There were many small countries in Europe. To be able to survive and live comfortably, they naturally had their own unique ways of survival.
Now that Prussia had fallen from the ranks of the great powers, if they wanted to live comfortably, they had to abandon their previous ways of playing and learn how to survive.
Frederick The Great III was very clear-headed. "Merging Prussia and Hanseatic Union to establish North Germany, integrate the various states in the German Region, and control this new country to return to the ranks of the great powers." This was just a lie to fool a teenager.
In this era where the weak were prey to the strong, one was nothing without strength.
The Kingdom of Prussia, which had lost the territory of Prussia, had its strength greatly reduced. If they wanted to take over, they would have to ask Hanover first.
After buying the territory, the Kingdom of Hanover had already surpassed Prussia in terms of strength, especially in terms of economy.
Solve it by force?
Don't even think about it!
Starting a civil war was a dead end. Not to mention whether they could suppress Hanover, even if they won, they would lose their legal foundation.
Hanover was a part of the German Federal Empire, but the Kingdom of Prussia wasn't. As long as George I wasn't stupid, he wouldn't let them sit in the Imperial Parliament.
Political infiltration seemed good. Frederick The Great III knew that if it was really completed, there would be nothing left for him to do.
The Juncker nobles had regained control of the country, and for their own interests, they would push for the complete integration of Prussia and Hanover.
Because of the war, Prussia had offended Russia badly. If the Hohenzollern family wanted to take over the central government, the Tsarist government would definitely not allow it.
Prussia and Hanover were both small countries. Only by merging would they become a medium-sized country. Only when the country was strong could the military grow. If they couldn't take over the central government, they could only be abolished.
In this respect, the Juncker nobles were the true foundation of a strong country. Their interests were too tightly tied to the country.
In order to avoid the worst from happening, Frederick The Great III had to reshuffle the political cards as soon as he succeeded the throne. He used the loss of the war to rebalance the various forces.
Berlin Palace
Minister of War von Rosewald handed over a document and said, "Your Majesty, this is the plan for the reorganization of the army drawn up by the Ministry of War.
According to the plan, after the reorganization is completed, we will retain three infantry divisions, one garrison division, two cavalry regiments, and two artillery regiments. In peacetime, only half of these troops will be retained, and the total strength will be 23,000 men. "
After the reorganization, the total number of troops was less than one-tenth of what it was before the war. If this plan was spread out, it would definitely cause an uproar.
There was no other way. This was the price of defeat. The government was in financial difficulties, so in order to reduce expenses, they had no choice but to use the military.
The one in charge of this disarmament was Von Rosewald. Although he was also a member of the Juncker nobility, he was different from the rest of the military and was a staunch anti-war supporter.
Before the war, the anti-war faction was weak and had little say in politics. After the war, the situation was fundamentally reversed. Anti-war sentiment prevailed throughout Europe, and Prussia was no exception.
Under such circumstances, Frederick The Great III took the opportunity to promote a large number of anti-war people and began to suppress the military forces.
After receiving the document, Frederick The Great III casually flipped through a few pages and asked, "The plan is not bad, but can it be implemented?"
No matter how good a plan was, it would only count if it could be implemented. Otherwise, a plan would always be a plan.
The military of Prussia was too powerful. Even if they used the opportunity of the defeat to change the upper echelons of the military, they still couldn't change the fact that the military was stronger.
Minister of War Von Rosewald: "It shouldn't be a big problem. Right now, there is a strong anti-war sentiment in the country. We can use the pressure of public opinion to make the military take a step back.
For the smooth implementation of the plan, we still need Your Majesty to come forward and persuade the few highly respected generals to appease the military. "
Frederick The Great III nodded helplessly. It wasn't easy to get the big shots in the military to agree to the disarmament.
However, no matter how difficult it was, it had to be done. If they didn't suppress the military expenditure, bankruptcy was only a matter of time.
