Holy Roman Empire

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After the Great Purge, the Tsarist Government devoted more energy to the negotiations, with Prusso-Russian discussions quickly reaching a crucial juncture.

The focal point of the disputes between the two sides centered on territorial cessions and indemnities. Compared to indemnities, ceding territory was actually easier to resolve.

The most serious Prusso-Russian controversy was over the East-West Prussia region, the stronghold of the Junker nobility; the Berlin Government dared not let go easily.

However, these regions were now in Russian hands, and as the defeated nation, Prussia simply had no capability to take them back.

There’s a kind of "cession" known as a fait accompli; this issue could be temporarily shelved, and over time, everyone would become accustomed to it.

No matter how dissatisfied the Junker nobles were, they could not change the fact that the Kingdom of Prussia lacked the strength and was powerless to recover these regions.

The Berlin Government was still making an effort, on one hand hoping for the expectations of the great powers, relying on the force of international intervention to pressure Russians into concessions; on the other hand, it was for political showmanship.

Compared to territorial disputes, the real challenge lay with indemnities. Both Prussia and Russia were short of money now, and neither was willing to make concessions.

The Tsarist Government aimed to claim as much war indemnity as possible to make up for the government’s financial deficits; the Berlin Government’s thoughts were diametrically opposed, having financial difficulties themselves, they simply couldn’t afford to pay large reparations.

The real conflict had arisen, and it was of the irreconcilable kind. No matter how great the Russian advantage, the Berlin Government was just two words—broke.

The Berlin Government was truly out of funds, not just feigning poverty, and however they tried, they couldn’t squeeze oil from a stone.

Not only were they unable to afford the indemnity payments to Russia, but even the debts owed to the British had been suspended by the Berlin Government.

It’s said that the Prussian Finance Minister has already set out for London, seemingly to persuade the creditors to extend the debt terms or to accept payments in kind.

This persuasive endeavor is destined to be tough. The Kingdom of Prussia is low on resources and limited in industrial and technological strength, with limited competitive power in commercial industrial products.

Even with "payments in kind," goods will be discounted, and selling them amidst high-quality British industrial and commercial competition is a problem.

Simply being "cheap" offers limited competitiveness; unless the price difference is vast, the better-quality goods will be more in demand.

In fact, the Kingdom of Prussia itself lacks resources and needs to import industrial raw materials from overseas, which leads to higher costs for industrial and commercial products.

The only advantage might be labor costs. Regrettably, in those days, labor costs worldwide weren’t high, and for most industries, they only represented a small fraction of the production costs.

In fact, the Berlin Government has also proposed paying war indemnities in kind, which was outright rejected by the Russian representatives.

It was futile; the Tsarist Government was short on money, not industrial and commercial products, especially facing a significant foreign exchange shortfall.

This war has brought about a massive trade deficit for the Russian Empire, which could only be balanced by foreign debts.

Now with the war over, the Tsarist Government urgently needed a large amount of foreign exchange to repay the debts, or else they’d be forced to fill the gap with actual gold and silver.

British people didn’t have this pressure; by receiving cheap industrial and commercial products, they could dump them in the colonies, and the creditors’ wallets wouldn’t suffer.

If the Tsarist Government obtained these goods, they could only use them domestically, and turning them into cash on the market would only yield Russian-printed Rubles, not the precious foreign exchange.

Russian representative Nikita Khrushchev held up five fingers, "5 Billion Divine Shields, this is our bottom line, it can’t go any lower.

You must know, for this war, the Russian Empire has spent at least thirty billion Divine Shields on military expenses, causing over a billion Divine Shields in economic damage.

All these are damages you have caused, our demand for indemnity is merely five percent of the total loss, which is already very low."

It’s an undeniable fact, the combined cost of the two Prusso-Russian wars, including the expenses for suppressing domestic unrest, did exceed thirty billion Divine Shields for the Tsarist Government.

Not to mention the economic loss, the Polish-Lithuanian Region was almost completely devastated, the Russian-controlled West Ukrainian Region was reduced to rubble, and the two wars caused the Russian Empire a population loss of over ten million people.

When these losses are all added up, ten billion Divine Shields is more than enough. From this aspect, the indemnity requested by the Tsarist Government was indeed not high.

At least, they have not demanded compensation payments from the Berlin Government. Otherwise, the compensation for those tens of millions would be more than the Kingdom of Prussia could afford even if it sold itself.

Politics is so realistic, had the Berlin Government won, they would have been deemed righteous, and the war could have been defined as: fighting for the liberation of minorities enslaved by the Tsarist Government.

The international community would define: Poland, Lithuania, Russian-controlled Western Ukraine... these regions were not Russian territory, they were all forcefully occupied by the Tsarist Government.

Since they lost, there’s nothing to say; these regions are all Russian Empire territory, and the war inflicted damage to these areas, which equates to harm to Russian Empire property.

The Prussian representative Jillian von Mckay resolutely pleaded poverty, "Count, the disasters brought by this war are not only borne by your country, we too are victims.

The Kingdom of Prussia is now in dire straits, with widespread misery among the people, basic living conditions are a problem for ordinary citizens, and the government finances can’t cover the expenses, we really have no money to offer."

"No money," that’s a universal excuse, Jillian von Mckay wasn’t afraid that Russian people would further carve up the Kingdom of Prussia. The areas controlled now by Russians are the bottom line that European powers can accept.

If the Tsarist Government becomes greedy, wishing to swallow the Kingdom of Prussia in one go, England, France, and Austria would let them know who truly rules Europe.

Being unable to annex the Kingdom of Prussia doesn’t mean they can’t destroy it, if Russians are willing to pay the price, it wouldn’t be difficult to march to Berlin and change the government.

