Berlin is already beginning to settle into a sort of a peacetime mode, the people having shifted their focus from the war effort to more broadly the general idea of doing everything that had been set aside to be done 'after the war', and simply building up Germany in general. There was only so much physical damage during the war, but it was certainly a drain. There had to be rationing, and for every soldier in the army there was an able-bodied worker missing from the economy. So though the signs of the war are disappearing rapidly, a keen eye can still see them. Also there is an air of celebration at the German victory. Not as big and obnoxious as would be America's style, as it is the German way to simply switch activities and keep moving forward. But that forward movement is done with a smile and a positive outlook.
Or perhaps not so much of a smile in the case of Germany himself. But he doesn't see the war ending as much of an ending at all - it's simply a transition from one thing to another - so he doesn't see it as something that needs very much celebration. Especially since he knows that peace is fragile, which is why he's very pleased that America has accepted his invitation to meet with him. He would very much like to be able to maintain this peace, and that will require at least a certain minimal level of international cooperation. And that certainly includes America, who once again proved his strength in war. If he and America can't reach some sort of an understanding then it's quite likely that, sooner or later, there will be another world war. Perhaps not even between the two of them, if they can't get along then surely someone will fight someone - he is the de facto leader of the Axis, after all, and America is the only one of the five great empires now in the world who has no part of it.
And he harbors no ill will at all toward America, in fact he considers him to be a peer of sorts. They're both considered to be young nations by many of the others after all, never mind the fact that they're both also world powers. And they've not been able to see much of each other, most recently due to the war. And before that because Germany was busy... well, trying not to die after everyone took everything of value he had and then expecting him to pay them more money after that. Which he's still upset about, but winning the war did much to ease his anger. Perhaps now everyone can treat everyone exactly how they deserve?
Germany invited America to meet with him in his office, which is a large, utilitarian room dominated by a large mahogany desk. The desk itself is rather impressive, as it's richly decorated with Nazi iconography and the craftsmanship is as fine as it gets. The other elements of the room - his chair, the chairs for guests, cabinets for his files, his flag in the corner, and other such things seem trivial by comparison. Always one to be very aware of the time, when the appointed time draws near he sets aside his paperwork and waits for America to arrive. He's made sure that the staff knows that this guest is coming and assigned one of them to wait just inside the front door of the Reichstag building to escort America to his office.
It is..hard for Alfred to say exactly how he feels about Germany. On the one hand, he disagrees with the strident fascism within the Nazi regime. Nations that he was always on good terms with were under German control, and Alfred disliked this immensely and wanted to rescue them from that control. And yet..he respected what Germany had done. He was clearly a powerful country, and he'd showcased that in droves. Having control over the Soviet Union meant that he probably had control of the largest amount of land out of any of the five empires. Alfred could certainly respect that even if he didn't agree with it. Even if a small part of him wanted to be the one with that much land under his control.
He did want to meet with Ludwig despite the mixed feelings that he had regarding the other nation. He wouldn't know where Ludwig stood unless he met with him one on one. From what he could tell Ludwig was quite secure with where he stood in the world, not that Alfred could blame him. It did make Alfred want to pull the rug out from under him that much more, but he wasn't about to let that show in this meeting. He didn't plan on showing any of his cards unless he had to. On the one hand, he had no major allies within the other four empires and that could pose a problem. It was also a blessing in disguise, however..he was a wild card, the only one of the five empires not involved even marginally with the Axis during the war.
And that made him a potential ally to any members of the Axis who wished to break from the group and pursue his own interests. It meant that he could play a prominent role in ripping apart the Axis from within. It was bound to happen anyway, but Alfred wanted to have a stake in it doing so. He wanted the cards to fall in ways that benefited him. He wanted to rescue those who were unwillingly under control of the other empires. He wanted to save old friends. But he also wanted to be the one in charge by the end of it all. He wanted to be the one holding the royal flush while the others were forced to fold to him. What he would do with that power if he obtained it? Even he wasn't sure..
