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POV of David Lloyd George
11-16-November-1919
The war had been costly. A long and bloody war that seemed to have gone nowhere. Millions of men had been left broken, both physically and spiritually.
And all for a victory that only seemed like a victory thanks to the Americans. Although they saved us from total collapse, they also prevented a more lasting peace from being achieved, because the American people were not prepared for such a costly war. As soon as they realized what winning would cost them, they decided to force us to sign a peace that only seemed to have postponed the next war.
The Kaiser remained on his throne. Germany kept its army and, although limited, still had enough troops to launch a great mobilization and train more men in case of a new war. The war indemnities were almost insignificant. They were not even enough to pay a small part of all the damage Germany and its allies had caused.
Because of Wilson, Germany had only lost its colonies, and multiple territories had been left waiting for a plebiscite. That was what had France most enraged, since, when the war began, Germany had deported many inhabitants of those areas to other territories under suspicion of disloyalty. Now there was the dilemma of whether those plebiscites would achieve anything, because Germany might win every one of the votes. Where it truly risked losing was in Denmark and Poland, but that was not enough to truly weaken it.
Germany would only have to lick its wounds and prepare for the next conflict.
Meanwhile, our countries had been damaged. Enormous rationing had to be imposed, the debt was alarming and, worst of all, our plans in the Middle East had failed completely.
The future mandates that were supposed to help pay part of the costs of the war, once their resources were exploited, received self-determination. The Arabs governed themselves and, although they could be influenced, that greatly limited our power because we had followed the designs of the Americans.
Everything had gone horribly in this war. The only good thing was that access had finally been obtained to build the famous Cape Town to Cairo railway line, but that was insignificant compared to the damage we had received.
In addition, there were still the enormous debts the Russians owed us. A great number of industries in Russia, with investors from our country and from France, had been expropriated by the Germans. There were also the loans, but all of that depended on who won the civil war, since the Russian Provisional Government had rejected the entire debt, and the Balkans had suspended payments until further notice. So, although we continued sending aid to the new Tsar, victory did not seem very certain.
''Prime Minister, I insist that it is not necessary to demobilize so many troops. We still have not managed to secure the new colonial possessions and, above all, we have not secured the new States that have been generated. That would leave many areas with an insufficient number of troops to impose our will'' Churchill said, still insisting on maintaining a larger military presence in the new States.
''What part of us having an enormous debt do you fail to understand, Secretary? We have rampant inflation because of the exorbitant costs of the war. Food is scarce because of price controls and people are already tired of war taxes. We cannot continue paying for the security and occupation of the new States. We failed to establish the mandates in the Middle East, so we must simply content ourselves with defending our territorial gains in Africa. But we must keep the budget balanced'' Austen Chamberlain said, having grown annoyed by Churchill's insistence on continuing to spend and spend.
''The German general who was in Africa left a disaster and we still have to deal with its effects, but I insist that we must give more protection to Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Belarus and Ukraine. They would be good trade partners to encourage commerce, and above all, we would prevent the Russians from being able to get back into the area once they see that the Germans left everything behind'' Churchill insisted.
''We have to absorb those men into the economy. We cannot keep paying for their food, their clothing and their maintenance to guarantee the security of countries that will not respond completely to our interests. Surely those States will respond far more to Germany and Russia, and our influence is not secured there, so we will not spend money on something that does not directly benefit our weak position'' I said, observing this year's budget and reviewing what could be done with the German reparations that corresponded to us.
''Several shipments of grain and animals from the Dominions and from the United States are already being coordinated, so food rationing should not continue much longer, Prime Minister. It is only a matter of getting the ships to arrive. With that, we should already be able to eliminate the penalties for breaking rationing'' Joseph Maclay said, looking satisfied with his achievements now that the sea was clear of German blockades.
''The problem is prices. We should subsidize food a little so people can afford it. With war taxes still in force, this greatly influences the caloric intake of families, since those taxes are bleeding the pockets of citizens'' George H. Roberts said about the dilemma of prices.
''We cannot afford such subsidies. Sacrifices must be made to pay this debt to the Americans. If we start subsidizing food, the taxes are useless, since we would simply be rotating money. If the taxes intended to pay our foreign debt are used to pay for food, then we should not be collecting them in the first place'' Austen Chamberlain said, pointing with his finger at the size of our foreign debt.
''I know… but we also cannot allow the workers to enter a wave of protests. What we need is for people to start working, collect a wage and for us to be able to tax them when they receive that wage. If the workers begin protesting over food prices, all the construction and labor integration policies will be useless'' Sir Robert Horne said, shaking his head at what the Chancellor of the Exchequer had said.
''The taxes must remain for the moment. We have to pay part of the debt and renegotiate the interest, since the amount seems suffocating… We will see in the House about the possibility of some minor subsidies for bread and other foods, but nothing too broad. We also have to pay those loans… How are the constructions going? Considering that we are demobilizing millions of young men, ideally, I want to begin delivering housing as soon as possible'' I said, running the fingers of one hand across my forehead.
