Chapter 397 “Newcomers Join the Alliance”

Chapter 397 “Newcomers Join the Alliance”

Prussia, Berlin.

William IV was the country in Germany that was most opposed to the Netherlands joining the Customs Union. The only reason was that the Dutch industry and commerce were too strong and they also had overseas colonies. The only thing they lacked was the market.

If left unchecked, the sea coachman may be resurrected in the same place. As a result, Prussia's advantage in North Germany was even smaller, and the most terrifying thing was that both were big flying fish countries.

At this time, the country that consumes the most flying fish in the world is Austria. In the past, under the protection of the German Customs Union, Prussia could adjust the price of flying fish unscrupulously. No matter how cheap the flying fish from the Netherlands was, it would not be able to buy it.

But things are different now. After joining the German Customs Union, the Netherlands gained the same status as Prussia. They had no reason to watch and not make money.

The result is that a large number of flying fish will flood into the German market, which will directly cause the price of flying fish to fall. This is a good thing for Austrians who have to observe fast on Friday. After all, the price of flying fish has dropped, and more people can afford to eat flying fish.

But this is not the case for Prussia, which means that the Feiyu market will change from a seller's market to a buyer's market in the future.

As for wanting to reach an agreement with the Netherlands to control market prices, not to mention that the other country’s relationship with Austria is far better than its relationship with Prussia. If we calculate it based on its own production and consumption, it is impossible to let the flying fish it has worked so hard to rot. Lose.

The Netherlands' own consumer market is very small and its fishery resources are extremely rich. It is impossible to get them to give up dumping.

Of course, it is almost impossible for Prussia to prevent the Netherlands from joining the German Customs Union, because the Dutch control a large number of colonies overseas, which is what the German states lack.

However, because the Dutch have a large amount of capital in their hands, and they are very likely to use this capital to invest in the German region, the poor and small states are not so disgusted.

If Prussia wants to maintain its status as the largest power in North Germany, it needs to oppose the Netherlands' entry into the German Customs Union. However, one wave after another has arisen.

Following the Netherlands, Hanover also requested to join the German Customs Union on the grounds that they had drawn a clear line with Britain and sided with the German Confederation.

Now Prussia really had a headache, because no matter what the relationship between Hanover and Britain was, the relationship between the Hanover royal family and the British royal family was broken to the bone.

If they want to engage in smuggling, it is not easy.

The Hanovers do business with the British all year round and are considered very wealthy, and their shipping industry is relatively developed. Although their relations with Denmark are poor, they have good relations with Norway and Sweden.

If Hanover is added to the German Customs Union, a large number of imported products will definitely enter the German market, which will also have an impact on Prussian industry and commerce.

But these impacts are very weak for Austria, and it can even export culture and goods in reverse.

Faced with this situation, William IV almost vomited blood, and his opposition was useless, because the Netherlands' joining the German Customs Union had been agreed with Austria long ago, and Hanover Austria had no reason to object.

At this time, the reputation of the Austrian Empire was at its peak, and other small states would naturally follow its lead.

At this time, the Prussian finance minister sadly discovered that they were transforming into an agricultural country. Even if they occupied the Rhineland, they would have no advantage against Austria. Especially after the addition of the Principality of Liege, Prussia's market further shrunk.

The Prussian Foreign Minister proposed to borrow the power of the British, but this was collectively opposed by the Junker nobles and nationalists, because now getting involved with the British was simply asking for death.

But William IV still gave it a try, but the newly appointed Robert Peel cabinet did not want to interfere too much in European affairs, because the internal labor movement, economic crisis, and wars in colonies around the world had already made it overwhelmed. .

(As mentioned earlier, the number of British civil servants has always remained at 3,000. This is the pride of the British, but an organization of this size obviously does not have enough ability to rule this huge empire.

As a result, a large number of temporary workers and external personnel flooded the government. It would be better if the British Empire could remain strong, or if its leaders were extremely shrewd.

But once there is a downturn, they will accelerate the rate of collapse. )

Robert Peel was a reformer who saw the crisis that Britain was facing at this time. He felt that the reason for the rise of the labor movement was because the gap between rich and poor was too wide.

As a result, the reformer levied an income tax and adopted a progressive tax rate. This may not matter to the poor, but it is more uncomfortable for the wealthy businessmen than killing them.

Many people protested, but Robert Peel's tough attitude caused some wealthy businessmen to flee to the United States and France, but in fact it significantly increased domestic taxes.

At the same time, Robert Peel also restructured the Bank of England to make it more efficient and inject funds into some important industries and colonies. The drastic reforms quickly alleviated the crisis of the economic crisis, and at the same time the labor movement also declined.

In order to better implement the reforms, he also established a well-trained police team to monitor the results of the reforms.

Robert Peel pursued free trade and supported lowering import tariffs, while protecting the interests of industrial and commercial capital and actively exploring markets.

In particular, trade with the United States has picked up significantly. This is the first time that trade between the two sides has increased since the economic crisis in 1837.

He learned the lessons of the Whig Party and stopped dealing with European powers. Instead, he began to invade India, South Africa, Southeast Asia, Central America, South America, and Ireland.

Among them, Ireland and Honduras were the areas he exploited the most. The former was closest to Britain, while the latter had gold and few native people.

(At that time, Honduras was considered the most populous country in the Central American Federation, but it was still too small in the eyes of the great powers.)

Robert Peel's reform of Ireland was to turn it completely into the pastureland of the British Empire. Under his operations, the Irish held even less land, and large tracts of land were labeled exclusively British.

The harsh tax rates are daunting, but the Irish don't seem to react because they are used to them.

Prussia was at odds with the rest of the German Confederation, which Robert Peel saw as a good thing.

However, he preferred to watch Prussia struggle in the German Confederation than to personally help Prussia. After the discord within the Confederation grew, Prussia could only rely on Britain.

And Britain was not alone in hoping that Prussia would be left alone in the German Confederation.

As for Austria's growing strength, the first headache should be for the French.

This is a good opportunity to break up the alliance between them. What Britain needs at this time is to recuperate rather than confront the entire European continent.