Holy Roman Empire

We cannot accept this ratio. France must have an army that matches its own strength. I propose that France, Russia and Austria maintain armies of the same size! "

Austrian Foreign Minister Weisenberg shook his head and said with a smile: "Your Excellency, the essence of disarmament is to save military expenditures, maintain the military balance between Europe and the Army, and avoid wars.

Your country's army has the highest combat effectiveness in the world. With the same force, who is your opponent, and how to maintain this balance? "

This flattering explanation calmed the anger in David Proval's heart, but he still insisted: "No!

France has many colonies that need to be maintained. We cannot simply consider the combat effectiveness of the army. We must comprehensively consider various factors. "

In this era of the jungle, strength is the embodiment of status.What is allocated now is not only the share of troops, but also the right to speak in the European continent.

If it has the same number of troops as Russia and Austria, France will be the uncrowned king even if it is not the overlord of the European continent by virtue of its superiority in combat effectiveness.

"Combat strength advantage", well, the French's self-confidence in this regard is really bursting, and they have always regarded themselves as the world's number one army.

Perhaps the French Army was really number one in the world at one time, but the Italians joined in, and no one knows what number it is in the world now.

No specific interests are involved. Austria did not disagree with the French on this issue. After shouting for a long time, everyone acquiesced.

Weisenberg nodded: "What you said is not unreasonable, and it is indeed necessary to consider all factors comprehensively.

However, there are too many aspects involved, such as: population, economy, number of colonies, territorial area, national defense pressure and so on.

Which one should we use as the reference standard, or should we consider all of them to calculate a comprehensive value? "

This is a frustrating topic, and France is at a disadvantage in any aspect of it.

David Proval calculated carefully, and found embarrassingly that mentioning the colony was a mistake.

Now the world's first colonial empire is Britain, followed by Austria, and France can only rank third.And the gap between the third and the second is still very wide, less than half.

Taking the colonies as the standard, wouldn't it allow the British to maintain the world's largest army size?

European countries may have no objections, and John Bull is absolutely impossible to agree, which will make them change from a sea power country to a land power country.

In terms of population, economy, and territorial area, France has nothing to gain the upper hand. Based on these data, perhaps they can't even get 70% of Austria's military share.

Not to mention national defense pressure, France has always put pressure on others, and David Proval is really embarrassed to mention it.

After hesitating for a while, David Proval bit the bullet and replied: "Of course it is a comprehensive calculation, but we can focus on regional military balance."

British representative Edward: "I propose to consider the regional military balance on the premise of meeting the needs first.

Taking France as an example, it is simply not enough to keep only 35 troops. "

The consistent style of the shit-stirring stick seems to be good to meet the needs. The question is how to define the standard of this demand?

First meet the military needs of all countries, and then consider the military balance, then it can only be calculated as high, and the maximum limit of 50 will definitely not be maintained, and it may end up with disarmament turning into military expansion.

The British conspiracy is naturally not so easy to succeed.It may not be a big problem for other countries to raise a few more soldiers, but the Russian Empire cannot afford it.

The Russian representative, Nikita Titov, immediately retorted: "Sir, we are a disarmament conference, not an arms expansion conference.

If the military needs of all countries are met, are you sure you can still disarm? "

Disarmament, why disarmament?

From the standpoint of the British, it is best for European countries to maintain the current situation. Each of them spends a lot of military expenditure on the army, and they are unable to compete with them for maritime supremacy.

If Austria's proposal is followed, the numbers of the French and Austrian armies will be suppressed to 35 and 50 respectively, which means that the two governments can save tens of millions of pounds in military expenditure every year.

This money will definitely not lie in the bank to generate interest, and most of it will flow into the navy, which will have a very big impact on Britain's maritime hegemony.

Edward was unmoved and deliberately pretended to be confused: "Of course this is the Disarmament Conference, and it is the best proof that everyone can sit here.

How many troops to retain is the freedom of a sovereign country and should not be subject to outside interference.Disarmament depends on everyone's voluntary, not external force. "

The interference of the British has greatly increased the pressure on David Proval.Everyone else can "volunteer", except France.

This is a problem left over from history. More than half of the countries present are members of the anti-French alliance.

Even now, everyone is still wary of France.If there is no leader, a group of mobs, the French government will not be persuaded.

It's a pity that it's different now. There is an Austria in continental Europe that has not been suppressed, and there is another Britain outside the strait.

