Chapter 735: A Newly Dug Pit
Chapter 718 The Newly Dug Pit
Regardless of what the British thought, the Vienna Peace Conference was held as scheduled. Without any surprise, Britain, France and Austria all became mediating countries.
With the arrival of the negotiating delegations, Vienna became more and more lively. The representatives of Prussia and Russia were like industrious little bees, flying around the embassies of various countries, and every day there were hot news generated for the pleasure of the people who ate them.
The British were in favor of the Berlin government, and the French, with some hesitation, were barely on the side of the Prussian-Polish Confederation, only with limited support.
Austria, as the host, never took a position, and now became the main target of contention between the two sides. Whoever gained the support of the Vienna government would be able to gain an advantage in the negotiations.
Putting down the worthless negotiation minutes, Franz asked, “Have the respective bottom lines of Prussia and Russia been roughly clarified?”
I don’t know when it started, but everyone learned to ask for a lion’s share of the money in diplomatic negotiations, and usually the conditions proposed for the first time were one more excessive than the other, without the slightest consideration of feasibility.
Take now, for example: the Russians demanded that the Berlin government cede East and West Prussia, Pomerania, the Poznan region, and the two duchies of Schleswig-Holstein, and also demanded war reparations amounting to about 960 million goddams.
The duchies of Schleswig-Holstein were to be returned to the Danes, and even though he did not know whether the Russians had an agreement with the Danes, Franz knew that it was “money” that was to blame.
The end of the war did not mean the end of the Tsarist government’s troubles; on the contrary, their troubles had just begun, and the Russians would have to start a long career of debt repayment in the years to come.
By now, the Russians had incurred huge debts. The Austrian debt alone amounted to 670 million guilders.
Now the Russians have to pay Austria nearly 4 million guilders a month in principal and interest, and need to pay for decades to be able to pay off the debt, the final principal and interest will be more than 1.4 billion guilders.
The tsarist government’s annual revenue is only 100 million guilders up and down, the Austrian debt alone took away nearly half, which is obviously not the Russian finances can afford.
As far as Franz knew, in addition to Austria, the tsarist government’s foreign debt in other countries totaled no less than 200 million guilders, mainly in the Nordic countries and the United States of America.
The Nordic Confederation was a loan mortgaged against Finland, and the United States of America was one of the few diplomatic achievements of the Tsarist government.
There was no way around it, people are afraid of being alone, and countries are made up of people, and naturally inherited this. It is not surprising that two countries, isolated from the world, embraced.
The Czarist government supported the Northern government during the Civil War, and it was only natural that they should now receive something in return. It’s not that the Americans were so righteous, really the United States was forced to do the same.
Suppressed by a coalition of Britain, France, Austria, and Spain, the European nations turned their backs on them, and except for the equally unpopular Russians, they couldn’t have found a better partner.
Despite the fact that the divided United States, which was not as wealthy as the original, sold tens of millions of war bonds on behalf of the Russians.
This was only the external debt, on top of which the Tsarist government owed a huge internal debt, the exact figure of which Franz has no way of knowing, but which was astronomical anyway.
After the war, the casualty pensions for soldiers and officers, and the economic reconstruction of the war-affected areas were another huge expense.
In this regard, the Tsarist government was no better than the Berlin government, both were bankrupt in minutes.
The time is different now, most of the debt is collateralized by the territory, and if you can’t pay the money, you have to cut off the land, so the financial bankruptcy is not a good idea anymore.
Other regions are not mentioned first, the Finnish region must not be abandoned, or the strategic security of St. Petersburg, will become a problem.
In terms of economic value, the two duchies of Schleswig-Holstein were worth more than the snowy Finland, and the two duchies could be used to offset the debt and perhaps exchange some pocket money.
In the meantime, the Danes would be strengthened, and the internal relations of the Nordic Confederation would become a bit more complicated, so that the threat from the north would be neutralized.
Franz understood that the Tsarist government wanted to get rid of the financial crisis, but the conditions they proposed were not desirable.
Whether to divide Germany or not, the problem is that the Berlin government is also a poor man, after being so slaughtered by them, how to pay the war reparations?
If the Russian conditions can be, after all, is the victorious country, the lion’s share of the money is not a big deal, then the conditions put forward by the Berlin government, Franz swept a glance and did not bother to look down.
The first is to order the Russian army to immediately withdraw from the territory of the Puppo Federation, the latter is no longer important, this one is non-negotiable.
