w At the end of 1992, Ukraine formally concluded a quasi-alliance Treaty on Economic and Technical Exchanges, Cooperation and Complementarity with China. In the same month, the peace process between Belarus and Russia also made substantial progress, that is, the parliaments of Belarus and Russia passed bills related to the merger.
Embattled on all sides, the Second German Reich had to abandon its two eastern allies.
Entering 1993, the greatest threat to the Second German Empire came from the Franco-Italian alliance.
That is, under the leadership of France and the promotion of Italy, the Second German Empire had to agree to comprehensively reform the "European Union".
¡°Obviously, the core of the reform is to improve the status of France and Italy in the European Union.
To put it bluntly, France and Italy hope to gain the same status as the Second German Empire and establish an alliance system with the three European powers as the core.
The problem is that the Second German Empire was unwilling to give up its position as the boss, or even share its power.
In the eyes of many citizens of the empire, France was a defeated country in the two world wars, and was defeated by the empire as early as 120 years ago in the Franco-Prussian War. Such a country is not qualified to bargain with the empire, let alone share power with the empire.
As for Italy, it has achieved a high enough status, what else can it ask for?
However, things are different now, and it is no longer the European powers that dominate the world order. The huge pressure from China forces the imperial authorities to seriously consider the interests of France and Italy, and they have to distribute power. Give these two powerful countries enough benefits.
To put it bluntly, if France and Italy form a solid alliance, its strength will exceed that of the Second German Empire.
In terms of economic scale, the Franco-Italian Alliance was 1.2 times that of the Second German Empire, and France¡¯s gross national product alone was equivalent to 70% of the Second German Empire. Militarily, Italy is also a recognized nuclear power, possessing hundreds of nuclear warheads and reliable delivery means. in politics. The Franco-Italian alliance has strong enough influence on other European countries, such as Belgium, Spain, Portugal and Greece, and these countries also hope to gain a greater say in the European Union and the European unification process. in diplomacy. Italy is a permanent member of the Security Council, while France is a regular on the Security Council's rotation, and both countries maintain good relations with their former colonies. There are dozens of friendly countries with close exchanges around the world.
It can be said that as long as the Franco-Italian alliance is unbreakable, the Second German Reich will have to make concessions.
The situation at that time was that the weakness shown by the Second German Empire when it broke away from the alliance in Ukraine and merged with Russia made the leaders of France and Italy realize that as long as they united, they would definitely be able to make concessions from the Second German Empire. , thereby gaining the dominance of the European Union, and at least being able to compete with the Second German Empire within the alliance, thereby enhancing the country's international status.
also. There is also influence from China.
Although France and Italy were staunch allies of the Second German Empire in the previous forty years, China's main opponent was the Second German Empire, not France and Italy. That is, when France and Italy challenged the Second German Reich. It has also become the target of China's wooing.
In 1993, the Chinese Foreign Minister visited France and Italy five times!
Such intensive high-level diplomacy shows China¡¯s intentions.
The combination of these factors made the authorities of the Second German Reich realize that if they did not want to lose France and Italy, they had to make concessions on the dominance of the Allied Group. Let these two growing European countries gain more say in order to maintain the alliance system with the empire at its core.
Negotiations with France and Italy continued until the end of 1993.
With no other choice, the authorities of the Second German Reich made a huge concession, that is, recognizing France's status as a major power in Europe and re-dividing the voting rights of the European Union. According to the agreement reached at that time, the Second German Empire would receive 40% of the voting rights, France and Italy would each receive 20% of the voting rights, Spain, the Netherlands, and Sweden would receive 4% of the voting rights, and Belgium, Portugal, Greece, Norway, Finland, Romania, Bulgaria and the Baltic countries each received 1% of the voting rights.
It can be said that this is a result acceptable to both parties.
This means that the status of the Second German Empire as Europe's leading power was confirmed, and the demands of France and Italy were met.
As for other countries, they basically have no say.
The problem is that the result of this negotiation must be achieved??The support of the national parliaments can be officially effective, and Herzendorf obviously did not expect to encounter trouble in the Imperial Federal Congress.
