The results of the general election on February 20, 1890, were a huge defeat for Bismarck, which was difficult to accept for Bismarck, who had been committed to the elimination of the Social Democrats from the very beginning of the empire.

Rapid industrialization led to the emergence of a great political force within the nascent German empire: the workers' movement. In Bismarck's view, the danger of the Social Democrats to the Reich was even greater than that of its previous enemy, the Central Party. In fact, he did guess correctly, 20 years after his death, it was the Social Democrats who stood on the balcony of the Reichstag and announced the end of the Second German Reich.

In 1878, Bismarck waited for his chance, and in May and June of that year, there were two successive assassinations against Wilhelm I, and Bismarck put the charge on the head of the Social Democrats without evidence, and on October 10, the Reichstag passed the "Decree against the Attempts of the Social Democrats to endanger the peace", referred to as the "Extraordinary Law", which entered into force on the 22nd.

Now, however, Bismarck was annoyed by the fact that the Social Democrats had won 35 seats, considering that in 1871 the Social Democrats had only one seat in the Reichstag. Moreover, the failure of the liberals and conservatives he supported made it impossible for Bismarck to pursue his own political strategy.

Due to the constitution at the beginning of the establishment of the empire in 1871, the Prime Minister of the Reich was concurrently held by the Prime Minister of Prussia, who was appointed by the King of Prussia. In other words, the election defeat did not affect Bismarck's position, and he could still continue to serve as the Reich's prime minister. Without the support of the parliamentarians, however, Bismarck's policies could not be understood in parliament. The political strategy he had painstakingly managed could no longer be sustained, and Bismarck tried to settle the situation once and for all with the hard-handed means he had hoped for—a military coup.

March 17, Charlottenburg Palace, Frederick III's study

Frederick III sat behind his desk, frowning, his left hand rubbing his brow in distress.

Bismarck, Jochen, and the new Chief of the General Staff, Schlieffen, stood respectfully at their desks, waiting for His Majesty the Emperor to speak.

After a moment of silence, Frederick III said slowly: "I can't agree with this plan, now the country needs to be stable, and doing so will plunge the country into turmoil." ”

"As long as the army is still obedient to you, it is not a problem. This is the only way at the moment, and you have to make a decision early. Bismarck's so-called solution was to dissolve the parliament by military force and then amend the constitution to abolish universal suffrage. In doing so, not only did it completely solve the problems of other political parties that were not in the same position as itself, but it was also possible to concentrate the power of the other German states that were always making trouble with themselves in the center. This is tantamount to turning Germany's current dual monarchy into an imperial dictatorship, ah, maybe it will become a dictatorship of the chancellor. If it succeeds, Bismarck may become Cromwell, and if it fails, Frederick III will become Charles I. But whether it succeeds or fails, Germany is expected to become half-dead.

Frederick III glanced at Schlieffen, and the new Chief of the General Staff immediately put his feet together, raised his head and replied: "The army will always obey the orders of His Majesty the Emperor." This answer made Frederick III nod approvingly. Bismarck, on the other hand, frowned. Schlieffen's answer is tantamount to no answer, which is not a support for himself. The army is equivalent to taking itself out directly: This kind of thing, Your Majesty, the emperor, you have an idea, we don't know anything, what do you say we should do. And this attitude of not interfering in politics made Frederick III very satisfied, and for a moment Bismarck missed the conspiracy of the government of Waldzer.

Bismarck was anxious: "Your Majesty, the situation is urgent." Now it is irreparable without bloodshed! By making a decision now, we can minimize the danger. The later you start, the more brutal the situation becomes! ”

Frederick III did not answer, but turned to ask him, "Jochen, what do you think?" ”

Jochen was also on both feet, but instead of showing his loyalty with a high head and a heartfelt gesture like Schlieffen, he replied slowly: "Although I agree with His Excellency the Chancellor on the restriction of the Social Democrats, it is clear that the present domestic situation is not suitable for the attainment of this by military means. ”

"Your Highness, you should understand the dangers of the Social Democrats, otherwise you would not have put forward the concept of National Socialism. I appreciate His Highness's theories. But this is an urgent moment, and we have not waited for your set of theories, Your Highness, to gain the majority of supporters in the Empire. The most important thing in your theory is statism, and every citizen must serve the state. But you also know that if parliament is dominated by political parties, and political parties are dominated by voters, then different parties alternate in power. Then all policies cannot be implemented smoothly, long-term, and continuously. Your Highness, if you look at the current situation in France, you should know that the current prime minister of the French has not been able to implement their decrees for more than half a year! ”

"But now that the empire is in a difficult period, how to reduce the losses and let the empire get through the difficult period is the most important thing. So we need more jobs, more labor, more capital, more products, not more unemployment, more strikes, more chaos and even more corpses! ”

"Long pain is better than short pain! Your Highness, if we have to compromise with these people just because the empire is facing a predicament now, then it will be too late for the empire to get through the predicament and want to clean it up, we must solve this problem fundamentally, so that the political situation of the empire is no longer controlled by political parties, so that we can better implement the policies of the empire in the future. The pain we endure now is the price we must accept for a bright future. Bismarck asserted.

