intentions who wants to break in will have to step over my dead body first," Captain Vakovsky said righteously.
Lieutenant Poltov patted him on the shoulder and said, "I believe you can do it. If there are no problems this time, I'll treat everyone to a meal out of my own pocket."
Captain Vakovsky grinned and said, "That lieutenant is probably in for a drink."
Although Lieutenant Poltov felt a pang of regret, he didn't seem to care at all, since doing a good job this time would also help his career.
He said, "Then you guys go on patrol first! I need to report to Colonel Morse of Germany next."
The Germans certainly couldn't fully trust the Polish government when it came to security at Wilanowski Palace. The Polish government was responsible for the outer perimeter security, while the German security services took over the interior of the palace.
Of course, the Germans also maintained control over these peripheral Polish security personnel.
Colonel Morse was the German security officer in charge, and his main responsibility was to lead the Polish soldiers outside.
Therefore, Colonel Morse was temporarily assigned as the superior of Lieutenant Poltov and other Polish officers.
(End of this chapter)
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