The Balkan Crucible, Part 1

Was the Hungarian Agricultural Cooperative not originally established to resolve the economic crisis gripping Hungary? Consequently, the cooperative had purchased a massive amount of farmland cast off by bankrupt aristocrats, even if those lands were acquired at dirt-cheap prices. With a significant portion of Hungarian agricultural land now in its possession, the cooperative naturally faced an immense financial burden. To make matters worse, they had even taken over bonds from various banks just to secure the means for these land acquisitions. Although a tremendous volume of investment capital was pouring in from across the empire and Europe, the cooperative's financial health could hardly be called sound.

"Director Shtal! The cooperative itself, as well as individual members, are still saddled with a mountain of bonds. Even if we write off the bicycles as an investment, we cannot possibly invest in airplanes as well."

Adolf Hitler, who managed the cooperative, was also groaning under the sheer cost of military enterprises disguised as investments in new technology. While the imperial military had taken over the highly expensive projects like tanks and armored vehicles, the cooperative was left holding the bag for airplanes and bicycles.

Hmm... I didn't want to resort to this method.

I had no desire to ruin the financial health of the ambitiously launched Hungarian Agricultural Cooperative right from the start. However, if the country fell because we weren't properly prepared for war, the cooperative and everything else I had built would vanish into thin air.

"Cooperative Leader Hitler."

"Yes, Director Shtal?"

"Let's have the Hungarian Agricultural Cooperative issue its own bonds! Instead of printing money, we can pay for everything using these bonds."

Although not to the extreme of Nazi Germany, the Austro-Hungarian Empire still required astronomical sums for rearmament. However, churning out government bonds indiscriminately was essentially the same as printing money. It would trigger inflation and tank the nation's credit rating. So, what was the alternative? Create a shell company. Have the central bank guarantee this shell company. Then, use the shell company to issue bonds. Since it would merely look like ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠an increase in highly rated bonds on the market, there would be no inflation, and because the state itself didn't issue them, the government's credit rating would remain intact. It was practically a magic trick to conjure money out of thin air just by running the printing presses! Only an idiot wouldn't exploit this.

"Then, if the central bank guarantees..."

"There is no need to go that far."

We didn't even need to set up a shell company and have the central bank guarantee it like Nazi Germany did. The Hungarian Agricultural Cooperative was already treated almost like a sovereign kingdom by the rest of the world. Yet, strictly speaking, it wasn't a state. That fact alone significantly eased the burden on our credit rating. Furthermore, the cooperative owned nearly fifty percent of all Hungarian farmland.

"Let's use the farmland as collateral. We can then pay out the interest using the rental income from those lands."

"Will bond buyers truly trust us enough to purchase them?"

It sounded as absurd as a sovereign nation putting up its own territory as collateral and promising to pay interest using land taxes. If any country attempted such a stunt as a national project, its financial credit rating would collapse instantly. It felt a bit like... the 2008 subprime mortgage crisis. But the Hungarian Agricultural Cooperative wasn't a state, was it? The mere fact that it wasn't a sovereign nation resolved most of the issues!

"Cooperative Leader Hitler, credit rating is not an issue. The cooperative itself and its vast tracts of farmland are the credit."

"Hmm, is that so? But will we be able to pay it all back?"

At Hitler's question, I flashed a grin, showing my white teeth, and crossed my legs.

"Leader Hitler, surely you can feel the dark clouds of war gathering over Europe. You must know that a massive conflict, one that will swallow the entire continent, is looming on the horizon."

"...Indeed. War has already broken out between Italy and the Ottoman Empire."

"One wrong move, and Russia and Germany will be dragged in. If that happens, Great Britain and France will inevitably be swept into the vortex as well. We must always keep this scenario in mind."

"And if that happens?"

"War will absorb all those bonds. We either go bust, or we win big and pay it back."

Hitler pondered for a moment, then, mimicking my expression, let out a sly grin. Of course he would. As a man of the twenty-first century, I had witnessed how modern nations could keep running while churning out empty promises and maintaining astronomical deficits. But Hitler was the ultimate pioneer of these empty promises, wasn't he?

"Heh, hehehehe."

"Hahaha."

"Heeheehee!"

"Muahaha!"

The sinister laughter of two gambling addicts echoed endlessly through the office. Just as Hitler said, war had broken out between Italy and the Ottoman Empire. The grand stage was being set... Within two or three years at the earliest, or seven years at the latest, something massive would explode. Just wait for me, twenty-first century!

In the original history, taking advantage of Italy's war, Serbia, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Bulgaria, and Greece would form an alliance and rush to strike the weakest link, the Ottoman Empire. If the three great powers of the Balkans were Austria-Hungary, Russia, and the Ottomans, then the three minor powers were Serbia, Bulgaria, and Greece.

The glory of Yugoslavia! The glory of the Eastern Roman Empire! The glory of Macedonia!

Every single one of their slogans was utterly grotesque.

However, now that Serbia had evolved into the bizarre entity known as the 'Yugoslavia Democratic Revolutionary Republic', it was highly doubtful whether this alliance would even materialize.

"Expansionist sentiment is running high at home, Your Majesty! We must ally with Serbia—no, Yugoslavia—and strike the Ottoman Empire!"

"...And if this allows the domestic Democratic Revolutionary Party to gain power? Can you truly guarantee that my throne will remain secure?"

"The Kingdom of Italy has also allied with the Democratic Revolutionary Party to suppress the leftists. In Serbia's case, the king was merely ousted because of his own incompetence."

George I of Greece felt an inexplicable sense of unease. Serbia had become such an international rogue state that even Russia was seriously considering cutting ties with them. Bulgaria's situation was no different. Bulgaria worried that Serbia would stab them in the back and seize the Macedonia region, while Greece feared that Serbia would incite the local Democratic Revolutionary Party to overthrow the monarchy.

