"No, we absolutely cannot wait until the Germany people occupy all of France before asking them for peace. In that case, it will be of no use. By then, the Germany people will not need us to sue for peace at all, and they can do whatever they want." President Poincaré said.
"Yes, by that time, we may not be asking for peace, but surrender. There is a huge difference between the two." Prime Minister Rene Viviani also said.
If you want to make peace, your attitude will be relatively low. But at least you can still bargain. If you surrender, you will become meat on the chopping board and be slaughtered by others.
"In this case, make preparations and contact Germany as soon as possible!" President Poincaré said.
After making such a decision, President Poincaré seemed helpless. More than forty years ago, Franco-Prussian War and Second French Empire were defeated and the emperor was captured, which directly led to the collapse of the Empire. This time, Third French Republic was also defeated. I am afraid that the Third Republic will soon cease to exist.
"Yes, Your Excellency the President. However, if we want to surrender to the Germany people, they will definitely impose many harsh conditions. How will we reply to them then?" Minister Theophile Delcasse asked.
After all, France is the losing party in this war. If it wants to end the war and achieve peace, it must pay a price. Judging from Germany's appetite, there will definitely be very harsh conditions.
"Your Excellency, the Germany people have a very big appetite. The Russia wanted to withdraw from the war, but they extorted a large amount of war reparations and ceded a large amount of territory. If we want to ask for peace, the Germany people will definitely kill us severely." Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Ribot said.
"This is inevitable. Who made us unable to defeat the Germany people, and now we have to ask for peace from them? The only thing we can do is probably to pay as little as possible and reduce losses!" Rene Viviani said.
Being slaughtered by Germany people is uncomfortable for everyone. However, there is nothing we can do about this! After the army is defeated, if it wants to avoid subjugation, it can only pay the price in other ways.
"What kind of conditions will Germany people probably propose?" President Poincaré asked.
"Your Excellency, after the defeat of this war, we may not be able to keep our overseas colonies. The Germany people have always coveted our overseas colonies. The root cause of this war is actually the Germany people's dissatisfaction with us occupying a large number of overseas colonies. Therefore, if we ask for peace from the Germany people, they will definitely ask us to transfer our overseas colonies to them." Theophile Delcasse said.
President Poincaré and Prime Minister Rene Viviani only frowned. France's overseas colonies are second only to Britain. Although it is not as rich as Britain's overseas colonies, it can still bring a lot of benefits to France every year. If those overseas colonies are lost, this will be a heavy blow to France.
Of course, if the Germany people force France to hand over all its overseas colonies to Germany, they will have no choice. The situation is stronger than the people. In order to reduce the losses to the local area, they have no choice but to agree to the Germany people's request.
"It is a pity to lose overseas colonies. However, French Republic's homeland is our foundation. Germany people want those colonies, so give them to them. As long as we can keep the Republic's homeland, our losses will not be too great." Prime Minister Rene Viviani said.
President Poincaré nodded. Indeed, the importance of mainland France is far greater than that of overseas colonies. Although the area of overseas colonies is twenty times that of mainland France, the population is also much larger than that of mainland France. However, if they were given a choice, they would still rather have the homeland than overseas colonies.
"Your Excellency, the President, Your Excellency, the Prime Minister. In addition to the overseas colonies, I am afraid that the mainland will also have to cede some land to the Germany people. However, I don't know how big the appetite of the Germany people is." Theophile Delcase continued.
"The territory of France is not comparable to that of Russia. They ceded a large area of territory to the Germany people, but their territory is still very vast. If the Germany people continue to encroach on our territory, then France will have nothing left." President Poincaré said.
"Your Excellency, no one is willing to cede territory to the Germany people. But if the Germany people force us to cede territory, I'm afraid there is nothing we can do." Theofile Delcasse said.
"Try to fight for it as much as possible. We can make some concessions in other aspects, but our territory must be preserved as much as possible." President Poincaré said.
"Yes, Your Excellency, President." Theofile Delcase nodded. However, he thought that it would be very difficult to achieve this. Germany Isn't it so easy to satisfy people's appetite?
"Another point is war reparations. The Germany people have extorted Russians 20 billion Mark. If we sue for peace, they will definitely extort a large sum of war reparations from us." Theophile Delcase continued.
"If the Germany people only ask for 20 billion Mark in war reparations, it is nothing. With our overseas investment, it is enough to pay." Secretary of the Treasury Alexander? Liebert said.
France is also called Usury Empire. They have a lot of investment all over the world. This makes them very wealthy. It is precisely because of this that the industrial development of France has hit a bottleneck. After all, everyone has gone to loan sharking, and there are still people who are honestly developing industry?
During this period, France's overseas investment exceeded 50 billion Franc. If converted into Mark, it is equivalent to 40 billion Mark. Therefore, if Germany only asks France for 20 billion Mark in war reparations, this is just a trivial matter to them.
"Germany people's appetite will probably be even greater. After all, we are much richer than Russians." Prime Minister Rene Viviani said.
"No matter what, during negotiations, we must reduce war reparations as much as possible." President Poincaré said.
After deliberation, French government appointed Ministry of Foreign Affairs President Theophile Viviani as a plenipotentiary envoy to conduct peace negotiations with Germany on behalf of France.