Chapter 10 Undercurrent
Berlin
William III looked at the Austrian credentials placed on the table and slapped the table hard.
"The Austrians shamelessly asked to join us!"
Seeing His Majesty the King so angry, most of the Prussian senior officials remained unmoved. There are even many people who are speaking for Austria, and they are speaking out loudly.
"Only the German Zollverein Union that includes Austria can be called the true German Zollverein Union."
These words made William III very angry. Why did he raise such a group of white-eyed wolves?
Of course, the white-eyed wolf will also look at the situation, and immediately change the subject when the situation is not good.
"Brandenburg's destiny is to receive the legacy of the Holy Roman Empire, annex Austria, expel Hungary, and establish a truly German state."
After hearing this, William III's anger subsided slightly.
Obviously, it was Metternich's gold-dollar offensive that had an effect. After all, the interests of the country are not as real as the money in your own hands.
There is no shortage of greedy people in any country, and there is no shortage of loyal people.
Prussian Finance Minister Mertz was this kind of person. As the initiator and actual manager of the German Customs Union, he knew very well how much trouble the Austrians had caused.
First, they sat back and watched the emergence of three customs unions in Germany. Then, like the British, they stayed outside the various alliance systems and kept the three alliances in a tripartite situation, intending to let Prussia continue to decline due to internal friction.
But fortunately, the Sino-German business alliance itself was not stable. There were endless arguments over the issue of internal unified tariffs, and finally fell apart.
The South German Customs Union is sandwiched between France and Austria. The relatively small space makes it difficult for them to do anything.
Soon after, the Sino-German Commercial Alliance and the South German Customs Union collapsed one after another, but the Austrians did not give up and successively attracted Saxony and South German states in an attempt to form a customs union of their own, but nothing happened.
"Your Majesty, Austria must not be allowed to join. Our industry is still too fragile. The Austrians have a first-mover advantage over us. If the Austrians are allowed to enter the German Zollverein, endless logging will be waiting for us."
"Then the Austrians will use the money they plunder from us to buy our resources and then make them into goods and sell them to us. One day, we will become their slaves like the Irish."
"Gentlemen, what should we do?" William III asked.
"Austria must be excluded, otherwise we can only set up trade barriers and carry out trade protection."
“Isn’t the purpose of our establishment of the German Customs Union to eliminate trade barriers and carry out free market trade?”
"That is under the premise that we can harvest others, rather than letting others harvest us."
The man fell silent, but the discussion became louder. Prime Minister Wei Lixi knew how to persuade these idiots who did not understand economics, so he shouted loudly.
"Damn it! The Austrians must be excluded! If Hungarian food is allowed in, who will our food be sold to?"
This statement immediately received a response from the Junkers and landowners.
What they don't know is that at this moment, there is a group of people like them in Hungary.
Budapest
"Damn it! Damn it! The emperor actually wants to join the German Customs Union. What should we Hungary do?"
"What's wrong with this? It will be cheaper to buy things in the future. I'm tired of always buying Austrian products. This time I went shopping in Berlin. I heard that the prostitutes there are serious."
"What serious nonsense! Let Prussian grain come in, and who will sell our grain to!"
The Hungarian landowners immediately responded, "We must not allow Prussian grain to enter Hungary! If the emperor does not accept our plea, we will fight to Vienna!" The roar was loud.
Prince Elthazy was just silently watching the crazy crowd in a corner. Although he also liked to say that, he knew very well that Hungary could not defeat Austria at this time, otherwise it would not be as simple as shouting slogans.
In addition, he missed his palace in Vienna a little bit. As far as the entertainment industry is concerned, Vienna is centuries ahead of Budapest.
Hanover.
"What? The Austrians actually want to join the German Zollverein? What are they thinking! Aren't they afraid of the outflow of gold?"
"If Austria can join, so can we," one minister said.
"Are you an idiot? Are those Germans rich? Let us use real money and silver to exchange for Austrian waste paper? Our gold must not be wasted on meaningless competition."
At that time, the signs of economic crisis in the UK had already appeared, and there was a serious shortage of precious metals. The policy adopted by the British government is to raise trade barriers wildly to prevent the outflow of precious metals and cope with possible runs.
Mainstream European countries have followed suit, but Austria's own debt has exceeded the risk level, and there is no point in stockpiling precious metals. On the contrary, this kind of stable but unredeemable banknotes appear safer.
Dresden, Saxony.
“The Austrians intend to join the German Zollverein?”
"Yes, the Prussians asked us to oppose Austria and reject Austria's request to join the German Zollverein."
"Why refuse? Wouldn't it be nice to let the Austrians come in and fight the Prussians? We Saxony is the center of Germany, and neither the Austrians nor the Prussians can do without us. Wouldn't it be nice to let the tigers and wolves fight, and we wait for the opportunity to get the best of us? "
"Your Majesty, you are wise."
Paris France.
The aging Marshal Soult has completely lost the appearance he had when he was a soldier. He has been half asleep and half awake.
"That's it. The Austrians intend to join the Customs Union initiated by the Prussians. The Prussians seem not to let them join, and there are also some internal disturbances among the Austrians. I think we should immediately organize a Franco-Belgian alliance to counter the Austrians." Guizot finished his report and expressed his thoughts.
"Well, I am already old. His Majesty the King trusts me and you. I know you are very capable, and I trust you too. As long as you have a clear conscience and are worthy of His Majesty the King and God." The old marshal only said I wanted to retire peacefully, so I gave up.
"Thank you for your trust. I will do my best to live up to your majesty and your high expectations." Guizot has also become accustomed to Soult's non-stick pan, and he has no time to play Tai Chi with this old man.
The Franco-Belgian League has always been Guizot's dream. Although Belgium had just become independent at this time, it was the first country in the entire European continent to industrialize. The industrial strength is extremely strong and the quality of the people is very high.
Moreover, Belgium is in a unique position. Bringing Belgium into France's sphere of influence will definitely enhance France's strength and influence. One could go a step further and include the entire lowlands in French territory.
Guizot's idea is very good. The Franco-Belgian alliance can indeed advance and attack, retreat and defend, and it can also enhance its commercial competitiveness. But he ignored one of the most important issues, and that was the British.
There is a joke that even a Belgian flying a kite might fly to England. The Low Countries are definitely the opposite of the British. The British would not allow any powerful country to invade the Low Countries. The British had always been afraid that a country would occupy the lowlands and then use the lowlands as a springboard to attack the British mainland.
For Austria to join the German Zollverein, the threat of force like last time may not work. I don’t know why the emperor of the Austrian Empire was so angry that he actually said he wanted to go to war.
The emperor of Austria could have convulsions because that family was not normal. But he, Guizot, could not afford to suffer from convulsions; he and France could not bear the risk.
However, the traitors within Austria can make good use of it. In addition, the Prussians would not be willing to raise their own pigs, so the Austrians cut off their beards.
To be fair, although France looks down upon Austria's industrial strength, the Austrians and Prussians still have a high chance of winning the competition.
The Prussians also knew this, which would make things much easier. Guizot already had a plan to unite the anti-Austrian forces in Austria and the German Zollverein.
Find a way to refuse Austria's accession to the German Customs Union. Once the Austrians enter the German Customs Union, it will no longer be Austria's problem.
It is an internal problem in Germany. Although France has never given up its ambitions in the Rhineland, France at this time is still unable to support his ambitions.