The key is that if France and Italy unite with Spain and then manage to gain the support of the other seven countries, they will have 51% of the voting rights in the European Union and can veto any resolution proposed by the Second German Reich. . Obviously, among the eight countries and groups of countries with one hundredth of the voting rights, Belgium, Portugal, Greece, Norway and Romania will definitely support France and Italy, while Finland, Bulgaria and the Baltic countries will support when their own national interests are related. France and Italy. What's even more terrible is that if the Netherlands or Sweden defect, France and Italy will gain dominance in the European Union.
Such a result is obviously unacceptable to the Imperial Federation Congress.
In early 1994, under tremendous pressure, Herzendorff submitted this bill related to the core interests of the empire to the Bundestag.
At the time, no one realized that this would become the trigger for the collapse of the Second German Reich.
During the debate in the Federal Parliament, many members accused Herzendorf of betraying the interests of the empire, and some even called Herzendorf a traitor.
In three consecutive votes, the bill was rejected by the Federal Congress.
Herzendorf has two options: one is to give up the bill, and the other is to dissolve Congress and hold an early election.
Sadly, Herzendorf chose the latter.
¡°Obviously, Herzendorff did not realize how powerful the domestic opposition was, nor did he realize that doing so would be a death sentence for the empire.
In July 1994, the Second German Reich held an early election.
According to the Imperial Constitution, in addition to re-electing the Imperial Federal Congress, the parliaments of each federation must also be re-elected.
In this election that lasted for more than a month, the conservatives who opposed the reform achieved a comprehensive victory.
At this time, Herzendorf suddenly realized that he had opened the box that imprisoned the devil, and the Second German Empire encountered an existential crisis.
At that time, Herzendorf had another option, which was to activate the emergency bill immediately.
According to the Imperial Constitution, as long as it has the support of more than half of the cabinet members and the Kaiser authorizes it, the Prime Minister can declare a state of emergency in the Empire.
In this case, the election results will not be recognized.
It is a pity that Herzendorf missed this opportunity, or the cabinet betrayed him, that is, seven ministerial members did not attend the cabinet vote, resulting in the final voting result not being supported by more than half of the cabinet members. Therefore, Therefore, the emergency bill cannot be activated.
At the end of September 1994, the Austrian Parliament passed a resolution to secede from the federation and declared Austria to be an independent country.
In the next more than a month, Hungary, the Czech Republic, and Slovakia successively announced their separation from the federation and restored their independent status before the war.
The catastrophic blow came in early November 1994.
In the vote of the Bavarian Parliament held on November 4, the "Bavarian Declaration of Independence" was passed, and the kingdom that was the first to be incorporated into the empire declared independence.
At this point, Herzendorf had no choice.
On November 5, Herzendorf signed a special order by the Prime Minister, ordering the German troops deployed in Bavaria to occupy the Bavarian government and parliament.
Subsequently, Herzendorf declared Bavaria¡¯s declaration of independence invalid and Bavaria had no right to choose independence.
At the last moment, Herzendorf saved the foundation of the Second German Empire, that is, the North German Federation, by sacrificing himself.
It¡¯s just that the Second German Reich no longer exists.
Although former northern German federal members like Bavaria failed to gain independence through military suppression, federal members like Austria that were incorporated into the Second German Empire after the war broke away from the empire's federal system and became independent states. sovereign state.
On December 7, 1994, after the German army basically controlled the situation in Bavaria, Kaiser Wilhelm III officially recognized the independence of Austria and other countries, and announced that Germany would be reorganized on the basis of the North German Federation, and he He will abdicate after the political situation stabilizes.
Half a month later, Germany¡¯s political reorganization was completed.
On December 23, Kaiser Wilhelm III announced his abdication at the Potsdam Palace, and the Second German Empire became history.
After the reorganization, Germany became the Federal Republic of Germany, implementing a parliamentary prime ministerial system, and the elected president served as the nominal supreme leader of the country. At this time, Germany's territory was only half the size of the empire.??, the population is three-quarters of what it was during the Empire, and the economic size is two-thirds of what it was during the Empire. The Second German Reich no longer existed and was replaced by a much weaker Germany.
The disintegration of the Second German Reich also marked the official end of the Cold War that lasted for 45 years.
The end of the Cold War does not mean that human civilization has won long-term peace.
The Gulf War in 1995, the Second Balkan War in 1999, the Iraq War in 2002, etc., indicate that a new international order under the leadership of a superpower is taking shape, and China will also Encounter new challenges in the post-Cold War era!
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