Chapter 13: Chapter 13 There’s always a Choice.

Hofburg, Vienna, Austria

December 25th, 1908

[3rd Person POV]

Many have said that this was the 'no turning back' moment that Franz will later on realized too late that the treaty he signed was enough to cause a permanent rift between the Hungarians and the serbians. Back then, it was possible to repair the rift that divided these people all these years.

But Franz Joseph I, the moment he signed the treaty, was already a death sentence and a sign of worse things to come as the  italians and the Serbs demanded compensation for the annexation. To which the Austrian-Hungarian Government, to which they refused to even entertain such a demand.

The diplomatic crisis was prevalent as both governments reluctantly stayed quiet for now, but vowed revenge at the Kaiser.

When in reality, the Kaiser trusted it Based upon the assurances of the Buchlau Conference and the treaties that preceded it.

Even on the side of the Russians, Nicholas II didn't have any knowledge of this, which led people to believe that both foreign ministers from both sides pursued such a deal without informing their emperor's. Which was high treason and was never found out until the great war happened which Franz regretted it until his death in 1916. 

Right now Franz Joseph is looking at the said document and signed it without even thinking as he was reassured multiple times by the conference and the treaties that preceded it that the document was signed and was effective immediately.

Months later, protests and demands from the Italian and Serbian Government was thrusted upon Franz desk and subsequently, ignored it and moved on in containing Serbia even more by doubling their army size equal to the German empire.

Which brought huge concerns on the Serbian side as they couldn't stop the Empire's army from marching to their lands.

Hence the Black Hand proposed a shocking plan that would thrust Serbia along with the Austrian Hungarian government down with them as the plot to assassinate Franz Josephs nephew was beginning to form

The black hand though specifically said to leave Sophie and only kill Franz Ferdinand as the Serbian Government also had a hand in this assassination attempt as they knew it was not gonna exist as an independent country for any longer as the diplomatic pressure from Austrian-Hungarian government was slowly whittling them down. So they plotted that would be the start of the great war, and also pulling another country into the great war which they didn't want no part in and also suffered massive casualties after 5 years of constant warfare.

So far the Black Hand that originated from America has successfully managed to spread all around Europe and cause some minor chaos to riots and protests. Which Europe is slowly but surely turning into a ticking time bomb that's ready to go off at any time. The members knew what they're getting into. And they're ready to die for it. Hence this organization is usually only known to a few countries and the members are ordered to be shot on sight as in 1890,1901, and 1903 their attempts in making one member confess resulted in failures and they just gave up capturing them completely and just shot them on sight.

Franz Joseph was then pulled out of his problems as he heard a knock to which it was his nephew or what he would like to be called brother as Franz Ferdinand and Joseph smiled at each other and hugged after he set the document aside and stood up to greet his nephew/brother in person.

"What brings you here Ferdinand?" Joseph inquired as Ferdinand went quiet for a moment as he glanced at his brother and spoke in a solemn voice. 

"Joseph, I need to visit Sarajevo to inspect the Army and plan our strategic maneuvers better. As you know the state of Europe right now…the world is slowly going mad…" Ferdinand spoke as Joseph and Him knew the consequences of doing such an action.

"When will you visit Ferdinand?" Joseph said, He may hate Ferdinand to a fault, but he is still related to him by blood. So naturally, he was worried for Ferdinand's safety. As Ferdinand answered rather vaguely "I think in early 1913 or maybe late 1913 since visiting it right now may cause more backlash and may lead to war for both sides. And I want to prevent that from happening." Ferdinand said.

Joseph hummed as he looked outside his palace for a moment as the radio played Christmas songs and turned around to face Ferdinand, and finally Joseph said after what seemed minutes of not uttering a word "Be safe Ferdinand. Since many Serbs want us dead. Especially you, since you symbolize the spirit of the Empire and its people." Joseph said, as his voice softened a bit as he patted the left shoulder of Ferdinand.

"No matter how bad our family problems were, you will always be a Habsburg and as a family, I am there for you as with Sophie and your children as well."

Ferdinand nodded as he also said "I'm also overseeing and allowing the increase of our army size double that of the German empires. We will not be outdone by them and will show to the world that we will not be taken down without a fight." Ferdinand said with conviction.

"I see…let's hope you're right Ferdinand. Let's hope you're right…is that all Ferdinand or is there anything else you need to acquire from me?" Joseph said.

"Nothing of importance Joseph. I'll take my leave and…Merry Christmas Joseph" he said before leaving the office.

