Persian Empire 1845

Chapter 608 A Fall, A Fall

Seeing this, Nasserdin suddenly remembered something the security bureau had reported to him earlier: the finance minister went to the Ministry of the Army in the morning and to the Ministry of the Navy in the afternoon, and it was said that his shouts could be heard within a hundred meters, and that he almost jumped off a building. He guessed it was about military spending.

That's understandable, since military spending is a major expense. When the economy is good, it's not a problem, but the issue is that we're in an economic crisis, and with everyone trying to save money, isn't it a bit unreasonable to increase military spending?
Looking at it this way, military spending is indeed quite high. Ultimately, it boils down to Iran needing to increase its revenue, which requires restoring and developing its economy. In short: Long live free trade!

Kerosene remains a crucial source of revenue for Iran, as countries worldwide require more efficient lighting. With Iran's aggressive push for its oil industry, Iranian standards have become the international standard for kerosene. Whether directly or indirectly, Iran exerts control over the oil industry in various countries, including the United States.

As long as the economy recovers, more and more people will use kerosene. Iran's income can still grow.

North America is also a significant export destination for Iran. Following the Civil War, North America became fragmented. The conflict between the United States and the Confederate States of America was particularly pronounced, and European immigrants tended to favor South America or Canada. The vast American territories have only accepted about 800 million immigrants in recent years, who are distributed across several countries.

Iran signed trade agreements with the Republic of Missouri and the Confederate States of America, strengthening relations with Mexico. Combined with British Columbia, Iran's trade in North America was effectively divided among them. After all, there were some things Britain couldn't produce.

Germany has also extended an olive branch to Iran; in last year's German parliamentary elections, the Freedom Party, which advocates free trade, won first place. Coupled with Austria's shift in policy, Germany must strengthen its trade relations with Iran.

Moreover, the German bourgeoisie also advocated colonial expansion. If they cannot be silenced with incentives, this will have a significant impact on his European policy.

With the support of both governments, the Treaty of Friendship and Commerce between Germany and Iran was signed. Both sides agreed to reduce or eliminate tariffs on certain goods and, under the same conditions, to give priority to purchasing each other's goods.

Large quantities of goods are being dumped from Iran into neighboring countries, while ship after ship is laden with goods being transported to other regions. Centered on Iran, the entire world is a destination for Iranian goods. Meanwhile, relying on religion, the Crescent Moon Christians and sultans ruled by European countries are beginning to rebel, as Iran is influencing them in a more covert and forceful manner. Free trade has become Iran's new pretext.

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European countries are still struggling to emerge from the economic crisis, with factories operating below capacity, urban unemployment soaring, and social unrest escalating. This is a common situation across the country, but the specific circumstances vary from country to country.

As the world's financial center and largest industrial nation, Britain will be among the hardest hit by the crisis. The City of London has been devastated, with numerous large banks and discount banks collapsing and capital outflow virtually halted. The Conservative Party, led by Disraeli, launched a fierce offensive against Gladstone, but the Liberal Party holds more than half the seats in Parliament, meaning the government will remain in place until the next general election unless he resigns.

In comparison, France's situation was also quite dire. Before the political landscape had even settled, its economy had already suffered a severe blow. Furthermore, Napoleon IV in the Americas attracted hundreds of thousands of royalists, many of whom were loyal veterans. This greatly weakened the Republic's military capabilities, and no one knew what the future held.

Germany fared slightly better, but its industry was also severely impacted, particularly the export-dependent heavy industries of the Ruhr region. Industrial power will capitalize on the unemployment crisis to rapidly expand.

Austria's predicament became increasingly apparent in the late autumn of 1871. The Czech industrial region in the western part of the empire, which had previously relied on exporting machine parts to Germany for survival, saw its orders plummet by 70% as factories in the Ruhr region ceased production. The Brno Machine Works, once the pride of the empire's industry, outside Prague, now had to employ nearly three thousand workers on a rotating basis, each receiving only a meager daily allowance of black bread to barely sustain them.

The workers' discontent was like damp powder, ready to explode at the slightest spark. Vienna's textile workers were the first to take to the streets, marching from Margrethe Straße to the Reichstag building, carrying signs that read "We want jobs, we want bread." The protests quickly spread to cities like Budapest and Prague, and Hungarian farmers joined in due to plummeting food prices. A quarter of wheat that used to fetch 3 crowns was now worth less than 1 crown, forcing many farmers to sell their oxen, yet still unable to pay the rent owed to the noble landowners.

Italy's situation was even more absurd and helpless. After the economic crisis hit, the textile and shipbuilding industries were hit hardest. The Ansaldo shipyard in Genoa was forced to lay off more than 2,000 workers. The workers gathered outside the factory and threw machine parts into the sea to vent their anger.

Russia's crisis was relatively simple. Due to an oversupply in the European grain market, Russian wheat export prices plummeted by 40%, plunging farmers who had hoped to repay ransoms by selling grain into dire straits. In the Volga River basin, tens of thousands of farmers, unable to pay the ransoms, had their land confiscated by the government and were forced to become refugees, flocking to cities such as Moscow and St. Petersburg.

These migrants brought cheap labor to the cities, but also exacerbated social unrest. Factory owners in St. Petersburg took the opportunity to slash wages, reducing the daily wage from twenty kopeks to fifteen kopeks. Workers, pushed to their limits, launched numerous strikes. Unlike in Western Europe, the Russian workers' movement had not yet formed a mature organization; the strikes were more like spontaneous riots, including workers smashing factory machinery, looting warehouses, and even clashing with Cossack cavalry sent to suppress them.

A desolate atmosphere enveloped the European continent. On the Thames in London, only a few merchant ships remained, their once bustling vessels now dwindling. Boatmen huddled at the bow, staring blankly at the misty river. On the streets of Paris, vendors hawked moldy bread, their voices hoarse and almost inaudible. In Berlin's Ruhr region, most factory chimneys were extinguished, with only occasional plumes of black smoke rising like dark scars etched into the sky.

Politicians in various countries are still arguing endlessly in parliaments or courts, but no one can come up with a truly effective solution. The anger of the lower classes is building in silence, and the protest signs on the streets are fluttering in the wind, as if foreshadowing an even bigger storm to come.

(End of this chapter)