09 April 1918 – London, England
“Read off the offer again, Mr. Balfour, I want to make sure I understand it correctly”, came the dry voice of Walter Long, Secretary of State for the Colonies.
“As you like, Mr Long, the offer stands as follows: $1 billion for everything west of 110o latitude including all islands therein to the Northernmost Pole. As for the counter requested, they state they want the latitude marker pushed east to 95 degrees, 9 minutes, and 15 seconds”.
Balfour looked over a bit confused. “Very specific landmark. I take it that means everything north of the vertical notch at Minnesota, Ontario, and Manitoba would be the new border”?
“Yes, all the way to Hudson Bay which would be remain a Canadian lake as it were. All islands in the Hudson would remain Canadian. They would also get the islands north of the mainland except Baffin, which would remain Canadian if the line even touches it”.
Lloyd George put his head into his hands. “And they made an offer on a few other entities as well”?
Long nodded. “Yes sir, Bermuda, Turks and Caicos, British Guiana, and the Bahamas were also discussed for an additional $200 million”.
“Leaving us the various Caribbean islands and British Honduras”, which are becoming less and less valuable over time, he thought.
“Yes sir, along with the Falklands and South Georgia Islands as well, not to mention a few other facilities”.
A door opened and a message came to Lloyd George, who read it as the door closed behind the messenger. “St. Pierre and Miquelon are now offered to us by the French for in exchange for loan forgiveness. Madagascar and French Guiana are also offered for the same. Apparently they want to talk about their colonies in Indochina and the concession in Shanghai as well”.
Arthur Henderson, a minister without portfolio, then spoke. “France is ready to surrender but wants to offload potential prizes for Germany before making that announcement”.
Andrew Law, leader of the House of Commons and the first ‘colonial’ to breach the upper echelons of British government, was left aghast. “My god”, he said, “I thought releasing Calliaux was a harsh step and naming him Prie Minister even more so, but this…”?
Henderson nodded. “How long can we expect our French ally to hold out, Mr. Stanley”?
The Minister of War hung his head slightly at the question. “Ten days, fifteen if absolutely necessary. German forces took Lizy-sur-Ourcq less than an hour ago and are rumored to be gearing up for a final assault on Paris”.
“They’re within 40 miles of Paris proper! That’s the closest they’ve been to Paris since the war began”! came a cry from Henderson.
“Actually no, it is not common knowledge but they briefly took some territory much closer to Paris than that, we simply kept it out of the news to avoid a panic. But this represents the closest they have come since the Marne counteroffensive three years ago, and Austrian divisions are arriving from Italy now that peace is declared there”. The peace between Italy and the Central Powers was all but negotiated out already, Italy was rumored to be given a light deal in exchange for immediate cessation of hostilities. Lombardy to be occupied for five years, Veneto for fifteen, and plebiscites afterwards. Some sort of taxes would be collected by the occupiers but Italy was spared the humiliation of financial reparations, it was also rumored that occupation of Lombardy might be spared if Italy joined the new rumored ‘European Union’ of German-dominated trade in Continental Europe. What would come of France in the days to come was anyone’s guess.
Lloyd George looked dismayed. “Where do our forces stand right now, Mr. Stanley”?
They are lucky to stand at all, Stanley thought, they were holding out as best they could…but…”Without the rail lines from Abbeville and Amiens our men must rely on the sea for resupply and the Germans are tossing everything they can into the area, including the Channel. Amazingly they began loading Zeppelins and bomber aircraft with armor-piercing bombs against our larger ships there – the effect is not noticeable as yet but combined with the damn German submarines we are losing a lot of smaller craft. We control a beachhead from Dunquerque to Etaples with the former on the edge of falling and the latter under siege. There are over half a million men in that area to evacuate or be taken prisoner. If they do get captured, the prospect of invasion would not be impossible although it would be highly unlikely”.
German landings in any sort of numbers on British soil, even if totally unsuccessful, would shatter morale and the myth of the ‘wooden walls’…perhaps ‘steel walls’ might be better in modern times…that kept Britain safe for centuries. IT could not be allowed to happen. “Calliaux is Prime Minster but still has fleeting strength left. Are evacuations to Bordeaux underway yet per their original plan”?
Balfour noted they were, “And the little remaining gold from the central bank is already being loaded for transport as well. We hear the Germans plan a lightening thrust on the city after flanking it from the east and west, Mr. Stanley”?
“Quite right”, the Minister of War noted, “And it appears their thrusts will target Louviers, Evreux, and Dreux in the north along with Provins, Fontainebleu, and Essonne in the South. The apparent main thrust will start in Meaux after it is captured with either Bavarian Crown Prince Rupprecht or Crown Prince Wilhelm in charge and aimed at the city center. Callaiux might declare it an open city but if he does know the war would likely be over. We also understand that Meaux will be the site of whatever last stand their forces can make, but defeatism already plagues the French Army more than even at the worst point last year”.
Lloyd George considered his position carefully. France was all but gone, apparently the United States would not arrive in time to save the Allied cause, and the British were left to collect so many loans that would not likely ever be redeemable. “Tell the Americans we accept their counter-offer pending confirmation in the House of Commons and brief the Canadian government”.
Law looked over an eyebrow raised. “Canada will hate us for this”.
Lloyd George looked warily over at the man from New Brunswick with tired eyes. “I would rather have the hatred of Canada than the love of the Germans, good sir. Besides”, he unexpectedly remarked, “we must also keep British interests in mind. I suggest we get ready to discuss the parameters for…”
A messenger walked in, this time with two notes labelled ‘URGENT’. Lloyd George read one and his face visibly sank, the second sent him into a cold sweat with trembling hands. “Well, Prime Minister, what do they say”?
Lloyd George swallowed and spoke softly. “The first is from Berlin asking for our terms, there is more to the message but we can go over it shortly. The second...is a notification from Calais...a few thousand soldiers have formed a sort of committee and declared the war to be over...but the problem is that 'membership' seems to be growing by the hour”.