Chapter 344: No Other Choice
Chapter 334: No Choice
Watching the major powers stirring the storm clouds, just succeeded the throne of Prussia King William I could not hold back, or perhaps the Junker nobles could not hold back.
The butterfly effect is powerful, with the re-emergence of Austria, the Prussian government found that their dream of a strong country, is really close to becoming a dream.
Crisis awareness was the driving force behind Prussia’s march to power. In the First Schleswig War, the Prussian army did not perform well, and could even be described as garbage.
Calls for military reform were high in the Prussian army, and the main leader was one of the Prussian Three – Albrecht von Roon.
Röhn had a low profile and did amazing things. Not only did he preside over the reform of the Prussian army, but he also single-handedly promoted Mauch and put Bismarck on the throne of prime minister.
Without him, Moltke might have had a chance to climb up the ladder, but Bismarck, a public enemy of the crown, would not have been able to do so.
Now General Röhne was very annoyed. He had only recently become Minister of the Navy in his capacity as Minister of War, and he had to face a big problem: there was a growing clamor in the country for the opening up of colonies.
What other people think Ron do not know, anyway, he is against the opening of overseas colonies, there is only one reason – no money.
In order to dispel this impractical thought of everyone, he had to gain the support of William the First. On the contrary, now William I also wanted to seize wealth from the overseas colonies and change the financial difficulties of the Kingdom of Prussia, which caused him a headache.
……
At the government meeting in the Berlin Royal Palace, Chancellor Frank once again reiterated the benefits of opening up colonies, proposing the establishment of a colonial empire belonging to Prussia.
Portugal and Holland are two small countries that have large colonies overseas, and with the strength of the Kingdom of Prussia, opening up overseas colonies doesn’t seem to be a big deal.
Ron objected, “Your Excellency the Prime Minister, I know that opening up colonies is important to provide cheap raw materials and markets for domestic industry and commerce, and to change the government’s financial woes.
However, you seem to have overlooked the most important issue, any colonial empire is a naval power.
With those few ships of our navy, I’m afraid that we may not even be able to handle a large group of pirates, so on what basis can we open up colonies overseas?”
This is a fact, just by the fact that the Minister of War can also be the Minister of Navy, we know how much the Prussian Navy has fallen on hard times. But any country with a somewhat powerful navy is unlikely to be in this situation.
Prime Minister Frank explained, “The government has prepared to expand the navy, and the Kingdom of Prussia needs an ironclad fleet of its own.”
Ron asked with a grimace, “Where will the military funding come from?”
Frank replied calmly, “Now that the Vienna system has been rebuilt, the conflicts between the countries tend to ease, and the European continent tends to stabilize, the possibility of a war breaking out is unlikely.
Under these circumstances, there is no need for us to urgently carry out military reform. The Army has sacrificed once for the country this time, and will spend the next few years in hard times.
It is possible to transfer some of the soldiers to the navy to save on military expenses, and the government will find a way to put together a little more to build an ironclad fleet first.
When the colonies open up, solve the problem of raw materials and markets for domestic industry and commerce, and the domestic economy improves, then military reform will be carried out.”
In order to cope with the rise of Austria, and the impact brought about by the newborn France, only a short while ago Ron proposed a specific program for armament reform:
Requirements to extend the service life of the army from 2 years to 4 years; abolish the national reserve army; change the equipment of the standing army, from the next year onwards, the annual allocation of 17.5 million thalers.
These measures meant an increase in conscription from 40,000 to 85,000, an increase in the army from 102 to 163 regiments, and a change in the usual strength from 208,000 to 327,000 men.
This military reform, more radical than in history, was largely based on the fact that the Kingdom of Prussia was under greater military pressure.
The standing army of the Russians was now 990,000, that of the new Holy Roman Roman Empire 580,000, and that of the French 500,000 men.
With three neighbors so perverse, if they don’t expand their armies, the Kingdom of Prussia will lose its status as a quasi-power.
Moreover, Franz’s desire to unify Germany was well known, and Napoleon III’s coveting of the Rhineland was also undisguised.
The Junker nobles, represented by Ron, naturally felt a sense of crisis.
If they did not expand their army, the Kingdom of Prussia had less than a third of the strength of any of their rivals. If war suddenly broke out, they wouldn’t even have the power to fight.
Not so the bourgeoisie, who had faith in the Vienna system. Apprehension was expressed about the expansion of the army:
On the one hand the abolition of the reserves and the extension of active service would undoubtedly weaken their influence in the army;
On the other hand, the fact that 2/3 of the officers and 9/10 of the instructors of this huge army were held by Junkers harbored a danger that the army might become an instrument of Junkers against Parliament.
