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Chapter 134: The French Defaulted Again
🕑 Added 2025-01-04 14:33:26 +0000 UTCThe originally scheduled Weimar conference was postponed.
In the short span of a week before the meeting, two major events occurred.
The first was the unexpected death of beloved American President Roosevelt from a cerebral hemorrhage after becoming overly emotional during a visit to a military base, just one day before his scheduled departure for Europe.
In response, Josh's Fortress Headquarters lowered its flags to half-mast as a gesture of mourning. Of course, the private celebration that Josh and his subordinates enjoyed later that evening was not meant for public discussion. After all, it's not entirely unusual to eat at a funeral.
The second major event was the British election, in which the formidable Churchill, who saw himself as Britain's savior, suffered a surprising defeat.
While Josh didn't care much about who became British Prime Minister, the combination of these two events forced the delay of the Weimar Conference by a week.
However, the delay didn't stop Weimar from becoming a hotbed of political activity, nor did it stop Josh from coming here to look for opportunities and collect debts.
"General de Gaulle, your delays regarding matters in the French occupied zone are not in accordance with our previous agreements. Am I to understand that your side intends to default?" Josh questioned sharply as he met de Gaulle, who had arrived early in Weimar, in a small local tavern.
As Josh had anticipated, loans involving France were something over which de Gaulle, as provisional leader, had no authority.
The newly elected parliament had just begun its term, and de Gaulle was already facing sidelining.
What Josh didn't expect, however, was how ineffective de Gaulle could be, struggling even to maintain control over the French occupied zone. Domestic forces in France repeatedly obstructed progress, causing endless delays.
“Mr. Kahn, we are not defaulting. It's just that our domestic situation is quite complicated, and the international environment is not favorable. This has temporarily prevented us from paying our debts. Moreover, the materials you supplied at the time were indeed a little too expensive!" Before de Gaulle could answer, a glasses wearing middle-aged man standing behind him spoke up.
"And who do you think you are? I'm talking to General de Gaulle. What makes you think you can interrupt?" Josh shot him a disdainful look and scoffed.
"Mr. Kahn, please watch your language. I am a French diplomatic official, and your insult to me is an insult to my country!" The man's face turned red with anger.
"Tch, insult you? Sure, I'll insult you. What are you going to do about it? Your country couldn't last a month before the Germans occupied it, and its liberation depended entirely on the Allies. A nation that doesn't even have a formal seat at international conferences—why should I care? Useless in war, but quick to make a fuss over debt? Pathetic!" Josh tilted his head and looked at the self-proclaimed French diplomat with amusement before starting his little outburst.
He showed no regard for de Gaulle or the man sitting across from him.
For Josh, there was no need to hold back.
Though France had been liberated and the famine was over, that didn't mean its troubles were over.
Although recognized as a victorious nation, France still had no voice in major international affairs. Just like in history, where it had no seat at Yalta or Potsdam, the Weimar Conference was no different in this world. Only the "Big Three" of Great Britain, the United States, and the Soviet Union had formal seats.
France and other participating nations were there as window dressing.
Moreover, France had been severely weakened by the war, and its recovery depended heavily on American aid.
While the decisions on aid came from the White House and Congress, the actual implementation was in the hands of the financial conglomerates. There was plenty of room for negotiation.
As a representative of the American financial elite, Josh dared the French to lay a finger on him. If they tried, they’d only invite disaster upon themselves.
"Cough, cough, Mr. Kahn, let's focus on the matter at hand and avoid escalating this to national level," de Gaulle finally interrupted. He hadn't spoken earlier, not because he wanted to ignore Josh, but because the diplomat had interrupted him. Besides, the diplomat wasn't even one of his people, so de Gaulle had no qualms about letting him play the villain.
However, de Gaulle hadn't expected Josh to show such blatant disrespect—not only insulting him, but also taking shots at his entire nation. It was something he couldn't tolerate.
In these times, derogatory remarks about France were not uncommon, and de Gaulle was well aware of this. However, such remarks were usually made behind their backs. Josh was the first to brazenly hurl insults directly to a leader's face.
If it had been anyone else, de Gaulle might have drawn his pistol.
But when it came to Josh, he couldn't muster a strong retort.
After all, he was in the wrong. Just the year before, he had practically begged Josh for a loan of $200 million worth of food, secured by a contract pledging the resources of the French-occupied zone as collateral.
What de Gaulle hadn't anticipated was how much tougher his domestic opposition would be. He couldn't even fully control the resources of the occupied zone.
"Mr. de Gaulle, I don't want to embarrass anyone, but dragging out this debt issue is not a solution. Or are you suggesting that France no longer needs aid?" Josh asked, shaking his head.
"Hmph, does your country's aid to mine depend on the whims of a mere financial representative like yourself?"
De Gaulle had intended to reason with Josh and ask for more time.
But to his dismay, the diplomat spoke again and made another insulting statement.
This only highlighted de Gaulle's weak control over his own government—he couldn't even control the mouth of a diplomat traveling with him.
"In that case, there's nothing more to discuss," Josh said with a sudden smile. He got up and left the tavern with his staff.
"Boss, shall we teach that fool a lesson?" Vito, sitting in the passenger seat, asked after they got into the car.
"Not for now. The situation in Weimar is delicate; we can't afford to stir up trouble here," Josh replied, shaking his head. "Besides, someone who has risen to the rank of diplomat can't really be stupid. His provocations seem to indicate that they're really preparing to default. I just don't know where they get their confidence."
Truth be told, defaulting seemed to be a long-standing tradition of the French government.
It dated back to the reign of Louis XVI.
More recently, after World War I, France owed the U.S. nearly $10 billion, including both government and private debts like Josh's.
Yet between 1920 and 1930, France repaid only $500 million—barely enough to cover the interest.
When the Great Depression hit, France stopped paying altogether.
This was one of the reasons the U.S. was so reluctant to give free aid to France during World War II.
Josh had long known that the new French government would try to default again in the early postwar period.
It wasn't until they realized their economy couldn't recover without outside help and applied for the Marshall Plan that they were forced to renegotiate and implement a repayment plan. They barely managed to pay off the debt by the 21st century.
Now, if the French wanted to default again, fine. Josh vowed to make them pay back twice as much in the future—or he'd write his name backwards.
While Josh's efforts to collect the debt bore no fruit, across the street in another hotel, Ophelia was also meeting someone—a stunning woman, just like herself.
"Nice to meet you. I'm Claire, Claire Voyant," the woman introduced herself to Ophelia.
"Ophelia Sarkissian. Nice to meet you, Claire~" Ophelia replied with a warm smile and extended her hand to shake Claire's.
Although both women smiled graciously, the nearby waiter couldn't help but feel that the temperature dropped noticeably as he approached their table.
(End of chapter)
