Ch.133Self-Justification Like England

This violates the Anti-Comintern Pact—

No, actually. The Anti-Comintern Pact was only meant to counter communist aggression.

So, conversely, helping them is possible.

The British know this. That’s why they’re acting without telling us anything.

Damn pirates.

“That treaty is just a formality. With Britain opening their wallet despite their tight finances, it’s essentially the end of reparations.”

Yes. That must be it.

They always care about saving face.

They call themselves a nation of gentlemen while committing all sorts of atrocities.

Those people can’t even properly digest the pro-British countries they gained through the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk.

Though they don’t openly admit it, they’ve divided Germany’s colonies with France, so their colonial holdings have actually increased.

In other words, Britain has become a large, fragile egg with colonies plus additional territories, pro-British countries near Germany, and support for the White Army in the Russian Civil War.

They’re victors who gained colonies, but they’re exhausted from post-war reconstruction.

That’s why even Germany’s small attempts at recovery are burdensome to them, yet their pride prevents them from completely eliminating reparations, so Britain is supporting Germany instead.

Those colonies won’t last even a hundred years anyway. Their insistence on maintaining imperialism shows how shortsighted they are.

They’re sacrificing the future to solve immediate problems.

“Is it because of the colonies?”

I asked just to be sure.

“Yes.”

These crazy British.

Are they really joining hands with Communist Germany just to maintain their colonies?

Though they’re framing it as charitably supporting poor Communist Germany…

In reality, they’re essentially begging Communist Germany not to spread communist seeds in their colonies.

Really. Who would have thought the great British Empire would come to this?

“Britain is taking quite a submissive stance.”

They have debts to pay to America.

They want to maintain their status as victors of the Great War.

They want to preserve their colonial empire, the empire where the sun never sets.

“And they don’t want another war. They remember the trench warfare, and they’ve witnessed our Russian Civil War firsthand.”

“Hmm. This is unfortunate. This will only embolden Communist Germany.”

Even so, Communist Germany won’t be able to rebuild immediately, but this will certainly help stabilize their regime.

“Surely this alone won’t have such an effect?”

“Britain is currently the largest colonial empire. They’re also victors of the Great War who gained tremendously. How would it look if Communist Germany were to propagandize that this colonial empire has surrendered to them?”

From Communist Germany’s perspective, it wouldn’t be wrong.

If the British adjust reparations and provide technology, technicians, and manpower, what would that look like?

It would be perfect propaganda material: “Imperialism surrendering to communism!”

The Germans would be thrilled, wouldn’t they?

Even though the Great War ended ambiguously, they’d know the Kaiser had to grovel to Britain because of the communists.

“Ah, so it’s about propaganda.”

“Indeed. Communist Germany could comfort Germans suffering from defeat and stabilize their regime without resorting to authoritarianism and oppression as they’re doing now.”

They wouldn’t need to send political officers to oppress people.

By showing a colonial empire surrendering to communism, people would think, “So communism is right after all?” and support the Communist Party.

“I see your point.”

“The Communist Party’s popularity will soar, and they’ll gain confidence. They’ll think, ‘This massive colonial empire is just a fragile egg.’ With France also facing internal complications, wouldn’t they be tempted to make a move?”

That’s what I think, at least.

As I always say, if I were them, I’d need to bring down Russia.

For communism to win the ideological competition, they must defeat us.

Because the United States of Greater Russia is the empire that truly cares for its workers.

They would actively exploit this situation.

They’d propagandize that Russia will win despite its current state.

“You’re absolutely right.”

“No matter how communist they’ve become, they haven’t abandoned their habit of resolving issues through war. It’s obvious given the current situation.”

That’s what will happen.

Britain is showing weakness, and France seems ripe for upheaval.

“Then we should protest to Britain.”

“We should, though they’re unlikely to listen.”

They won’t listen to anything we say.

They have their pride. They’re underestimating Communist Germany too much.

No, perhaps it’s because the Russian Civil War ended with the White Army’s victory.

Considering how the British typically view Russia, they probably think communists are just communists, nothing more.

And the German revolution only succeeded because of the Kaiser’s blunders.

“According to our Okhrana agents in Britain, someone named Winston Churchill has strongly opposed this.”

“Winston Churchill? He’s the Chancellor of the Exchequer, correct?”

“Yes. You’re aware of him, Your Majesty.”

He became Chancellor of the Exchequer, just as in history.

He won’t listen to us, and he’ll stubbornly stick to the gold standard.

“Well, we should reach out to this Churchill separately.”

“Pardon?”

“We should support Churchill in his stance that one must never side with communism.”

We can lend him some support.

Even if Churchill doesn’t particularly like us, he at least understands that one shouldn’t join hands with communism.

If he has any sense, he would have observed the civil war situation when coming to meet me.

That’s why he didn’t make absurd promises like offering Constantinople as a fief.

“Will he listen to us?”

“Well, he’s someone who has a good sense for crises. He’ll hear us out and think, ‘I should do what Russia dislikes,’ but he won’t side with the communists.”

“I understand.”

The problem is that Churchill might cause trouble with the gold standard.

Well, I suppose we should give it a try.

Yes, perhaps I should send the capable Beria again.

“Let’s send Beria, who performed well in Romania.”

He’s too good at his job to leave idle.

