Chapter 1355 The Iron-Blooded President
The reason why Clemenceau chose to make a desperate move was not only that he had no way out, but more importantly, it was to protect France.
France was severely damaged in World War I and lost a large number of its population, and France's fate in World War I also made French senior officials further realize the importance of population. If France was not inferior to Germany in terms of population, it would not be in today's predicament.
Although France's industry has lagged behind Germany's now, in the final analysis it still has to be traced back to the population issue. After all, France lacks the basic minerals needed for industrial development compared to Germany, but France's colonial resources are still not bad. .
However, the development of resources in these colonies also requires population support, otherwise the colonial resistance movement alone would make the French government overwhelmed.
At this point, East Africa has done very well. The rapid population growth since the colonial era is the foundation for East Africa to expand and dominate half of the African continent.
If traditional European colonial methods were used, it would be impossible for East Africa to expand to the extent it is today. Of course, this is also due to the strong fertility rate of German and Far Eastern immigrants. The same is true for Slavic immigrants, the third largest source of immigrants in East Africa. However, East Africa The Slavic immigrants had long been Germanized.
Of course, the French government, or the current leadership of the French government, is very envious of the fertility rate in East Africa.
Clemenceau said with a sad tone: "France lost a lot of precious lives in the war, including many young people. They should have been the future of France and shouldered the heavy responsibility of France's breeding work, but because of us He made a mistake in judging the war and died on the battlefield.”
"So, for the future of France, we must cherish the surviving French people even more."
"If what is described in East Africa really happens, this plague will probably take more lives. This is unacceptable to me."
Seeing that the President's will was unchangeable, the senior government officials no longer hesitated, but asked: "Your Excellency, what should we do?"
Although Clemenceau's future is bleak, it is undeniable that he is still the top leader of France, and he was known for his tough tactics during the war, so no one in the government dared to stir up Clemenceau's temper. Things that are contrary to Yang and Yin.
Clemenceau saw that his morale was ready, and he said happily: "Everyone, we will fight again for France this time. As for leaving our reputation behind us for later generations to evaluate! We only need to have a clear conscience this time."
"According to my order, France has entered a state of emergency. From now on, the government will return to wartime status and strictly control the country's supplies, especially medical resources."
“All French people must carry out production and living activities under the arrangements of the government. For areas hardest hit by the epidemic, strict control over travel and registration and filing work must be done.”
"The health department, military, police station and other relevant organizations, under the unified command of the government, are carrying out large-scale sterilization work across the country."
"Especially the ruins during wars and corpses on the battlefield must be professionally processed to prevent the formation of new sources of infection and to be alert to the occurrence of other plagues..."
On the Western Front battlefield, France was also the main battlefield, especially in northern France, which also resulted in a large number of buildings being destroyed by artillery fire and a large number of casualties.
In some ruins and battlefields, there is a high probability that there will be corpses that will not be cleaned up in the future, so Clemenceau emphasized this point.
"Strictly control the flow of medicines and crack down on criminals who drive up prices. At this time, if anyone dares to go against the government, he will be punished as treason."
"We will conduct an inventory of the materials stored in the warehouses requisitioned by the government and the military during the war, and strictly check the reselling of materials. Although the war is over, the fight against the plague is a new war. I don't want to hear bad news flowing into me. Ears..."
France had stored a large amount of supplies for the war, but now that these supplies were still backlogged in the warehouse because of the end of the war, Clemenceau planned to use them as waste.
"Special management measures will be implemented for the epidemic-stricken areas. Before the crisis is resolved, an isolation system will be strictly implemented. The government will uniformly dispatch national medical and health resources, and the transportation and operation of daily necessities..." Clemenceau arranged various tasks in an orderly manner. , but other government officials became more and more frightened.
Without him, France, as an old base of world sports, its rulers also know best how difficult the French people are to serve.
You must know that France has just escaped from the war, and the French people have been suppressed for five years. Now Clemenceau's orders are tantamount to shrouding France under the haze again.
It's just that before it was the haze of war, but now it's the haze of plague. Without fully confirming the destructive power of this round of epidemic, Clemenceau's series of measures are tantamount to telling the French that this epidemic crisis is worse than war. No less impressive.
If the epidemic develops as Clemenceau expected, it will be okay. If it ends hastily, then the image of Clemenceau's government in the hearts of the French people will really be impossible to clean up.
Moreover, there is a question mark as to whether the French government is able to suppress the plague under control through its own efforts. If it is like the Black Death era, and it is helpless through various means, it will be even more impossible to end.
Out of this consideration, someone asked President Clemenceau with trepidation: "Your Excellency, is this making a fuss out of a molehill? If the situation exceeds our expectation and control, I am afraid that all of us will not be able to explain to the people."
President Clemenceau waved his hand and said: "Don't try to persuade me anymore. No matter how bad the situation is, it won't get much worse! You don't need to worry, just follow my orders. I will bear all the final consequences. Even if it’s a name-calling, I’ll bear it!”
Seeing that the president was very resolute and took the initiative to take responsibility, others did not dare to say anything.
In fact, up to now, although Clemenceau's reputation among the French people has dropped significantly, his power has not been shaken at all.
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The so-called disaster lies in the blessing, and the blessing lies in the disaster. It is precisely because France is in a mess now, which makes Clemenceau's competitors unwilling to take over. Clemenceau's power has not been damaged at all. , which also gave him more confidence to implement his policies.
In early 1920, when East Africa was preparing to deal with the plague, France followed suit and initiated nationwide martial law.
The actions of the two governments have naturally been seen by other countries in the world, and have received a lot of discussion. Some countries support the attitudes of the two countries, but many countries sneer at the actions of the two countries, and even watch the show with suspicion. idea.
Countries outside of Europe even think that the matter has nothing to do with them and ignore it. Many of them do not realize the destructive power of this plague. In addition to the delayed news and insufficient awareness, many people do not believe that this plague will spread. So fast.
What's more, there has never been a plague of this scale in the world before. After all, the world structure is very different now from before the 19th century. Now the world market has taken shape, which has also led to trade, culture, military, etc. between various continents and regions. Communication is becoming more frequent.
This has also intensified the exchanges of people between countries and regions. The frequent exchanges of people naturally mean that if a large-scale infectious disease breaks out, the possibility of it developing into a global disease is greatly increased.
This was the case with the Spanish Flu in the previous life. At that time, almost half of the world's 1.8 billion people were affected.
Some data even estimate that during the Spanish Flu pandemic from 1918 to 1919, 50 to 100 million people died in the world.
This figure, if true, far exceeds the number of casualties in the entire First World War.
(End of chapter)