In order to quell the revolutionary wave, stabilize the situation in Europe, and revitalize the European economy, the European Union decided to hold the European Economic Summit in Vienna.
Strictly speaking, this could only be regarded as the European Union Economic Summit. Only the members of the European Union attended the meeting, and England and France were excluded from the invitation list. There was no need for a reason, they didn't want to play with them.
The European Economic Summit was held at this time, and the countries were forced to do so. After the outbreak of the economic crisis, everyone's economy was hit hard. The more economically developed the country, the greater the impact.
Because of the lack of experience in dealing with the crisis, the governments of various countries did not take timely action, so the crisis expanded, and social contradictions rose sharply.
After the revolutionary wave, in order to stabilize the domestic situation, the governments of various countries sacrificed the "relief law."
The effect of the "relief law" was very obvious. After being able to barely fill their stomachs, the momentum of the revolutionary party quickly withered. The only drawback was that it was too expensive.
Originally, there were many poor people in the European Union. In the economic crisis, the revenue of various governments was greatly reduced. At this time, they still had to take money to "relieve" the unemployed people, which was a test for the finances of various countries.
In addition to the five countries, Shinra, the Netherlands, Montenegro, Armenia, and the Nordic Federation, the rest were either financially bankrupt or on the verge of bankruptcy.
Needless to say, Shinra was rich, and it was the first to take measures to stabilize the domestic real economy. Now it had passed the most dangerous time.
Montenegro and America were both agricultural countries. If handicrafts were also counted as industries, their industries would account for about five or six percent of the national economy. Such an economic structure naturally did not qualify to enjoy the economic crisis.
Although the Netherlands and the Nordic Federation did not participate in the European War, they were indeed the beneficiaries of the war. They had just made a fortune from the war, and their own wealth was not bad. The government could save a little in other aspects and tighten their belts.
The rest was bitter. The Tsarist government had never been rich. The war wealth from the European War was not enough to fill the hole of the Anglo-Russian war. Now that they had suppressed several waves of domestic revolutions, the treasury was running like a mouse again.
Although Portugal was also a member of the colonial empire, because of the corruption within the government, the colonies that should have created wealth became losers in their hands.
Everyone knew that once the bureaucrats lost their restrictions, no amount of financial revenue was enough for them to squander, so it was not surprising that the Portuguese government went bankrupt.
As for Spain, Belgium, and Italy, they were all affected by the war. Switzerland, on the other hand, had indigestion from overeating.
As for Greece, it was a country that could drive its creditors crazy. Since their independence in 1832, they had experienced more than a dozen financial crises. On average, there would be one every three to five years. They would definitely go bankrupt.
Of course, it was also because Britain and France, the two biggest creditors, were too black-hearted. If they were all as conscientious as Franz, the chances of them going bankrupt would be much lower.
So far, ten countries in Europe, including Greece, Belgium, Switzerland, Portugal, Sardinia … have declared bankruptcy. The Papal State, Spain, and Russia were also on the verge of bankruptcy.
Without a doubt, such a large-scale collective bankruptcy was definitely not normal. Not long ago, the Government of Vienna had given out loans to everyone. No matter how difficult the finances of the countries were, they wouldn't collapse so quickly.
There was no need to delve into the truth. In any case, anyone with a good grasp of history would understand.
Since geopolitics determined the pro-Austrian stance of the European countries, Britannia, which was excluded, naturally wouldn't put a warm face on a cold butt, and diplomatic relations faded.
After the outbreak of the economic crisis, European countries had financial crises. The bankers of Britannia naturally wouldn't let go of this opportunity to take advantage of the situation.
Greed would make people lose their way. It didn't matter if they took advantage of the situation. The key was that in the face of interests, the bankers didn't adjust their mentality in time and were still immersed in the glory of Britannia.
With the birth of the European Union, Britannia's voice on the European continent had been weakened to its lowest point in history. Of course, Britannia was still arrogant, and no one dared to provoke their tiger's whiskers.
But as the economic situation continued to deteriorate and the tide of revolution continued to rise, the cruel reality of lack of money had overwhelmed everyone's fear of the British.
Of course, they didn't dare to renege on their debts, but they still dared to find excuses to postpone the repayment of their debts. Anyway, the Government of the United Kingdom didn't give them low-interest loans. The loans they borrowed from commercial banks were all high-interest loans, and now even if they wanted to repay them, they couldn't.
