"Captain, the core issue of the Courland plan is the land question and the national question."
Captain Falkenhorst, the "Land Nation", looked at Hersmann, "Major, you want to concentrate all the Germans in the Baltic region to Courland" "And Livlan."
"About 650,000 square kilometers of land, centered in Riga, half of which is mostly arable land, and the rest is hills, lakes and swamps. ” He is talking about the fact that before the end of the First World War, Latvia did not have the concept of a Latvian state, only Latvians.
It is a small people with a population of only seven or eight hundred thousand, with no country of its own, and has historically been ruled either by Germans or by Russians.
Hersman went on to say: "According to the statistics of the Baltic Provisional Government, there are about 1 million non-Germans in the Courland and Livland regions, of which Latvians account for 60 percent of the Latvians at this time are not all in Courland and Livland, Russians account for 20, and the rest are Estonians, Lithuanians, Poles, Ukrainians and Jews.
In addition, in the Baltic region and Lithuania, there are also Austrian Poland and Austrian Ukraine, and there are currently about 800,000 Germans, most of whom are around Riga, that is, in the Courland and Livland regions.
And the Courland plan proposed to rearrange the population of Courland and the entire Baltic region, concentrating Germans in Courland and Livland.
Then move the Latvians of Courland and Livland as far as possible.
In order to ensure that the Germans could become the largest ethnic group in the future Courland Autonomous State, the Courland Autonomous State was to be prepared to admit Germans from Poznan and West Prussia if necessary. ” Hersmann's Courland Plan was not complicated, the core idea was to occupy Courland and Livland with population and womb, and the first goal was to make the German population of the Courland Autonomous State reach 1 million.
Considering the agricultural conditions of Courland and Livland and the industriousness of the Germans, 650,000 square kilometers of land will definitely allow 1 million Germans to live well, so that they can continue to attract immigrants from Germany proper.
By the eve of World War II, the Courland Autonomous State might have a population of 3 million, including non-Germans, more than later Latvia.
And no matter how unreasonable the Entente is, there is nothing to do with 1 million Courland Germans, there is Europe after all, and the Germans of the Courland Autonomous State will not be without force.
"If the future Courland Autonomous State can have 1 million Germans, then after full mobilization, the Courland Defense Forces will have 100,000 fighters.
Relying on the terrain of hills, swamps and forests, it can withstand the 200,000 to 300,000 Allied troops coming from afar" Of course, preparations for the fight still had to be made, and in the Courland Plan, Hersman proposed the formation of a standing army of about 50,000 Courland Defense Force.
The backbone will be volunteers recruited from the German army on the Eastern Front, who will have dual citizenship of the Courland Autonomous State and Germany, and will also be allocated land in the Courland Autonomous State.
"What's the matter with the distribution of land" Captain Nicholas von Falkenhorst had a copy of the Courland Plan in his hand, and he listened to Hersmann's explanation as he flipped through the copy while writing notes on it with a pen.
He found that the copy contained a lot of information about "land allocation".
"Every Baltic German who wants to live in the countryside should be given enough land to sustain the middle class."
"This is the key to uniting all Courland Germans," Hersman said.
There is a lot of land in the Autonomous State of Courland, so if we don't give it to our fellow Germans, how can we convince them that Courland is a home they deserve to defend with their lives?
” Captain Nicholas von Falkenhorst glanced at Hindenburg, who nodded.
The Courland Autonomous State was arguably the only possible victory of the German Empire after the World War.
This is the benefit of the German landlords of Courland, which was exchanged for the blood of 2 million people, and it cannot be compared with the blood of 2 million people at all.
Moreover, if the Courland Germans lose power, sooner or later their land will be confiscated.
"In addition, we should resettle the displaced Latvians as much as possible, and we can settle in Poland and Lithuania, and give them some of the land that belonged to the Russian nobility.
It would be desirable to form a few or a dozen Latvian settlements in Poland and Lithuania. ” Hersman also mentioned the resettlement of Latvians in the plan.
He did not want hundreds of thousands of Latvians to hate Germany, and if he could be generous to others, why not create a Latvian problem for Pilsudski "Major, you also mentioned in your plan the possibility of Courland joining the Polish Confederation or forming a Confederation with Estonia."
Captain Falkenhorst frowned slightly, "Can't you think about making Courland independent?"
"It is clearly advantageous to form a federal state," Hirschman explained, "and the first choice is, of course, the formation of the Courland Autonomous State and the Estonian Autonomous State, and the Baltic United States can be either Grand Duchy or Republic." ” In Hersman's Courland Plan, the fate of Estonians and Latvians was completely different, the latter would be relocated from their homeland, while the former would have a self-governing state and become the main ethnic group in the former Tsarist and Livonian provinces of Estonia.
The merger of the two autonomous states into the United Baltic States, with the capital of the country in Riga, had obvious advantages, since the Estonian nation was very weak and the population was smaller, less than that of Latvians.
If a federation were to be formed with the powerful German nation, then the power of the federal state would be manipulated by the Germans.
In addition, the Germans had always been the upper echelons of the Tsarist provinces of Estonia and Livonia, controlling much of the land and industry.
If Estonia and Courland form a federation, then the Estonians cannot confiscate the property of the Germans.
"Then who is the Grand Duke," asked Captain Falkenhorst again.
"At present, it is a German monarch, this is considered by His Majesty, not by us."
Hersman said.
In his Courland plan, there was no mention of the choice of the monarch of the United Duchy of the Baltic Principality, and now that Kaiser Wilhelm II was still on the stage, it would be disrespectful to discuss this issue.
However, Hersmann had a perfect fit in his mind.
"Say," Hindenburg waved, "the gray plan was meant to deal with extraordinary times."
I don't think that by that time a duke of the German Empire would be the monarch of the United Duchy of the Baltics. ” This is obviously impossible, the Entente are not so easy to talk about, unless the Courland Germans are ready to fight, although they will not necessarily lose, but they should avoid war as much as possible, after all, the huge German Empire has been defeated "The ideal candidate is Grand Duchess Olga Nikolaevna."
"Tsar's daughter," Hindenburg frowned, "it's a good idea, she is indeed qualified to be the monarch of the United Duchy of the Baltics, and neither England nor France can say anything." ” The land of the United Duchy of the Baltic was originally owned by the Romanov dynasty, and the titles of Nicholas II included the three princes of "Prince of Estonia", "Prince of Livonia", and "Prince of Courland and Semigalia", which referred to the monarchs of the United Duchy of the Baltics.
This was recognized by Britain, France, and the United States, so there was no legal problem with the tsar passing the three princes to Olga.
And given the position of the Entente against Soviet Russia, they would not have objected to this arrangement.
"But what about the Russians," Hindenburg's brow furrowed even tighter.
"They will accept the Romanov dynasty to power in the Baltic" "Probably not," Hersman smiled, "but nothing, when the Entente's intervention in Soviet Russia fails, we will ask her to step down again, and then it will be the Baltic Union Republic." ” It's time to ask for favorites and recommendations again, do you still have tickets to make Rollo's weekly recommendation exceed 10,000 t1706231537: