Reborn South Africa as a police officer

Chapter 2672 Imperial Dignity
From Mountbatten's point of view, even if the UK is weak, it is not easy to be bullied. Forget about rising stars like southern Africa and the United States. A small place like the Lion City can only rely on the shadow of the British Empire to barely survive.

Before the 19th century, the Lion City was part of the Kingdom of Johor. In 1819, the British Stanford Raffles signed a contract with Johor on behalf of the British East India Company to set up a trading station in the Lion City, and the Lion City entered a period of rapid development.

From this perspective, Mountbatten believes that the Lion City should be grateful for the colonization of the British Empire.

What the War Council did seemed to Mountbatten to be utterly ungrateful.

Although the British colonized the Lion City for more than 100 years, they have reaped rich rewards.

Although the Chinese were double squeezed by the British colonists and the Malays during the British colonial period.

Although the British army abandoned Lion City when the Japanese army approached.

But as long as the British are still willing to colonize the Lion City, the people of the Lion City, especially the Chinese in the Lion City, should be grateful, honestly be obedient citizens of the British Empire, and continue to transfuse blood for the British Empire.

Henry MacDonald, a member of the War Council, thought otherwise.

Henry MacDonald was not related to the deceased Labor Party leader Ramsay MacDonald, but their experiences were somewhat similar. They came from ordinary backgrounds and sympathized with the Communist International. Henry MacDonald graduated from a missionary school in his early years and worked as a Journalist, later lawyer, who worked in the legal department of a South African company.

Also because of his working experience in a South African company, after Henry Macdonald left the South African company, he opened an enterprise dealing in agricultural products. The main business scope is to sell agricultural products from southern Africa to Southeast Asia, and to purchase various specialties from Southeast Asia. Products are sold back to Southern Africa.

Such as coffee, natural rubber, and various specialty fruits.

Unlike the whites who fled the Lion City during the war, Henry MacDonald did not leave the Lion City when the Japanese army approached the Lion City, but chose to stay in the Lion City and live with the city.

This is not because of the deep relationship between Henry Macdonald and Lion City, but because Henry Macdonald has experience working in a South African company, knows the country of Southern Africa very well, and believes in the Southern African Expeditionary Force. strength, that's why Henry McDonald took a huge risk to stay in the Lion City.

Of course, the rewards are also very generous. When the War Council was established, Henry MacDonald successfully became a member of the War Council by virtue of his dual identities of British descent and wealthy businessman.

On the issue of British colonization, the attitude of the War Council was not uniform. Some people thought that we should take this opportunity to get rid of British colonial rule and fully embrace southern Africa; Then let’s talk about other things. After all, the prosperity of the Lion City cannot be separated from the protection of the United Kingdom.

These two statements are very marketable, and have a lot to do with the identity of the committee members.

Committee members are not all Chinese, but also British and Malay.

For the Chinese, it is definitely best to choose southern Africa. Even if the sense of identity is not considered, the performance of these two countries when the war comes fully proves that the support of southern Africa is more important to Lion City, and the United Kingdom is no longer a flower in the past. .

For the British and Malays, the same thighs are embraced, and there is no difference between choosing southern Africa and the United Kingdom.

As for independence—

Lion City people are still very sensible and have not discussed this possibility at all.

This is the tragedy of a small country with few people.

The Lion City is indeed prosperous, but it does not have enough strength to guarantee its own safety, so it can only choose to rely on a big country to survive.

For the Lion City, Britain and Southern Africa, and even Johor next to it and East India across the strait are big powers.

If you have to choose a country to attach to, Henry MacDonald thinks it can only be Southern Africa.

"The Lion City is not southern Africa. Southern Africa is too big, and the expenditure outweighs the return. The UK lacks sufficient motivation-the Straits Settlements are more profitable than the expenditure for the UK, so London will not allow the Lion City to be self-governing unless it has no choice." Henry · MacDonald is sober and probably the Lion City man who knows the UK best.

It's funny to say that in the British overseas colonies, the most opposed to British colonial rule is not the natives of the colonies, but the British like Henry MacDonald.