There was never a lack of brave warriors in this world. Perhaps it was the period of house arrest in London, or the thrilling escape, that left a shadow in Vittorio Emmanuel III's heart.
Driven mad by the financial crisis, Vittorio Emmanuel III did something ruthless under the influence of hatred. First, he borrowed money from the British bank, and immediately after getting the money, he declared the government bankrupt and asked for debt restructuring.
In order to share the burden, Vittorio Emmanuel III not only did this himself, but also encouraged neighboring countries to do it.
Franz didn't know how exactly it was done, but the final result was that they succeeded. Several Italian countries tricked the British into giving them 30 million pounds.
No wonder the six Italian countries declared bankruptcy at almost the same time. It was clear that they had colluded in advance. Because they weren't brave enough, they didn't dare to directly cheat the British of their money, so they used bankruptcy as an excuse.
As for the other participant, the Papal States, they didn't declare bankruptcy because they had the protection of religion.
As long as they could let go of their moral integrity, the Pope could do a lot of things. "Bankruptcy" was too shameful. As a servant of God, everything belonged to God, so the servant's debt could also be regarded as God's debt.
It was a little shameless to do so, so to use the most popular saying in the Middle Ages: "In the eyes of God, usury is the ugliest and most abominable crime."
If one was a devout believer of God, then the interest must be lowered. Faced with such an unreasonable existence, it was estimated that most bankers would have a headache.
…
This was all Franz's imagination based on the information in his hand. He didn't have the time to care about how it was done.
In fact, the Italians did a very good job of keeping it a secret. If it weren't for the British bankers making a fuss later, Franz wouldn't even know that there was such a divine operation.
Fortunately, these guys knew their limits and knew to use bankruptcy as an excuse to ask for debt restructuring. If they directly reneged on the debt, then they would be courting death.
Not everyone was a Hairy Bear. In this day and age, if you wanted to renege on the debt, you first had to see if you could take a beating. Otherwise, if someone armed came to collect the debt, then you could slowly cry on your own!
This kind of thing was obviously in the wrong, so don't expect anyone to stand up for you. Politics needed to be roundabout, and those who directly fought back would not be able to survive.
In any case, the Regions of Italy didn't fall into chaos, and Vittorio Emanuele III deserved a lot of credit. If it weren't for him taking the lead to get a sum of money from the British, the current situation would be even worse.
With someone taking the lead, there was no need to be afraid that no one would respond. Now that everyone was short of money, it was better to save as much as possible. Even if they could only borrow money temporarily and had to continue to pay it back in the future, it could also solve the urgent situation.
In order to reduce their financial expenses, the governments of various countries had their eyes on their own monthly debt payments, and one by one, they announced bankruptcy.
Not only were the British bankers cheated, but all the bankers who lent money to them were cheated.
The other governments were already bankrupt, and if they wanted them to continue to pay their debts, then they should talk about debt restructuring! For these "bankrupt governments," it didn't matter if the negotiations were successful or not.
If the negotiations were successful, it meant that the debt payments could be saved, and at worst, the payments could be deferred. If the negotiations were not successful, then they could continue to play dead. Anyway, those who owed money were not in a hurry. Even if there was collateral, there was no way to honor it in the current situation.
The bankrupt governments were acting shamelessly, and those who were not bankrupt were not much better. It wasn't that they didn't want to go bankrupt, but they couldn't go bankrupt.
For example: Spain was currently at war with Japan. What was the point of their government going bankrupt? Wouldn't that be a blow to their morale?
Another example: Russian Empire. In recent years, the Tsarist government had gone bankrupt several times, and it had long been on the capital's blacklist. Now its biggest creditor was Shinra. It wasn't a usury loan, and considering the relationship between the two countries, even if they wanted to renege on the debt, the Tsarist government would be embarrassed!
One by one, they learned to act shamelessly, and they couldn't see the slightest bit of moral integrity. Franz could only sigh at the corruption of morality and the deterioration of public morals. If this went on, there would be no more fun.
Just now, when the Government of Vienna announced that it would create three million jobs to help its underlings solve the unemployment problem in the country, one by one, they joined in.
The Holy Roman Empire was the leader of Europe. As the leader of the European world, it was too ignorant to only care about its own underlings.
If Europe was in chaos, would you, as the leader, be able to get any benefits? Therefore, to solve the problem, they couldn't be limited to one place. If they wanted to help, they had to help together. Only when everyone was good would it be good.
