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If Hitler's plan for Germania were to be expressed in one word, it could be defined as a 'fashionable delusion.'
How could such large-scale buildings, which are difficult to build even in the 21st century, be completed with the technology of the 1940s within 5 years, and there was no need to do so?
Well, it looks magnificent, and considering that tourists come from all over the world to see it, it can't be said to be completely useless, but it does much more harm than good.
First of all, where will the costs of building those buildings come from? You started a war because of debt, and now you want to borrow again? And the ground in Berlin is not that solid.
In the first place, the name Berlin was derived from the Pollavic word meaning swamp.
The Nazis were also aware of this fact, and when they built and tested a subsidence test structure called Schwerbelastungskörper (heavy-weight support), they concluded that the soil was too soft to build the mega-structures planned by Hitler.
However, Hitler insisted on building it somehow, and had no choice but to bring together geologists and architects to come up with a way to strengthen the ground, but it ended up being lost in the war.
Among the structures planned by the Nazis, the only one that was completed was Berlin Tempelhof Airport.
Even if Germany had won the war, there was a high possibility that it could not have been built due to various realistic conditions, or that only land infrastructure work had been completed and that Hitler had died in the middle of it and it had come to nothing.
However, regardless of Hitler's delusions, the reconstruction of post-war Berlin was absolutely necessary.
In the future, Berlin's population will increase further than now, but the current infrastructure cannot accommodate the future population.
Therefore, it is necessary to prepare in advance for future population growth in Berlin.
"Even now, the number of people immigrating to Berlin is growing rapidly. If you include people who will visit Berlin for business, tourism, etc., the number will be even higher. The same goes for roads. "As the population increases, the city will expand, and as the city expands, the demand for vehicles will also increase, but the current roads are not sufficient."
"But wouldn't 12 lanes be too wide? We are already building an underground road, but there is no need to make it this wide... … ."
Thoth tilted his head. He was about to reply, but Adenauer opened his mouth instead.
"It is certainly a bit excessive by today's standards, but considering the steadily increasing population, I think 12 lanes are enough. In reality, reducing the width of a road is easier than widening it."
"Mayor Adenauer is right. When more roads are needed, won't it be difficult if buildings are filled with buildings on both sides?"
"but… … ."
When Speer stepped forward to support Adenauer's opinion, Todt also nodded in understanding.
"Roads are important, but parking facilities are also essential. Nowadays, few Germans have their own cars, but in 10 or 15 years, one in three households will have a car. "We really need a place to park these cars."
Roads are important, but parking lots are just as important. Especially as someone who has seen firsthand what happens when there is not enough parking.
To accommodate Berlin's increased population, many apartments are needed to accommodate many people in a small space.
In actual history, the Soviet Union built a large number of panel-type apartments called Khrushovka (хрущёвка) to alleviate the housing shortage caused by residents moving to cities after the war and distributed them to residents for free.
Although this Hrushovka is a great new apartment at the level of the 1960s, many parts were sacrificed for cost reduction and mass production.
According to the building law, buildings with more than 6 floors are required to install elevators, but most Khrushovkas were built with less than 5 floors due to the high cost of installing these elevators.
Still, it is said that many Soviets preferred it because it had many advantages over shared apartments, where one household had to live in a shared bathroom and kitchen.
However, since Germany is not the Soviet Union, I have no intention of copying this Hrushovka. There are still quite a few apartments in Germany, and I studied these apartments and selected a standard model.
Basically, it is an apartment on the 15th floor with an elevator, and each house has a bathroom, kitchen, and 2 to 3 rooms. Also, it is necessary to build a parking lot near the apartment to park your car. If the distance between the apartment and the parking lot is long, it will be inconvenient to live there.
As the number of people increases, we naturally need not only apartments to live in, but also schools for children to attend and hospitals to treat people.
If an accident such as a fire occurs, we must build a fire station to deal with it and a police station to maintain public order.
