Holy Roman Empire-Chapter 1146 - 160, Ceasefire Negotiations

Currency standard reform is not a novelty. The gold standard had been accepted by European countries only in the last three to five decades.

Along the way, there had been disruptions, and to prevent the massive outflow of gold, most countries had basically implemented restrictive policies during the reform period.

The most representative of these was the Vienna Government’s financial control legislation, which explicitly restricted the outflow of large capital sums.

This was one of the reasons why financial capitalists detested Shinra, as restrictions on major capital flows hampered their ability to quickly move money in and out, significantly affecting everyone’s speed of earning money.

Before the war, Britannia was the financial hegemon, always having excess capital, so naturally, there was no need to restrict capital outflow.

Now the situation was different. With the continuously worsening conditions, politically astute capitalists were already planning their escape.

Anyone with clear sight knew that once the Oceanic Alliance collapsed, even if Britannia managed to come out intact, it would have no future to speak of.

Looking around, enemies were everywhere, what future development could there be?

Capitalists could abscond with their money, but existing beneficiaries could not. Away from Britannia, capitalists could still be capitalists, but the nobility and bureaucrats would be left with nothing.

Although the power of capital was strong, in this day and age of the Great Britain Empire, it was not their turn to run the show.

In prosperity and hardship alike, it was shared. Capitalists looking to escape from the vortex would naturally be unaccepted by other forces.

If we were to die, we would all die together. It couldn’t be that everyone was fighting and dying on the battlefield while allowing the capitalists to stab us in the back.

"The currency system reform" was the countermeasure everyone came up with. Once the capitalists massively withdrew their funds, the plan was to completely decouple the British Pounds from gold.

Just like at the end of the wars in Europe, the French government had done the same. While abandoning the gold standard, they also ceased the free exchange of Francs for gold.

In the era of the gold standard, a currency that couldn’t be freely exchanged was worthless, unrecognized by the international capital markets, nothing but waste paper when taken out.

Without gold reserve restrictions and in order to raise funds, the French government recklessly printed money, causing rapid inflation to sweep across the country.

To protect their wealth, capitalists holding a large amount of Francs had no choice but to purchase assets.

After the war’s failure, capitalists holding large assets were effectively trapped in an enfeebled France. A few of the unfortunate ones were even tried as war criminals.

Originally in an economically disadvantageous position, the nobility gradually took the upper hand in the subsequent conflicts, returning to the era of nobility and bureaucracy.

With such a clear example laid out before them, the British Government naturally used this to scare the domestic capitalists.

Running was not a problem, but taking money out was impossible. Either they put money into government bonds to fund this war, or they would topple the table, collapse the market, and let everyone go down together.

No, to be precise, only the large capitalists and financial groups would be completely ruined. Other interest groups would suffer severe losses, but not necessarily fatal ones.

If someone was paying attention, they would notice that recently, communication between the great nobles of Britannia and their European relatives had become more frequent.

Whether it was just normal familial interaction or seeking connections and preparing an escape plan was hard to say.

After all, the Holy Roman Empire was a stronghold of conservative forces, notoriously steadfast in upholding fine traditions.

One could see from post-war France, aside from a few nobles who were short-sighted enough to be brought to military court, the rest were let off lightly.

With such a precedent, it was not surprising that everyone was more proactive. After all, when a ship is sinking, those aboard must find a way to survive.

This was specifically manifested as: the calls for negotiation heightened exponentially across the British Isles, with more and more people demanding the London Government end the war.

As for how to end the war, that was the government’s affair, but for now, being "anti-war" was undoubtedly correct.

…

At Buckingham Palace, a flustered Edward VII was holding a ciphered telegram that had been crumpled and then reopened.

More secretive than the content of the telegram was the address from which it was sent—Vienna Palace.

As two major royal houses of the European Monarchs’ world, the Gotha family and the Habsburg Family naturally had marital ties, and not just once.

Franz and Edward VII were actually parents by marriage. However, in the European world, it was always "relatives are relatives, war is war."

The original First World War was a big melee among relatives, and this time was no exception.

Only, Edward VII was a bit more tragic. This European great uncle unhappily stood in opposition to all his relatives, now being collectively bullied by everyone.

At the outbreak of the war, to avoid suspicion, Edward VII had initially reduced contacts with his relatives.

Unfortunately, as the situation developed, it became very embarrassing, and seeing a likely downfall, for the future of the Great Britain Empire, and to preserve his crown, he was now forced to reestablish those contacts.

Unlike the ready responses in the original timeline, affected by the butterfly effect, the central figure in the European royal family had now become Franz, not him, this European great uncle.

From Edward VII’s reaction, it was clear that the "relatives" in Vienna Palace had not given any favors.

After calming down, Edward VII soon reconciled himself to the reality. When national interests were involved, it didn’t work well for anyone.

The war had progressed to a point where it was not simply stoppable by saying stop.

The British public’s anti-war cries were high, mainly due to the bombing and shortage of supplies; life was nearly unbearable.

