I became Stalin chapter 207
207
“Damn, what the hell is this? La Grande Nation!”
“It’s all because of the rednecks… . You bastards of national traitors who aren’t even as good as dogs!”
In a gloomy back room, five or six people were smoking and swearing under dim lighting.
Like a textbook stating that conspirators should do this, they hid in secret rooms, avoiding the eyes of others.
The bright daylight of the Communist Party. Taking advantage of the dark, they were able to gather like this one by one, avoiding the suspicious eyes.
They were very dissatisfied with the current situation in France.
“How could you just let the colonies go! How much blood we shed to win those colonies, how much effort we put into developing them!”
“You bastards like prostitutes playing at the orders of the Soviets. The Republican Party is… .”
“Even though Vietnam and West African deserts that are only large in land mass, even Algeria? Isn’t this too far-fetched?”
The French Communist Party announced that it would give up the colonies, which were ostensibly burdensome for state management, and focus on the reconstruction of the mainland.
The Soviet Union fully supported this decision and supported France for part of the former German industrial facility, now separated by the Rhineland. But in the eyes of the right wing, this was nothing more than a total loss of business.
“Fuck, what the hell is this… . There are so many colonies of these gloomy Britons… .”
Colonization was still a matter of national prestige.
Huge colonies all over the world imposed huge administrative and military expenses, as well as government financial expenditures, but paradoxically, there were not a few people who benefited from the system.
The soldiers inevitably maintained a large army, so promotion was easy, and they were able to fight in the colonies. Entrepreneurs were able to enjoy various benefits and manage the colonists freely at low prices, while immigrants from the mainland enjoyed privileges that set them apart from the local indigenous peoples.
Of course, this was done at the expense of the mainland taxpayers.
The Communist Party that came to power understood this fact, and suppressed the dissatisfaction of the opponents and proceeded with the colonial liberation policy.
“I don’t know anywhere else, but not as good as in Algeria!”
But not a few right-wingers thought so.
Algeria, located just across the Mediterranean from the mainland of France, was truly huge. Algeria is four times larger than mainland France, the largest country outside the Soviet Union in Europe.
During more than a hundred years of colonial rule, the French developed Algeria to a level not comparable to that of mainland Europe, at least not as much as its coastal metropolis. It’s Europe, not Africa, where 2 million French immigrants live and even developed in a European way!
At least the conservative French thought so.
From the standpoint of the Communist Party that came to power, this was not the case.
Deprived of the prosperous coastline that was once Rome’s breadbasket by French settlers (Pied Noir, black-footed European migrants), the six million locals were forced into the barren Sahara Desert.
Understanding their dissatisfaction, the Communist Party decided to make Algeria independent as well. The Soviets wanted it, and because they were not confident enough to defend the land while fighting the Algerians who were increasingly developing their potential.
“If you lose even that… We will no longer be great.”
Is that ‘we’ the great nation of France? Or was it the rank of general who commanded tens of thousands of troops?
Most of the conspirators gathered in the secret room were generals from the former military. The French Resistance frankly admitted that they did not have the capacity to organize and conduct regular troops.
Although the Germans were driven out through guerrilla struggles and civil uprisings, these guerrillas at least lacked the ability to handle tanks, artillery or planes.
As a result, many young people were sent to Frunze to study, and at the same time, generals of the former Republican Army were placed in the newly formed “Grand Army”.
“Isn’t it impossible for a newly commissioned lieutenant to become a general?”
To the question of whether it is right to re-appoint the Vichy associates of the former military as generals, the Communist Party’s secretary general Maurice Torres, who was elected prime minister, answered that way.
The word was right. If you change the entire army because you served as a co-worker in Vichy France, you have to rebuild the army from the ground up. Then, during that time, should you operate an army with no generals or territories?
Marshal Pétain was eventually executed, but in his last will most of the soldiers swore allegiance to the reborn Republic. Of course, those who were evil or actively cooperated with the German army were executed or imprisoned.
However, the soldiers were still dissatisfied.
“Damn, when was I in this rank?”
“What is my position? What is my promotion? My soldiers!”
Those who did not know grace and thought they had been re-appointed because they were ‘necessary talents’ began to become increasingly dissatisfied with their treatment.
The number of positions decreased due to disarmament accompanied by the liberation of the colonies, and even if they were re-appointed, they could not receive the original rank or position immediately. Most were relegated by one or two tiers and the treatment was even worse.
The shift of some pro-government figures to key positions and higher-level positions has also caused dissatisfaction.
When rumors spread that the generals would eventually be dismissed as a result of a reduction in the army, the generals eventually gathered like this.
No one spoke openly about the word coup, but they knew each other without saying it.
“When would you like it?”
“… .”
Finally, one person spoke up first. The only person in this position who does not have the stigma of a Vichy collaborator.
