Holy Roman Empire

Seeing the major powers stirring up the situation, King William I of Prussia, who had just succeeded to the throne, could not bear it. Perhaps the noble Junkers could not bear it.

The butterfly effect is powerful, and with the re-emergence of Austria, the Prussian government found that their dream of becoming a powerful country was really about to become a dream.

Crisis awareness is the driving force for Prussia to become powerful.In the first Schleswig War, the performance of the Prussian army was not excellent, and it could even be said to be garbage.

The call for military reform is high in the Prussian army, and the main leader is one of the three Prussian masters-Albrecht von Ron.

Ron's popularity is low, but the work is shocking.Not only presided over the reform of the Prussian army, but also pulled out Mao Qi in one hand, and pushed Bismarck to the throne of prime minister.

Without him, Bole, Mao Qi might have a chance to climb up, and Bismarck, the royal enemy, would not have to think about going up.

Now General Ron is very annoyed. Not long ago, he served as the Minister of the Navy and served as the Minister of the Navy. He was faced with a big problem: domestic calls for the establishment of colonies were increasing.

What other people think of Ron does n’t know. Anyway, he is against the development of overseas colonies. There is only one reason-no money.

In order to dispel everyone's unrealistic thoughts, he must have the support of William I.But now William I also wanted to grab wealth from overseas colonies and change the financial plight of the Kingdom of Prussia, which made him a headache.

...

At the government meeting of the Berlin Royal Palace, Prime Minister Frank once again reiterated the benefits of colonization and proposed to establish a colonial empire belonging to Prussia.

Portugal and the Netherlands, both small countries, have large colonies overseas. With the power of the Kingdom of Prussia, it does not seem to be a big deal to develop overseas colonies.

Ron objected: "Your Excellency Prime Minister, I know that it is important to open up colonies, which can provide cheap raw materials and markets for domestic industry and commerce, and change the government's financial difficulties.

However, you seem to have overlooked one of the most important issues. Any colonial empire is a naval power.

With the ships of our navy, I am afraid that even a large number of pirates may not be able to manage it. Why open a colony overseas?"

This is a fact, and since the Secretary of the Army can serve as the Minister of the Navy, he knows how disappointed the Prussian Navy is.However, this is unlikely to happen to any country where the navy is somewhat capable.

Prime Minister Frank explained: "The government is ready to expand the navy, and the Kingdom of Prussia needs its own armored fleet."

Ron asked with a pale face: "Where does military spending come from?"

Frank calmly replied: "Now the Vienna system has been reconstructed, the contradictions of various countries have tended to relax, the European continent has stabilized, and the possibility of wars is unlikely.

Under such circumstances, we do not need to urgently carry out military reforms.The army sacrificed for the country this time, and the next few years will be hard.

A part of the soldiers can be transferred to the navy to save military expenses, and the government can find a way to build up an armored fleet first.

After the colonies were opened up, the problems of domestic industrial and commercial raw materials and markets were solved. After the domestic economy improved, it was time to carry out military reforms."

In order to cope with the impact of Austria's rise and the new French, Ron not long ago proposed specific plans for arms reform:

It is required to extend the service life of the army from 2 years to 4 years; to cancel the National Reserve Army; to change the standing army equipment, and to allocate 17.5 million Thales annually from next year.

These measures mean that the number of conscriptions has increased from 40,000 to 85,000, the army has increased from 102 regiments to 163 regiments, and the usual strength has changed from 208,000 to 327,000.

This more radical military reform measure than in history is mainly based on the fact that the Kingdom of Prussia has received greater military pressure.

At present, the Russians' standing army is 990,000, the New Holy Roman Empire's standing army is 580,000, and the French's standing army is 500,000.

The three neighbors are so perverted that if they do not expand their army, the quasi-power status of the Kingdom of Prussia will be gone.

Moreover, it is well known that Franz wants to unify the heart of Germany, and Napoleon III's coveted Rhineland region is also undisguised.

The Junker nobles represented by Ron naturally had a crisis heart.

If the army is not expanded, the strength of the Kingdom of Prussia is less than one-third of any opponent.If the war broke out suddenly, they would not even have the power of a battle.

The bourgeoisie did not think so, they had confidence in the Vienna system.Worried about the expansion of the army:

On the one hand, the cancellation of the reserve army and the extension of active duty will undoubtedly weaken their influence in the army;

On the other hand, 23 officers and 910 instructors in this huge army are held by Juncker, hiding the danger that the army may become a tool for Junker to oppose Parliament.

