Chapter 21
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Chapter 21: Speech
"Karl, did you hear?"
"Hear what?"
"The King of Prussia has relaxed publishing restrictions, now newspapers can freely express opinions."
"Really? I will try submitting an article, I’ve been wanting to criticize that King of Prussia for a long time."
Leader One walked away with a smile and sat back in his seat, continuing to read, waiting for the professor to come in for class.
Liberals, who are advocates of freedom, were prevalent in every corner of Europe in the early 19th century, with great momentum. They opposed feudal rule, monarchs’ authoritarianism, and noble privileges, advocating freedom above all and promoting constitutional monarchies or republics.
Liberals were closely linked to capitalism, especially in the early 19th century, when the two were almost synonymous.
People had enough of the feudal era, and the idea of freedom awakened in everyone’s minds. The liberal movement’s enormous influence continued to challenge the feudal old world.
Violence is a common tool used by the feudal reactionaries, but they can only bully the weak. The liberal commoners on the streets can be easily attacked, but the liberal nobles in the parliament, who represent the big capitalists and some Grand Aristocrat capitalists, cannot be easily touched.
The king also had to compromise when the liberal nobles in the parliament raised a demand for freedom of speech.
The King of Prussia was forced to agree and is about to officially issue a decree to relax publication censorship, allowing newspapers to publish liberal views.
Leader One received this news early and informed Karl, who excitedly prepared his submission. He had written many pieces that could be submitted to the newspaper, and now he was thrilled to be able to do so.
Karl’s article was well-written. He wrote passionately about the recent incident where the King of Prussia attacked a parade, in a beautifully worded two-thousand-word essay, turning criticism into art.
Karl’s submission quickly gained approval from the publishing house, and the day after tomorrow, the King of Prussia would officially announce the decree on freedom of speech. Karl’s essay would be published immediately.
Catherine was curious and asked Karl for a copy to see what he had written.
"Hiss…"
This essay almost ridiculed the King of Prussia, what would happen if this kind of article was published…
Leader One smiled and said, "Don’t worry, Karl is not in danger. There are many people protecting him."
The liberal lord needed a gun to gain more power and influence among the people. Newspapers were the most important tool for public opinion in that era.
Karl’s writing skills were very good. His criticism of the King of Prussia made the liberal lord very happy. With the protection of the liberals, the King of Prussia couldn’t harm Karl.
When the liberal lord no longer needed him and stopped protecting him, Karl would be persecuted by the King of Prussia.
"Oh, Catherine, take this small essay of mine to the newspaper office later, under the pen name… Leader Two." Leader One handed over a letter.
Leader One’s essay seemed simple, but it subtly mocked the agricultural policies of the King of Prussia, making many rural landowners unable to survive.
Two days later…
The newspapers on September 1, 1834, were quite exciting. Leader One bought six common newspapers in Berlin and found that all of them were criticizing the King of Prussia.
Some people criticized the King of Prussia for brutally suppressing protest marches.
Some people criticize the King of Prussia’s bad religious policies.
Some people criticize the King of Prussia for not treating workers well.
Some people criticize the King of Prussia for having overly conservative military development strategies.
Leader One’s short essay was not published, the newspaper reply said, "Your writing is too vague, the public wants to see something more exciting, please be more forceful and resubmit."
Karl’s article received high praise from the newspaper, and he was even given extra payment, "Keep it coming, the newspaper sales are very good."
Potsdam City’s Sanssouci Palace.
Wilhelm IV was shocked when he woke up and saw the newspapers. He had issued a decree on freedom of the press the previous night, and now all the newspapers were criticizing him harshly, without holding back and insulting him directly.
In fact, the current King’s crimes were not that serious yet, as he had only been in power for a year.
The public’s anger had been building up for a long time, and now they were blaming Wilhelm IV for many past mistakes of the previous King.
Looking at the newspapers, Frederick Wilhelm IV didn’t know what to do. Bloody suppression? Writers across the country were criticizing him, he couldn’t kill all the writers, right?
Moreover, these people all had supporters, liberals, religious groups, Junkers, and nobles, all had their own writers supporting them.
Either step down or compromise with various factions, Wilhelm IV could only choose to compromise.
He quickly went to communicate with the behind-the-scenes teams of various writers, recorded all the interests of each party, and tried to calm the situation.
Starting from September 5th, there were noticeably fewer criticisms of the King of Prussia in the newspapers, but they still existed because Frederick Wilhelm IV couldn’t fulfill everyone’s demands.
The crisis seemed to have passed, the throne seemed secure, the people vented their anger, and the anger subsided slightly.
However, Frederick Wilhelm IV was unable to handle what came next. The promises he made to various factions could not be fulfilled at all. He just kept delaying, putting off the crisis from exploding.
Leader One’s role in the 1834 crisis was not significant. Leader One did almost nothing, as it was mainly led by the liberal members of parliament.
Apart from the liberal members of parliament, the most important role was played by Prince Wilhelm.
Leader One’s second brother wanted his elder brother to leave quickly and let himself take the stage. In the fierce battle of the newspapers, Prince Wilhelm hired at least one hundred writers.
Overall, this was just the beginning, the prologue, a prelude to the 1848 revolution.
In October, Leader One submitted his graduation thesis to the school, quickly passed it, and received a degree in law from Berlin University, along with a lawyer qualification.
Catherine dropped out of school directly since she had come for Leader One and had no interest in law.
Karl remained in school, continuing his studies. He was troubled by his doctoral thesis, as the school had not yet approved it, and he also encountered issues with obtaining a lawyer qualification.
The king was narrow-minded. Karl criticized him in the newspaper using his real name, and since the king couldn’t directly persecute him, he ordered the law department to withhold Karl’s qualification certificate.
At the end of October, Prince Redel returned.
Leader One terminated the lease contract for the run-down apartment near the market, no longer hiding his identity. He put on the attire of the Prussian royal family, rode a white horse, and appeared openly on the streets of Berlin.
He delivered a speech to the gathered citizens, not expressing any political stance, but pointed out the most concerning issues for the citizens.
"A worker works seven days a week, fourteen hours a day, just enough to eat."
"He has to endure high temperatures, stale and dirty air, various health risks from industrialization. The industrial machines lack safety measures, if there is an accident, the workers either die or get injured."
"If he gets hurt, he needs to take out a loan from the bank for medical treatment. If he becomes disabled or old, he won’t find work again, with no hope for life."
"Workers need a better working environment, security, and fair pay."
"Workers are just one example, other professions are the same, everyone wants a happy life."
"Support me, I will work hard to bring happiness to everyone, work in a clean and safe environment, have access to medical care when sick, have support in old age, receive fair pay matching the effort, be able to eat well, and not worry about tomorrow."
In the hopeful eyes of many, Leader One sincerely placed his hand on his chest, this was his first promise.
That evening, Prince Redel’s speech made the front page headlines of many newspapers, leading to a significant increase in sales.