“Who assures it that the weapons it sharpens will be used for its own purposes?”
Thus the bourgeois liberals, represented by the Progressive Party, used the powers granted to Parliament by the Constitution of 1850 to bargain with the government and delay the adoption of the program of army expansion.
To avoid the worst, the capitalists began to trumpet the benefits of opening up the colonies, painting a big picture for the government hierarchy and attempting to use the development of the navy to weaken the Junker aristocracy.
Many people were now trapped into it, and the real-life example was in front of us. If there were no benefits to opening up colonies, why were the several French, England, France and Austria, opening up colonies.
Even Austria’s overseas colonies lost money, which was turned into a profit by the data the capitalists got. Using a bunch of economic jargon, the prime minister and the king were fooled into it.
They were made to believe that the Austrian colonies were only administratively losing money. The Viennese government had made a profit through currency taxes, mined gold, cheap industrial raw materials, and other taxes brought in by the market.
This was reflected in the fast pace of economic development in the country and the growth of government revenues. There was also the added benefit of warding off economic crises and reducing the outflow of gold and silver.
After a mess of data, finally came to the conclusion that the Austrian colonies brought the Vienna government twelve million guilders a year.
This was no small amount, almost half the revenue of the Kingdom of Prussia. Coupled with a whole bunch of benefits, many people were lured in.
In reality, this account was not at all calculable, Austria’s high economic development colonies did contribute. But there are too many industries involved, and the number of economic cycles is too complex, just add a little bit, the final difference is an astronomical figure.
What convinced everyone was the big move by the Vienna government to open up the colonies. Judging ourselves, we certainly wouldn’t be so actively involved if we couldn’t make a profit.
Including Britain, France, Spain, Portugal and Holland five countries, have been taken out by capitalists as an example to analyze, and came to the conclusion that: the colonial empire sphere of influence is large, the country is strong; colonies lost, the country will fall.
It doesn’t matter if you hear it once, but if you hear it every day from all kinds of experts, over time it will penetrate your heart and become a recognized truth.
Ron insisted, “No, the Army’s military reform can never stop. Just open the map and you’ll see how much pressure we’re facing on national defense.
In case we have a conflict with any of the major powers one day, with the current military strength of Prussia, there is no way to fight.”
Finance Minister Fibel Adolf sneered, “Your Excellency General, if it is based on having to fight against the three major powers, I’m afraid that even if you double your military expansion plan, it still won’t be enough.
However, the Kingdom of Prussia’s financial resources are limited, even if we put all of our revenues into the military, we will not be able to fight any of the big powers.
Modern warfare is not the same as in the old days. During the Near East War, the total strength of the Russians once exceeded two million; during the Austrian War of Unification, the total strength mobilized was close to this figure.
The Kingdom of Prussia alone has a population of just over 14 million, and human resources have already set the upper limit of our military expansion. Utilizing the conflicts of various countries to maintain the balance of Europe is the most suitable strategy for us.
You may not know this, but I’ll tell you a set of economic figures and you’ll understand.
In 1850, the Kingdom of Prussia had 40.3% of the Austrian coffers, 28.2% of the French, and 30.3% of the Russians;
In 1854, after the establishment of the New Holy Roman Empire in Austria, the Kingdom of Prussia’s revenues were 31.1% of Austria’s, 27.2% of the French, and 27.6% of the Russians;
In 1860 the revenues of the Kingdom of Prussia were 20.2% of those of Austria, 21.3% of those of the French, and 31.1% of those of the Russians.
Because of the huge amount of money expended on the military, our economy was near stagnant. With 20.2% of Austria’s revenue, we spent 43.2% of their military.”
It’s not just the army that military spending has to support, but also the supporting military industrial system behind it, which is the most expensive chain under the compulsory military service system.
At present, the world has a complete military industrial system of the country, only Britain, France, Russia, Austria, Prussia, the United States and the West seven countries, of which France, Austria and Prussia three countries in the forefront of the army technology.
This is also the reason why Prussia’s military industry is dominated by one country, their volume really can’t afford to raise a second one. In order to keep costs down, each country was trying to sell arms to the outside world.
Franz even exported his military industrial system directly to the Russians. Because of finances and to save costs, the Russian military industry under Nicholas I imported production lines from Austria.
After all these years, the equipment produced filled the entire army, and it was difficult to change it back.
The Kingdom of Prussia is a tragedy, because in the world is too low, it is difficult to sell arms, the military industrial system has lost the ability to create their own blood. After all, what they sell is only arms, can not be attached to the political effect.