"Hmm... I might be able to agree to a non-aggression pact, but an alliance is out of the question."

Of course, Serbia planned to wage war against the Ottomans even without Greece or Bulgaria. Unlike in the original history, had they not secured a reliable ally in Italy?

However...

"Your Excellency Apis, Bulgaria and Greece have sent their refusals regarding the alliance."

"...Not entirely bad. It means we can monopolize the Ottoman Empire's territories. However..."

Apis was deeply displeased. While Serbia would be the one shedding all the blood in the war against the Ottomans, those two minor nations would undoubtedly foam at the mouth to block his homeland the moment they tried to occupy Macedonia and Albania. Furthermore, he had never liked Greece to begin with. After playing the traitor throughout the entire Ottoman rule, what right did they have to speak now? And Bulgaria? Instead of cooperating as fellow Slavs, they were clearly plotting to stab Serbia in the back.

"Our great Serbian nation is the only one worthy of becoming the hegemon of the Balkans. The era of mongrels like the Austro-Hungarian Empire, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the Russian Empire, and the Ottoman Empire is over."

"Indeed! Only we, the Serbians, possess the purest bloodline in the Balkans!"

Having changed the country's ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠name to Yugoslavia, the national slogan of embracing all Slavs was instantly tossed into the trash. Now, the man codenamed Apis was suddenly screaming about the supremacy of the Serbian race! It was hardly surprising. Extreme nationalists were always like this.

"First, we shall declare war on that diseased mongrel, the Ottoman Empire. But before that, we must teach those Bulgarian mutts and Greek traitors a lesson."

"Your Excellency Apis, however, the Kingdom of Bulgaria's military strength is formidable. Fighting a two-front war alongside the Ottomans would be a heavy burden, and Greece is geographically distant from us."

"True. Bulgaria can wait until after we secure Macedonia. But we have a way to strike Greece."

"How...?"

"Do we not have something we excel at?"

While the name 'Yugoslavia Democratic Revolutionary Republic' clearly reflected the state's ideology, it did not quite capture its operational doctrine in the way the Hungarian Agricultural Cooperative did. If one looked at the origins of Yugoslavia, the term 'Secret Society Republic' might be far more fitting than 'Democratic Revolutionary Republic.' After all, the head of state went by the codename Apis instead of his real name. As a republic born of a secret society, they possessed an intelligence network spanning the entire Balkan Peninsula that could rival Israel's Mossad. Assassination and espionage were Serbia's true strengths. Such intelligence capabilities were a massive boon to national power. In modern history, had Israel not repeatedly crushed Middle Eastern nations several times its size, largely thanks to the power of the Mossad?

"Find a lunatic, brainwash him, and have him shoot George I. Then, incite a democratic revolution. George I is of Germanic barbarian blood, so it shouldn't be difficult."

"Yes, Your Excellency!"

True to their reputation as specialists in assassination, the Serbians sought to spark a republican revolution by exploiting the foreign lineage of the Greek king, which had nothing to do with the Greek people themselves. An operative of the Black Hand recruited a paranoid schizophrenic and began tailing him constantly to exacerbate his delusions.

"Some unidentified group is tracking my brainwaves and controlling my thoughts."

"Hmm, is that so? Technology to detect brainwaves is currently impossible. The same goes for controlling thoughts."

"No, something is wrong! Someone is peering directly into my mind! And the neighbors are looking at me strangely. They avoid me every time they see me. They must be plotting against me!"

"Hmm..."

The man was a paranoid lunatic who believed that an unidentified government agency had hidden wiretaps in every corner of his house and that his neighbors had been recruited to torment him. The Black Hand targeted him immediately. They slipped trace amounts of poison into his food and played horrific, faint noises outside his window at night. They were turning his nightmares into reality! As his mental state deteriorated, intruders would slip into his home and 'accidentally' leave documents behind, or tail him and 'accidentally' reveal their presence.

"Who are you?! How long have you been following me like this? Why are you tormenting me?!"

"I am acting on the orders of His Majesty, the King of Greece. Ah, wait! If you value your life, pretend you never heard that."

Thoroughly brainwashed in an instant, the lunatic began procuring a pistol. Strangely, as he started gathering information on the Greek king's movements for the assassination, documents containing highly sensitive schedules and routes miraculously appeared in his home.

"Yes, it's certain! The King of Greece is the culprit! Otherwise, why would information about him be leaked like this?!"

When the day of the plan arrived, the lunatic did not hesitate for a single second. He fired a bullet straight into the chest of George I.

"There is a wiretap in my ear, everyone! There is a wiretap in my ear!"

"What?!"

"The King of Greece put a wiretap in my ear to turn me, a proud Greek, into a German—gark!"

Naturally, a Greek bodyguard who had been bribed by Serbia immediately put a bullet through the lunatic's chest. True to Serbia's reputation as the undisputed master of European espionage, not a single shred of physical evidence remained. The entire incident could easily be written off as the erratic behavior of a lone madman.

However, even without physical proof, it was glaringly obvious that a massive intelligence organization was pulling the strings behind the assassination. And who else but Serbia would dare commit such an outrageous act?

"Have you lost your minds?! Assassinating the King of Greece in broad daylight?!"

"That has absolutely nothing to do with us. How can you blame us for the sudden flare-up of a lone madman's delusions?"

"The evidence that someone brainwashed him is clear! How dare you deny it? Who else would commit such a lunatic act?!"

"Perhaps it was Great Britain?"

"...What?"

Great Britain? Strangely, it sounded plausible enough... The Russian diplomat was left utterly speechless by Serbia's shameless denial.