Chapter 434: No Rest for a Martyr
To say that the world was stunned by what they had witnessed two days straight, whether during the opening ceremony on the first day, or the games and final exhibition the following was perhaps the understatement of a lifetime.
The world, especially those who had access to near instant communication methods went absolutely insane after hearing what Germany had pulled off. This was no longer the heralded "army with a state."
No, they had proven a refinement of culture and athletics in a way that was overwhelming. And to top this all off, it was later revealed the Habsburgs played an enormous role in the opening ceremony, and the artistic choices of the overall events.
To put it simply, Germany had emerged from the ashes of the Great War not a broken and humiliated nation but a prouder, stronger, and more refined than ever before. And its unification with Austria had seemed to play a part in this.
How pragmatic was it for the Österreich to make such grand contributions in such a short time frame? Nobody really knew Bruno had pulled off greater miracles in the past. But at the very least, it was advertised as such for diplomatic purposes.
And the Kaiser was more than willing to share the credit in this regard. To simply put, Germany had been divided into two spheres of influence. The Hohenzollerns, the Prussian Kings represented Germany’s militaristic, political, and economic strength.
While the lands of the Habsburg crown had become those known for the arts, the pursuits of scientific grandeur, and high culture on a magnitude that now exceeded and expanded beyond what they had proven to the world in the preceding century.
This was a new Germany, a better Germany one which Bruno had been the architect of, and one which the world could only watch as is blazed a path forward where they could only watch from behind, gazing on in its trail with pure unbridled envy.
The following events proved this to be true. Germany emerged as the primary victor of these games, with the Russian Empire only gaining a handful of bronze medals to claim their own. And even then, it was theorized by those who witnessed that these may have been purposely sacrificed by third string German athletes for diplomatic reasons.
A sentiment only further stoked by the comaraderie Nicholas and Kaiser seemed to have forged over the course of the next few weeks in Berlin. The Tsar vowing to emulate Germany’s model for success and to become a dark horse in the next games which were only two years away.