While the Rhineland region was undergoing a mass migration, the London Conference had also reached a critical juncture. Between Belgium and the German Confederation, the British still chose the German Confederation, while Belgium chose France.
Strategically speaking, Belgium's alliance with France was inevitable. The only country in Europe that could compete with France was Austria. Although the British had great influence, their right to speak on land was greatly reduced.
Belgium was too far away from Austria and too close to France. Even though they knew that the French had the ambition to annex them, in order to ensure their own safety, the Belgian government had no choice but to maintain a good diplomatic relationship with the French.
Small countries had their own way of survival. While the Belgian government was pro-French, they also maintained a good relationship with Britain and Austria, in order to use the power of Britain and Austria to curb the ambitions of the French.
No matter how correct the strategy was, it was useless. The French supported Belgium. In order to curb the French, Austria could only support the German Confederation.
The three countries were divided into two camps. In a situation where the ratio was two to one, the Rhineland region naturally fell into the hands of the German Federal Empire.
Britain and Austria were also worried about how the German Confederation would rule the Rhineland region. In order to curb the expansion of the French, the two countries had no choice but to compromise.
The compromise was that the Rhineland region would be directly governed by the central government, but not by the emperor, but by the Imperial Parliament.
To a certain extent, this also accelerated the integration of the German Federal Empire. The Imperial Parliament, which originally only checked and balanced the emperor, now had real power. The parliament was no longer a mouthpiece.
However, this was much better than Hannover's expansion. Resolving internal problems through negotiation was not something that could be done overnight. It would not be surprising even if it was dragged into the next century.
As vested interests, the governments of the states could not easily give up their rights. The Imperial Parliament had always been controlled by the state governments. It would be difficult to turn the tables!
Britain and Austria had reached a consensus, but it did not mean that the matter was over. There had to be an auction in the Rhineland region that they had agreed on.
On November 11, 1874, witnessed by all the European countries, the highest-level land auction in Europe began.
The Foreign Minister of Prussia, Jeffrey Friedman, personally acted as the auctioneer. The representatives of the three countries, Britain, Fao, and Germany acted as the notary.
To prevent people from bidding randomly, Belgium and the German Confederation each paid a deposit of five million pounds. If one bid randomly and could not pay in the end, the deposit would be confiscated.
Without a doubt, if Belgium and the German Federation were to fork out the money themselves, they wouldn't even be able to raise the starting price.
The ones who were really paying were the supporters behind the scenes. Britain and Austria loaned money to the German Federal Empire, and the French loaned money to Belgium.
This was not only a political game, but also a capital game. Financial power was also a part of one's strength.
Of course, both sides had bottom lines. It was impossible for them to compete endlessly and let the Prussians take advantage of it.
Jeffrey Friedman put on a deadpan expression and walked onto the auction stage unhappily. "The auction in the Rhineland region will now officially begin.
The base price is 120 million pounds, and each increment must be no less than 1 million pounds. If the price increases exceed their financial ability and they are unable to pay the deposit, the deposit will be confiscated. Auction.
Obviously, Jeffrey Friedman was in a bad mood. Although the base price was high, the Government of Berlin did not get much money at all.
The Government of Berlin had to deduct part of the debt from the auction. The rest was the income of the Government of Berlin.
The Prussian War had not only wiped out the finances of Russia, but it had also wiped out the finances of the Kingdom of Prussia. The deficit was even greater.
Even though the European countries had sponsored a lot, and Britain and France had provided a lot of low-interest loans, the Government of Berlin still could not pay the interest after the war.
However, the Government of Berlin did not declare bankruptcy and reneged on its debts. Instead, it negotiated with the creditors. With the Tsarist government as an example, in order to make the people of Prussia pay their debts obediently, the creditors were much easier to talk to this time. Many debts were allowed to be paid on time.
It was only right and proper to pay the debts. After the auction of the Rhineland region, the Government of Berlin's pockets were full. Naturally, they had to pay off this part of the debt first.
It was not only Britain and Austria that forced the Kingdom of Prussia to give up the Rhineland region. There were also many creditors behind the scenes.
Anyone who knew about the finances of Prussia knew that the Kingdom of Prussia was a poor customer. Their debts could become bad debts at any time. It could be said that the creditors were more worried about the finances of the Kingdom of Prussia than William I.
The Government of London was able to take the initiative to force Prussia to sell the Rhineland region because of the British financial consortium. The Government of Paris did not make a move to destroy the deal, and the French consortium also took great credit.
No one could take a loan of hundreds of millions lightly. If it became bad debts, it was unknown how many financial institutions in Britain and France would be implicated and go bankrupt.
Belgium's representative, Claus Jenson, was the first to raise his sign. It read + 500. Everyone knew that this was an increase of five million pounds.
With so many countries' representatives watching, do you want to play word games and make use of words? The deposit was managed by the UK, Fao, and Germany. If they were rich and did not take the five million pounds seriously, they could give it a try.
