Chapter 44 New European Situation
August 23, 1866, Germany.
Prussia and Austria signed an armistice in Prague, ending the Austro-Prussian War.
Because the war lasted only seven weeks, it is also called the Seven Weeks War. The war ended with the defeat of the Austrians.
This war laid the foundation for Prussia's unification of Germany and solved the biggest obstacle on Prussia's road to unification of Germany, Austria.
As for Austria, this war not only caused it to lose its leadership over the German region, but also triggered a domestic political crisis.
Because of the failure of the war and the rise of separatism, Austria had to compromise with the nobles in the Hungarian region. The Austrian Empire was about to become a thing of the past, and the Austro-Hungarian Empire was about to enter the stage of history.
As a dual empire, the Austro-Hungarian Empire naturally could not be compared with the dominant Austrian Empire. As far as the future was concerned, the tug-of-war and struggle between the nobles of the two regions distracted most of the Austro-Hungarian Empire's energy, and Austria basically lost its influence on the European continent.
The Austro-Prussian War was so short that Ernst only made a small fortune in it. After the war, the Hechingen Consortium returned to its original track.
This war did have some impact on Ernst. For example, Prussia basically established its dominant position in Germany. As the birthplace of the Hechingen Consortium, the Hechingen Consortium would also enter a faster development stage as Prussia's influence on the German region increased.
It will also become easier and more convenient for the Hechingen Consortium's products to enter German countries, and the Hechingen Development Bank will also be able to better carry out its business in Germany.
The Austro-Prussian War can be said to have shocked the entire European continent. Britain, France and Russia could not have imagined that the Austrians would lose to the up-and-coming Prussia. A rising star was about to rise on German soil.
The most upset person among them was probably the French Emperor Napoleon III. Prussia's victory also represented the break of the old European system. For example, the cooperation between Italy and Prussia this time would affect the future European pattern.
As a beneficiary of the old European structure, Napoleon III naturally wanted to maintain the old order, but he did not expect the Austrians to be so weak. If he had known that the Austrians were only in name only, Napoleon III would definitely have supported Austria when the war broke out.
But Prussia fought so well that the war ended in a short time. Bismarck seized the opportunity and reached an agreement with the Austrians in time to avoid interference from other European countries.
At the same time, as the victor, Prussia did not impose severe punishment on Austria, but only required Austria to hand over the administration of Holstein to Prussia, and at the same time demanded a war reparations that could be repaid in time.
Such relaxed conditions meant that Prussia and Austria, the two parties to the war, did not become estranged because of the war, but instead their relationship became closer.
On the one hand, the Austrians needed Prussia's support to suppress separatist tendencies at home, and on the other hand, Austria had to be cautious of the Italian Kingdom in the south.
However, Prussia and the Italians are allies, and in the future Prussia will indeed work hard to mediate reconciliation between the Austro-Hungarian Empire and the Kingdom of Italy to ease the conflict between the two countries.
This basically formed the prototype of the Triple Alliance before the future World War I, and the conflict between Austria and Italy would also become a trigger for the breakdown of this alliance in the future. It can be said that the outcome of the future World War I had already been planted at this time.
As a major victory for Prussia on the road to unifying Germany, the Prussian Royal Palace was filled with laughter and joy at this moment. The Junker nobles and their Emperor held celebrations, and smiles were on everyone's face.
The whole banquet was filled with lights and feasting, and all the powerful Prussian nobles would try to get an invitation to attend the palace banquet.
Constantine, Prince of Hechingen, and Prince Ernst naturally also attended the event. Constantine was a member of the Prussian General Staff in the Austro-Prussian War, and Ernst's own company also played its role in the war. Coupled with his already prominent aristocratic status, it was easy for him to attend the banquet.
For great nobles like Constantine and Ernst, whether or not they could attend the banquet was just a matter of wanting to. Even if they had not participated in the Austro-Prussian War, they could still enter the banquet relying on their status as top nobles.
In addition to the Prussian nobles, the largest number of people attending the banquet were Prussian soldiers. They raised their glasses to William I and cheered for the victory of the kingdom.
In Prussia, soldiers are respected and it is also the most popular profession in Prussian society. If a noble joins the army, his social status will be further improved.
