Holy Roman Empire

Chapter 596: Valuing Talent

As the industrial era began, the Prussian government recognized the importance of population, especially a workforce with a certain level of education.

The Kingdom of Prussia was the first country in the world to implement compulsory education, and the Rhineland was its most industrialized region, gathering a substantial pool of basic talents.

These talents were precisely what the Kingdom of Prussia needed at the time. In the early stages of industrial development, there wasn’t a high demand for highly skilled labor but rather for basic technical workers.

After the Second Industrial Revolution, Austria was able to surpass Britain and France, not because of advanced technology or Emperor Franz’s foresight, but primarily due to the large number of engineers.

Without a sufficient number of basic talents, no matter how advanced the technology, it could not be quickly translated into industrial production.

As industrial technology developed, the demand for basic talents increased. Later, countries around the world implemented compulsory education, a result driven by market needs.

In the original timeline, old empires with abundant resources fell behind in the Second Industrial Revolution, largely due to a shortage of basic talents.

By the time they realized this, it was too late. Competitors wouldn’t simply stand still, giving them decades to cultivate talents.

The Kingdom of Prussia maintained high military expenditures without its economy collapsing, not only because of the Prussian government’s political prowess but also due to the advantage of a well-educated population.

In theory, anyone who completed compulsory education had the potential to become a basic technical worker. With extra effort, becoming an engineer was also within reach.

Most entry-level engineers grew from being technical workers, and basic cultural knowledge was a necessary foundation for this growth.

If someone conducted statistics, they would find that while Prussia’s population was far smaller than that of Britain or France, it had nearly as many basic engineers as those two countries combined.

If development was limited to Prussia alone, the available talent would be sufficient, and William I would not place so much emphasis on immigration. However, the Kingdom of Poland also needed to be developed.

Under the Russian regime, Poland had a serf-based system, where education was a privilege for the few, and the majority of people were completely illiterate.

After Poland gained independence, it abolished serfdom and made efforts to develop education, but with disappointing results.

The idealistic government crafted policies based on surface-level appeal without considering the real situation.

The Polish government ignored the lack of qualified teachers and insufficient finances, blindly implementing compulsory education, going even further than Prussia and Austria in some ways.

The intentions were good, but reality didn’t cooperate, and ultimately, the plans remained on paper. Aside from building a few “prestige schools” for the elite, these efforts held no real value for the country.

Now, with the establishment of the Prussian-Polish Federation, the task of developing Poland has fallen on the Prussian government, significantly increasing the demand for talent.

William I said, “By any means necessary, we must bring in as many immigrants as possible. The country’s industrial growth needs skilled people, and the assimilation efforts in Poland also depend on immigrants.

Lately, former Polish revolutionaries led by D?browski have been restless. They have continuously resisted national integration efforts, and the government has a heavy workload ahead.”

For Prussia, Poland was simply too large to fully absorb all at once. To stabilize the situation in Poland, the Prussian government had no choice but to compromise with local Polish power brokers.

However, compromises were selective. The former Polish government, led by D?browski, was the biggest loser from the Prussian-Polish unification, leaving no room for compromise between the two sides.

Being new to the situation, William I recognized that maintaining local stability was crucial. Although he was aware that the former Polish government was secretly stirring up trouble, he felt limited in his ability to take action against them.

While he couldn’t act openly, there would still be ways to make things difficult for them within the rules.

Moltke advised, “Your Majesty, rest assured. The government’s primary focus will continue to be on resettling immigrants.

The most pressing issue is still the corruption within the Polish government. Since the federation has just been established, it’s not yet appropriate to take harsh measures for the sake of stability.

Once things settle down, the government will conduct a civil servant assessment to remove those who are negligent or corrupt, clearing out the Polish administration.”

Accountability would come in due time, but not yet. Although the former Polish government had been overthrown, the strength of the revolutionary faction remained significant.

Especially concerning was the military, which the later Polish government had filled with revolutionaries’ loyal followers. These troops might not have great combat effectiveness, but there were tens of thousands of them. If pushed too hard, they might choose to make a desperate move, which would be disastrous.

Prussia’s annexation of Poland was already somewhat forced, and another civil war would deal a severe blow to domestic morale and unity.

The Prussian government’s approach was to boil the frog slowly. The Polish army’s defeat in the recent Russo-Polish War provided the Prussian government with an opportunity to intervene in military affairs.

Using the excuse of wartime losses, William I took the opportunity to disband four Polish infantry divisions and further downsized the remaining forces to varying degrees.

Of course, while reducing the size of Polish units, William I was also expanding Prussian military resources. There was no contradiction here, as the disbanded units were the ones defeated on the battlefield.

If they had been victorious heroic units, disbanding them would naturally have been impossible. The problem was that the Polish army had lost, and lost badly, so disbanding them became reasonable.

With the establishment of new units, the remaining officers from the old forces were inevitably marginalized. As defeated soldiers, even if they were retired, there would be no objections.

William I didn’t take it to extremes. Some of these officers were transferred to the reserves, while others remained in active service, depending on their allegiances.

Since the Polish army was trained by Prussians, it naturally included a number of pro-Prussian members. When forming new units, priority was given to those loyal to them.

After these operations, the revolutionary faction’s armed forces had been compressed by nearly half, which gave William I the confidence to make a move against them.

Now facing opposition from his prime minister, William I felt displeased, though he kept his composure. In the original timeline, he had tolerated even a powerful chancellor like Bismarck, so he could certainly handle Moltke’s frankness.

Talented people often had strong personalities, which William I found somewhat frustrating.

After a moment of rational consideration, William I nodded, “Then we’ll wait a bit longer. For now, gather evidence, and we’ll settle everything in due time.”

William I had long passed the age of youthful impetuousness, preferring to think thrice before acting. Upon sensing potential risks, he decisively chose to take a step back and consider the bigger picture.

Foreign Minister Geoffrey Friedman then reminded him, “Your Majesty, the international conference on the Middle Eastern massacre issue is about to take place in Jerusalem, and we need to make a decision.

Given the current uncertain state of national affairs, the Foreign Ministry advises remaining neutral, avoiding involvement in the diplomatic rivalry between Britain, France, and Austria.”

The international situation was not just unclear; it was a chaotic tangle. The shifting alliances and rivalries among Britain, France, and Austria were pushing European diplomats to their limits.

Blindly taking sides in such a context would be very easy to lose out. What if they aligned themselves with one side, only for its leaders to reconcile shortly after?

There was nothing that couldn’t be negotiated when it came to interests. The cooperation between Britain, France, and Austria was due to interests, and their mutual opposition was likewise due to interests.

Fortunately, all three parties were rational. Even when conflicts arose, they refrained from dragging others in, keeping their confrontations within agreed boundaries.

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In Vienna, while the Prussians hesitated, secret negotiations over the division of interests had already begun among Britain, France, and Austria.

One defining trait of great powers is their “thick skin.” Although Britain, France, and Austria appeared to be balancing against one another, this was merely a show for outsiders. Behind closed doors, they had long been seated at the negotiating table, arguing over the allocation of interests.

The Middle Eastern issue was just a pretext. From the perspective of Britain, France, and Austria, the conflict between the Ottoman Empire and Persia was little more than child’s play.

Most of the refugees had already perished, so discussing this issue further was seen as unnecessary. In this age of survival of the fittest, questions of “right and wrong” held little value.

The international community would not sanction the Ottoman Empire simply because it forced refugees into Persia, causing significant harm there.

Likewise, it would not hold the Persian government accountable for massacring refugees.

Aside from a few verbal condemnations, the main focus remained the division of interests among Britain, France, and Austria. This was the real subject of contention.