He would use it to make the world a better place, of course! But making the world a better place was quite subjective. One could argue that Ludwig, Feliciano, and Kiku were operating under the same idea. Alfred continued to ponder as he made his way to Ludwig's office. "Germany, nice place you got here." He regarded Ludwig with a nod in greeting, opting to go with the other's nation name for the time being
One thing that Germany certainly disagrees with America about quite strongly is the morality of his actions during the war. Germany quite firmly believes that he's done nothing wrong. But this is not something that he's ever really had the opportunity to take to America about - in fact, he doesn't even really know very much about America's opinion on most of in the first place. All he knows is that America has negative view of it, but not so negative as to actually do anything about it. Or at least that he didn't let it distract him from his fight with England.
But that lack of knowledge and understanding is something that he hopes that they can cure, now that the fighting has stopped and they can have this meeting without the war distracting them from an honest discussion. In fact, he is quite strongly hoping that they can at least establish a good rapport right now, eventually leading to something more later even if they can't do better than that right now. Diplomacy can sometimes take some times, after all.
When America arrives, he stands and offers his hand. "Danke! I'm glad that you could come!" he replies, inviting America to sit in one of the guest chairs with a gesture before sitting down himself. "I'm also glad that you vere able to make it to the peace conference - those conversations can be a bit tedious, but it's important for us to take the time to discuss things like borders and so forth so that ve may have peace moving forvard. I'm sure that you are just as happy as the rest of us to be able to put the var behind you and instead vorry about life and the future," he states, wondering how America will choose to respond to that.
He actually hasn't had much cause or reason to talk to America for quite some time - since before the first world war, really, unless you count various moments of official business or very incidental conversations like the one between meetings during the peace conference. Which is hardly thorough enough of a converstation for him to gain a proper understanding about what America's primary thoughts and concerns are. Which are things that he certainly would like to know, if only so that they can have a better understanding.
At least Ludwig showed every sign of attempting to keep this a civil meeting. That was exactly how Alfred wanted things to go for the time being. He wanted to scope out his options and then act once he discovered where the weakest link within the Axis was. Thus far, the Italies looked like his best bet. Lovino was already a good friend of his, and Feliciano seemed the most dissatisfied of the three main Axis nations. He could use that to his advantage in the future. Germany and Japan on the other hand were in more secure positions, and thus it was best to get a large group together before going after them. He certainly wouldn't be declaring war any time soon, and thus it was best to maintain a somewhat cordial relationship.
He met Ludwig's hand with his own and gave it a firm shake, not so firm as to be seen as aggressive but firm enough to show that Alfred was not one to be underestimated. He then took a seat. "Yeah, it can be tedious but it at least means that we get to put the war behind us right?" For the time being. Alfred was grateful for that. It would give him time to build up his forces and fix his infrastructure in the places where it was still suffering from the effects of the war. It also meant that he could establish ties with other nations, ties that would allow him to further exert his influence on the world possibly build a coalition that could topple the Axis once and for all.
He knew that Ludwig wasn't here simply to catch up. They had matters that they needed to discuss..how their countries would get along, for one. Again, Alfred was willing to play the part of a cordial relationship if that meant that he could pull the rug out from under Ludwig in the near future. And he wasn't entirely playing..he did respect Ludwig after all, even if he disagreed. "How're things holding up since the war?" He doubted that Ludwig would go into large amounts of detail, but he did hope to glean a bit of information from what Ludwig had to say. Was he still dealing with rebellions in certain territories he'd taken over? Was he working on rebuilding infrastructure as well?
That being said, he phrased it in a vague fashion on purpose. He knew that none of the Axis nations knew where he stood (he was still figuring it out himself for that matter), and he wanted to keep it that way
Germany has quite the grip himself now, thanks to all of his newfound strength. He doesn't show that off, however - he merely matches the strength that his hand is given. And when they're both seated, he sits rather relaxed in his chair. Or at least, as relaxed as he gets - he's not exactly the type to slouch even in the most casual situations.
And he notices immediately that America doesn't really comment on his happiness that the war has ended, only the tediousness of the meeting that marked its end. Much could be read into that, though of course it would all be speculation. There's a certain delicate balance in that - he of course doesn't want to miss even the slightest hint of America's current thoughts and general state of mind, especially if he might not be open and honest about that, but it's all too easy to convince yourself that this or that means something that it does not if you let yourself speculate too wildly.
