Chapter 48

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Chapter 48: Prussian Characteristics

"Your Highness, Minister of National Defense Marshall Steinmetz requests an audience." Catherine gently woke Leader One from his nap.

"Hmm… umm, let him in." Leader One replied groggily.

The Marshal entered the office and asked, "Can we declare war on Denmark?"

Leader One instantly became alert, "What? Declare war? Declare war on Denmark? Why would we suddenly go to war?"

The Marshal shouted loudly, "For the glory of Germany!"

Leader One looked confused at him and said, "Marshal, maybe you should go to the hospital."

The marshal cheerfully pulled a chair over and began telling the prince regent about the benefits of a war.

Since the prince regent took the throne, he invested more in the military every year, but one important thing was missing – there was no war.

In the Prussian army, there were three kinds of people: those who didn’t want to be soldiers but were forced to, those who wanted to become soldiers for land and promotion, and war enthusiasts.

The higher ranks were mostly war enthusiasts, the middle to lower ranks wanted to gain land through war achievements, and the lower ranks were mostly conscripted forcefully.

The soul of an army lies in its officers, and the middle to lower-ranking officers determine the appearance of an army. Leader One increased military spending every year to meet the demands of the higher-ranking officers for military strength, but he did not satisfy the middle to lower-ranking officers.

The Marshal said, "Your Highness, if you don’t use violence to suppress and start a war, we won’t gain any credit or obtain land. It’s been almost four to five years, and there haven’t been any new military Junker appointments. Everyone is getting restless."

Leader One hesitated.

The marshal declared, "The people also desire war. Prussia has been weak for too long, and with our national power significantly increased due to industrialization, the people’s ambitions have been stirred. The military needs to show the people that we are capable, so we need a war."

Leader One, "We started full industrialization on January 1st, and now it’s only June, yet our national strength has increased significantly? People are ambitious – they don’t want to be soldiers, but they want war, and they want to win wars."

The Marshal stood up excitedly waving his hands, he said, "Denmark has given us an opportunity. Their confusing actions on the Schleswig-Holstein issue have given us a perfect excuse to start a war."

"The Schleswig-Holstein issue…" Leader One paused. "I know about that, but we shouldn’t start a war now. At most, we can support proxy wars by providing weapons. Our regular army cannot win in a direct confrontation."

The Marshal mentioned that Prussia currently has 120 regiments in their regular army, and they would likely lose if they went to war directly with Denmark. However, if Your Highness the Regent declares the country in a state of war and calls for total mobilization, Prussia’s forces could increase to over 1000 regiments within a month. Prussia’s military system’s rapid expansion capability is unquestionable.

Oh boy, Leader One was quite scared. Prussia is at the beginning of full industrialization and should focus on economic development. The Ministry of Finance predicts that if stable growth is maintained, the annual economic growth rate could reach around twenty percent. This high-speed development period could last for at least ten years.

Once the state of war and total mobilization is declared, everything will be in chaos. Forget about industrialization and economic development – most men aged 20-40 will be sent to the army, the entire country will shift towards military production, all previous plans will be disrupted, and economic development will inevitably stagnate.

"Marshal, Marshal, please calm down first, can I find you in a few days?"

Leader One quickly dismissed the Minister of National Defense and asked Catherine to bring Ron, who is currently the Chief Secretary of the Ministry of National Defense, to control the situation with the Minister of National Defense – something was wrong.

Ron hurriedly arrived at the prince regent’s office, sweating profusely and breathing heavily, looking quite exhausted.

"Your highness, I’m sorry but I really can’t hold on anymore," Ron said helplessly.

Prussia was a country that grew out of the military, a very peculiar country, the birthplace of militarism and an important origin of nationalism.

It can be called martial spirit in a positive way, or filled with a large number of fanatical militarists in a negative way.

The military wanted to be strong, they enjoyed the glory and spoils of war, hoping to gain land and promotion to the Junker class through military action.

Despite the long-term decline of Prussia, many people in society did not want to be soldiers, however, they desired a grand victory, often seeing articles in newspapers praising and glorifying war, which had a large audience.

In October last year, there was even a demonstration in Danzig hoping to start a war, claiming that the prince regent was too weak and should initiate war.

The long-term division in the German region made people eager for unification, whether through peace or force, with a large number of supporters advocating for war unification.

The public pressure in Prussia pushed the military to initiate war, and the military was very willing to do so, for glory, for the unity of Germany, for military achievements and land.

Ron spent a full two hours in the office talking about various situations within the country and the military.

Ron really tried hard to stop those extremist nationalists, but he can’t do it now because he doesn’t have enough influence and power to fight against the large group.

Leader One gave a serious order, "Absolutely not, these people are crazy, we can’t let them start a war. I won’t agree to declare war."

"Yes, Your Highness, starting a war with Denmark will destroy the whole country’s strategy. Now is not a good time. Our international political situation seems good on the surface, but if we go to war with Denmark, everything will be ruined. No one will help us anymore," Ron said sadly.

If we want to attack Denmark, we first need to deal with the countries like England, France, Russia, and Austria. We need to make sure we can get their support or make sure they won’t interfere. We also need to make sure they keep good relations with Prussia in diplomacy before we can start a war.

This is a very difficult task. The current Minister of Foreign Affairs is useless like a fool. Leader One thought Prussia didn’t need much diplomacy at this stage, so he just appointed a "lapdog" as Minister of Foreign Affairs, and this is the result of such a mess.

Prussia, and later Germany, produced numerous brilliant military leaders, but most of them were tactical masters and lacked strategists. These tactical masters only knew about war and were ignorant of things outside war. They often misjudged international politics and confused the country’s strategic planning frequently.

The current Marshal of National Defense is a typical example. He is an outstanding soldier and an excellent tactician, but his strategic planning is extremely poor. He seriously misjudged the international situation and wants to go to war with Denmark based on the excitement within the country and the military’s achievements. He believes he can win quickly under his brilliant tactical planning.

But in reality, winning is impossible; war is never just about war.

Leader One is determined to control this wild horse running loose. Ron can’t control it, but maybe someone else can try.

"Hurry, go ask Anna."