Chapter 860

The invention of the telegraph accelerated the spread of news. The news that the Government of Prussia wanted to sell the Rhineland quickly spread throughout Europe.

In the Berlin Palace, William I wiped his sweat. "Send someone to ask the Prime Minister. Didn't I ask him to send someone to explain? Why hasn't the crowd outside dispersed yet?"

This was a characteristic of the era of nationalism. The people began to pay attention to their territory. Originally, the monarchs could freely decide the land transactions, but now they had to consider the reaction of the people.

Although the Rhineland region was rich in resources, it wasn't the core territory of the Kingdom of Prussia. It was also threatened by the French, so its position in the eyes of the government was even lower.

In the original timeline, Bismarck dared to promise the Rhineland region to the French, but in fact, he had prepared for the worst. For example, during the Prussian War, the French took advantage of the situation, and Prussia could only reluctantly give up.

Fortunately, they won the bet. The French chose to wait and see and didn't take advantage of the situation. Otherwise, the history of Europe would be rewritten.

After getting the benefits he wanted, Napoleon Iii didn't have the motivation to move. With the increase in strength and the decrease in strength, the Kingdom of Prussia's chances of winning were even lower.

Moreover, with an additional piece of land as a buffer, even if the Kingdom of Prussia dared to take the risk, the French would have increased the buffer time and could mobilize more troops. If Prussia wanted to win the war, they could only pray for God's blessing.

Bismarck dared to take the risk of the Rhineland region, but if it was an area where the Juncker nobles gathered, he wouldn't dare to take it out.

Empty promises also needed to be highly confidential. The higher-ups of the government might know, but the people below wouldn't know. As long as the news spread, with the national conditions of the Kingdom of Prussia, there would be a military coup in minutes.

In this country where the military was the master, any actions that harmed the interests of the Juncker nobles had to be considered carefully.

The farce outside only annoyed William I, but he wasn't worried that it would cause a big mess. It didn't matter if it didn't concern them. It also applied in the Kingdom of Prussia.

The Rhineland region was an enclave. It wasn't closely connected to the country. Other than the capitalists who felt the pain, most people didn't have any direct losses.

As long as it didn't involve their own interests, they would vent their dissatisfaction and the matter would be over.

The Kingdom of Prussia was not the place for capitalists to be in charge. When they gave up Silesia, there were also people who caused trouble, but in the end, they still obediently compromised.

Even without the Rhineland region, the Kingdom of Prussia's steel production plummeted by 60%, and the total industrial volume decreased by nearly 40%.

The internal market of the Kingdom of Prussia was limited, and its industrial and commercial products were not competitive in the international market. In just a few years, there were signs of overcapacity in the country.

This was the era. Influenced by many factors, the world, of economic crisis. In this era, the world, there was, and, World. of

Since 1847, there had been three economic crises, and the fourth one was not far away. . of the Of Of Empire of agriculture. of the World.

Of the agricultural industry was., the Empire of War of the Empire of the world. If you opened the history books, you would find that after every crisis, there would be a war. Everyone seemed to be used to using war to overcome the crisis.

The economic crisis of 1847 led to the Revolution of 1848. The economic crisis of 1857 led to the American Civil War. The economic crisis of 1867 led to the outbreak of the Prussian War. The agricultural crisis two years ago led to the Near East War and the Russo-Polish War.

Giving up the Rhineland region now seemed to be a heavy loss, but it was actually buying time for the Kingdom of Prussia to integrate the Polish Kingdom.

Otherwise, when a new crisis broke out, even if they didn't want to start the Prussian War, someone would send them to the battlefield.

Any decision would inevitably hurt someone's interests. William didn't mind sacrificing the interests of some capitalists first. Anyway, the bourgeoisie was a complicated group. As long as the ruler wasn't stupid, they couldn't unite.

Without the Rhineland region, there were still many people who would benefit from it. With one less competitor, everyone could divide up the market left by them. These beneficiaries wouldn't give up their own interests for the sake of "class interests."

…

In the Ruhr area, the news that the Government of Berlin was selling the Rhineland region came. The local government was already preparing to evacuate.

The people spontaneously took to the streets and started a massive demonstration. This time, there was really no one to organize it. Anyone would feel resentful when they were suddenly abandoned.

As a manager of the Ruhr area, Andrea was also very unhappy. The documents issued by his superiors were torn to pieces by him.

Under normal circumstances, he would never dare to do this. Deliberately damaging official documents would cost him his job. Now that he was furious, he couldn't care less.

After the destruction of the office, Andrea forced himself to calm down. As a noble loyal to the country, Andrea understood what the overall situation was.

