Imperial Elite

Chapter 122 A Crisis Triggered by a Movie
The film *Hell's Gate: Paris* was so successful that it sparked two reactions.

First of all, although the Teutons were villains in Joe's films in the past, they were not the kind of villains who were like clowns. Even in the movie "Greek Conspiracy", the Teutonic intelligence agency was the villain, but it was a handsome and powerful villain.

Furthermore, theoretically, the constitution of the Teutonic Republic prohibits censorship in cultural matters, so in practice, films need to be reviewed by the censorship committee of the city in which they are screened.

However, at this time, the pressure from the Gauls and the Jewish side, who controlled the theaters, felt that the Teutons should be made aware of their ugly faces in the war, while the other side felt that it was a fool not to make money. Could there be a more blockbuster movie in 1922?

As a result, "Gates of Hell: Paris" was successfully screened in Teutonic, which then drew protests from the Teutonic Republican government.

Although the protests of the Teutonic Republic government may not seem very important, after all, the Teutonic Republic government at this time was already far from being a powerful force in the world, let alone sitting at the table of children.

On the international stage, this newly established republic is basically in a state of not wanting to cause trouble and even being afraid of trouble, although it is constantly making small moves in private.

However, on the surface, the Teutonic Republic remains an honest and unassuming entity.

The reason the Teutonic Republic government is now lodging a diplomatic protest is simply because the Teutons are extremely angry after watching the film.

Many Teutons believed they had not been defeated, but that someone had betrayed the emperor and the country. They argued that before the armistice, they had even entered St. Petersburg and Paris. Who else could enter the capital of an enemy country before being defeated?
The film "Hell's Gate: Paris" touched on the Teutons' most vulnerable point at this time. The film showcased the Teutons' formidable fighting power and allowed them to recall their most glorious moment in this great war, when the Teutonic boots trampled on the soil of Paris.

Their combat prowess was so impressive that even veterans of the war could not find any fault with them. Many veterans in Gaul and America were moved to tears after seeing the battle scenes, saying that they had faced just the same Teutons on the battlefield.

If we hadn't been more skilled, we would have almost been killed by them!

The Teutons thoroughly enjoyed this part, witnessing how the Teutonic Colonel treated the nuns and how he ultimately went mad trying to open the gates of hell to secure victory in the war.

The Teutons were breached.

Although the Teutonic Kingdom had long since become a secular state, religion was no longer the reason for the Teutonic people to fight again, as it had been in the past.

However, for the Teutonic people, the existence of religion was also very important.

The Teutons were outraged by this slanderous claim that they wanted to open the gates of hell to gain victory.

Damn it, even though we signed a ceasefire treaty, that doesn't mean you can do whatever you want and make up stories about us. This is slander! You're throwing mud at the great Teutonic nation!

In fact, not only the Teutonic Republic, but even the Habsburgs, who had by this time had their limbs amputated below the eyebrows and had successfully slimmed down, also launched protests as part of the German nation.

In addition to government protests, protests also erupted one after another in the streets and among the general public. Even in Munich, a hotbed of internal strife, a bearded leader of the Socialist Workers' Party gave important instructions regarding the film.

"Any cinema that dares to show this film that insults the Teutonic people will be burned down by the Socialist Workers' Party!"

While the Teutons were furious and wanted to explode at Joe, the Gauls had only one opinion about the film.

"Art!"

This is the greatest art of film in our time!
Even directors who like to make movies that are incomprehensible to normal people praised this film highly, especially the part about the nun.

These directors said the filming was absolutely damn artistic!
We never knew before that nun's habit could be photographed in such an artistic way. Plus, with the dean wearing high heels and wielding a shotgun with one hand, I'd be willing to let her blow my brain to pieces!
Even after the film's release, portraits of the female lead and the abbess holding weapons by street artists in Paris sold out almost instantly. People who had never been to church before started asking around about convents full of nuns, wanting to go and praise God.

Aside from the shrimp-headed remarks in the French lower house, the French upper house also greatly appreciated the film.

Look! Look! What is the greatest army in the Old World? What is the backbone of the Old World? We are not just protecting our own country, we are protecting the entire civilized world! We are the guardians of civilization! We Gauls are truly capable!

