The journey starts from the Titanic

Turning over the serfs sang, the Americans who owe money are now uncles.Before World War I, the United States owed Europe 4 billion U.S. dollars. Four years later, 19 European countries owed the U.S. 10 billion U.S. dollars. The United States became the world's largest creditor nation.

The strong US dollar gradually replaced the already large denomination of the British pound as the world's trade settlement currency, and the world's financial center was also transferred from London to New York, because the United States has controlled 40% of the world's gold reserves.

The bankers on Wall Street have won, and they feel like they are going to become the masters of the universe.The big capitalists expected that more and more American goods would enter the markets of all countries in the world, especially the colonial markets of the European powers. American businessmen have been coveting them for a long time.Now that Europeans owe money to Lao Tzu, don't you dare to open the market door obediently and let abundant American capital come to rescue you?The William Consortium also has plans to invest in Europe, and its subsidiary Robles Securities has increasingly participated in international sovereign investment.

During the war, the United States completely turned the Latin American region into its own back garden, and even Canada, which was close at hand, was increasingly controlled by the United States.This mainly reflects the economic aspect. After the United Kingdom has become the world's largest capital exporter, the United States will naturally not let Canada or even New Australia go.The Canadian government and businessmen are also more and more like to go to Wall Street to raise funds, their family is too emperor-Britain is already poor!

The British suffered huge losses in just four years, with millions of casualties and loss of more than 8 million tons of ships. 80% of merchant ships were sent to the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean by German submarines.

Maritime trade has suffered a fatal blow, so that the foundation of maintaining the hegemony of the British Empire has been greatly damaged for a century. The colonies of the empire that have not set sun are eager for equality and autonomy. This has undoubtedly increased the cost of maintaining the huge colonial system. .

During the war, the British sold 10% of their overseas assets, although some of the losses could be made up by dividing up the overseas colonies of the defeated countries after the war.But for the military expenditure of nearly 10 billion pounds (about 50 billion US dollars) spent on the entire war in four years, no amount of colonies can make up for it.

For the British, this war is not worth the gain.What made them even more painful was that in order to maintain the balance of power in the European continent after the war, the British could not as desperately as the French did to the Germans as large sums of indemnity, they had to knock out their teeth and swallow them.

Compared with the more constrained and balanced Britons, France suffered more injuries and suffered more losses.The French army was the main force on the Western Front, with the most casualties, and the war was conducted in France. This made France whose industry was weaker than Germany, Britain and the United States even worse.He fought a life-and-death battle with the robbers in his home, even if he won, but looking at the devastated home, the French felt extremely uncomfortable.

More than five million French men were killed and wounded, leaving countless widows and widows. A generation of young adults was almost exhausted. For France, which had a population of only 40 million before the war, it was no longer just as simple as a wound, it was simply lost." Fertility".

Since the French Revolution, there have been countless prostitutes in Paris. This is not without reason.The cruel battle once again proved that it is not the French who are born romantic, but that they have misery.

The poor French owed the Americans four or five billion dollars in foreign debt, and they had to be paid by women.

This is a weary victory, a victory not worth the loss. If possible, the two difficult brothers in Britain and France would rather not have this victory.

More than 300 billion U.S. dollars in losses, 20 million people died.

The cruelty of the war is self-evident, and it hurts both sides. Germany, Austria-Hungary, Russia, Italy and other countries also paid a painful price.

"Hey, it's over at last. Although it's a bit early for me!" Situ Nan whispered in his heart.The William Consortium made a fortune during the war, and Situ Nan's assets have also doubled several times. He has no guilt about this.

As long as human beings have selfishness and greed, there will be disputes, and wars will follow.From the sky to the land to the sea, this is a big industrial war, and its outcome has been decided on the assembly line.

Humans naturally understand the cruelty of war, but they often think more about how to build a larger and larger industry and win the next war.

Aftermath of Volume Three

Chapter 1 New Challenges

Or William Manor in Beverly Hills, Hollywood.The Situ Nan family was dining, and the exquisite food was more attractive than reports of war.

Although it has been more than a week since the news of victory from Europe, the fighting has continued. Reports of "suppression of fascists" and "American troops stationed in Germany" have been continuously reported.Situ Nan has also been paying attention to the situation, usually secretly confirming each other with his own memory.

"Oh my God! Thank God, the war is finally over! I hope our Andy will never experience these cruel things." Laura said with compassion on Andy, and put a cross on her chest.

"Yeah! It's time to end!" Situ Nan looked at the photos of the soldiers who smiled in relief in the newspaper, feeling deeply moved.

"I'm enough! Use it slowly!" Paul put down his knife and fork, got up to apologize, put on his jacket, and walked silently to the door. After a while, he heard the sound of hum and a plane flew past the sky. , Like an angry bird.

"My dear, Paul is back to the way he was doing nothing. He has rarely cared about school affairs recently." Laura said with some worry, staring at Situ Nan, hoping that he could have some good way to cheer up his brother. stand up.

"Don't worry. Most people who have gone through the war will feel confused. Although Paul has been back for a while, his heart has always been there, paying attention to everything there. Don't worry, he will be fine when he figured it out. "Situ South Road.

"I hope so!" Laura sighed.

Ringing!

the phone is ringing.Situ Nan picked up the handle and heard Andrew's excited voice—"Stone, I didn't expect to be hit by you again. The war was over so soon! Hey, I didn't expect it, I thought there was still more than half a year! "

There was some regret in Andrew's excited tone.

