Chapter 250

< World War II - End-of-war Agreement (1) >

April 17, 1942

Capital of Germany, Berlin – Government Building

[Stalin is Dead! Is This the End of the War?]

[The Worst Mass Murderer in Human History, a Sudden Death!]

Extra editions were distributed all across Germany.

With the Soviet Union's sudden announcement of Stalin's death, a hope that the war might finally be over began to spread throughout Germany, and indeed, all of Europe.

It was a strange feeling to see Stalin being treated as the worst mass murderer in human history because Hitler was already gone…

But it wasn't exactly wrong, was it?

“What are your thoughts?”

At Foreign Minister Erich Kordt's question, I shook my head.

“We don't even know how Stalin died, so it's too early to jump to conclusions.

Our people and those of the Allied Powers are hoping for an end to the war, and the Soviets probably are too, but we can't guarantee they will give us everything we want.”

It was a great victory, but to be frank, the territory we had taken wasn't as deep as the advance during Operation Barbarossa in the original history.

Unlike Nazi Germany, we were careful not to ruin Germany's economy, and even with all the Allied Powers involved, our military force was smaller than what the Nazis had.

“Besides…”

I spoke, slightly furrowing my brow.

“The Free Russian Army and the US Army aren't hiding their desire to push all the way to Moscow while they have the chance.”

Honestly, from a common sense perspective after such a major victory, it would be natural to think the Soviet Union would collapse with just a little more pushing.

It wasn't just them; there were more than enough German generals who wanted to finish off the Soviet Union right here and now.

But to just push on to Moscow and chase them to the Urals to destroy the Soviet Union?

Given the greater-than-expected victory we've achieved, we could probably do it if we tried.

But no one could guarantee how many people would die in the process.

I, at least, knew what an unbelievable level of resistance the Soviet Union had put up in the original history.

There was no American Lend-Lease, and this wasn't a Great Patriotic War started by an invasion.

So, they wouldn't be able to resist as much as in the original history, but mistaking it for a dilapidated building that would collapse on its own if we just kicked down the door would be an abdication of responsibility.

“I'd like to end the war around this point, but it's uncertain if the Soviet Union will accept all of our demands. They haven't even requested negotiations yet, so for now, this is the more pressing matter.”

I waved the telegram in my hand, and Kordt gave a bitter smile.

“So the civil war has finally begun to escalate.”

At first, the Serbian Democrats and the Croatian Nationalists had managed to work together, and the Croatian Parliamentarians had held the initiative.

So, much like the early German Civil War, the Yugoslavian Civil War had entered a standoff after an initial clash, with both sides probing each other and attempting negotiations.

However, as one armed conflict piled on top of another, the ethnic conflict that had been brewing for so long began to surface.

The civil war, which began as a simple conflict between the king, his royalist conservative base, the parliamentarians, and the Croatians, devolved into a full-blown ethnic civil war, roping in all sorts of minority groups.

“Yes, and the Balkans are starting to live up to their reputation as a powder keg.”

As the civil war intensified, the Balkan nations that had been watching from the sidelines began to make their moves.

The first to move was Romania. They began to vigilantly watch for an opportunity to reclaim Banat, a territory they had been forced to cede to Yugoslavia due to our intervention.

Just in time, Romania's biggest worry, the Soviet Union, was collapsing, and they had more than enough justification.

Ion Antonescu, the dictator who seized power with the help of the Romanian fascists, the Iron Guard, only to purge them, must also see this as a golden opportunity to quell internal dissatisfaction and gain support.

Once Romania made its move, Bulgaria also began to engage in a war of nerves, eyeing Macedonia in southern Yugoslavia.

And seeing this, Hungary, mentioning our previous guarantee of their independence now that the war was ending, demanded that we either stop Romania or help them reclaim their former territories of Vojvodina and Banat.

Although Hungary had renounced its sovereignty over Vojvodina and Banat, which were Yugoslavian territories, the justification was that letting Romania take them would constitute a direct threat to Hungary.

It's chaos, absolute chaos…

“For… now.

If Romania and Hungary get involved, it will be difficult for us to turn a blind eye.”

