Chapter 1070 Campbell Reform
The international situation was undercurrent, but Franz stayed at home with his children and grandchildren, as if he didn't notice it.
It is obviously impossible not to know. There are so many countries that the British want to win over, and there will always be a few 25-year-olds.
In international politics, it is always a small number of people who go all the way to the dark, and the two ends of the snake and mouse are normal operations.
The battle between Britain and Shinra is not one-sided. Before the situation is clear, most countries will not tie themselves to one family.
Shinra can rely on its land power advantage to coerce European countries onto the ship; the British also rely on their sea power advantage to attract allies around the world.
It is impossible to stop it. The grass on the wall will only fall with the wind, and it can only fall with the wind. This is the way for a small country to survive.
It's not that the Vienna government can't make a move. The main problem is that its power is limited, and it can't compete with the British overseas.
The British have operated overseas for hundreds of years, and Shinra has entered the age of great voyages for less than forty years, and its overseas influence is far behind that of the British.
What's more, the younger brother is not easy to get. Overseas countries are not monolithic, and there are not a few neighboring countries who have deep hatred between them. If you win over one family, you will definitely offend that family.
It is easy to pull people on board, but the trouble is that while pulling people, they are also involved in regional conflicts and disputes.
Excessive involvement in regional conflicts has no meaning for Shinra except to draw hatred.
Don't talk about the gratitude of allies. In international politics, only the benefits you get are real, and "gratitude" is the least valuable.
In this context, instead of taking the initiative to attack and asking for trouble, it is better to watch the British perform first, and then follow suit.
Anyone who follows the British should help their enemies. Anyway, Shinra will not lack allies.
The peaceful days always pass by in a flash. With the development of the times, the conflict between Shinra and Britain has become more and more acute.
Unknowingly, the word "trade friction" suddenly became popular and became the darling of the media for a time.
Relying on the dividends brought by the second industrial revolution and the cost advantage of industrial raw materials, Shinra's industrial and commercial products have increasingly gained an advantage in international competition.
In the increasingly brutal market competition, many industries in the former factory of the world have fallen into a difficult situation.
The "free trade" that Britain was once proud of, has now become a complete joke under the impact of Shinra's industrial and commercial products.
Not surprisingly, the Conservative Party, which favored free trade, lost the 1902 general election. Liberal Party candidate Henry Campbell-Bannavan has successfully entered Downing Street.
As the winner, Campbell was stunned by the mess in his hands before he had time to be happy for a few days.
Britain is still the hegemon of the world, but a hegemony full of holes and leaks everywhere.
Frankly speaking, the previous government of Robert Cecil has also done a very good job, achieving remarkable results in the fields of politics and diplomacy.
For example: eating the French Indochina Peninsula and expanding the colonial territory of Britain; the strategy of diverting disasters to the east was successful, the Russians were introduced to the Far East, and the Russian-Austrian alliance was cracked; the British-Japanese alliance was established, and relations with the American countries were repaired. Established strategic partnerships with many countries...
No amount of diplomatic achievements can conceal Britain's economic difficulties. The second industrial revolution has begun to show its power, and Britain, which has not kept up with the times, is paying the price at this moment.
Not only the overseas market has been squeezed by Shinra products, but even the local market has been impacted, and even Britain's leading textile industry has not been able to stand alone.
There is no way, who let the London government choose to win over the United States?
Sensing the danger of the alliance, he couldn't help but move closer to Shinra. Then, with the support of Shinra, the Alliance also set off an industrial revolution.
Like most countries, the beginning of the Industrial Revolution in the Confederacy was also the textile industry. The origin of the raw materials has been playing weaving by itself. How can this embarrass Britain, which was founded on the textile industry?
You must know that the textile industry is the largest industrial chain in Britain, and more than one-third of the British people can be related to this industrial chain.
As the largest cotton producing area in the world, the Allied countries have unparalleled advantages in developing the textile industry. In terms of cost, it can easily beat the British textile enterprises.
Once there is a problem in the textile industry, the British economy will collapse in minutes, and the British will naturally be unable to sit still.
Because of the wooing of the United States, the Confederate States fell to Shinra, which is considered by the public to be the biggest diplomatic mistake of the Robert Cecil administration, and it is also one of the important factors in the Conservative Party's defeat in the general election.
