novelAbuy Chapter 1772: The French Strangeness in Shanghai
Chapter 1772: The French Strangeness in Shanghai
Chapter 1772: The French Strangeness in Shanghai
On June 18, the front-page headlines of all the major newspapers in Shanghai were all special editions of Marshal Pétain's radio address to the whole of France, announcing France's surrender to Germany:
French troops will stop fighting from today, and he will lead the French government in seeking a ceasefire agreement with Germany.
This news is explosive.
In 1918, the European war ended. France was the victorious country and the whole country was immersed in the joy of victory in World War I.
Three soldiers were awarded the title of Marshal of France for their outstanding achievements in World War I.
They were Joseph Joffre, Ferdinand Foch and Philippe Pétain.
In order to commemorate and honor the contributions of the three French marshals, the French Concession in Shanghai, far away in the Far East, named the French Concession Pétain District, Foch District and Joffre District after the three men, and there were three famous main roads in the French Concession in Shanghai: Pétain Road, Foch Road and Joffre Road.
Now, Marshal Pétain, the symbol of France, announced that the French army had officially stopped fighting and was seeking a ceasefire agreement with Germany.
Not to mention the reaction in the distant world of Europe's first military power, this was like a bolt from the blue for the French Concession in Shanghai, especially for the French expatriates in the French Concession, and for everyone who understood the direct impact of this international situation on the French Concession.
……
Pete has been drunk and dazed these two days.
When he was a little more sober, he began to curse Marshal Pétain, saying that this French Marshal, who was in his 80s and whom he had admired so much before, was the Wang Tianhai of France, a traitor and deserved to be killed by everyone.
The French newspaper "Far East Gaul" in the French Concession reported in detail the "inside story" of France's surrender.
Just six days before France announced its abandonment of resistance, British Prime Minister Churchill visited Paris and met with Marshal Pétain. Churchill hoped that Pétain could promise France to continue fighting.
Churchill asked Bedan to order the French army to persist in guerrilla warfare within France to delay the German offensive and thus buy time for Britain to persuade the United States to join the battle.
However, Pétain firmly rejected Churchill's request.
In the words of the "Far East Gaul", the French Marshal was extremely distrustful of the British in his heart, and Pétain believed that Britain's move was just sacrificing France's interests and saving itself at the cost of destroying France.
Marshal Pétain believed that France should sign a ceasefire agreement with Germany immediately. Every extra second of delay meant more innocent French soldiers would lose their lives on the battlefield.
Marshal Pétain was very dissatisfied with the government's panic and indecision. He proposed to Prime Minister Reynaud that France should prepare for unilateral peace talks with Germany.
As the French army suffered successive defeats and the government evacuated Paris and fled to Bordeaux, the voices supporting Pétain within the government of the French Third Republic grew louder and louder.
Three days ago, French Prime Minister Reynaud resigned for refusing to surrender. Pétain became the French Prime Minister and immediately began to negotiate peace. He made a national radio speech the next day, announcing that the French army would stop all resistance.
……
Interestingly, this report in the Far Eastern Gaulliste actually expressed approval of Prime Minister Pétain's decision to announce that France would give up resistance and surrender to Germany.
In the words of journalist Bechner who wrote this report:
France has already lost, just like the Second French Empire in 1870, because the government and the people are weak and incompetent, and have lost their fighting spirit, and are simply unable to compete with Germany.
France should now surrender and cut its losses as soon as possible, just as the Third Republic did in 1870.
Any continued struggle would be a betrayal of French interests and would be using the blood and flesh of the French people to buy time for the British.
After this report came out, it caused quite a stir in the French Concession, and some French people even publicly expressed their support for Pétain's decision to surrender.
In the words of a French police officer from the French Concession Police Station, surrender is not the end of the world. France has an excellent tradition of surrender. It's not like France has never surrendered to the Germans. Only by surrender can there be a future. Continuing to resist will only make France cannon fodder for the hateful British.
After the publication of this article in the Far Eastern Gaul Times, more arguments similar to those agreeing with France's surrender appeared in foreign-language newspapers in Shanghai.
……
Quinn, the editor of the previously unknown newspaper Free France, stated clearly:
"The German mustache is actually another German emperor, Wilhelm II, elected by the people. Although surrendering to Germany is a great shame, it is not a crisis of national extinction for France."
"As the saying goes, if you have green mountains, you will never run out of firewood. It is unacceptable to fight for the British and bleed all the French blood."
"The European continent belongs to the French, it can also belong to the Germans, but it cannot belong to the British."
Not only that, Mr. Quinn also believes that the theory of the German moustache is not offensive on the surface.
The mustache guy is against the Reds, which is right. Compared with the Germans, Redism in France is the biggest scourge of France. French Redism is the remnant of the Paris Commune. It is reasonable and acceptable to cooperate with the Germans to completely exterminate the remnants of the Paris Commune.
In addition, the editor-in-chief Quinn also believed that the weak republican government caused France to lose its former courage, which led to its ultimate defeat by Germany. The Germans emphasized national will, and France could once again dominate the European continent under the influence and rearmament of the Germans.
……
What is surprising is that the arguments of Mr. Quinn of Free France in his three consecutive articles actually won the recognition and support of many French expatriates in the French Concession.
What surprised Cheng Qianfan in particular was that the French expatriates in the French Concession were in a panic after the fall of Paris. Especially after the news came out that the Japanese were about to occupy the French Concession, the French expatriates showed a tendency to scramble to transfer their assets and flee Shanghai.
However, when the news came from the distant French mainland that the national hero Marshal Pétain announced the surrender of France, the unrest in the French Concession seemed to be alleviated a lot.
The famous Mr. Quinn publicly stated that the Japanese dared to provoke the French Concession authorities before because they believed that France was weak and could be bullied. Now it is different. France has surrendered. Once the Germans accept France's surrender, the French Concession will naturally obtain the protection of the Germans. The Japanese absolutely dare not offend the Germans.
Some French expatriates began to openly hang French flags and German military flags on their balconies. Some even waved the German tax flag and displayed it proudly to the Japanese soldiers on the other side of the Waibaidu Bridge. The provocateurs even shouted "Come here".
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