Chapter 769 Maginot Line of Defense

As time entered October 1930, the world situation was no longer so peaceful.

The pound crisis has not yet been resolved, and there is new news from Germany.

First, European countries led by the United Kingdom expressed their dissatisfaction with the anti-Semitic actions of Germany and Italy. The World Alliance even held a meeting to demand that Germany, a fellow member state, stop persecuting Jews.

But unexpectedly, the pressure from the World Alliance became a motivation for the Germans to firmly implement their own policies.

Before the British could react, on October 12, 1930, Germany unilaterally announced its withdrawal from the World Alliance and stated that it would not accept the World Alliance's demands.

This move immediately made the originally calm situation in China and Europe tense. Naturally, the UK and France were very surprised by this.

In the more than ten years since the end of World War I, Germany's attitude has always been very friendly, and it is also the most obedient among the defeated countries.

But what Britain and France did not expect was that after Hitler came to power, the German government seemed to have a different face.

Not only has it become more radical and decisive in some diplomatic choices, it has also lost its previous fear of Britain and France.

Rejecting the World Alliance's proposal and unilaterally withdrawing from the World Alliance was actually a bit provocative to Britain and France.

The last country that was an enemy of the World Alliance was the United States. Now the United States has been divided into more than ten countries.

But the situation in Germany is somewhat different. Germany is located in Central Europe and is the role set by the British to balance France's power in Western Europe.

This also makes the British unwilling to directly confront Germany, even though the Germans have shown considerable ambition.

What surprised all countries was that Germany's unilateral withdrawal from the World Alliance and its refusal to implement any proposals of the World Alliance were an open and honest provocation to Britain and France, but the British did not respond at all.

In France, although the French were very angry, they were helpless in the face of this situation.

To put it bluntly, it is impossible for the French to start a war just because Germany withdraws from the World Alliance, and the French are not willing for the government to cause a war for no reason.

Even if the previous war against the United States had not involved Britain and Australasia, the French would basically not have joined such a war.

Although France is currently the second most powerful country in the world, only the French themselves know how much damage the super war at that time caused to France.

France has suffered a whole generation of casualties, and it has not recovered so far. There are currently a large number of widows in France, which has also caused a surge in extramarital affairs and adultery in France. The constant divorce among the people is also one of the reasons for the population decline.

With the British unwilling to take action, there was actually very little the French could do.

Especially after Germany showed its more radical ambitions, the small neighboring countries were no longer willing to offend Germany. After all, the consequences of being occupied by Germany in the previous war were still fresh in their minds.

In this case, the French did not blindly take action against the Germans, but regarded the Germans as their biggest competitors again.

In order to prevent a crazy country like Germany from launching a surprise attack on itself, France decided to build a strong and long defense line on the French-German border.

In the first dozen years after the end of World War I, the French always felt that they were the overlord of the European continent and the only competitor to the British.

But now the French finally understand that France has already consumed most of its effective forces in previous wars, and at least its status as the world's second most powerful country is not worthy of its name.

Before World War I, France was not afraid of Germany, and even continued to dream of using a war to wash away the shame of the Franco-Prussian War.

But now, unless it is time to decide the outcome, the French are not willing to start a war with the Germans. After all, the most injured casualties are themselves.

After many proposals from the French government, a defensive position similar to that in history, the famous Maginot Line plan, was finally released.

Construction of this defense line, which historically began in 1928, did not really begin until the end of October 1930.

The French spent a lot of money to build the Maginot Line. This defense line proposed and designed by French Minister of War Maginot has a total investment of more than 5 billion francs, which is close to 45 million Australian dollars.

In order to achieve strategic defense, the French have also made great efforts. The Maginot Line is said to be a defensive position, but in fact it is better to say that it is a super fortress built by the French to defend against the German attack.

The defense line not only has all the trenches, cannons and fortresses of a normal defense position, but also has kitchens, power stations, hospitals and factories. Road construction also extends in all directions, and it is even expected that there will be tram passages inside to facilitate the exchange of French troops within the defense line. and communication.

When the French's thinking changed from offense to defense, their ideas were very crazy.

If the Belgians had not firmly opposed the construction of a defense line on the French-Belgian border, I am afraid that the French Maginot Line would have extended from the French-Belgian border to the French-Italian border.

