Romanian Eagle

The latest website: After entering 1936, the world immediately paid attention to a major event, that is, the German army once again entered the Rhine Demilitarized Zone.

In the early morning of February 29, a German army consisting of 19 infantry battalions and 12 artillery companies (about 30,000 people in total) entered the Rhine demilitarized zone. Three of the battalions crossed the Rhine and advanced towards Aachen, Trier and Saarbrücken, where Germany borders Belgium and France.

At 10 a.m., the German Foreign Minister summoned the French, British and Italian ambassadors to Germany to Wilhelmstraße (where the German Foreign Office is located) and handed them a note abrogating the Locarno Convention and a notice of the German troops entering the Rhine demilitarized zone. There is also a new "peace" program proposed by Germany.

The French ambassador, François Poncey, who attended the summons, later recalled this: "Hitler slapped his opponent, and in doing so he said: 'I propose you peace !"

And two hours after the Germans marched into the Rhineland, Hitler once again demonstrated his provocative oratory genius from the parliamentary pulpit. William Shirer, a well-known American journalist who attended the congressional speech, described the scene at that time. After discussing the disadvantages of the Treaty of Versailles and the threat of Bolshevism, Hitler calmly declared that Germany was no longer bound by the Locarno Convention due to the entry into force of the Franco-Soviet Mutual Assistance Treaty; It has re-established Germany's absolute and unrestricted sovereignty in the demilitarized zone!"

Although Hitler appeared to be very composed in his congressional speech, he was very guilty and nervous inside.

He later admitted: "The 48 hours after the march into the Rhineland was the most nerve-wracking time of my life. If the French had entered the Rhineland at that time, we would have had to retreat with our tails tucked in, because what we had at our disposal was That little bit of military power, even for a little resistance, is totally insufficient."

When the German General Staff received the initial message from Paris that France had ordered 13 divisions to go to the Maginot Line on the French-German border, General Baker, the German Army Chief of Staff, demanded the withdrawal of the three battalions of German troops that had crossed the Rhine. These senior German generals believed that the French would not fail to take action this time on matters concerning their national security.

However, Hitler, with his gambler's psychology and special political sense, continued to bet on the estimation that Britain and France would not take actual sanctions, and rejected the generals' suggestion to withdraw troops. Although if Britain and France really intervene militarily, not only will the German army "had to retreat with its tail between its tails", but it will likely mean the downfall of Hitler himself and the Communist regime.

But I have to admit that Hitler was indeed very visionary, and he seized the best opportunity.

Italy began to change its attitude, even if it did not support Germany, it would not oppose it.

Italy and Germany had sharp contradictions on the Austrian issue before.

It has always been opposed to Germany's military expansion and preparations with Britain and France. However, when Italy invaded Ethiopia, the United Kingdom advocated the League of Nations to sanction Italy, while Germany adopted neutrality and provided a lot of aid to Italy during the war. So in 1 private Italy assured Germany that Germany would not intervene in future marches.

And the United Kingdom has obtained satisfactory results from the Germans on the issue of naval arms control not long ago, and will not take military action against Germany on this issue. You must know that the United Kingdom has always adopted a continental balance of power in Europe, and France is suspected of being a dominant player in Europe. It is also beneficial to have a German team, the United Kingdom, to contain the strength of France.

In addition, the British economy is also a mess. In the second half of 1931, the gold standard system that had been implemented for several centuries was abandoned. The British economy has not recovered yet.

As for France, which has the most relations, the French political arena has been extremely chaotic for many years. Left and right parties, pointing to each other have seriously dragged down the development of the French economy. Moreover, the Franco-Soviet mutual aid treaty just passed by the French House of Representatives gave Hitler an excuse.

He attacked the Franco-Soviet Mutual Assistance Treaty as "bringing communism into the European stage" and incompatible with the obligations set out in the Locarno Convention, claiming that it "brings an element of legal insecurity".

The treaty stipulates that when either side of France or the Soviet Union becomes the target of aggression by a European country, the two countries pledge to immediately support and assist each other.

The Franco-Soviet Mutual Assistance Treaty did violate the Locarno Convention on the peaceful settlement of disputes between Germany and France.

However, Hitler deliberately ignored the fact that France chose to be close to the Soviet Union because of concerns about Germany's return to the compulsory military system in 1935. Germany, which resumed the compulsory military system, rapidly expanded its military strength to 350,000. It was seeing the rapid recovery of German military strength that France chose to approach the Soviet Union.

Therefore, in the face of the German army's entry into the Rhine demilitarized zone, France did not give a strong counterattack, but only transferred 12 divisions to the French-German border to strengthen defense.

In fact, France also has its own difficulties, in addition to the above reasons. France suffered too many casualties in World War I, and the general war weariness of the people was very serious. Politicians dare not do things that displease the people, so they can only watch German troops occupy the Rhine demilitarized zone.

As for Germany's eastern neighbor Poland, the mood is even more complicated. Despite the German-Polish non-aggression pact of 1934, Poles remained wary of Germany. As a long-term ally of France, Poland believes that France will never tolerate Germany's entry into the Rhineland, so on March 9, it proposed to France that the "military alliance between the two countries will come into effect".

When it was discovered that France had no intention of taking action, the Polish government was embarrassed by its self-indulgence and had to explain it to Berlin (Hitler said he understood the Polish government's difficulties).

The other European allies of Britain and France (especially France) were all chilled by this and began to adjust their policies to adapt themselves to the new pattern of power balance in Europe. Even Belgium and the Netherlands, which have always been allied with Britain and France, declared their neutrality successively.

In the face of Germany's entry into the Rhine demilitarized zone, what does Romania, an important member of Europe, think?

Edel said, move a bench and sit and watch. At present, Germany and Romania have good relations, and the military cooperation between the two countries has satisfied each other. As an excellent statesman, Hitler certainly did not forget Romania. Before the start of the march, Hitler had used the ambassador to test Romania's attitude.

To this end, Eder said that Romania believes that Germany should have the right to station troops in its own territory. Hitler, who was overjoyed, openly said to others, "Romania is a true friend of Germany."

Yes, Eder would like to see Germany rearm. Without Germany breaking the Versailles system, how can Romania be allowed to fish in troubled waters?

To this end, Edel also needs a magic weapon to ensure the interests of Romania.