Re: Blood and Iron

Chapter 186: Rise of the Progressive Party



There was a saying that Bruno had once heard in his past life, and the older he got the more it made sense. "A society only has the amount of crime it is willing to tolerate..." Why did the black market arms trade exist in this world, despite the measures that could be taken to effectively eradicate it?n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

Because sometimes the great powers needed to supply the enemies of their enemies with weapons and munitions. Only that it could be quite embarrassing to have their finger prints on the guns... This was exactly what Bruno had down to help aid the various rebel groups in the Balkans in their aims to throw off the yoke of Ottoman oppression.

Was the Kaiser aware of these activities? Not at all, nor the German High Command, for that matter. This made it all the easier to put up a convincing façade to the world who began pointing fingers at the Reich.

Fort that matter, could the arms factory which produced these weapons, in this case von Zehntner Waffenwerke, be held responsible for the death of the Sultan? No... Once the guns left the factory, they were not liable for whatever they were used for.

The fact of the matter was that it was incredibly easy for Bruno to have these weapons transferred into the hands of the Balkan League without leaving the slightest trace of his involvement. Proxies existed for a reason, hence why black market arms dealers had always been a thing.

Though the Ottomans were furious that their leader had been slain with German weapons by a local resistance movement in a territory which they had occupied for centuries. Ultimately they could not blame the Germans for the illegal trafficking of arms via the criminal underground into their territory, nor could they hold the Germans responsible for the crimes committed with said arms.

Still, Turkish resentment for the Germans grew rapidly overnight. In Bruno's past life, the Ottoman Empire joined the war in 1914 for a variety of reasons. One could argue day and night over which of the grounds the Turks used as a justification for entry into the war was the chief among them.

But in Bruno's honest opinion it was a desire to regain ground lost in the preceding wars which they had fought. Whether in the Balkans, North Africa, or during the Young Turk Revolution itself. Germany was an appealing ally, as a united Germany had never lost a war before.

And during the previous century the Prussian Army of which the united German Army was largely based upon, had steamrolled the French in under a year. They had done this alongside several other German states, and after marching through Paris they declared the formation of the Great Empire within the French palace of Versailles.

A humiliation both France and the world had not forgotten. It was perhaps because of this that the Ottomans saw the Germans as the favorite to win any great conflict fought between the world's powers.

Thus chaining themselves to the German Reich like a loyal hound in the hopes that during the aftermath they would be rewarded for their submission with the scraps left behind after their master had seized what he wanted most.

In other words, the Ottomans had hoped Germany would drag them across the finish line, and in doing so, grant them the territory they had lost in recent years. It was not to be in Bruno's past life. While in this life, Bruno had thoroughly ruined any chance of the Ottomans joining the Imperial Powers as the Central Powers were now known as.

With Russia and Austro-Hungary settling their differences in the Balkans, and instead joining together with a bond built from reforged steel, the reconciling the Ottomans into this alliance was damn near possible as both the Habsburgs and Romanovs absolutely loathed the Turks. Through diplomacy, Bruno had effectively isolated the Ottomans, and in doing so gave them a reason not to join the war. Rather, if he simply let things be, there was a good possibility the Empire would result in a quiet, and dignified death.

But Bruno did not desire such an outcome. For one particular reason. The fate of Constantinople would remain uncertain should this occur. Having found God in this new lease on life Bruno saw it as his Christian duty to drag the Turks into this war so that the Hagia Sophia and Constantinople ended up back in the hands of Christendom where it rightfully belonged.

Thus, he armed the Balkan League and other resistance movements in the area, hoping they would cause enough of a stir for this to come to pass. And it worked like a charm. The new sultan was quickly crowned after the death of the previous one.

Mehmed VI, who in Bruno's life was the last Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, had been crowned as Emperor. He immediately began utilizing the Ottoman Army as best as he could to invade the Balkans and put down these rebellions.

A rather hasty action, one which prompted the nations of Greece, Bulgaria, Serbia and Montenegro, to effectively declare war on the Turks. There was no going back now. In the spring of 1912, the First Balkan War had erupted.

Like the war in Libya, Bruno chose to sit this one out. Enjoying the peace and prosperity that came from his successful endeavors, and in doing so shifting his attention to both his family, and to the American election, which had begun to take a strange direction.

Woodrow Wilson having been thoroughly defamed by the many media outlets under Bruno's indirect control, had dropped out of the race prematurely in 1911, before the primary even began.

As a result, the primary for the Democratic Party was held between his previous rivals. Of which, the man most likely to win the nomination was a candidate thoroughly committed to neutrality when it came to European affairs.