Joseph stood there for a while, and just sat down and muttered under his own voice. "Merry Christmas as well Ferdinand.

---

Reichstag, Berlin

January 10th, 1909

[3rd Person POV]

For the past 5 years, Most of the Members of the Reichstag has passed more acts and policies of the Now Duchess Erika in name as she is still a Marquess officially, than the Kaiser himself.

The list of policies, Bills, Acts, And laws has been listed on a document and kept track off in the Archives and was discovered after nearly 80 years later since no one really knew how Erika did it and she was truly the Kaiser or Kaiserin even unofficially as it may be unrealistic for a child at age 11 would've done all this and just attributed to Erika being a genius and acts like an adult and not a child. Most nobles said, that she matured very quickly after her parents died and nobles even encouraged their sons and daughters to be like her, which was almost impossible.

Nevertheless, the document details what she passed using the help of the influential nobles, and the members of the Reichstag itself to pass Erika's proposals as they're heavily debated on, but everytime it passed after a few days to a few weeks of deliberations and arguments over it.

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The list for this year includes the first bill/actshe ever passed:

Domestic

Old Age and Disability Insurance Bill of 1908

Picked from the Original Timeline but with some differences with it as she added her own version. The major difference was in the ITL (In this timeline) bill, there is a section dealing with those who become partly disabled. Under this section for those people they would receive government help to the tune of 18 marks and 50 marks per month till they finished their training course so they could return to the workforce. Once that training is over that money is gone as they should be able to support themselves now.

Infrastructure Bill of 1908

With stainless steel not being ready, Erika gave up trying to get a drinking water part in this bill. Instead this dealt with enlarging the Kiel Canal and other things. That’s the biggest ticket item anyways. Harbor and canal improvements, building an electrical grid, and road building are also covered by this bill as well as the Autobahn that was set to complete in 1912. This bill isn’t as aggressive as Erika would have liked, but she took it to get things rolling with the belief she can come back with further infrastructure bills later.

Agricultural Reform Act of 1907

It basically improves the overall food situation of the German empire and increases the yield and more farmlands in order to meet the demands in the future.

The Inland Waterway Act of 1909

was signed into law. It’s a massive upgrade to the German Canal and Inland Waterway System along with adding almost 1,000 kilometers to it.

Clean Water Act of 1909

Under this law, funding was set up so local governments could build water supply systems that were safe and help end water borne disease within Germany.

Immigration Act of 1909

This law gives factories the ability to recruit foreign skilled workers to come to Germany for work. However, they have to pay said worker the same amount as German labor. Failure to follow this law will cause them to be fined and banned from applying for immigration visas for skilled workers for the next 99 years.

Farmers can apply for a limited number of visas to help with their farm work. The number of visas depends on the size of your farmstead. Again, these farmers have to pay these workers the same wages as their German counterparts. For those farmers that abuse or underpay their foreign workers will be fined and possibly thrown in jail depending on what they did in terms of abuse.

Both skilled labor and farm hands who come to Germany via this new immigration act will have to pay an 8% tax on all remittance’s payments.

Again, both skilled labor and farm hands who come to Germany via this new immigration act may apply for German citizenship after ten years of living in Germany if they have no felonies and learned how to speak and read German classes are free to these immigrants to Germany. Polish is allowed, but only in Posen.

Farm hands may after five years of living in Germany apply for a land or farm homestead. They however must be able to speak and read German and/or Polish(If they worked in Posen

Factory Tax Act of 1909

Under this act, companies are given tax rebates to buy more modern equipment to use in their factories. They get a bigger rebate if they buy German.

If a company commits fraud under this tax rebate system, they must pay back all tax rebates earned under the last ten years along with a fine. They would further be banned from taking part in this or any other tax rebates for the next 99 years.

Labor Act of 1909

There are two big ticket items under this act along with a lot of smaller items. The first big ticket item was the setting of a minimum wage of 38 Pfennigs per out. The other sets the standard work week as five ten-hour days. If someone works more than 50 hours in one week they are entitled to time and half pay.

The 1909 laws will be slowly passed and will be effective in mid to late 1909 as Some of these laws are still being debated and discussed.

For the 1908 laws, it's all discussed, and passed with flying colors.

As of right now, the German Empire's Economy is booming, and slowly but surely, a Return movement has slowly started to appear with Germans who fled Germany are slowly returning to their fatherland once again. Further increasing the population. Which will contribute to the growth of Germany itself in the far future.

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