Although it was surprising that he appeared here, he was the most fiercely burning desire for revenge against the communist regime.
“When would you like it? Our troops… Ready at any time.”
“General Leclerc… .”
Philippe Leclerc. It was once part of Free France under de Gaulle, but in the process of fleeing to England and Canada, Free France became a handful of underdogs.
The Communist Resistance, who liberated Paris on their own, did not recognize “Free France” as an equal anti-Nazi movement. They were forced to enter the country individually as individuals, and de Gaulle was excluded from political activities and forced into semi-hermesis.
Of course, officers from Free France who had no experience in the Vichy service and had practical experience as small unit commanders were able to get decent positions in the fledgling French army.
They were the one who burned the most fierce hostility to the Communist Party.
“U.S! How hard we fought!”
Vichy co-workers literally ‘crawled on their own’ because of their power. However, Free France was forced to be checked by the Communist Party. While yesterday’s comrades were fighting for power, the opportunists noticed between the two groups and moved to get their share.
“The paratroopers also… We are ready.”
“It is possible to mobilize two regiments of foreign troops.”
“… One armored brigade could do that.”
Leclerc spoke again as the chairperson while presenting the size of the troops each could mobilize.
“good. If we do… .”
As if waiting, LeClaire put a cigarette in the ashtray and quit, spitting. The map pulled out from under the table had already marked the main targets.
“Communist bastards will do nothing if they blow their heads off because of the centralization in the end. If we declare that we will occupy Paris and embody the ideal of a great France, we will be able to win public support.”
“… good.”
He picked up a fountain pen and scribbled down on the map.
“The 2nd Cavalry Division in Paris, the 1st Foreign Airborne Regiment in Algiers… and the 14th and 18th Airborne Regiments. If it’s like this… .”
As you can see, the Resistance Gnomes had very little understanding of regular warfare. Classes such as armor, artillery, and fighters were areas they had never experienced before.
He cut off the main road to Paris by mobilizing the armored division, and sent an airborne force through the airport to occupy the prime minister’s residence. Not a few people from the National Military Police join in and arrest high-ranking Communist Party officials who can become the center of resistance.
Local public opinion was more favorable to the right than Paris, which had been liberated by the Communist Party directly. Here, the Algerian Piet Noirs, who have been ordered to “return home” from their hometown where they have lived for nearly 100 years, will support the military revolution.
The generals were left with their own calculations. Although the Communist Party and Socialist Party had support, the question of colonization was too sensitive for the French.
Surely there will be those who oppose it, but consider the current state as a war in which the colonial war continues and impose martial law and take it lightly.
Also, Britain, struggling with colonial issues, will support France’s return to the ranks of colonial empire! Still, cooperation with Portugal, which was a member of the former Axis powers, was very high, as they were cooperating with Asian colonies such as India, Hong Kong and Macau, and African colonies.
It was highly likely that the United States and the Soviet Union would not like it, but isn’t this a matter of internal affairs? The two countries could not intervene even in internal regime change and political instability.
Eventually, when the outline of the operational plan was decided, the generals stood up, led by Leclerc.
“Long live France! Long live the great France! Long live the Grand Army!”
“hurray! hurray! hurray!”
Leclerc looked at them with blood-red eyes with delight. Behold, opportunists, but lovers of the great French state, aren’t they?
They were better than the “eldest daughter of the Kremlin,” who sold the country and the colonies to the Soviet Union.
* * *
“Yes! Yes that’s right. Yes, it’s okay. Yes Yes.”
A man with a slender mustache crawled into the phone. He turned off the lights in his office where no one was there, looked around and lowered his voice as if he was looking at someone.
“Yes! That’s right. The two are… That’s Leclerc from Free France… Yes, I am now the commander of the cavalry division. He actually led the meeting… .”
[I see. Don’t mind it.]
“Thank you! Thank you. One more thing, I never have any dissatisfaction with the current system, but simply out of fiery loyalty to the country and the government… .”
The voice on the phone was muffled and hung up, just saying that I knew it briefly with a strange accent. A man with a mustache, wearing a general insignia on his uniform, sighed and wiped his chest.
“You idiots, do you think it will be… .”
He knew it well.
Once an opportunist, always an opportunist. He himself was more aware of the opportunist ecology, as he had co-workers with Vichy and Germany.
Even if it’s not him, someone will definitely tell you. Before that, I had to push as fast as possible to survive.
promotion? promotion? If you want that, there is a way to overthrow the government and form a new government, but there is also a way to inform the “traitors” who have dangerous dreams, so why do you have to go down the rough road?
Of course, in case of victory, he could split some of his troops and put them in, but above all else, self-protection was the top priority. That’s how I survived the war.
I became Stalin chapter 207
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