"You want to make peace with Germany alone?" Churchill's face suddenly calmed down. "Mr. Prime Minister, do you understand what this means? France will lose its empire because of this, just like Germany in 1919!"

"In fact, what the Germans want is a European community, a community that can forever eliminate European wars, France's overseas empire, Belgium and the Netherlands' colonies, and the original German colonies will all become peripheral members of the European community..."

"What?" Churchill looked at Renault, "You have already started secret negotiations with Germany?"

Paul Renault shook his head and said, "There is no such thing as a secret negotiation... In fact, the Germans have made peace negotiations public. They have made a request for mediation to the League of Nations and also put forward open conditions for peace."

"When did it happen?" Churchill's eyes widened, "Why don't I know?"

"This morning, just over an hour ago," said Paul Renault. "It was the French representative to the League of Nations who called me to tell me."

It turned out that when the German representative asked the League of Nations to mediate, Churchill was on the plane, so he didn't know.

“What conditions did they put forward?”

"The first is to abolish all unequal treaties arising from World War I, including the Treaty of Versailles, the Treaty of Saint-Germain, the Treaty of Trianon, the Treaty of Sephre and the Treaty of Lausanne..."

"This, this, this..." Churchill was stunned for a moment, and finally said loudly: "This is a trap, a very despicable trap! We must never be fooled by Germany... Those treaties are not unequal treaties, but binding and in line with the principles of International Law and recognized by the world cannot be abolished in any case."

"International law?" Paul Reno said with a wry smile, "Are these treaties signed because of international law? Was they decided by the International Tribunal of the Hague? Mr. Prime Minister, those treaties are the result of the world war, and now we are defeated..."

Churchill shook his head, "No, we have not yet defeated! But if we agree to abolish those treaties, then our two countries will really fail!"

Paul Renault just shook his head. France had failed and was defeated. Are there any of these treaties the same? Can France, which is occupied by Paris, still use the Treaty of Versailles to sanction Germany?

Churchill seemed to see through Paul Reynolds' thoughts. He said solemnly: "The key is not the Treaty of Versailles, but the Treaty of Saint-Germain, the Treaty of Trianon, the Treaty of Sefour and the Treaty of Lausanne... These treaties dismembered the Austro-Hungarian Empire and the Ottoman Empire, and were the cornerstone of the international order in Central Europe, the Balkans and the Middle East. If all abolished, Yugoslavia would be dismembered, Greater Hungary would reappear, Romania would lose Transylvania, and Turkey would regain legal sovereignty over the Arab region of the Middle East!"

The privileges of Britain in Egypt, Palestine, Jordan, Iraq and Saudi Arabia, and France in Syria are based on the Treaty of Sefour and the Treaty of Lausanne (the Treaty of Sefour was later abolished and replaced by the relatively relaxed Treaty of Lausanne.

Once these two treaties are abolished, Britain and France's colonial rule in the Middle East will lose its legitimacy. At the same time, the Turks who lost their empires because of the Severe Treaty and the Lausanne Treaty will become more pro-Germany, thus pushing Turkey, which was originally willing to remain neutral, to guide Germany. Once Turkey turns to Germany, several oil-producing countries in the Middle East will inevitably become vassals of Germany, and the biggest bottleneck of the German war machine will also be completely resolved.

In addition, the Treaty of Saint-Germain and the Treaty of Trianon were used to dismantle the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Of course, the Austro-Hungarian Empire could not be restored again, but once these two treaties were abolished, Greater Hungary could be restored legally. Croatia and Slovenia, which were dissatisfied with the Serbs, may take the opportunity to withdraw from the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. Then Croatia may form a federation with Hungary, and Slovenia may directly join the German Empire (Slovenia is the Austrian crown territory). The pro-British Romania will lose the northern barrier Transylvanian mountainous areas, leaving its hinterland completely exposed to the tracks of German armored forces, so that Romania will have to surrender to Germany.

