Holy Roman Empire

Chapter 136

Berlin

After hearing that a large amount of donations had been raised in Austria, Frederick William IV was excited.That's right, it's exciting, definitely not angry.

Except for the Kingdom of Prussia, the donations raised in the entire German region, if converted into the Austrian rupiah, amounted to more than 43 million rupiah, Austria alone contributed more than 30 million rupiah.

This amount of money is already equivalent to the fiscal revenue of the Prussian kingdom for half a year. If all of it can be obtained, it will undoubtedly be a timely rain for the Prussian government with limited financial resources.

Unfortunately, the great Majesty Franz proposed a special fund. As a result, many German states followed suit. Of course, they did not act as carefully as His Majesty Franz.

As of now, the Prussian government has received more than five million rupiahs from the German region, and most of the rest have been intercepted by their respective governments.

With such a large sum of money, how can bureaucrats do nothing?Their donations did not want to be as rigorous as Franz did, they all issued receipts, and refunds could be made if they were used up.

It is conceivable that the rest of the money is not destined for the Prussian government.

What makes Frederick-William IV even more depressed is that in the media, the Kingdom of Prussia has received donations from the German region, and this total amount has exceeded 100 million rupiah.

In this era, news flow was not smooth, and there was no bank flow to check. Anyway, it was all casually said that each state did not want to lose face, and donated astronomical figures one by one.

Really fake, this is important?

Anyway, they are all data published by the media in various places, and they are not officially recognized. It does not matter if they are detected in the future.

If you meet a shameless government, you will directly give the money to the Prussian government, and no one can prove that you did not give it.

For example, Franz allocated the first donation to the Prussian government. A total of one million rupiah was all cash, which was handed over to the Prussian embassy under the witness of the media.

Of course, perhaps one million was too small, and one million in the newspapers in Vienna became three million.If Franz is a little unscrupulous, it is not impossible to directly swallow the two million shields.

Not everyone is so careful about Franz. Misrepresenting the donation figures is only a small problem. In many places, only 200,000 was given, and Prussian officials must be signed on the receipt of 500,000.

Anyway, whether money is loved or not in the hands of others, in the face of interests, the fighting power of the bureaucrats has burst.

Except for the states that are severely affected by Prussia, this phenomenon is smaller, and the states of the South German region have become the hardest hit areas.

The Prussian Prime Minister Joseph von Ravidovic said worriedly: "Your Majesty, we can't ask for this money!"

"What's wrong?" Frederick William IV asked doubtfully.

Dissatisfaction with the German states will be dissatisfied, but there is no need to pass the money?Even if a large part of the corruption is committed by the bureaucrats of various countries, it is not a small number that is finally obtained.

The Prussian government is now heavily in debt. If it is not the time, Frederick-William IV is ready to declare the government bankrupt and lay off all its debts.

"Your Majesty, these states are nominally supporting us in combat, and in fact all harbor misfortune.

Now they hold us so high. If the Russians insist that we give up the two principalities of Schleswig and Holstein, how should we end?

Now all countries in Europe, except the German region, are on the opposite side of us. The Danes have no fear and will not make concessions."Joseph von Ravidovic said with a wry smile

There is no doubt that this time it is too much to use war to divert domestic contradictions, and now the Prussian government is having a hard time riding a tiger.If they could not take back the two principalities of Schleswig and Holstein, they would have no way to explain to the people.

This is not only the people of Prussia, but also the people of Germany.

Domestic public opinion, they can also find ways to guide, do not think about foreign public opinion, it is strange not to be hacked?

This issue was also thought of by Frederick William IV, but he had no choice, no matter whether he received the money or not, the final result would not change.

Successfully recaptured the two principalities of Schleswig and Holstein. They are the heroes of the German nation. If they fail, they are the thieves of the German nation.

Unless they dare to fight the Russians with real swords and guns, no matter whether they win or lose, they can pass by.

In this era, Russia is the continental hegemon. It is normal for Prussia to single out and win against the Russians. The public can understand that they will transfer this anger to Austria and other states that have not participated in the war.

If the Prussian government withdrew without a shot, how could nationalists and patriots accept it?

In the eyes of ordinary people, all the states in the German region are now their backings, even if they are against the Russians?

Public opinion is terrible, the Russians are even more terrible!

If the Russian-Russian war broke out, who would Austria help?

In the opinion of Frederick-William IV, Austria is unlikely to fall to Russia. Under the pressure of public opinion, most of them will support Prussia.

Unfortunately, this support is very limited, and it is impossible for Austria to really contribute.After all, the Kingdom of Prussia is over, and the biggest obstacle for Austria to unify Germany is gone.

The weak support of Austria also offset the diplomatic pressure from France.A large group of German states waved their flags and shouted, which offset the diplomatic pressure of small European countries.

