Chapter 721 The Polite British
Of course, France is the most powerful country in the Allied Powers. It fought the Germans at all costs and supported any small country that could join the Allied Powers. The imperialists could not continue to play the game. Defending Mother France was not just an empty slogan. As for the Russian Empire, it could not do much more to support the Allied Powers alone in the face of the overall siege of the Allied Powers.
Did the British encounter any difficult times? Anyway, the slave owners believed that the previous landing in the Dardanelles was just a minor problem, and even the Battle of Jutland was not a crisis.
There is no doubt that the time when the British were really bled to death began with the Battle of the Somme. The Battle of the Somme was led by the British Army, which launched a rescue campaign against the precarious France when the German Army was attacking the Verdun fortress.
The Brusilov Offensive launched by the Russian Empire at the same time was also centered around the Battle of Verdun. Both Britain and the Russian Empire saw that Germany launched the Battle of Verdun to bleed France, so they tried their best to rescue it!
Before the Battle of the Somme, Britain's contribution on the battlefield was not worthy of its national strength in the Allied camp. In terms of national strength, Britain was still above France and Imperial Russia, but compared with the heavy losses of the Franco-Russian alliance, Britain could be said to be paddling before, wanting to recreate the Seven Years' War, grabbing benefits for itself, and letting Prussia on land contain the enemy as a human shield.
But things were different starting from the Battle of the Somme. On land, Germany could even face the Franco-Russian alliance at the same time and still have a relative advantage. Britain could not find a third meat shield even if it searched the whole world, so it had to fight on its own.
So at this time, when Britain wanted to pull the United States into the Allied camp, how could the federal government agree?
"Since Aiden knows that blood is thicker than water, he should know that as a cultural society, we can easily guess what the British are planning." The slave owner's habit of showing off in front of women is definitely not something he can change.
After the birthday party, Sheffield and Louisa Morgan rode in the same car. They were equally indifferent to the British's solicitation. "This is a European matter. When the interests are damaged, the country may join the war, but it is absolutely impossible now. Let me be frank. Britain must show a desperate attitude. Don't expect us to save them. By the way, you'd better remind your brother to be cautious about the loans from the Allies, so as not to fail to get them back in the end."
"How is this possible? Britain and France both have countless colonies. They definitely won't be unable to pay back the money." Louisa Morgan said in disbelief, "No way!"
"Really, Louisa?" Sheffield said with a half-smile, "I'm just saying that if, if the Allies really default on their debts, what means does the United States have to ensure that the money can be recovered?"
"No!" Sheffield made an assertion before Louisa Morgan could answer. "When it comes to choosing to resolve the issue by force, the federal government of the United States, whether it is the Democratic Party or the Republican Party, has an iron rule, which is not to go to war with countries that are stronger or equally powerful than us. Of course, the United States is still very courageous in the face of Haiti and Cuba."
If it were a normal country, of course it would not dare to default on its debts to the United States. Argentina was once very prosperous, with an economic level comparable to that of developed countries at the time. However, because the government did not understand the economic situation and tried to please voters during the election, the Argentine government had to borrow heavily internationally to maintain operations.
Borrowing money to give voters benefits naturally led to a harmonious government during their term, but everyone knew that this was unsustainable. In the 21st century, the debts matured and the creditors came knocking. Argentina experienced the worst economic recession in history and society fell into chaos. Stores and restaurants closed one after another, and people took to the streets to protest.
Argentina officially announced that it would default on its debts and would not repay the money. Seeing Argentina lying down and being beaten, many creditors had no choice but to admit defeat. However, some creditors could not swallow this humiliation and sold their bonds to Wall Street's offshore company in the Cayman Islands at 9% of the original price.
After Wall Street received the bonds, it began to collect debts every day, demanding repayment of principal and interest, not a penny less. Since it dared to confront a government head-on, it was certainly not an ordinary person. Wall Street showed its practical side. Through a strong team of lawyers, the creditors successfully sued the Argentine government in the US court and froze Argentina's overseas capital in the United States. Influencing the most powerful government in the world through law, money and lobbying groups has always been Wall Street's forte.
The Argentine government bonds that eventually fell into the hands of Wall Street were repaid in full without a penny less. The return based on the original value was eleven times, not including interest.
As for the model country that successfully defaulted on its debts, its name was the Soviet Union. It provided a perfect example. As long as the Allied intervention forces could be defeated, the debts could be written off. The problem was that the Allied invasion caused losses that were 2.5 times the total debt of the Russian Empire, and there was a long-term economic blockade. After that, the Soviet Union never thought of paying the debts again.
