Chapter 1497 Internal Disputes
Chapter 1497 Internal Dispute
Ruprecht did not guess wrong. After receiving Ruprecht's guarantee and a large amount of equipment as a deposit, Kaiser Wilhelm II finally couldn't bear it anymore and began to attack his domestic political opponents! Among them, the first thing he did was to increase the imperial power's ability to control the entire country!
The current war situation is generally very good. On the Western Front, even when a large number of German legions were transferred eastward to carry out the Polish Pocket Campaign, the remaining Western Front corps still successfully blocked the repeated attacks of the British and French allied forces. It made Britain and France feel ashamed.... And on the Eastern Front? The end of the Russians has become the consensus from top to bottom in Germany, and the question people are discussing now is when the Russians are over. In the north, the Germans are expected to reproduce the feats created by Napoleon, while on the southern front, most of Ukraine and Belarus have fallen into the hands of the Bavarian Army.
In the Balkan theater under the personal command of Ruprecht, when the prince defeated the British offensive deployment in Greece, the entire battle situation has stabilized. Therefore, realizing that there is no major external threat, the Kaiser believes that it is time for reforms!
In fact, in this case, whether you are the Social Democratic Party or the Catholic Center Party, whether you are the left-wing Spartacus Regiment or the right-wing Fatherland Party, when the war situation is good and the domestic civilians can have enough to eat, Germany When everyone from top to bottom is ready to share the benefits of war, what can these political parties provoke? A few strikes over the issue of treatment is the limit. For this situation, the German government can easily deal with it whether it is peace talks or violence!
And the timing of William II's choice was good. Taking advantage of this opportunity, he began to strengthen the imperial power's control over Germany! The first is to strengthen the management of the army and military supplies. William II knew very well that the capitalists and a part of the Junker aristocracy were inseparable, and they were also carrying out their own calculations during the war. There are a large number of associations in Germany. At first they were only political associations, but according to reports from intelligence agencies, some of these associations have begun to infiltrate the army!
Deliberate delays by the army and police in some places had caught the attention of the Kaiser, so he needed to clean up the opposition in the army. On the other hand, the Kaiser knew that the materials and equipment produced by certain military enterprises did not flow to the front line, but entered some other places. This made the Kaiser feel very uneasy. If there were problems with the troops stationed in the homeland, and if various associations illegally owned arms, this posed a serious challenge to the security of the empire! It was these people whom the Kaiser dealt with first.
However, William II was originally a person who was sometimes indecisive. This is manifested in diplomacy as being unscrupulous when talking about it, but he chooses to back down when something really happens. (For example, the Kaiser's attitude towards the Boer Republic in history) And this problem is reflected in internal affairs, that is, the Kaiser only dealt with the superficial, and did not touch the real high-ranking military officers, big capitalists, and bankers. You can understand this phenomenon as stability, but at the same time it also prevents this problem from being fundamentally resolved.
Secondly,
The Kaiser demanded strict control over the rationing system. This is what the prince emphasized to the Kaiser time and time again. Only by ensuring the quality of life of the common people can social turmoil be avoided to the greatest extent. Therefore, taking advantage of this opportunity, the Kaiser re-centralized the distribution of some materials in the hands of his trusted personnel and strengthened supervision. To prevent hoarding, and minimize the production of "non-war materials" and "non-necessities of life"!
And the third point is the battle of Prime Minister von Bergmann Hollweg in the German Parliament. The Kaiser expressed his support for the current three-level electoral system and expressed his absolute protection of the Kaiser's imperial power! And this statement has caused serious dissatisfaction among the right wing and the center of the Social Democratic Party. According to Ebert, the right-wing chairman of the German Social Democratic Party: "We lost a whole year of hard work in one night! We express our anger and disappointment at the Kaiser's repetition!"
On the surface, the Kaiser's actions were very effective. In a very short period of time, the opposition in Germany was greatly reduced. Both the high-level parliament and ordinary civilians seemed to accept the so-called "adjustment" of Wilhelm II. But is this really the case? Just when the Kaiser was proud of his "war results", an invisible undercurrent was surging inside Prussia! The most important of these is that the right wing and the center of the German Social Democratic Party have begun to cooperate!
In a hotel in Berlin, Ebert, the right-wing chairman of the Social Democratic Party, met Philip Scheidemann, who had just returned from the field. In this meeting room, the content of the conversation between the two parties was like a butterfly flapping its wings, which caused a series of subsequent political turmoil and changes in Germany. The result even made the two people at the meeting feel unexpected. Of course, this is a later story, and the main content of the conversation between the two parties this time is actually about how to limit the imperial power!
"Our counterattack had little effect. The strike in Hamburg was quickly suspended, and our personnel in Cologne were seized by the police. The only thing I did when I arrived in Cologne was to clear up the relationship and let our people come out. And the parliament? The old nobles who should be swept into the trash are trembling again. And the centrists are also caught in hesitation. Even if the Kaiser agrees to discuss the issue of direct elections, I feel that our chances of winning are not great. "Philips Scheidemann said with a sigh.
"It seems that the war is going too smoothly is not a good thing. The Bavarian Army and the Austro-Hungarian Army are invincible on the Eastern Front. Russia may not last until next year. If the main force of the German Army is concentrated on the Western Front, I feel that this The war is coming to an end, and if the war is over, William II will absolutely not make concessions on the imperial power and parliamentary issues, this is our last chance." Albert said.
"Only relying on the power of the political party, we cannot make the Kaiser make concessions, and we mobilize party members, incite the people, or hold strikes and demonstrations, which also does not help. In addition to making the Kaiser hate us even more, and then There is nothing wrong with trying to force the Kaiser to make concessions through peaceful means." Scheidemann said angrily.
"So what do you think?" Albert asked.
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