For seven consecutive days, the front page of almost all Gaul newspapers was filled with praise for the film, and the authors were all familiar figures.

As a republican government, many members of Congress have started to ride the wave of this movie's popularity. Memorizing movie lines and using them everywhere is just the beginning, and writing movie reviews in newspapers is nothing more than basic operations.

The truly ruthless ones even proclaimed, "This is a movie every Gaul should see; if you don't see it, you're not a Gaul!"

At this point, the conflict between the Gauls and the Teutons has once again come to the forefront.

Of course, even if there are some conflicts among the people, these are minor matters.

After all, it's not surprising that the two sides disliked each other after that earth-shattering war.

However, this film gave the Teutonic Republic government a perfect excuse.

As everyone knows, after the war, the Teutonic government, which had been entirely borrowing money to sustain the war, was effectively bankrupt.

This meant that if Gaul and Buntania wanted war reparations from the Teutons, they would first have to provide economic aid to the Teutons so that their industrial system could be put back into operation.

The Gauls naturally wouldn't agree to a proposal that could make the Teutons powerful again.

What a joke! My north is devastated, and our industry is still recovering. If we let the Teutons recover their industry first, what will happen if they try to do something? Wouldn't we be in a very passive position?
No! We absolutely cannot allow the Teutons to become powerful again.

Because the Gauls strongly rejected this proposal, the Teutonic economy is currently in dire straits.

There have been multiple delays or partial payments, especially for coal deliveries.

By 1922, Teutonic had accumulated approximately 34 delays in coal deliveries, and cash payments were also severely insufficient.

The enormous indemnity payments and the dire economic situation left the Teutonic Republic government completely breathless.

Since last year, the Teutonic government has repeatedly requested a suspension of payments in order to revive the economy, but these requests have been rejected.

In August 1921, the Teutonic Central Bank began printing large amounts of money to buy hard currency to pay reparations. This inflation further plunged the already struggling economy into a death spiral of inflation.

Finally, by the time "Gates of Hell: Paris" was released, severe inflation had brought the Teutonic economy to the brink of collapse, and at this point, the Teutonic Empire still needed to pay approximately 7000 million gold marks in cash and coal.

So the Teutonic government began to think, since they couldn't pay the money, and now Joe had made this movie.

So, could we use this as an excuse to suspend this payment, at least to save face for everyone, and then discuss deferring or suspending payments in order to revive the economy?

So the Teutonic government actually did just that.

The Gauls did not immediately respond diplomatically to the Teutonic government's actions.

Because of the nationalistic sentiment stirred up by the film, the Gallic government had no choice but to take strong measures. After all, if anyone showed weakness and said, "Let's talk," then what awaited that politician was basically political death.

So after the initial calm, the Teutons received a response from the Gauls.

One hundred thousand Gallo troops marched into the Rhineland and took control of the region.

Didn't you say you couldn't give it to me?

Then I'll come and get it myself!

Gaul's actions almost immediately caused a serious political crisis.

In response to the Gauls' actions, the Teutons in the Rhineland immediately announced a general strike.

If you want coal, if you want industrial products, everything is here. Go dig it up yourselves!
Meanwhile, a man with a mustache was fiercely criticizing the government's weakness in the newspapers, accusing some of them of colluding with foreign powers.

He declared that the territory and dignity of the Teutons were absolutely inviolable, and that he would take all those willing to follow him to the Rhineland to drive the Gauls out of it!
Because the Teutonic political forces were numerous at the time, no one cared about what this insignificant person said; everyone was waiting for Bunitania's reaction.

Given the severity of the events on the Old World, Britannia should logically respond, especially Joe, who sparked the trouble and made that disastrous film; he should also take some action.

Whatever the reaction, at least some kind of reaction should be made.

However, neither Buntania nor Joe currently has the energy to deal with matters concerning the Rhineland.

Because a small incident happened in Washington, D.C., in the New World.

As everyone knows, after that devastating war, almost all the survivors of the war fell into a severe economic recession.

Even Citibank's economy isn't doing too well right now, after losing the orders from the major war.

In this context, Citibank, Britannia, and Sunrise are still engaged in a fierce naval competition.

Running a marathon before recovering from a cold is clearly unsustainable.