The host, Jeffrey Friedman, said, "125 million pounds."
Soon, the representative of the German Federal Empire was not to be outdone. He also raised his sign, which read + 500.
Jeffrey Friedman said, "130 million pounds."
…
"140 million pounds."
…
"142 million pounds."
…
"143.5 million pounds."
…
At the beginning, the increments started at five million pounds. After 140 million pounds, both sides tacitly slowed down the increments. This was not a stupid game of jealousy. It was a competition that concerned the fate of the two countries. Both sides had to think twice before making an offer.
The pounds of this era were not the pounds of later generations. The purchasing power was quite high. Although the economies of Belgium and the German Confederation were developing well, they were small countries after all. Their financial capacity was also very limited.
Jeffrey Friedman's voice sounded again. "The German Federal Empire offers 152 million pounds, going twice!"
After pausing for about two minutes, the representative of Belgium still did not raise his sign. Jeffrey Friedman could only announce helplessly, "The German Federal Empire offers 152 million pounds, going thrice … Deal!"
There was no other way. This number had exceeded the limit that Belgium could afford. The French had only promised a loan of 100 million pounds, and the Belgian government's bottom line was 150 million pounds.
If they raised the price further, they would be harming others without benefiting themselves. If they raised the price and the German Federal Empire gave up bidding, they would lose a lot if they could not fork out the money in the end.
In terms of value, the Kingdom of Prussia was selling their assets at a low price. The industrial value of the Rhineland region was more than 152 million pounds, not to mention the rich mineral resources.
However, the reality was that they had no choice. The price of land in this era was not high. 152 million pounds had already set a world record. If the pound did not depreciate, no one would break it for the next hundred years.
Jeffrey Friedman's face was gloomy. He did not even bother to congratulate them. This price was obviously lower than they had expected. Even the buyer was not Belgium, which they had hoped for.
There was no other way. The capable buyers did not participate in the bidding. Jeffrey Friedman believed that if the Fao and Germany participated, the final transaction price could definitely exceed 200 million, or even 300 million.
Obviously, this was impossible. The Fao and Germany were very clear about each other's bottom line. Breaking this tacit understanding was not good for anyone.
At the same time that Prussia and Germany signed the treaty, the German Federal Empire also signed loan agreements with Britain and Austria respectively. The collateral was the mineral resources and factories in the Rhineland region.
It did not matter to Britain and Austria whether these things had an owner or not. In any case, the treaty was enough.
Whether the property rights that the people of Prussia would be recognized by the German Federal Empire in another country depended entirely on the integrity of the ruler. At least some of them would be unlucky.
If the vested interests were still the same people, and there was no change at all, then what would the German Federal Empire get by buying the Rhineland region? Would it be just a little insignificant tax?
Private property was sacred and inviolable. The government would not directly confiscate private property, but it was still possible to use various means to suppress and change the owners of these properties.
In this era, the competition for capital was very bloody. Without enough connections, it was impossible to survive.
Otherwise, the capitalists in the Rhineland region would not have so fiercely opposed this land transaction. Capitalists never had any psychological pressure when changing countries.
If the Government of Berlin paid attention, they would find that many powerful capitalists had already found new partners, and the rest were also on the way to find partners.
Of course, the current Government of Berlin probably did not have the leisure to do so. If 152 million pounds were converted into gold, it would be more than 1,000 tons, more than three times the total gold reserves of the Kingdom of Prussia.
Obviously, this was impossible. The price of 152 million pounds was only nominal. The Kingdom of Prussia still owed a lot of debt.
The money had to first pay off the debts that were already due, and the rest could be in the hands of the Government of Berlin. It was limited to the debts that were already due, but not all the debts.
The money was not enough to pay off all the debts. Reality once again proved that war was a gold-swallowing monster. After the end of the Prussian War, the Government of Berlin had paid off more than 38 million pounds of debt, and there were still more than 200 million pounds of debt.
It could be said that the Prussian War had destroyed two Rhineland regions. After some negotiations, the huge amount of money obtained from the land auction was deducted 110 million pounds of debt, and only 42 million pounds fell into the hands of the Government of Berlin.
After the resettlement of the immigrants, the remaining income would be the income of the Government of Berlin. The financial crisis had been resolved, but the funds for the next Prussian War were still not available.
The only thing that could comfort the people of Prussia was that the Tsarist government next door was also poor, and even poorer than them. Perhaps when one of them raised enough war funds, it would be the time for the next Prussian War to break out.
Soon, William I could not be happy. The financial situation of Prussia, which had just improved, added the mess of the Kingdom of Poland.
If possible, William I would not mind declaring Poland bankrupt. Unfortunately, this was just a thought. Britain and France could tolerate the Kingdom of Prussia annexing Poland, but wasn't it because they were letting them take on Poland's debts?
