Make France Great Again-Chapter 944 - 935: Rhine Land Political Crisis

Following the successive outbreaks of varying degrees of economic crises in the UK and US, the European Continent was also unable to escape the fate of being affected by the economic crisis.

Among them, the Kingdom of Prussia in the Northern German Region bore the brunt of the economic crisis. As the country with the highest level of industrialization in the entire German Region and the third-largest industrial scale in Europe (the first two being England and France), the Kingdom of Prussia experienced such rapid development after 1850 that it could be said to change dramatically every year. Not to mention its speed of development compared to the old England and France, even when compared to the United States of America, it was on par.

Under Prussia’s rapid development, some ethnic and class contradictions were covered up, and the well-off Prussian citizens turned their political enthusiasm into the pursuit of assets. Few people still remembered the events of 1851.

[PS: Here, class contradiction refers to the contradiction between the Junker landowning class and the industrial bourgeoisie.

In 1851, the Regent of Prussia, in order to win the favor of the Russian Empire, ordered the garrisons in the East Prussia region to enter Berlin together with the homecoming regiment, resulting in the massacre of tens of thousands in Berlin.

The bicameral legislative system was abolished, and the Junker nobility regained control of the entire Kingdom of Prussia.]

Many newspapers controlled by the Junkers even openly touted the Third Estate Meeting, believing that only under the Third Estate Meeting would the Kingdom of Prussia truly prosper.

However, these Junker newspapers seemed to pay no attention to the fact that the Third Level in the Third Estate Meeting, just like the French of old, bore more taxes than the First and Second Levels and received fewer political benefits than the First and Second Levels.

The Third Level, which had struggled to gain rights, completely lost them in the turmoil of 1851.

If it weren’t for Prussia itself still being in a state of rapid development, some of the middle class and industrial bourgeoisie in the Kingdom of Prussia would have already risen in revolt.

However, economic prosperity cannot last forever. During the economic boom, the Kingdom of Prussia under savage development could barely suppress the opposing voices below.

Once the Kingdom of Prussia fell into an economic crisis, the undercurrents hiding below would instantly swallow the Kingdom of Prussia whole.

In mid-December, the economic crisis in the Kingdom of Prussia began to erupt.

On the first day of the economic crisis erupting, the Prussian Kingdom’s railway bonds on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange plummeted at a rate of 10% per hour.

Many investors stationed at the Frankfurt Stock Exchange looked at the numbers on the blackboards in horror, and some investors holding Prussian Kingdom railway bonds, like investors in the United States of America, frantically rushed in, wanting to reclaim their money.

After being hit by the investors, the Frankfurt Stock Exchange briefly fell into chaos.

The entire chaos lasted less than 20 minutes before being halted by the National Army that rushed to the scene. The Frankfurt Stock Exchange took this opportunity to telegraph the news of the stock market decline to the representatives in Berlin and Koblenz (located in the Rhine Region, the capital of the Rheinland Province).

The local stocks in Berlin and Koblenz (mainly related to railways, such as the steel industry and timber market) also plunged dramatically following Frankfurt’s decline, and investors and industrial capitalists in Berlin and Koblenz simultaneously showed expressions of despair as they saw the stocks slide.

By the time the Frankfurt Stock Exchange closed, the Prussian Kingdom’s railway bonds had fallen to less than 60% of the opening value, equivalent to a direct evaporation of 40% of assets.

During the era of laissez-faire capitalism, the concept of a stock not being able to drop further didn’t exist.

The kind of circuit breaker system seen later was, except for France, not established in any country.

So even if the Prussian Kingdom railway bonds fell to only 10% of the opening value, as long as it hadn’t gone bankrupt, it could continue to be listed.

If it actually reached 10%, the railway companies in Prussia would be on the verge of complete bankruptcy.

Incidentally, most of the current railway companies in Prussia are owned by the Prussian Kingdom.

The railway profits are entirely in service of the military’s interests, so Mao Qi could easily have the railway companies follow his arrangements.

Therefore, the decline of the Prussian Kingdom’s railway bonds had a more fatal impact on the entire Prussia than on the United States of America.

On the first day the Prussian railway bonds declined, the market responded with a downward spiral. Close to a hundred companies in the Berlin and Koblenz regions announced bankruptcy, most of which were steel and timber companies.

Many industrial capitalists and bankers began to panic, and people rushed to trading houses with their matured and soon-to-mature promissory notes, willing to exchange them at prices below the note value.

