Holy Roman Empire - Chapter 143

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The Russians really know how to pick their moment, the deadline of their ultimatum happens to be December 24th, and the next day is Christmas.

Whether to stubbornly resist to the end or to choose to compromise, the Prussians wouldn’t get to celebrate Christmas this year. Delaying a few days before issuing the final ultimatum to the Prussian Government, there was also an intent to disgustingly irritate Frederick William IV.

Berlin

Upon receiving the ultimatum from the Russians, the Kingdom of Prussia was in an uproar, with the War Party and the Peace Party in endless disputes, and the plan to incite Polish independence was brought up again.

Prime Minister Joseph von Radovich said excitedly, “It’s no use, Poland will never become a force to be reckoned with. Even if we give up Prussian Poland and let them declare independence, it won’t stop the Russian forces.

On the contrary, doing so will enrage the Russians, and they will join forces with Austria and France to attack us. The Kingdom of Prussia can’t possibly win this war!”

The newly appointed Foreign Minister Alfa disdainfully said, “Prime Minister, don’t be an alarmist, at most we will only be fighting the Russians.

The French are too caught up in intense internal strife; whatever the president supports, the parliament opposes, and any law passed by the parliament is vetoed by the president. How could they possibly get involved in this war?

This time Austria is on our side, even if the Austrian Government has ulterior motives, the Austrian people are our staunch allies.

If the Austrian Government dares to join hands with the Russians to attack us, a revolution will break out within their country before they can even act. They can’t afford to take that risk.”

Pausing for a moment, he continued to agitate, “The Russian Empire is already in decay. This great empire is ripe for piercing. Since they stand against us, why not pierce through them?

As long as we take a stand this time, the entire population of the Germany Region will become our loyal supporters, and the great enterprise of uniting Germany will be completed in our hands.”

Unfortunately, the top echelons of the Prussian Government are no longer naïve teenagers. The Russian Empire may be in decay, but this decaying empire is not something Prussia can challenge.

Ally’s strength? Don’t make me laugh, it’s good enough to cheat some naïve teenagers, but where does Prussia find allies?

The many sub-states of Germany are all too keen to see trouble without getting involved; each one shouts slogans that shake the heavens, but when it comes down to confronting Russia, they each have a different interpretation.

If you analyze it carefully, you’ll find that the so-called defense of the integrity of the German Federation’s territory does not include parts of Prussian Poland and East Prussia.

This is a glaring pitfall, and once Prussia jumps in, it will have to face Russia alone. Of course, there is still support, and there are plenty of countries that are displeased with the Russians.

Finance Minister Holder said coldly, “Mr. Alfa, unless all the sub-states of Germany declare war on Russia simultaneously, we alone cannot possibly win this war.

Perhaps you haven’t noticed, but to support the Prussia-Denmark war, we have spent the last Gold Coin in the treasury. As early as six months ago, government civil servants were unable to receive their full salaries, and for the last three months, they haven’t received a penny.

Under national mobilization, our strategic materials will last at most for half a month of combat. Unless our troops can win this war within half a month, there’s no need to start it.”

Lack of money is one of the biggest problems. The Prussia-Denmark war has been raging since March of last year. There was a ceasefire in the middle, but the armies of both countries were still in a standoff.

The finances of the Kingdom of Prussia are perennially in deficit, and to support this war, they have tried every possible way to raise military funds.

Now they really have no other options left. They can’t borrow international loans; government bonds issued are ignored in the financial market, and the citizens have already drained their wallets donating to support the war.

Even to raise funds, they did not hesitate to swallow their pride and beg for help from the people of the Germany Region. Although they received a decent amount of money, by the time it reached the hands of the Prussian Government, there was very little left.

Lack of money is just one aspect, another is that they truly cannot win the war. In the age of line infantry, the human wave attack is one of the most effective tactics.

There’s no defense along the Prusso-Russian border, and once the war breaks out, the Prussian Army’s main force will be bogged down, and once the Cossack cavalry arrives at the heartland of the Kingdom of Prussia, they’re done for.

“The Russians are interfering, and the Prussia-Denmark war can no longer continue. At this time, the most important thing is to find a way to persuade the citizens, to explain to them the predicament we are facing, and to make them understand the difficulties of the government.

This issue should be addressed by the Prime Minister himself, while the Foreign Ministry sends people to communicate with the Russians, reopens negotiations with the Kingdom of Denmark, and invites Austria to join in mediating this war.

To show our sincerity, once the negotiation starts, the Kingdom of Prussia shall lift the national mobilization,” Frederick William IV said, unhurriedly making arrangements.

On December 23, 1849, under the armed mediation of the Russians, the Prussian Government announced it would accept the Russians’ suggestion, restart the Prussia-Denmark negotiation, and simultaneously lift the national mobilization.

As soon as the news came out, the Germany Region was in an uproar. Anti-Russian sentiment among the people began to rise, and their disappointment with the Prussian Government also started to grow.

When the Kingdom of Prussia was mobilizing nationally, everyone was deeply touched, with many donating money and goods. Now, all of a sudden, the Prussian Government backed down; wasn’t this a waste of everyone’s feelings?

The Prussian Government backed down, but what about the Schleswig-Holstein Duchies? In the eyes of the public, this was a matter of principle that could not be given up.

All eyes were now on Vienna, as the leader of the German sub-states, the Austrian Government had to take a clear stance at this time.

Metternich, the old diplomat, how could he possibly jump in to take the blame for Prussia?