Rebuilding a city like this is usually not difficult. But don't worry. Germany has the best experts in this field.
All I have to do is present them with a rough idea and goal and provide appropriate support to achieve it.
If you interfere with this or that unnecessarily, things can easily go in a strange direction, so you will get much better results if you leave the real work to the experts.
In this way, the Berlin reconstruction plan will unfold in a much more realistic and constructive direction than Hitler had envisioned.
"And I looked into Tempelhof Airport and I think they need to add more runway. As technology develops, the size of commercial aircraft will increase, but it has been predicted that the current length alone may be insufficient. "I hope you keep that in mind too."
"I understand."
In addition to Tempelhof Airport, there was an opinion that a new airport should be built to accommodate the increasing demand for commercial aircraft, so it was decided to build another airport.
While the meeting was in progress, Adenauer noticed something in the model and asked a question.
"What is this? There is a tower built in an empty space... … ."
"iced coffee. This is... … ."
What Adenauer's finger pointed at was a 'monument'. A victory monument to commemorate the victory in World War II.
"It seems like I've seen it a lot somewhere."
"Did you notice?"
Speer said with a smile on his face.
"This monument was built by the British."
"The British? "What do you mean, you made it more than that?"
"Because we copied what the British made."
The identity of the monument that Adenauer pointed to was the Nelson Monument in Trafalgar Square.
The British National Gallery located in Trafalgar Square was destroyed beyond recognition by the Luftwaffe bombing, but the Nelson Monument was lucky to survive.
Although the Nelson statue at the top of the monument was removed because the upper body was blown away and only the lower body remained.
At first I wasn't interested in the Nelson monument.
However, after hearing that the Nelson Monument was safe, Göring came up with the idea of bringing the Nelson Monument to Berlin and displaying it to commemorate the victory over Britain.
Himmler, Hess, and Speer actively agreed to this. Goebbels, who had a bad relationship with Göring, also seemed to like this idea and expressed his enthusiastic approval.
"I wonder if it's necessary to go that far? "Just leaving it where it is-"
"yes? I already moved to Germany."
"… … ."
Without my knowledge, the Nelson monument, along with the four lion statues surrounding the monument, had long ago been moved to Germany. Is this the post-preemptive measure?
Anyway, his acting ability is extremely fast.
Since it was pointless to ask them to return something that had already been moved to Germany, as Göring insisted, they decided to change the Nelson monument into a World War II victory monument and erect it in Berlin. A new statue of the Prime Minister was erected in the place where Nelson's statue had been. .
As I explained up to this point, Adenauer made a strange face and glanced at me.
I decided not to bother thinking about what he was thinking.
***
March 25, 1945
Elysee Palace, Paris, France
If you had to choose one country that experienced the greatest twists and turns during World War II, it was definitely France.
When World War II began, it was an Allied Power, but at the end of the War, it was an Axis Power.
There seemed to be no future for France, which lost the war in four weeks, handed over Alsace-Lorraine and its naval power to Germany, and had to pay huge reparations.
But what is this? France, which participated in the Axis Alliance, began to be treated as an ally of Germany rather than a defeated country in return for sending troops to the Eastern Front and participating in the war throughout the British mainland, and was even allocated to Britain's African colonies after the war.
It achieved a turning point, raising its status from a defeated country to a victorious country.
Therefore, when Britain surrendered, the French sincerely celebrated 'victory'. They said that France was no longer a defeated country.
Although Alsace-Lorraine will remain German territory forever, how can one not be happy that it can now be labeled as a defeated country?
However, the rosy future that France dreamed of never came true.
British colonies in Africa supported Canada's government-in-exile rather than the puppet government of Edward VIII and Oswald Mosley, and fought fierce battles with the French army advancing across the border to collect the dividends promised by Germany.
In addition, Indochina was never returned even after Japan was defeated.
New independent governments were established in Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos, and France had no voice in them.
As blood was shed and no compensation was received, Pétain realized that he had been deceived by Germany and Hitler.