The diplomatic pressure on the Kingdom of Prussia is now much smaller than in history; the pressure exerted on them by the patriots in China has exceeded the same period in history.

Neither Prime Minister Joseph von Radovi nor King Frederick William IV can give up the determination of the two principalities of Schleswig and Holstein.

Too much has been invested, and the war funds paid for the war in the Kingdom of Prussia have exceeded Austria's expenditure in the Osage War.

It has been more than a year since the outbreak of war. Although the time between the two sides actually fought is very short, the Prussian army also slammed the Danes, but military confrontation also costs money!

Military expenditure during wartime is often several times or even more than that in peacetime, which is not easy for the impoverished Prussian kingdom.

The military expenditure of the Kingdom of Prussia has always been high. Since the ascendance of Frederick II in 1740, the number of Prussian soldiers has surged from 70,000 to 200,000, accounting for 9.4% of the national population. 45 of the total budget.

At that time, Prussia ranked only tenth in Europe and the thirteenth in population, but its army was second only to the three countries of Russia and France, ranking fourth in Europe.

Moreover, this number increased to 235,000 in the successor of Frederick II, William II. In the following days, the army of the Kingdom of Prussia hardly fell below this number.

In the peaceful era, such a large army was maintained. For the Kingdom of Prussia, which has a small population and has not completed industrialization, financial pressure can be imagined.

For this country, fiscal deficits are commonplace.Under such circumstances, the Kingdom of Prussia is very difficult to seek loans or issue bonds.

It is true that the government has no money, and Frederick William IV will lay down his face and ask the German state for help.Even if he knew that the money was not easy to take, he accepted it.

"Now it's too late to say that, let our people collect the evidence first, and in the event of a change in the future, they can also be pulled into the water.

This is all the best strategy. The last solution is to keep the two principalities of Schleswig and Holstein, and then the congresses will obediently send the money over."Frederick William IV said cruelly

"Your Majesty, I am afraid that things are not that simple. By then, most of these states will ask for the independence of these two principalities." Joseph von Ladovi thought and said

"Don't worry, as long as the two principalities are successfully withdrawn, and the established facts will be created by then, they can do nothing, and we are not without supporters." Frederick William IV said confidently

After so many years of propaganda, little German thought has overwhelmed the big German theory in many areas, and there are not many people who support the unification of Germany in the Kingdom of Prussia.

If it was not Franz that had disrupted the Frankfurt Conference, now little German thought has become mainstream in the German region.

...

The persistence of the Prussian government made the St. Petersburg government very embarrassed.

From the beginning they stood on the Danish side, and the tsarist government also announced to the outside world that if the Prussian government would not use concessions, it would use force.

What should we do now?Do it, it will be cheaper for the Austrians; if you don't do it, do you want the Russian Empire's face?

Even their own younger brothers can't keep it, and the tsarist government is back. Are they still embarrassed to mix on the international stage?

It can only be said that it is no longer than it was then.

At that time, the Tsarist government could use credibility as toilet paper and throw it away; now the Russian Empire is already fighting for world hegemony. If you do n’t pay attention to credibility, who will serve them?

The boss of a lonely world looks majestic, but in fact it is in crisis.Unless you can unify the world by force, you can refer to Napoleon.

St petersburg

Nikolai I asked with concern: "What does the Austrian government say, are they willing to mediate this Pudan war?"

"Your Majesty, the Austrian government refused to participate in this mediation. The old fox of Metternich stated that, due to domestic public opinion, the Austrian government would only stand on the side of Prussia in the mediation."

The Russians did not want to go to war with the Kingdom of Prussia. The tsarist government was trying every means to avoid war. This is not a secret. Naturally, the Prussian government was informed.

Tragically, after obtaining this information, the Prussian government let them directly make a strategic misjudgment, thinking that the Russians would not interfere by force, which increased their confidence.

"Damn, the Austrians may still be dreaming of helping us remove the obstacles to the reunification of Germany. Are we not afraid of us leaking the Russian-Arabic covenant?" Nicholas I said to himself

Everyone is a jealous person, and dare not answer silly: No fear.

Once the Russian-Russian secret contract leaked out, Austria ’s strategy behind it would be in trouble, and Russia ’s strategy behind it would simply be finished.

The annexation of Austria of Southern Germany will make the British feel daunted, but at most it raises the danger level to the height of the French, but compared with the annexation of the Ottoman Russians, it is not worth mentioning.

The former also has restrictions on methods, whether it is supporting the Kingdom of Prussia, provoking French-Austrian relations, or alienating Russian-Austrian relations, all of which can serve as checks and balances.

The latter is different. In the current Russian Empire, the British can only watch them stunned. If they were to annex the Ottoman Empire, it would be a matter of time before the world overlord changed hands.

Even if Nikolai I really wanted La Prussia to get on the ship, he dared not divulge a little news to them, and even during the deliberations, the level of confidentiality was raised to the highest level.

...