Chapter 588: Civilian reaction
Chapter 575 Civil Reaction
The invention of the telegraph accelerated the spread of news, and the news that the Prussian government was going to sell the Rhineland region quickly spread across the continent.
Berlin Royal Palace, William I wiped a sweat: “Send someone to ask the Prime Minister, not let him send someone to explain it, how come the crowd outside has not dispersed?”
It was characteristic of the age of nationalism that the populace began to value the territory. Land deals that the monarchs had been free to make decisions on now also had to take into account civil reactions.
Don’t look at the Rhineland region as rich in resources, but in reality it was not the core territory of the Kingdom of Prussia, and being threatened by the French, it had an even lower status in the government’s mind.
When Bismarck dared to promise the Rhineland to the French, he actually planned for the worst. For example: when the French took advantage of the fire in the Austro-Prussian War, Prussia had to give it up.
Luckily they won the gamble and the French chose to wait and see and not take advantage of the fire. Otherwise, the history of Europe behind them would have been rewritten.
Having gotten the desired benefits, Napoleon III had no motivation to launch. After the increase and decrease in strength, the Prussian Kingdom’s chances of winning were even lower.
Moreover, with an additional piece of land as a buffer, even if the Kingdom of Prussia dares to take a risk, the French have increased the buffer time, and can mobilize more troops out, Prussia can only look forward to God’s blessing if it wants to win the war.
Bismarck dared to take the risk of the Rhineland region, if the Junker aristocracy concentrated in the region, lending him the courage to not dare to take out to make promises.
A blank check is also highly confidential, the government can know, but the people below can not know. As soon as the news spreads, a military coup will take place in minutes given the state of Prussia.
In a country where the military was the master of the house, anything that jeopardized the interests of the Junker nobility had to be thought twice before it was done.
Outside the farce William I just feel upset, not worried about a big mess. Matters were not of concern, and that applied in the Kingdom of Prussia as well.
The Rhineland region was an enclave, subject to not as strong a connection to the country, and most people had no direct interest to lose, except for the capitalists, who had cut their teeth.
Not involved in their own interests, follow the noise to vent their dissatisfaction, things will be over.
The Kingdom of Prussia is not the turn of the capitalists to be in charge, when the abandonment of Silesia, there are also some people make trouble, but in the end not obediently compromised.
Even without the Rhineland, Prussia’s iron and steel production plummeted by 60%, and the total industrial output was cut by nearly 40%, William I was still not panicked.
Prussia’s internal market is limited, industrial and commercial products in the international market is not competitive, only a few years of work, the domestic overcapacity of the first signs.
This is a characteristic of the times, affected by a variety of factors, this era of the capitalist world every ten or eight years will come to an economic crisis.
From 1847 to now, there have been three economic crises, and the fourth is not far away. If the agricultural crisis is taken into account, the fifth one is about to break out.
Nor is more industry better; overcapacity is a disaster. If you look in the history books, you will see that after every crisis, war breaks out, and people seem to be used to spending their time in war.
The economic crisis of 1847 triggered the Revolution of 1848; the economic crisis of 1857 induced the American Civil War; the economic crisis of 1867 led to the outbreak of the Russo-Prussian War; and the agrarian crisis that erupted two years ago triggered the Near East War and the Russo-Polish War.
The abandonment of the Rhineland region now appeared to be a heavy loss, but in fact it was also buying time for the Kingdom of Prussia to integrate the Kingdom of Poland.
Otherwise, if a new round of crisis breaks out, and they don’t want to start the Prussian-Russian War, there will be people who will send them to the battlefield.
It was inevitable that someone’s interests would be damaged in any decision, and William I did not mind sacrificing some of the capitalists’ interests first. Anyway, the bourgeoisie as a group was complex, as long as the rulers were not stupid they could not unite.
Without the Rhineland, there were also many people who would profit. Without a competitor, they could divide up the market they left behind, and they would not give up their own interests for the sake of “class interests”.
……
In the Ruhr region, news of the Berlin government’s sale of the Rhineland has already reached the local authorities, who are already preparing to withdraw.
The people took to the streets spontaneously and started a huge demonstration. This time there was really no one to organize it. Suddenly abandoned, there would be resentment in anyone’s heart.
As a Ruhr administrator, Andrea was also very upset in his heart, and the documents issued by his superiors were all torn to pieces by him.
Under normal circumstances, he would never dare to do so, intentionally damaging official documents is to lose his job, and now he can’t care so much about his anger.
After a flurry of destruction in the office, Andrea forced himself to calm his anger. As a nobleman who is loyal to the country, Andrea understands what the big picture is.