Since the European Economic Summit was held in Vienna, it was known that Franz had been convinced by everyone. Who asked him to be so internationalist?
"How much money do we need to invest? Have you calculated it?"
Franz asked.
Internationalism also needed money to support it. Now was the era of the gold standard, and no one dared to think about the "good times when you don't have money".
Even though Shinra was the world's largest gold producer and had the world's largest economy, Franz didn't dare to recklessly print money.
Prime Minister Carr shook his head. "There are serious discrepancies between the information provided by the various governments and the information collected by the intelligence department. For the time being, we can't be sure if the information collected by the intelligence department is one-sided or if the various bureaucrats are concealing the crisis.
In addition, there are many uncertain factors, such as when the Japanese-Western war will end, whether the tide of revolution will rise again, and so on. These uncertainties may increase the cost of rescuing the market.
According to the most optimistic estimate, we need to raise at least 800 million in funds to survive this economic crisis. If things are a little worse, we might need to spend 1.2 billion.
Just our ring railway plan and the construction of supporting facilities will cost 270 million DND. Including other small projects, the country will need about 400 million DND to stimulate the economy.
Although the noble lords will pay for the three million jobs plan, the government still needs to invest 120 million DND, mainly for policy subsidies, personnel training and management, travel expenses, and other expenses.
Financial loans … "
Hearing the Prime Minister's answer, Franz's eyebrows furrowed even tighter. It was impossible to observe. Franz knew better than anyone what kind of creature bureaucrats were. Deception was only a basic operation.
If the government was clean, it would be fine. Even if there was concealment, it would be within a controllable range. If the government was corrupt and corrupt, then it would be over. Not only could they conceal the crisis, but they could also artificially create a bigger crisis. It was commonly known as "the government forces the people to rebel." Most of the uprisings were due to these guys.
Unfortunately, there was such a corrupt empire in the European Union. The Two Fangs were the first to bear the brunt. Every year, they had to plunder a large amount of wealth from the colonies, but the domestic economy was still a mess. At a glance, it was obvious that it was the scene of the last years of the dynasty.
As for the Russian Empire, it had not reached that point yet. After going through Alexander II Of Russia's reforms, the Russian Empire in the era of Alexander III was still able to survive.
In Franz's view, the biggest uncertainty was not the war between Japan and Western Europe that was thousands of miles away, but the Two Fangs that could erupt in a revolution at any time, as well as the bitterly defeated France.
They were all existences that could explode at will. If they were not careful, Western Europe could change color. Therefore, even though France did not participate in the economic summit, the Government of Vienna still reserved 100 million as a bailout fund for them.
Individually, the funding gap of each country was not large, but there were many member states in the European Union. Together, it was an astronomical figure.
The purchasing power of the Aegis these days was very high. "1.2 billion Aegis" was equivalent to the total revenue of the European countries in two years at their peak.
Such a large sum of money would put pressure on anyone. It couldn't be helped. After all, a war had just broken out in the European continent.
Even after two years, the major participating countries still had not emerged from the shadow of the war. Including the Government of Vienna, they could not make ends meet.
In a sense, the European Economic Summit was forced by "money." Now that the capital market was deteriorating, the governments were facing difficulties in financing and had to turn to the Government of Vienna for help.
It was somewhat similar to the original universe. During the economic crisis, it was difficult for everyone to finance, but the US government bonds were still selling well. Even if the old man was crazy about printing, the US dollar still performed strongly in the capital market.
The current situation was similar. Shinra could almost play the role of the US. Although it was not the only world hegemon, the "Aegis" had become the main settlement currency of the European countries along with "gold."
In this context, the Government of Vienna, which was rich and had a lot of collateral, naturally had a good reputation in the capital market.
For example, in the capital market of Russia, the bonds issued by the Government of Vienna sold better than the bonds issued by the Tsarist government. Even if the interest of Shinra's bonds was one-third lower than that of the Tsarist government, it still could not stop the enthusiasm of the people of Russia.
If it were not for Britannia, the overlord of the sea, eyeing them, Franz could also live a good life of printing. Times were different. It was impossible to print as much as the old man, but it was not too much to print one or two hundred million more, right?
In fact, the Aegis had already begun to overshoot. It was just that they did not dare to print hundreds of millions at once, but they still needed to print thousands or eight million more every year.
This little amount of water would dry up in the sun. It was difficult for professionals to find out, so it naturally would not cause a stir in the capital market.
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