No matter what, House of Hohenzollern and Prussia's Junker aristocrats could never shoulder the blame for destroying the nation, so smearing others was a necessity.
They had to be the victims, while the true culprits had to be a handful of merchants and bankers. Thus, the horseshoe story was dragged back onto history's stage yet again.
Of course, they also intended to silence witnesses forever. After all, many merchants, factory owners, and lawyers held crucial evidence.
Like who had bribed whom, who had sold out whom, who was profiting, and who was betraying whom.
But no one wanted to hand over their leverage, especially not to a group doomed to destruction. They had no desire to be buried alongside them.
Yet robbery was addictive. Those military suppliers, bankers, grain merchants, war hawks, and people attempting to transfer their assets were soon stripped clean to the bone.
But the aristocrats' appetites were plainly still excellent; they would not be satisfied with this.
Thus began an even broader purge. Railways, shipping, mines, and telegraphs—sectors once thought untouchable—were also brought under the knife.
The railways and shipping did not grind to a halt, nor were the mines and telegraphs greatly affected.
In truth, William I and the Prussian aristocrats had long had their eyes on these key sectors, which was why they could replace their owners so efficiently, almost seamlessly.
Yet their desires were not so easily sated. Even the merchants who should have been kept around as dogs were served up on the table.
Some feasted until their mouths ran with grease, while others suffered grievous losses in the process. Taking people in as dogs required capital, after all—but they had paid the deposit, and the people were gone. How could they swallow that?
These people also wanted to recoup their losses,