"Who assures it that its sharp weapons will be used for its own purposes?"

Therefore, the bourgeois liberals represented by the Progressive Party used the power granted to the parliament by the 1850 Constitution to bargain with the government, delaying the adoption of the military expansion plan.

In order to prevent the worst from happening, the capitalists began to advocate the benefits of colonial development, painted cakes for high-level government, and tried to use the development of the navy to weaken the strength of the Junkers.

Many people are now being tricked into it, and real-world examples are in front of them.If it is not beneficial to open up colonies, why are the French and Anglo-Frenches all opening up colonies?

Even the Austrian overseas colonies lost money, and the data obtained by the capitalists turned into profit.Using a bunch of economic terms, the prime minister and the king were fooled into it.

Let them believe that the Austrian colony is only administratively losing money.The Vienna government has achieved profits through currency taxes, mined gold, cheap industrial raw materials, and other taxes brought by the market.

This is manifested by the rapid development of the domestic economy and the rapid growth of government revenue.It also comes with the benefits of resisting the economic crisis and reducing the outflow of gold and silver.

After a mess of data, it was finally concluded that the Austrian colony brought 12 million Aegis to the Vienna government every year.

This is not a small number, it is almost half of the revenue of the Kingdom of Prussia.Coupled with a lot of benefits, many people have been tricked into it.

In fact, this account is not clear at all, and Austria ’s rapid economic development of the colonies does contribute.However, there are too many industries involved, and the number of economic cycles is too complicated. Just add a little bit, and the final gap is an astronomical number.

The reason that convinced everyone was the great move of the Vienna government to open up colonies.If you can't make a profit, you will definitely not be so active.

The five countries including Anglo-French and Western Cape were all analyzed by the capitalists as examples, and they came to the conclusion that the colonial empire has a large sphere of influence, and the country is strong;

It does n’t matter if you listen to it once. If every day, various experts say in your ears, after a long time, it will penetrate into people ’s hearts and become a recognized truth.

Ron insisted: "No, the army's military reform can never be stopped. Open the map to know how much defense pressure we are facing.

In the event that one day we have a conflict with any major power, the military strength of Prussia now has no power at all."

The Chancellor of the Exchequer Fibel Adolf quipped: "If you are based on fighting against the three great powers, Your Excellency General, even if your expansion plan is doubled, I am afraid it is still not enough.

However, the financial power of the Kingdom of Prussia is limited. Even if we invest all of our fiscal revenue in the military, we can't compete with any big country.

Modern warfare is different from the past.During the Near East War, the total strength of the Russians once exceeded two million; during Austria's unification war, the total strength mobilized was also close to this number.

The Kingdom of Prussia has a population of more than 14 million, and human resources have determined the upper limit of our military expansion.Using contradictions in various countries to maintain European balance is the best strategy for us.

You may not know it. I will tell you a set of economic data and you will understand.

In 1850, the revenue of the Kingdom of Prussia was 40.3% of Austria, 28.2% of the French and 30.3% of the Russians;

After Austria established the New Holy Roman Empire in 1854, the revenue of the Kingdom of Prussia was 31.1% of Austria, 27.2% of the French, and 27.6% of the Russians;

In 1860, the revenue of the Kingdom of Prussia was 20.2% of Austria, 21.3% of French and 31.1% of Russian.

Because a large amount of money has been spent on the military, our economy is almost stagnant.We spent 43.2% of their military expenses with 20.2% of Austria ’s fiscal revenue."

It is not only the military that the military expenses have to support, but also the supporting military-industrial system. Under the system of compulsory military service, this industrial chain is the most expensive.

At present, there are only seven countries in the world that have a complete military industrial system, including Britain, France, Russia, Opium and West. Among them, the three countries are at the forefront of army technology.

This is also the reason why the Prussian military industry is the only one. Their size is really unable to support the second one.In order to reduce costs, countries are trying to sell arms to foreign countries.

Franz even exported the military system directly to the Russians.Because of financial reasons, in order to save costs, Russian military industrial enterprises during the Nicholas I period introduced production lines from Austria.

Over the years, the equipment produced has flooded the army, and it is difficult to change it back.

The Kingdom of Prussia is tragic, because the popularity in the world is too low, it is difficult to sell arms, and the military system has lost its ability to make blood.After all, they only sell arms, and they can't add political force.

