Capítulo 250: Chapter 328 Balkan Situation (2)
As early as the end of March 1939, Mussolini issued a final ultimatum to Albania, instructing the government of King Zog to respond to the following demands before 12:00 on April 6th: allow Italian forces to land at major Albanian ports, permit these forces to control strategic points, airports, and border strategic positions; establish an Italian "immigrant zone" in Albania, where these immigrants would enjoy the rights of Albanian citizens; establish a customs alliance; Italian citizens residing in Albania would have the right to hold the most important public offices; secretaries of government departments should be Italians; the Italian envoy in Tirana and the Albanian envoy in Rome should both be members of their respective cabinets.
Although the Zog government kept Mussolini's final ultimatum a secret, the public quickly learned the truth. From April 3rd to 6th, Albania experienced large-scale mass demonstrations every day, leading to Zog abandoning the country. On April 7th, around forty thousand Italian troops, under the command of General Guzzoni, arrived at Albania's four main ports—Durres, Vlorë, Saranda, and Shëngjin. Albania's resistance was quickly crushed, and by April 10th, almost the entire country was occupied by the Italian forces.
In fact, Wilhelm also didn't want to get involved in this "powder keg" of the Balkans. Even if Britain were to deploy bombers in Greece in the future to bomb the Ploiești oil fields in Romania, the German anti-aircraft forces stationed on the oil fields could handle it effectively.
What really made him decide to get involved was the resources stored in Albania.
As is well known, during World War II, Germany consistently lacked nickel and chromium ores, severely affecting the production capacity and quality of weapons and equipment, such as jet engines that could only operate for 50 hours and the 88mm guns whose production capacity never improved.
Ironically, Europe itself was not lacking in these minerals, and their production areas were under the control of the Axis powers, particularly in Albania.
Albania possessed Europe's largest chromium ore reserves and rare high-grade nickel ore resources. Regarding chromium ore, there were 6.1 million tons of ore with a chromium content of over 42%, 2 million tons with a content of 38%-42%, and 29.2 million tons with a content of 18%-38%. Nickel ore was also abundant, with 59.3 million tons of nickel-iron ore containing 1.03%-1.25% nickel and 49.4 million tons of silicate nickel ore with a nickel content of 1.21%-1.32%.
For these resources, Wilhelm felt "compelled" to step into the Balkan Peninsula. However, he didn't want to waste too much effort in this "European powder keg" and summoned the Greek ambassador to Berlin.
"Greetings, Your Royal Highness," said the somewhat uneasy Greek ambassador Markus upon arriving at the palace.
Ever since Italy occupied Albania, Greece had been on edge, and with German troops recently entering Albania, Markus was worried that this summons might be a declaration of war.
"Ambassador Markus, is His Majesty King George II in good health?"
In the original timeline, the Prime Minister of Greece was Ioannis Metaxas. Upon taking office, he dissolved the parliament, arrested labor leaders, declared strikes illegal, and suppressed freedom of speech. Left-wing political figures were either exiled or imprisoned, and a strict censorship system was established, even designating works by Plato, Thucydides, and Xenophon as banned books. In just eight months, Greece transitioned from a constitutional monarchy to a dictatorship.
Wilhelm disliked Metaxas, despite the fact that he later led Greece to join the Western Allies. Therefore, he employed a cunning tactic to remove Metaxas from Greek politics early on, eventually eliminating him. The current Prime Minister of Greece is an ordinary person with little charisma.
Ambassador Markus cautiously inquired, "Thank you, Your Highness, for your concern. His Majesty King George II is well. May I know the reason for the Crown Prince's summons?"
Wilhelm revealed a mysterious smile. "Oh, nothing much. I've heard recently that your country is having some interactions with Britain?"
"Absolutely not!" Ambassador Markus hastily denied, sweat appearing on his forehead. He even doubted whether Germany intended to use this as an excuse to attack Greece, and the sweat on his face flowed profusely. "You know that Greece adheres to neutrality."
"Oh? Did I hear it wrong?" Wilhelm smiled faintly. "Ambassador Markus, there's no need to be so tense. I believe in your country's neutral policy and hope that you will continue to adhere to it. Don't be swayed by the sweet words of the British; don't become their pawn.
Rest assured, I support your neutrality. But if your country goes back on its promises, I won't be so lenient. If you wish to join us, you're welcome anytime. We can help you reclaim what you've lost." According to the Treaty of Lausanne, Greece lost territories like Smyrna, Northern Epirus, and Eastern Thrace.
Of course, the last sentence was merely a formality. It's worth noting that in later years, as the most backward country among the original 15 EU members, Greece received billions of euros in subsidies from the EU annually, and the country's finances were in dire straits, leading to government bankruptcy.
Moreover, this bankruptcy wasn't accidental; in history, Greece had experienced bankruptcy several times.
Contemporary Greece was founded on November 30, 1823, and on the very day of its establishment, it borrowed a large sum of money from Western countries. On this day, major British banks lent the leaders of the Greek War of Independence £800,000 to support their resistance against the Ottoman Empire. This money was primarily used to purchase military equipment, with the remaining portion allocated to cover the daily expenses of the rebel-held territories. Four years after this loan, Greece declared its first bankruptcy due to an inability to repay the interest.
In the year 1893, 66 years after its establishment, the then Prime Minister Charilaos Trikoupis declared Greece's second bankruptcy, uttering a phrase that echoed through the annals of history: "I'm sorry, we are bankrupt."
In 1932, Greece declared bankruptcy for the third time. Prime Minister Eleftherios Venizelos, in a miscalculation, failed to grasp the severity of the crisis following the Great Depression of 1929. Instead, he continued pegging Greece's exchange rate to gold and the pound, leading to the eventual bankruptcy.
After World War II, Greece's economic situation did not improve and constantly teetered on the brink of bankruptcy. While British Prime Minister Churchill gave up, the United States fought alone, initiating the famous Marshall Plan aimed at assisting Europe in post-war reconstruction and recovery. The U.S. government, on one hand, observed the situation and, on the other, allocated the government budget to the construction of facilities for the social elite. This inadvertently contributed to the growing influence of the communist bloc, ultimately forcing the United States to establish a highly controlled administrative system.
Throughout the 1950s, the upper echelons of Athenian society squandered Greece's international financial reserves. According to the recollections of American journalist Joseph Harrison, who was stationed in Athens at the time, Greece's wealthy "wept for their homeland all day long but disdained paying taxes, transferring most of their wealth to the United States, Switzerland, and Egypt."
This trend continued through the 1960s and 1970s.
Wilhelm wasn't very keen on having such an unreliable subordinate.
However, this subordinate wasn't entirely useless; it still possessed some resources. Bauxite (with reserves of about 1 billion tons), lignite (with reserves of 5.6 billion tons), petroleum (reserves around 450 million barrels), natural gas, nickel, chromium, magnesium, asbestos, uranium, marble, and more.
In the 1960s, uranium deposits were discovered in the Paranesti region and other areas in northern Greece, with reserves reaching millions of tons. One million tons of uranium ore is equivalent to 5,000 kilograms of weapons-grade uranium or approximately 150,000 kilograms of low-enriched uranium for nuclear power generation. This is equivalent to 405 million tons of standard coal, similar to the total production of a large coal mine over nearly 20 years.
So, if Greece shamelessly wanted to join, Wilhelm reluctantly agreed; of course, they wouldn't get away without paying a hefty price.
Upon hearing Wilhelm's words, Ambassador Markus was momentarily stunned. "Thank you, Your Highness. I will report back to His Majesty."
Wilhelm issued a warning. "However, if I discover any double-dealing, secret collusion with the enemies of the Empire, don't blame me for not being lenient when the time comes."
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