Holy Roman Empire

The economic crisis erupted suddenly, and the Franc currency could no longer hold its value. In just a few short days, the value of the currency plummeted by 28.7%, shocking the world. Nôv(el)B\\jnn

France is one of the world’s three giants, ranked fifth in economic volume, with military strength second only to one.

When the Paris Government sneezes, the world trembles three times. Such a behemoth, yet its financial system proved to be so fragile that it buckled after just one round of attacks.

After completing the harvest, the finance group began to withdraw, leaving international hot money to bear the fury of the French.

Just as: "Quietly I came, left with a grand flourish, waving my sleeves, not taking a single cloud away."

They didn’t take away a single cloud, but they did take away a vast amount of Divine Shield, British Pounds, and gold.

It seemed as if by a tacit agreement, the France finance group arrived belatedly to join the resisting forces only after the Anglo-Austria-led international consortium had pulled out.

Without the capital bigwigs, the remaining group of individual speculators naturally was no match for the French finance group.

Watching the French finance group make a name for themselves in one battle and seemingly become heroes of France overnight, Napoleon IV was livid with anger, and as a result, many vases in the Palace of Versailles were replaced.

Capital invasion into politics, the absolute advantage built since the Napoleon III Era, was now no longer in place.

...

In the Vienna Palace, seeing the ordeal of the French government, Franz also felt a sense of sorrow for the like-minded.

After the economic crisis, the strength of the French finance group increased greatly, further strengthening their influence over the government. The future French Empire was set to become even more lively.

After a simple breakfast, dispelling these troublesome thoughts, Franz was preparing to bask in the soft sunshine when an unexpected visitor arrived.

Foreign Minister Weisenberg came to report: "Your Majesty, last night a worker uprising erupted in Lyon, and there are signs of the situation in France going out of control."

For a great power, external threats are no longer fatal. What can truly bring them down is only themselves.

Undoubtedly, France is such a great power. At least in this era, it is so. As long as they do not face a united front against them, there’s no single power capable of annihilating France.

A levee a thousand miles long may be destroyed by an ant hole; even a powerful nation cannot withstand internal strife.

The Lyon worker uprising was just the beginning. As long as the problems of the economic crisis were not resolved, France would not stabilize.

Franz asked in confusion: "Hasn’t the French government already distributed relief food? Why did an uprising still occur?"

This was a good policy established during the Napoleon III Era, where the French working class received unemployment relief.

Under this favorable policy, although the workers’ movements in France were still thriving, uprisings rarely occurred.

Weisenberg explained: "According to the analysis of messages from the embassy, the initial judgment is that it’s related to the devaluation of the Franc.

Due to the impact of currency devaluation, France’s prices have skyrocketed, and the original unemployment assistance can no longer meet the daily expenses of the workers."

Franz nodded his head and did not rush to conclude. Generally speaking, crazy price inflation is caused by multiple factors working together.

Inflation is only one of those factors, and it typically works slowly. It is not possible that today the Franc devalues and immediately prices soar; the market also needs time to react.

Compared to that, Franz was more inclined to believe that hoarding and scarcity of goods led to the sharp increase in prices.

After hesitating for a moment, Franz still decided to kick someone when they were down, "Secretly fund the Italian Independence Organization with a grant for their activities, and let them strike when the time is right."

Although Franz had little faith in the Italian independence movement, he was still willing to add some trouble for the French government.

"Yes, Your Majesty!" Foreign Minister Weisenberg replied.

After a pause, he added, "Your Majesty, according to the intelligence collected by our embassies, due to financial pressure, Alexander III has granted newly occupied territories as rewards to his meritorious subjects.

As a result, unrest of varying degrees has occurred in the Polish, East-West Prussia Region recently occupied by the Russians.

The Tsarist Government’s Governor of Königsberg has conveyed through the Colonial Company a desire for us to relax immigration restrictions."

This was a side effect of the Cossack cavalry’s combat operations; the already meager popular support for the Tsarist Government in the area had been completely exhausted.

Now, winning back public support was impossible; at least until this generation passed away, it was an effort not worth the cost.

If the Russians wanted to rebuild a ruling base in the area, they needed to support a new ruling class. From this perspective, Alexander III’s decision was not wrong.

Rather than supporting unreliable locals, it was better to replace them with their own people. By using the land as a bounty, the government could save a substantial amount of expenses.

Similar actions had been taken by Austria on the Balkan Peninsula, only before they moved; most of the local population had already been resettled, so there was no chaos.

After thinking for a moment, Franz said, "We can make contact with the Russians, under the name of the Colonial Company—that way, the government doesn’t need to get involved directly.

However, we still cannot relax the immigration conditions. We just need to get rid of the local Teutons or the already Germanized minorities."

Even after the baptism of war, the total population of Russia Poland+Baltic+Belarus+East and West Prussia all added up was still nearly ten million.

Unable to win the hearts of the locals, these people were the most significant source of instability for the Tsarist Government.

If the Tsarist Government had enough executive power and financial resources, they could have plucked out the stubborn elements, executed them, and then resettled the rest, slowly assimilating them.

Unfortunately, that was impossible. The Tsarist Government lacked both the execution power and the financial strength.

This might have been feasible during the time of the big-bearded Tsars; they could have all been sent to plant potatoes. Before that era, no Tsarist Government possessed such formidable executive capabilities.

The Russians couldn’t do it, and Austria couldn’t afford it. Accepting a large number of minorities at once would be a fatal blow to the assimilation effort.

Even ethnic integration has its limits; once exceeded, things can start moving in the opposite direction.

Without enough incentives, Franz naturally wouldn’t take on Russia’s mess.

From Austria’s perspective, having these people who harbored animosity towards the Tsarist Government dragging Russia down was more than welcome.

...

Influenced by the workers’ uprising in Lyon, the Parisians, naturally accustomed to revolutionary acts in the Revolutionary Holy Land, could not be outdone.

On December 11, 1881, the Parisians launched a massive protest, with hundreds of thousands of French people taking to the streets in support of the Lyon workers’ uprising.

Like firecrackers going off, France began to explode. On December 12, following suit, a workers’ uprising erupted in Toulouse,