Foreign Minister Weissenberg replied: “Initially, it can be determined that the Russians’ goal is to cede land and demand war reparations.
In addition to reclaiming the original territories, they want to swallow the already occupied areas of East and West Prussia and Poznan, and there is little problem in this regard.
The key is the war reparations, the tsarist government is really out of money, want to take advantage of the opportunity to make up for the financial deficit.
Judging from the current situation, if the Berlin government gives enough compensation, it is estimated that the Russians can accept not to cede land.
The situation in Prussia is a bit complicated, the Berlin government can’t afford to pay the war reparations, but also wants to keep East and West Prussia and just cede the Poznan region.”
After thinking about it, Franz laughed, “The situation is better than we expected. It seems that a tsarist government that is short of money is the best tsarist government, otherwise they would be able to swallow Prussia in one bite.
As for what the Berlin government thinks, it doesn’t matter at this time. As a defeated country, they didn’t have much choice. It was simply unrealistic to try to get people to spit out territory that had already been eaten by the Russians.
The finances of both Russia and Prussia were not good, and for every day that the war lasted, they would have to increase their military expenses by hundreds of thousands of guilders, and they simply couldn’t afford to procrastinate.
We should not intervene too much for the time being, the negotiation has just started, it is estimated that the representatives of Prussia and Russia are not in a state of mind, it is necessary to let them calm down for a while first.
You can make a private appointment to meet the Prussian representatives and suggest that they offset the countries’ debts in kind, I believe that everyone will not refuse,”
“In kind” this is the biggest pit, Prussia is not rich in resources, take “in kind” against the debt, only industrial and commercial products can be taken.
The danger of this thing is how big, Franz is seen. In the original space and time, when the outbreak of World War II, Germany and the three empires of industry actually exceeded the sum of Britain and France.
To realize that before World War I, the German Second Empire accounted for 14.8% of the world’s total industry, while the British Empire accounted for 13.6% of the world’s total industry, the two countries are very close to each other, and the British and French together far exceeded the German Second Empire.
The situation changed during World War II, when the German Third Reich accounted for 13.2% of the world’s total industry in the early period, while the British fell to 9%, the French were only a pitiful 4.5%, and after the annexation of Austria and Czechoslovakia, the German Third Reich surpassed the British and French combined.
(Figures for reference only, different answers given on different sources)
Looking at the industrial figures alone, Britain and France are more like defeated nations. Germany’s share of total industry declined, and that was when Alsace-Lorraine, which was rich in coal and iron, was returned to France, and Silesia, the textile center, was ceded to newly independent Poland.
The main reason for all this was reparations “in kind”. In order to pay off the war reparations, Germany had to take a large amount of industrial and commercial goods every year in exchange for the debt.
The capitalists found that it was more profitable to be a second-hand dealer than to produce their own goods. Of course, profit came first.
Soon Britain and France’s mainland and colonies were filled with German manufacturing, and the market that the German army did not get on the battlefield actually got in the post-war reparations.
I have to say, this world is really bullshit sometimes.
Bullshit is bullshit, Franz is very much looking forward to this scene.
“Yes, Your Majesty!” Foreign Minister Weissenberg replied
……
Prime Minister Felix: “The British have been very active lately, going around proclaiming the benefits of establishing North Germany, completely disregarding us and creating a very bad influence.
Especially in the Kingdom of Hanover, many newspapers are advocating North Germanism. Under the pretext of religious beliefs, they are demagoguing the people and attempting to split the Empire.
……”
What’s coming will come, and something as big as the establishment of the North German Empire is not something that a few people at the top can decide on with a slap of the head.
If you can’t get the support of the people, then the North German Empire is no different from the current “Comedy Empire”, which is a country in name, but in reality, the central government can’t control anyone.
If the institutional structure remains as loose as it is now, it would be more appropriate to call it a confederation of states rather than an empire.
This was not what the British wanted, much less what George I wanted. If it did not increase the centripetal force of the people, the value of the empire would only be to act as a buffer zone for the great powers.
Franz thought for a moment and said, “We can create a little trouble for them, but we have to be careful about the intensity and not scare them.
It would be best to draw everyone out, just to sift through who is our friend and who is our enemy.
The British want a North German Empire, so let’s give them a North German Empire, but it has to be a North German Empire that meets our requirements.
The Kingdom of Prussia is a good pawn, no matter how weakened they are, they are still stronger than Hanover.