So before Joe visited Citibank, Citibank had already set up a meeting, bringing together five of the world's leading naval powers and major powers in Washington for arms control negotiations.

Let's all stop burning money on naval armaments. Let's freeze fleet size and warship tonnage, take a break, and focus on the economy, okay?

Everyone naturally agreed to this suggestion. With even the landlord's family lacking surplus grain and no irreconcilable conflicts among the people, it would be good to take a break.

The arms control conference proceeded very smoothly until the final stage, when everyone felt it was almost time to sign, when the Shengyang people jumped out and said...

We agree in principle to arms control, and we are an important force for stability in the Far East. However, there is an armed force that seriously threatens the stability of the Far East and even the world. Yes, I'm talking about those defense contractors.

These defense contractors, operating outside of national borders, possess formidable military power yet remain unbound by national rules. We absolutely cannot tolerate this continuing.

Therefore, the Rising Sun is willing to sign the treaty and accept it, but if the treaty does not include restrictions on these mercenary groups known as defense contractors, then the Rising Sun will absolutely not sign the treaty.

All the participating countries were stunned when the Sun God suddenly proposed restricting defense contractors.

Although the people of Shengyang never mention Wagner in their words, Shengyang people never stop talking about Wagner.

Britannia naturally lodged a strong protest against this practice of linking defense contractors to naval arms control agreements, stating that the actions of the Rising Sun were extremely unprofessional.

If we're going to talk about defense contractors, we should set up a separate meeting instead of bundling it with the naval arms control agreement.

Although the Bunitarians lodged a strong protest, the other countries at the meeting did not have much to say about the Sunborn's proposal.

Even though the French and American attendees all have their own defense companies, compared to Wagner, these two companies are basically like children playing house.

Therefore, if restrictions are imposed on defense contractors, although Wagner will also be restricted, this will certainly weaken Wagner significantly first.

This way, everyone will be back on the same starting line.

After this matter reached London, although London also protested against the Rising Sun's proposal, some people behind the scenes were not particularly opposed to the Rising Sun's proposal.

The reason is very simple: Wagner is just too big.

It has grown to a frightening degree.

Although Wagner has remained loyal to this day and is an important force in the Empire's foreign intervention.

Bringing back hundreds of tons of gold for the empire in one go was a timely act of kindness, alleviating much of the empire's economic pressure. However, Wagner's Athens operation also made the gentlemen of London aware of Wagner's unpredictability.

Yesterday, under Old Joe's orders, they landed in Athens to try to overthrow the Greek government. Will they, under Old Joe's orders, land in London tomorrow and launch an invasion of London?
Don't say such a thing is impossible. In Italy, that bald man and his followers seized power by marching on Rome.

Compared to that bald man and his followers, Wagner's fighting ability was far superior.

Everyone believed that if the Roman government had offered Wagner a contract, he would have been able to block the bald man's path to Rome.

It might not even require sending out many troops; perhaps just a battalion would be enough to complete the mission.

Therefore, Wagner is an important force in the Empire, but perhaps now is the best opportunity to start limiting Wagner. If Wagner continues to develop like this, then no one really knows what will happen next.

Even though London has now stripped Joe of his power to launch military operations on his own, this still does not reassure the gentry of London.

However, there has never been a suitable reason to restrict Wagner.

After all, both Joe and Wagner were almost national heroes in Bonitania, and taking action against Wagner without a suitable pretext would be tantamount to political suicide.

The public's spittle alone would be enough to drown that person.

Now, the people of Rising Sun have provided the gentlemen of London with the perfect excuse.

As for whether weakening Wagner would provoke Joe...

Hey, Old Joe has a good temper. He's a well-known good-natured man who's loyal to the country. He'll only be angry for a while. He should understand for the sake of the empire.

Moreover, given the current global situation, there is virtually no risk of war, so even Joe has to consider the bigger picture!

While the gentlemen in London were still debating internally whether or not to restrict Wagner.

The people of Shengyang are doing their utmost to push for the inclusion of restrictions on defense contractors in arms control provisions.

Normally, the mere thought of such a treaty limiting the size of the navy would be considered a betrayal of the country by the navy's fleet faction, let alone signing it, and would be condemned by heaven.

