Rise of Empires: Spain.

Chapter 543 The Rift in the Allies
Germany was quite dissatisfied with the news that Britain's sinking of the American transport fleet had led the United States to declare war on the entire Allied powers.

On the one hand, Germany was troubled by the addition of another major general to the Allied Powers. Although the United States was not as militarily powerful, its industrial and economic strength was unparalleled, and it could provide the Allies with a large amount of supplies and weapons, which gave France and Spain some breathing room.

Nearly three years have passed since the outbreak of the war. During these three years, France first provided weapons and equipment to the Allied Powers, and then Spain took over.

France and Spain have been operating at full capacity for military production for a long time, and both countries certainly deserve a break.

This was certainly good news for the Allied Powers, but for the Central Powers, the mood was not so pleasant.

Fortunately, the United States had previously expressed strong opposition to Britain, and after the United States declared war on Britain, its focus would be more on British colonies in the Americas. Therefore, Germany did not express much opinion on the United States' declaration of war, but simply declared war on the United States in accordance with its obligations as an ally.

The situation Britain faces today is hardly any better than that of Germany.

Although Germany also faced a multi-front war, all of these fronts, including the Eastern and Western fronts and the Balkan front, were in Europe, so Germany did not need to be overwhelmed by them.

Looking at Britain's situation, in addition to the need for a continuous stream of troops to be sent to the Western Front, the Irish War of Independence was also a huge problem for Britain.

With the United States declaring war, Britain's Canadian and Cuban colonies were no longer safe. Britain also needed to urge its Canadian and Cuban colonies to mobilize more troops to defend against a potential American invasion.

When necessary, Britain also needs to mobilize troops from other colonies or even its homeland to the Americas, given that the United States also has an impressive mobilization capacity.

Although European countries tend to underestimate the military strength of the United States, the United States is, after all, a country with a population of nearly 100 million.

Such a large population can easily mobilize millions of troops, and combined with the United States' industrial production capacity, it can arm a well-equipped army of millions at any time.

Even if these troops were not very strong, they would still be a huge problem for Britain's Canadian and Cuban colonies.

Just as Britain would not concern itself with Germany's troubles in a critical moment, Germany would not be willing to help Britain in this situation.

Germany even hoped that Britain would suffer heavy losses in the world war, so that Britain would be forced to commit more to the war in order to recoup its losses.

Because Britain forced the United States to declare war on the Allies, the previously good relationship between Britain and Germany was strained. Fortunately, however, it did not have a major impact on the Central Powers as a whole. Germany needed Britain to fight against the Entente, and Britain also needed Germany to bear more of the hatred for it, to prevent its homeland from being targeted.

The biggest change brought about by the United States declaring war on the Allies and joining the Entente Powers was undoubtedly the increased morale of the Entente nations.

The Central Powers were already at a disadvantage on the battlefield, and with the Allied Powers gaining another major power as an ally, the balance of power tilted even more sharply.

After the United States joined the Allied Powers, European countries generally predicted that the Allied Powers would ultimately win this decisive war.

Most of those who speculated that the Central Powers would ultimately win were British and German newspapers. Apart from these British and Germans who still harbored a sliver of hope, most Europeans had lost faith in the Central Powers' ability to prevail, especially given Britain's repeated defeats in the Irish War of Independence.

While the general optimism of the people of other countries towards the Allied Powers might not have an impact on Britain and Germany, the views of the British and German people on the war could significantly influence their respective governments.

This is also why British and German newspapers and media outlets were so enthusiastic about reporting that the Central Powers were still able to achieve victory. If they hadn't done so, once the public completely lost hope of winning the war, they would have turned their dissatisfaction towards the governments that had pushed the war forward, leading to a series of marches, protests, demonstrations, and other incidents that would have accelerated the collapse of the nation.

Therefore, regardless of the actual situation on the front lines, Britain and Germany could only report frequent victories to convince the public that victory was still possible.

But news of war is not so easily concealed. The situation of impending victory is completely different from that of impending defeat, and even the people at home can sense this.

In the first two years of World War II, Germany still held a certain advantage. Aside from some domestic inflation, Germany was not facing major problems.

However, starting in the third year of the war, Germany's situation deteriorated rapidly. On the one hand, Germany lost important allies such as Bulgaria, the Ottoman Empire, and even Austria-Hungary. On the other hand, the huge casualties on the front lines forced Germany to increase mobilization, which severely affected domestic production.

Because of the war, Germany suffered severe damage in two important economic sectors: agriculture and industry. From the start of the war, Germany's annual grain production declined sharply, forcing the German government to import large quantities of grain from its allies.

Previously, they could rely on the grain production of the Hungarian Plain of the Austro-Hungarian Empire to sustain themselves for a period of time, but now they can only rely on British aid.

