The entire European world was stunned by the Government of Berlin's actions.
For the bourgeoisie, it was a blow to their heads. If Prussia could do this, other countries could naturally follow suit. This was like a sword hanging over everyone's head.
There was a lot of criticism, but it didn't have any effect. Since they dared to flip the table, the Government of Berlin naturally wouldn't be afraid of being scolded.
Prussia's actions not only caused the domestic capitalists to suffer heavy losses, but the overseas investors were also wailing.
Ever since the news spread, the number of people who wanted to jump off the building in Frankfurt had increased.
This included the slightly famous Flores. Due to an error in the information, he accidentally took over the deal and was hesitating whether to go to the rooftop.
Fortunately, after the Prussian War ended, all the Prussia company stocks fell to the bottom and were in a state of being trapped.
As long as they didn't foolishly go long, they would take over at a lower price, and the losses wouldn't be too serious.
The Government of Berlin only confiscated the shares of the criminals. In theory, the shares held by the overseas investors were still valid.
This was also the main reason why the big powers didn't interfere. Although the Government of Berlin's actions were a bit extreme, they were still dealing with internal affairs.
The most important thing was that it had already been established. Interfering would only make things more troublesome and increase everyone's losses.
As long as the company was still operating, the shares would still have value. It was just that the major shareholder had changed to the Government of Berlin, which made the investment prospects uncertain.
…
Palace of Vienna
"Your Majesty, the situation has changed. Prussia's actions are likely to cause a chain reaction. If the French follow suit, it will be difficult for our plan to succeed. "Minister of Finance Carr said worriedly.
The sudden turn of events was also a huge blow to the Anglo-Austrian plan to short the franc.
Prussia could flip the table, so could the French. Perhaps the Government of Paris didn't dare to learn everything. As long as they imposed a financial regulation, it would be enough for everyone.
Franz shook his head. "This is different. The Government of Berlin was forced into a corner and had no choice but to take a gamble.
With the size of France, the most we can do is suppress the value of the franc and make some money. It won't kill them. The Government of Paris won't go to such extremes.
If the Government of Paris were to impose financial controls, it would do us a great service. Prussia was a ready-made example. The value of the mark had completely collapsed.
Perhaps we shall make a loss on this venture, but when the franc leaves the international market, this share will more than make up for our loss. "
For the sake of currency hegemony, the UK, Fao, and Germany have been fighting for many years. Although France is out of the picture, the franc still has a significant share of the international market.
In the era of the gold standard, the larger the economy, the greater the demand for gold.
France has a large economy, but its gold production is very limited, unable to meet the increasing demand. The reserves for issuing francs have always been insufficient, and there is a security risk in the financial market.
In recent years, international speculators have frequented France. It's just that the scale is not large. Even if there are some gains, it can't shake the position of the franc.
After the speculators have tasted the sweetness, they naturally want to earn more benefits.
This time, the Anglo-Austrian Capital cooperation seems to be driven by Franz in the dark, but in fact, this is just a prelude. Even without this prelude, it will happen sooner or later.
Of course, this prelude is still very important. Without the participation of the government, even if the capitalists take action, it won't be on such a large scale.
In essence, the French were suppressed by the Anglo-Austrian Capital because they touched the cheese of the two countries.
The Government of Paris's African Development Plan is too hateful. In recent years, the textile industry in France has developed rapidly and has taken over a lot of the British market.
It was already painful for the British, and the African Development Plan put cotton cultivation first. How can John Bull tolerate this?
While growing cotton, the French's African Development Plan also plans to promote new agricultural technology in North Africa and expand the area of agricultural products, which also touched the cheese of Austria.
In this context, it would be a problem if they are not suppressed by the Anglo-Austrian Capital.
In contrast, fighting for the international market share of the franc is secondary, mainly interested in the financial community.
After pausing for a moment, Franz added, "Now that the plan has progressed to this stage, it's no longer easy to back out of it.