Industrialization era is cruel, because of the lack of markets and cheap industrial raw materials, in the process of industrialization of Prussian capital naturally can not compete with rivals, only to die in the domestic market.
The Customs Union, which historically supported the development of the Kingdom of Prussia, has long since ceased to exist for reasons of interest.
Even the Russian market, because of the deterioration of the relationship between Russia and Prussia, the Austrians seized a part of the share.
So many unfavorable factors fed back to the economy, the end is naturally not optimistic. It is not surprising that the Prussian economy stagnated.
In the face of this situation, it became inevitable that capitalists wanted to open up overseas colonies to solve the problem of raw materials and markets.
Now the Prussian government is sick and desperate, it is really that they have no better choice, if this continues, the Kingdom of Prussia will be directly dragged down.
Looking at the faces of the crowd, Ron wanted to say something. Even though the Kingdom of Prussia was accustomed to being militaristic, it really couldn’t support itself right now.
In this era, the military expenses of all countries were very large, and it was very normal for more than ten, twenty, or thirty percent to be spent.
The military expenditure of several big countries can exceed their financial income, so how can they fight?
If it was just a short period of time to live in misery, the government would have found a way to tolerate it. But now that the Kingdom of Prussia is expanding its land forces, it simply can’t see the value.
Ron was clear that if he continued to fight, it wouldn’t be long before the Kingdom of Prussia would still fall behind because of financial problems.
In this case, the only solution was to start a war, annex more territories, and resolve domestic conflicts through expansion.
Historically the Kingdom of Prussia did just that, betting against each other all the way, unifying the Little Germany region, and then finally losing the empire.
Undoubtedly, now without the iron-blooded Chancellor Bismarck, the ruling Chancellor Frank was less radical and advocated abandoning the land power struggle for the time being.
After hesitating for a long time Ron said, “Gentlemen, these problems are indeed very troublesome, but let’s not forget to look at the map.
The Kingdom of Prussia is now divided into two, and without a strong enough land force, we could be eaten at any time.
It’s very unreliable to hope for our own safety on a single treaty. The original system of the three northern courts, which guaranteed our security, no longer exists.
Despite our efforts to repair Russian-Austrian relations, we are still having little success.
Our attempts to join the Russo-Austrian alliance have been rejected by both countries for no reason other than the fact that we are too far apart in power to qualify for an alliance with them.
To change this situation, we must expand on the European continent. Otherwise the Kingdom of Prussia won’t be long before it sinks and becomes a small country trying to survive in the narrow gap between the great powers.”
William I frowned, expansion he also wanted, but strength did not allow it. Don’t look at the Kingdom of Prussia can hang any of its neighbors except Russia, Austria and France, in fact any of the neighbors they dare not move.
Denmark is the Russians’ little brother, now the Russian Empire is still in the tiger’s might, and there is the Russian-Austrian alliance in the side, it may not eat the meat but instead of taking themselves into it.
German Federal Empire that is not to be messed with, not only has the support of Britain and France, its own economic strength is still above Prussia.
A bad operation, these states directly to Austria, they can only cry.
Do not think it is impossible. From the point of view of interests, stay in the German Federal Empire everyone’s rights can be retained to the maximum extent possible, to join the economic benefits of God Luo maximum, with the Kingdom of Prussia nothing.
Both the Junker nobility and the capitalists in Prussia have been having a hard time in recent years. Everyone is hungry and crazy, where do they care about the food?
Holland, Belgium, no doubt, that there is also the boss, pulling one hair and affecting the whole body.
William I said, “Ron, your idea is too idealized. We don’t have the strength to ignore the rules yet, and if we really risk doing something unwise, I’m afraid that we will immediately be suppressed by the countries.
It is said to be known that the French could have trumped up a plan for the Russian, Austrian, and French countries to divide the universal. It was only because of the unequal division of the spoils and the conflicting interests of the three countries that no further action was taken.
Now the Vienna system is the best choice to guarantee Prussia’s security. If it is not conducive to this peacetime development and growth, we will be in real danger if the balance of Europe breaks down in the future.
The most important thing now is to open up overseas colonies and solve the problem of raw materials and markets needed by domestic industry and commerce in order to complete industrialization as soon as possible.
Only when we are strong will the Kingdom of Prussia be able to advance further in the next European change.”
Such a plan was not only for the French, but also for the Austrian General Staff, and it was not unlikely that the Russians had an inwardly similar idea.
Ron nodded with a bitter smile, the reality was too harsh, he didn’t have Bismarck’s eloquence to convince everyone to continue with the continental strategy.
The international situation had changed, even if Bismarck was resurrected, there was no way to replicate the success of history, not even the opportunity to take the first step.
(End of chapter)