Holy Roman Empire

Chapter 412: Radical Suicidal

The integration of the colonies is a long-term national policy that may last for hundreds of years. However, the Austrian government could not directly incorporate the Austrian African territories into the homeland, as that would mean disaster.

Various factors such as governance costs, long-term stability, culture, and strategic deployment are all things that must be considered.

In terms of costs, firstly, the local economy must develop to a certain level, at least not requiring subsidies from the central government.

After all, administrative costs will increase after integration and social welfare expenditures will also increase significantly, including healthcare, education, transportation, and so on.

All of these require money, and if the central government collects enough taxes from the local region, then everything is not a problem. It is one of the government’s functions to take it from the people and use it for the people.

Conversely, if the local economy does not develop, and the central government cannot collect taxes, then there will be problems in allocating construction funds.

Once economic conditions are met, the next is to look at the population composition. To ensure lasting stability, those with Holy Roman Empire nationality must not be less than 80% of the total population.

This restriction, in the context of Austria’s African colonial territories, presents a manageable criterion. The local populace predominantly comprises domestic immigrants, followed by immigrants from the northern regions of Germany, with comparatively fewer arrivals from other European locales.

For these people to obtain nationality is simple, as backdoors were opened. As long as they have no criminal record and their moral and ideological standards are sufficient, it’s not an issue.

With the population structure met, the next is to look at the numbers. The requirement is not high, the population density only need not be lower than ten people per square kilometer.

Population size is not a mandatory requirement and it can be made up for by other conditions. The main purpose is to limit the area of administrative regions after colonial integration.

Otherwise, with the integration of millions of square kilometers of colonies all at once, when these places develop in the future, there will be a situation where regions expand.

With this threshold in place, there’s no need to worry. The entire Austrian Africa has less than six million people. Even if nobles and bureaucrats want to expand their jurisdictions, it’s now impossible to do so.

Allowing the colonies to join the homeland in a fragmented manner is the best choice. This fragmentation is relative, with provinces of tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of square kilometers already being large enough.

Culturally, the requirement is not for academic qualifications but simply for proficiency in the German language.

Most Austrian colonies do not have an issue, the nationwide use of German is a basic national policy. And without knowing German, one cannot even obtain local household registration or be considered a citizen.

Even for the sake of colonial integration, local nobles will still try to get rid of these. Don’t talk about cheap labor. These people lack money, don’t they?

If they want to make money, the best way is to always maintain colonial rule. Only under colonial rule can one act wantonly. Once integrated, they have to consider what the law permits.

Colonial integration is mainly driven by old nobles wanting to advance further, emerging nobles wanting to establish family fortunes, capitalists seeing it as a shortcut to enter the nobility circle, colonial bureaucrats wanting to...

This is in the common interest of the ruling class. These conditions ultimately need to be scored. The higher the final rating, the greater the chance of gaining the Imperial Diet’s approval for colonial integration.

The prerequisites are essential conditions, while natural conditions, resources, and strategic positions in the latter part are like bonus points. If the initial score isn’t sufficient, these bonus points can make up for it.

This is a practical necessity. Otherwise, a desert nation like Libya will never be able to be integrated, as they cannot meet the population requirement.

This is just the beginning. Even if the conditions are met, it only allows entry into parliamentary discussions. Whether it passes or not still needs consideration.

After all, no one has any experience with this so nobody could ascertain the extent of loopholes inherent in the process. Thus, Franz pragmatically retained the final stage as an open clause, staying primed to plug holes as needed, denying any prospect of exploitation by others.

Many things can be falsified, such as population and economy. As long as there’s a willingness to spend money, it’s entirely possible to fabricate false prosperity in a region.

No need to doubt, the tycoons are capable of this. For political gain, what is a little investment?

Just imagine, if you pour a huge sum of money, you can turn tens of thousands of square kilometers of fertile land into your family’s domain, joining the empire as a landed noble, and instantly becoming a high-ranking noble. There would probably be few tycoons who would refuse such an opportunity.

Obviously, Franz cannot allow such behavior that violates the established rules.

Come on, can kings just hand out fiefs left and right? Having fiefs of tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of square kilometers, how is that different from a king?

