Chapter 729 Millennium Tradition

There are many small countries in Europe, and they are able to survive and live well. Naturally, they have their own unique way of survival.

Now that Prussia has fallen from the ranks of the great powers, if you want to live a good life, you must abandon the previous gameplay and learn how to survive as a small country.

Frederick III was very sober, "Puhan merged to establish North Germany, integrated many states in the German region, and controlled this new country to return to the ranks of the great powers."

In this age of the weak and the strong, without strength is nothing.

The Kingdom of Prussia, which has lost the Prussian region, has greatly reduced its strength. If you want to turn against the customers, you must first ask Hannover if he will agree.

After the purchase of the territory, the Hanover Kingdom has already surpassed Prussia in strength on the bright side, especially the economic advantage is more obvious.

Solved by force?

Don't even think about it!

Launching a civil war is a dead end, not to mention whether Hannover can be overwhelmed, even if it is won, it will lose its legal basis.

Hanover was a part of the German Federal Empire, but the Kingdom of Prussia was not. As long as George I was not stupid, they would not be allowed to enter the Reichstag to occupy seats.

Political penetration, looks good. Frederick III knew that if it was really completed, he would have nothing to do with him.

The Junker nobles regained the dominance of the country, and for their own interests, they will also promote the complete integration of Puhan.

Because of the war, Prussia offended the Russians badly, and the Hohenzollern family wanted to take over the central government, but the tsarist government would definitely not agree.

Puhan is a small country, and it is only a medium-sized country when it is merged. Only when the country is strong can the military grow. If you can't enter the center, you can only be abolished.

In this respect, the military Junkers are the foundation of a real power, and their interests are tied too tightly to the country.

In order to avoid the worst from happening, Frederick III had to conduct a political reshuffle as soon as he took the throne, taking advantage of the failure of the war to rebalance the forces of all parties.

berlin palace

War Minister von Rothwald handed over a document and said: "Your Majesty, this is the army reorganization plan drawn up by the War Department.

According to the plan, after the reorganization is completed, we will keep 3 infantry divisions, 1 garrison division, 2 cavalry regiments, and 2 artillery regiments. In peacetime, only half of these troops will be retained, with a total strength of 23,000. "

The total military strength after the reorganization is not as good as one-tenth of the pre-war. If this plan is spread out, it will definitely cause an uproar.

There is no way, this is the price of defeat. The government's financial difficulties, in order to reduce expenses, had to resort to the military.

Although von Rothwald, who presided over this disarmament, was also a member of the Junkers nobles, he was an alternative in his army, a staunch anti-war faction.

Before the war, the anti-war faction was weak and had little say in politics; after the war, the situation was fundamentally reversed, and anti-warism prevailed throughout Europe, and Prussia was no exception.

In this context, Frederick III took the opportunity to promote a large number of anti-war people and began to suppress the military forces.

After taking the document, Frederick III casually flipped through a few pages and asked, "The plan is very good, but can it be realized?"

No matter how good a plan is, it only counts if it can be completed, otherwise a plan will always be a plan.

The Prussian military is too strong. Even if the war is used as an opportunity to change the military's top management, it still cannot change the military's powerful situation.

War Minister von Rothwald: "It shouldn't be a big problem. Now that the domestic anti-war ideology is strong, we can use the pressure of public opinion to make the military make concessions.

In order to carry out the plan smoothly, His Majesty still needs to come forward and persuade the respected generals to come forward to appease the mood of the military. "

Frederick III nodded helplessly. It was not an easy task to get the military boss to agree to the disarmament.

It's just that we have to do it no matter how difficult it is. If we don't suppress military spending, financial bankruptcy is a matter of time.

Frederick III couldn't help but want to ask the Russians why they didn't use the treaty to limit the number of Prussian troops?

If there is an agreement in the treaty, there is no need for such trouble. Battles are fought by the military, and if they lose the war, they bear the responsibility. Everyone can only admit it.

Prime Minister Leo von Caprivi: "Your Majesty, the issue of disarmament should not be rushed.

It is best to give the officers and soldiers a vacation first, so that they can get in touch with anti-war ideas, and I believe most people will understand.

The damage caused by the war was too great, the domestic economy was devastated, and the unemployment rate was very high. In recent times, many people have emigrated and left.

So far, the total population of the country has dropped to 7.368 million, and this number is still falling.

Sociologists estimate that even without immigration, we will still be in negative population growth in the next five years.

In order to revive the economy and avoid a massive loss of population, the government plans to reduce taxes for some domestic companies and people to ease the pressure on everyone's life. "

Tax cuts are naturally a good thing, but the problem is that the finances are hurting. Although the war is over, huge debts remain.

In order to maintain a continental army, the taxation of the Kingdom of Prussia has always been high, and the living standard of the people has been at the bottom of the German region for many years.

When the economic situation is good, it can be maintained. As the economic situation deteriorates, life for ordinary people becomes unsustainable.

Fortunately, there are still immigrants who can take this road, otherwise everyone will be revolutionized, so it is impossible to prevent immigrants from leaving.

If you want everyone to stay,

We can only restore the economy, increase employment, and reduce the living burden of ordinary people.

After pondering for a while, Frederick III said: "I am afraid that tax reduction is not enough, everyone can't live without a job.

The top priority is to solve the employment problem of the people. If it doesn't work, they will distribute relief food.

The trauma caused by the war is too great. Once the economy recovers, the domestic labor force will definitely be insufficient. We must retain as many people as possible.

If the government has no money, it will seek help from the German states of Austria, Hannover, Baden, and Saxony. Don't be afraid of losing face.

We don't want money either, whether it's a loan or a bond issue.

By the way, how about domestic bond sales? "

The war made the Berlin government realize the importance of population. If it weren't for the lack of population, the outcome of the Russian-Prussian War would still be unknown.

The Chancellor of the Exchequer Fedor Ogood replied: "It is very unsatisfactory, so far, a total of 6.18 million marks have been sold.

Ordinary people have no money, and bankers doubt the government's ability to repay, and are simply not willing to cooperate.

Especially that group of Jewish capitalists not only did not cooperate with the government to issue bonds, but also shorted the mark in the market, causing our currency to depreciate significantly. "

It is not only Jews who short Mark Mark, but domestic and foreign capitals are all involved.

It's just that Jewish capital is the most playful, and there is no background, so it is naturally pushed out to the top.

Frederick III slammed the table, and it's fine if he doesn't cooperate. This is people's freedom. Private property in Europe is sacrosanct and cannot be compelled to buy.

But shorting the Mark is too much, which is shaking the foundation of the Kingdom of Prussia. Once Mark's credit collapsed, the Berlin government was doomed.

Having just experienced a defeat in the war, the people cannot tolerate another time when their property is turned into waste paper.

Frederick III said fiercely: "Check! No matter who is controlling, these black hands must be dug out!"

Everyone met at a glance, as if they had a good heart, and they knew what to do next.

"Anti-Semitism" is a compulsory lesson for the monarchs of European countries, which can be prosecuted thousands of years ago. When the monarch ran out of money, he borrowed it from the Jews, and if he could not afford it, he turned against the Jews.

Now the Berlin government's finances are obviously going to be unsustainable, and they can't find sources of income and expenditures. Going bankrupt is a matter of time.

The core of throttling is disarmament, and open source is not so simple. If you want to make a fortune in the short term, you can only cut leeks.

At this time, someone shorted Mark, giving the Berlin government an excuse to do it.