NOVPUBEntering the industrial era, the Berlin Government had already realized the importance of population, especially labor with a certain level of knowledge.
The Kingdom of Prussia was the first country in the world to complete compulsory education, and the Rhineland region was the most industrially developed area in the Kingdom of Prussia, where a large number of basic talents had gathered.
These talents were exactly what the Kingdom of Prussia needed most at the time. In the early stages of industrial development, there was not a huge demand for highly skilled talents; instead, the demand for ordinary technical workers was greatest.
After the outbreak of the Second Industrial Revolution, the fact that Austria could overtake England and France was not because Austrian technology was much more advanced, nor was it due to Franz’s incredible foresight—the core factor was the large number of engineers.
Without a sufficient number of basic talents, no matter how advanced technology was, it couldn’t be rapidly transformed into industrial production.
As industrial technology developed, the demand for basic talents only grew. Subsequent nations all engaged in compulsory education as a result of market pressure.
Older empires, rich in resources, fell behind in the Second Industrial Revolution because they lost out in the number of basic talents.
By the time they realized this, it was already too late. Competitors were not going to stand still and give them decades to cultivate talent. 𝙣𝙤𝙫𝒑𝙪𝒃.𝒄𝒐𝙢
The Kingdom of Prussia had always maintained high military spending, yet the domestic economy did not collapse, and apart from the strong political leverage of the Berlin Government, the quality of the population was also an important factor.
Theoretically, people who had completed compulsory education all had the potential to become ordinary technical workers. With a bit of effort, becoming an engineer was not impossible either.
Most lower-end engineers grew from technical workers, and basic cultural knowledge was a necessary condition for that growth.
If a statistical analysis was conducted, one would find that although the population of the Kingdom of Prussia was far less than that of England and France, it was not much inferior in terms of the number of basic engineers.
If it was only about developing the Kingdom of Prussia, the talent would definitely be sufficient, and Wilhelm I would not have taken immigration so seriously; the key also lay in the need to develop the Kingdom of Poland.
During the Tsarist Government era, the Polish Region was under serfdom, and education was a privilege of the few; the common people were purely illiterate.
After Poland’s independence, although serfdom was abolished and efforts were made to develop the educational sector, the results were not optimistic.
Idealistic governments always look only at the surface when formulating policies—they do whatever looks good without considering the actual situation.
The Polish Government overlooked the fact that there was a shortage of teaching staff and a lack of finances, blindly following the trend of compulsory education, even going further than Prussia-Austria had.
The intentions were good, but reality did not allow it, and in the end, the plan could only remain on paper. Apart from building a few face-saving schools for the elite’s children, it had virtually no real significance for the nation.
Now that the Prusso-Polish Federation had been established, and the task of developing Poland had fallen to the Berlin Government, the demand for talent naturally increased significantly.
Wilhelm I, "No matter what we think of, we must immigrate as many people as possible. The domestic industrial development needs talent, and the integration work in the Polish Region also requires immigration.
The former Polish Revolutionary Party members led by Dobroborsky have been quite restless lately. They have been resisting the work of national integration, and the government’s tasks ahead are very heavy."
For the Kingdom of Prussia, the size of Poland was simply too large to swallow in one gulp. To stabilize the situation in Poland, the Berlin Government had to make concessions with local Polish power brokers.
However, concessions are subjective; the former Polish Government led by Dobroborsky were the biggest losers from the Prusso-Polish merger, and there was no possibility of compromise between the two sides.
Being new to the situation and in order to maintain local stability, even if Wilhelm I knew that the former Polish Government was making covert moves, he had no way of doing anything about them.
They couldn’t be touched overtly, but they still couldn’t avoid being inconvenienced within the rules.
Maoqi advised, "Your Majesty, please rest assured. The government’s focus of work will still be on immigration settlement.
The biggest issue now is the corruption problem in the Polish Government. Since the Federal Government has just been established, and in order to maintain local stability, we cannot afford to take harsh measures.
Once the situation has stabilized, the government will carry out a public official assessment, expelling negligent and corrupt personnel, and purging the bureaucracy in the Polish Region."