Having such large tracts of land circled off is fine, as long as they have the money to develop it. Franz doesn’t mind agricultural corporate giants. To turn these lands into estates, where would they obtain such a large amount of merit necessary for it?

Unless a world war suddenly breaks out and one transforms into Long Aotian slaying all gods and buddhas along his path, building unsurpassable merit; or one is reincarnated directly into a high-ranking noble clan to achieve the goal through the family’s strength.

Otherwise, it’s better to diligently advance step-by-step! Attempting to soar directly to the heavens is not good for anyone, “virtue not matching position” always ends in tragedy.

The “virtue” in question extends beyond mere morality or capability. It predominantly concerns possessing a compatible worldview, life philosophy, and societal outlook.

Apart from that, there are social relationships to consider. In this age where “the taller the tree, the stronger the wind,” it’s better not to stick your neck out too much without sufficient resilience against the winds of adversity.

Troubled times produce heroes, but it’s not that heroes only exist in troubled times, the main point is that only troubled times can accommodate these “heroes”.

The integration of the colonies did not shock the whole world as Franz imagined, with many countries skeptical of this policy.

In the eyes of many, the purpose of opening colonies was purely to make money. Once integrated, one could no longer wantonly plunder wealth, completely negating the purpose.

This was a difference in operating philosophy. Austria’s opening of overseas colonies was first for agriculture, following a path of sustainable development. While other colonial empires opened overseas colonies solely for plundering wealth.

The French were an exception, as Napoleon III also intended to pursue colonial integration, albeit with smaller steps.

Franz’s approach is something the French can’t emulate. Without a sufficient population and an assimilation system like compulsory education, their immigration and assimilation speed are limited.

This became evident when the French government migrated people from the Balkan Peninsula. These immigrants retained their cultural traditions upon entering French African colonies.

Due to a lack of sufficient language teachers and supporting systems, the spread of French was always slow, and coupled with too few domestic immigrants, it greatly increased the difficulty of assimilation.

This is an unsolvable problem. Assimilating ten thousand people with a hundred thousand is easy, but having ten thousand assimilate a hundred thousand raises a concerning question of who assimilates whom in the end.

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Berlin, ever since France and Austria compromised on the Italian issue, William I developed a strong sense of crisis. He did not believe it was as simple as a mere exchange of surface interests.

France and Austria have always been competitors, and they’ve been at each other’s throats over Italy for hundreds of years. How could they easily give it up?

The only thing that could make the Austrian government abandon Italy is if there were greater interests at stake. Undoubtedly, this interest lies in the yet-to-be-unified Northern Germany.

Based on the simple information at hand, William I had already roughly deduced the truth of the matter. This was unsurprising, as both France and Austria considered the Kingdom of Prussia an enemy.

Of course, this was only the Prussian government’s perception, in reality, they did not qualify as a mortal enemy to France and Austria.

Understanding the enemy was an instinct, and the Prussian government had never relaxed its attention to the movements of France and Austria.

When news of the Imperial Diet’s approval of “colonial integration” came, William I immediately drew a new conclusion: “Austria’s national policy has changed.”

This conclusion contradicted his previous one — unifying Germany and colonial integration were not on the same path, it was almost impossible to pursue both strategies simultaneously.

William I asked expectantly, “What do you think the Austrian government is up to?”

Based on the premise of the French-Austrian compromise, if Austria wanted to unify Northern Germany, the Kingdom of Prussia would be in trouble.

Unlike the other principalities, the Kingdom of Prussia was a bit too powerful. Although the gap with Austria was too large to pose a threat, their previous actions had already provoked dissatisfaction from the Austrian government.

This meant the Kingdom of Prussia would face suppression, severe suppression. The Junker nobility being unwilling to merge with Austria was also one of the factors.

Prime Minister Franck said expressionlessly, “What the Austrian government intends to do is not important, what’s important is what we intend to do. It seems like an opportunity now, but it could also be a trap.

In the context of the French-Austrian compromise, proposing a merger with the Comedy Empire shouldn’t be opposed by the British, the French might wait and see, and the Austrians…”

Towards the end, Prime Minister Franck did not know how to articulate his thoughts anymore.

