Reincarnated as Nikolai II

Every era has its fitting ideologies and theories.

Take Marxist economics that emerged with industrialization, for example.

The past 100 years of economic history is explained by this economics alone, and all scholars fitted history into Marx's theory.

The labor theory of value forms the foundation of Marxist economics.

Marx's labor theory of value emerges with one topic.

Assuming a product's price is its production cost.

Where exactly does profit come from?

Many factors go into producing this product like raw materials, wages, production costs, facilities, but no factor cleanly explains this 'profit' generated when the product sells.

Here the labor theory of value states:

Labor power creates profit.

Just as a farmer creates a year's profit through good farming, the labor theory of value says labor power is profit.

Truly a simple yet intuitive theory.

However, there's another theory rising that denies this classical labor theory of value.

Marginalism.

Unlike the labor theory of value which conveniently explains that labor power equals profit, marginalism states:

The benefit of eating one loaf of bread versus two isn't exactly double.

Rather, as the amount eaten increases to two or three loaves, the benefit and perceived value decreases.

This marginalism conceptualizes restriction, boundary, margin, range.

Among many economic theories, I don't know which is correct, or if there even is a correct answer, but at least I think this marginalism very well shows current Europe's military.

Everyone invests in military.

They pour in budget, increase troops, and prepare for unknown war.

However, the value gained compared to that... is gradually decreasing.

Perhaps this era's military has already reached the marginal value that marginalism speaks of.

Giving more budget here won't change much, and satisfaction is minimal too.

Thus the rational line of countries reaching their limit is starting to crumble.

With the start of 1914, Billy completely gave up revising the Naval Law.

Germany now had no way to increase naval power going forward.

France had to take the strong measure of cutting naval budget to invest in the army.

For a colonial empire to cut navy to invest in army - this doesn't seem like a voluntary choice at all.

Small countries fear the great powers' arms race more than anyone.

European small nations including the Balkans all had to focus on military strengthening like swallowing bitter medicine while crying.

No one wants it.

Nobody chose it.

Everyone is unsatisfied.

The limit.
Your journey continues on empire

June 28.

[Dual Monarchy's Crown Prince Assassinated.]

[Two Bullets Fired by Serbia.]

[Terror Against Austria-Hungary's Imperial Couple!]

The Crown Prince couple died.

The limit explodes.

==

The death of Archduke Franz Ferdinand as an individual isn't very important.

However, this individual's death served as a wake-up call reminding everyone living their daily lives of reality.

Just 8 hours after Franz's death.

From that evening, anti-Serbian pogroms and demonstrations were organized in every city of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

With this radio thing carrying news at a speed incomparable to mere text, the empire burned from the evening of the assassination.

Police abandoned city security in just one day and had to request military deployment.

However, it's realistically difficult for this slow military to quickly disperse demonstrators after entering cities.

"Die, die you filthy Serbians!"

"There's a Slav shop over there! You killed our Crown Prince, so we'll burn you to death!"

Police and local government did nothing. They just watched.

First day after the assassination.

About 1,000 homes, shops, schools, banks, hotels, and printing houses were burned or looted.

Without time to gather their dizzy thoughts, the Serbian Foreign Ministry first makes excuses through French Ambassador Milenko Vesnić's mouth, saying their country sufficiently warned about assassination risks.

Essentially confessing they knew about the assassination.

Though they changed their claim just a day later saying they never actually warned but only knew about threats, it was already too late.

Now the world became more fixated on the relationship between this assassination and the Serbian government.

July came.

While no one could predict where the incident would bounce, each country's intelligence and diplomatic agencies began maximizing their eyes and ears to recheck their situations.

What does this mean?

"Military Attaché Victor Artamonov, please say Russia will protect Serbia if Austria-Hungary attacks our country!"

"For now, I too received orders to wait and do nothing. Though nothing's decided yet, surely the Russian Empire wouldn't abandon Serbia?"

"Please, please get a definite answer."

Confirmation of relationships.

"If war breaks out... can the German Empire help us?"

"The Kaiser won't break his promise."

"Then now is the optimal time with the Balkans weakened by three wars. We'll move trusting only Germany."

Reconfirmation of treaties.

This means they took time to look back at their past actions and confirm their country's future position and role.

Meanwhile, though Austria-Hungary and Germany told the Serbian government to start investigation two days after the assassination and share investigation information.

"I am Foreign Ministry Secretary-General Slavko Gruić. This assassination has no connection to our country, and the Serbian government bears no responsibility."

Serbia answered.

Saying it's not their responsibility.

This was nothing less than pouring gasoline on the burning Dual Monarchy.

==

From my personal experience in domestic affairs, the military shows extremely terrible efficiency.

Eating up money while showing no productivity, truly like children.

Yes, raising them has no use.

To use an analogy, it's like the worst retirement insurance a person could get.

But you can't not have military in this age of imperialist competition since not having it means guaranteed destruction when war breaks out.

The limit has arrived in that era of arms race.

In the future, usually before reaching such limits, they'd shake hands with a 'let's all get along' mindset through disarmament treaties or competition agreements, but there's none of that in the imperialist era.

'Can't stop even thinking about breaking even.'

Though this is no different from self-harm to claim insurance money, if the world ran on intellect and agreement, that would be utopia not the human world.

I'm not stupid enough to ask 'why?' about the current situation now that Crown Prince Ferdinand is dead too.