Bab 40: 50 million German empire
tk. tk. tk.
I drummed my fingers on my desk as I went through the mountain of material.
While I was deep in thought, Bismarck, who was standing next to me, asked in a cautious voice, "What do you think?
"What is it, Emperor?"
"According to the Ministry of Intelligence's projections, our Reich is still in fourth place.... Do you mean to tell me that we are only a million people ahead of the United States?"
"Only if you go by the estimates."
"Hmm...."
If there's one thing I learned from World War I, it's that population equals power.
It taught me that population equals power.
Sure, the world's most populous empire, the Qing Empire, was defeated by the British Empire, the French Republic, and even the Japanese Empire, and the world's second most populous empire, the Indian Empire, was reduced to a colony of the British Empire, but I still remember the power of the Mother Russian Empire, which conscripted men from the fields to fill its massive front lines.
'We, the German Reich, were struggling to mobilize a million men, but the Russian Empire conscripted a million men as if they were nothing.... I was really scared then!'
65 million people against 160 million.
The German war machine, a war machine that unilaterally decimated the Russian Empire, a country with three times the population, is lucky to have the military power of the German Empire.
Otherwise it would have succumbed long ago.
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I closed my eyes, lost in thought for a moment, then clenched my fists.
I slammed my fist down on the desk and yelled
-BANG!!!
"Okay, I've decided."
"...What do you mean? The Kaiser's ranting makes me very uncomfortable."
"The future of the German Reich lies in its population. I'll implement a policy of population growth! Summon all high-ranking officials and councillors to the Berlin Palace at once!"
My words startled Bismarck.
"My Emperor. Have you forgotten that today is the first of January, a holiday?"
"What the hell. Even I, the legitimate monarch of the German Empire, take a holiday and work, and you think your subjects will stay at home and cower in the dark?"
"...I'm afraid you'll have to suffer under them for a while."
But Bismarck didn't disagree with me.
She was also angry.
This, now that she had returned from her vacation and was working with me.
...But didn't you turn in your vacation not long ago, blushing?
You said you wanted to spend some time alone in a spacious Berlin palace....
Was it a mood thing?
"Ah!"
"What's wrong?"
She turned back to me as if she'd remembered something, just as the high-ranking bureaucrats were about to walk out the door, rejoicing at the thought of splitting up.
"I forgot to tell you, there's been some strange activity in the French Republic during the census."
"In the French Republic? Hmm.... What are those sneaky bastards up to now?"
They may not be as evil as the British Empire, but the French Empire is just as nefarious.
Decades ago, as soon as the Austro-Prussian War broke out, why would they raise an army?
They planned to devour the South German Confederation as soon as the Teutons were exhausted by their own fratricide.
If the Austro-Prussian War had lasted just a little longer, the course of world history would have been completely changed.
"What do you mean, suspicious move?"
"The Grande Armée is directly involved, and not even the RSHA, the National Security Headquarters, knows the details."
"The Grande Armée?"
My eyebrows raised at the one word that came out of Bismarck's mouth.
Grande Armée [ɡʀɑ̃d aʀme])
1815.
After the Battle of Waterloo, the Grande Armée officially faded into history, but its legacy lives on and dominates the land of France.
Composed of elite graduates of the Paris Military Academy, the Grand Armée is the largest private arm of the French Republic's armed forces, leading the Orléans faction and the Bonaparte faction, which form the two great mountain ranges.
Armed with nationalism, patriotism, nationalism, and imperialism, their influence on all of Europe is beyond my comprehension.
"Hmm.... It's certainly not the norm for the Grand Armée to be directly involved, as the legacy of Napoleon would not have gotten involved in such a futile endeavor."
"One thing's for sure, though....there's a huge amount of French-made weapons being smuggled out of the country."
"...!!!!"
***
Berlin Palace in the German Reich.
The Convention Center.
-WoongsungWoongsung
-WoongsungWoongsung
The Great Assembly was called to order on January 1.
At first, the high-ranking bureaucrats and lawmakers present grumbled and complained, but it wasn't long before the debate became heated.
The emperor's policy of population growth had been hotly debated since the days of the Kingdom of Prussia, and the Junkers' influence over not only the military but also the executive branch of government had prevented such discussions from taking place.
...It was a dark time, a time that should have been known.
But it's different now.
Today, if you speak out against the mainstream, you'll be met with scorn, not fists or bullets.
"The most important thing to increase the population is the will of the state! We, the German Reich, have never had a state-directed population policy, which is why we have only 50 million people."
"...What then? Should we adopt a policy of one father, ten children? Or maybe just make it illegal to have children, so you can die young."
"Oh, that's a great idea."
"..."
"..."
"..."
"..."
"..."
Internationally affiliated with the Progressive Alliance and a founding member of the Socialist International.
Center-left Social Democratic Party of Germany in the German Empire.
Commonly known as the SPD, the party's radical ideas led to the lynching of a member of parliament by his fellow bureaucrats.
This didn't sit well with the man who had risen from the peasantry to become a member of the Berlin Palace.
"Well, that's not a bad idea."
"Heh... Is that what you call a horse? And women are not some kind of fertility machine and you think 10 children is possible?"
"That's because you don't know that even with the current low fertility rate, commoners basically have at least 6 kids!!! What's wrong with wanting to have 4 more kids, it's not like it's an impossible policy!"
After a period of very high growth and then a period of very low growth, commoners in the German Empire still had more than six children.
The nobility, with their concerns about succession, averaged about three children.
But there was a huge gap between the two classes: infant mortality.
"Of course, even if we adopt a policy of one man, ten children, the problem is infant mortality. Even if you have six children, almost half of them will die!"
"Why?"
The bureaucrats around the table scratched their heads at the Social Democrat's words.
Although they were not of the Junker class, it would be foreign to them, born into the upper classes, far removed from the words hunger and starvation.
The tragedy of half the children born dying.
"Heh.... Do you have any idea how many people are poor in our German Empire?"
"Well.... I'd say it's about 10%, right?"
"Hell, according to the data I just received from Chancellor Bismarck, there is a whopping 20% absolute poverty rate in our German Empire."
"...!!!!"
"This means that there are a whopping 10 million Imperials living below even the minimum standard of survival - that is, unable to meet their basic needs for food, clean water, shelter, and physical health!"
Of course, compared to other major European countries, the absolute poverty rate in the German Empire is not that high.
Isn't there a strong Russian Empire to the east?
The German Empire 20%.
The British Empire 15%.
French Republic 10%.
Russian Empire 40%.
However, the fact that the absolute poverty rate in the German Empire was twice that of the enemy French Republic made it impossible for those in high places to lift their faces.
How could there be more beggars than in the French Republic?
"So what do you think?"
"We should adopt a one-parent, ten-child policy, but we should also give newborn babies food and medical care so they don't die, and we should create more jobs to keep up with the growing population and reduce the absolute poverty rate."
"..."
The market absolutists were stunned.
Only a communist would say that.... Ah, so social democrats are communists.
Mild commies compared to communists.
PERTIMBANGAN PENCIPTA 
IQIX
IQIX South Korean novel translated into English through AI.
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