However, the Prussian trading houses currently had not a single cent, as all their money had been invested in industrial capitalists. Now, the trading houses only held promissory notes and stocks from the industrial capitalists.

Many established trading houses, unable to bear the pressure of exchanges, rushed with their promissory notes and bonds to request redemption from the industrial capitalists they had invested in.

At this moment, the industrial capitalists also found themselves unable to redeem the promissory notes due to a lack of orders.

Companies and trading houses are unable to exchange promissory notes, thereby going bankrupt.

Take the renowned Ugube Trading House as an example. This trading house, before the economic crisis, claimed to have deposits worth 20 million marks, winning the trust of Prussian savers.

However, such a "financially strong" trading house declared bankruptcy a week after the crisis began. When the Kingdom of Prussia staff tallied Ugube Trading House’s debts, they found that out of 13 million marks in debt, 7 million marks were in promissory notes. This old trading house held only a pitying 300,000 marks to manage their massive debt.

The unfortunate Prussian savers and holders of Ugube Trading House’s promissory notes could only swallow the bitter fruit of their losses.

A week after the economic crisis, Prussian railway bonds had fallen to less than 25% of their peak (when the French Empire hadn’t massively sold off), and the textile, steel, and coal industries also dropped to half their original value.

The entire development of the Kingdom of Prussia was abruptly severed by the economic crisis, displacing nearly 300,000 workers into society.

Even worse, the decline of the Kingdom of Prussia had no end in sight.

Every day, dozens of companies went bankrupt, with more workers being directed into society.

The unemployed workers and white-collar employees, under the guidance of certain foreign forces and domestic Republicans and nationalists, recalled the tragedy of 1851.

In Prussia, under the organization of constitutionalists, Republicans, and Catholic forces, Koblenz began rounds of marches and demonstrations.

Almost every day, close to ten thousand demonstrators, carrying various slogans, appeared on the streets of Koblenz.

Seeing this, the police and National Army in Koblenz no longer expelled them as before, but instead adopted a laissez-faire attitude.

After all, they were also locals of the Rhine Region, and they dared not strike hard against their fellow countrymen demonstrating.

Especially since among the demonstrators were Catholic individuals. If they actually hit Catholic demonstrators, they would face being "cyber-violently killed" across the Rhine Region.

The Catholic influence in the Rhine Region had a significant impact on the guilds. Many people in the Rhine Region relied on Catholicism from birth to death. In this situation, anyone with a bit of sense would not choose to dig their own grave.

Moreover, the local police and National Army in the Rhine Land harbored deep malice towards the Prussian Protestant rustics from the East who they served.

The intertwining of various factors resulted in the Rhine Land becoming the first turbulent province within the Kingdom of Prussia’s territory.

Upon witnessing this scene, the garrison stationed in Koblenz immediately sent a telegram to the Regent King William in distant Berlin, requesting permission to storm into Koblenz like in 1851 and eliminate the "tumor" of Koblenz.

However, the garrison stationed in Koblenz did not know that the regent in Berlin was also at his wits’ end.

The precipitous fall in Prussian railway bonds not only plunged all industries in the Kingdom of Prussia into crisis but also put the kingdom’s finances on the verge of collapse.

In a bid to save the precarious Prussian railways, William had already invested over 50 million marks, but these marks were like stones thrown into the sea, without causing a ripple.

Just as William I was contemplating further investment to pull up the price of railway bonds, the Minister of Finance informed William I that the Kingdom of Britain was dumping Prussian government bonds on the market.

If the Kingdom of Prussia did not reserve some funds for backing up, its government bonds would follow the same downward path as the railway bonds.

Upon hearing this news, Regent William erupted in curses, "Those damned English! Why must they choose to sell now!"

"Your Majesty, the crisis in the Kingdom of Britain is even more severe!" The Minister of Finance respectfully responded to Regent William, "This has forced them to sell bonds on the European market quickly to sustain their country’s downward spiraling economy!"

"Why don’t they sell French bonds! They also hold plenty of French government bonds!" Regent William cursed again.

"Your Majesty, France also holds a large amount of British government bonds!" replied the Minister of Finance.

"..." Regent William remained silent.

The tragedy of the Kingdom of Prussia lay in its late development.

At this moment, the Minister of War, Ron, also brought shocking news from Koblenz to William I, raising William I’s blood pressure even further.