It is not right to say that the British are descendants of the colonists, and they are no longer British in the strict sense.

The aborigines in the colonies were naturally short in front of the colonists, and were psychologically weak due to the suppression of the colonists.

The descendants of the colonists don’t think so. We are all white people. Why should some, or even most of the taxes, be handed over to London, and all of them should be used to build a beautiful homeland?

So Henry Macdonald never thought of appeasement.

Of course, he didn't think about directly merging into southern Africa. This is simply impossible. The Lion City is not a barren land like Port Elizabeth.

When no oil was discovered, Port Elizabeth was a small fishing village with no income to speak of.

The Lion City is the most prosperous commercial city in Asia, and Britain will not let it go unless it has to.

"But if the conflict intensifies, it may trigger British sanctions, or even break out of conflict, and the entire city will be destroyed, it will be a disaster for us." A member of the committee who owns an ocean shipping company and several plantations Shen Jiayu is mature and prudent, he is worried that over stimulating Mountbatten will make Mountbatten take risks.

Mountbatten is not a qualified governor, and he has no feelings for the Lion City. If the Lion City is at risk of losing control, then Mountbatten might choose to die with jade.

The fact that Mountbatten sent an army to take over the Lion City proves that this person is reckless in his actions. If the Lion City wants to break free from British rule, then Mountbatten would rather destroy the Lion City than let the people of the Lion City do what they want.

"No, London will definitely give in at the last moment, and Britain cannot afford the consequences of destroying the Lion City." Henry MacDonald has confidence in London.

Even if Mountbatten takes the risk again, he must accept the constraints of London.

As for the group of parliamentary lords, Henry MacDonald was too confident.

The British appeasement policy is essentially a compromise.

As for things like compromise, once it becomes a habit, it will cause endless harm. Just like domestic violence, once there is the first time, there will be countless times.

"Whether it's Canada, Australia, or even India, they are demanding independence or self-government. We can't be impulsive—" Shen Jiayu worried that he would be terrorized.

It is indeed possible.

Although the Lion City is important to the UK, it pales in comparison to Canada, Australia, and India. London can naturally tell which is more important.

If the chicken of the Lion City is killed in exchange for the stability of the Commonwealth, London will not hesitate.

"This is the trend of the times. London should be having a headache right now—" Henry Macdonald didn't speculate for no reason, Attlee was indeed having a headache.

The European War is over, but for the British Empire, the troubles are not only not over, but have just begun.

During the war, Britain, as the suzerain country, had enough excuses to suppress the reasonable demands of the members of the Commonwealth of Nations, and everything will be discussed after the war is over.

In order to win the support of the members of the Commonwealth of Nations, Winston made many promises that now seem impossible to fulfill.

For example, to give Canada and Australia more autonomy, such as to give India an autonomous status.

After the end of the last World War, in order to repay the selfless support of Canada and Australia to the United Kingdom, the United Kingdom has given Canada and Australia a completely independent status. Not affiliated with each other.

After the passage of the "Westminster Act", the British Empire has existed in name only, and the Commonwealth of Nations has been formally formed.

The Commonwealth of Nations is not a country, and there is no central government. The king is only the monarch and head of state in name of the Commonwealth of Nations. The United Kingdom has no retreat and no retreat.

If you let it go, even this nominal monarch and head of state will be gone.

How happy Winston was when he promised in order to win the support of the Dominion, how depressed is Attlee now.

Winston promised a lot, lost the election and patted his ass back to the House of Lords and then became his member of the House of Lords.

Attlee has become the backer. If the Commonwealth of Nations is disbanded in Attlee's hands, Attlee will be doomed to "go down in history."

Only not in the way Attlee hoped.

Now that Attlee is in trouble at home and abroad, he only realized how difficult it is after he became the prime minister.

Although the changes in the Lion City also attracted Attlee's attention, but now Attlee has more important things to do and doesn't care about the Lion City at all.

"Disarmament is imperative. The British Empire cannot afford to maintain the cost of millions of troops. This disarmament includes not only the army, but also the navy and air force. The size of the army must be maintained at a financially affordable level, otherwise we will sooner or later Worn down by the army." Attlee was determined to disarm, otherwise Britain would go bankrupt in a short time.