When he was in opposition, Campbell also used this issue to criticize the government. Now that he is in power, he finds that it is not the case at all.
It seems to be a diplomatic mistake to win over the United States, but in fact the British government has no choice at all. Regardless of whether there is such a thing or not, the Allied countries will develop their own cotton textile industry, which is determined by their interests.
As early as ten years ago, the Allied countries planned to develop their own cotton textile industry, but under the pressure of Britain, they were forced to choose to give up.
In recent years, with the strong rise of the Holy Roman Empire, Britain's supremacy is faltering, and the suppressed allies have once again given birth to the ambition to develop the textile industry.
Unlike in the past, with the Holy Roman Empire making trouble, Britain no longer has the ability to prevent the Allies from developing the textile industry.
At this point, the gap between the two sides has already occurred. No matter how much attention is paid to the relationship between the two countries, it cannot resist the conflict of interests.
The Vienna government can help the Allied countries develop the textile industry, but the London government is absolutely impossible, otherwise the domestic interest groups will have to coup.
It is far less cost-effective to win over a country with a core conflict of interest as an ally than a stronger country with relatively less conflict of interest.
After all, the next step is to fight for hegemony with the Holy Roman Empire, maybe there will be another battle, and the allies will not be able to do it.
"It's cool for a while, and the crematorium afterwards."
Now Campbell has a bit of this feeling. It was cool to spray in the front, but after he took over the position, he actually wanted to continue the foreign policy of his predecessor.
If it was just a diplomatic problem, Prime Minister Campbell could handle it. Politicians, thick-skinned is only standard. "Say one thing and do another" is completely routine.
What worries Campbell the most is the steady decline of the domestic economy and the growing social conflicts.
Of course, Campbell is not completely unprepared for these questions. As the leader of the reformists, Campbell put forward reform proposals as early as a few years ago.
In this world, it has always been easy to shout slogans, but difficult to do practical things.
"Reform" has never been smooth sailing. Since ancient times, reforms have been successful with very few, and most of them ended in tragedy.
After taking the position, Campbell truly realized that the current situation was difficult. Everything in reality told him that it wasn't that the previous government didn't want to reform, it was that the interests involved were too great and he didn't dare to take it lightly.
………
Trade Minister Lloyd George: "This is our import and export trade report for the first half of the year, and the situation is very bad.
Compared with the same period last year, the total export volume in the first half of this year decreased by 0.46% compared with the same period last year, the total import volume increased by 2.67% year-on-year, and the trade deficit increased by 3 percentage points.
This is the third year in a row that our export trade has shrunk and the trade deficit has grown for the tenth year. To be precise, since the end of the European War, the empire's trade deficit has been increasing.
Affected by shrinking exports and trade deficit, the international status of the pound has also been impacted.
Especially in the European world, countries have adopted Aegis and gold for trade settlement, and the pound has been marginalized.
The root cause of all this is that domestic industrial and commercial products have lost their competitiveness in the international market.
Machinery manufacturing, electrical equipment, internal combustion engine automobile industry, etc., among a series of emerging industries, there is almost no shadow of imperial goods.
Even our homeland is now full of Shinra manufacturing. If this continues in the long run, sooner or later the empire's economy will have problems. "
Trade deficits are nothing new. Since Fao completed industrialization, Britain has gradually been in a deficit position in international trade.
Relying on the first-mover advantage in the first industrial revolution, this deficit did not bring disaster to the British, but pushed the pound to the international market.
It's just that the good times don't last long. With the continuous growth of the trade deficit, problems gradually emerged. Excessive deficits have directly led to wealth outflows.
After all, not all countries are willing to accept sterling settlements. If they want to harvest the world by printing money, Britain does not have the strength yet.
With the rise of the Holy Roman Empire, Aegis began to steal the pound's market, and this situation became more and more obvious.
Everyone is not a fool. Seeing Britain's trade deficit is getting bigger and bigger, no one is willing to hold pounds on a large scale to pay for the consumption of the British.
As time goes by, more and more European countries are no longer willing to accept settlements in British pounds.
The share of the British pound in the international currency market has been reduced. If we want to quell the trade deficit, we can only use real money to fill this hole.
Although there were colonies to plunder, the continuous outflow of gold and silver still became a problem that plagued the British government.
It is very simple to change all this, either regain the lost market, or develop new products to open up new markets.
