Holy Roman Empire

Chapter 1004: Chapter 18: Crisis Lurking Everywhere
 

Wave after wave arose. As Japan found itself embroiled in the “Rice Riot,” the situation in Europe rapidly deteriorated, and the voice of revolution echoed across the European Continent once again.

Unlike the great revolutions of the past, this time it was not led by France. Perhaps the terrifying shadow left by the previous Revolutionary Government made the Parisians behave quite modestly of late.

Nor was it led by Franz’s most concerned Belgium and the Italian States, despite these countries facing the most severe crises, for everyone blamed the French!

From the government to the citizens, all attributed the outbreak of economic crisis to the invasion by the French, and it was a time when the national spirit was at its most united.

With the timely assistance provided by the Vienna Government and the relief grains distributed, ordinary citizens were barely able to have enough to eat, which, in turn, stabilized the social order.

Spain, unable to extricate itself from the Philippine War, certainly could not escape. However, they were not the origin of the crisis; rather, it was Bulgaria, unexpectedly, that fired the first shot of the revolution.

When the gatehouse catches fire, the fish in the pond will suffer.

Bulgaria was that suffering fish. As a raw material for high-end cosmetics, the limited production capacity of rose essential oil had always been in short supply in international markets, with Bulgarian rose essential oil, the king of rose oils, being highly sought after.

It was the season for the roses to bloom again. In past years, the factory’s production capacities would have been booked out long in advance, cursed only by the limits of production.

This year, affected by the economic crisis, both the price and volume of rose essential oil had fallen on the international market. By the time of the rose oil purchasing season, very few foreign merchants made it to Bulgaria.

Even these limited orders had been heavily discounted, not even reaching a fifth of the prices from previous years.

Processing enterprises struggled, and nobody in the entire industry chain was having an easy time. Farmers who grew roses and workers who picked and processed them found themselves in a tough situation.

The common folks’ hardships were invisible to the Tsarist Government officials. Not only did they not provide relief, they did not skimp on collecting taxes.

People had no money, and no matter how much more they were squeezed, there was no money left. Pushed to desperation, Bulgarian farmers and workers initiated a tax protest movement.

Under the rule of the Tsarist Government, daily life wasn’t easy for Bulgarians, and the tax protest movement quickly gained the support of various social classes.

On June 26, 1894, hundreds of thousands of Bulgarians simultaneously took to the streets in protest, petitioning the Tsarist Government to reduce taxation and grant Bulgarian national autonomy.

Unfortunately, the Bulgarians encountered a governor who wanted to cover things up. Using the excuse that deciding on demands would take time, Governor Aristodeovich dissuaded the people from protesting.

After the people dispersed, Governor Aristodeovich immediately showed his true colors, arresting the protest leaders overnight.

What followed needs no elaboration; the deceived Bulgarian people were thoroughly enraged, and the seeds of revolution were thus ignited.

Revolution is contagious; the Bulgarian people launched a national uprising, directly impacting the Polish, who also desired to escape Russian rule.

On July 11, 1894, the Polish Independence Organization initiated an uprising in the Warsaw region. Caught off-guard, the Russian Army had no time to resist, and Warsaw fell.

Once the valve is opened, it is hard to close again.

On July 16, 1894, Portuguese Republicans initiated an uprising in Porto; on July 21, the Great Greece National Alliance launched an uprising in the Peloponnese; on August 2, a worker uprising erupted in Bilbao, Spain; on August 13, a national independence movement emerged among the people of Cavan, Ireland…

Within a mere two months, over twenty uprisings of various magnitudes erupted across the European Continent, affecting Russia, Spain, Britain, Portugal, Greece, France, and Shinra.

Indeed, even the Holy Roman Empire could not escape the onslaught of the revolutionary wave. It’s only natural — in a large forest, all sorts of birds can be found; with so many Sub-States, some bizarre occurrences are to be expected.

By the end of July, a barely noticeable Duchy of Nassau on the map had erupted in a bourgeois revolutionary movement, which was then immediately suppressed by Duke Adolf with his Guards.

Ultimately, Franz did not care about, nor wanted to know, the specifics of what happened, as long as the end result was good.

Opening the map of Europe, marking the areas of revolution with small flags felt like the flames of revolution were vigorously burning across the European Continent, ready to spread far and wide.

Of course, all of these were mere illusions. Although there were many outbreaks of revolution and they covered a wide range, very few actually became significant.

In fact, since the beginning of the 19th century, revolution had ceased to be a novel word. Nearly every year, the shadow of revolution appeared on the European Continent, though very few actually made a significant noise.

Compared to the great revolutions of 1848, this wave of revolutions was significantly weaker. In the end, the populace was not driven to desperation; there was another option — to go to the colonies.

None should think the politicians were fools; those who could defeat their numerous competitors and stand out were certainly no dummies, opting to play the fool only when it served their interests. When it came to maintaining their own rule, they were usually quite astute.