Of course, since he wants information that he's not getting outright himself, it comes at no surprise to him that America would ask him how he's doing - no doubt he's wanting the same information. "Hmm, very good and very busy. Anyone vho thinks that vhen a var ends you can kick back and relax is a fool. A var like that alvays stretches an economy a bit thin and it's a bit of work to even it out again aftervard - especially vhen your land holdings expand by... hmm, something like thirty times? Perhaps more? I haven't really done that math, come to think of it..." he says, musing out loud, "Though I'm sure that you can relate somevhat. Vhat vas it, just over a hundred years ago that you got really serious about expanding your lands?"
That he wouldn't go into large amounts of detail is right. He could make fake small talk for hours, never really saying anything. But if that was his purpose then that's a poor excuse for inviting America to meet with him. On the other hand, it's not like Germany is going to be too open too fast, especially if America isn't open in return. It ends up being a bit like a game of chicken - who is going to dare extend even a small bit of trust first? Or will this be the meeting where they both decide that trusting each other at all is not a good idea? Germany, for one, hopes that there can be some level of trust, if only because otherwise that would mean that they're practically guaranteed to go to war at some point. Perhaps not soon, but it's difficult to imagine that it wouldn't happen at some point.
"And yourself?" he gently probes, "I vas a bit too busy to pay close attention, but I heard that the var got very heated for you. Of course, I heard this from your brother so I don't knov hov accurate that may be. Are you recovering vell?"
He has to figure that, overall, the war had a worse impact on America and England than it did on himself. Yes he fought Russia and yes that was much, much more difficult than he assumed it would be, but it was still an eventual victory and hardly any of the fighting occurred on the lands he had before the war began. Stalemates, on the other hand, are rather rare in war - when things look evenly matched, usually at least one side or the other will find something to tip the balance eventually. And he remembers in his youth being taught that you can pretty much count on that and should put all possible efforts into discovering what would give you an edge before your opponent does. But the wars of his youth were comparatively simple land wars, only occasionally featuring a boat. The fact that became clear is that America and England probably would have had to completely reinvent their militaries in order to get the edge they needed - America just isn't a match for England's navy, and England just isn't a match for America's army. However, the process of discovering that this is definitely the case took a lot of lives - both on the soil of the Americas and sunken in the sea.
Indeed, Alfred might not truly agree with Ludwig on a lot of things - but he did agree that post-war was not a time to relax. He had infrastructure damaged in his own war to rebuild for one thing, and then there was everything else happening in other areas of the world. He also had to make sure that he maintained control of Canada..while he hoped to be able to let Canada have more freedom at some point, he wanted to make sure that Canada wasn't going to bolt at the first hint of freedom. He wanted a strong ally in his brother, a partnership of sorts. As much as he wanted to, he couldn't bring himself to trust Canada to do that at this point. Not so soon after gaining control over his brother's territories from England at least.
Alfred could not help but feel as though Ludwig was bragging when he mentioned that his holdings had increased thirty times..but he could relate to some extent? He whistled. "That's quite the expansion, and yes it was.. I only doubled my land area recently but I also started out with a lot in the first place." Alfred shrugged. For the most part he was just commenting on the truth of the matter, but the fact remained that even though Alfred only doubled his land he did own quite a large chunk of land adding both his and his brother's together. Much of the North American continent, in fact. Should he try to go for Mexico and see if he could make it three for three? Then there were the islands, but he already exerted some influence there.
But no..as much as he wanted to expand his influence, he saw the Axis as a major threat to both his own interests and the world in general. That needed to be attended to before anything else..although having more land under his command did mean that he would have more resources against the Axis? "It did but it also ended in a draw before it could get even more heated so that's something." Again, he'd made off better in terms of land than Arthur did - certainly a plus in the long run.
