Bulgarian Empire

Chapter 83: Bank Run

As soon as these runs occurred, they hit Vienna and spread in all directions. The stock market reacted at once, and the share price of the Austro-Hungarian Bank began to fall wildly.

This time Fidos was anxious. There is no bank that is not afraid of bank runs, at least not in an economic crisis. At once, a shareholders' meeting was held to ask for help from the major shareholders behind the scenes.

Fidos' decision was correct. The shareholders behind the Austro-Hungarian Bank were all-powerful people in the Austro-Hungarian Empire. As soon as these major figures acted, the Austro-Hungarian government stepped in to dispel the rumors and bail out the Austro-Hungarian Bank. Fidos took another loan from other peers for cash in case of an emergency.

At the same time, he also used his connections to lobby the good media to start a public opinion campaign in an attempt to reverse the negative impact.

The Austro-Hungarian Bank would have survived the crisis by now if no one had interfered with it. But Hoover will certainly not stop. Ferdinand aims to make the Austro-Hungarian Bank suffer greatly, or better yet, go bankrupt outright.

The biggest problem of the Austro-Hungarian Bank now is "trust". If they let the public spread the bad news of the Austro-Hungarian Bank, they can save no one under the mouth of gold.

At the end of the 19th century, government control over public opinion was minimal, and the media had a great deal of freedom. Hoover still choose the old way - bring along the trend. For example, last month, the textile factory of Tivoli went bankrupt and owed a loan to the Austro-Hungarian Bank, which became a bad debt. Another half month ago, Karsten's metal factory went bankrupt and owed a loan to the Austro-Hungarian Bank, which was another bad debt, etc.

Bad debts are reported to be a small problem. How can you open a bank without bad debts? It also doesn't say the specific amount. All of them use "huge loan" to use it, and how much is this "huge" depends on the brain of the masses.

For an ordinary person, a loan of 10,000 kroner was a vast amount. Even a million kroner loan would be even more. It could be any amount, and the general public is guessing what they think is a valid figure.

The more people think about it, the more they think there is something wrong with the Austro-Hungarian Bank. It has always had bad debts lately, and these are only the ones made public. There is still no telling how many there are in the dark. No, the Austro-Hungarian Bank is likely to be in danger. We need to take out the money quickly! The crisis of bank runs has grown.

The current public opinion in Vienna is oddly guided, with most of the major mainstream media calling for calm and backing up the Austro-Hungarian Bank. However, other street tabloids report on the Austro-Hungarian Bank's bad debts while playing off each other.

On the whole, the public policy of Fidos was effective. The Austro-Hungarian Bank slowly reversed the negative impact on public opinion, but the number of people who withdrew money increased.

Vickers must not know that there is a kind of "hype" in the future. It is not needed to produce evidence to make everyone believe. As long as some people doubt it, it can achieve its purpose.

The war of words media with the subject of the Austro-Hungarian banking crisis has now been in the heat. For the general public, it isn't easy to discern what is true from what is false.

Many people chose to withdraw their money early from the Austro-Hungarian Bank for safety. It reinforced this resolve to see the crowds in line, affecting many more people.

Fidos now panic for a full-blown run on the Austro-Hungarian Bank. Currently, there are millions of cash being withdrawn every day, and the number is still rising. Even some major customers are watching. Once these people join in, then the Austro-Hungarian Bank is really finished.

Fidos decided to make a radical effort to turn public opinion around. He knows very well the bullshit nature of newspapers. No matter how they report, it's all about one word: money. There might be newspapers that really exist for the sake of justice and fairness, but they are not worth it before money.

The Austro-Hungarian Bank has stepped up its monetary efforts, but Hoover will not sit still either. Ferdinand's intelligence network in Vienna was the first one to start doing its job. Its power is certainly not what it appears to look like it.

It was not long before Hoover had evidence that the Austro-Hungarian Bank had bought the newspaper. A picture of a deal between Austro-Hungarian Bank and a newspaper for money was boldly published on the front page of the next day.

There is also a small photo with one bullet below the photo, and the editors' fervent commentary that justice will not yield before money and that justice will not yield to bullets... will be bound to expose the vile tactics of the Austro-Hungarian Bank.

With pictures, this time caused a much larger reaction. The people of Austria-Hungary are angry and have joined in the criticism of the Austro-Hungarian Bank. Some depositors did not hesitate to withdraw their money at once.

Now it's too late for Fidos to do anything. The people have decided that there is something wrong with the Austro-Hungarian Bank. Why else would they pay off the newspapers, and why would they threaten people.

Fidos is now in tears. He did indeed spend money to buy this, which is common to buy public opinion in the usual way, but only to do a little too much for himself.

However, this garbage tactic of sending bullets has really nothing to do with him. It is not easy to deal with a street tabloid, so is it worth blaming someone?

However, any possible reason is now futile. Other than their own controlled newspapers, other Viennese media no longer dare to speak for them. It really affects their credibility too much.

Fidos did not break. In fact, there is no need to think of other ways now. To respond to the crisis of the run is the right way.

As a qualified banker, Fidos knew that getting through this difficult time was all about one word, money. The first order of business was to do everything possible to raise money.

But here comes another piece of bad news, the Wissenschaft Bank is bankrupt!

"The storm is coming."

Although the Wissenschaft Bank is not as good as the Austro-Hungarian Bank, but it can also be ranked in the top ten of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and such a large bank is thus finished.

On the eve of the financial crisis, Wissenschaft Bank was too ambitious to expand its financial sector, and then the step was too big and painful. It caught up with the financial crisis and couldn't hold on, so the shareholders simply gave up.

It quietly transferred some of its high-quality assets and then suddenly declared bankruptcy. It dealt another hard blow to the shaken Austro-Hungarian Bank.

The Austro-Hungarian financial sector is now in a state of panic. The bank run is starting to spread. The people seem to have lost trust in the banks and have taken to the streets in long lines.

The Austro-Hungarian government couldn't sit still either. On the one hand, it announced to fund the bailout while asking for help from the German financial sector.

Bankers have also begun to save themselves. Fidos was the first to declare a freeze on lending. He then started a tearful sale, selling off the assets of Austro-Hungarian Bank to deal with the credit crisis.

Ferdinand, who was far away in Bulgaria, received the news and knew it was almost time to close the net. The economic crisis caused this financial crisis in Austria-Hungary. It led to a lack of trust in the banks by the people. It was triggered suddenly by Hoover, who had the chance to benefit from the problem.

Once the Austro-Hungarian government reacted and joined the bailout, this crisis will nearly be over, and again Germany is not likely to watch the financial collapse of Austria-Hungary. Germany and Austria's economic ties are very tight. Unless they feel that Germany's economic crisis is not big enough this time, they must save Austria-Hungary.