Perpetual Motion

The Yugoslavia National Revolutionary Republic? I was utterly bewildered by the sudden emergence of this bizarre entity right in the middle of history—something I had never heard of in my life. What on earth is that? I'm terrified... If even I was this frightened, the rest of the world was completely paralyzed, unable to make heads or tails of what these people actually were.

First of all, it had that ominous word "National" in its name. And since they had explicitly written into their constitution their intent to invade Croatia and Bosnia—which were our territories—our Austro-Hungarian Empire was naturally their enemy. But what about Russia, which styled itself as the protector of the Slavic peoples and the Orthodox Church? What about France, which went wild for any country calling itself a republic?

As a man of the twenty-first century, I could intuitively sense that this "National Revolutionary Republic" was essentially something akin to the Nazis. But to the people of the twentieth century, the bizarre state structure combining those three words—"National," "Revolutionary," and "Republic"—was completely incomprehensible.

"Stahl, my boy. How on earth are we to interpret this?"

"Your Imperial Highness, it is quite simple. They believe that every single ethnic group besides the Slavs should either be enslaved or slaughtered."

"Surely no such country could actually exist?"

"Just look at Karl Lueger."

Karl Lueger, who was practically the spiritual ancestor of the Nazis, was the root cause of this National Revolutionary Republic's birth, while simultaneously showing them the path they should take. Lueger, a German supremacist, was essentially both the father and the teacher of Yugoslavia.

"Then we..."

"We have no way of knowing when those madmen will declare war. Our only option is to advise Archduke Otto and His Majesty the Emperor to prepare for war."

"Would it not be better for us to declare war first?"

"They will declare war on their own when the time comes anyway. There is no need for us to do it first."

I felt a bit like Neville Chamberlain dismissing the Nazis. Didn't the British Prime Minister wave that piece of paper—the peace agreement with the Nazis—and joyfully declare "peace for our time," only to be ridiculed from 1939 all the way into the twenty-first century?

But still, at the end of the day, they were just Serbia. No matter how chaotic our empire currently was, we had the historical precedent of easily annexing Serbia in the original timeline. A National Revolutionary Republic emerging in Serbia was a far cry from one rising in Germany.

"I fear the same might happen in Italy, and perhaps even Russia."

"Indeed. I heard things are in utter chaos in Italy as well."

"We must simply do what we have to do."

Despite the emergence of such a bizarre entity, the Austro-Hungarian Empire successfully annexed Bosnia without any major issues. Whatever else was happening, the fact remained that the empire was stabilizing.

In any case, World War I is truly right around the corner.

Before I knew it, the year 1907 was drawing to a close. Frankly, I had no idea how World War I ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠would play out. Russia, France, and Great Britain were allied, while Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy formed the Triple Alliance. But... would this exact alignment actually hold? Ah, whatever. I have no idea how history will unfold anymore. I should just focus on my own work for the time being.

World War I was truly right on our doorstep. And when one thought of World War I, didn't trench warfare immediately come to mind? Barbed wire, tanks, submarines, fighter planes... Countless new weapons that defined the Great War flashed through my mind, but frankly, weren't those mostly confined to the Western Front? Although I had introduced the concepts of urban warfare and fortress-centric trench warfare, I wasn't entirely sure what kind of warfare would unfold on the Eastern Front. The front line was simply too vast...

"Stahl, my boy. Isn't Serbia the nation most likely to become our enemy? We must devise weapons to capture Serbian cities like Belgrade. Surely that should be simple enough?"

"Hmm..."

It was a fair point. Because of my Stahl-Ferdinand Model, small nations like Serbia were fortifying their countries around their major cities. It would likely be far more difficult to conquer Serbia than it had been in the original timeline. If so, what was the solution?

"Hand grenades, flamethrowers, and other firearms suitable for close-quarters combat will be our primary focus."

"Indeed. And those hydrogen cylinders as well."

"..."

The demand for hydrogen cylinders was still astronomical. Having mastered pressure management through ammonia production, the Stahl-Ferdinand Research Institute found them to be one of their best-selling military supply items.

Is this really okay...?

The military doctrine that had newly emerged from the Russo-Japanese War consisted of suicidal charges and the guerrilla warfare meant to stop them. Guerrilla warfare was one thing, but suicidal charges becoming a mainstream military doctrine? Was this a joke? Regardless, both Russia and Japan had bought up massive quantities of these hydrogen cylinders. That aside, it was a real dilemma. Between the reputation of the Stahl-Ferdinand Research Institute and my own public image, which had become far too pristine, manufacturing weapons of mass destruction like chlorine gas was out of the question.

"By the way, have you heard the news? They say Russia is in utter chaos again."

"Again?! Didn't they wipe out all the communists within their borders?"

Vienna was already teeming with communist exiles who had fled Russia. I had even heard news that the famous red leader, Leon Trotsky, had escaped to our country. I hoped to meet him at least once.

"No, it is not the communists this time."

"Then who is it?"

"A group calling themselves the Slavic National Revolutionary Party has been founded."

"Ah, yes! I have heard of them. Aren't they supporters of the Tsar? An anti-liberal party, if I recall correctly."

At this point, I felt a sharp pang of guilt. Wait, did I cause this? I had inadvertently brought about the rise of Nazis in Russia and Italy twenty years ahead of schedule. Serbia had already become a Slavic Nazi republic. Damn it. Slavic Nazis instead of German ones?