At that time, Germany's sphere of influence will extend from the Central European transnational Balkans to Iraq and Iran, and even invade India! With the resources of the Middle East and the Balkans, Germany has the capital to maintain the economic prosperity of the European community, and Britain's attempt to use blockade to force Europe into poverty and shake German rule will be completely lost.

On the way to the Martinion Palace, Churchill talked endlessly all the way, and finally made Prime Minister Renault believe that there was no way out to compromise with Germany. The only way to save France was to merge with Britain and then use long-term blockades and air strikes to force Germany's rule in Europe to collapse.

After a lot of talk, Prime Minister Renault seemed to change his mind and promised that as long as he served as prime minister, he would not let France make peace with Germany alone. However, when the two arrived at the panicked Martinion Palace, an unexpected bad news caused Paul Renault's spirit to collapse.

"Mr. Prime Minister, the Kingdom of Italy has issued an ultimatum to us!" A secretary of the Prime Minister's Office who seemed to be crying said to Paul Renault, "The Italians asked us to evacuate Iceland and the Faroe Islands within 24 hours and return it to Denmark... Otherwise Italy will declare war on us!"

"What? Iceland and the Faroe Islands? But it was not occupied by us..." Paul Reno turned his head and looked at Winston Churchill with complaints and help.

Churchill shook his head and said, "The Italians must have issued the same ultimatum to Britain, but the British Empire will not surrender to Italy!"

...

Of course, the British Prime Minister can refuse to give up on Iceland and the Faroe Islands without fear of Italy's ultimatum. In fact, even if the UK returns there to Denmark, Mussolini will still find other reasons to declare war.

But for the desperate French cabinet members, Italy's declaration of war was the last straw that broke the camel's back, and Britain's "indifference" made them feel heartbroken. Therefore, Renault's proposal to merge Britain and France was unanimously opposed by cabinet members.

In the view of most ministers of the French government, under the current circumstances, merger with Britain is not as good as a victorious German merger. Merger with Germany can save the lives of millions of French people. Relying on the powerful German Empire, France can also preserve most of the colonies and continue to live a prosperous and comfortable life. Merger with Britain will cause the French to shed the last drop of blood!

Deputy Prime Minister Marshal Betan directly accused Britain at the meeting. He said: "The reason why our France has fallen to this point is entirely because of Britain! The British have been enemies with us for the past few hundred years, spending a lot of money to support agents on the European continent that can attack France, and Prussia is actually the thug they have built. Even if we completely gave up our dream of dominating Europe after the dream of Emperor Napoleon was shattered, Britain still does not forget to contain us. The rise of Prussia and the rapid revival of the German Empire after the last World War were both the result of British support and indulgence. Now that Germany is so strong that it is difficult to contain, they want to use an English-French coalition to make us continue to act as their cheap cannon fodder. If we agree to the coalition, it will be the stupidest government in the world, and there is nothing more stupid."

"Marson, what should we do?" Paul Renault, who was completely overwhelmed, asked, "Are you going to surrender to the Germans?"

"The battle must be stopped and a decent peace with Germany as between soldiers and soldiers." Marshal Betan said, "If necessary, the power of choice can be handed over to the people of France. Let them choose between merger with Britain, joining the European Community and taking on all the responsibility for defeat."

"So can we hand over the fleet to Britain?" Paul Reno then asked Betton. On the way to the Martinion Palace, Churchill also told him about the issue of separate peace under the "unsuccessful" if France can hand over the fleet to Britain, Britain will agree to France's separate peace.

"Of course not!" Marshal Betan refused without hesitation. "The fleet is our biggest bargaining chip, and the Germans will give good conditions for the Richelieu and Dunkirk. And if we hand over the fleet to Britain, the British will use them to block France and put the French into starvation and poverty, which is the means they use to defeat Germany. Will our people agree to win the war for Britain at the cost of starvation?"

Beden's words convinced most of the cabinet members. In fact, everyone knew it in their hearts that the French Navy, coupled with the Italian Navy, will change the comparison of naval strength between Britain and Germany. This is of decisive significance to the victory or defeat of the world war. What reason does France not use this trump card properly?
Chapter completed!