The Rise of Australia

But what Edward VIII did not expect was that the British cabinet headed by Prime Minister Baldwin decisively rejected Edward VIII's proposal.

What enabled Prime Minister Baldwin to decisively reject Edward VIII was that the cabinet received support from the church and the governments of the various dominions.

As early as the last time Edward VIII proposed to marry Mrs. Simpson, not only the cabinet, but also the Church of England and the governments of various dominions expressed their opposition.

Except for the current Edward VIII, it seems that no monarch in the past 50 years has been able to make the cabinet government, the church and the dominion government stand up to jointly oppose it.

Edward VIII's actions had an impact on his throne. The people expressed dissatisfaction with Edward VIII, and the media also publicly declared that a twice-divorced woman was not worthy of being the queen of the British Empire.

You must know that according to the Statute of Westminster signed during the time of George V, any changes to the king's title and succession to the throne must be approved by all the dominion governments of the Commonwealth of Great Britain.

The Commonwealth Dominion governments include Canada, South Africa and Ireland. In this incident, in addition to the Irish government's indifferent attitude, the Canadian and South African Dominion governments also expressed opposition.

Edward had no choice but to put pressure on Baldwin's palmist, and made a firm public statement: "She is not by my side, and the crown means nothing to me."

But Edward VIII mistakenly underestimated the opposition of the British people, government and church to his determination to marry Mrs. Simpson.

On the day after Edward VIII made his public statement, British Prime Minister Baldwin gave Edward VIII three options: Either, Edward VIII gives up marrying Mrs. Simpson and finds a qualified queen for Britain. Everyone is happy.

Or, if Edward VIII goes against the will of the British cabinet and forcibly marries Mrs. Simpson, the British cabinet will all resign.

The last option was for Edward VIII to abdicate. As long as Edward VIII is not the King of England, who he marries has nothing to do with the British cabinet.

Among these three options, giving up marrying Mrs. Simpson was obviously not in line with Edward VIII's ideas. Edward VIII, who was already overly obsessed with Mrs. Simpson, would never give up on her no matter what.

The second option is actually unlikely. The power of the British king is not as great as imagined. Going against the will of the cabinet and even forcing the entire cabinet to resign will only make the British throne more unstable.

What's more, it was not just the cabinet government that opposed Edward VIII's marriage to Mrs. Simpson, but also the colonial governments, churches, and even the general British public.

If Edward VIII could force the British cabinet government to resign, could he also force all colonial governments to resign and abolish the status of church personnel?

Obviously impossible. Edward VIII did not have such a status and did not have a high reputation among the people. Doing so was just asking for death.

Prime Minister Baldwin seemed to give Edward VIII three options, but in the end Edward VIII could only choose the last one, which was to abdicate.

The news that Edward VIII and Prime Minister Baldwin revealed each other's secrets instantly became hot news in Europe.

Everyone is curious, what choice would Edward VIII make when he had such a fierce conflict with the cabinet government?

Should he accept the government's proposal, give up marrying Mrs. Simpson, and continue to be the noble King of England, or should he give up the throne?

In the minds of most people, the importance of the throne is far higher than that of a little Mrs. Simpson. This also makes most ordinary people believe that Edward VIII will give in sooner or later, because he cannot give up the throne he has already obtained.

News that Britain was in chaos soon reached the ears of Germany and Italy.

For the German and Italian governments at this time, this is simply extremely good news.

At least until there is no clear outcome to the British throne crisis, the British should have little time to interfere in the situation in Europe.

Realizing that this was a good opportunity, the German government decided to seize this opportunity and create sufficient profits for itself.

On April 4, 1936, German troops moved south in large numbers, with troops stationed on the border with Austria.

On April 5, the German government sent a note to the Austrian government, requesting Austria to cede the Sudetenland region in the Czech Republic, where a large number of Germans lived.

The Germans gave the Austrian government only three days to consider. Three days later, the Austrian government has not agreed. Germany will not hesitate to use force to help the majority of Germans return to the embrace of their motherland.

Such behavior by the German government instantly ignited the situation in Europe.

Will the Austrian Empire agree to the German demands? I'm afraid not necessarily.

Germany's demands seemed reasonable, but they were completely unacceptable to the Austrian Empire. You must know that the predecessor of the establishment of the German Empire was the Holy Roman Empire with many states.

Austria was once a member of the Holy Roman Empire, but due to its failure in the fight for the hegemony of the Holy Roman Empire, it was expelled from the German region by the German Empire.

In terms of national origins, Austrians and Germans have the same roots. Austrians are also a type of German, and everyone speaks German.

According to the Germans, doesn't it mean that the Austrian Empire will eventually be merged into Germany in order to realize the unification of the Germans?

But there is a price to pay for rejecting the Germans at this time.

Austria could not bear the pressure from Germany and Italy alone and could only pin its hopes on its ally France.

French President Albert understood the seriousness of the matter, but he still hoped that the Germans would not launch a large-scale war.

In French President Albert’s reply to Austrian Emperor Karl I, President Albert’s attitude can be proved: “We are shocked by the huge ambitions of the Germans, and will firmly fulfill our responsibilities as allies and stand with our Austrian brothers. .

Please rest assured that France is ready for anything and we can do our best to support our allies at any time and anywhere.

If the Germans have the guts to start a war, then let them. France's loyal army will make them understand that any country that wantonly provokes a war in Europe will be punished by France's justice. "

Only President Albert knows whether he is bragging or not. But the terrible thing is that as the emperor, Karl I believed President Albert's words.

