In order to survive the economic crisis, Austria was the first to start dumping. Starting from September, Austria's exports skyrocketed.
Agricultural products were just needed products, and the price drop was not serious. Most of them were at 10% or 5% discounts. Textile products for daily use fell more sharply, and a 70% discount was common.
At this time, profits were no longer important. Selling the unsalable goods in exchange for cash flow was the way to go.
If you don't move, you don't know. Franz's heart was pounding as he looked at the soaring export volume every day.
Austria was the world's largest industrial country, and it was also the world's largest overstocked country. After the Prussian war, not only did the Government of Berlin break the contract, but the Russians were no exception.
The war was over, and the undelivered orders would naturally not be fulfilled.
In a sense, everyone's crazy price reduction was also thanks to the Russians.
The Tsarist government broke the contract, and naturally, they could not get the deposit back. Without a doubt, this money became the company's income and reduced the cost of goods.
There was no lack of smart people in this world. The state-owned enterprises' price reduction immediately attracted the attention of people who immediately realized that the "economic crisis is coming."
In times of crisis, cash was king.
Looking at their stockpiles, they all knew they were in big trouble.
Needless to say, they had to follow the trend. In this year's market was not transparent, and the company's profits were relatively high. Now with discounts, they could still break even.
If they reacted slowly, once the economic crisis broke out, they would not be able to find a buyer.
No one knew if there was anyone leading the trend, but since September, most of the powerful Austrian companies had joined the ranks of developing the overseas market.
There was nothing wrong with developing the overseas market. "Dumping" was absolutely impossible.
Discounts and promotions were the companies giving profits to the consumers. The main purpose was to expand the market share and seize the market share. These were all normal business practices.
Big companies always had some goals and could not be content with a small fortune. Internationalization was an essential part.
This was what the Austrian media said, and no one knew how many people believed it. Anyway, the capitalists believed it.
Especially the most active performance of the listed companies, the capitalists jumped out and preached the benefits of internationalization, forcing the shareholders …
Thanks to the establishment of the free trade system, it created favorable conditions for Austria's "dumping" of goods. The first to be hit was the European continent.
It turned out that the people at the bottom of Europe were really not rich these days. The discounted Austrian industrial products were very popular as soon as they hit the market.
The influx of large quantities of cheap foreign goods would naturally impact the local market, and it was inevitable to attract hatred.
Conflicts of interest were the most terrifying. If the local capitalists' cheese was touched, revenge was inevitable.
Just as everyone was about to take action, the situation changed.
Not only did Austrian products come, but English and French products also rushed in. At least the labels were printed "English" or "French".
"Counterfeit" was a characteristic of the times. Everyone was pirating each other. More than half of the industrial and commercial products on the market were counterfeit goods.
Patent protection was only effective in the country where the patent was registered. Many countries did not have patent laws, and piracy was allowed.
There was no doubt that the British and French exports did not increase. There was something wrong with the extra products on the market. It was just that there was no way to distinguish between the real and the fake.
They were all imported goods. In this era where there was no internet and no surveillance, who knew where they came from.
Austria's dumping was also coordinated by the locals. They wanted to take action against them, so they dragged England and France into the water.
Although a strong dragon could not suppress a local snake, it was not uncommon to accidentally kill a local snake.
Unless everyone immediately changed the rules of the game and entered the patent era, within the rules of the game, the government would come forward to crack down on counterfeit products.
This was impossible. Their own butts were not clean. How could they mess around?
According to the data published by the Austrian News, more than 80% of the capitalists in Europe started with "counterfeit" products. More than 95% of the enterprises had patent infringement.
This was inevitable. The British industrial revolution was much earlier than the European continent. Most of the technologies in the first industrial revolution were born in Britannia.
They had already finished the road. As a latecomer, it was impossible to develop the industry without copying.
The second industrial revolution shifted to Austria. The original "counterfeit" country instantly entered the patent era.
Needless to say, everyone had to continue copying! If they did not copy, they would have to open up a new road. Not to mention the huge cost, the key point was that it might not be successful.
"Patent protection" was actually England and Austria's method of shearing sheep.
After the establishment of the free trade system, everyone's goods could flow freely. England and Austria, who had a large number of patented technologies, naturally had to raise the banner of patent protection.
Their own goods could flow freely, but other people's goods were directly blocked outside the country due to patent infringement.
The nature of this world was: whoever made the rules of the game would have the advantage in the competition.
The free trade system that looked very fair on the surface was actually a tool for England and Austria to plunder wealth from the outside world.
