Chapter 1140 European Troublemaker (Subscribe)

Germany approved the "White Paper on German Security Policy and the Future Development of the Federal Army from 2003 to 2005" at a special cabinet meeting held by the Ministry of Defense, which means that Germany will conduct a large-scale military expansion in the next nearly three years.

After the news came out, the British "Times" and "Financial Times" immediately reported it.

The UK is known as the ‘European shit-trouble’, and it’s not for nothing.

They say there is only the wrong name, not the wrong nickname.

The United Kingdom can be called the "European troublemaker" because for hundreds of years, most of the chaos on the European continent has been caused by the United Kingdom behind the scenes, or on the surface.

That is to say, they took advantage of the hostile relations between countries on the European continent to seek their own interests. Sometimes they formed an alliance with France to fight against Germany, sometimes they joined forces with Prussia to attack France, or else they took their European brothers to the east to bully Tsarist Russia.

All in all, Britain will not allow a unified and invincible superpower to emerge on the European continent, that is, creating a divided Europe!

This strategy is called the ‘continental balance of power’ policy in the UK, also known as the ‘offshore balancing’ policy.

As Churchill wrote in "Memoirs of the Second World War": "Britain's foreign policy over the past four hundred years has been to oppose the emergence of the largest, most aggressive and most domineering country on the continent." Such a powerful party, unite with them to defeat and defeat the military overlord on the continent, no matter who he is or which country he rules. "

And this can be summed up in four words: separate from the strong and combine with the weak!

That is, I will fight whoever is strong on the European continent, and I will help whoever is weak!

In this way, the United Kingdom can achieve a balance of power among the countries on the European continent, thereby ensuring Britain's own relative advantage.

This routine has been practiced in Britain for four hundred years, which can be said to have a long history.

As early as the EEC era, the UK was planning to leave the EU, which was dragging down the European integration process.

European unity is good for most European countries, but it is not good for the United Kingdom.

What would happen to Britain if Europe was unified? How can it be possible for an isolated island to compete with France and Germany in a unified Europe? ?

The United Kingdom has been able to maintain its relative advantage because it has always acted as a "European troublemaker" and kept Europe in a state of balance of power!

If Europe is unified, Britain will not be able to guarantee its comparative advantage!

The UK knows this very well!

During the Kosovo War, France, Germany and other European countries were reluctant to fight, but the UK danced happily and felt that the longer it lasted, the better, following the rhythm of the United States, because part of the capital flowing out of the European continent went to the UK. The Kosovo war harmed European interests and hit the euro, rather than harming British interests and British pounds.

After World War II, Britain's national power continued to decline. If it could not maintain its hegemonic status as an empire on which the sun never sets, it would have to maintain its status as a world-class country. Therefore, Britain chose to move closer to the United States and embrace the United States' lap, forming a father-son conjugation.

In the Anglo-American Alliance, the United Kingdom became an ally of the United States and was the most important pawn for the United States to check and balance Europe. The United Kingdom used the United States to increase its influence and ensure its status, making the United Kingdom one of the world's financial centers.

The British consider themselves to be Americans' fathers, while Americans consider the British to be their sons.

The two sides are deeply tied together.

The Franco-German alliance broke with the United States over the Iraq War. The British were so excited that they manipulated the history of World War I and World War II earlier than the Americans to disrupt Europe, disrupt the alliance between France and Germany, and fish in troubled waters to gain benefits.

An anti-American wave was set off in Germany, requiring the United States to withdraw its troops stationed in Germany and take back the American military bases in Germany. The British also took advantage of Germany's crimes committed in World War I and World War II earlier than the Americans. The "Potsdam Declaration" was mentioned many times. , and even bluntly stated that Germany should return to the era of partition occupation and prevent Germany from having the force to launch three wars. This is to contribute to world peace.

After all, the initiator and absolute main force in World War I and World War II were Germany!

The strength of the German army is still talked about by many people around the world.

Especially now that the Franco-German alliance has launched three wars, who in the whole of Europe can stop it? There is no Stalin, no Churchill, and no Roosevelt!

When it comes to offshore balancing strategies, the British are real masters, self-taught.

After World War II, although the United States also learned from the British in engaging in "offshore balancing," its methods were far behind those of the British.

Look at the aftermath of World War II, when the United States and the Soviet Union dismembered the British and French colonial systems. The United States stabbed Britain in the back several times, causing Britain to completely lose its hegemonic status and no longer be able to rely on sucking blood from its vast colonies to restore its national strength, while the United States ascended to the position of world hegemon. , with the Soviet Union dominating the entire world. But Americans are immature when it comes to governing the world.

Obviously, they have realized the 'petrodollar' strategy and have huge advantages in the Middle East. However, their iron-clad ally, the Pahlavi Dynasty of Persia, collapsed. At that time, the Americans did not intervene in advance. Through some operations, the Pahlavi Dynasty, their iron-clad ally, became Hardcore anti-American country. Let’s look at the fact that since the 1980s, the United States has lost one country after another in the Middle East, leaving only a lonely Israel. It has been dragged into the muddy waters of the Middle East many times by Israel, resulting in a very poor image and reputation of the United States in the Arab world. rotten.

Obviously, after eight years of recuperation and restoration of national strength, the United States could have used many means to alienate the Middle East and the Islamic world, but it chose the most direct force, which was simple and rough, and now it is fighting two wars at the same time.

In the face of the problems of Japan and Germany, the United States' handling of them also seemed simple and rough, which made the British look down on it.

Now, Germany's military expansion was also the first choice made by the United Kingdom, which further magnified the impact of Germany's military expansion and even pointed out that Germany might launch a third world war, thereby causing European countries to worry and fear about Germany.

In this regard, it is obvious that the United States is slow.

However, Merkel visited Paris, France at this time, had friendly exchanges with France, and even went to the French Parliament to give a speech, had frank exchanges with French parliamentarians, gave France enough respect, emphasized the importance of the friendship between Germany and France, emphasized the importance of peace and development in Europe, and emphasized that the Franco-German alliance is the main force promoting European integration.

Merkel's attitude and frankness received a very good response in France and European countries.

Merkel not only visited France, but also Italy, Spain, Portugal, Austria, Hungary, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark, and Russia.

France's attitude is also the most obvious, which is to support Germany.

This time when Germany expanded its military, France got a big piece of the pie. Rafale fighters, Mirage 2000 fighters, and Mirage 4000 fighters received more than 300 orders, plus corresponding weapons and technical services, the total order exceeded 40 billion euros. (End of this chapter)