Unlike Francis I, Karl's control over the Austrian Empire had dropped to a freezing point with the independence of Hungary.

If there is no way to make certain improvements and let the people trust themselves, I am afraid that Austria's imperial power is about to come to an end.

At this moment, French President Albert's words gave Karl I confidence. As long as he can defeat a powerful enemy like the Germans, he can still stabilize his throne no matter how heavy the casualties he pays.

After all, after the victory of the war, Karl I was the hero who led the Austrians to win the war and avoid the cession of the country.

With a little publicity through the media, the favorability of those people will skyrocket.

After gaining confidence, Karl I's response to the Germans became very confident.

Because he had made up his mind to win over the people, Karl I's attitude was very firm, as if he was ready to live or die with the country.

In his response to the Germans, Karl I said: "The Austrian Empire will not give up any territory, and I am willing to live and die with every citizen.

Economic crisis could not destroy the Austrian Empire, and neither could war. If your government (Germany) wants to take away our land and property, then please step over my body! "

On April 7, Germany began a secret general mobilization. That evening, all German radio stations broadcast the peace agreement proposed by the German government to the Austrian Empire.

On the air, the German government presented itself as a peaceful party. What the German government does is just to allow all German people to have a more unified and stable living environment.

But this is all just a disguise, and the German top brass has already begun preparations for war. All they lack is an excuse to appear to be on the side forced to fight.

In the early morning of April 8, the German Prime Minister’s residence.

"Your Excellency Prime Minister, the Austrians just attacked our border outpost. Two of our border soldiers were killed in the attack." Suddenly, a senior military officer burst into the Prime Minister's office with a happy face and an excited look on his face. Said to the German Prime Minister.

It was obvious that there were casualties on his side, but everyone in the office, including the Prime Minister, looked overjoyed, which made people look very weird.

"Very good!" The German Prime Minister sneered and ordered to the general who just spoke: "These are evidence that the Austrians actively invaded us, keep these evidences well.

And now, what we have to do is avenge the dead soldiers. Gentlemen, war is coming! "

The words of the German Prime Minister are the highest order for all military leaders present here, and they are also the things they are most willing to hear.

Although this attack seemed confusing, after all, the Austrians were not fools and could not take the initiative to attack the German army for no reason.

At 2:30 in the morning, the German Reichstag.

At this time, the parliament hall was brightly lit, and most of the German parliamentarians, senior German military officials, and many domestic media were temporarily called out of bed.

Everyone was sleepy-eyed, only those in the media looked excited, waiting for the big news that the Germans took the initiative to reveal.

The German Prime Minister walked towards the podium step by step with a sad face and angry eyes. He glanced around with heavy eyes and then spoke word by word: "Everyone, I have just received unfortunate news. On our southern border, a border guard post Attacked by the evil Austrians.

Although our soldiers bravely repelled the enemy, it still resulted in the death of two of our soldiers and the injury of four soldiers.

I don’t want to say who was right or wrong about this attack, because that’s obviously clear. The enemy's presence at our posts and attacks on our soldiers was a blatant declaration of war against the German Empire.

Now, I declare that because of the Austrian Empire's attack, Germany has been forced into a state of war with the Austrian Empire.

Gentlemen and ladies, the war is coming. This is not what we want, but we must launch a counterattack against the enemy.

I will use everything to defend the dignity of the German Empire from being violated. For Germany, and for the soldiers who died in the attack just now, we can only use more violent revenge to make the enemy disappear before our eyes! "

The German Prime Minister's words can be said to have stirred up a thousand waves with one stone. Most members of Congress favored the war.

After all, Germany was forced to declare war after being attacked, not proactively.

The foreign media who were invited were a little bit wide-eyed at this time. They did not expect that the big news tonight would be the outbreak of war, and it would be a war between the two great powers of Germany and Austria.

Now that war has broken out in Germany and Austria, will France and Italy be far behind in joining the war? Doesn't this mean that they have experienced the opening of another European war tonight? It also means that tens of millions or even tens of millions of people will be forced to go to the battlefield because of tonight's news and eventually die in a foreign country.

"Mr. Prime Minister, do you have any evidence for what you said about being attacked by the Austrian Empire?" A media outlet from France asked incredulously to the German Prime Minister who was about to leave the podium.

"Of course." The German Prime Minister nodded, took out the photo he had prepared, and said angrily: "Since you asked, please take a look.

This is evidence of an attack by Austrian troops on our border posts. Expedited Air Force shipping was delivered to my office in advance of the meeting.

The two soldiers who died in the attack have been urgently transported back to Berlin and buried in the National Heroes Mausoleum. If you don't believe these photos, we also have the bodies of several Austrian soldiers who launched the attack, which is evidence of Austria's attack on us.

No matter what they thought, this matter had violated the bottom line of the German Empire. I know that you and Austria are allies. If you ignore the Austrians' culpability and just want to fulfill the so-called alliance, then come.

Germany will not be afraid of any threat, and we will fight bravely against any enemy. The German army will let the world know that countries that provoke Germany's wrath will pay a heavy price for their actions. "

After speaking, the German Prime Minister left the podium without looking back.

People from the diplomatic department came up to organize order, and when leaving, they gently advised the foreign media: "Okay, gentlemen, war has arrived, and I advise you to leave Germany as soon as possible.

Especially the French gentleman, your country is very likely to be at war with us, please leave Germany as soon as possible, thank you. "

Among the many foreign media, the media from Italy should be the least panicked.

After all, Italy and Germany are allies. As long as they don't seek death, Italians are still very safe in Germany.

I went out to play today, so I’ll update it for now. Thank you for your support!