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

"They say this National Revolutionary Party has joined forces with the Cossack cavalry to attack the Russian Imperial Army garrisons in the exile regions."

"...What?!"

"And they are reportedly kidnapping communists in those exile regions and burning them alive."

"What on earth..."

That wasn't all. They were running amok like madmen in major cities like St. Petersburg and Moscow as well. They had formed militias and were rounding up and brutally beating anyone who looked even remotely like a red.

"Are there really that many communists in Russia?"

"To be frank, do you think they would limit their attacks to communists? They are also targeting Jews and ethnic minorities. What did they call them? Judeo-Bolsheviks, was it?"

Aaargh! The Nazi Sturmabteilung has appeared in Russia! I felt my head spin. At first, the Tsar must have been thrilled. The Russian Empire was already plagued by liberals, constitutionalists, and republicans, not to mention communists. With our empire declaring a constitutional monarchy and shouting about socialism right in the middle of a feudal era, the scale of rebellions in Russia had become far larger than in the original timeline. Thanks to the newly emerged National Revolutionary Party, the Tsar had been able to balance the scales against the massive rebellion in a single stroke. He had probably supported them happily at first, but now, the National Revolutionary Party had completely lost its mind and was committing these atrocities.

"To the Tsar, this National Revolutionary Party must be no different from traitors now."

"Exactly. After all, didn't those mad National Revolutionaries just overthrow the government in Serbia?"

The doctrine of these National Revolutionaries was simple: initially, they would ally with the feudal nobility, actively helping them—no matter how extreme the methods—whenever the nobility came under attack from liberals or communists. But the moment they gained enough power domestically and internationally, they would turn on them, shoot the emperor, and establish a National Revolutionary People's Republic. This was the modus operandi of National Revolutionism. Naturally, royal families across the globe had no choice but to be on high alert.

"It is not just Russia. I hear the Ottoman Empire ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠is also having a massive headache due to a secret National Revolutionary organization formed within their military."

A timeline where Atatürk becomes a far-right nationalist... I certainly never wanted things to turn out this way. Sigh. And yet, in this completely ruined world, I managed to think of a weapon that was reasonably non-lethal while still being highly effective for warfare.

Tear gas was, of course, a non-lethal weapon. Frankly, wasn't it used far more for riot control than on actual battlefields? In a real war, armies would just spray lethal chlorine gas; why bother with something as petty as tear gas? However, the battlefield environment the Austro-Hungarian Empire was about to face was slightly different.

The saintly Stahl spraying chlorine gas over Belgrade? Yeah, that's a bit much...

The moment I sprayed actual poison gas in an urban warfare scenario, the myth of Stahl-Ferdinand would instantly shatter. And it wasn't just urban warfare. Even with their tight budgets, the Russian and Ottoman Empires were constructing simple fortresses along their major supply routes. Spraying poison gas on temporary trenches in the field was one thing, but doing so on fixed defensive strongholds and fortresses where civilians also resided was a surefire way to lose all moral high ground.

Developing tear gas itself was not difficult. The technology to produce the relevant chemical gases already existed in the United States; they simply didn't know what to use it for. Therefore, unlike when I was working on nitrogen fixation or penicillin, there was no need to start completely from scratch. The first tear gas prototype was developed much faster than expected.

"Hmm... selling just this feels a bit lacking."

Its performance was slightly underwhelming. Forget gas masks; even wrapping a white cloth around one's mouth was enough to block a decent amount of the tear gas. It was truly a tool meant one hundred percent for riot control. Nevertheless, even this basic tear gas would sell like hotcakes. There was no better weapon for suppressing protests, and in 1908, when proper poison gases had not yet been deployed, even primitive tear gas could serve as a military weapon. After all, tear gas was ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠still widely used even in the twenty-first century.

Is there something I can bundle with it...? Ah, right! That!

In truth, this tear gas was strictly designed with "non-lethality" in mind. One couldn't exactly spray poison gas in cities and fortresses crowded with civilians, could they? Recalling my knowledge of the twenty-first century, I hastily penned a book. No matter how I looked at it, the twentieth century was absolutely insane. Although mounted police were still occasionally used for riot control in the twenty-first century, the standard practice here of forming firing lines to shoot at crowds, or worse, launching cavalry charges, was sheer madness. Perhaps the reason communism was spreading so rapidly in the twentieth century was because governments routinely committed what amounted to massacres against unarmed civilians.

Since the concepts weren't particularly complex, writing this short booklet didn't take long. Just as armies had done five hundred years ago, heavily armored officers would block the path, while lighter-equipped officers would move swiftly through the tear gas to apprehend the protesters. Along with the tear gas, I distributed this booklet.

Needless to say, the moment the new weapon, tear gas, was released, it sold like wildfire to police forces around the world. Furthermore, my booklet, Indo-humanitarian Riot Control Theory, received immense praise not only from police departments but also from intellectuals worldwide.

Naturally, thanks to my booklet, protests against police brutality erupted all over the globe. And to suppress those very protests, police forces bought even more tear gas from us. The more violently the police cracked down on the protests, the wider my booklet spread. What on earth is this? Is this a perpetual motion machine?