The recovery of Transylvania was Hungary's most fervent aspiration, but we hadn't directly projected military force.

We had only secured Yugoslavia's consent.

Nevertheless, the reason Hungary agreed to lease most of its munitions factories was because we had promised to protect them from Romania in case of an emergency.

Hungary, having leased out most of its munitions factories and kept that promise, had naturally not yet finished its rearmament.

Romania, on the other hand, despite having lost most of its territory, still maintained the army it had during its time as a major power in the Balkans.

It was impossible for Hungary to stop Romania on its own, so what would happen if Romania intervened in the Yugoslavian Civil War and retook Banat, claiming it as their lost territory?

From Hungary's perspective, they had accepted our mediation and acknowledged Yugoslavia's sovereignty, but Banat was, after all, former Hungarian territory.

Hungary had failed to rearm because it was keeping its promise to Germany.

If we let Romania, their sworn enemy, take the former territory that Germany had made them give up, they would have no choice but to be furious.

“From Germany's standpoint, we can't help Hungary tear Yugoslavia apart, so we must stop Romania.”

During the partition of Romania, we at least had the excuse that the situation was unavoidable.

We had no spare capacity to check Hungary while the German-Soviet War was in full swing, so we took our share of the profits and strengthened Germany's influence by reconciling Hungary and Yugoslavia.

But now the war against the Soviet Union is ending, and we need to lay the foundation to become the center of Europe. Are we supposed to encourage the Yugoslavian Civil War to get even messier instead of stopping it?

Worse, it would be a direct act of undoing the reconciliation between Hungary and Yugoslavia that we had worked so hard to achieve with the partition of Romania.

I can guarantee it: the German-led European order would end as a dream, leaving only the eternally burning hellfire of the Balkans.

“Hmm, I suppose so.

Is the bargaining chip their former territory?”

The territories the Soviet Union had seized when we tacitly approved the partition of Romania, Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina, were currently under the occupation of the Allied Forces.

“Yes.

I plan to use their return as a bargaining chip to prevent their intervention in the Yugoslavian Civil War.”

In the original history, Stalin had torn off a piece and annexed it into Soviet-ruled Ukraine, but I intended to return it to Romania.

Once the war with the Soviet Union is over and Ukraine is liberated, it will almost certainly become a pro-German nation.

That's why I'm not even considering seizing the Crimean Peninsula for Ukraine.

From Ukraine's perspective, the Crimean Peninsula would be a very tempting piece of land for the security of its coast.

However, the Crimean Peninsula, which the Soviet Union attached to Ukraine in the original history for administrative reasons, became a seed of conflict and was eventually torn away by Russia.

On the other hand, if Ukraine never obtains the Crimean Peninsula from the start, it will naturally have no choice but to increase its trade through Poland rather than through the Black Sea, where it has to be wary of many nations.

And Poland's key trading port is the free city of Gdynia, right in the middle of Germany.

With just a little institutional support, Poland and Ukraine will become staunchly pro-German nations for economic reasons. Why would I aim for the time bomb that is the Crimean Peninsula, which would only complicate the armistice agreement with the Soviet Union?

For the same reason, I don't want to needlessly give Romania's former territory to Ukraine and plant seeds of future conflict.

Because I desperately want this damn war to be Germany's last.

“Yes.

And while we're at it, how about adding one more thing?”

“One more?”

At my question, Kordt asked back with a quizzical look on his face.

“Yes.

The bastards who annoy us need to be taught a lesson.”

“Hmm? Ah.”

Those Bulgarian bastards. They were friends who latched onto the Soviet Union, yet they joined in on the partition of Romania when we set the stage, right?

They may have had fun then, but starting to covet Yugoslavian land without knowing their place is crossing the line.

Damn it, the Balkans…

-

“What do you think?”

The draft Claudia handed me contained a picture of a cute-looking chicken with its arm around a person, both smiling, along with PR material for the ‘Poultry Farm Support Project’.

“Hmm, it's good.”

Claudia really has a good sense for these things. Honestly, I have terrible taste in this kind of thing.

“The old bureaucrats said it was too childish.”

“The people returning after the war ends won't be their age, so I think it's fine.