Although with that said, Arthur had less damage to his infrastructure. Alfred had to fight Matthew, which meant that he had a few battles on his own land. It meant that Arthur would have less recovery time..which could either be a blessing or a curse, depending on how things panned out in the future. Either way, it was good to hear that Ludwig was focused on trying to consolidate all of the land that he'd obtained. That distraction was one that Alfred could bend to his advantage if he were to play his cards right
If Germany is bragging about his gains, it's actually not intentional. He's only bringing up the sheer size of his gains during the war to emphasize the logistical nightmare he's dealing with. Not that he isn't up to the challenge, but it's a tremendous amount of work to get it all organized and so forth. Even with the help of Prussia and many, many others there are so many things left to do that he could easily worry himself sick over it. Fortunately, he's not the type to do that - instead he's the type to work himself to death.
"That is vhat I am saying - you are used to managing a lot of territory, and I am not," he says with a nod of respect about that fact. Not that he's saying that America is ultimately better at it - perhaps he is, perhaps he isn't, though either way Germany tends to be a quick learner about these sorts of things and he's fully confident that he'll become accustomed to it before his inexperience causes any major problems. Especially since he believes in learning from the successes and failures of others, and in that indirect way he's learned a lot by paying close attention to the rise of America.
He nods to America's point about how heated the war in the Atlantic had been. He wouldn't be very quick to dismiss it as having been less difficult or intense than other fronts in the war, but a land war with Canada and a sea war with England is a conflict of a completely different nature to a mostly land battle with France and then Russia. "I'm glad that the tvo of you vere able to settle it vhen you did - the longer the var the greater the cost for everyone involved," he says, his voice a bit somber.
But now he shifts slightly in his chair, straightening just a little bit in a subtle sign that he's finished with the small talk and is ready to get to business (not that there wasn't any business involved in the small talk). His lips purse thoughtfully as if he's carefully considering what he's about to say before he speaks. "I do not vish to be indelicate," he starts, "But it hasn't escaped my notice that in the course of this massive vorld var, you have found yourself in a position vhere your friends are few. Vhich isn't to imply that there is any veakness in that - I mean nothing of the sort. If anything the fact that you are still standing even though you had little help from anyone is a strong declaration of strength and self-sufficiency. Still, I vould imagine that friends vould be a nice thing to have, Ja?" He tries to keep his tone rather light, but as his usual mode of deep seriousness is extremely ingrained the results his efforts are a bit mixed.
Both nations owned a large amount of land..but Alfred's work was probably easier than Ludwig's. Nearly half of Alfred's land was land that belonged to him before the war in the first place. It was his own land, land that had been under his control for a century or two. Germany had to fight a lot of battles to gain the countries that he now had under his control, which meant that he had a lot more work to do to consolidate all of that. And..Alfred was beginning to realize that this might actually work to his advantage. Ludwig had his hands full. Not that Alfred didn't, but there was no denying that Ludwig had to dedicate a lot of time to making adjustments and seeing what worked and what did not. If and when the time came that he needed to fight Ludwig? That could come in handy.
That said, Alfred had his own weaknesses. His infrastructure was still recovering from the war that occurred between himself and Canada. "It is, and I have to say the same for yourself. I'm still impressed that you managed to best Russia. That's not an easy task." It was hard for Alfred to say how he felt about Russia's fate. On one hand, he'd not been on the greatest terms with Ivan since Ivan's Revolution thirty years before. On the other? Russia was a large and powerful country. For him to ultimately find himself at the mercy of Ludwig? Alfred couldn't deny that he recognized a threat there. If Ludwig could take out Russia, what was to say that he wouldn't try to take him out as well?
The other nation hit a bit too close to home with his remarks regarding friends and allies, of which Alfred had few at that point in time. He had a feeling that he knew where Ludwig was going with this. "Course they would. Strength in numbers and all that. Why do you ask?" Because there was a reason Ludwig was asking, and Alfred had a feeling he knew what that reason was. He didn't plan on working with Ludwig in the long term. There was too much that didn't sit right with him when it came to Ludwig. But..he was willing to make temporary deals, if that was what Ludwig wished. He would play his cards close to his chest. He was often impulsive, but he also recognized what he needed to do to survive.