Frederick The Great III couldn't help but want to question the Russians. Why didn't they use the treaty to limit the number of troops in Prussia?
If there was a stipulation in the treaty, there would be no need to go through so much trouble. The war was fought by the military. If they lost the war, they had to bear the responsibility. Everyone could only accept it.
Prime Minister Leo von Caprivi: "Your Majesty, the issue of disarmament should be delayed.
It's best to give the soldiers a holiday and let them come into contact with anti-war sentiments. I believe that most people will understand.
The damage caused by this war is too great. The domestic economy has been hit hard and the unemployment rate is very high. Recently, many people have emigrated.
As of now, the total population in the country has fallen to 7.368 million, and this number is still falling.
According to sociologists, even if there are no emigrants, we will still fall into a negative population growth in the next five years.
In order to recover the economy and prevent a large population loss, the government plans to reduce taxes for some domestic enterprises and people to reduce the pressure on everyone. "
Reducing taxes was naturally a good thing, but the problem was that the finances were hurt. Although the war was over, the huge debt was still there.
In order to maintain a continental army, the Kingdom of Prussia had always had high taxes, and the people's standard of living was at the bottom of the German Region for many years.
When the economic situation was good, it could still be maintained. When the economic situation worsened, it was difficult for ordinary people to continue living.
Fortunately, there was still the path of emigration. Otherwise, there would be a revolution, so it was impossible to stop the emigrants from leaving.
If they wanted everyone to stay, they could only recover the economy, increase employment, and reduce the burden on ordinary people.
After pondering for a moment, Frederick The Great III said, "I'm afraid that tax reduction alone is not enough. People can't survive without a job.
The top priority is to solve the problem of people's employment. If it doesn't work, we can distribute relief food.
The damage caused by the war is too great. Once the economy recovers, the number of people in the country will definitely not be enough. We have to keep as many people as possible.
If the government has no money, go to Austria, Hanover, Baden, and Saxony for help. Don't be afraid of losing face.
We also don't need money, whether it's loans or issuing bonds.
By the way, how are the domestic bond sales? "
The war made the Government of Berlin realize the importance of population. If it wasn't for the lack of population, the outcome of the Prussian War would still be unknown.
Minister of Finance Fedor Ogud replied, "It's not ideal. So far, a total of 6.18 million marks have been sold.
The ordinary people have no money, and the bankers doubt the government's ability to repay the debt, so they are not willing to cooperate at all.
Especially those Jewish vampires, not only did they not cooperate with the government to issue bonds, but they also shorted the marks in the market, causing our currency to depreciate very much. "
It wasn't only the Jewish capital that shorted the marks. Domestic and foreign capital also participated.
However, the Jewish capital was the most excessive, and they didn't have any backing, so they were naturally pushed to take the blame.
Frederick The Great III slammed the table. It was fine if they didn't cooperate. This was their freedom. In Europe, private property was sacred and inviolable, and people couldn't be forced to buy it.
However, shorting the marks was too much. It was shaking the foundation of the Kingdom of Prussia. Once the mark's credibility collapsed, the Government of Berlin would be finished.
Having just experienced a defeat, the people couldn't bear to see their property turn into waste paper again.
Frederick The Great III said fiercely, "Investigate! No matter who's behind it, we must dig out these people! "
Everyone looked at each other, as if they had a tacit understanding, and immediately knew what to do next.
"Anti-Semitism" was a compulsory course for European monarchs, and it could be traced back for more than a thousand years. When the monarch had no money, he borrowed from the Jews, and when he couldn't afford it, he became anti-semitic.
Now the Government of Berlin's finances were obviously on the verge of collapse. If they couldn't find ways to increase revenue and reduce expenditure, bankruptcy was a matter of time.
The core of reducing expenditure was disarmament, but it wasn't so simple to increase revenue. If they wanted to make a fortune in the short term, they could only harvest leeks.
It just so happened that someone shorted the marks at this time, giving the Government of Berlin an excuse to act.
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
