Holy Roman Empire

To force the government to concede, on November 7, 1881, the Prussian bourgeoisie organized a massive strike and shutdown movement.

This move utterly enraged Frederick III; after multiple unsuccessful negotiations, on November 10, the Berlin Government declared martial law throughout the country.

A security brigade composed of retired officers took over the police’s work, blockaded the major thoroughfares, sealed all the participating capitalists’ shops, warehouses, and factories, and the government uniformly allocated national resources.

Subsequently, Frederick III ordered the resumption of factory production. Many retired military officers transformed overnight, becoming industrial managers.

With no technical content and unsure how to manage, they simply copied the methods used for managing the military.

As long as they received their wages, the common workers didn’t care who the boss was. It didn’t matter how strict the management was; as long as the money was in place, any issue could be discussed, and factories resumed operations one after another.

From production to sales, the government handled everything. It looked quite a bit like a planned economy, and the capitalists truly panicked.

Reality told them that they might not be so essential, that this country could still function normally without them.

Even though many problems occurred in the middle, this was just the initial stage; things could be changed slowly later on.

Now it was too late to regret. Faces torn, Frederick III naturally did not hold back.

They didn’t even need to fabricate charges; by merely digging up old accounts, a large number of individuals were quickly thrown into prison.

Prime Minister Leo Von Caprivi said anxiously, "Your Majesty, we can’t go on like this; otherwise, there will be great turmoil."

He had no objections to going after capitalists, as they were never on the same page anyway.

But plans couldn’t keep up with changes. Before this, no one had prepared for the military to take over the country.

It was only later discovered that the police couldn’t handle the capitalists, forcing the use of retired soldiers to organize the security brigade.

After dealing with the capitalists, everyone realized that domestic order had collapsed. To restore social order, the government once again had to rely on military strength.

It was once said that the Kingdom of Prussia was a state owned by the army; this was because the military had great influence and controlled the nation’s politics.

The situation had changed now; the military’s influence at the top was weakened, yet their influence on the lower levels had greatly increased.

Frederick III nodded in resignation, "My prime minister, everyone knows the situation in Prussia is not right, but the question is, how do we solve it?

People have already been arrested, their houses searched, and their factories confiscated. Nôv(el)B\\jnn

Now, to resume factory production, we simply cannot find enough management personnel in the short term.

Besides having retired military officers manage them, do we have any other choice?

We certainly can’t release those parasites again to continue causing us trouble, can we?"

We must admit that militarizing factory management can only serve as an emergency measure. Problems have erupted shortly after starting.

After hesitating for a moment, Leo Von Caprivi gritted his teeth and said, "Let’s just organize an auction!

We definitely can’t manage so many factories; sell off most of the smaller ones and retain only a few large factories to turn them into state-owned enterprises, learning from Austria’s management model."

The Prussian industrial sector was still in a state of varied competition; over eighty percent of the factories in the country employed less than a hundred people, and there were only a handful of large factories employing over ten thousand.

The Kingdom of Prussia was a capitalist, militaristic state, and not all capitalists had stood up against the government. Now that the table had been flipped, it was naturally impossible to wipe out all the capitalists in one fell swoop.

In theory, as long as the confiscated small and medium-sized factories were sold off, the management issue would be resolved.

Wilhelm I nodded slowly, "That is indeed a solution."

Clearly, he was tempted. Despite the Kingdom of Prussia having resumed production, this capacity was truly meager, with an overall decline in production efficiency by fifteen percent, and the defect rate remained high.

Such businesses, unless operating in isolation, were doomed to fail once they entered the international competition.

The calm on the market now was supported by the government’s reputation. The Berlin Government acted promptly to guarantee supply and employment, and people believed in the government’s execution.

Army Minister Von Roshwald proposed, "Your Majesty, casting so many factories into the market at once may not fetch a good price even if there are buyers.

Rather than that, why not directly distribute the factories to the retired soldiers, offsetting their severance pay or pensions?

Not only could the government reduce the expenses, but it could also coincidentally solve the employment placement issue."

Indeed, it would be tough to fetch a good price, as the majority of Prussians with purchasing power were still locked up in prisons.

The remaining capitalists, even if they had the money, were quite frightened at this time and dared not make any rash moves.

Affected by the devaluation of the Mark, the original standards for severance pay and pensions were clearly outdated.

The Berlin Government dared to default on the capitalists’ money, but they could not afford to discount the soldiers’ blood money.

Although the Berlin Government repeatedly raised the standards, they couldn’t withstand the severe inflation, and the government couldn’t keep up with the escalating costs.

Frederick III asked with some doubt, "Would the soldiers accept it? You know, the performance of these small factories is very average. If they lack management ability, they could easily incur losses."

"Incur losses" did not refer to losses under the capitalists’ management but to the recent situation managed by the Berlin Government.

Von Roshwald replied with uncertainty, "They should accept it. We can set the factory prices lower, letting them decide whether they want the factory or not.

As for management, I think production won’t be a big issue; they’re their own factories, so they surely won’t make a mess.

The troublesome part is sales, but the government can help with that. We have an agreement with the British; we can use goods to offset debts, so let’s just deduct it with the products from these factories."

Frederick III fell into thought; he was concerned about the price since it was all free anyway.

If he could use these small factories to appease the military’s mood and make the military agree to the government’s reorganization plan, Wilhelm I wouldn’t mind giving them away for free.

"Then let’s try it, but make sure to coordinate properly. With several dozen shareholders in one factory, problems can easily arise if it’s not well-managed."

Von Roshwald’s initially joyful expression vanished; he could already imagine the scale of work that lay ahead for him.

No matter how much the factory prices were suppressed, not every soldier could afford one, unless there were multiple casualties in a single family; otherwise, having numerous shareholders was inevitable.

When interests were involved, could everyone still be harmonious? These issues all needed his resolution.

…