Chapter 1683 - 1589: Strangling the Northern Strong Enemy in Its Cradle

Chapter 1683: Chapter 1589: Strangling the Northern Strong Enemy in Its Cradle

Talleyrand hesitated for a moment, wondering, "Your Highness, what do you mean by ’Little Germany’?"

Joseph then remembered that the concept of "Little Germany" historically emerged only after the disintegration of the Holy Roman Empire and should now solely be present in discussions among Prussian strategists.

He cleared his throat gently and said, "This is what I foresee as a possible future direction for Prussia.

"You know, Prussia shares the same ultimate strategic goal as Austria, which is to integrate all of Germany.

"The most direct way to achieve this goal is to become the true ruler of the Holy Roman Empire.

"However, for Prussia, ruling Holy Rome is not the optimal path because Brandenburg inherently lacks the legal basis for this. Furthermore, they are unlikely to annex Austria.

"Thus, a more realistic approach is to abandon co-ruling Austria and even give up the framework of Holy Rome, proposing instead to build a ’nation of the German people’ based on the German language and cultural customs.

"As opposed to Austria’s ’Greater Germany’ ideology, I call this the ’Little Germany’ plan."

Indeed, historically, after decades of relentless efforts and fortuitous international circumstances, Prussians actually accomplished this highly challenging goal.

This is the process that later led to the birth of modern Germany.

"This is indeed the strategic challenge our country will face," Talleyrand pondered, "Perhaps we should use trade strategies to isolate Prussia from Northern Germany."

Currently, France’s influence over the North German countries is still very strong, and the trade sector is almost the largest market and supplier for all the entities.

As long as France insists on excluding Prussia from the "Stuttgart Trade Agreement," Prussia’s development momentum will undoubtedly be hampered.

Moreover, a prolonged separation between the two markets will make it difficult for Prussia to integrate with the North German countries.

Joseph, however, shook his head, "This would severely damage the Stuttgart Trade Agreement and deplete our country’s diplomatic credibility.

"At present, allowing Prussia to continue driving the economy of the Northern German region is beneficial to our country."

The North German countries are an important sales market for French goods and need to maintain stability.

At the same time, Joseph’s long-term goal is to establish a unified market encompassing France, Germany, Italy, North Africa, and even Eastern Europe.

We cannot easily dismantle the North German market solely to counter Prussia.

Moreover, he is keenly aware that the nation of Prussia is remarkably resilient and extraordinarily adept at industrial development. Simply excluding them from the trade circle is insufficient to deliver a decisive blow.

Talleyrand expressed his concern, "However, as you mentioned, Prussia’s ambitions concerning Northern Germany must be curbed."

Joseph smiled, "You need not worry; it’s just that the time has not yet come to address the issue of Northern Germany."

He has been holding onto the coal and iron resources in Ruhr as a card—this is the real weapon to oppose Prussia.

His plan is to instill fear in Prussia regarding industrial development all at once, to permanently resolve the threat emanating from the north against France. But this requires first letting Prussia invest as much cost as possible.

He continued, "Of course, in the long term, dismantling the concept of ’a nation of the German people’ is the fundamental solution."

Talleyrand immediately suggested, "Your Highness, I have actually heard the rhetoric of those advocating for ’German national unity.’ As you just mentioned, their theoretical basis mainly comes from the German language, oh, and the accounts in Tacitus’s ’Germania.’

"However, you see, the people on the Northern German Plain and the people in the middle and lower Rhine areas do not actually speak the same language; they are completely unable to communicate with each other.

"In fact, even the Franconian dialect and the Alemanni dialect, both classified as High German, can hardly understand each other.

"Oh, it’s more comfortable for me to speak French in Berlin than to communicate with someone speaking Bavarian."

Joseph did not know much about German dialects and now inquired further, pleasantly surprised by the revelations.

The opinions he encountered later in history are that "German unified the entire German people"; now it seems that this was a theory constructed by Prussia to unify Germany.

There are significant differences across vocabulary, consonant systems, and even grammar between High and Low German.

The whole German-speaking area is further fragmented into four major dialects: Low German, Franconian, Alemanni, and Bavarian, along with a multitude of minor dialects.

This is exactly the perfect leverage to counter German nationalism!

Joseph somewhat regretfully muttered, "Only the written form of German is similar; fortunately, not many people in the Germanic region are literate."

Talleyrand promptly shook his head, "Your Highness, in fact, they only share the written language of the Bible, which was translated into High German by that heretic Martin Luther two hundred years ago.

"However, in daily use, various dialects have their own set of written languages.

"But based on the influence of the Bible, official documents in all countries are written in standardized High German."

Joseph again seized upon a "pleasant surprise" and, after thinking for a moment, instructed, "Then the immediate priority is to send people to compile versions of the Bible for various dialects and distribute them at low prices on a large scale."

Talleyrand muttered under his breath, "This doesn’t quite align with the Holy See’s regulations..."

The Roman Church has always permitted only the circulation of the Latin Bible and strictly prohibited translations into other languages to monopolize the right to interpret the Scriptures.

Joseph chuckled, "Then let’s have the Holy See amend the rules. I believe the Pope will agree. Oh, and the French version of the Bible can also be printed in large quantities."

Talleyrand, as an Archbishop, unhesitatingly bowed, "Yes, Your Highness. You let more believers receive the protection of the Holy See; may Jesus bless you."

Joseph continued, "Additionally, we must promote the standardization of local dialects in various countries, such as compiling textbooks and using dialects to write official documents. In the future, terms referring to local dialects must be altered as well; for example, Bavarian should be called Bavarian and not a ’German dialect.’

"Let the Cultural Propagation Association allocate funds specifically for this matter."

He then looked at Talleyrand and asked, "By the way, you mentioned ’Germania’ earlier; is there any issue with this?"

This book was a piece of ethnographic work written by the Ancient Roman historian Tacitus in A.D. 98, detailing the origins, institutions, and daily life of the Germans, using the depiction of the pure barbarians to satirize the societal decay and corruption of Rome.

Prussian scholars, however, employ this book to support the theory that all of Germany originated from the ancient Germanic tribes.

Talleyrand shrugged, "Your Highness, this book can only be taken as fiction. Tacitus wrote in it—’All Germans have uniform physical features, including blue eyes, reddish-golden hair, and tall, robust physiques.’ By these standards, there aren’t many Germans in today’s Germanic region."