Whether it was the Republican nominee who became president of the United States or the Democratic nominee Bruno had made certain that the administration in power was not nearly as pro war as Wilson had been.

Or he would have had this been a normal election. But the American National Election of 1912 was a different beast from the ordinary dog and pony show, which occurred every four years within the country.

There was a third candidate, a previous president of the United States, whose popularity was at an all-time high among those more hawkish members of America's society.

With Woodrow Wilson no longer in the running, Theodore Roosevelt and his "Progressive Party" not to be confused with the far-left coalition of socialists who adopted the same term during the 21st century of Bruno's past life, had now received massive funding by those very interests Bruno was secretly working behind the scenes to defeat.

Unfortunately for Bruno, these wealthy men who were insistent on spreading America's "democratic values" across the world through military force if need be, would not go quietly into the night simply because their candidate of choice had been defeated before he even began to undergo his trial by fire.

No, these men were hell bent on their mission, and would now use Theodore "Teddy" Roosevelt as their means to fulfill it. And they were gaining popularity quickly. Teddy Roosevelt was seen as a man among men, and a man of the people.

During his Presidency he had fought against big businesses to smash monopolies, and institute some kind of restrictions on what could be sold to the masses in the forms of

medicine and agricultural products.

America, after all had a long history of poison being sold to its people by so called "snake oil salesmen" a term that endured well into the following century as a result of the damage they had caused. The man had passed into law the creation of the FDA, which had yet to be tainted

by corruption.

Currently, Theodore was speaking to his backers, addressing their concerns over Germany's rapid growth, and the power now concentrated in its hands. It was a concern that many American elites were having, even if a significant portion of its populations was descended from German immigrants, and still held great regard for the fatherland.

It was perhaps because of this that it was an issue that needed to be handled with care, and thus while Theodore Roosevelt danced around outright jumping on the Anti-German

bandwagon.

"Believe me, I am sympathetic towards your plights. Since its unification, Germany has become quite powerful, both economically and militarily. And with the recent union of the three major European Empires into a single alliance, these troublesome affairs have only been

compounded.

The combined industrial base of Germany, Austro-Hungary and Russia is not in doubt unchallenged on the global stage. And if geared towards the purpose of war could see this Union of Imperial Powers as they call themselves to emerge as a significant adversary on the

global stage.

But what you are all asking of me is to alienate a significant portion of the voter base. Need I remind you how much power foreign investors from the German Reich hold over the Media behind the scenes?

I mean, you are aware why Woodrow Wilson dropped out, right? Something sinister is happening across the Atlantic, and the Germans appear to be trying to shift public opinion in the United States towards neutrality.

A significant sum of resources has been spent in this regard, and to combat it, you will all

need to spend an even greater fortune. Are you all willing to pay such a high price, to involve yourselves in a war which does not involve the United States, nor is in our nation's best

interest?"

Though the men in this room did not know that a single German investor was responsible for all that had occurred within the United States over the course of the past decade, they had deduced that at least one or more major figures from the Reich was at fault.

And because of this, these wealthy men, from privileged backgrounds, who sons would not find themselves conscripted and sent across the world to some foreign earth in the name of war were all the more willing to advocate for the poor masses to suffer such a fate on their

behalf.

Thus, the biggest contributor of them all was the first to step forward to voice this very

sentiment.

"We understand your reservations, President Roosevelt, but you are now the only hope of the American people. If we allow the Germans to do as they please within our country, then it won't be long before we our bowing before them and calling them master.

Need I remind you that our forefathers fought a war to escape from European control? Are we really just going to surrender now that some other empire from across the Atlantic seeks to

chain us?"

Theodore Roosevelt knew that these wealthy businessmen despised him for the damage he

had dealt to their personal fortunes over the years. He also was aware that they were trying to stoke his patriotic sentiment into spurring him so that he might do something he would otherwise avoid. And if they thought he was so easily manipulated, they had another thing

coming.

He smirked as he took off his glasses and cleaned them with a cloth he had on hand. Only after he placed his spectacles back on his head, so that his vision was proper, did the man finally

respond.

"I'll accept your campaign contributions, but I will make this abundantly clear: even if I do end up winning this November, I will do whatever I think is best for this nation and its people -regardless of the help you have all given me in achieving this victory. Do you understand

what I mean by this?"

The message was as clear as day: Theodore Roosevelt would take their money, but he would not get into bed with these millionaires. Not by a long shot. If they thought giving him money would grant them power over him, they were sorely mistaken. Either way, it was up to each of them to decide how they would proceed with this warning.