"Yes. I thought it was our American soldiers who drove into the Rhine River invincibly. I didn't expect the Germans to be in a mess. Those Soviets helped us a lot!" Situ Nan replied.He had known this result a long time ago, and the general trend of history has not changed because of his appearance.

"Yes. Those Soviets are not easy to deal with. I heard that the situation in Europe is very bad. We defeated the Germans but more Soviets stood up." Andrew said worriedly.

"Leave this to the White House! We are now busy taking care of our business. The Industry Council cancelled our order during the war. I am having a headache!"

Situ Nan frowned and said.

"Yeah! I heard that the Wartime Industry Committee is about to be cancelled. Bernard is ready to submit his resignation. But we have got what we want. By the way, I heard a rumor that some congressmen proposed to investigate the wartime Corruption during the war between the Bureau of Industry and major arms companies. Bethlehem must also make timely preparations.” Andrew warned.

Now the Mellon Consortium is also one of the shareholders of Bethlehem United Steel Company, and Andrew couldn't help but not care. Bethlehem's outstanding performance during the war is justified.

After all, not every company can provide hundreds of millions of dollars in munitions for the U.S. military and Britain and France like Bethlehem United Steel, draining the blood of Europeans like a pump.

The war is a good thing for the entire American industry, but it also suppressed the development of some companies, and some international trade had to be interrupted because of the war, which harmed the interests of some American companies.To put it bluntly, it is a conflict between different interest groups.

For example, local consortia such as the Cleveland Consortium and Chicago Consortium that emerged in World War I in history have been slow to develop because of the outstanding performance of the Bethlehem Steel Company in arms.

Similarly, because of the rise of Occidental Petroleum, the development of the Rockefeller Consortium in the oil industry has been partially restricted.The growth of Robles Securities and Wells Fargo also pressured the Morgan Consortium.

The snowball expansion of the William Consortium made other consortia feel uncomfortable, because the rise of a new force is always a challenge for traditional forces.

It is normal for them to be hostile to the William Consortium.Wells Fargo and Occidental Petroleum are in the far west and south, and they are beyond their reach for a while, but they are just like the Bethlehem United Steel Company at their doorstep!

Of course, some people have begun to take aim at Robles Securities, but Robles Securities, which holds a large amount of US Treasury bonds, is not afraid of any challenges at all.

After all, Bethlehem is actually the most hated company. Who calls it the largest arms company?In particular, several regional consortia such as Cleveland, Chicago, and Boston, whose steel companies or shipbuilding companies have been strongly challenged by Bethlehem, are the most eager to take Bethlehem down.

After thinking about it inside and out, Situ Nan asked, "Are the people in Cleveland and Boston doing little tricks?"

"Almost! It's fine if you know. But they can't get over any big storms, and I'm still there." Andrew's confident voice came from the other end of the phone.

Indeed, Andrew is qualified to be so domineering.The Mellon Consortium is the only consortium that has developed better than in history due to the emergence of Situ Nan.Through cooperation with the William Consortium in Bethlehem and Gulf Oil Company, the Mellon Consortium has grown from the Pittsburgh area into a national consortium, and its strength is only behind the Morgan Consortium and the Rockefeller Consortium.

This is why the other consortiums in the east have not directly attacked Situ Nan, because they all taboo the old fox in Pittsburgh.

After all, several large companies under the William Consortium all have shares in the Mellon family. Coupled with the Mellon family’s entrenched relationship in the upper class of the United States, many times, as long as Situ Nan has not done anything excessive, give it a little. , Other consortia generally do not directly attack the William consortium.

For example, the cooperation between Giant and Pfizer has won the favor of many people. Some old people also said that Situ Nan, a young man who knows how to be a man, does not want to kill others like Rockefeller's proud old man.

"Okay! I see!" Situ Nan said warmly, the old man really kept him out of wind and rain.Later, Situ Nan talked about it and joked to Laura, married a wife and married half of the Mellon consortium.

Preparing for the rainy day is Situ Nan's usual practice. Putting down the phone, he dialed Eugene, the president of Bethlehem United Steel Company, and told Eugene about his concerns, so that Bethlehem United Steel Company was prepared.

"Mr. William, the share price of Bethlehem has fallen again today." Eugene said sadly.

"Oh? I fell again? Is someone doing little tricks?" Situ Nan asked.

"That's not the case. Not only us, but the stock prices of major steel companies such as U.S. Steel, DuPont, and Alcoa have all fallen. It seems that our prosperous days are gone forever!" Eugene explained.

"Didn't we have anticipated it? Let's fall! When the price is low, we will just absorb it." Situ Nan comforted.

"Yeah. It seems that the prosperous days are gone forever. We still have a large amount of ammunition in our warehouse, and those newly built docks will also be abandoned. What a pity." Eugene sighed regretfully, to Situ Nan reported on the general situation of Bethlehem.

"Regardless of whether the war continues or not, Bethlehem is always a world-wide company. Our achievements are obvious to all, and our position in the industry is still leading. I have always been very optimistic about Bethlehem. There will be more cars and bigger ships in the future. More majestic bridges and more high-rise buildings are inseparable from steel and the great Bethlehem Company. Believe me, Eugene, Bethlehem will always be the coordinates of American industrialization!"

Situ Nan cheered up.He knew that everything would be fine after the depression two or three years after the war.