Chapter 462 Crisis caused by Germany: The wolf is coming!
April 1876.
Germany, which has suffered a new round of economic crisis, is obviously dissatisfied, especially those Junker nobles who wanted to take advantage of the situation, but ended up stealing the chicken but losing the rice.
In the Imperial Parliament, a Prussian member of Parliament said: "The fundamental reason why this new round of economic crisis has occurred in Germany is because we in Germany do not have the vast colonies and population like the United Kingdom and France to digest our agricultural and industrial products, and we also do not have the United States. With such a huge territory and abundant resources to offset the crisis, Germany, as an important political force in the world, must have its own colonies. It is unreasonable that Germany does not have colonies that match its current international status."
The words of the Prussian MP reflect the psychology of the Prussian Junker nobles during this economic crisis. Facts have proved that ordinary people will first consider the environment when encountering difficulties, and then look for problems within themselves.
But the general environment is indeed very unfavorable to Germany, so this convinced the Prussian nobles that this crisis was caused by the lack of colonies.
Bismarck was so angry at the words of the Prussian parliamentarian that he was stabbed in the back! Originally, it was wrong for Bismarck to use administrative means to force domestic companies. But before, the Junker nobles promised themselves that they would support Bismarck as long as the Berlin Agricultural Company went bankrupt. But now that they have failed, they want to default on their debt?
This made Bismarck furious, but as a rational politician, he still suppressed his anger and said humbly: "Although Germany has been unified now, our crisis has not been resolved. The French are always thinking about revenge, and the British Relations with Tsarist Russia and Austria need to be balanced. If Germany loses its international credibility due to irrational behavior, Germany will be in extreme danger."
Bismarck's foreign policy and Ernst's foreign policy were similar in that they both hoped to weaken their negative image in the international arena.
The difference between Germany is that it is located in the center of the European continent and is a hotspot among hotspots, so it cannot escape the international community. East Africa is located in Africa, and many people, at least Europeans, know little about Africa.
Therefore, Germany will definitely not be able to stay out of the situation like East Africa. Any disputes on the European continent must be carefully controlled to avoid overturning. Bismarck's idea is to disguise the German tiger as a harmless human and animal, and wait until Germany is fully fleshed out. Seize continental hegemony.
However, the German interest groups, especially the Prussian aristocrats who have had smooth sailing in recent years, are inevitably a little drifting in mentality.
After all, there are only two big mountains in front of Germany, one is Britain and the other is France. France has been defeated by Germany once, and this confidence is established. Only the United Kingdom is left in front of Germany. Currently, Germany is definitely unable to challenge the United Kingdom. The British Royal Navy is like a mountain that hangs over the heads of all countries in the world and cannot be shaken.
"Mr. Prime Minister, I agree with what you said that the international order is very unfavorable to us, but this unfavorable factor is essentially caused by the colonies. Britain and France may not be much stronger than us, and the most powerful support behind them is the colonies. , they can continuously inject blood to the native people through the colonies, so that they can mobilize countless populations and resources to gain an advantage in our war."
Bismarck asked rhetorically: "Then what do you want our government to do? Go overseas to seize colonies from Britain and France? At present, the valuable land in the overseas world has been divided up by Britain and France. Their colonial activities have lasted for hundreds of years. Portugal and Spain have hundreds of years of overseas colonial history, so what advantages do we have over these colonial countries that have been rooted overseas for many years?"
"Furthermore, our navy is very fragile. Germany's sea area is quite closed. Whether it can get out of the Atlantic is a question. In this case, the navy will inevitably not be able to effectively support the development of colonies. In that case, even if we develop colonies overseas, I am afraid that we will not be able to Others make wedding dresses." "Finally we are talking about the management of the colonies. As we all know, colonization is risky and the investment is quite high, and those rich areas have been occupied by countries such as Britain and France. We invest in those bad lands overseas. How much gain can be achieved? Do you want to get a bunch of bad land that loses money every year to maintain the empire? Or do you think that Germany is now the best in the world and can launch wars against those traditional colonial countries without fear of challenges from other countries? "
Bismarck's barrage of artillery fire left the German parliamentarians speechless. The naval representatives wanted to refute, but looking at their own strength, they might as well forget it! The army chose to watch the show. Anyway, the advantage lies with me, and the navy cannot make a difference.
However, this does not satisfy the Juncker nobles who represent the Prussian parliamentarians. They themselves have suffered heavy losses in this new economic crisis. They had already suffered losses due to the sharp drop in food prices in the last round of economic crisis. This time, look at the Berlin Agricultural Company (a subsidiary of the Hechingen Consortium). Sales and processing companies) are doing well, but agricultural companies charge fees, and it is impossible to do charity and purchase grain, so the money is still borne by the Juncker nobles. Of course, the Juncker nobles who were overcharged You are mentally unbalanced and your income is not high in the first place. You still charge handling fees, so you want to bring down the Berlin Agricultural Company and do the sales yourself. As a result, the Berlin Agricultural Company went bankrupt! But the marketing problem of our own agricultural products has become more serious.
This is inevitable. The Berlin Agricultural Company went bankrupt, but the sales channels established by the Hechingen Consortium are still controlled by their own people. They just handed over the business of the Berlin Agricultural Company to the Munich Agricultural Company. If the Prussian landowners do not welcome us, we will Go to Bavaria to do business, and don't think that the world will stop turning after you leave Prussia. The only bargaining chip for Prussian landowners is land. Does the Hechingen Consortium lack this?
Furthermore, Bavaria has a very special status in Germany. As the second largest state after Prussia, and as a Catholic region, the heart of Bavaria can be said to be well known to everyone. The Prussian Junkers have no way to deal with the Munich Agricultural Company.
At the Imperial Conference, the Bavarian MP gave Prussia eye drops: "We fully support Prime Minister Bismarck. Peace is the most important thing for Germany. We should maintain long-term peace, at least to ensure long-term peace in Europe, so we should not and There are conflicts in other countries."
Most of the MPs from South Germany also adopt the same attitude. Apart from some ambiguity with Prussia, the most important thing is that they really don't want to get involved in the war, because in every war, South Germany is the victim.
Although the South German region is not active, this does not affect the overall situation. If Prussia cannot even settle the matter in parliament, how can it be called unification?
In fact, the only ones who could really calm down the situation in the Imperial Parliament were William I and Bismarck. Although William I had some cautious thoughts, he generally supported Bismarck because facts always proved that Bismarck was right.
In the battle of wits between Bismarck and the Junkers, Bismarck had the upper hand, because many Junkers also supported him, and with the support of the South German region, the German radicals were suppressed. However, as a compromise, Bismarck decided to let go A small opening was opened to allow non-governmental German civil forces to participate in overseas colonial strategies first.
In other words, Germany has still embarked on the road of overseas expansion. Non-governments are colonial companies or groups. In fact, the colonies acquired by Germany in the previous life were first completed by colonial companies and then taken over by the government.
But at the moment, Bismarck thinks that he is just being mean and has no real intention to compete overseas with Britain, France and other countries. He will let the radicals do it themselves. Anyway, the government will not pay much money.
(End of this chapter)