To reduce the bloodshed from the Germans, Hitler brought in French youth instead. He used the sweet lure of African colonies to get France to voluntarily enter the war.
Wonsu Roh tried to stop his hands from shaking, but it wasn't easy.
World War I caused irreversible damage to France. More than 5.6 million young French people died or were injured defending France.
Before the resulting damage could begin to recover, war broke out again and France was defeated.
Although the damage suffered in World War II was less than the damage suffered in World War I, France suffered wounds that could never be washed away.
Marshal Roh joined hands with Germany to reduce the burden imposed on France and to heal France's wounded pride.
He firmly believed that it was for the good of France. Even if it meant joining hands with a former enemy, he wanted to restore France's lost honor and make France great again.
But his attempt failed. France did not receive the promised compensation, and hundreds of thousands of young men were pushed into the battlefield.
There was no progress in the war being fought in Africa. Laval flew to Germany and met with Ribbentrop to ask for German support, but Germany drew a line, saying that it was France's business and not Germany's.
Pétain could not raise his head due to the sense of shame that he had brought about the death of French youth with his own hands.
"I didn't trust those Bosch guys either."
Minister of Defense Jotchidze fumed with indignation. For Germany's victory, tens of thousands of French soldiers were killed or wounded in Russia and England.
However, Germany did not provide any military assistance to France in taking over British colonies in Africa.
At least because the weapons were sold, the French army was able to arm itself with German-made weapons, but in return the French government had to pay a considerable amount of money.
"They are like day robbers… … !"
"The bigger problem is that movements in Algeria, Tunisia, and Morocco are also unusual."
Laval sighed and said. The pile of butts in the ashtray looked as if it might collapse at any moment, but Laval stubbornly pushed in one more butt.
"It is said that among the colonial people who were stimulated by India's independence, the argument that they too should become independent is gaining strength."
Even in its home base of North Africa and West Africa, public opinion for independence was spreading.
There has not yet been a full-fledged call for independence, but considering the atmosphere, it would not be strange if such a statement was made at any time.
"Damn Arabs. "You don't know the favor you owed France and now you're trying to stab me in the back."
Jochize gritted his teeth, but Pétain said nothing.
The proportion of colonials in the French army was by no means small.
More than 40% of the French army's total troops consisted of colonials, and colonial units were mainly deployed in conflicts taking place in Africa.
Naturally, most of the casualties were colonists. As the treatment was poor and news of the independence of countries that had been under the same colonial rule as them was heard one after another, the colonial people who had silently accepted French rule despite the discriminatory treatment until now began to become agitated.
Pétain also saw this point well. If you try to forcefully suppress the resistance of the colonists, you will only end up following the same steps that Britain took in India.
If Indochina was lost and all of its existing colonies were lost as well, France would be completely eliminated from the ranks of great powers. That was something that had to be prevented at all costs.
"Minister Yokchije."
"Yes, Your Excellency."
"Issue an order to cease fighting and withdraw to all units currently engaged."
Pétain decided. To keep what he had now. That was the only solution that could maintain France.
"We have already lost Indochina. If we lose even Africa here, it's over. The priority is to change the minds of the colonists. "It's important not to stuff things in their mouths so they can't think independently."
Yuchije had a shocked face, trembled, and slowly lowered his head.
"… … I understand."
"How much do you plan to allow them?"
Laval asked cautiously. Pétain pondered Laval's question carefully and then forced himself to vomit.
"First, we should listen to the opinions of the colonists. I will do anything to preserve France. "If you don't want to become independent, you should listen to everything you can."
Pétain was convinced that it would be a better option for the future of the barbarian colonists to come under the banner of great France than to become independent and have their own country.
It was indeed a French-centered way of thinking, but at least he was aware, unlike other French people, that the colonial people's thoughts were different from his own.
In that case, we need to change their thinking so that they think it is better to be under French rule than to be independent. Rather than thinking of using a gun or knife to force it.