Chapter 148: Whitewashed (Request for Subscription)
Chapter 146 – Whitewashed (Requests Subscription)
It must be said that the Russians were good at picking the time, once the ultimatum deadline ended, it happened to be December 24th, and the next day was Christmas.
Whether it was to die to the end, or choose to compromise. The Prussians don’t even have to live this Christmas, delaying for a few days before delivering the ultimatum to the Prussian government, there is no lack of intentionally disgusting Frederick William IV’s meaning.
Berlin.
After receiving the ultimatum from the Russians, the Kingdom of Prussia exploded, with war and peace activists arguing, and the plan of instigating Polish independence was once again brought up.
Prime Minister Josef von Radowitz said excitedly, “No, Poland is not going to make it at all, even if we give up Prussian Poland and let them become an independent state, we can’t hold back the Russians’ troops.
On the contrary, this will also anger the Russians, who will join Austria and France to attack us together, and it is impossible for the Kingdom of Prussia to win this war!”
Alpha, the new foreign minister, said disdainfully, “Prime Minister, don’t be so alarmist, at most we will be fighting the Russians.
The French are in the midst of infighting, the parliament opposes what the president supports, and the president vetoes bills passed by the parliament, so how could they possibly get involved in this war?
Austria supports us this time, even if the Austrian government has evil intentions, but the Austrian people are our staunch allies.
If the Austrian government dares to join forces with the Russians to attack us, a revolution will break out in the country before the operation has even begun, there is no way they can risk it.”
After a pause, he agitated, “The Russian Empire is rotten, this great empire is a stab in the dark, since it stands against us, why not go and stab him?
As long as we stand up this time, the entire population of the German region will become our loyal supporters, and the great work of unifying Germany will be accomplished in our hands.”
Unfortunately none of the Prussian government executives were middle-aged teenagers anymore, the Russian Empire was corrupt, but this corrupt empire was not something that Prussia could challenge.
The power of allies? Don’t tease, it’s okay to use it to fool middle-aged teenagers, where did Prussia get allies?
Many German states, are watching the fun, one slogan shouting amazing, really if against Russia, another explanation.
If you analyze carefully, you will find that the so-called defense of the territorial integrity of the German Confederation did not include parts of Prussian Poland and East Prussia.
This was a huge hole, and once you jumped into it, the Kingdom of Prussia had to fight the Russians alone. Of course there was support, and there were plenty of countries that didn’t like the Russians.
Finance Minister Holder said coldly: “Mr. Alpha, unless all German states declare war on the Russians at the same time, it is impossible for us to win this war alone.
Perhaps you haven’t noticed, for the sake of the Poudan War, we ourselves spent the last gold coin in the treasury, as early as half a year ago the government officials couldn’t receive full salary, and in the last three months even not a penny was paid.
With the whole country mobilized, our strategic supplies can at most support us for half a month of combat, and unless our army can win this war within half a month, there is no point in starting this war.”
The lack of money is one of the biggest problems, since last March the Phu Thanh war broke out, there was a truce halfway through but the two armies are still at loggerheads.
The Kingdom of Prussia’s finances are in a perennial deficit, and in order to support the war, they have tried to raise money for the military.
Now there is really no way, international loans can not be borrowed, the government issued bonds in the financial market no one asked for, the domestic people in order to support the war, has been many times to donate, but also out of their pockets.
Even in order to raise, they do not hesitate to put down the face, to the German region of the people for help, the money is obtained quite a lot, the problem is that to the hands of the Prussian government is not much left.
No money is only one aspect, there is also really can not win. In the age of the volley gun, the tactic of the sea of men was one of the most effective tactics.
The Prussian-Russian border was undefended, and once the war broke out and the main force of the Prussian army was held back, the Cossack cavalry killed the Prussian kingdom’s hinterland, and they were out cold.
“The Russians interfered, and the Prussian-Danish war is not to be fought. The most important thing at this time is to find a way to convince the people in the country, explain the dilemma we are facing to the people, so that they understand the government’s difficulties.
This problem will be solved by the Prime Minister, the Foreign Ministry will send someone to communicate with the Russians, restart negotiations with the Kingdom of Denmark, and invite Austria to join in mediating this war.
As a sign of our sincerity, the Kingdom of Prussia will lift the national mobilization as soon as the negotiations are opened.” Frederick William IV arranged in a nonchalant manner
……
On December 23, 1849, under the armed mediation of the Russians, the Prussian government announced that it had accepted the Russian proposal to reopen the Prussian-Danish negotiations and at the same time lift the national mobilization.
As soon as the news broke, the German region exploded, civil anti-Russian sentiment began to rise, and became disillusioned with the Prussian government.
When the Kingdom of Prussia carried out the national mobilization, everyone was very touched, donating money and goods in the minority, and now all of a sudden the Prussian government wimped out, isn’t this a waste of everyone’s feelings?
Now suddenly the Prussian government is giving in, is it not a waste of our feelings? The Prussian government is giving in, but what about the two duchies of Schleswig-Holstein? In the eyes of the people, this was a matter of principle that could not be abandoned.
Everyone’s eyes turned to Vienna, as the boss of the German state, the Austrian government at this time must come up with a clear attitude.
Metternich was a diplomatic veteran, how could he jump in and help Prussia take the blame?