The relationship between Britain and Germany was far from amicable; everything was driven by self-interest. This resulted in the German government wasting a significant amount of money each year importing food, eventually placing a heavy burden on Germany's finances.

After the United States joined the Allied Powers, German Chief of the General Staff Hindenburg met with Ludendorff again to discuss Germany's current situation and some solutions.

Hindenburg originally harbored some ambition to lead Germany to victory after taking office as Chief of the General Staff of Germany.

This is something that neither Kaiser Wilhelm II nor the two previous German Chiefs of the General Staff could achieve. If Hindenburg can lead Germany to victory, his future status in German politics will definitely not be weaker than that of Chancellor Bismarck during the reign of Wilhelm I.

But the ideal was far from reality. Hindenburg realized that it was extremely difficult, even wishful thinking, for Germany to win a world war again.

To give a rather brutal but stark example, consider the casualties of frontline troops.

Despite the fact that Germany's active military force has always remained at several million, the German high command, including Hindenburg and Ludendorff, understood the immense effort and determination that Germany had put into maintaining such a large number of active troops.

The daily casualties on the Western Front reached tens of thousands, which meant that Germany had to mobilize tens of thousands of troops every day to fill the gaps on the Western Front.

In addition to the loss of manpower, the consumption of weapons and equipment at the front was astronomical, and Germany's major military factories had to work overtime to produce weapons, equipment and ammunition supplies for the front.

With the front lines locked in a stalemate, the German government had already given almost everything. As Hindenburg was only the Commander-in-Chief of the German forces on the Eastern Front, his primary concern was naturally the situation on the front lines.

Hindenburg is now the Chief of the General Staff of the German Army, with control over millions of German troops, and can even indirectly influence the German government.

Under such circumstances, Hindenburg had no choice but to turn his attention to the whole of Germany and consider its future.

Inside the provisional German General Staff headquarters in Frankfurt, Chief of the General Staff Hindenburg frowned as he looked at his key aide Ludendorff and asked a question that he already knew the answer to: "Erich, do you think we still have any hope of winning this war?"

Upon hearing this, Ludendorff first looked at Hindenburg seriously, then shook his head solemnly and said with a heavy expression: "Although I don't want to admit it, the current results tell me that Germany only has one outcome, which is defeat."

I understand Your Excellency Chief of the General Staff's desire to lead Germany to victory, and I am well aware of the price Germany has already paid for this world war.

But we had to consider the millions of soldiers on the front lines, and the tens of millions of German civilians. This war had already cost Germany too much, and Britain didn't really want to help us win the world war; what they really wanted was to deplete the strength of European countries and ensure Britain's dominant position in Europe.

Therefore, I believe, Your Excellency Chief of the General Staff, it may be time for the war to end.

In fact, Ludendorff had wanted to say these words for a long time, but Hindenburg needed to compete for the position of Chief of the General Staff of the German Army. A field marshal who was passive and avoided battle could not possibly become the Chief of the General Staff of the German Army.

Now that Hindenburg has gained command of the German army, it's time to discuss broader issues. Rather than focusing on how to win the war, Ludendorff believes the priority should be addressing the postwar political situation in Germany.

The good news is that although Hindenburg was the Chief of the General Staff of Germany, he was not responsible for starting the war. Even if the war was lost, Hindenburg would not bear much responsibility. After all, the Schlieffen Plan had already failed during Moltke's era, which meant that the war was unlikely to be won.

During the subsequent Falkenhayn era, the German army continued to squander the advantages it had gained in the early stages of the war. By the time Hindenburg took over, the German army was already at a complete disadvantage, so it naturally did not need to bear too much responsibility for the defeat.

On the contrary, Hindenburg, during his tenure as Commander-in-Chief of the German Eastern Front, led the German army to repeatedly defeat the Russian army, and even if he did not achieve great merit, he certainly deserves credit for his hard work.

Under such circumstances, Hindenburg was naturally entitled to inquire about the political situation in postwar Germany.

Having seized military power, Hindenburg had many options after the war. If he could gain the support of the Allied Powers, he might even overthrow Wilhelm II's rule.

Germany could establish a republic similar to France, with Hindenburg as president and Ludendorff as chancellor, sharing military and political power.

Hearing Ludendorff's somewhat blunt answer, Hindenburg did not rush to respond. Instead, he walked to the map of the German front hanging in the conference room and stared at it for a long time before sighing and saying, "If I were still the Commander-in-Chief of the Eastern Front Army, I would only have one thought: to lead the army to victory."

But now that I am the Chief of the General Staff of the Army, I should be responsible for all the soldiers.

Ehrlich, you're right. The cost of this war has already been too high, and there's no need to pay any more for it.

Perhaps this war was a mistake from the start, and as Chief of the General Staff of the German Army, I must guide Germany back on the right track.

