Conservatives and Liberals in the British Empire
The Kaiser's insane behavior left the top echelons of the British Empire stunned, and they exerted tremendous pressure on the German Empire.
Even the German Empire, the world's second-largest power, faltered under the sincere pressure of the British Empire, a superpower and hegemon that controlled all the world's oceans and trade routes.
"Kaiser! The British Empire's Ministry of Industry has informed all markets in the Commonwealth that it is renegotiating tariffs on German goods."
"We are in trouble. The FCO of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office has informed me that German Imperial ships may be denied access to the Suez Canal and the Straits of Malacca."
"The stock market is crashing. Investors, worried about increased logistics costs and loss of market share due to friction with the British Empire, are buying stocks and bonds in droves!!"
.
.
.
.
I clucked my tongue as I watched the German Empire falter as the British Empire snorted.
"Tsk. British Empire assholes. All this shit for a few pieces of territory...."
"It can't be helped, can it? The British Empire has the power to run the world, and we, the German Empire, don't have the power to withstand their oppression."
"You bastards, you're all bullshit about expanding your colonies, but you can't even snap your fingers at us! Ew~"
I sighed.
Then I looked at Bismarck with a slightly worried expression.
"...It won't be a big problem, my decision won't be wrong, right?"
"Yes. The British Empire wants to control the trade routes and kick us out of the market, but we, the German Empire, are the second largest economic power after the Qing Empire and the United States of America. Our economy already reached 16% in the 1870s, broke 20% in 1880, and is now at 25%."
"..."
Asia's economy is a large percentage of the world's economy, but agriculture accounts for 80% of GDP.
The industrializing and industrializing Americas are also rapidly catching up to the size of Europe's economies, but are at least a few decades away.
The center of the world economy is now Europe, and the German Empire's economy, which accounts for 25% of the European economy, is a force to be reckoned with, even for the British Empire.
"Even now, the industrial power, industrial strength, and economic size of the German Empire is exploding, with coal production and steel production breaking records every year, and in the case of steel production, it has surpassed Great Britain and the United States of America to become the world's number one producer."
"..."
"Chemical giants such as BASF, Bayer, and Agfa, which produce artificial dyes and pharmaceuticals, and maritime logistics companies that buy ships made from the steel of the German Empire, dominate the global chemical market. In machinery, steel and other heavy industries, it also remains the world's number one."
After decades of dominating the global economy, the British Empire's share of world trade has been steadily declining since peaking at 38% in 1880.
The German Empire, on the other hand, has exploded and now accounts for 20% of global trade.
Does the British Empire generally cut off trade with the German Empire, even in times of war?
Not only the German Empire, but the entire world will unite against British domination, and the Pax Aryanis will come even faster.
"Suddenly cut off trade between the German Empire and the Commonwealth of Nations? The German Empire will suffer a major economic blow from reduced exports, but the British Empire's cotton textile industry will be devastated by the loss of artificial dyes, and the Commonwealth of Nations will scream in agony at the lack of medicines."
"..."
***
Bismarck emphasizes balanced diplomacy, prioritizing the advancement of the German Empire's national interests.
She is uncharacteristically open with Great Britain because she is confident.
Confident that she can swallow the East Indies without crossing the line into insanity.
And I, who know the future, am excited.
I know the future, and I know that the British Empire will not join the German Reich in its expansionist endeavors, even if it eats all of Borneo and Sulawesi.
'Great Britain would never try to fight the German Empire directly, unless they wanted to offend us by passing the Admiralty Act of 1898 to build more warships.
It may sound strange to say this, but the British Empire hates war more than anyone else.
To be precise, it is traumatized by war between great powers.
The trauma of the Crimean War, which was part of the Great Game between the Russian Empire and the British Empire, where 20,000 people were torn apart, still terrorizes London and the Palace of Westminster.
And you're not dealing with a tiny nation of indigenous peoples, you're dealing with the German Empire, one of the world's two great powers?
A traumatized Great Britain will only keep it in check through collusion and intrigue, but it won't kick some serious ass.
In fact, it did.
The French Republic and the Russian Empire sat on the sidelines, hoping to keep the German Empire in check as much as possible.
Until the Russian Empire's Baltic Fleet was smashed in the Russo-Japanese War.
"Since the British Empire isn't going to directly check our German Empire, let's get to work, shall we?"
Bismarck laughed at my words.
Bismarck, the world's greatest diplomatic genius, spawned by the German Empire.
Her organs were beginning to come into their own, and she was beginning to shake up the British Empire.
***
May 1st.
Capital of the British Empire.
The Palace of Westminster in London.
They thought they ran the world, but they were surprised.
They were astonished to see the German Empire and the Berlin Palace cowering under the pressure of the great British Empire.
Normally, most powers would cave under this kind of pressure, but the German Empire, one of the world's two largest powers, did not.
"Hmm.... I thought the German Empire was so close to us, the British Empire, but they stabbed us in the back like this."
"...This is Bismarck's fault. He should have kept his stupid mustache under control!"
"By the way, I had no idea the German Empire had grown so powerful. I know a businessman who says that if we ban trade with the German Empire, our economy will be ruined."
"Don't you think it's time to put a stop to that?"
"But the British Empire's enemies are the Russian Empire and the French Republic-"
"But we can't let the German Empire destroy the European diplomatic balance, can we?"
"..."
The top echelons of the British Empire panicked and panicked at the sight of the power of the German Empire that Bismarck had so far kept hidden.
With so much to protect and so much to lose, the power of the German Empire made them instinctively take a backward step.
***
As they watched the German Empire bouncing this way and that, the top echelons of the British Empire split into two factions.
The [Conservatives], who felt that this was the time to give the German Reich a big punch in the nose.
The Liberals, who believed that the last thing we needed was another war between white countries.
The Conservatives were made up of farmers, lords, and nobles.
They had made their wealth from land before the Industrial Revolution, and during the Industrial Revolution, they accumulated vast amounts of capital through investment.
As vested interests in the British Empire, they had an instinctive fear of all-out war, but the Conservatives, drunk on Pax Britannica, were not afraid of the German Empire.
The conservatives in Pax Britannica were not afraid of the German Empire, as the German Empire would easily succumb to the military and economic power of the British Empire accumulated over hundreds of years.
"Losing the northern part of Borneo is synonymous with being cut off from trade routes with the Qing Empire. We, the British Empire, must never succumb to the domination of the German Empire."
But to the Conservatives' arguments, the Liberals responded with a bite of foam at the mouth.
The Liberals were supported by the bourgeoisie, which had been explosively accumulating capital and power since the Industrial Revolution.
They were vehemently opposed to all-out war against the German Empire.
'...how much profit do capitalists make from trade with the German Empire?'
'Besides, without artificial dyes from the German Empire, our biggest industry, the cotton market, would be devastated.'
In the British Empire, the cotton textile industry accounts for a large share of GDP.
The Japanese empire, with its cheap labor, is eating into the cotton market, but it's not done yet.
"Phew! Do you know what the German Empire is our main enemy in the British Empire? A single northern island, Borneo, cuts off our trade routes."
"..."
"And they're more talkative than the Russian Empire or the French Republic. Isn't the chancellor of the German Empire Bismarck, the diplomatic genius?"
"..."