Chapter 755: Lighted Firecrackers
Chapter 738 – Ignited Firecracker
The economic crisis suddenly broke out, and the value of the franc was completely untenable. In just a few days, the value of the currency fell by 28.7%, shaking the world.
France is one of the world’s three giants, with the world’s fifth largest economy and a military power that sits two to one.
Paris government sneeze, the world have to shake three times. Such a giant, the financial system is actually so unbearable, just a round of attacks on the knees.
After completing the harvest, the consortium capital began to retreat, leaving the international capital to bear the wrath of the French.
Just as: quietly I came, the momentum of leaving, waving a sleeve, not take away a cloud.
Did not take away a cloud, just took away a lot of guilders, pounds and gold.
It seems to have reached a tacit agreement, after the withdrawal of the international consortium led by Britain and Austria, the French consortium came late and joined the resistance army.
Without capital predators, the remaining group of retail speculators are naturally no match for the French consortium.
Watching the French consortium became famous, as if overnight became the hero of France, Napoleon IV was half dead angry, as the object of anger, Versailles in the vase and changed a lot.
Capital invasion of politics, since Napoleon III era to establish the absolute advantage, now no longer exist.
……
Palace of Vienna, watching what happened to the French government, Franz also had a few rabbit in the hat.
After the economic crisis, the strength of the French consortium has increased greatly, and the influence on the government has further increased, the future of the French Empire will become more lively.
After a simple breakfast, leaving behind these troubles, Franz was about to go and bathe in the soft sunshine, when an uninvited guest came.
Foreign Minister Weissenberg reported, “Your Majesty, the Lyon workers launched an armed rebellion last night, and the situation in France is showing signs of getting out of control.”
For a great power, external threats are no longer fatal, the only thing that can really break them is themselves.
There is no doubt that France is such a great power. At least in this day and age. As long as they don’t encounter a group fight, one on one, no one has the strength to destroy France yet.
Even the most powerful country can’t afford to be tossed around internally.
The Lyon workers’ uprising is just the beginning, and without a solution to the economic crisis, France will not be stabilized.
Franz asked suspiciously, “Hasn’t the French government already distributed relief food, why would a rebellion break out?”
It was a good policy established in the era of Napoleon III that the French working class had unemployment relief.
Under this favorable policy, the workers’ movement in France, though still flourishing, seldom revolted.
Weissenberg explained, “According to the analysis of the news coming from the embassy, the initial judgment should be related to the devaluation of the franc.
Affected by the devaluation of the currency, prices in France have risen wildly, and the original share of unemployment assistance can no longer meet the daily expenses of the workers.”
Franz nodded, not jumping to conclusions. Generally speaking the crazy rise in prices was caused by a combination of factors.
Inflation is only one of them, this factor is generally slow to play a role, it is not possible to devalue the franc today, immediately prices skyrocketed, the market still needs to react time.
In contrast, Franz is more willing to believe that hoarding and scarcity of materials, resulting in a sharp rise in prices.
After hesitating for a while, Franz still decided to fall on his sword: “Secretly finance the Italian independence organization a sum of money for activities, let them wait for the opportunity to move.”
Although he did not have confidence in the Italian independence movement, Franz was willing to make trouble for the French government.
“Yes, Your Majesty!” Wessenberg replied
After a pause, he added: “Your Majesty, according to the information gathered from our embassies, Alexander III, due to financial pressure, has given the newly occupied lands as a reward to those who have done well.
As a result of this, the regions of Poland, East and West Prussia, which the Russians have just occupied, are experiencing varying degrees of unrest.
The Czarist government’s governor in Königsberg, conveyed through the Colonization Company, wants us to relax immigration restrictions.”
This was the aftermath of the previous Cossack cavalry campaigns, and the Czarist government’s already scanty local popular support was completely tossed out.
Trying to gather the hearts and minds of the people was now impossible, at least until the current generation died out, and it was a half-hearted endeavor.
For the Russians to re-establish the basis of their rule in the region, they would have to support a new ruling class. In this respect, Alexander III was not wrong in his decision.
Instead of propping up unreliable locals, it was better to just replace them with their own people. With the land as a bounty, the government could also save a great deal of overhead.
Something similar was done by Austria in the Balkans. Only there was no chaos because the local population had been mostly immigrated before Austria acted.
Franz said after thinking about it, “You can contact the Russians, just contact them in the name of the colonization company, this kind of thing is not convenient for the government to be directly involved.
The immigration conditions, however, still can’t be relaxed. We just need to get rid of the local German population, or the already Germanized minorities.”
Even after the war, the population of Russian Poland + Baltic + Belarus + East and West Prussia, all of these lands combined, was still nearly ten million.
Unable to gather the hearts and minds of the locals, these guys were the biggest destabilizing factor for the Tsarist government.
If the tsarist government is strong enough to execute, the government’s financial strength is strong enough, but also can pick out the stubborn elements here to click off, and then decentralized resettlement, slowly for digestion.
Unfortunately, this is not possible. The tsarist government had neither the executive power nor the financial power.
In the time of the bearded man, it was almost as good, you can send all of them to plant potatoes. Before that, there was no tsarist government that had such awesome executive power.
The Russians couldn’t do it, and Austria couldn’t afford it. Accepting a large number of minorities at once would have dealt a fatal blow to assimilation efforts.
There is a limit to great ethnic integration, and once that degree is exceeded, things will go in the opposite direction.
Without enough benefits, the Russians’ mess, Franz naturally would not take it.
Standing in Austria’s position, the presence of these people who hated the Czarist government and dragged the Russians down was just too good to be true.
……
Influenced by the uprising of the workers in Lyon, the people of Paris, as a revolutionary mecca, naturally could not afford to be short of exercises.
On December 11, 1881, the people of Paris launched a powerful march, hundreds of thousands of French people took to the streets in solidarity with the Lyon workers’ uprising.
Like a firecracker, France began to blow up. on December 12, Toulouse followed suit and broke out in a workers’ uprising.
(End of chapter)