He felt the possibility of a trap was very high. The Russo-Prussian War was still ongoing, and if Austria stabbed them in the back now, they would be finished.

Who could guarantee that Austria, after embarking on its “African strategy,” would abandon the unification of the Germanic territories?

If they made the wrong bet, they would be delivering the pretext for war right to their doorstep. Conveniently, they would also be helping the Austrian government solve the “Comedy Empire” problem.

Chief of Staff Moltke sneered, “Austria’s change in national policy isn’t wrong, but they haven’t announced they’re giving up on the unification of Germany.

Their lack of action primarily stems from concerns about international repercussions, fearing intervention from other countries.

The current situation is different as we’re still at war with the Russians. They can cede Prussian-controlled Poland to the Russian government and get Russia’s tacit approval.

The French could also be bought, or rather, are in the process of being bought. The Austrians only lack a pretext to act against us now.”

The atmosphere suddenly grew colder. The annexation of the “Comedy Empire” is a long-term plan of the Kingdom of Prussia. They haven’t taken action yet because it would face opposition from the major European powers.

Now, with a chance to settle things with England and France, it’s still futile, as Russia and Austria would never agree.

With Russia, a solution could still be found. Once the Russo-Prussian War ended, the position of the Russian government might change, and Alexander II wouldn’t mind betraying his ally either.

The ultimate obstacle was only Austria. On this issue, the Austrian government would not budge.

Attempting to take advantage of Austria’s handling of the French Balkans and the timing of colonial integration to take action, in Moltke’s view, was merely wishful thinking.

He may be a radical, but he’s not suicidal. With the Russo-Prussian War ongoing, splitting the “Comedy Empire” now would just hand Austria an opportunity, wouldn’t it?

Although there was a chance of triggering a European war that could lead to Austria’s defeat and downfall, before that, Prussia would absolutely go down first.

Moreover, the Comedy Empire is not easy to bully. In terms of overall national strength, they rank sixth in Europe, just below Britain, France, Austria, Italy, and Russia.

While their strength may not match that of the Kingdom of Prussia at its peak, they certainly won’t back down when faced with a Prussia drained by the Russo-Prussian War.

Diplomatic means? Sorry, that’s not within the realm of military consideration, and Prussia is not exactly a diplomatic powerhouse either.

The Army and Navy Minister Roon tried to smooth things over by saying, “It would be more suitable for us to discuss these issues after the war. Right now, the most important thing is to find a way to send the revolutionaries back to the Russian Empire.”

It’s not that they were slow to react. It’s mainly because the British were the ones who sent the revolutionaries over. Without their influence, the Russian revolutionary groups wouldn’t have paid much attention to them.

In this Russo-Prussian War, the battlefield was between Prussia and Russia, but diplomatically, it was a battle between Britain and Russia. If it weren’t for John Bull’s strong support, they wouldn’t even have had a chance to hold a meeting here.

Foreign Minister Mackeit chimed in, “Exactly, the immediate priority is still to end this war as soon as possible. The European situation is changing rapidly, with France and Austria drawing closer, and the British government’s foreign policy is also changing.

With the unification of the Nordic three countries looming, if the war drags on, the British might consider withdrawing their support for us.”

This was not a baseless guess. The British did have far too many instances of selling out their allies. After the unification of the Nordic three countries, they would gain another chess piece, and Prussia would no longer be their only choice.

Deep down, William I sighed. Even if Austria’s national policy had truly changed, Prussia lacked the strength to take action.

It was not that British support was lacking, it was just that the gap in comprehensive national strength could not be made up through support alone.

Europe is too small, and there are too many great powers. There are simply not enough resources left for Prussia to rise, nor enough space for development and expansion.

William I made a decision, “Let’s go with that. After sending the revolutionaries back to Russia, it will be time for us to fight the Russians in an all-out battle.

With consecutive major defeats, we should be able to create a basis for rebellion among them. Once the flames of rebellion ignite in Russia, we will negotiate with the Russian government.”

Defeating the Russians might be easy, but defeating the Russian Empire is hard. This war has already awakened the Prussian government, making them understand the gap in national strength.