Precisely because the design of the Maginot Line is so large, it is expected that this line of defense will take more than ten years to build and will be officially completed around 1941.

There is no doubt that when the French announced the construction plan for the Maginot Line, they immediately attracted the attention of the world.

But considering that the French's imaginary enemy is only the Germans, whose army size is only 150,000, the European people find France's fear of enemies somewhat amusing.

When the construction plan of the Maginot Line was sent back to Germany, Hitler said contemptuously to his subordinates: "The France of the past has been defeated, and now Germany should be the hegemon in Europe!"

The French showed a weakness that was completely inconsistent with their status, which also allowed Hitler to see greater ambitions.

The current Germany is not complete, and there is still a large amount of territory controlled by surrounding countries. The previously ceded Alsace and Lorraine, including the republics controlled by the French, were lands that Hitler desperately wanted to re-annex to Germany.

To the east there is the Free City of Danzig, the Polish Corridor, etc. These were once German lands.

Of course, the first thing that gave birth to Hitler's ambition must be the pain in the hearts of all Germans - the Rhine River Demilitarized Zone.

The Rhine is an important river in Germany. The establishment of the Rhine Demilitarized Zone directly turned a large amount of land west of the Rhine into a demilitarized zone, prohibiting the stationing of German troops.

There are very important industrial bases in Germany around the Rhine River, which is equivalent to handing over the industrial lifeline of the Germans to other countries.

But having said that, canceling the demilitarized zone on the Rhine is definitely a risky move, at least Hitler has no plans to do so yet.

Once the demilitarized zone on the Rhine is abolished, it means that Germany will directly confront France and even repeat the mistakes of Germany during World War I.

Hitler has no intention of doing this for the time being until he has mastered most of the military power and before he has dealt with the issues between the various German states.

Although Germany did not take any action, the French's early retreat was the best encouragement for the Germans.

France was the victor in World War I, and Germany faced quite serious restrictions and oppression after its defeat.

Does allowing the French to proactively think and build defensive positions against the Germans mean that the French have begun to fear Germany from the bottom of their hearts?

With this idea in mind, the Germans' eyes are filled with hope again. Countless Germans wanted to take revenge on the French personally and let the French taste the bitter fruits of defeat.

This leads to a very strange phenomenon.

News of France's construction of the Maginot Line reached Germany. Even if Germany and Hitler did not take any action, many people spontaneously began to worship and be enthusiastic about Hitler.

The repressed German people urgently needed to release their emotions, and Hitler, who led them to do all this, became their most admired target.

Hitler was still very busy at this time. After the liquidation of the domestic Jews began, the German government instantly obtained a large number of assets and various resources.

Part of the reason why German food prices are so high is that domestic capitalists are hoarding food and then selling it to civilians at higher prices.

Although there are also Germans among the capitalists, who made these Jews hit the muzzle of the gun? Anyway, in Germany now, anti-Semitism has become politically correct. Both German civilians and high-level government officials were prohibited from providing assistance to the Jews.

As a large number of Jewish assets were confiscated, Hitler also gained certain financial power.

Because of the restrictions on the German army under the previous contract, Hitler did not forcibly expand the size of the German army. Instead, he began to expand his own private army, the famous SS.

After taking control of Germany, Hitler's stormtroopers were renamed the SS, and their numbers continued to expand.

This leads to a very strange phenomenon in Germany.

The combined army of the German Imperial Government and the state governments was only 150,000, but Hitler's private army had exceeded 500,000 and was still growing.

Such a huge disparity in the comparison of armed forces has destined that Hitler's power in the government will become higher and higher.

When the news that the Maginot Line was formally determined and construction began reached Australasia, Arthur also understood that the world situation would indeed develop as history did.

With Britain and France oppressing Germany after their victory, it was already destined that the Germans would never be willing to do so.

But because they are separated by a strait, and because they have not separated German land, the British will not be the first target of revenge for the Germans.

Just relying on Germany's current hatred of France, it is already destined that a war will definitely break out between Germany and France.

The French may have good intentions in building the Maginot Line, but they still relied too much on the experience of the Franco-Prussian War and World War I, and did not take into account the rapid changes in weapons and equipment and the development of military theory.

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