This treaty is something we can't refuse to sign. Although we call ourselves an empire, we can now sit at the children's table.

However, a navy is an expensive thing that poor countries simply cannot afford.

Not to mention the cost of shipbuilding, the money spent on training crew members and maintaining the fleet is enormous.

So if this shipbuilding race continues, the Sun government doesn't know what will happen to Britannia and the United States, but it certainly can't withstand it.

To prevent the government from going bankrupt, it was necessary to limit the size of the fleet.

If the enemy can also be limited in size, no one with an IQ higher than their ankles would refuse such a good thing.

However, to avoid becoming a traitor and being punished by heaven, a clever person in the civil government proposed a condition that the navy absolutely could not refuse.

That was Wagner's actions in the Far East, which seriously infringed upon the interests of the Empire.

Therefore, if we combine the weakening and restriction of Wagner with the arms control agreement and discuss it together, we can weaken the Empire's enemies and make trouble for Wagner. The Navy will have no reason to refuse such a proposal. If it refuses, it means it is biased towards Wagner and is a traitor!

One side was internally undecided, while the other was completely prepared to fight to the death, in addition to other attendees secretly sabotaging their efforts.

By the time Joe learned that the Wagner Group was about to face restrictions, negotiations in Washington were almost over.

Joe was completely unprepared for the fact that such restrictions on naval armaments would ultimately fall on him.

After discovering this, Joe immediately went to his friend, hoping to try again and get the government to be more assertive in the negotiations and not lose face!

In any case, based on the information Winston has revealed to Joe, if this agreement is indeed signed, Wagner will suffer an epic weakening.

But no matter what connections Joe made, even if they reached the palace, His Majesty George said that they had done their best and could only make the conditions a little more lenient; it was impossible for Wagner to escape restrictions.

Ultimately, with the naval size of major countries restricted, the navy felt as if it had entered a long holiday, while Joe also felt he had been humiliated.

Damn it, I wanted to slack off after the war ended, but you guys begged me to do everything!
Everything I did was for this country, and this is the result I get?!

Due to the efforts of the Rising Sun people, the size of defense contracting groups like Wagner has been strictly limited, and the amount of heavy equipment per capita has also been subject to even stricter restrictions.

Basically, the current situation of the Wagner Group, which not only has combat troops but also a large number of civilian personnel in NATO, cannot continue.

Those civilian staff members had to be removed from Wagner and a new company had to be formed.

Subsequently, Wagner's size and staffing were also restricted.

In recent years, under Joe's leadership, Wagner's scale has been continuously expanding, and it has now reached a size close to two divisions and one brigade.

At the same time, since Joe is determined to pursue a heavy equipment strategy, theoretically speaking, if the Rising Sun Empire's army were to fight Joe now, it would be hard to say who would win or lose.

However, in arms control agreements, the size of defense companies must be strictly limited to 15,000 people, which is basically the size of a division.

At the same time, due to restrictions on heavy equipment, the remaining Wagners could no longer be organized into the current heavy armored forces.

This restriction greatly displeased Joe, who angrily accused the Bonitanian representative who went to negotiate of betraying Bonitania and targeting him.

The limitation imposed on Wagner will be the biggest mistake Bonitania made in the entire 20th century!
Faced with Joe's outburst, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which was taking the blame, originally did not want to and dared not retaliate. However, because Joe's insults were so vulgar, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs retorted and the Cabinet chimed in.

The lawsuit even went all the way to His Majesty George.

Even though the case went all the way to His Majesty George, who stepped in to appease Joe, by then the treaty had already been signed. Joe felt as if he had been thrown back into boot camp in 1915.

In a fit of anger, Joe resigned from his positions as Inspector General of Armored Forces and Governor of Emerald Isle. If it weren't for His Majesty George, Winston, and Joe's other friends standing up to persuade him, saying that it wasn't that they were targeting him, but that this was just how the international situation was, Joe would have been able to resign.

The empire's economy is currently in poor shape, and it is essential to control military spending.

We know you've been wronged. How about we raise your title again and move your fief to Wales?

In his rage, Joe remained silent about the compensation. If it weren't for the fact that NATO was still a tangible entity and that he had a good relationship with the three NATO countries, Joe would have almost disbanded Wagner Group and gone to Citizens to become a big landowner.