The Rhineland region was destined to be abandoned, but with so many people and industries, they couldn't all be abandoned. The Government of Berlin had issued an order to organize as much evacuation as possible.

Yes, it was to organize the evacuation of people first. After the war with the Tsarist government, the Government of Berlin had realized the importance of population.

Without enough population, there wouldn't be enough soldiers. When faced with the Tsarist government, who was good at using human wave tactics, it wouldn't do to have fewer soldiers.

As long as there were people, there would be land and factories. The Government of Berlin had experienced evacuation once, but the situation at that time was completely different.

When they abandoned Silesia, the Kingdom of Prussia had just won the Prussian War and obtained a large amount of land. The East Prussia region was also beaten into a wasteland. There was no problem at all to continue to replenish the population according to immigration.

Now the situation was much more complicated. The Rhineland region had a much larger population than Silesia. It wasn't easy to settle so many people.

The Kingdom of Prussia did have some undeveloped land, but most of these lands had poor geographical conditions. There were very few good undeveloped land.

It was obviously not enough to settle the people in the Rhineland region. The domestic industry in Prussia also couldn't handle so many people. This meant that there would be some choices in the evacuation.

Andrea's task was to organize the people who were more useful to the country to leave, mainly the rich and the middle class, including: capitalists, doctors, teachers, engineers, technical workers …

After these people left, the ordinary workers and farmers would be left. The final buyer would either be Belgium or the German Federal Empire. The Government of Berlin wasn't afraid of offending them, so they could slowly organize the evacuation.

Before the evacuation, the first thing to do was to let the people protesting outside disperse. Otherwise, with so many people blocking the streets, a lot of work couldn't be carried out.

After hesitating for a moment, Andrea convinced himself and braced himself to walk out. There was a bit of the rustling wind and cold water, the solemn and stirring feeling of a hero leaving, never to return.

Well, in reality, the situation wasn't that serious. The angry people didn't rush up to beat Andrea up. Instead, they shouted for an explanation.

On the one hand, the success in education had made the people of Prussia learn to abide by order. On the other hand, the garrison had already started to move. There were fully armed soldiers everywhere. If they wanted to cause trouble, they had to think carefully about the consequences.

Suppressing the labor movement these days was nothing new. After seeing the posture of the army as if they were facing a great enemy, everyone couldn't help but behave.

Andrea arrived in front of the government building and ordered the staff to bring over a table. He bit his lip and stood on the table, waving a Prussia flag in his hand to signal everyone to quiet down.

With the advanced equipment, he could only shout. Andrea used all his strength. "I know why everyone is here. Right now, I feel as sad as you.

Because we all love this country, love the land that raised us. But there's no other way. Now, I have to announce this bad news.

The news you heard is not a rumor. The government is really going to abandon the Rhineland region. "

After getting an official reply, the noise started again. Some of the angry people started to lose control of their emotions. If not for the army stopping them, they might have already rushed up.

"Quiet, quiet …"

Andrea's heart-wrenching screams didn't help. He was forced to ask the soldiers to fire warning shots into the sky.

Bang, bang, bang …

After the gunshots, order was barely restored to normal. One couldn't help but sigh. Bullets were still more of a deterrent.

"Everyone, quiet down. Give me two minutes. If there's any problem, we can discuss it after I'm done. Don't forget that discipline is the basic code of conduct for every citizen. "

The discussion died down, and everyone looked at Andrea, waiting for his explanation.

"The Government of Berlin doesn't want to give up the Rhineland region either, but there's no other way. The Kingdom of Prussia is too weak. Faced with the threat of a great power, the government has to consider the safety of everyone's lives and property.

Some people might say that they're not afraid of death and are willing to fight for the Kingdom of Prussia. I'm the same. If possible, I'd rather fight on the battlefield with a gun than live in humiliation here.

But people can't only think about themselves. We have to be responsible for our parents, wives, and children. We have to be responsible for the Kingdom of Prussia. If we're happy for a moment, what will happen to them? What will happen to this country?

Don't tell me nonsense like victory belongs to Prussia. First, figure out who the enemy we're facing is. Use your own brain to think about whether we have a chance of winning.

It's not like the Kingdom of Prussia hasn't experienced failure before. During the war against France, our country was almost destroyed, but in the end, didn't we rise again?

As long as people are alive, there's hope. Today's humiliation can be repaid tomorrow. Giving up the Rhineland region temporarily doesn't mean giving it up forever.

One day, the Kingdom of Prussia will truly become strong and fearless. When that time comes, we'll return here again. History will remember everything … "