But the Holy Roman Empire was different; from top to bottom, they wanted to pull down the Great Britain Empire and drink and eat as the world’s new leader.

Now, Britannia’s desire for a peace negotiation couldn’t come without stringent conditions, just as demanded in the telegram:

1. Transfer all colonies;

2. Independence for Ireland, Scotland, and Wales;

3. Compensate all the participant nations of the Continental Alliance for their losses.

Apart from the third clause concerning compensation for losses, where no specific figures were given and room for negotiation still existed, the first two clauses were mandatory. Only if these were met could discussions proceed; otherwise, negotiations were unnecessary.

Under such conditions, if Edward VII dared to agree, it would take no more than three days before Buckingham Palace would have a new owner.

Despite knowing the outcome was not promising, George, who was nearby, couldn’t help but ask, "Father, what does the telegram say?"

"See for yourself!"

As Edward VII spoke, he handed over the telegram. It was evident that his mood was very low; he didn’t even want to talk much.

"This is impossible! It’s simply excessive. The great British Empire definitely cannot tolerate..."

Before his son could finish pouring out his thoughts, Edward VII interrupted, "Don’t talk about these useless things; there’s no point.

Franz is so assertive only because our performance on the battlefield was poor, making him think the Holy Roman Empire holds the winning cards.

The war has been raging for over half a year, and the Empire has been defeated at every turn, never having won a major battle.

Now, with nations around the world joining the Continental Alliance, the enemy’s strength is growing like a rolling snowball. If I were in their place, I would do the same."

Calmness was Edward VII’s greatest strength, even in such an unfavorable situation, he was still able to think rationally without blaming others.

George said, "But we..."

"No buts! In this age of survival of the fittest, weakness is the greatest sin.

In the past, when Britain was powerful, it treated other nations the same way, even more aggressively.

Now that Britain’s power is waning and it has fallen behind in the international competition, it’s our turn to suffer.

Unless we can turn the tide in the upcoming war, the final cease-fire agreement will only be worse." Edward VII said with deep conviction. freewёbnoνel.com

After listening to his father’s explanation, George’s frown deepened, "This ceasefire agreement, I fear, won’t be accepted by the public, and for the royal family..."

Perhaps due to tradition, Queen Victoria disliked Edward, believing him too insubstantial to bear the great responsibilities of being a king.

Now Edward looked unfavorably upon his son, George, feeling utterly hopeless about his political responsiveness.

Fortunately, Edward VII was not a transmigrator; otherwise, knowing George’s historic act of renouncing monarchal powers, he would have had to find a way to replace him.

"Accept the ceasefire agreement"?

What a joke. How could such matters be handled by the royal family?

The entire nation could testify that since the outbreak of the war, the respected Edward VII had fallen ill, and all governmental duties had been delegated to the Cabinet Government.

Anyone with any political sense knew that the delegation was not just of power but also of responsibility.

From the beginning to the end, Edward VII had never been involved in this war. Even if there were intentions to cause trouble, it was always behind cover.

Since he hadn’t participated, no matter how severe the consequences, they couldn’t touch the royal family; all responsibilities lay with the Cabinet Government.

Now, maintaining contact with the Habsburg Dynasty was just adding an extra layer of insurance to ensure that, after defeat, the royal family would not be held accountable.

...

As the capitalists planned their escapes, the royal family and nobility busied themselves with preparing for the fallout. The eggshell-treading London Government once again received devastating news.

On October 2, 1905, after lasting four months, the battle in the Indochina Peninsula concluded. Britain was once again dealt a harsh defeat, and the Continental Army swept through Burma, pointing directly at India.

Before they could mourn, on October 7, 1905, the Suez Canal, which had been obstructed for nearly a year, was reopened.

The Allied Navy could now move freely to the east, and the largest issue restraining the Continental Army’s invasion of India—logistics—could now be solved via the sea.

The Allied Navy dared to divide its forces, but it didn’t mean the Royal Navy could afford to. Using the Mediterranean’s inner routes was much closer than the circuitous routes used by the Royal Navy.

If the Royal Navy divided its forces, they would certainly be caught off-guard by the Allied Fleet using the time difference, endangering the homeland’s security.

But without dividing forces to reinforce, the connection between India and the homeland would be severed, leaving them to fight alone.

Just imagine the scene of the Indian Colonial Army vs. the Continental Army—how utterly tragic. Without India, what would remain of the "Empire" in ’Great British Empire’?

Faced with a deadly dilemma, the British Government had to choose between "India" and the "homeland." Without any doubt, this was a death sentence.

Before the British Government could make a decision, the previously hesitant nations of the Oceanic Alliance made theirs in an instant—they disembarked, prepared to do anything to abandon ship.

Even nations that hadn’t finalized conditions, like Japan and the United States, immediately distanced themselves from the British, hoping to minimize their association as adversaries of the Continental Alliance as much as possible.

With everyone jumping ship, the lonely John Bull could naturally no longer continue fighting. If they didn’t negotiate while they still had some leverage, waiting any longer would only...