The first to get nervous was the German government. German Chancellor Helmut Kohl was almost a frightened bird. Not only did his original plan to make the Soviets surrender fail, but the army also developed an inexplicable fear of the Red Empire. Especially when they heard that the huge Imperial Armored Corps had completely disintegrated a country's armed forces in less than four hours, it was enough to terrify the soldiers stationed on the border between Poland and the eastern part of Germany.
Moscow also threatened that if NATO continued to act recklessly on the Soviet Union's inherent territory, they would not mind turning the Baltic Crisis into another version of the Cuban Missile Crisis. Only then did Helmut, who had learned his lesson, realize that the Soviet Union was still a powerful superpower and would not become a second-rate country just because of Gorbachev's weakness in power for more than a decade. As long as a strong leader took over, even if the internal group was in crisis, it could continue to suppress the West for another decade.
Without informing NATO allies, the German government was the first to issue a statement, saying that Germany's action on the border was just a large-scale exercise and was in full compliance with international regulations. It hoped that the Soviet Union would exercise restraint. Germany expressed deep regret for the Baltic issue and hoped that the relationship between Moscow and the three Baltic countries could develop towards friendly cooperation.
The German official statement had a sense of superfluity, and this sentence was quite a bit of a cover-up. Foreign Ministry spokesman Boris Dmitrievich Pankin had already prepared a speech, claiming that the Baltic crisis was an internal affair of the Soviet Union, and no country had the right to interfere in the internal affairs of the Soviet Union by taking advantage of this crisis. Whoever it was would be punished by communism, especially those robbers who came in through the Skagerrak Strait but ran back in disgrace.
"These Siberian bandits are terrible monsters. Quick, connect me to the phone. I need to contact the White House." Helmut Kohl said nervously. He didn't want Germany to become the front line of the confrontation between NATO and the Warsaw Pact.
Also gathered together to discuss countermeasures were British Defense Secretary Tom King and British Prime Minister John Major. In fact, they did not expect that this time the British Navy would be ruthlessly ridiculed and slapped in the face when it tried so hard to demonstrate its strength in European waters.
The British people booed the government. The BBC ridiculed it, saying, "Our government navy originally wanted to drive those damn robbers out of the Baltic Sea like a proud victor, but they didn't expect to be driven out of the Gulf of Finland like a stray dog. God knows where these governments spend all the taxes paid by taxpayers every year."
"Great Britain has embarrassed itself twice in front of the whole world. If the first time was due to the unreasonable arrogance of the Soviet Union, the second time was when we stretched out our faces and were slapped hard by them!" Prime Minister John Major was somewhat exasperated. This incident was enough to give those political opponents who were eyeing his position a handle, and such a poor diplomatic performance also caused his public support rate to drop by several percentage points.
"But isn't that a good thing, my Lord Prime Minister?" Defense Secretary Tom King openly disagreed with John Major.
"Good thing?" John Major was about to get angry, but he calmed down instantly when he saw the calm face of the Secretary of Defense. As one of the foreign policy think tanks of this government, Tom King did have his own unique way of thinking. "Can you tell me how such a bad situation can become a good thing?"
"It's time to ask Parliament for money to revitalize the navy. The Prime Minister can use this incident to hold a press conference to publicize the importance of building a strong navy to the public. In this way, under the pressure of public opinion, it will be impossible for Parliament to cut the military budget. Increasing the budget means that we can build a few more destroyers." Tom King tapped the table rhythmically with his fingers. He paused after each sentence, as if he was summarizing what he had said.
Tom King is a well-known hawk in the government. In his opinion, a Britain without a strong navy is like an eagle with broken wings. Unfortunately, since World War II, the British army has retreated from its original maritime hegemony to the second line, and financial constraints in recent years have also delayed the construction of the British fleet.
"Well, this is a helpless move." John Major said helplessly. He held his forehead and muttered to himself, "I just don't know what our NATO ally the French feel now. I sincerely hope that after this incident, they can continue to maintain close contact with NATO."
"Don't worry, Prime Minister." Tom King said confidently, "Although the French have always been lukewarm about the rise of the United States, they are definitely allies on the same side as us on the issue of Soviet Russia. No one wants to have an uneasy neighbor around them."
The French did not take it to heart as the British did. In fact, they secretly laughed at the depressed expressions of Germany and Britain. As a French leader who always wanted to restore Napoleon's glory and become the leader of European countries, he has been looking for a possible way out on the thorny road of restoration since the Charles de Gaulle era. Unfortunately, France has nothing but slogans until now, and the British and the United States, who have always been dissatisfied with it, are closely united. Although they shook hands with their arch-enemy Germany decades ago, the French, who have always claimed to be the orthodox of Europe, have deep prejudices against Germany in their hearts.
Perhaps because France was just symbolic, the Soviet Union was lenient with France's actions. It did not directly say that the Paris Commune was the first great attempt at communism. It only said that it hoped the French government would recognize the situation on foreign issues and not take irrational actions. It also hoped to have deeper exchanges with France rather than just being limited to ideological confrontation.
According to the rules of diplomatic terminology, the first two sentences are not the focus, the focus is on the last sentence, a deeper level of communication, not just limited to ideological confrontation. Obviously, the Americans smelled a dangerous signal here.
"Are you saying that the Soviet Union intends to win over the French? How is that possible? According to their foreign policy, they will not stop until the glory of communism spreads throughout Europe. Winning over France is just a fantasy. Moreover, since the Charles de Gaulle era, opposing communism has almost become one of their national policies." Bush was obviously not satisfied with the report submitted by the think tank.
"You can't say that, Mr. President. Francois Mitterrand's political inclination is to oppose de Gaulleism and nationalism, and it is not impossible for him to get close to the Soviet Union. So we must curb this tendency." Blunt was anxious and said more directly, "In fact, we should not let European countries retreat, and we need our allies to force the Soviet Union again. If I'm not mistaken, the seemingly powerful Soviet Union has actually used up all its cards. The toughness it is showing now is just the last resort."
"That's enough, Blount!" Bush, who had been patient, suddenly attacked him. "You don't need to teach me about foreign policy! And just after you proposed the ridiculous suggestion of using force to force the Soviet Union, I tell you what kind of information the Intelligence Agency sent back. They detected through satellite that the Soviet Union's land-based ballistic long-range missile silos were being activated. That is to say, if our allies had confronted the Soviet Union head-on at that time, the whole world would have paid the price!"
Yanayev did order the launch of land-based missile silos, but all this was to stage a dangerous drama for Western countries so that Bush would back down. When the US President learned of this intelligence, he immediately chose to stop. He knew that the matter had become a big deal and touched the bottom line of the Soviet Union, and it could develop in the direction of World War III at any time.
"Connect me to Moscow and our European allies. I think we need to sit down at the negotiating table together to resolve these issues." Bush sighed, his face pale and haggard, as if he had aged a lot overnight.