Chapter 1411 British Overseas Colonies
At 9:30 a.m. on October 29th, the peace meeting will be held! The main content of today's peace conference is still the negotiation of Britain! Yesterday, the Chinese side vigorously issued an ultimatum to Britain, forcing Britain to agree to the conditions put forward by the Chinese side, otherwise, it would march to London and completely close the door to negotiations! Representatives of various countries are speculating about what choice Britain will make today to give in to China. Still stubbornly resist! Of course, most countries think that Britain will give in! After all, Britain now no longer has the confidence to be tenacious, and if China wants to, it can destroy Britain lightly, even if there is a German obstruction!
At 9:30 a.m., the negotiations officially began! Chinese Prime Minister Wu Tingfang asked: "Your Excellency Prime Minister Asquith, can the British side give us a definite answer?" Will Britain accept or reject China's request? ”
Prime Minister Asquith turned pale, hesitated for a few seconds, and then said: "The British side accepts the conditions proposed by China!" The British government agreed to cede the Channel Islands, Anglesey and the Isle of Man to China! The British government agreed to pay three billion Chinese dollars in war reparations to the victorious bloc! At the same time, Britain is willing to accept arms restrictions, not to build a naval ocean-going fleet and air force, and to maintain the size of the army of 100,000 men, and not to have heavy artillery, tanks and armored vehicles! As for the British shipyards, they will all be sold to other countries and no longer build large warships! ”
Prime Minister Asquith's answer surprised everyone, including the Chinese delegation! No one expected that Britain would fully accept the Chinese demands, and would be so obedient that they even omitted the bargaining process. Among them, there is a hint of weirdness! Representatives of other countries are also talking! Although everyone speculated that Britain would finally give in, it was still a surprise to them to be so simple. However, they were also able to understand the decision of the British side. In terms of the two options of accepting harsh peace conditions or being annihilated, I am afraid that most people will choose to accept the conditions! In this way, the country will be able to survive for a long time.
The German delegation was not surprised by this! Last night Germany and Britain had officially signed a secret treaty, which could be regarded as a guarantee to Britain! Under such circumstances, Britain will naturally not continue to entangle. The sooner the treaty is signed, the sooner the focus can be shifted to economic development and national strength! Only when the country's strength is restored, then there will be a chance to take revenge in the future!
"Smack!" Chinese Prime Minister Wu Tingfang clapped his hands twice, and then said with a smile: "Prime Minister Asquith, the British side has made the right choice!" You made the right choice to avoid the outbreak of war! The people of the world owe you a lot of thanks! ”
The corners of Prime Minister Aslis's mouth couldn't help twitching, if he could, he couldn't wait to rush over and punch the gray-haired old man to the ground! The reason why Britain agreed to the treaty proposed by the Chinese side was completely forced! Now the Chinese still say such cool words, which is simply an insult to Britain! Of course, reason told him not to be impulsive, otherwise it would not be of any benefit to Britain!
Subsequently, the prime ministers of China, Germany, and Great Britain signed a peace treaty in which Britain visited all of its overseas colonies and ceded the Channel Islands, Anglesey, and the Isle of Man to China. The total amount of war reparations paid by Britain was 3 billion Chinese dollars, of which China received 70 percent and Germany received 30 percent! The first batch of Britain will pay 1.5 billion Chinese dollars in war reparations, and the rest will be paid over ten years! Britain limited its armaments, and the army retained a size of 100,000 men, and did not possess heavy equipment such as heavy artillery, tanks, and armored vehicles. The Navy shall not build warships with a displacement of more than a thousand tons, as well as aircraft carriers and submarines, and shall not create an air force. All shipyards in Britain will be sold to other countries in exchange for funds to pay war reparations this time!
Both China and Germany have pledged to withdraw their troops from Britain in batches. As soon as Britain pays the first war reparations, the Chinese troops in Britain will begin to withdraw from Britain, and all of them will be withdrawn from Britain within a year! As for when the German Army will retreat, or whether it will continue to be stationed in Britain, this is not a matter of concern to the Chinese side! Britain and Germany are good at wearing a pair of pants, and the Chinese side is probably clear! But that's not something China can stop! What China has to do is to work hard to develop its national strength, and when Britain and Germany are not China's opponents when they are tied together, China will no longer be afraid of any threat!