Every economic crisis triggered a high wave of migration from Europe overseas. It wasn’t just a spontaneous act by the civilians; without governmental cooperation, how could thousands of emigrants possibly leave so easily?

Although there was a floodgate, Franz still did not dare to be careless. With so many lords continuously recruiting people within the Holy Roman Empire, bringing the unemployment rate to an all-time low, he naturally didn’t need to worry too much.

What truly concerned Franz were the many smaller states, like Belgium and the Seven Italian States, which appeared stable. Who knew how long their people’s morale could withstand?

Even though the French attracted hatred, diverting public attention, there was a limit to the people’s endurance. Merely eating half-full meals was hardly likely to satisfy everyone’s needs.

Not to mention Spain, where despite the suppression of the Bilbao uprising, social conflicts remained unresolved.

Others relied on war to shift attention from domestic crises, but in Spain, war intensified the crisis. There was no other reason; the inability to achieve victory soon left the people growing impatient.

“The Japanese are very powerful,” this explanation would probably make any European burst into laughter. In everyone’s impression, all the powerful nations were in Europe, and those overseas were all weaklings.

In the original timeline, the Italians continually broke records, far more enduring. Even after losing the US-West War, the Spanish people had managed through.

Now it was different, without Italians providing material for jokes, the performance of the Spanish Army had become a target for mockery.

The Philippine campaign had been raging for nearly two years, and the Spanish Government had deployed over a hundred thousand Spanish Army plus several hundred thousand mercenaries, spending billions of Divine Shields on military expenditures, yet failing to present commendable results, bringing shame all the way back to their ancestors.

Besides these potential hotspots for collapse, there were other lightly affected areas influenced by revolutionary waves, such as Greece and Switzerland, that also needed close attention.

If minor states merely harbored potential revolutionary threats, France, the cradle of the revolution, was like a bomb ready to ignite.

As the major boss in European wars, having gone through a civil war, the losses of France were immeasurable. Only with the recent stability under the Bourbon Dynasty, bolstered by its ascension, did the situation calm down before immediately facing an economic crisis.

Falling from a top-tier power to a third-rate country, such a psychological gap would likely be unbearable for any sane person. Now that they couldn’t even fill their stomachs, public resentment had only grown.

Despite several changes in dynasties, guiding public sentiment was hopeless; the Bourbon Dynasty had to bear the lingering problems.

In a sense, the Philippine War also rescued France. The hundreds of thousands of mercenaries represented the livelihoods of countless families, securing jobs for millions of people because of this war.

From this perspective, the Philippine War had a positive significance. Theoretically, if the number of mercenaries tripled, the troubles facing France would be easily solved.

After all, France was no longer the French Empire of the past. Following severe chaos, France’s total population had fallen to less than thirty million.

If there were over four hundred thousand mercenaries, just their monthly salary income would bring in over six million Divine Shields, let alone the profits from the battlefield.

Such an influx of foreign currency would not only solve the livelihoods of hundreds of thousands of families but also stimulate the domestic economy and create a large number of jobs.

However, this was impossible. Even if the Japanese stubbornly resisted to the end, the Spanish Government couldn’t afford so many mercenaries.

In modern warfare, salary expenses were only a small part. Even if all weapons and ammunition were secondhand goods collected after victories against anti-French forces, other logistic supplies still cost a lot.

In fact, the Spanish Government could persist until now mainly because mercenaries were cheap.

It wasn’t that their salaries were low, but rather, compensation for the deceased was minimal. Out of humanitarian concerns, a symbolic amount sufficed, and not giving any wouldn’t be a big issue; there was no need to worry about protests from families.

With decent combat effectiveness, cheap, and no worries about family protests, they provided excellent value for money. Franz even once considered promoting French mercenaries to various colonial empires to help the French Government through its crisis.

Though he considered it, concrete actions were still impossible. The reason was very realistic—it would be aiding the enemy. With cheap and efficient mercenaries, the maintenance costs for colonies would decrease significantly, invisibly weakening the advantage of the Holy Roman Empire.

Of course, the most critical issue was that French mercenaries were unpopular. Despite France’s fall from grace after its defeat, other European countries were still wary of them.

Employing French mercenaries to maintain colonial stability was like inviting a wolf into the house, especially if France rose again. This included Spain, which was merely employing them temporarily and would send them back after the war.

If it were Swiss mercenaries instead, acceptance would likely be much higher. At least there were no concerns that the Swiss would take control.

With plan number one for resolving internal threats in France going bankrupt, Franz was forced to fall back on plan number two, which was: funding the Bourbon Dynasty and using the power of the Aristocratic Group to stabilize the situation.

Fortunately, the Parisians did not participate in the turmoil this time, and King Carlos’s political skill was not bad, barely stabilizing the situation. However, overall, it was still not optimistic.

The current situation was such that without ending the economic crisis, stability on the European Continent would not be achieved.

The only consolation was that the revolutionary wave had also dragged Britain and Russia into the fray. Everyone was on the cliff’s edge, and no one dared to cause trouble at this time.@@novelbin@@