''A little behind the original plans due to the lack of budget, Prime Minister, in addition to the clear shortage of available workers. But we should manage to fulfill an important base of the total number of homes. The urban plans for the expansions are advancing well, although not at the planned pace'' Christopher Addison said, looking worried about the slowness of his work.
''I suppose the soldiers could take construction work and there would be enough work for them. It could bring great political problems if the soldiers are too dissatisfied with the treatment received once they return from the front'' I said thoughtfully, while observing the number of soldiers being demobilized each week and returning to civilian life.
''That is something we are doing as we speak, Prime Minister. We are offering work to the men who return, but there are still problems. First, they want to return to their families and, clearly, they scatter through the cities. Once there, it is no longer so easy to contact them, because they begin taking jobs elsewhere'' Christopher Addison replied to my words.
I was about to open my mouth when someone interrupted our meeting, visibly urgent.
''Prime Minister, I have urgent information from Poland… A German vanguard has entered Warsaw. President Gabriel Narutowicz tried to send a request for aid by telegraph, but the transmission was interrupted while it was being sent'' the man said, carrying in his hand a translated telegraphic message.
That message left us all in complete silence. The heated discussion over what had to be done was buried beneath absolute muteness.
''Impossible… impossible… We have men in Germany guaranteeing that they respect the size of their armed forces. They are all occupied helping control the social protests shaking the Germans after the war. It is not possible that our envoys in Germany missed a military movement of this magnitude'' I said in disbelief.
''Believe it or not, Prime Minister, the message has been received. We have no more information about what happened'' the soldier said, handing me the letter.
''Germany rises again for war. We will have to mobilize, but… that means approving another extraordinary budget. A great deal has already been spent withdrawing troops from the front… Will the Americans be able to return?'' Austen Chamberlain asked, looking worried.
''I doubt it… We know Wilson is paying dearly for his participation in the war and the enormous casualties they suffered. It is possible they remove him from office. So perhaps this time America will stay out of the war, unless Wilson somehow manages to convince Congress to go to war against Germany again… But something does not fit. If Germany were preparing for another war, it would not do so with all those protests in its streets, nor with our men there who could warn us. What have they said?'' Churchill said, looking serious.
''We are trying to confirm what happened. We are waiting for confirmation from the telegraph messages with the men we have in Germany, and we will see if we can contact some commanders who are in Poland'' the soldier said.
''We will stay attentive to those messages. The rest of you, return to your duties, but prepare for the worst and send a message to France, if they have not already been informed'' I said, worried.
Most of the cabinet left the meeting room, leaving only Churchill, who remained accompanying me while others were called to try to understand what the hell was happening.
Hours passed while messages were sent by telegraph, trying to understand what had happened. From Germany, no one reported anything abnormal. The Germans were carrying out their disarmament duties while controlling the protests striking them and the possible socialist insurrections.
No movements from Germany toward Poland had been observed.
But finally, confirmation arrived from Poland.
Baltic troops had entered the country from multiple directions, and many cities were overwhelmed by the speed of their advance. The Polish army and the Allied troops helping with the regularization of the new State were overwhelmed by the number of men who entered from the east.
Nothing was known clearly yet, but a far more disturbing piece of information began to appear: one German army had almost not demobilized. Specifically, the Eighth Army. Only part of its men had returned home.
While we tried to understand what had happened, another message arrived from Poland. President Gabriel Narutowicz requested that we withdraw the French and British missions from the country. We had forty-eight hours to withdraw our forces from Poland.
Days had to pass before we understood what had happened, while we withdrew our men toward Germany, since the situation was too confusing and we were losing contact with those who remained inside Poland.
Until the diplomats confirmed what had happened.
An undetermined number of rebel German soldiers had invaded Poland using the trains from the east, taking advantage of the German demobilization to go unnoticed. They descended in Warsaw and, supported by armored vehicles, took the parliament and the Polish president.
They had offered him a kind of deal.
As part of the agreement, Poland would be given a portion of the territory that was under occupation and awaiting the Austrian plebiscite. Poland would annex one part, while Ukraine would take another. In addition, it would receive free access to Baltic ports without tariffs and future railway investments. In exchange, it would accept military limitations and review commissions over that treaty.
That left far more questions than answers.
Until we learned that the Baltic Duchy, which had led this rebellion, had not only failed to disintegrate, but had also taken prisoner all the envoys and troops that had gone to help with the transition.
The entire east was taken by German troops.
According to Germany, they were rebels who did not answer to the Kaiser. The German government itself stripped them of all their military decorations, expelled the leader of the rebellion from the army and condemned him as a traitor.
Karl von Posen.
The Devil of Masuria.
The leader of the Kaiser's Hounds was the man behind the rebellion. He had retaken all the German satellite States with his personal army, taking the Hohenzollern king of Ruthenia and the Habsburg of Ukraine hostage.
We had an enormous problem on our hands.
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