Chapter 466: Regional Alliances
The world had begun to change in many ways, some subtle, some not so much. Germany and Russia weren’t merely recovering from the Great War — they were stepping into a new economic and industrial golden age. But the rest of the world hadn’t been so fortunate.
The wartime losses of the two Imperial Powers had been significantly milder than most, and the postwar fallout had been mitigated by Bruno’s long-laid plans, engineered years in advance.
With heavy family ties to dominant political coalitions, partial or full control over major industrial sectors and lands, and ownership of a private bank—one quietly consolidated through a series of background purges—Bruno effectively controlled Germany’s money supply. The nation was now poised to expand its prosperity.
Under Bruno’s direction, the Reich’s economic model began slowly shifting toward the greatest success story of his past life: Singapore. Key reforms from that model, now adapted to Germany’s imperial character, included:
Partial or full government ownership in industries critical to public welfare
Low taxes to stimulate private innovation
A federal investment fund, directing tax revenues into national ventures rather than draining them into bureaucracy
Tightly managed social safety nets: generous to those in need, ruthless to abusers
And most critically: robust anti-corruption statutes, enforced with sweeping authority
These reforms had begun under the veil of emergency wartime measures in 1914, later justified through national security rhetoric aimed at rooting out Marxist insurgents. By 1919, they had become normalized — a quiet revolution in German governance, fueled by pragmatism and executed with precision.