After the signing of the peace treaty with Britain, this means that this peace conference has been a complete success! Next, there are some details that need to be further discussed! Of course, Britain's overseas colonies have not yet been allocated, and China, Austria-Hungary and Germany will have a special distribution conference in the future, of course, perhaps it would be more appropriate to describe it as a spoil-sharing conference!
At this point, all five members of the Entente had signed the peace treaty. The victorious group of countries has gained huge benefits at this peace conference! Of course, China's benefits are undoubtedly the most abundant, Germany is second only to China, and Austria-Hungary is in third place! It's just that in the process of distributing benefits this time, contradictions between the victorious countries also broke out! Such as the contradictions between China and Germany, between Germany and Austria-Hungary, between China and the Ottoman Turkish Empire, and so on! Although these contradictions have not intensified for the time being, they do exist! I don't know when it will break out for some specific reason! In addition, this peace conference was, in essence, a brutal plunder of the defeated country by the victorious powers. Although the defeated countries were forced to sign the peace treaty by the threat of force from the victorious powers, this made the contradictions between them and the victorious countries even greater! All of this planted the seeds for the next big war! Of course, what will be the outcome of the next big war, this is unknown! But what is certain is that other countries will also try their best to ensure that they will still stand on the winning side in this big team. The tragic experience of the defeated country this time has also given other countries enough vigilance!
As is customary, in the afternoon the representatives of China, Germany, and Austria-Hungary sat together. In the afternoon of this day, an allotment will be made to Britain's overseas colonies! Before the war began, Britain was the largest colonial power in the world, known as the empire on which the sun never sets! Everyone has long coveted Britain's overseas colonies! However, most of these colonies are in China's hands at the moment, and it may not be easy for China to hand over these colonies!
"Ladies and gentlemen, Britain has signed a peace treaty! In principle, this peace meeting can be regarded as a successful conclusion! The only thing left is to urge the defeated countries to implement the peace treaty! Before that, we need to make an allocation to Britain's overseas colonies! Britain's overseas colonies are marked on the map, and we will allocate them according to them! Chinese Prime Minister Wu Tingfang said with a smile on his face!
However, after a quick look at the map, the faces of the German delegates and the Austro-Hungarian delegates were a little unpleasant. In particular, the face of the German representative already looked a little gloomy!
"Your Excellency Wu Tingfang, does Britain only have such a small number of overseas colonies?" German Chancellor Holwig asked with a dark face.
The British colonies marked on the world map in front of me are only the African part! As for the British colonies in Asia, Oceania, and North America, none of them are indicated. There is no doubt that these colonies have been swallowed up by China, and it seems that China is not ready to hand them over! You know, India in Asia, Australia and New Zealand in Oceania, and Canada in North America are the most important colonies of the British, and now China has swallowed them all up, and is not ready to give them to Germany and Austria-Hungary at all, which is difficult for them to accept!
"Lord Holwig, is there any problem?" Wu Tingfang asked knowingly.
"Why are there no India, Australia, New Zealand, and Canada among the colonies allocated this time? These are British overseas colonies! Prime Minister Holwig asked with some atmosphere!
"Before that, these were indeed British colonies! However, it is no longer the territory of China! Among them, Canada has been incorporated into China's icefield province! Australia and New Zealand merged to form the Province of Australia! As for India, China currently only controls the northern part of the Indian peninsula, which became the Chinese provinces of Ganges and Indus! Therefore, none of these areas will be included in the allocation this time! "Chinese Prime Minister Wu Tingfang looks like a matter of course!
The representatives of Germany and Austria-Hungary widened their eyes and looked at Wu Tingfang in disbelief! Without the permission of Germany and Austria-Hungary, China directly annexed these regions, which is too ugly, right?
"Your Excellency Wu Tingfang! It is not right for China to annex these areas without the permission of Germany and Austria-Hungary! Prime Minister Holwig said angrily!
Prime Minister Wu Tingfang's face also sank, and then said: "These areas were all fought down by the squadron alone, and they should belong to China!" China's annexation of these regions is completely justified! ”