The era of industrialization is cruel, because of the lack of markets and cheap industrial raw materials, Prussian capital cannot naturally compete with its opponents in the process of industrialization, and can only defend the domestic market.

The customs union that historically supported the development of the Kingdom of Prussia has long since ceased to exist because of interests.

Even the Russian market, because of the deterioration of relations between Russia and Russia, was robbed by Austrians of some of its shares.

With so many unfavorable factors fed back to the economy, the outcome is naturally not optimistic.It is not surprising that Prussia ’s economy has stagnated.

Faced with this situation, the capitalists wanted to open up overseas colonies and solve the problems of raw materials and markets, which became inevitable.

Now that the Prussian government is rushing to the hospital in a hurry, it is really that they have no better choice. If this continues, the Kingdom of Prussia will be directly destroyed.

After looking at everyone's face, Ron stopped talking.Although the poor soldiers of the Kingdom of Prussia are accustomed to fighting, they can't support it now.

In this era, the military expenditures of various countries are very large. A dozen, twenty, and thirty percent are very normal.

The military expenditures of several major powers can exceed their financial income. How do they fight?

If it is only a short period of time, the government will find a way to endure.But now the Kingdom of Prussia expanded its army, and there was no value at all.

Ron knew that he would continue to fight, and it would not be long before the Kingdom of Prussia would be left behind because of financial problems.

In this case, the only solution is to wage war, annex more territory, and resolve domestic conflicts through expansion.

This is what the Prussian kingdom did in history, gambling all the way, unifying the little German region, and finally losing the empire.

There is no doubt that Bismarck, now the prime minister, is no longer so radical. Prime Minister Frank is not so radical, and he advocates temporarily giving up land power for hegemony.

After hesitating for a long time, Ron said, "You guys, these questions are indeed very troublesome, but don't forget to look at the map.

The Kingdom of Prussia is now divided into two. If there is not a strong enough army, we may be eaten at any time.

It is very unreliable to pin one's security on a treaty.The three palace systems in the north that guaranteed our security no longer exist.

Despite our efforts to repair the relationship between Russia and Austria, it still has little effect.

Our attempt to join the Russian-Austrian League has been rejected by the two countries. There are not so many reasons. It is because of the fact that we have distanced our strength and are not qualified to form alliances with them.

To change this situation, we must expand on the European continent.Otherwise, the Kingdom of Prussia will sink in a short time and become a small country that survives in the slits of great powers."

William I frowned, and he wanted to expand, but his strength allowed it.Don't see that the Kingdom of Prussia can hang any neighbours other than Russia, Austria, Austria and France. In fact, they don't dare to move any neighbours.

Denmark is the younger brother of the Russians. The Russian Empire is still there, and the Russian-Austrian alliance is on the side. If you do n’t eat meat, you will get yourself in.

The German Federal Empire is not easy to provoke, not only has the support of Britain and France, its own economic strength is still above Prussia.

One operation is not good, these states directly transfer to Austria, they can only cry.

Don't think it's impossible.From the point of view of interest, everyone ’s right to stay in the German Federal Empire can be preserved to the fullest extent, and joining the Shinra is the most economically profitable, and has nothing to do with the Kingdom of Prussia.

In Prussia, no matter whether it is a noble Junker or a capitalist, the past few years have not been easy.Everyone is hungry and crazy, where else can you take pictures?

There is no doubt in the Netherlands and Belgium that there is also a boss, which moves the whole body in one stroke.

William I said: "Ron, your idea is too idealized. We have not yet ignored the strength of the rules. If we do something unwise, we might be suppressed by other countries immediately.

It is said that as far as the French know, they can make up a plan for the division of Russia, Austria and France.It is only because of the uneven distribution of stolen goods that the interests of the three countries have conflicted, and there is no following.

The Vienna system is now the best choice for Prussian security.If it is not conducive to development and growth in this peaceful period, it will be really dangerous for us to break the balance of Europe in the future.

The most important thing now is to open up overseas colonies and solve the problems of raw materials and markets needed by domestic industry and commerce to complete industrialization as soon as possible.

Only when our strength is strong can the Kingdom of Prussia be able to go further in the next European change."

Such a plan is not only French, but even the Austrian General Staff, and the Russians may have similar ideas.

Ron nodded bitterly, the reality was too cruel, he did not have Bismarck's eloquence, he was able to persuade everyone to unify.

The international situation has changed. Even if Bismarck is resurrected, there is no way to replicate the success in history, even the opportunity to take the first step.