Once France refuses to disarm, it is likely to be misinterpreted by the outside world, which is likely to trigger a new round of international tension.

French representative David Proval retorted: "The sovereignty of an independent country must be respected, but as a responsible country, it must also consider world peace.

Excessive freedom is actually the root cause of war.For the prosperity and stability of Europe, disarmament is imperative. "

David Proval's words are still a plus.France does not oppose disarmament, but only the proportion of the armed forces of France, Russia and Austria.

The hole dug by the British was perfectly avoided by him.The focus of controversy was brought back again.

Reasoning and presenting evidence, a new round of rhetoric begins again.It's just that the dispute this time is not about the quantity ratio, but the calculation rules.

Comprehensive consideration seems to be good, in fact, the most troublesome thing is comprehensive.Because the more directions involved, the more problems will arise, and the longer the time of wrangling will be.

……

While everyone was wrangling, a crisis hit the capitalist world.

The cause was the defeat of the Pubo Federation, which triggered turmoil in the London financial market.

However, thanks to the efforts of the British government, the debtor was saved, and part of the debt was transferred, which reduced financial risks and restored confidence in the market. This wave of crisis was subsided.

You can escape Easter, but you cannot escape Halloween.

Although the Berlin government exists, its debts are being fulfilled normally.But as the war ended, the factory orders disappeared.

Not only that, but many companies did not have time to deliver the last batch of orders, and the Berlin government defaulted on the contract.

Breach of an order is a commercial act, and at most it will be compensated for some liquidated damages, to be precise, the deposit is not required.

The aftermath of the breach of contract is the backlog of a large amount of materials.Ordinary products are okay, and if they are transferred to the private market and sold at a reduced price, they can get back some money.

Specially produced strategic materials are troublesome, but capital is willing to sell them. The problem is that there are no buyers at all.

It's not just the UK that has problems. Most European countries have backlogged a batch of strategic materials, just in time for major disarmament, and the market demand has dropped sharply.

Production enterprises with weak financial strength are now on the verge of bankruptcy because of a large backlog of goods.

It is not only these enterprises that produce strategic materials that have been affected, but almost all walks of life have been affected.

After the war, the export orders decreased, and the enterprises that started from the export trade had to turn around to grab the domestic market, and the market competition became cruel.

Overcapacity has become a common problem in the capitalist world.In order to survive, enterprises have begun to show their talents, and discounts and promotions are indispensable.

以奥地利为例，战后国内的各项商品价格均出现了下跌，其中：日用品价格下跌了24%、服装类商品价格下跌了31.6%、五金类商品价格下跌了18.5%、机械设备价格下跌了9.8%、食品类商品价格下跌了6.4%……

Falling prices are not necessarily a good thing. Behind falling prices, there is also brutal market competition.

Looking at the recent economic data, Franz knew that the economic crisis was coming again.

Now most enterprises are gritting their teeth and holding on. Once the market does not improve for a long time, the weak small and medium-sized enterprises will be the first to fall.

Once a wave of bankruptcies emerges, the economic situation will deteriorate dramatically.

Putting down the documents in his hands, Franz sighed: "Notify the cabinet and the heads of the economic departments to come to the meeting."

……

Chapter 3 and One Overturning the Table

In order to survive the economic crisis, Austria took the lead in opening the dumping valve.Since September, Austria's export volume has skyrocketed.

Agricultural products are just-needed products, and the price drop is not serious. Most of them are [-]% off or [-]% off.

By this time, profits are no longer important, and selling unsalable goods in exchange for cash flow is the kingly way.

I don't know if I don't move, I jump when I move.Looking at the daily surge in export trade volume, Franz was terrified.

Austria is the world's largest industrial country, and it is also the world's largest commodity backlog country.After the Russo-Prussian War, it wasn't just the Berlin government that defaulted, the Russians were no exception.

The war is over, and the orders that have not been delivered will naturally not be fulfilled.

In a sense, the Russians are also responsible for the crazy price cuts that everyone is making now.

The tsarist government broke the contract, so naturally the deposit could not be returned.There is no doubt that this money has become the income of the enterprise, reducing the cost of goods.

There is never a shortage of smart people in this world. The state-owned enterprises cut prices regardless of cost and exported immediately attracted the attention of interested people, and they realized that "the economic crisis is coming" in an instant.

In times of crisis, cash is king.

Looking at their mountains of inventory, everyone knew that trouble was serious.

Needless to say, we must follow suit.The market is not transparent these days, and corporate profits are relatively high. Now discounts and promotions can still protect capital.