There are too many places to spend money. It costs money to maintain the army, it costs money to fulfill promises to improve national welfare, and it costs money to rebuild and restore the economy after the war.

During the war, member states of the Commonwealth of Nations provided Britain with all kinds of armaments regardless of cost, and sent troops to ensure the safety of the British Empire. For this reason, all members of the Commonwealth of Nations were burdened with huge foreign debts. Appease the growing grievances of member states.

Under such circumstances, the Conservative Party headed by Winston is still trying to find various spending items for the Labor Party cabinet. Now Attlee finally understands the pain of the ruling party.

Now Attlee has forgotten how the Labor Party destroyed the Conservative Party when the Conservative Party was in power.

Seeing Winston struggling to find a project, Attlee gritted his teeth.

When Winston was the Prime Minister, if he could produce one percent of the current working status, the UK would not be reduced to where it is today.

"Washington is willing to give us the loan we need to recover and rebuild—" Bevin is still grateful, which is one of the fruits of his time in Potsdam.

Regarding the loan, Bevin is now numb, and there are too many lice and it doesn't itch.

The foreign debts from the last world war have not been paid off, and now the situation has worsened. Bevan is afraid to read the financial report now.

Fortunately, Bevin is the foreign minister, not the finance minister.

"What about the conditions?" Attlee was not grateful, only deeply tired.

Southern Africans' money is hard to get, and Americans' money is also hard to get.

It's not about the amount of money, if it's just more money and less money, then no matter how high the interest is, Attlee doesn't worry about it.

The big deal is that in a few years, when the foreign debts explode, Attlee and his Labor Party will suddenly show weakness and fail in the election, allowing the Conservative Party to come to power again. The debt issue will cause Winston and his Conservative Party a headache. Bar.

This is the essence of the so-called British democracy.

It was the strings attached to the loan that mattered, and that was what worried Attlee.

Before seeking loans from the Americans, Bevin had already tried to approach southern Africa.

It's a pity that the conditions offered by southern Africa were too harsh for Bevin to accept, so Bevin approached the Americans.

When he approached the Americans, Bevin was ready to be blackmailed by the Americans.

Who knew that the conditions offered by the Americans were more outrageous than those offered by the southern Africans, which made Bevin even more unacceptable.

"The Americans, like the southern Africans, set extremely harsh conditions because of our position. Maybe we can try to contact the Russians—" Bevin fancied.

Attlee frowned.

The main battlefields of the European War are in Russia. Almost all major cities in Russia were completely destroyed in the war. Russia itself needs a huge amount of funds for post-war reconstruction. Is it capable of providing loans to Britain?

As for the attitudes of southern Africa and the United States, Attlee is not surprised.

Southern Africa and the United States are both capitalist countries, and the United Kingdom is now in power by the Labor Party.

Although Attlee's Labor Party is selling dog meat with sheep's tricks, it still has a posture, which is naturally opposed to the bourgeoisie.

Under this premise, if the Labor Party cabinet wants to get help from southern Africa and the United States, it will pay a greater price than the Conservative Party cabinet.

"No, contact with the Russians should be kept to a certain extent, not too intimate—" Attlee now realized that the Russians were also unreliable.

When he came to Potsdam, Attlee still had fantasies about Russia. Everyone was from the Communist International, and he had to give some face to the Buddha instead of the monk.

In order to win Russia's support, Attlee even took the initiative to prepare a generous gift for Beard.

Attlee was still naive, he didn't fully understand the character of the Russians, he thought that the bearded man would reciprocate, took Attlee's benefits, and would give back to Attlee with kindness.

Unexpectedly, the bearded man turned his face and refused to recognize anyone. Not only did he not make the slightest concession in terms of interests, but he reached a tacit understanding with southern Africa, which severely damaged Attlee's self-esteem.

No matter what, Attlee is also the Prime Minister of the British Empire, one of the most powerful countries in the world, and should not be underestimated to this extent.

(End of this chapter)