Chapter 190 Our League of Nations

"What? Austria fell to Germany? What's going on?"

Mussolini, who had just got off a "humpback aircraft" that symbolized the most advanced technology in the Italian aviation industry - the three-engine eight-sleeper S.M.79 passenger plane produced by the Savoia-Machetti Aircraft Company, started from him. His son-in-law Ciano heard something that made him laugh and cry.

The Austrian Republic, which needed his protection against Germany, had thrown itself into the arms of Germany and was now protected by the German Big Brother.

"Is the news reliable?" Mussolini asked again.

"Very reliable!" Ciano said, "German Chancellor Hitler and Austrian Chancellor Dollfuss have just issued a joint statement... The statement said that Austria is a German country, and the relationship between the Republic of Austria and the German Empire is a close brotherly relationship. "

"They are brothers, is Italy an outsider?" Mussolini muttered, "Damn Germans, we can't just let this matter go. This is a violation of the Treaty of Saint-Germain. Italy must do something React!"

Just when Mussolini was thinking about sending several divisions to demonstrate at the Brenner Pass (the junction of Italy and Austria), Ciano said: "The Germans have sent a deputy chief of staff to explain the situation to you. He's in the airport terminal."

"Deputy Chief of Staff? Who is it?"

"Count Ludwig von Heinsberg-Hersmann."

"It's him." Mussolini thought for a moment and said, "Okay, I'll go see him. Let's meet him at the airport. I want to hear his explanation!"

The airport in Warsaw is very small and shabby, not at all the grandeur of a major European country. Even the VIP waiting room reserved for VIPs is very shabby, with only a few loose leather sofas and a few coffee tables. When Mussolini arrived there, Hersman and Natalie Lesinskaya were standing at the door to greet him.

"Leader, it's a pleasure to meet you in Poland." Hersman went up and shook hands with Mussolini and hugged him. The two of them were actually quite familiar with each other. Because Germany and Italy have been cooperating in military industry and technology for the past ten years, Hessmann often went to Italy, and Mussolini was a very easy-to-get-together person - besides talking a lot of nonsense, he also liked to do some exaggerated things. Apart from his movements and expressions, he is a bit lustful and his fighting skills are relatively poor, but he is basically a good person.

"Me too," the Italian leader spotted Natalie Lesinskaya next to Hessmann, "This is..."

"Natalie Lesinskaya is the secretary-general of the National Socialist International. She is a member of the National Socialist Party of Poland." Hersman introduced, "This time I returned to Poland to attend Piłsudski's funeral."

"Oh," the leader kissed Natalie's hand, and then said comfortingly, "please express your condolences. Although Poland has lost a good father, she still has countless good children."

"Thank you for your encouragement." Natalie replied politely in Italian.

The Italian leader smiled warmly at Natalie, and then said to Hessmann with a straight face: "What's going on in Austria?"

"Nothing," Hessmann said, "has been settled. We and the Austrians are brothers... This is a matter for us Germans, and Italy does not need to interfere."

"But Italy has been humiliated!" The Italian leader seemed very unhappy. He always regarded Austria as Italy's sphere of influence.

"No, this is not a humiliation," Herschmann said. "This is Europe restoring the normal international order. Germany has always been the master of Central Europe and the Balkans, starting from Charlemagne. And Italy should become the master of the Mediterranean. , just like the Roman Empire, Germany is all for it!”

The Italian leader's face looked a little better, but he was still very angry. He said: "I know that Austria's acceptance of German protection is the first step in the Anschluss. Austrians now miss their past glory very much, and they want to go back to the past. But The Austro-Hungarian Empire cannot come back, and the only choice is Germany. But Italy still opposes the German-Austrian merger, and France and Britain will also oppose it!”

"Actually, Britain and France have no time to object," Hessman paused and said to Mussolini in a very serious tone, "because Italy will soon invade Abyssinia... Leader, you won't really Do you believe that Britain and France will stand by and watch?”

The Italian leader looked at Hessman coldly, "What do you want to say?"

"Reliable news is that after the war between Italy and Abyssinia, there will be a decision by the League of Nations to impose collective economic sanctions on Italy."

"What?" The Italian leader was stunned for a moment, looked at Hersman with some suspicion, and then looked at his son-in-law.

Italy was not as powerful as Germany, and it also had the Soviet Union as an economic partner. Mussolini led only a country that was strong on the outside and incapable of doing things on the inside, with very few industrial resources. The most basic industrial resources such as oil, coal, and iron ore all rely on imports, and the import channels are controlled by the United Kingdom and France!