Continue according to the plan, increase the dumping efforts on France, and consume as much of their foreign exchange reserves as possible. "
…
What will come will come. Due to the influence of the Government of Berlin's special policy, on November 11, 1881, the Berlin Stock Exchange just opened and plunged.
The halving was considered a good performance. Many stocks only have a 20 to 30% discount, and the market value of some stocks is not even 10% of the original.
The net assets of some companies are several times higher than the market value, a typical inverted market value.
This is a normal phenomenon, assets are not equal to cash. During the stock market crash, asset shrinkage is inevitable. In order to raise funds to tide over the difficulties, there are too many tearful sales.
With the development of free trade, the economic links between countries are getting closer and closer. With the stock market crash in Prussia, other countries don't think they can be spared.
The first to be affected was naturally Frankfurt and London. The former held on for less than three days, and the latter did not last for more than five days before following in the footsteps of others.
Pandora's box was opened, the stock market quickly spread to the entire European continent, and the stock markets of various countries wailed.
In less than a week, the stock market in Vienna fell by 10%, the lowest in five years.
Both England and Austria had a stock market crash, and France was no exception.
In Paris, the angry shareholders directly set the stock exchange on fire, but fortunately, the staff arrived in time and put out the fire.
In the Palace of Versailles, Napoleon Iv has not yet recovered from the stock market crash, and the Minister of Economy Erza rushed in.
"Your Majesty, the situation is bad. Hundreds of banks, including BNP Paribas, the Bank of France, and the Imperial Bank, are being run on at the same time, and the situation is very critical.
Many people are holding deposit slips and asking to exchange for British pounds and Aegis. Our foreign exchange reserves are decreasing rapidly.
We can be sure that someone wants to short the franc. This is just the beginning, and the enemy will launch another attack later. "
Hearing the bad news, a word instantly appeared in Napoleon Iv's mind — the financial crisis. He paused for a moment and hurriedly asked, "Do you know who is manipulating it?"
The Minister of Economy Erza replied, "There are many participants, and almost all of the world's top banks and securities companies have appeared. We can roughly determine that the main force is Anglo-Austrian Capital.
The enemy is very powerful, and according to the information we have gathered, it is estimated that they may have 3 billion to 5 billion francs in their hands. "
"3 billion to 5 billion francs" might not seem to be much for a large country like France, and it was only a year's revenue of the Government of France.
However, this was cash, not assets. In the financial market, such a huge sum of money could completely leverage tens of billions of international hot money, and impact the French financial market.
Napoleon Iv was shocked, "The enemy has raised so much money, and our financial department has no idea?"
Since Aegis and British pounds were international currencies, the foreign exchange reserves of England and Austria were relatively low, and it was impossible for them to take out so many francs.
In fact, the total amount of francs circulating in the international market was only a few billion. This meant that the funds to initiate a run on the bank could only come from within France.
Erza, the Minister of Economy, replied in a low voice, "Some time ago, several large domestic banks issued a large amount of loans overseas, but they were all ordinary commercial projects, and didn't attract much attention."
This was decided by the system, and the Government of France had no right to interfere with the bank's granting of loans.
Since they couldn't do anything about it, they naturally didn't pay attention. Anyway, the banks were responsible for their own profits and losses, and the government didn't need to pay.
Napoleon Iv wanted to say something, but he didn't. He knew that domestic financial groups were involved in this run on the bank, but he couldn't do anything about it.
If the Government of Berlin hadn't frightened the bourgeoisie not long ago, the French capital would definitely be part of the army that was shorting the francs.
Now that they were invisible, they were already giving the government a lot of face. They couldn't let everyone not make money, right?
After pondering for a while, Napoleon Iv asked, "How are you going to deal with this crisis?"
Erza, the Minister of Economy, said, "It's different from the past. This time, the enemy is coming aggressively, and they definitely won't just be taking advantage of us …"
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