There must be a reckoning after the fall harvest, but it cannot be now. Although the former Polish Government had been ousted, the strength of the Revolutionary Party still could not be underestimated.
Especially the army organized by the Polish Government in its later stages was cultivated by the Revolutionary Party as their trusted followers. Although these troops were not very formidable in combat, they numbered in the tens of thousands. If they were truly driven into a corner, a fight to the death would be very problematic.
The annexation of the Kingdom of Poland by Prussia was somewhat contrived, and an outbreak of civil war would cause great harm to the morale of the civilians and soldiers alike.
The approach adopted by the Berlin Government was to boil the frog in warm water – the crushing defeat of the Polish Army in the Russo-Polish War provided Berlin with an opportunity to intervene in the military.
Under the pretext of war losses, Wilhelm I took the opportunity to disband the regimental numbers of four Polish infantry divisions, and the remaining troops were subjected to various degrees of downsizing.
Of course, while downsizing, Wilhelm I was also expanding the armaments. This was not a contradiction, as the disbanded regiments had been wiped out on the battlefield.
Had the regiments won great victories, they naturally would not be disbanded. But the Polish Army lost, and lost miserably, so the disbandment of regimental numbers became justified.
In the recreation of new regimental numbers, the surviving officers from the original units were inevitably marginalized. As generals of a defeated army, even if they were to retire, nobody could say much about it.
Wilhelm I didn’t go to extremes; some of these people were transferred to the reserve forces, while others remained in the active service units, which depended on where their loyalties lay.
The Polish Army was trained by the Prussians, and there was naturally no shortage of those who were pro-Prussian. When establishing new units, priority was of course given to their own people.
After some maneuvering, the military strength of the Revolutionary Party had been reduced by nearly half. This was the true motive for Wilhelm I’s boldness in moving against the Revolutionary Party.
Now faced with opposition from the Prime Minister, Wilhelm I was very displeased internally. But he was very astute, having endured a powerful minister like Bismarck in his original timeline, he could certainly accept Maoqi’s candor.
Capable people often have a temper, which was something Wilhelm I had to reluctantly accept.
After pondering rationally for a moment, Wilhelm I nodded slightly, "Then let’s wait! For now, we’ll collect evidence and settle scores in the future."
Wilhelm I had long passed the age of youthful impetuosity, preferring to think thrice before acting. Upon sensing potential risks, he decisively opted for a strategic step back for a broader view.
Foreign Minister Geoffrey Friedman reminded, "Your Majesty, the international conference on the West Asia massacre is about to convene in Jerusalem, and we must make a choice now.
The current national situation is still unclear, and the Foreign Ministry recommends we continue to maintain neutrality to avoid getting caught in the diplomatic game of England, France, and Austria."
The international situation isn’t unclear, it’s completely entangled in chaos. The cooperation and confrontation between England, France, and Austria have nearly driven European diplomats to nervous breakdowns.
In such a scenario, blindly ’picking sides’ can lead to significant losses. What if one just chose a side and offended somebody, only to have the big bosses make up all of a sudden?
In front of interests, there is nothing that can’t be discussed. England, France, and Austria cooperate because of interests, and they confront each other for the same reason.
Thankfully, all three parties are quite rational at the moment. Even when confrontations occur, they have not dragged others into the fray, keeping their disputes within certain rules.
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In Vienna, while the Prussians were indecisive, England, France, and Austria were secretly starting negotiations on the division of interests.
The reason why the great powers are the great powers is mainly that they have thick skins.
It appears as though England, France, and Austria are balancing each other out, but that’s only a public display for the outside world. Behind the scenes, they have long been sitting at the negotiation table, bickering over the division of interests.
The West Asia issue is merely a shadow. The conflict between the Ottomans and Persia is, from the perspective of England, France, and Austria, just child’s play.
The refugees have nearly all perished; continuing to discuss the issue is pointless. In this era where the strong prey upon the weak, "right or wrong" holds no value for debate.
The international community will not punish the Ottoman Empire for its expulsion of refugees into Persia, causing significant damage.
Similarly, the international community will not pursue the responsibility of the Persian Government for the massacre of refugees.
Beyond verbal condemnation, the main issue at present is the division of interests among England, France, and Austria.