A weak center and strong localities have been a recipe for disaster since the beginning of time.
As soon as the post-war decline was over, the Junker aristocracy would again encourage the Berlin government to challenge Hanover, and then there would be a lot of fun to be had.
Maybe we don’t have to wait until then. Right now, the Kingdom of Prussia is desperate for money to save its life. I don’t believe that when they are made to pay out, these human activists will still want to establish a North German empire.”
Inwardly, Franz had already made the decision to let the Russians get a sky-high indemnity out of the Kingdom of Prussia.
Whether the Kingdom of Prussia can afford to pay it back or not is not important, the big deal is to pay it back over a hundred years, or if not, two hundred years will do.
If necessary, the debt on the head of the Berlin government could be transferred to the head of the central government of North Germany.
There is a precedent for this, after the establishment of the Prussian-Polish Confederation, the Berlin government wanted a complete integration of Prussia and Poland, and directly unified the military and political affairs of the two sides, and the debt on the Polish government fell on the head of the central government.
Theoretically, now that the Kingdom of Poland had fallen, the Berlin government had the opportunity to refuse to honor the previous debt of the Kingdom of Poland, which was borne by the Russians who had occupied the Kingdom of Poland.
It was just that this was a world of the weak and the strong, where the will of the powers was international law, and the debtors were not in a position to force the Russians to pay up, but had to bully the weak Berlin government.
The Berlin government did not have the strength to refuse, and could only continue to honor these debts. A similar thing could be replicated in the North German Empire.
No matter how many promises the British gave, one debt transfer and the states that supported them would choose to jump ship.
Why rush when you can pull the rug out from under you? It was only right to use the opportunity to drain the excess energy of John Bull before they could secretly conspire.
Foreign Minister Weisenberg worriedly said, ”Your Majesty, the situation may not develop according to our will. Judging from the current situation, the Kingdom of Prussia will definitely disarm drastically after the war.
As a result of this war, the Junker nobles have suffered very high losses, with thousands of noble officers falling on the battlefield and more than three hundred noble families facing extinction crises due to the war.
With the massive loss of the younger generation, when the older generation retires, the Junker nobility will face the crisis of having no one to succeed them, and their control over the country will surely drop drastically.
Perhaps there is no need to wait for the future, this war is the opportunity.
Defeat always requires someone to take responsibility, and if Wilhelm I announced his abdication after the war, these Junker nobles in high positions would have to follow suit.
The time was so short that they didn’t even have time to train an heir if they wanted to. The positions they left behind would be filled by their deputies or subordinates.
After this round of political reshuffle, the Junker nobles would lose control of the government. The new government will most likely take action to continue to weaken the Junker nobility.
For example: using financial pressure as an excuse to abolish most of the military in the country and get rid of the monstrous political pattern of the military owning the country.”
Not a possibility, but a certainty that it will happen. Political struggles are brutal, and it wouldn’t be William I if he didn’t take advantage of this opportunity.
William I was well into his eighties, not having many years left to live per se, and already in a very poor state of health from the shock of losing the war.
With the opportunity to take away his political opponents and clear away the hidden danger of future generations coming to power, it made no sense for him to turn it down.
And it was still a yang conspiracy, not that the emperor forced everyone to resign, but that the honor of the nobility made everyone embarrassed to be in a high position.
Because of the war, the core of the Junker nobility is mostly in the army. Most of those who stayed in the government were not military Junkers except for some of the top brass.
After the political shuffle, the army lost control of the government. Whoever came to power would not give them a second chance to control the government.
The same scene had played out in the original time and space. After World War I, the power of the Junker aristocracy was greatly reduced, and after being suppressed from all sides, it was ostracized by the “H***” during World War II, and even lost control of the army.
……
Prussia controlled by politicians and Prussia controlled by the army are not the same concept at all, and the bottom line is much lower.
The bottom line is much lower. Unlike “militarism”, which is used to talking with its fists, politicians are more inclined to compromise. This definitely increased the uncertainty, and no one could guarantee that the Berlin government would not compromise with Hanover.
Franz nodded: “This is indeed a problem, but the interests involved are too great, even if the two sides really compromise, there is no way to accomplish it in the short term.
The Foreign Ministry is good to keep an eye on them, and we can take extraordinary measures when necessary.”
Frankly, Franz wasn’t too worried. To do this, not only did one need a high level of political maneuvering, but also a suitable international environment.
(End of chapter)