For people worn down by war, being able to chuckle at something like this will be a form of consolation.”

“Aha.”

Claudia smiled faintly at my answer.

Thanks to that damn Goebbels, Germany's Ministry of Propaganda has a strong image as a department for wartime propaganda and agitation.

But when you think about it, the Ministry of Propaganda's job is to support the public relations of other departments or do things like Korea's Public Service Advertising Council.

In preparation for the end of the war, that kind of work will become much more important, and that's how it should be.

Our government planned to create various jobs in the now-vacant lands near Danzig and in the Posen region, which the Poles had left, to provide employment for demobilized soldiers.

We would even support them with relocation and settlement costs if need be.

“The poultry farm business… I hope it's successful.”

The poultry farm business is one of the projects meant to guarantee jobs for soldiers.

Germany's traditional livestock industry has been carried out with individual farms raising cattle on their own. Strictly speaking, it's less of a livestock industry and more of a subordinate part of agriculture.

It's not the kind of intensive, industrial farming in large-scale barns that comes to mind when you think of the modern livestock industry.

“Hmm, honestly, I think it's 50/50.

Most people would want to work in their familiar hometowns. Will there really be that many people willing to move to former Polish lands to work in an unproven industry?”

“There might not be many who want to, but I think there will still be quite a few.”

The Nazis expanded only the munitions industry throughout their regime, and we, who went to war as soon as we took over, have had to continue that to some extent.

But it's impossible to keep it running after the war ends.

The demand has evaporated. The munitions industry will naturally have to be downsized until it reaches a certain level.

Of course, I have drafted a plan to mitigate some of the fallout from that transition in collaboration with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Defense, but jobs will still be lost in the end.

Moreover, while the men were fighting in the military, we actively encouraged and employed female workers to fill their places.

Whatever the conservative Junkers of Germany may think, we can't just kick out the female workers by saying, "The war is over, so ladies, please go home and have babies!"

The women's rights that expanded during World War II will remain rooted in society and become part of the system, so the men freshly discharged from the military will inevitably face a job shortage.

Because this wasn't prepared for in advance, the Bonus Army incident occurred in America, and in many countries, demobilized soldiers from post-war armies became social misfits, causing problems.

Within the Ministry of Defense, especially among the generals, some say it's too early to worry about this when the war isn't even over…

But as someone who remembers the restless feeling of worrying about an uncertain future the day before my discharge from the Korean military, this is something I can never overlook.

…Though the problem was that I was dropped into Spain the day after my discharge, having been re-enlisted.

I'm fine now, but honestly, the feeling back then was indescribable.

Claudia had a slightly hesitant expression but soon nodded in agreement.

“Since you proposed it so strongly, Mr. Vice-Chancellor, it will probably be fine.”

“Of course. There's nothing to throw away on a chicken.”

From the eggs to the meat, there's no part to discard.

“Do you know kimchi?” is a good way to get cursed at, but there’s no way you’ll get flak for “Do you know chicken?” Modern times guarantee it!

Once the war is over, my top priority is to overhaul the terribly slapdash dietary habits of the German people!

The most famously terrible is British cuisine, but this side is just as far from gastronomy.

“I guarantee it. In 10, no, 5 years, Germans will have bodies that can't live without chicken meat.”

“Well—”

Claudia paused, walking up to me with a smile.

“Dietrich, if you say so, it must be true.”

“Haha…”

I also stood up from my seat and reached out to Claudia, but there was a knock on the door.

“Tch.”

Claudia giggled and stepped back.

“Come in.”

Once again, my tactless— ah, no. Anyway, my aide, Mr.

Berger, came in and spoke.

“A telegram, Minister.”

“Thank you.”

As I accepted the telegram and read it, Claudia asked from my side with a curious expression.

“What does it say?”

“…It's about the Soviet Union.”

I handed it to her, and Claudia's eyes scanned it as she spoke.

“The new General Secretary is Andrei Zhdanov, and…”

“Molotov is coming. He wants to negotiate an armistice.”

I thought this might happen…

The Balkans are one thing, but now this is going to be noisy too.

I have a feeling this is going to be an even bigger headache than the peace negotiations with France…