Like his ancestors, William I raised his glass to salute these Prussian soldiers. Bismarck and Moltke, the two heroes who made the greatest contributions to the war, stood on William I's left and right.
Prince Constantine and Prince Karl Anton, the great Prussian nobles, also stood in the front row, and Ernst followed behind his father.
After William I read out the declaration of victory in the war, he stated that this victory represented that the Kingdom of Prussia would eventually lead the German region towards greater unity and make important contributions to Germany's prosperity.
After the speech, there was warm applause in the hall that lasted for a long time.
The second half is free time. Those who can attend the banquet are all important figures or children of aristocrats.
Ernst also met some acquaintances, such as Leopold and some other nobles. As a young man, Ernst could still attract some attention. Now Ernst was a miracle of wealth among the nobles.
Although Ernst could not gain military merit on the battlefield as a soldier, in this era when wealth is becoming increasingly important, he can achieve great financial success and some people will actively curry favor with him.
If an ordinary person created such a miracle of wealth, he would not be respected by the nobles, because you are not of noble birth. Even if you have achieved achievements that ordinary people can hardly achieve, you are at most a nouveau riche in the eyes of the nobles.
But Ernst was different. As a natural-born member of the top aristocracy, Ernst acquired enormous wealth. He was an example of an aristocrat starting a business with his own hard-working hands.
Being an aristocrat in Europe does not mean having nothing to ask for. As we all know, the European aristocracy has a serious tendency to compete with each other. Even a country like Prussia cannot avoid it. In Europe, the expenses of noble aristocrats to show off their status are extremely huge, especially those nobles who are too concerned about their reputation. Even the top aristocrats will have a huge demand for money.
Therefore, it was common for European nobles to borrow money. This was also one of the reasons why the Jews were able to thrive in Europe. Even some European kings would borrow money from the Jews.
If the debt is not paid, then everyone will have a very bad impression of the Jews. In fact, this is also the Jews' own fault. As a foreign race, the Jews have been excluded from the edge of Europe. They have not taken the initiative to give up integration.
Moreover, Jews often engaged in shady business activities such as usury and money laundering. As the debtor, European nobles or ordinary Europeans who borrowed money from Jews, the entire European society was filled with hatred towards Jews.
But the Jews are indeed clever, and the industry they are engaged in does make money quickly, and they tend to stick together, so they have an advantage in business information. Therefore, they become bigger and bigger. Whenever the financial industry is mentioned, people will think of the Jews.
As the representative of the rich and unkind people in Europe, the Jews are hated by everyone, and Ernst's Hechingen Development Bank is one of the few large banks in Europe that has no connection with the Jewish consortium.
Now everyone knows that Ernst has a large amount of wealth. It is fine if he is not short of money normally, but if he is short of money, he always has an alternative, so that the Jewish banks will not unilaterally increase their exploitation.
Moreover, as a member of the nobility, Ernst himself was embarrassed to charge these nobles too much interest. In a short period of time, many nobles did borrow money from the Hechingen Development Bank.
Some nobles were not good at managing the economy and could not pay their debts in a short period of time. Ernst had no way to collect the debts in a short period of time.
However, I also got some unexpected benefits. Since you can't pay the deposit, you can introduce and guarantee the deposit business of Heixingen Development Bank to the people in your territory.
In this way, Heixingen Development Bank unexpectedly entered some markets that it had previously been unable to enter, so everything has its pros and cons.
As for the debts owed by the nobles, they were not too worried. When lending, the Hechingen Bank had already selected its customers, and usually used real estate as collateral. Therefore, among so many banks in Europe, the loan difficulty of the Hechingen Bank was above average. Even if someone really could not pay back their debts, Ernst could offset part of the loss by temporarily taking away the rest of the property. If the debts could be repaid later, the collateralized property could be taken back. Therefore, although it was relatively difficult, the Hechingen Development Bank still had a good reputation among the aristocratic group.
Watching his son dealing with a group of nobles, Constantine inadvertently felt that his son had grown up and was able to develop independently under his protection, and had achieved good results.
When thinking about his age, Prince Constantine couldn't help but feel a little worried. He was already over 60. If Ernst got married too late, wouldn't he not be able to see his grandson? Prince Constantine thought to himself that it was time to find a marriage for Ernst.
(End of this chapter)
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