And that was the crux of a lot of politics at that point in time - The need to survive. The war might be over, but that didn't mean that things were peaceful. Not in the least, if one looked deep enough..
Last Edit: May 29, 2017 13:49:13 GMT -7 by America
Whether or not a heavy load of hard work is a disadvantage to a nation greatly depends on which nation you're talking about. If it was Greece that was having to deal with it, clearly that would be a problem. Germany, however, thrives when he has a lot of difficult things on his to-do list - if it were easy, he'd very quickly become bored and frustrated with his life and begin to seek out more challenging things to do with himself. But for the moment, that's not in any danger of happening - it seems like trouble and hard work are seeking him out instead.
That being the case, if another nation wants peace then Germany's current situation is ideal. The last thing that he wants is to have to put his resources into more war right now. Which isn't to say that he's incapable of doing so, and to assume that would be extremely dangerous as he now possesses a very large, very technologically advanced army, but he's very interested in avoiding having to use it at the moment. To do so would be a huge logistical nightmare - which he would probably actually enjoy figuring out, actually - but it would have consequences that he wouldn't like.
When America mentions Russia, Germany gives a grim but satisfied nod. "No, it vas not easy at all - even more difficult than I thought. If I'd knovn hov difficult I vould have gathered many more men and resources from the beginning, and perhaps ended the var much sooner. But the important thing vas the victory in the end - and I'm glad that I listened to those that told me that he needed to be taken care of immediately," he says, speaking very openly. Which might be a bit surprising, considering how closely guarded many nations have been about their plans and thought process. Then again, the war is over and in Germany's favor so he sees no reason why he can't be open about it now. "Though I had alvays intended to turn on him - he has been very... troubled since his revolution, clearly building up in enough strength to be a hazard to the entire region - I had hoped to be able to rest and restore my armies after defeating France instead of going after him so quickly," he adds, "But he vas going after his neighbors and I vas concerned that if I vaited he vould become too poverful. So in retrospect I am glad that I didn't vait because if I had it vould have undoubtedly been even vorse." He frowns slightly at the mere thought of that, but it seems to pass quickly.
And as the subject turns to the matter of friends and allies, he nods as America gives the answer he expected to his question - not just in that he agreed but also asked the reason for the question. "I have been thinking about the Axis a lot lately. Vhich might surprise you because it vas meant to be a vartime alliance and the var is over. But, as you knov, the end of this var is not the end of conflict. Vhich is vhy it occurs to me that perhaps this alliance can nov serve a nev purpose: peace," he says and, knowing that statement alone will probably prompt questions, he explains, "As it is vritten, the members of the Axis are obligated to help each other in var. Vhich means that if one of us attacked another, the rest vould be obligated to assist the defender. Of course, vhether or not that vould actually happen at this point is questionable, but it does mean that before any of us decided to do such a thing they vould vait until they could be sure it vas safe to do so - check to see vho vould and vouldn't be on their side. After all, vorst case scenario, it vould be three empires against one. So the alliance is useful in that it is stopping anyone from making any impulsive decisions."
"Nov, the reason vhy I mention this is because it is possible to make this hesitation for var betveen the empires even greater, and at great benefit to you, I think. And perhaps even pave the vay to something even more stable. If you vere to join the Axis, at least on paper if one of us attacked you the rest of us vould be obligated to defend you - vhich is much better than your current position. If one of us attacked you right nov, the rest of us could join in the attack or sit on our hands as ve vished. Of course, in exchange you vould be obligated to join in any var the rest of us had vith each other, and that is something that I admit you must think over carefully. But if you joined us this vould also make you equal to the rest of the empires in the Axis - you vould be a party to any meetings that ve may have in the future not because ve graciously invited you but because you vould have just as much right to attend as anyone. Vhich may not seem very important given the seeming unimportance of any further Axis meetings, but I am hoping through them to perhaps come up vith a better solution for vorld peace and I vant you involved," he explains further. Then he admits, "Though in the short term I suspect the thought of possibly having four empires against one instead of three vould cause even greater hesitation. Even I don't think that I could take all of you on at once."
