"How the hell are we supposed to build a League of Nations with these scumbags?"
Even back at his hotel, President Wilson couldn’t shake the frustration from that day’s Paris Peace Conference.
With Britain and France both pushing back, almost none of his goals had been accomplished. The fantasy of America sitting at the table as an equal with the Brits and the French? Didn’t happen.
Britain and France were still acting all high and mighty, treating the Americans like they didn’t matter.
American opinions got zero respect — let alone implemented.
"Maybe we should’ve backed the Central Powers instead of the Entente."
Wilson was starting to regret supporting the Entente. If he’d known they’d act like this, he never would’ve picked their side.
Joining the Central Powers would’ve come at a heavier price, sure — the Entente was the stronger coalition, and beating them would’ve been way harder.
But if they’d won? The spoils as a victor wouldn’t be anything like what they were getting now.
At least they could’ve split Britain and France’s overseas colonies with the Germans — with zero problems!
But that ship had sailed.
Germany was already beaten to a pulp. Where were they gonna find cannon fodder that good again?
Without directly going to war with Britain and France, overturning the current world order meant waiting for the right moment.
And they used to have a potential ally in Germany. Now Germany was flat on its back with no hope of recovering anytime soon. The Americans scanned the whole globe and found almost no one worth backing or allying with.
Were they supposed to team up with the Soviets?
If they did that, the workers back home would probably string them up from lampposts first.
What about China?
China had the size — huge. And the population — massive.
But China’s foundation was garbage. Barely any industry to speak of.
Worse, the Beiyang government couldn’t even rule the whole country. China had basically fallen into a de facto era of warlord factions.
In that situation, the Americans couldn’t find a partner even if they wanted to help.
And right next door to China, Japan was lurking, treating it like its own private backyard. If America started heavily backing China, Japan would get pissed — tensions would spike, and it could even lead to war.
Quality cannon fodder like Germany? That was a tough find.
Secretary of State Robert Lansing, who’d come along with Wilson to the conference, also felt like they’d missed a golden opportunity.
But after studying how Britain and France were handling things — especially their treatment of the Central Powers — he spotted a potential opening:
"I think the contradictions inside Europe didn’t get solved by this war. If anything, they’re getting worse. France is crushing Germany without mercy — that’s gonna light a fire of hatred in the German people. Unless the French completely wipe Germany off the map, once Germany recovers its strength, they’re gonna come back for revenge."
"And with Austria-Hungary and Tsarist Russia both collapsing, a pile of small countries just popped up across Central and Eastern Europe. The conflicts between these small states — and between the small states and the big powers — could easily become the spark for another war down the line."
"Based on that, I think we should get ahead of this. Pick a country that could ignite Europe’s internal tensions in the future, and just quietly prepare while we wait for the right moment to swoop in and grab the prize."
Wilson nodded slightly. That was actually a solid plan to recoup their losses.
It wouldn’t show results anytime soon — certainly not within his own term in office.
But if it worked, the payoff would more than cover their investment.
"So which country do you think we should back?"
"Germany."
Lansing didn’t hesitate for a second.
"It’s Germany. And only Germany."
While the Americans were plotting to use Germany as a long-term chess piece, a young officer named Ribbentrop quietly tracked down the American delegation.
To avoid catching the attention of the British and French, Ribbentrop came knocking late at night.
Wilson had already gone to bed, but after hearing his staff’s report, he still decided to see this German.
Because the guy claimed to be sent by Crown Prince Wilhelm himself.
"Your Crown Prince didn’t send you all this way just to shake my hand, did he?"
Wilson sized the man up. First impression? Young.
Way too young.
Ribbentrop, born in 1893, was only 25 years old.
At that age in America, he’d be fresh out of college with a few years of work under his belt — nowhere near high office or being a delegate.
Yet the Crown Prince had entrusted this kid with something this important, which meant he had to be sharp.
"Of course not, Mr. President. His Royal Highness sent me here to discuss a very big deal with you and your country."
"Oh? A deal? Let’s hear it."
Wilson’s interest perked up. He wanted to see what this so-called Crown Prince had to say.
Secretary of State Lansing, Treasury Secretary William McAdoo, Commerce Secretary William Redfield — they all leaned in with curiosity too.
"A deal involving a massive market of 65 million people — worth over a hundred billion dollars."
Ribbentrop pulled a pre-written letter from inside his coat. It was a personal letter from Crown Prince Wilhelm to President Wilson, written in his capacity as Crown Prince.
Wilson’s guards stepped forward, took the letter, inspected it to make sure it was clean, then handed it to the President.
Wilson read it carefully, then let out a cold laugh:
"Your Crown Prince sure knows how to make a deal. One verbal promise, and he expects tens of billions in real supplies from us?"
"As long as your country supports His Highness’s ascension to the throne, he will visit your country immediately after his coronation to sign a formal agreement with you, Mr. President, and lock this in for real."
Ribbentrop seemed ready for Wilson’s reaction. He answered with his chin up, calm as could be.
Before Wilson could respond, Secretary of the Interior Franklin Lane stepped up to shoot it down:
"Feudal monarchy is a relic of the last era. Republic is the future!"
"Monarchy or republic — whatever actually brings you real benefits is the system worth having. Don’t you think, Mr. President?"
That answer made Wilson look up at Ribbentrop again.
This kid had some real brains — seeing straight through to the core logic underneath international politics.
In this world, there are no eternal friends and no eternal enemies. Only eternal interests.
Ribbentrop didn’t leave the Americans’ hotel until the wee hours of the morning. Nobody knew what he’d talked about with Wilson, and barely anyone even noticed he’d been there.
At that moment, all of Paris — and the whole world — was focused on the conference halls.
The next day at the Paris Peace Conference, the British and French were shocked to see America’s attitude take a complete 180-degree turn. They dropped their unrealistic Fourteen Points and started talking about practical, down-to-earth matters instead.
America gave up its claim to carve up Germany’s overseas colonies — but demanded that post-war Germany’s markets for goods and financial services be fully open to the U.S.
Britain and France had wanted a slice of that pie too — I mean, Germany had 60 million people.
But their industrial systems had taken massive damage during the war. Converting from wartime production back to civilian manufacturing was gonna take a long time, and they couldn’t compete with the Americans — whose industries had barely been touched by the war — right now.
As for the financial market? Both countries were drowning in war debts. They had no strength left to go squeeze Germany for profits. So neither of them objected to the American demands.
In their eyes, Germany was gonna be buried under war reparations anyway — they wouldn’t have a dime left to actually buy anything. The Americans were just throwing money away on investments over there.
Hell, the Americans might invest one day and watch that money get scooped up as war reparations and handed over to Britain and France the next.
So not only did they not object — they kinda hoped America would invest even more.
Just like Britain and France, Germany’s industry had taken a beating during the war. Years of fighting plus domestic chaos meant severe shortages of just about everything over there.
Skyrocketing prices and inflation were right around the corner.
But for America — drowning in overproduction with nowhere to dump its surplus goods — Germany’s 60-million-person market was a godsend for easing their product glut problem.
As for Germany not having any money to buy American goods?
That’s not even a problem. America could just loan Germany money — then Germany could use that borrowed money to buy American products.
So America opens up a sales channel, becomes Germany’s creditor, and down the road uses that creditor status to shape Germany’s politics in the direction they want.
Even in the worst-case scenario — all their investments go down the drain — as long as they can pump Germany back up enough to light the European powder keg and drag Britain and France into another war, every penny America spent would be worth it.