African Entrepreneurship Records 2

Chapter 1494: William II was sidelined
On the political stage against the backdrop of the German economic crisis, the Labor Party, the bourgeois parties, the nationalist parties, and other forces are all in chaos. Now, the most important thing for the German government is to solve the economic problems first. As long as it can break free from the economic quagmire and boost people's confidence in the economy, Germany still has a chance to land smoothly.

This requires a leader with an iron fist and great wisdom to accomplish this. After all, economic reform is bound to sacrifice the interests of certain powerful interest groups.

Originally, William II had the prestige to promote economic reforms in Germany, because in this time and space, although Germany fought a draw with Britain and France in World War I, it actually gained nearly 50,000 square kilometers of European territory after the war.

Expanding territory has always been one of the important ways for politicians to gain prestige. For example, after India's former Prime Minister Nehru regained the Goa region, his prestige in India almost reached its peak. However, the war with the Far Eastern Empire in 1962 almost made him lose face. Ultimately, his political and economic reforms were greatly affected and failed.

Therefore, the international community and Germany both tacitly acknowledged that the victors of World War I were Germany and other Allied Powers. Although Germany spent a huge amount of manpower, material and financial resources and only obtained 50,000 square kilometers of land, these 50,000 square kilometers of land were European land with a high gold content, even larger than that of the Netherlands.

In addition to this most important political achievement of World War I, William II's achievements before World War I were even more extraordinary.

In terms of industry, during his reign, Germany became the first industrial power in Europe, and its steel, coal, chemical, and electric power industries, etc., all ranked first in Europe.

In terms of military, it created one of the most powerful navies in the world at that time. Even today, the German Navy still has a place in the world. As for the German Army, it has always been relatively strong, but the Air Force, as a new branch of the military, lacks combat record support.

In the field of science and technology, Germany is one of the world's leaders in science and technology today. Precisely because of the strength of German science and technology, Germany is always a topic that cannot be avoided when discussing the field of science and technology. Even East Africa and the United States, two industrial countries that are more powerful than Germany, must admit that Germany is strong in the field of scientific research and technology.

Of course, this does not mean that East Africa and the United States are weaker than Germany in scientific research. It is just that East Africa and the United States have large industrial scale, so Germany's achievements in scientific research appear to be more outstanding.

In short, under the leadership of William II, Germany achieved outstanding results in economy, industry, military, culture, territory and other aspects, which also made William II very prestigious in the hearts of the German people.

However, when dealing with the economic crisis, William II encountered the same problem as during World War I, that is, he was not decisive enough and was indecisive, so he failed to fully utilize his political advantages.

Berlin.

William II said to Hindenburg, the chancellor of the empire, with great anxiety: "This economic crisis is coming on strong. Currently, tens of thousands of banks in the empire have gone bankrupt, and countless small and medium-sized enterprises have gone bankrupt. The number of unemployed people has reached an astonishing number of over one million. The activities of the Labor Party have also become more frequent. Germany has never been in such a dangerous situation as it is today. What measures do you think we should take to save this situation?"

Hindenburg remained calm and said, "Your Majesty, the economic crisis is not as serious as you think. Germany has experienced several economic crises since the Industrial Revolution. As long as we respond properly and survive these two or three years, the economy will definitely improve."

"Of course, our government cannot do nothing. In order to get through this economic crisis more smoothly, I suggest giving priority to supporting landowners, large enterprises and banks to alleviate the economic downturn."

"At the same time, we will intensify the suppression of Labour Party members and workers who are causing unrest, so as to ensure the overall stability of the empire's politics at this stage."

It is obvious that Hindenburg was a typical spokesperson for the German Junker group. He first safeguarded the interests of the Junker class and promoted conservative economic policies.

William II said uncertainly, "But since the end of the war, we have been suppressing reactionary forces such as the Labor Party for a long time, but have not achieved any decent results. Now the Labor Party's momentum in Germany is growing day by day. If we continue to maintain the original policy, can we achieve the desired effect?"