Although he didn't run away directly to Citibank, Joe did take his family and run away to Paradise Island.

Joe's younger brother Ron, who was originally applying to the Royal Military Academy Sanchester, also withdrew his application and instead submitted an application to MIT across the ocean.

Meanwhile, Wagner's training facilities in Bonitania were shut down at lightning speed, and troops were either disbanded on the spot or began to be deployed overseas.

Faced with Joe's actions, which were tantamount to self-exile, the higher-ups in Brittany were at a loss.

Why is Joe, who used to be such a nice guy, reacting so strongly this time?
When Joe left Bonitania, it is said that His Majesty George went to the dock in person to try to persuade him to stay. However, Joe did not even give His Majesty the Emperor any face and did not board the Victory Carriage that His Majesty George was riding in. Instead, he boarded the ship without looking back.

In this political storm, Joe, who was at the height of his power, did nothing more and simply withdrew from politics.

If the Army hadn't stubbornly refused to accept Joe's discharge application, threatening to promote him to lieutenant general if he dared to submit another discharge application, Joe would almost have simply fled the Bonitania military.

Joe's strong statement naturally caused a major upheaval in the political circles of Bonitania.

If anyone else had made such a smooth exit, they would have immediately said, "Thanks! Britannia has no shortage of people. If you don't do it, there are plenty of others who will!"

But Joe was different from the others.

When this incident occurred, after the initial shock, almost all major countries extended invitations to Joe.

Whether it was Citizens, Gauls, or even the Lucia military government, they all extended invitations to Joe, saying that if he was willing to come to them, a marshal's scepter was a sure thing.

If you don't want to lead troops anymore, you can do some military research or teach students. If all else fails, you can even just come here for a vacation.

Of all the countries, the only one that did not send Joe an invitation was the Teutons.

The reason they didn't send Joe an invitation, besides some minor frictions and conflicts with him in the past, was mainly because they were currently busy arguing with Gaul about the Rhineland issue while celebrating the fact that Joe, a dark cloud hanging over the Teutonic people, had finally dissipated.

Other countries knew about this, and the people of Buntania certainly did too. Old Joe, the hero of the great war and a symbol of victory, had resigned and fled. The all-powerful Wagner was now under restrictions, his home training facilities were shut down, and he was beginning to disband.

What the hell is this?!
What the hell are those insects up there doing?!

Unsurprisingly, large-scale protests erupted again throughout Bonitania, and even on Emerald Isle, which had been pacified by Joe, large-scale protests began after it was confirmed that Joe had indeed resigned and fled.

This intense protest directly led to the downfall of the government of Bonitania, which had endured the war and the subsequent economic crisis.

A week after Joe left Bonitania, the Bonitania Prime Minister, who had signed the Versailles Treaty on behalf of Bonitania, resigned in disgrace.

With the government's collapse, Buntania no longer had the energy to intervene in the minor conflicts between Gaul and Teutonic, and instead began preparing for the general election.

Meanwhile, James, as Joe's brother and the leader of the Best Party in Britannia, discovers that his older brother has such influence.

James felt it was essential for him to step forward and rebuild the nation during this time of national crisis.

While I might be too young and unsuitable for a position like Prime Minister, I think becoming a minister shouldn't be a problem.

After all, there is no rule in Bonitania that prohibits students from running for office.

After a serious analysis, James realized that although his brother was very popular in their hometown of York.

But the people of Emerald Island truly love Old Joe, so I should go to Emerald Island to run for election.

Emerald Island! I'm coming!
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The Washington Naval Treaty not only limited the size and specifications of naval fleets during the interwar period, but the Defense Company Agreement, as a supplementary clause, also profoundly changed the political landscape of the interwar period.

Politically speaking, the restrictions placed on Wagner are understandable, especially after Jo launched the Athenian campaign; any mature state would have made the same decision.

However, from a military perspective, Joe's withdrawal from the Bunitania army during the interwar period was a huge loss for Bunitania.

As Joe said in parliament, 'The restrictions placed on Wagner will be the biggest mistake Bonitania made in the entire 20th century!'

——————A History of 20th Century Warfare

(End of this chapter)