If the response is slow, once the economic crisis breaks out, buyers will not be found at that time.

I don’t know if anyone has the rhythm. Anyway, starting from September, most of Austria’s powerful companies have joined the ranks of developing overseas markets.

There is no problem, it is to develop overseas markets, and "dumping" absolutely does not exist.

Discounts and promotions are businesses giving profits to consumers.The main purpose is to expand market share and seize market share, which are normal business practices.

Big companies have to pursue a little bit, and they can't get rich with a small fortune. Internationalization is an indispensable part.

This is what the Austrian media said. No one knows how many people believe it. Anyway, the capitalists believe it.

In particular, listed companies are the most active. Capitalists jumped out of the platform one after another, advocating the benefits of internationalization, and insisting that shareholders...

Thanks to the establishment of the free trade system, favorable conditions have been created for the "dumping" of Austrian goods, and the first to be hit is the European continent.

Facts have proved that the people at the bottom of Europe are really not rich these days.The discounted Austrian industrial products have been very popular since they were launched.

The influx of a large number of cheap foreign goods will naturally impact the local market, and it is inevitable to bring hatred.

The conflict of interests is the most terrifying. If the cheese of the local capitalists is touched, revenge is inevitable.

Just when everyone was preparing to take action, the situation changed.

Not only Austrian products came, but also British and French products. At least "English" or "French" was printed on the trademark.

"Shanzhai" is a characteristic of the times, everyone is pirating each other, and more than half of the industrial and commercial products on the market are high imitations.

Patent protection is only valid in the country of registration. Many countries do not have patent laws, and piracy is acceptable.

There is no doubt that the exports of Britain and France have not increased, and there are problems with the extra products on the market, but there is no way to distinguish the authenticity of this stuff.

They are all imported goods. In this era without internet and monitoring, who knows where they are shipped from.

Austria's dumping was also coordinated by the locals, and if they wanted to take targeted action, they dragged Britain and France into the water together.

Although it is said that strong dragons do not suppress local snakes, it is not uncommon for them to accidentally kill local snakes.

Unless everyone immediately revises the rules of the game and enters the era of patents ahead of schedule, within the rules of the game, the government will come forward to crack down on counterfeit products.

This is impossible, my butt is not clean, how can I mess around?

According to the data released by Austrian Information News, more than 80.00% of the capitalists in Europe started their business from "cottages", and more than 90.00% of the five companies have patent infringement.

This is an inevitable result. The British industrial revolution was much earlier than that of the European continent. Most of the technologies in the first industrial revolution were born in Britain.

Everyone has gone all the way. As a latecomer, it is impossible to develop industry without plagiarism.

The second industrial revolution moved to Austria, and the original "cottage" country entered the patent era in an instant.

Needless to say, everyone will continue to copy!Not to plagiarize, to open up a new path, not to mention the huge cost, the key is that it may not be successful.

"Patent protection" is actually a means for Yingao to shear sheep.

After the establishment of the free trade system, everyone's goods can circulate freely. Britain and Austria, which have a large number of patented technologies, naturally want to hold high the banner of patent protection.

Their own products go out unimpeded, while other people's products are directly blocked from the country because they involve patent infringement.

The essence of this world is: whoever sets the rules of the game can gain an advantage in the competition.

The free trade system, which looks very fair on the surface, is actually a tool for Britain and Austria to plunder wealth from the outside world.

This is an open secret. Apart from being able to fool ordinary people, the upper class knows the essence of free trade.

You know what you know, but everyone is still powerless to change.Perhaps all countries unite and can overthrow the free trade system, but no one is willing to be the leader.

It's not that I don't want to, but mainly because I don't dare.It is impossible for Britain and Austria to be enemies of all countries, but killing the leader and killing monkeys to make an example can still be done easily.

Theoretically, France is the most promising to play this role. Unfortunately, the Paris government did not block the sugar-coated shells and fell early.

The political structure in which the three major powers dominate the world is the price offered by Britain and Austria. If they refuse, they will be served by the anti-French alliance.

The second is the Russian Empire. For geopolitical reasons, as long as the Tsarist government does not kill them, no one can do anything to them.

It is a pity that the appeal of the Russians is too low, and they have the name of a big country, but their actual influence is limited to the Eurasian continent.

Determined by this strength, the Russian navy has fallen behind by an era, and the army alone has maintained its status as a major country.Except for their neighbors, they have no influence on other countries.