Hindenburg was not concerned about William II's concerns. He said: "The Labor Party members are just a group of rabble. The establishment of a country like the Soviet Union was caused by the incompetence of the Tsarist government and our connivance."

"Your Majesty, you have the most powerful army in Europe. Are you still afraid of these bugs in the dark? The German people always stand on the side of the government. As long as the overall stability can be maintained, the Labor Party will not be able to make any waves."

"Also, Your Majesty, we should note that although the Labour Party is popular now, they are not without competitors, such as the German National Party in the south. Although this party's methods are not up to standard, it is precisely because of this that we can use them. More importantly, they are firmly against the Labour Party."

"So I think we should increase support for the German National Party to compete with the Labour Party. In this way, the Labour Party's ideological weapons will have a hard time playing a role."

Hindenburg admired the German National Party. Of course, he mainly admired some of its political programs, such as German nationalism, militarism, anti-Labor Party, anti-Semitism, etc. This was almost consistent with Rudolf's own ideas and the ideas of the Junker Group, the largest political interest group in Germany behind him.

Germanic nationalism is something that the Junker nobles have always advocated, and they often wage wars based on this theme, such as the so-called "land under the sun" and "fighting for living space for the Germanic nation".

Not to mention militarism, the Junkers themselves are monsters developed from a group of military aristocrats, so they are most eager to strengthen their control over Germany. Supporting military development and expansion policies is to further strengthen the development of the Junker Group.

After hearing what Hindenburg said, William II was not happy at all. Instead, his face became even gloomier. He said to Hindenburg, "I have also heard of the German National Party. It is now quite powerful in Germany. Their leader is Adolf. However, I think he is not reliable. His thoughts and speeches are very extreme, and he often does some unreasonable things, inciting the lower classes and disrupting social order."

"If such a person joins the government, I can't imagine what kind of terrible situation he will cause. He may even drag Germany into an irreparable situation."

In fact, Hindenburg also looked down on Adolf. Of course, this mainly referred to Adolf's background and some of his extreme practices. After all, Hindenburg was born into the most "noble" Junker aristocracy in Germany, so he never took Adolf, an Austrian commoner, seriously from beginning to end.

Just as he had said to William II before, he just wanted to take advantage of Adolf and the German National Party he led. As for the violent paramilitary organization under Adolf, the Brownshirts, he thought it was just a small fight. Could they really fight against the Junker Group that controlled the army? Therefore, he said casually: "As long as he can deal with the Labor Party, it is enough. Although the German National Party is very irregular and cannot be put on the stage, his speech is as attractive to those unruly people as the Labor Party. Compared with letting the unruly people in Germany join the Labor Party and fight against the government, it is obviously better to let them join the German National Party, a party that does not cause much harm to Germany."

"Whether it is the Labour Party, the Democratic Party or the National Party, they cannot shake the fundamental interests of the empire, but choosing the National Party is the most appropriate for Germany at the moment."

The Democratic Party is a bourgeois party. Neither William II nor the Junker Group were interested in so-called democracy. Hindenburg was extremely disgusted with the word democracy, so it was not surprising that he chose the German National Party.

Of course, Hindenburg’s use of the German National Party was actually more about finding a scapegoat for Germany’s deteriorating economy and potential social crisis.

For the Juncker Group, whether it is the Labor Party or the Democratic Party, if they come to power, it will definitely harm their own interests. Therefore, not even a glimmer of chance will be left for such a party.

If the former comes to power, there is no doubt that the entire Junker Group will be liquidated. As for the latter, they may not kill them all, but they will inevitably damage the economic interests of the Junker Group, such as many big Junker nobles who rely on land and agricultural tariff barriers to make a living.

The German National Party is completely different. If you listen to their political propositions, you will know how much they are in line with the wishes of the Junker nobles. Extreme nationalism, militarism, military expansion, etc. are all conducive to further expanding the interests of the Junker group.

As for the unpredictable deterioration of the situation in Germany as a result, the Junker Group, which controls the military, can completely make the German National Party the scapegoat and drive it out of power, which fully verifies the Junker Group's beautiful vision of sharing happiness and difficulties together, as well as its extreme greed.

