Chapter 500 Eat it all and wipe it clean
Franz naturally knew what was happening in Silesia, but there was not much he could do. It can be said that the reasons for poverty in Silesia include, but are not limited to, backward production methods and systems, traditional concepts, technology, national policies, natural and man-made disasters Result of joint action.
The first is the tax collector system that has continued since the time of Frederick the Great. Secondly, it is inevitable that the cottage industry will be impacted by modern industry. Technological innovations and mechanical inventions have exacerbated today's predicament.
At the same time, Berlin demanded too much from Silesia, but subsidized it too little, and even deliberately restricted its development.
This is not only because this land was taken from Austria, but also because there are a large number of Poles living on it.
According to contemporary estimates, the Prussian government took at least more than one billion francs in money and supplies from Silesia in the first fifty years of the nineteenth century.
This number is very terrible, equivalent to this small province paying the equivalent of half Hungary in taxes every year.
Then there were natural disasters that caused harvest failures in parts of Prussia, but only Silesia had the highest number of people starving to death. Among them, there were 2,000 people in 1841, 3,000 people in 1842, and 6,000 people in 1843. In 1844, the harvest failed again.
Among them, the Prussian government and local nobles have always played the role of villains; the gentlemen concealed the actual local situation, while the inspectors sent by Berlin's top leaders neglected their duties and hastily submitted reports to the superiors without investigation.
The relief work was also very ridiculous, and the famine in Silesia after 1838 finally could not be concealed. The government allocated money to local nobles, who used it directly to grow feed, causing grain prices to rise further.
Later, he also sent seeds, clothes and paper to the people affected by the disaster. You must know that the weavers at that time were almost uneducated and had no pens in their hands. Paper could only be used for wiping butts and was considered too hard.
By the way, toilet paper in the modern sense only became popular in 1857. At this time, Europe had all kinds of strange tools after using the toilet, and one of the most outrageous ones was probably the gooseneck.
Yes, those kings would wipe their butts with the swan's neck, which was said to give the buttocks an extraordinary pleasure.
"Using it to make toilet paper has the softness of down and the warmth of a goose. This warmth will pass through the large and small intestines and reach the brain and heart." - John Harrington, minister of the time of Elizabeth I.
After Franz learned this story, he could no longer look directly at the word swan neck.
Back to the topic, tens of thousands of weavers were affected by the disaster in 1843. As a result, the local government only sent 146 kilograms of frozen rotten potatoes, causing thousands of people to starve to death.
One thing that was better about Silesia at this time than in history was that Austria was in the German Customs Union, and Franz vigorously promoted immigration policies, so more than half of the people who should have starved to death went to Austria.
Compared with the future prince, there were others who paid more attention to the trends in the Prussian textile industry center at this time, namely British Prime Minister Robert Peel and the current leader of the Polish Restoration Army, Landry Promy.
The reason why the former pays attention to this point is very simple, that is, to avenge the miners' strike.
After all, Europa is still in a "peaceful period" at this time. Before everyone breaks up, they can only make small moves behind the scenes.
However, now that they had the experience of dealing with the French, they were already familiar with dealing with the Prussians; coupled with Hannova's ambiguous attitude, this made the British action more effective, and soon a large amount of weapons and ammunition flowed into Silesia area.
At the same time, the spies they sent also began to incite the weavers to riot, but it was soon discovered that those people on the verge of bankruptcy did not even need a single spark.
The weavers who could not afford to eat and survive were already a volcano waiting to erupt at any time, and the local Prussian government obviously did not prepare a response.
But there is only one small problem, that is, the number of weavers is too small and is on a downward trend. At this time, there are only more than 30,000 people. Even if they can all be organized, they may not have much impact on the Kingdom of Prussia.
Moreover, most of these people are children, women, and the elderly, and two-thirds of them have varying degrees of physical deformity; almost all of them have lung diseases, and their fighting and destructive capabilities are very limited.
At the same time, because they belong to many lords and are far apart from each other, it is difficult to organize.
The Polish Restoration Army's focus on Silesia was naturally due to London's contribution. Although the Anglo-French alliance was not formed, Poland successfully connected with the British line.
From the perspective of Great Britain, the more chaotic Europe is, the happier it is, and Poland is undoubtedly the most suitable troublemaker at this time.
However, in the eyes of Landry Promy, the value of Silesian weavers was limited. They could not donate money or materials to the Polish Nationalist Army, and they also lacked a lofty ideal of reviving Poland.
Moreover, Poland's restoration movement was at a low ebb at this time, and it was obviously not a wise choice to offend Prussia. As for the promises made by Britain and France, he could not see any sincerity.
As a result, Landry Prome did not intend to wade into the muddy waters of the Weavers' Rebellion, and he spent more of his energy on supporting local pro-Polish forces.
At this time, the Berlin court was unaware of what was brewing in Silesia, and Wilhelm IV was still waiting for news of the victorious return of his finance minister, Friedrich List.
After all, monopolizing the distribution rights of British goods and saving the country through curves is not a bad idea. At that time, the German region had a fascination for English goods, while French goods were synonymous with luxury.
Austrian products are cheap industrial products, while local products are synonymous with fake ones. Historically, German industry started by imitating, but it soon formed its own characteristics.
But this process is obviously much slower at this time, because the market is full of Austrian industrial products.
Austrian products are good and cheap, so the profits from counterfeiting are not high, and imitation is also very difficult. What is even more worrying is that this country has the ability to enforce transnational laws.
But it’s a good thing for the nobles and the people. After all, who doesn’t want to buy the best goods at the least cost?
But from a country's perspective, this is not a good thing; it means that they have to rely on Austria's production capacity.
If there is a conflict between the two countries, we will be in a very disadvantageous position.
However, the game and competition in trade have little impact on small countries. After all, they themselves are inherently deficient and have long been accustomed to this kind of life of judging people's faces.
But for powerful countries such as Prussia and Bavaria, it is very painful and dangerous.
However, most of the German princes did not have much objection to Austria's possible control of the German Customs Union and even the entire German Confederation. After all, it was only about fifty years before the end of the Holy Roman Empire.
But Prussia is different. It is too big, and its past grievances with Austria have caused it to find ways to check and balance its southern neighbor.
At this time, Friedrich List received a cold reception in London, which puzzled him. Because no matter how you look at it, the alliance between Britain and Prussia is a more favorable situation for the former.