Regarding Bismarck's speech, Jochen had to smile bitterly: "Your Excellency, the long pain is better than the short pain, but once this incident happens, it is not a short pain. When the working class loses universal suffrage, it will be a long struggle, and even if the army can control the situation, but there is no one to work, the empire will not be able to continue to develop; And if the struggle does not stop, our army will always have to maintain order. In this way, the empire will not develop, and it will continue to consume the resources of the government. If this situation continues, it will continue to affect the empire for a long time. ”

"Your Highness need not worry, our constitutional amendment is only aimed at those socialist liberals, and the vast number of yeoman farmers will gain more power as a result, and the Junker aristocracy will benefit from it, and these people will support the new policy. In this way, the most fundamental foundation of the empire will not be shaken, and then we only need to further strengthen the "extraordinary law", and then severely punish the elements who take the lead in making trouble, and the workers who have lost their leaders will not make any trouble at all when the empire is fundamentally solid, and without work, they will have to starve to death. They were already better treated by the Empire's labor security regulations and new wage policies, and they would know how tolerant and merciful the Imperial Government's policies had been for them after they had suffered. Then they will go back to work. ”

Listening to Bismarck's self-righteous remarks, Jochen couldn't help but want to hold his forehead and sigh, when did he still think that agriculture and Junkers were the cornerstones of the empire? Is it because of those who depend on the sky that Germany has developed to this point? The Junkers of the empire, who accepted the new agriculture of the empire built by Jochen Jian, have begun to try to industrialize and industrialize agriculture, do you Bismarck still want to turn back the clock of history? Just because you are stubborn and want to destroy the differentiation of Junker that you have worked so hard to do, you will fight to the end!

Thinking of this, Jochen's tone finally became unceremonious: "I have also heard that Your Excellency the Prime Minister does not understand the economy, but there should be not a lot of reports on the economy that Your Excellency the Prime Minister can come into contact with." You should know the assessment given by the Ministry of Finance that our country is facing an economic crisis this time, because our trade agreement with the Russians allows us to continue to export our industrial products, so we can still ensure the normal operation of the empire's industry, so as to reduce the impact of the economic crisis. In this case, exports had to be expanded in order to continue to sustain the empire's economy from collapsing.

What can yeoman farmers and Juncker do? What can their little land harvest do to the empire? Moreover, now the empire's grain production cannot meet the domestic market, and the shortfall must be imported from Russia. Once the empire's economy collapses, where will you get the money to buy food? Will yeoman farmers be able to maintain the stability of the empire's economy or will they be able to solve the empire's grain procurement problems after the empire's economic collapse? Without an economy and without food, how can we sustain an army? Sacrifice the economy of the entire empire for the sake of your so-called political zhì stability. I see that when the economy collapses, then the army collapses, the army collapses, your government has to collapse, and finally the whole empire collapses, is what you want to see? "Jochen, that's a heart-wrenching statement.

Hearing Jochen's accusation, Bismarck also became angry: "When I worked hard for the empire, Your Highness, you didn't know where it was. Everything I did was for the sake of the empire, and your remarks like this are simply an insult to me! The policies I formulated made the empire flourish and made Germany the number one power on the European continent. How can I blame you for my contribution to enjoy this qiē under the powerful wings of the present empire? ”

Seeing that the quarrel was about to escalate, Frederick III shouted angrily: "Enough! What a way to make a noise in front of me! ”

Jochen and Bismarck immediately apologized and then kept silent, but they glared at each other angrily and refused to give in.

Frederick III took a deep breath, exhaled it slowly, and then said: "It is absolutely not feasible to dissolve the parliament by force and amend the constitution. Schlieffen, the army is on heightened alert, but no action is allowed without my orders. ”

"Yes, Your Majesty, the army is subject to your will."

Frederick III's decision made Bismarck furious, and he exclaimed: "Your Majesty, such a decision is unwise. You've made the wrong decision! ”

"I have made up my mind and will never change it."

Bismarck's face flushed with anger, his breathing was heavy like that of a wounded beast, and Schlieffen even tensed his body to prevent the chancellor from breaking out in a fit of rage. In the end, Bismarck did not make any drastic moves, but he uttered his last threat word by word: "If His Majesty insists on this, then I will resign from all my posts." ”

He threatened to resign, but this tried-and-true trick against William I failed in the face of Frederick III.

Frederick III looked at Bismarck lightly for a moment, and then replied equally lightly: "Then I approve it." ”

His Majesty's decision made the study fall silent for a while. Bismarck, who didn't expect the emperor to step down so easily, was stunned for a moment as if he didn't understand what the emperor said, and then he didn't even care about etiquette, and turned around and left with an angry shake of his hand.

Even Jochen, who had always wanted Bismarck to leave, did not expect that on this occasion, at this time, Bismarck would be driven down from the pinnacle of power. Schlieffen, who was also revoked by the imperial prime minister in this way, was also a little surprised. The two of them stood in front of the desk, and they didn't even dare to come out.

Frederick III buried himself in the back of his chair, then shook his hand and motioned for the two to go out. After the salute, Jochen and Schlieffen also hurriedly exited the study of His Majesty the Emperor.

Bismarck's era is over.