This was the purpose for Hindenburg to strongly promote Adolf. It can be said that this was also the common decision of the entire Junker Group, and Hindenburg was the executor behind the scenes.

This is also an important reason why William II has always been dissatisfied with the Junker Group. The Junker Group, Germany's "collective of monsters", has been out of the control of the royal family, and the contradiction between the two has even been exposed.

Therefore, after listening to each of Hindenburg's speeches, he not only did not feel happy, but his face became increasingly worse. Hindenburg could use Adolf and abandon him at any time, and the same was true for him, the so-called German emperor.

In fact, signs of this had already appeared during World War I. In the later stages of the war, the German military even directly sidelined William II. It was not until the end of the war that William II regained some power. To a certain extent, the current behind-the-scenes government in Germany, or the actual controller, has become the Junker military group.

In his previous life, William II was abandoned by this group. After World War I, he became the main scapegoat for the war, while the Junker Group continued to rule Germany. For example, during the Weimar Republic, Hindenburg and Ludendorff, who were themselves members of the Junkers, not only were they not liquidated, but they became the supreme rulers of Germany. William II was driven out of power in disgrace and was finally taken in by the Queen of the Netherlands.

In this time and space, the reason why William II can continue to rule is that the outcome of World War I has changed, so the Junker group does not need him to take the blame. At the same time, because of the influence of the Hohenzollern family-ruled countries such as Romania, South Germany and East Africa, William II is very valuable.

In the relationship between Germany and East Africa, the royal families of the two countries obviously play an extremely important role as a link, and the attitude of the East African royal family cannot be ignored by the Junker Group, which has all the power in Germany.

Today, the relationship between William II and the Junker Group is somewhat similar to the relationship between later American presidents and the military-industrial complex. The difference is that the Junker Group is far more terrifying than the so-called military-industrial complex. This is also an important reason why the Junker Group can be called a "monster". After all, there are other interest groups within the United States that can compete with the military-industrial complex, while the Junkers are completely dominant in Germany.

Although William II seemed to have great power, his policies were completely unable to influence the development of this terrible organization. In the past, the Junker nobles gathered around the emperor, but with the development of the times, they no longer needed to rely on the emperor to seek benefits for themselves.

The Junker Group controlled the army, which meant that William II had actually lost absolute control over the army. When facing enemy countries and external forces, they might still be able to unite and obey William II's command, but once competitors appeared within Germany, they would become very unstable.

For example, Adolf and his German National Party, whoever can distribute more benefits to the Junker Group and offer more chips, the Junkers will side with that person. In his previous life, Adolf satisfied the appetite of the Junker Group.

However, in the end, the two of them died worthy deaths. The former committed suicide by shooting himself, and the latter was wiped out by the Soviet Union and completely disappeared in the long river of history.

Faced with such a terrifying group that was out of control, William II finally sighed in his heart and said helplessly to Hindenburg: "Okay, since you already have an idea, let's do it. But I still have to warn you, Adolf does not look like a puppet that can be easily manipulated, and he has no experience, which is likely to bring disaster to Germany."

"I don't want Germany to collapse one day because of this. That would not be a good thing for all of us."

After all, William II is the emperor of the empire. If the German social order collapses and the government falls, his rule will most likely come to an end. So even though he is very dissatisfied with the Junker Group now, he can only rely on this group.

After all, no matter what, the German royal family itself is a member of this group. Now the Junker Group can still accept the Hohenzollern family sitting on the throne of the emperor and even directly decide many national policies. This is already the best result for them.

Hindenburg vowed: "Your Majesty, please rest assured. As I said before, whether it is the Labor Party, the Democratic Party or the National Party, they can't turn the tables. Even if we vigorously support the National Party to ease domestic conflicts and social problems, they can't get rid of our control."

Hearing this, William II's mouth twitched. He was now somewhat gloating, because even if the leader of the National Party named Adolf could come to power, he would probably suffer the same embarrassing situation of being controlled by the Junker Group as himself.

(End of this chapter)