Of course Britain and France do not want to see the Kingdom of Italy upgrade to the Roman Empire, so they will not sincerely support Italy in dealing with Abyssinia. In particular, Abyssinia is close to the British-controlled Middle East and close to the outlet of the Red Sea.

Once captured by Italy, Italian Somalia, Italian Eritrea and Italian Abyssinia will be connected and become an Italian East African empire that controls the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.

The Red Sea leads to the Suez Canal, a vital passageway that determines the survival of the British Empire. If the Germans occupied Somalia, Eritrea and Abyssinia instead of the Spaghetti Soldiers, the British Empire would have been broken up in 1940.

However, even if the Italians were to hold the British Empire at its throat, the British would not be happy. Therefore, Britain was still very wary of Italy's ambition to conquer Abyssinia, and the war in which Italy invaded Abyssinia in history actually became an important reason for the reversal of Anglo-Italian relations.

The sanctions imposed by the League of Nations on Italy during the war, the post-war control of Italian oil imports by Britain and France, and Italy's huge spending in Abyssinia - from 1936 to 1940 alone, Italy spent nearly 8 billion liras in Abyssinia (including military expenses and construction costs) - all seriously affected Italy's war preparations. In fact, Italy later entered the Second World War without any preparation and financial resources.

"Mr. Laval, the incoming French Prime Minister, has personally assured me that he will not intervene and will persuade Britain to adopt a bystander policy." The Italian leader did not know at this time that he was making a huge, unimaginable mistake.

"But they will still label Italy as an aggressor and then propose a resolution of economic sanctions. Leader, you don't really think that Britain and France want to see the revival of the Roman Empire, do you?" Hersman looked at Mussolini, who did not change his expression, as if he did not care about sanctions at all, or did not believe what Hersman said at all.

"The League of Nations is useless," Mussolini said contemptuously, "otherwise you Germans would not be here today."

In this time and space, from 1931 to 1932, France once accused Germany of violating the Treaty of Versailles and illegally expanding its military. However, due to the support of Italy and Japan, two permanent members of the League of Nations at the time, and the inaction of Britain, France's accusation did not achieve any effect. As a result, Germany remained in the League of Nations and is still a permanent member.

"Leader, you are wrong," Hessman shook his head, "Germany is what it is today because the League of Nations made a ruling in favor of Germany - the French accusation was not passed, which is equivalent to recognizing that our expansion of the army is legal, and it also shook the legitimacy of the Treaty of Versailles. In fact, the Treaty of Versailles is an illegal treaty, because the main participants in the world war, the United States and the Soviet Union, did not sign the treaty. And Germany was also forced to sign the illegal treaty!"

Mussolini looked at Hessman, who was "full of nonsense", "General of Infantry, what do you mean by this? What do you want to do?"

"I think we," Hessman said, "Germany, Italy, Japan, and the Soviet Union should control the League of Nations!" He waved his hand and said, "We can't let Britain and France control it. It's wrong for them to pass whatever resolutions they want!"

The situation of the League of Nations in this time and space is also very different from that in history. Not only did Germany not withdraw, but Japan did not withdraw either - because no one accused Japan to the League of Nations. Therefore, there are now six permanent members of the League of Nations: Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the Soviet Union.

"Control the League of Nations... together with the Soviet Union?" The Italian leader was surprised, "Do you really want to ally with the Soviet Union?"

Hersman shrugged, "It's not an alliance yet, but there are no eternal enemies in the world, right? We can cooperate with the Soviet Union, so why can't we cooperate with Italy?"

"Cooperation?"

"Cooperation on the Abyssinia issue!"

Hersman said: "The League of Nations should make an international arbitration on the Walwal incident (border conflict between Italian troops stationed in Somalia and Abyssinian troops) and rule that Italy is the victim. Abyssinia should be required to pay compensation, punish the perpetrators, demilitarize the north-south border, reduce the Abyssinian emperor and the central government's direct army to less than 20,000 people, and shall not possess advanced weapons such as aircraft, tanks, armored vehicles, modern artillery, etc., and accept international supervision."

This is equivalent to disarming the armed forces of the Abyssinian Emperor Haile Selassie! Considering the national conditions of Abyssinia, it is also equivalent to letting the emperor's rule collapse-so Haile Selassie will never agree, and the result of his disagreement is that Abyssinia will be expelled from the League of Nations...