The Rhineland region was destined to be abandoned, but with so much population and industry, it couldn’t all be abandoned. The Berlin government had already given orders to organize the evacuation of as many people as possible.
That’s right, it’s a priority to organize the evacuation of people. After the war with the Tsarist government, the Berlin government had realized the importance of population.
Without enough people, there will not be enough soldiers, and when it comes to the Tsarist government, which is good at playing the tactics of manpower, it will not be possible to have fewer soldiers.
As long as there were people, there would be land and factories. The Berlin government had an evacuation experience, only the situation was completely different.
When the Silesian region was abandoned, the Kingdom of Prussia had just won the Russo-Prussian War and had gained a lot of land, and the East Prussian region had been whittled down, so that continued population replenishment, in accordance with the emigration, was not a problem at all.
Now the situation is much more complicated, the Rhineland region can be much more populous than Silesia, want to settle so many people is not simple.
It is true that there is still a part of undeveloped land in the Kingdom of Prussia, just that most of these lands are geographically disadvantaged, and there is already very little undeveloped, high-quality land.
It was clearly not enough to settle the people of the Rhineland. Prussia’s domestic industry was also unable to absorb such a large population, which predetermined that there would be a trade-off in this evacuation.
Andrea’s task was to organize the departure of those who had a greater role to play in the country, mainly the rich and the middle class, including: capitalists, doctors, teachers, engineers, skilled workers ……
It was only after the withdrawal of these people that the ordinary workers and peasants. The final buyer was either Belgium or the German Federal Reich, and the Berlin government was not afraid of offending them and could slowly organize the evacuation.
Before the evacuation, the first thing to do is to let the people demonstrating outside disperse, otherwise so many people blocking the street, many work can not be carried out.
After hesitating for a few moments of effort, Andrea convinced himself and walked out stiffly. Quite a bit of wind Xiao Yi Shui Cold, the strong man once gone will not return to the sadness.
Well, in reality, the situation was not that serious, the angry people did not rush up to beat Andrea, but shouted slogans for an explanation.
On the one hand, the success of education, so that the Prussian people learned to comply with the order; on the other hand, the garrison has acted, surrounded by heavily armed soldiers, want to make trouble also have to consider the consequences.
The suppression of the workers’ movement was nothing new these days. After seeing the army’s posture as if it were an enemy, people couldn’t help but behave themselves.
Andrea to the front of the government building, instructed the staff has moved to the table, bit and stood on the table, the hands also waved a Prussian flag, signaling everyone to be quiet.
Advanced equipment can only be yelled, Andrea made the best of it, “I know what you all came here for, and right now my feelings are just as sad as yours.
Because we all love this country, love this land that feeds us. But there is no way, now I have to announce this bad news.
The news you have heard is not a rumor, the government is indeed abandoning the Rhineland region.”
Having received the official reply, the clamor resounded once again, and there were already outraged people who began to lose control of their emotions, and might have rushed up if it wasn’t for the army blocking them.
“Quiet”, “Quiet” ……
Andrea’s heartbreaking cries were to no avail, forcing the soldiers to fire warning shots into the air.
“Bang, bang, bang ……”
After the sound of gunfire, order was barely restored to normal. Have to be lamented, or bullets are more deterrent.
“All quiet down, give me two minutes. If there are any problems, wait for me to finish before discussing them, and don’t forget that discipline is the basic code of behavior for every citizen.”
The murmurs fell on deaf ears as everyone looked at Andrea, waiting for his explanation.
“The Berlin government doesn’t want to give up the Rhineland region either, but there’s no way around it, the Kingdom of Prussia is too weak. Facing the threat of the Great Powers, the government had to consider the safety of everyone’s lives and property.
Some people may say they are not afraid of death and are willing to fight for the Kingdom of Prussia, so am I. If possible, I’d rather take a gun and fight on the battlefield than live here in humiliation.
But one cannot think only of oneself. We must be responsible for our parents, wives and children, and we must be responsible for the Kingdom of Prussia. If we have a moment’s pleasure, what shall we do with them? What shall we do with this country?
Don’t give me that crap about victory belonging to Prussia. First figure out who the enemy is that we’re facing now, and think hard with your own brain about whether we have a chance of winning.
It’s not like Prussia hasn’t had its share of defeats before. We almost died during the war against France, but in the end we were revived again.
As long as we are alive, there is hope. We can get back the humiliation of today tomorrow. Giving up the Rhineland for the time being is not the same as giving it up for good.
One day, the Prussian kingdom will be strong and fearless, and then we will return here again. History will remember this ……”
(End of chapter)