It's a pity that the competitor this time is the Holy Roman Empire. Force deterrence has no effect, and competition through normal commercial means will not win the market back at all.
It is even more unrealistic to develop new products. British companies are so powerful, and there will be no shrinkage in export trade.
Labor Secretary Burns: "Affected by the economic downturn, domestic labor conflicts and employment issues have also become acute.
According to our survey data, our unemployment rate rose by 0.3 percentage points in the first half of this year. It may seem unremarkable, but this has been rising for five consecutive years.
Not to mention labor conflicts, just look at the strike parade outside. Since the beginning of this year, there has been an obvious increase in the situation.
Taking London as an example, there were 16 strikes in the first half of the year with more than 1,000 people, and demonstrations took place almost every month.
If I hadn't been sure that this was London, I would have wondered if I had strayed into Paris. The frequency of strikes and demonstrations is simply beyond..."
It can be seen that Burns really wants to solve the problem. As the first representative of the working class to join the cabinet, even if it is only for political purposes, Burns must make achievements.
Before he took office, he believed that it would be enough to legislate to protect labor interests and prohibit capitalists from acting recklessly.
After learning the first-hand information, Burns once doubted his eyes.
The current problem in Britain is not only a problem of capitalists' reckless behavior, but the bigger trouble is that the survival of enterprises has encountered challenges.
Emerging industries are impacted
The traditional industry is facing a series of problems such as cruel market competition, meager profits, and overcapacity.
The choice of the British capitalists in the original time and space was to reduce production capacity and play in the colony behind closed doors. Anyway, the British colonial market is big enough for them to support their retirement.
As for updating machinery and equipment, increase investment in research and development to face international competition. Just say a few exciting slogans on your mouth, if you take it seriously, you will lose.
Capital is the most realistic, if you can make money without risk, why take risks to participate in international competition?
The data does not lie. Regardless of the country, aggressive and R&D-focused companies die the fastest, while conservative companies that are not enterprising have a longer life expectancy.
Perhaps conservative enterprises will be eliminated by the market one day in the future, but before being eliminated by the market, capitalists have already made enough money from it.
In contrast, for companies that continue to invest in research and development, everyone is happy when they succeed. Once there is a problem in the middle, it will lose all their money.
Capital hates risks, and making money steadily is the greatest happiness. The capitalists who are willing to gamble their wealth to win a better tomorrow for the enterprise are always a minority.
Herbert Henry Asquith, Chancellor of the Exchequer: "These problems have been around for a long time. In order to solve the domestic economic problems, the previous government twice reduced the tax rate for industrial and commercial enterprises.
If it is not rejected by the parliament, they are even ready to start the export subsidy plan to increase the market competitiveness of enterprises.
It’s just that these can only take a temporary solution. If we want to really solve the problem, we still have to rely on our own efforts.
We have to admit that we are lagging behind in many areas. Shinra products are all over the street. If you compare any product with similar domestic products, our company is indeed not doing well in terms of cost performance.
The trouble now is that domestic capitalists lack interest in technological innovation, especially in the field of machinery and equipment, and they lack innovative spirit.
What the capitalists want is to end free trade, reopen trade barriers, and protect markets with tariffs.
Of course, they didn't say it so directly. The euphemistic name is: use trade barriers to temporarily protect the domestic casualty market and buy time for corporate technological innovation.
However, we all know that with the investment enthusiasm of domestic enterprises in the field of scientific research, I am afraid that this situation will not change in the next century. "
No matter what policy, in the final analysis, it is all about interests. Because of interests, the British government established a free trade system; also because of interests, the British government now has to consider terminating free trade.
Even if Asquith disliked all of this very much and felt that these unprogressive guys were the moths of Britain, he must carefully consider their opinions.
Seeing the tense atmosphere, Prime Minister Campbell waved his hand and said, "These problems are the realities we will face in the coming days.
The fact that Britain has come to this point is the result of these problems. The reality tells us that Britain has reached the point where it has to reform.
If this continues, not to mention competing with the Holy Roman Empire, the domestic social conflicts alone can kill half of our lives.
The protection of the market can be considered, but how to protect it, how far it will be protected, and what impact it will cause, these must be carefully considered.
These problems affect the whole body. Once we adopt trade barriers, other countries are bound to follow suit, and our import and export trade will definitely be affected.
domestic……"