On Christmas Day, Austria’s Foreign Ministry announced, “The Austrian Government will convene a Federal Assembly soon, with representatives from the Federal Assembly joining this round of negotiations.

Before that, the Austrian Government hopes the Kingdom of Prussia can take on the responsibility of a great power and hold on to the Schleswig-Holstein Duchies.”

At this time, everyone remembered that there was still a Federal Assembly in the Germany Region.

However, for the Prussian Government, the emergence of the Federal Assembly at this time was nothing but trouble.

Compromise was certainly impossible in the Federal Assembly, as everyone had their pride to consider.

Even if the Federal Assembly decided to declare war on Russia, it would just be a matter for Austria and Prussia; the other sub-states in the rear wouldn’t be affected, so what was there to fear?

The idea of getting the Federal Assembly to agree to give up the Schleswig-Holstein Duchies was unthinkable.

If Prussia gave up the Schleswig-Holstein Duchies, all the responsibility would fall on them.

By this time, rumors had already spread that the Prussian Government had taken advantage of everyone’s patriotic zeal to instigate this war in order to divert domestic conflicts, which was extremely detrimental to the public opinion of the Prussian Government.

In the year 1849, the Christmas that the people throughout the Germany Region celebrated was not a good one; newspapers were filled with news of the Prussia-Denmark war, and the festive atmosphere was diluted.

To express his dissatisfaction with the Prussian Government’s withdrawal, Franz ordered the cancellation of Christmas celebrations. There would be no court banquets, and government celebrations would not take place.

The Russians’ attitude was very tough. If the borders between the two countries were not restored to pre-war conditions within a month, the Tsarist troops would invade the Kingdom of Prussia, which directly dashed any hopes the Prussian Government had of striking a deal.

The Prussian Government was not foolish and knew that dragging out the matter would only cause more problems. Negotiations hadn’t even started, and the Prussian Army had already begun withdrawing from the Jutland Peninsula.

One factor was that they were out of money. Maintaining a large army deep in enemy territory was a significant logistical pressure. Since it was decided to make concessions, it would be better to retreat early to save on expenses.

Vienna Schoenbrunn Palace

Franz was in a bad mood; the Prussian Government had caved too quickly, making it impossible to use negotiations to bide for time.

He now finally understood why so many people who embezzled public funds were caught—it was because too many unexpected situations made it difficult to control effectively.

Investing in the food processing industry, the factory had just been established. If one wanted to make money, at the very least, one had to wait until the factory was up and running.

The mines in which he had invested weren’t doing much better. It was too soon; they had barely been developed effectively.

The only mine that was being actively exploited was the quarry, but since the construction of the railway had just begun, while the profits were good, they were merely a drop in the ocean.

The total savings of the Royal Bank had reached 2.7689 million shields. With the bank’s monthly administrative expenses at 18,000 shields needing to be deducted, and some funds reserved for the bank’s operation, there wasn’t much money left to fill the gaps.

Theoretically, from the donations, three million shields should have become bank deposits, but this, too, was an uncertainty that Franz did not dare to risk.

At the year-end closing, the Habsburg Family’s assets were actually substantial, but to rashly transfer them to fill his own holes could easily cause internal strife.

These assets already had a mature management system in place. Franz, aside from supervising operations, only took his share each year.

Since his uncle was still alive, his share as the head of the Habsburg Family was significantly reduced, amounting to a profit share of just three hundred thousand shields.

If it weren’t for the fact that it was almost the end of the year and the royal pension was due, Franz really wouldn’t know how he was going to fill this gap. He couldn’t very well shamelessly borrow money, could he?

Or was he supposed to hold onto the donations that had been sent to the government? He believed the Finance Ministry wouldn’t be so tactless as to come over and pressure His Majesty the Emperor to repay the money.

Since the royal pension had to be used to fill the gap, the Vienna Court naturally had to cut back on unnecessary expenses. Reducing court banquets was one measure, and the situation with Prussia just provided an excuse.

Franz had someone calculate precisely; the various court banquets of the Vienna Court each year, when added together, cost no less than five hundred thousand shields, and if they were extravagant, one million shields would not be enough.

“Your Majesty, the Prussia-Denmark war is about to end, and for the sake of the bank’s credibility, we need to prepare to return the donations,” John Steward reminded him.

The most important thing for a bank is its credibility. For the sake of the Royal Bank’s reputation, Franz even gave up the opportunity to embezzle a huge amount of donations.

Otherwise, the donations that entered the Royal Bank would have vanished long ago. By declaring all of it was transferred to the Prussian Government, the case would become an unsolved mystery.

Franz thought for a moment and said, “Hold a press conference, explain the course of events clearly, invite Prussian representatives and public notaries to attend, and check the accounts once.

Announce to the public: If the negotiations go well, after they end, we will begin returning the unused portion of the donations. Have everyone bring the receipts issued by the bank at the time of donation, and go to the original point of donation for a proportional refund.

This year’s royal pension will be deposited directly into the Royal Bank, and the dividends from the royal assets will also be put into the bank. The funding gap is not an issue.

Also, settle the previous affairs quickly, complete the commercial loan procedures, and leave no traces whatsoever.”

“Yes, Your Majesty,” John Steward answered.

With money, many problems can be easily solved. Once the financial gap was filled and the loan formalities were completed, the matter was considered resolved.

After this series of actions, the act of Franz diverting the donations became a legitimate commercial loan obtained from the bank, and those assets were thereby laundered.