There are many small countries in Europe, and they can survive and live a good life, so they naturally have their own unique ways of survival.

Now that Prussia has fallen from the ranks of the great powers, if you want to live a small life, you must abandon the previous way of playing and learn the way of survival as a small country.

Frederick III was very sober, "Prussia and Han merged to establish North Germany, integrated the many states in the German region, and controlled this new country to return to the ranks of the great powers", this is just a lie woven out to fool the second middle school.

In this era of the jungle, no strength is nothing.

The Kingdom of Prussia, which had lost its Prussian region, had greatly reduced its strength, and wanted to oppose the guest, so he first asked Hannover and refused to agree.

After purchasing the territory, the Kingdom of Hanover has surpassed Prussia in strength on the surface, especially in terms of economic advantages.

How can they turn the tables without the outbreak of war?

Resolved by force?

Don't even think about it!

Starting a civil war is a dead end, not to mention whether Hanover can be subdued, and even if it wins, it will lose its legal basis.

Hanover was part of the Federal Empire of Germany, but the Kingdom of Prussia was not, and as long as George I was not stupid, he would not have allowed them to enter the Reichstag for a seat.

Political infiltration, it seems good. Frederick III knew that if it was done, there would be nothing left for him.

The Junker aristocracy regained the dominance of the country, and for its own benefit, it would also promote the complete integration of Phan.

Because of the war, Prussia offended the Russians miserably, and the Hohenzollern family wanted to enter the center, but the tsarist government would definitely not agree.

Phuhan is a small country, and it is a medium-sized country when it is united, and the country can only grow stronger when the military is strong. If you can't enter the center, you can only be abolished.

In this respect, the military Junkers are the foundation of a truly powerful country, and their interests are too tightly tied to the country.

In order to avoid the worst, Frederick III had to carry out a political reshuffle as soon as he succeeded to the throne, taking advantage of the opportunity of the lost war to rebalance the forces.

Royal Palace in Berlin

War Secretary von Rothwald handed over a document and said: "Your Majesty, this is a military reorganization plan drawn up by the War Department.

According to the plan, after the reorganization is completed, we will keep the establishment of three infantry divisions, one garrison division, two cavalry regiments, and two artillery regiments, and only half of the number of these troops will be retained in peacetime, with a total strength of 23,000 troops. ”

The total strength of the reorganized army is less than one-tenth of the pre-war level, and if this plan is spread, it will definitely cause an uproar.

There is no way, this is the price of defeat. The government was in financial difficulties, and in order to reduce expenses, it had to use the army.

Von Rothwald, who presided over the disarmament, was a member of the Junker aristocracy, but he was an alternative in the army, a staunch anti-war faction.

Before the war, the anti-war faction was weak and had little say in politics; The situation after the war was radically reversed, and anti-war doctrine prevailed throughout Europe, and Prussia was no exception.

Against this background, Frederick III took the opportunity to promote a large number of anti-war figures and began to suppress military forces.

Taking the paper, Frederick III casually flipped through a few pages and asked, "The plan is good, but can it be realized?" ”

No matter how good the plan is, it must be able to be completed, otherwise the plan will always be a plan.

The Prussian military was too strong, and even if it took advantage of the war as an opportunity to change the top brass of the military, it still could not change the situation in which the military was powerful.

War Secretary von Rothwald: "It shouldn't be a big problem, now that there is a strong anti-war trend in the country, we can use the pressure of public opinion to make the military make concessions."

In order for the plan to be carried out smoothly, His Majesty also needs to come forward and persuade those respected generals to come forward to appease the mood of the military. ”

Frederick III nodded helplessly, it was not easy to get the military bosses to agree to disarmament.

It's just that no matter how difficult it is, it must be done, and if we don't suppress military spending, it will be a matter of time before the finances go bankrupt.

Frederick III couldn't help but want to question the Russians, why not use the treaty to limit the number of Prussian troops?

If there is an agreement in the treaty, there is no need for such trouble. The war was fought by the military, and everyone can only admit that they take responsibility for losing the war.

Prime Minister Léo von Caprivi: "Your Majesty, the issue of disarmament should be delayed.

It is better to give the officers and soldiers a holiday first, so that they can get in touch with anti-war ideas, and I believe that most people will understand.

The damage caused by this war was too great, the domestic economy was hit hard, and the unemployment rate was very high. In recent times, there have been a lot of people who have emigrated and left.

So far, the total population of the country has fallen to 7.368 million, and this number continues to fall.

Sociologists estimate that even if no immigrants leave, we will still be stuck in negative population growth in the next five years.

In order to restore the economy and avoid a large loss of population, the government plans to reduce taxes for some domestic enterprises and people to reduce the pressure on everyone's life. ”

Tax cuts are a good thing, of course, but the problem is that the finances are hurting. Although the war is over, the huge debt is still there.

In order to maintain a large army, the Kingdom of Prussia had always had high taxes, and the standard of living of the people was at the bottom of the German region for many years.

When the economy is good, it can be maintained. The economic situation deteriorated, and the lives of ordinary people became untenable.

Fortunately, there is still a path for immigrants to follow, otherwise everyone will have a revolution, so it is impossible to stop immigrants from leaving.

If we want everyone to stay, we can only restore the economy, increase employment, and reduce the burden on ordinary people.

After pondering for a moment, Frederick III: "I'm afraid it's not enough to cut taxes, you can't live without a job."

The top priority at the moment is to solve the problem of people's employment. If it really doesn't work, they will distribute relief food.

The trauma of the war is too great, and once the economy recovers, the number of domestic labor force will definitely not be enough, and we must retain as many people as possible.

When the government has no money, it will turn to Austria, Hanover, Baden, Saxony and other German states for help, and do not be afraid of losing face.

We don't need money either, whether it's a loan or a bond issue.

By the way, what about domestic bond sales? ”

The war made the Berlin government realize the importance of population, and if it were not for the lack of population, the outcome of the Russo-Prussian War was still unknown.

Chancellor of the Exchequer Fedor O'Bad replied: "Very unsatisfactory, so far a total of 6.18 million marks have been sold.

Ordinary people have no money, and bankers are suspicious of the government's ability to repay the loans, and they are simply unwilling to cooperate.

In particular, the Jewish capitalists not only did not cooperate with the government in issuing bonds, but also shorted the mark in the market, causing our currency to depreciate sharply. ”

It's not just Jews who are shorting the mark, but both domestic and foreign capital.

It's just that Jewish capital plays the most excessively, and there is no backstage, so it is naturally pushed out of the top tank.

Frederick III slammed the table, and if he didn't cooperate, it was people's freedom. In Europe, private property is sacrosanct and cannot be coerced to buy it.

But shorting the Mark was too much, it was shaking the foundations of the Kingdom of Prussia. Once Mark Credit collapses, the Berlin government is finished.

Having just experienced a defeat, the population could not tolerate another attempt to turn property into waste paper.

Frederick III said fiercely: "Check! No matter who is manipulating, these black hands must be dug up! ”

Everyone looked at each other, as if they had a heart, and suddenly knew what to do next.

"Anti-Semitism" is a compulsory lesson for European monarchs, and it can be traced back thousands of years. When the monarch ran out of money, he borrowed it from the Jews, and if he couldn't afford it, he was anti-Semitic.

Now the Berlin government's finances are obviously unable to hold on, and it is not possible to open up sources and reduce expenditure, and it is only a matter of time before it goes bankrupt.

The core of throttling is disarmament, and open source is not so simple. If you want to make a fortune in the short term, you can only cut leeks.

It just so happened that at this time, someone shorted the mark, giving the Berlin government an excuse to do it.