Sheffield would never think that the United States had the courage to collect debts from Britain and France by force. On the contrary, it would be almost impossible for Britain and France to default on their debts by force, relying on their strong military.
"Is Mexico an adversary?" Louisa Morgan asked, referring to the ongoing intervention in the Mexican Civil War.
"Our population is five times that of Mexico," Sheffield shrugged. "If Mexico's population was half ours, we would never fight them. The outcome of our country's participation in the war should be clear next year. It seems that many related bills are being discussed, such as the anti-espionage law."
"There will definitely be some opposition. The country has always claimed freedom of speech," Louisa Morgan exclaimed. "This will cause controversy."
"Hmm! Actually, we all know that freedom of speech does not exist. Something that has never existed cannot be considered a violation." Sheffield said with a sly smile, "This is just a bill to formally eliminate opposition to joining the war. It mainly targets two types of people. One is the real anti-war voice, and the other is the opposing voice of the United States joining the camp. By then, even my League of Nations will have to uphold this law and sing praises for the war."
The Espionage Act declared that the spread of any inappropriate speech would be punished. The real target of this law was the anti-war speech in American society at that time. It hoped to eliminate the phenomenon of disobedience in the armed forces, as well as the behavior of anti-war activists to prevent conscription and possibly affect military victory. The Socialist Party of America, which was the most powerful anti-war party, became the main target of this bill.
So who is going to make the judgment on the fundamental interests of the country? In fact, the federal government obviously has the decisive say. Therefore, this standard actually gives the US government a basis to control public opinion when necessary. It can effectively control the spread of unpopular public opinion and political views, thereby creating a public opinion atmosphere in the country that unanimously supports the government's foreign policy.
"Let's not talk about this anymore. How much loan did your Morgan Alliance give to the British?" Rather than how to destroy freedom of speech, Sheffield still wanted to know how much Wall Street had invested now.
"The Morgan Alliance has now invested one billion dollars, and as far as I know, the entire Wall Street has invested more than 4.1 billion dollars." Louisa Morgan gave an accurate figure.
Sheffield was stunned when he heard this. He remembered that the French did not repay the money until the 1930s. Finally, they told the Americans that the debt of the First World War was a war of honor in the civilized world and should not be measured by simple debt.
As for the British, they stood on the side of the French. Take the example of Britain forgiving the debts of all the belligerent countries after the Napoleonic Wars. In any case, they just wouldn't pay back the money.
It was thanks to this war that it greatly promoted the economic scale of the United States from the perspective of the country and society. Otherwise, the debt of World War I alone would have made the bigwigs on Wall Street work as pawns.
"You'd better pray that our country's army can be looked up to by the Allies. Otherwise it will be dangerous!" Sheffield finally said speechlessly, "Loans to Britain and France must be controlled now, otherwise the losses will be huge."
At present, Sheffield still doesn't know whether he has lost in the First World War. If he can get the British to recognize the legitimacy of the territory in the Persian Gulf, he will undoubtedly make a fortune. Even if he does not develop the oil and waits for the United States to be strong enough to provide protection before developing it, it will only delay the profit.
Now we are afraid that the Allied Powers, mainly the British, will have enough strength left after the war and scare the United States away!
Sheffield never had any hope in the courage of the United States. He could only hope that the British would pay a greater price and not win so easily. Only in this way would Britain focus on healing its wounds and turn a blind eye to the Persian Gulf land, which currently had no value.
With this in mind, he, the flag bearer of anti-British opinion in the United States, was polite to the British ambassador's assistant, saying that relations with Britain could be eased and that he was not a person who hated the Allied Powers.
But the British certainly would not expect much from him, and he could offer all the moral support except the favor.
The policy of the United States itself is similar to that of the British Empire, except that Britain's continental balance of power policy only has one English Channel, while the Atlantic Ocean of the United States can obviously provide greater protection.
In May, the third naval battle between Britain and Germany broke out. After the previous two naval battles, the Germans had apparently become accustomed to challenging the British authority at sea. Some things are like this, once the first time, there will be countless times.
Even in the Mediterranean, the British and French fleets took a defensive stance against the Allied Navy because the Royal Navy had to concentrate its forces to deal with the threat of the German High Seas Fleet. The result of the third naval battle was another stabbing in the back. Britain was finally no longer the party with greater losses, and the number of dreadnoughts sunk by both sides was equal.
"I heard that our British friends have become more polite recently. This is really a rare thing." Sheffield whistled frivolously. "I heard that after the naval battle, Britain sent a large number of soldiers to France. Right? This is what an ally of the same camp should be like."
(End of this chapter)
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