However, this would mean incurring huge additional military expenses. And after the war, should Prussia be ravaged into nothingness, then they can forget about even a penny in indemnities.

No rational government would put national interests aside just for a moment of pride, especially a poor country like Russia, which cannot resist the allure of money.

How much the Tsarist Government needed money was evident in the choice of currency for payment during the negotiations.

Generally speaking, during discussions pertaining to war indemnities, everyone would pay with their national currency.

The choice of "Divine Shield" over "Ruble" for payment showed how pressed the Tsarist Government was.

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Buckling under financial pressure, the Tsarist Government had no choice but to issue more currency, and the Ruble was continuously depreciating.

To secure their own interests, they must designate a currency with stable value, and the only choices remaining were British Pounds and the Divine Shield.

The largest creditor of the Russian Empire was Austria, and the inevitable preference for Divine Shield in foreign exchange reserves had rendered the original financial model pegged to the British Pound obsolete during the war.

Nikita Khrushchev shook his head and sternly refused, "This is an issue your government needs to consider; wrongdoing always entails responsibility.

If you can’t afford the reparations, then find a way to borrow; I think your country definitely has ways to raise sufficient funds.

If that really isn’t possible, we will claim what we must by our own means, but under no circumstances can this 5 billion Divine Shield be reduced by a penny."

Theoretically, if they received the 5 billion Divine Shield in war reparations, the financial crisis troubling the Russians would be immediately resolved.

Paying off debt in advance could save a substantial amount in interest expenditure. If all was used for debt repayment, foreign debt could be halved at once. n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

In order to force Prussia to compromise, Nikita Khrushchev did not hesitate to start making threats. To claim it themselves, would they be able to procure such a large sum of money?

The answer was negative!

Prussia of now was not the peak era of the German Empire. To make up for war losses by dismantling machinery, even if they stripped down to the last screw, it wouldn’t be enough for five billion.

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They could not give in. Faced with a lack of money, both parties were evenly matched, and the negotiations quickly reached a stalemate.

Vienna Palace, Franz, who was closely following the Prusso-Russian negotiations, was also starting to feel a headache.

If the Prusso-Russian negotiations dragged on, it would be very unfavorable for Austria.

Not to mention anything else, how could a new Vienna System be established without putting an end to this war?

With the British habit of causing trouble if they saw an opportunity, it would not be in their nature not to act, otherwise how would they have earned the nickname "stirrer of shit"?

As the saying goes, the longer the night, the more dreams there will be. If dragged on for too long, nobody knows if Austria’s advantage could be maintained.

If this opportunity was missed, the loss for Austria would be enormous. The Vienna System brought not just fame but also vast political interests.

Foreign Minister Weisenberg said, "Your Majesty, the Russians’ appetite is too great, and Prussia simply cannot bear it.

The war reparations of 5 billion Divine Shield might surpass the total of all war reparations in European history, and perhaps even exceed the total of all war reparations in the world combined."

How much?

In this era, it was indeed an astronomical indemnity. The reparations of the Franco-Prussian War shocked the whole world at only 5 billion Francs.

Calculated at today’s exchange rate, 5 billion Francs amounted to just 4 billion Divine Shield.

Of course, considering the difference in eras, 4 billion Divine Shields ten years ago were indeed not less than 5 billion today.

But Prussia and France were completely different concepts. The French easily raised 5 billion Francs, reportedly even exceeding the amount by several billion.

Keep in mind that the Franco-Prussian War also devastated several eastern provinces, with economic losses exceeding 20 billion Francs, and the French government itself had a massive debt of over a hundred billion Francs, not much less than what the Berlin Government owed now.

That’s the advantage of a solid foundation; they could afford such losses, something the Kingdom of Prussia could not do.

Franz remained unmoved because having witnessed the reparations of World Wars I and II, his heart was already strong, and these sums no longer affected him significantly.

After pondering for a moment, Franz nodded, "It’s indeed a bit much for the Berlin Government. Could the Russians be persuaded to make concessions?

For example, reducing a portion of the reparations, or extending the payment period. The annual payment of reparations could be limited to what the Kingdom of Prussia can bear."

Weisenberg shook his head, "Your Majesty, that would be very difficult. The war has caused too much damage, and the Kingdom of Prussia now has almost no ability to pay.

Moreover, the Russians still owe us a huge debt, and any suggestion of reduction or deferral of payment is not appropriate for us to propose."

Upon hearing this explanation, Franz rubbed his forehead in resignation. When personal interests were involved, it meant there was no room for negotiation.

If the Vienna Government suggested that the Tsarist Government reduce reparations, it would be embarrassing if the Russians also asked Austria to decrease its debt.

Just because finances are bad, it doesn’t mean one can avoid paying money; how could that possibly be? Following this logic, how could Austria demand repayment from the Russians?

Franz asked, "Given the current situation, how long can the Tsarist Government’s finances hold up?"

A ceasefire between Prussia and Russia does not mean the war has ended. Until a treaty is signed, the war is not truly over.

Currently, both countries still have over a million troops confronting each other at the border. Even without fighting, the daily expenses for feeding and maintaining over a million mouths are not a small figure.

For Prussia and Russia, both with strained finances, this definitely exerts pressure.

Prime Minister Felix answered, "They can hold on for about two to three months. The Tsarist’s military threats have not frightened the Kingdom of Prussia, and this is directly related.

If the Prusso-Russian war continues, it can only last for a little over a month before the Tsarist Government will be in financial turmoil again.

It’s not just the Russians who are short of money; Prussia isn’t much better off. If it weren’t for the Prussian Army being stationed domestically, reducing transportation expenses, the Berlin Government might go bankrupt first."

Two paupers competing in patience, Franz too was at a loss for words. Based on the current situation, it was no longer a question of how much money Prussia had to pay but rather how much they could afford to pay.