On Christmas Day, the Austrian Foreign Ministry announced: “The Austrian government will convene a federal conference in the near future, and a delegation will be sent by the federal parliament to participate in this negotiation.
Until then the Austrian government hopes that the Kingdom of Prussia will assume the responsibility of a great power and hold the two duchies of Schleswig-Holstein.”
At this point it occurred to everyone that it appeared that a federal parliament existed in the German region.
But for the Prussian government, the federal parliament popping up at this time was creating trouble for them.
It was of course impossible to compromise in the Federal Assembly, everyone was trying to save face.
Even if the Bundestag made a decision to declare war with the Russians, it would only be a matter for Austria and Prussia, and they, the states in the rear, would not be able to reach it, so what were they afraid of?
If you want the Federal Assembly to agree to give up the two duchies of Schleswig-Holstein, don’t even think about it.
If Prussia gives up the two duchies of Schleswig-Holstein, then all the responsibility will be borne by them.
By this time there were already rumors spreading that the Prussian government had taken advantage of everyone’s patriotic fervor to provoke this war in order to divert domestic conflicts, and public opinion was very unfavorable to the Prussian government.
The Christmas of 1849 was not a good time for the people of the whole German region. The newspapers were filled with news of the Prussian-Danish War, and the festive atmosphere was washed away.
To show his displeasure at the Prussian government’s retreat, Franz ordered that Christmas celebrations be canceled, no more court banquets, no more governmental festivities.
The attitude of the Russians was so strong that within a month the border line between the two countries had not been restored to the pre-war level, and the Tsar’s armies were to be killed in the Kingdom of Prussia, which directly cut off any possibility of the Prussian government knocking a fortune.
The Prussian government is not a fool, know that this kind of thing drags the longer the trouble, the negotiation has not yet started, the Prussian army has already begun to withdraw from the Jutland Peninsula.
One of the factors is that there is no money, more than 100,000 troops deep into enemy territory, this logistical pressure can not be small, anyway, have decided to back down, it is better to return earlier to save money.
……
Vienna’s Schönbrunn Palace
Franz’s mood is very bad, the Prussian government is too fast, want to use the negotiations to delay the time can not be done.
He now finally understands why so many people embezzlement of public funds will be caught, really too many surprises, it is difficult to carry out effective control.
Investment in the food processing industry, the factory has just been established, want to make money, at least wait for the factory to run up and then say it?
Investment in mines is no better, time is too short, basically did not carry out effective development.
The only mining is the gravel mine, but the railroad construction has just begun, the profit is good, but this is just a drop in the bucket.
The Royal Bank’s savings have reached a total of 2,768,900,000 rupiah, the bank’s administrative expenses of 18,000,000 rupiah per month, must be deducted, but also must set aside a portion of the funds to the bank’s operations, to fill the pit of the money is also not much.
Theoretically, three million guilders of the donations would be turned into bank deposits, but in reality it was an unknown quantity, and Franz did not dare to risk this limit.
By the end of the year settlement, the Habsburg family assets to a lot, but the risk of diverting over to fill their own holes, but also prone to internal conflicts.
These industries actually have a set of mature management mechanism, Franz in addition to supervise the operation, every year just take away their own share.
Since uncle is still alive, he, the patriarch of the Habsburg family, can get the money is naturally greatly reduced, but also 300,000 guilders of profit dividends.
If not immediately to the end of the year, the royal annuity will come down, Franz really do not know how to fill this hole, can not be cheeky to borrow money?
Or withhold the government to call over the donation? I believe that the Ministry of Finance will not be so colorless, running over to urge His Majesty to pay back the money.
Since the royal annuity to be used to fill the hole, the Vienna court naturally have to cut unnecessary expenses, reduce the court banquet is one of them, the Prussian things just give him an excuse.
Franz sent someone to calculate accurately, every year the Austrian court all kinds of banquets and activities, combined expenses will not be less than half a million guilders, if a little bit more extravagant one million guilders are not enough.
“Your Majesty, the Pudan War is coming to an end, and for the sake of the bank’s credibility, we need to prepare to return the donations.” John Steva reminded
For a bank, the most important thing is credibility. For the sake of the Royal Bank’s credibility, Franz gave up even the chance to privatize the huge donation.
Otherwise the donations that went into the Royal Bank would have been gone for a long time without a penny. If he had just said that all of it had been handed over to the Prussian government, it would have become a headless case.
Franz thought for a moment and said: “Hold a press conference to explain the matter clearly, invite Prussian representatives and notaries to be present, and reconcile the accounts.
Release the news to the public: if the negotiations go well, start returning the unused portion of the donations when they are over, so that everyone can bring the receipts issued by the bank in the first place and go to the business place where the original donations were made to get the same percentage refund.
This year’s royal annuity will be deposited directly into the Royal Bank, and the dividends from the royal assets will also be put into the bank, so the funding gap is not a problem.
Also, as soon as possible, the previous matter will be leveled out, and the business loan procedures will be made up, so as not to leave half a trace.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.” John Steva replied.
As long as there was money, a lot of problems would be easier to deal with, once the financial hole was filled and the loan procedures were patched up, the matter would be over.
After such a wave of operation was completed, Franz’s misappropriation of donations became a legitimate business loan from the bank, and this asset was cleared.
(End of chapter)