This was an open secret. Other than being able to fool the ordinary people, the upper class knew the nature of free trade.
Knowing was one thing, but no one could change it. Perhaps if all the countries united, they could overthrow the free trade system, but no one was willing to be the leader.
It was not that they did not want to, but they did not dare. England and Austria could not be the enemy of all the countries, but they could easily kill the leader and kill the monkey to warn the chicken.
In theory, the most promising country to play this role was France. Unfortunately, the Government of Paris did not block the sugar-coated bullet and fell early.
The three major countries dominated the world's political structure, which was the price set by England and Austria. If they refused, they would be served by the anti-French alliance.
Next was the Russian Empire. Due to geopolitical reasons, as long as the Tsarist government did not seek death, no one could do anything to them.
Unfortunately, Russia's appeal was too low. They had the name of a superpower, but their actual influence was limited to the Eurasian continent.
This was determined by strength. The navy of Russia was a generation behind, and they only relied on their land forces to support their status as a superpower. Other than their neighbors, they could not influence other countries.
Due to the impact of the dumping, the market competition became more brutal. The smart capitalists had already reacted and joined the ranks of discount promotions.
The capitalists who were unwilling to cut their own flesh and chose to fight to the death were falling into the abyss.
The first to collapse was the Kingdom of Prussia. Due to the impact of the war, Prussia lost a large portion of its territory, and its domestic industry and commerce were hit hard.
It was already struggling, and before it had time to take a breather, it was affected by the Austrian dumping. The small and medium-sized enterprises were the first to collapse.
Since November, layoffs, bankruptcy, and debt collection became the hottest topic in the Kingdom of Prussia.
In front of the Berlin Palace, a large number of protesters had gathered.
There was no doubt that this was caused by the capitalists. One by one, they raised the banner of "debt collection" and demanded payment from the Government of Berlin.
This was a problem left over from the war. During the war, too much money was printed. If the war was won, this naturally would not be a problem.
Unfortunately, the Kingdom of Prussia lost, and a large number of Marks flowed back. Coupled with the capitalists shorting, Marks rapidly depreciated after the war.
Before the war, one Mark could buy two kilograms of high-quality bread. Now, one kilogram of the worst quality black bread cost seven Marks. This was only the beginning, and the purchasing power of Marks continued to decline.
After determining that the value of Marks couldn't be protected, the Government of Berlin made a decision to try to print money to pay off internal debts.
The capitalists naturally did not agree and asked the government to make up for the losses caused by inflation. Now, no one was quantifying Marks, but asking for gold to be converted.
Some people directly refused to accept Marks and asked the Government of Berlin to pay in pounds, Aegis, or gold.
This kind of request was naturally rejected by the Government of Berlin.
The Government of Berlin itself was extremely poor. It was already moral to not declare financial bankruptcy and renege on debts. How could it be possible to refuse to accept Marks?
Now, the protesting crowd outside was instigated by the capitalists who were unwilling to see their interests suffer.
The sound of protest had already sneaked into the Berlin Palace. Frederick The Great III asked with a gloomy face, "Have you investigated clearly? Who is behind this?"
Prime Minister Leo von Caprivi replied with a bitter smile, "Your Majesty, the current situation is very serious. Nearly half of the major capitalists in the country are involved, and there are various interest groups.
It is said that they are also preparing to set up a debt collection committee to specifically oppose the government. In order to force the government to make concessions, they are preparing to organize a large-scale market strike in the near future. "
Hearing this answer, Frederick The Great III had a headache.
"The law does not punish the majority" did not mean that the law could not hold everyone responsible for crimes, but mainly that the impact was too great, and the investigation would affect the stability of the country.
After hesitating for a while, Frederick The Great III sighed, "It seems that our persuasion work has failed. The capitalists want the government to pay for their losses, but who is going to pay for the government? "
No one was going to pay, which meant that the door to compromise was closed. The Government of Berlin was unable to bear the huge debt and could only rely on currency devaluation to survive the crisis.
The rapid devaluation of Marks, in addition to a large amount of previously issued currency flowing back, causing inflation, and the capitalists shorting Marks in the financial market, was also an important factor. The Government of Berlin printing money wantonly was also an important factor.
If you can't solve the problem, then solve the people who created the problem. This was the universal law of the world. Deep in his heart, Frederick The Great III had already planned to overturn the table.
The capitalists might be very strong in the future, but now it was not their turn to dominate. Originally, they were only prepared to start with the Jews, but now they could only expand.
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