We should show some goodwill to Churchill as well.

* * *

London, British Empire

Around this time, our Mr. Gallipoli Churchill was furious.

He was more enraged than when his hair had thinned at a young age.

The reason was simple.

News had reached Churchill’s ears that Britain would support Communist Germany under the pretext of helping Germans, ostensibly for colonial peace.

Winston Churchill, now Chancellor of the Exchequer, appeared before Parliament, fuming.

“Help those communists? Has the entire Parliament gone mad?”

He had been busy with other matters and neglected state affairs, only to find the country had gone insane.

Supporting Communist Germany?

How preposterous! No matter how much they disliked the Kaiser, siding with the Reds? The great British Empire?

“Chancellor, what kind of manners are these in Parliament?”

Manners? Manners? Well spoken.

Who is in any position to discuss manners now?

“Let’s speak plainly. Those without manners are the rootless Reds! And those of you who support those communist rabble are no different from them!”

At first, when he arrived at Parliament, he truly thought he had entered a place where Berlin’s General Secretary might be present.

It felt like a communist headquarters.

“Your words are too harsh!”

Too harsh? They seem offended.

Then why support the German Communist Party?

Churchill’s anger was far from spent.

He glared, as if determined not to let this pass.

“Too harsh? If you think this is harsh, you’ll be crying like little girls when you hear what I have to say next!”

Had he ever seen such mindless fools?

They were underestimating the communists far too much.

Or did they think German communists were insignificant because the revolution had failed in Russia?

Either way, Churchill was displeased.

“We have no choice if we want to maintain our colonies right now!”

“Exactly! We need to find some breathing room! We’re only helping them under the pretext of national reconstruction until then!”

“Well, well, honorary communists have arrived. What? Breathing room? By the time we catch our breath, they will have rearmed and rebuilt their industry. Breathing room?”

They would give Germany time to recover just to catch their breath?

East Prussia is the legitimate government of Germany.

How long has it been since we declared that? Instead of maintaining the encirclement of Communist Germany, now they’re supporting it?

Churchill was outraged.

“What else can we do? They’re spreading communism right now. If we don’t compromise here, what then? Should we go to war?”

“Yes! The fate of the British Empire is at stake. Of course we should! If not now, they’ll declare war on us next time. Why can’t you see that?!”

Churchill, a man of the British Empire to his core and an imperialist, could not understand or accept Communist Germany.

That was only natural.

Aren’t communists those who aim to destroy colonial empires immediately?

As evidence, those Germans had been spreading communists throughout British and French colonies. How could anyone trust and support such people?

It would be far better to hand the British Isles to that deranged Kaiser’s mouth!

“They barely protested the Ruhr occupation, and you think they’ll declare war? Without support from Russia, which holds the Kaiser’s remaining fleet and numerous German warships, it’s impossible. Even the German Empire’s navy was a threat to us but couldn’t defeat us! What could Communist Germany with nothing do?”

How they all let their guard down.

It was pathetic and absurd.

Were they just watching, trusting only the Royal Navy and believing that no one could cross to the British Isles?

“Instead, we’ll lose our hegemony in Europe. The Anti-Comintern Pact countries will call us honorary communists who colluded with communism!”

“Then what should we do? Leave the communism spreading in our colonies unchecked?”

“Will accepting their proposal remove the seeds already planted? We should have threatened them militarily! We should have warned them that we’d kill all communists of German origin in our colonies! We should have threatened to permanently occupy the Ruhr, not temporarily like France did! I assure you, the communists in our colonies will only increase, not decrease!”

“…”

What fools.

They should have used bluster, or in the worst case, forced action—yes, like Russia’s “special military operation” or whatever it was called.

Anything but war. Just forcibly occupying the Ruhr like France did and using that as leverage would have decreased support for the German Communist Party.

It would be difficult for the British Empire too, but that’s how to prevent communists from rising up.

Now is the time to pull out those weeds.

Why choose the difficult path when an easier one exists?

Churchill expressed the anger rising in his chest.

“They will use our aid to propagandize that communism is right, rebuild their industry with our technology, and rearm with our money! Then they’ll bare their teeth at France and our British Empire again! Foreign Secretary Austin Chamberlain! What did you bring back from Berlin? Nothing but begging for a humiliating peace!”

They will use Britain’s support to rebuild Germany from the ashes of war.

Germany, reborn as a Red Empire, will rearm and attack France, which is already staggering from recent war damage and internal discontent, and the British Empire, this old lion they already openly look down upon.

Why couldn’t these people understand?

Of course, Britain wasn’t under immediate threat from Communist Germany, but the colonies were certainly threatened. Churchill had seen Russia during the Civil War.

He had seen those Reds there.

Those cruel, weed-like men who were good at nothing but agitation.

“Chancellor, please calm down first.”

“Calm down! When we should be showing, even through bluster, that the British Empire remains strong, we’re begging for colonial stability from those who might stab us in the back at any moment. And you tell me to calm down? Prime Minister, let me be clear: you will regret today’s actions. Future generations will mock us for destroying the glory of the great British Empire!”

Churchill stormed out.

He simply couldn’t calm down.

The Prime Minister seemed to believe Communist Germany couldn’t start a war. That would clearly be a misjudgment.

Hopefully, he wouldn’t be whining when that time came.