Hearing Hindenburg admit that the war could not be won, Ludendorff felt a little relieved and asked, "Your Excellency Chief of the General Staff, should we try to contact the Allied Powers?"

Although we are unlikely to win the war, it will not be easy for the Allied Powers to defeat us either.

If the war can be ended through peaceful negotiations, avoiding excessive casualties on both sides, it would be good news for all Germans and even for the whole of Europe.

We still have millions of troops at our disposal, which can prevent the division of German territory into European countries after defeat.

Territorial concessions and reparations are unavoidable, but we must secure more benefits for Germany during peace negotiations, ensuring that Germany engages in conditional talks rather than unconditionally surrendering to the Allied Powers.

Hindenburg and Ludendorff no longer wanted to fight this world war, not only because they knew that Germany had virtually no chance of winning, but also because they understood that Germany still had some say in peace negotiations thanks to its military strength.

If Germany had waited until its military and finances had completely collapsed before negotiating with the Allied Powers, it would have become a fish on their chopping block, to be divided up however they wanted.

Conditional peace negotiations and unconditional surrender are completely different. At least in the former case, Hindenburg and Ludendorff could still secure more benefits for Germany and control the development of the situation in postwar Germany.

Hindenburg nodded slightly, but then shook his head, explaining under Ludendorff's somewhat puzzled gaze: "We do need to make contact with the Allied Powers in advance, but the relevant actions cannot be so straightforward."

If our contact with the Allied Powers were to become known to those loyal to His Majesty the Emperor, it would be quite a problem.

Rather than engaging directly with the Entente Powers, it would be better to do so indirectly through the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

Firstly, the alliance treaty with Austria-Hungary has not been completely torn up, and our relationship with Austria-Hungary is entirely legitimate.

Secondly, the Habsburg and Savoy families have a relatively good relationship. If we can get the help of the old emperor of Austria-Hungary to contact the king of Spain, it will be much easier for us.

Although Hindenburg has become the Chief of the General Staff of Germany, this does not mean that Hindenburg can rest easy.

Although contact with the Allied Powers was also for Germany's benefit, the German people and the generals loyal to the Kaiser did not think so.

Once Hindenburg is found to have made secret contact with the Allied Powers, even if Hindenburg made great contributions during the war, he will not be able to clear himself of suspicion of collusion with the enemy.

This would also give Wilhelm II an excuse to dismiss Hindenburg from his post as Chief of the General Staff again. If Hindenburg lost his position as Chief of the General Staff, not only Hindenburg, but also the Junker nobles behind him might lose out in this power struggle.

Ludendorff naturally understood this as well. He strongly agreed with Hindenburg's proposal to establish indirect contact with the Entente Powers through the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

In fact, Spain played a significant role in preserving the Austro-Hungarian monarchy.

This is something that almost every European country has heard of to some extent. Although Carlo didn't publicize his contributions much, the Habsburg family, wanting to secure their position on the Austrian throne, had no choice but to rely on Spain at this time.

This also shows the old emperor's wisdom; he knew that his successor would not be able to properly handle the affairs of the Austro-Hungarian Empire after his departure, so he tried his best to bind the Habsburg family with the Savoy family.

In a sense, the Austro-Hungarian Empire was not at a disadvantage, after all, the Savoy family currently has two kings, both of whom were genuine rulers of great powers.

More importantly, both kings wielded considerable influence in their respective countries. In particular, Juan Carlos, as King of Spain, held a power in Spain no less significant than that of the Russian Tsars during the Tsarist era.

If Carlos hadn't been less involved in the Spanish prime ministerial elections, European countries might have really labeled Spain as an absolute monarchy.

Of course, there are some unsavory aspects to the prime ministerial elections in various European countries.

Are all prime ministers in various countries truly elected by the people? Probably not.

However, as long as the superficial work is done well, European countries will not investigate this matter too deeply.

After all, none of us have a clean past; we're just doing the same thing in different ways under different circumstances.

While Hindenburg and Ludendorff were trying to contact the Entente Powers through Austria-Hungary, Britain was not idle either.

Of course, this does not mean that Britain also had the idea of ​​contacting the Allied Powers to request peace negotiations. For Britain at this time, the development of the world war had made it somewhat difficult for Britain to extricate itself.

The United States was relatively alright; its declaration of war against Britain was at most a minor skirmish. The US might occupy small colonies like Cuba, which was still within acceptable limits for Britain.

What troubles Britain most right now is the Irish War of Independence.

Although the full name of the United Kingdom is the United Kingdom, in the minds of the British people, Scotland, Ireland, and other places have already been included in the British mainland.

The British people, whether officials or ordinary citizens, are unwilling to accept the fact that Ireland is now independent.

The British government was also in a precarious position, and could only keep mobilizing troops in an attempt to regain some gains in the Irish War of Independence.

(End of this chapter)