Holy Roman Empire

Chapter 411: Integration of the Colonies For the Sake of the Country

Vienna, after a long period of political maneuvering, on August 21, 1866, the strategy of colonial integration of Africa was finally submitted as an official proposal to the Imperial Diet of the new Holy Roman Empire for discussion, marking a decisive moment in the fate of the empire.

Suppose the proposal is passed in the Imperial Diet. In that case, Africa will become a century-long strategic focus of the Holy Roman Empire, and even the country’s center of power may shift.

The absurdity of a European emperor turning into an African chieftain is about to unfold in the 19th century.

Franz was not insane. He had already done enough. Once the strategy of colonial integration of Africa is approved, the impact on the future will be enormous, both positive and negative, and there is even a possibility of failure.

Under such circumstances, Franz naturally would not force the proposal through. An issue like this was best left for the Imperial Diet to take the blame. The lengthy delay was to allow the colonial interest groups to work their magic and persuade the governments of the major principalities.

According to the constitution of the Holy Roman Empire, such major national policies must receive the support of eighty percent of the members of the Diet before the proposal can be passed.

There is no doubt that Württemberg, Bavaria, and Lombardy are definitely in support. As long as they still want cotton from the African continent, it will be impossible to stop the process of integrating Africa.

The main resistance comes from within Austria. The regions of Hungary and Romania are most likely to be impacted by the integration of Africa as these are Austria’s two major granaries.

Inside Pachner Manor, representatives from various factions pushing for the integration of the African colonies gathered together to discuss their commercial strategies. To gain the support of the opposition, Baron Falkner proposed:

“Ladies and gentlemen, the biggest opposition at the moment comes from the domestic farmers, a large group whose opinions the Empire must consider.

I propose making a commitment in the Imperial Diet to relinquish the right of the Austrian African territories to export food to Europe in exchange for the support of the domestic farming class.”

Baron Falkner came up with the strategy of not impacting local agriculture. Currently, the food production in Austrian African territories is not high, basically just at the level of being self-sufficient, with annual exports of less than five hundred thousand guilders.

This is not due to government restrictions but mainly determined by economic benefits. It is clear to everyone that planting cash crops is more profitable, and when it comes to money, everyone knows how to choose.

“Baron, currently there is a shortage of labor in Austrian African territories, and there are few people cultivating food crops. We can indeed make this commitment.

However, with the increase in immigration, the developed land is also gradually increasing. If we abandon the food industry, competition in the future will be very intense for everyone.”

The one raising objections is Count Daniel, one of the few large-scale grain producers on the African continent. Despite the lower profit margins of grains compared to cash crops, they have the advantage of being safe investments.

The prices of cash crops fluctuate greatly, and while the profits may be higher, a single downturn could result in unsold produce. On the contrary, the prices of grains tend to be more stable.

With Poland becoming a battlefield and Russia losing one of its grain-producing regions, international grain prices have increased by 8% over the past two years.

Following this price hike, the profit margins for grains have caught up with those of cash crops. Count Daniel was in the process of expanding production capacity and naturally did not want to lose the European market.

Baron Falkner patiently explained, “That’s a problem for the future. What matters most now is to change the status of the colonies and get the Africa Integration Bill passed.

The domestic population is growing rapidly, and to develop the African continent, the Austrian government is also preparing to introduce legislation to stimulate population growth.

With continuous population growth, the demand for grains will also increase. If the local population doubles, then without any effort on our part, the imperial government will take the initiative to let us supply grains.”

If chemical fertilizers had not been invented, Baron Falkner’s prediction would soon become a reality. Given the current rate of population growth domestically, the population of the empire would double in just over thirty years.

The direct consequence would be that Austria would change from a grain exporter to a grain importer, at which point all of Europe except Russia would face grain shortages.

This promising prospect was the motivation for them to invest in farms and plantations. Perhaps not as profitable as industry, but this was a long-term investment, while a factory’s life cycle was only less than ten years.

In Germany, it had always been a case of land being scarce and population being dense. Against this background, everyone placed great importance on land, with many believing that land would never depreciate in value.

After the colonies were opened up, this view was somewhat shaken, but most still believed land was the most valuable industry.

This is also why in the Austrian African territories, farms and plantations were everywhere, while in the African colonies of other European countries, it was mostly wilderness.

It was not for lack of effort by those governments, the problem was that immigrants were unwilling to go farming, so what could they do?

After hesitating for a moment, Count Daniel nodded in agreement. If necessary, they could reduce food production and switch to cash crops; the losses wouldn’t be significant.

For the sake of having the African colonies become integrated into the homeland, this was a price he was willing to pay. He had already invested too much to turn the non-hereditary nobility into landed nobility. He absolutely could not let any chaos happen now.

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On September 1, 1866, amid the ongoing debate in the Imperial Diet, representatives of Austrian African territories made a commitment: after the integration of the African colonies, they would refrain from exporting grain to the European continent to avoid impacting international grain prices.

A turning point emerged. Even the most opposed to integrating Africa had no objections at this point.

As long as they could avoid domestic grain prices from being impacted, everything was open for negotiation. As for other industries, the African colonies could not yet make an impact in Austria.

Under Austria’s large-scale immigration strategy, Austrian African territories didn’t have as much cheap labor as one might think. Labor costs were even higher than in the homeland, and infrastructure was still in its infancy, with no significant industrial development.

In the future, there would be even less cause for concern. Bringing the African continent to par with the homeland in terms of development would likely have Emperor Franz dreaming with a smile.

Even if the European Emperor was reduced to an African chieftain, possessing such a vast domain would suffice to sustain the empire’s dominance for a hundred years, anything beyond that was already outside his consideration.

In a fast-changing world, who knows if one day humans might venture out of the solar system, or alternatively have the misfortune of civilization prematurely collapsing?

With the biggest obstacle gone, on September 1, 1866, the bill for the integration of the Austrian African colonies passed the imperial diet unanimously.

The commitments made by the delegations were also written into law, becoming one of the preconditions for the integration.

From then on, the legal obstacles to the integration of Austria’s overseas colonies were cleared, but this was just the first step. There was still a long way to go for colonial integration.

Not every remote corner could qualify for integration. Specific eligibility criteria required careful consideration by the government.

The decision of the Imperial Diet spread through newspapers, disseminating from Vienna to Europe and even worldwide. In high spirits, Franz penned an article titled “For the Sake of the Country,” praising the actions of the Austrian African delegation.

These were his genuine thoughts. It wasn’t Franz pulling strings behind the scenes but rather their own decision.

This concession may not have been a major cost, but the effect was very obvious, dispelling the concerns of the domestic farming class. Though this group may not have had a strong political voice, they were numerous.

Currently, Austria’s agricultural population still amounts to nearly thirty million people, and only when this group is stable can the empire be stable.

Now that the issues have been resolved, as long as the grain prices aren’t impacted, the vast majority of peasants naturally won’t oppose further expansion of the empire’s territory.

The emergence of “For the Sake of the Country” quickly garnered praise from various circles and became all the rage across the European continent, serving as a propaganda slogan for many countries.

This wasn’t so much about Franz’s skill as a writer or about flattery. Primarily, it was because it was politically correct and helped to eliminate regional conflicts.

Of course, this was built on the premise of it being proposed by Franz. If an ordinary person had proposed it, it probably wouldn’t have caused a single ripple.

This is the privilege of success. Just look at the map of Austria and you’ll know, he has already become one of the greatest monarchs of the current era.