Holy Roman Empire - Chapter 136

Chapter 136: Chapter 23: Core Industries

Translator: 549690339

What should be the focus of industrial development in Austria?

Franz still had no answer. The resources of the Austrian Empire were still plentiful, and at the early stage of industrialization, there was almost nothing it lacked.

Historically, from Austria to the Austro-Hungarian Empire, there was no colonial expansion, which was related to the abundance of domestic resources.

Of course, this was only the case in the early stages. From a development perspective, the domestic resources of Austria were no longer sufficient.

Take the steel industry as an example. In the era when the annual steel production of various countries reached tens of thousands of tons, hundreds of thousands of tons, or even millions of tons, Austria did not lack resources. It could barely keep up during the ten-million-ton era, but once it entered the era of tens or even hundreds of millions of tons, it would be very difficult to sustain.

This was a long-term problem, one that Franz did not need to worry about for decades.

Theoretically, most industries could become the pillar of Austria’s economy, such as agriculture and agricultural product processing, metallurgy, machinery manufacturing, military industry, railways, shipbuilding, textiles

This is the advantage of having a strong foundation. Before losing Lombardy and Venice, Austria’s industrial scale was very close to that of the French.

There is nothing surprising about this. In this era, Austria was a combination of the Austro-Hungarian and half of Italy; Lombardy plus Venice equaled half of Italy.

Franz would not say the foolish words that all industries should advance at the same pace. In such a competitive world, if the government could not give policy support to certain industries, could you ensure the defeat of your competitors?

Not even Austria, even the United Kingdom, as the only industrial country in the world, did not develop evenly, focusing on the financial industry, shipbuilding industry, and textile industry.

This multiple-choice question is not easy to answer. Once a choice is made, it will be a national policy that lasts for decades, and the country’s economic development will change accordingly.

There are many factors that determine a nation’s pillar industries, including resources, markets, industry advantages, interest groups, national development directions, international situations

Free economy? Market economy?

It’s just talk, and one should never take it seriously, or else they should prepare to cry.

Every successful country’s pillar industries have received policy support, such as tax cuts, policies that benefit industrial development

Belvedere Palace

Franz was walking with Prime Minister Felix in the square, while also discussing the development direction of Austria.

“Prime Minister, what do you think will be the strategic focus of Austria in the future?” Franz asked.

It was an era of survival of the fittest, and expansion was the theme of this time. Since the break-up of the Vienna system, European countries entered a new round of competition.

Small countries had no choice but to drift with the tide; big countries seeking development had to push against the current, for it was to retreat if not to advance.

The Austrian Empire was actually at a crossroads. Choosing to ally with Russian-Austrian was Austria’s first strategic choice, but this choice was about allies.

Why did the Austro-Hungarian Empire step on the Balkans, this powder keg in history? Was it really a strategic decision-making error as commented by experts and scholars?

Franz had also thought so at first, but after experiencing it, he realized he was wrong.

Austria had many opportunities for foreign expansion, which they all endured, and the final choice to step on the Balkans was definitely not what the rulers wanted.

Just thinking about the international environment at that time, Franz understood; it was an inevitable choice.

In the great struggles of the world, the great powers were all expanding their influence, only Austria and Spain were standing still, not keeping up with everyone’s pace.

This meant that two sheep had mingled among the wolves. If they did not want to be eaten, they at least had to disguise themselves as wolves.

Austria occupied Bosnia and Herzegovina, disguising itself as a wolf, which brought a few years of peace; Spain did nothing, and the Americans discovered this fat sheep, and then the US-Spanish War erupted.

Without hesitation, Prime Minister Felix answered, “The Germany Region!”

“The reason?” Franz asked.

Prime Minister Felix thought for a moment and said, “After the annexation of the South German Region, we will directly border with the French. Don’t look at the current good relations between France and Austria, but the French’s ambition for dominance on the European Continent has always been there. We have to consider our defense on the western front.

Moreover, we have to guard against the Kingdom of Prussia. To prevent interference from other countries, while we unite the South German States, they will also annex the Northern Germany, creating a de facto division of Germany.

After uniting North Germany, the Kingdom of Prussia’s strength will at least quadruple, posing a much greater threat than now, and most importantly, they also have the ambition to unite the entire Germany Region.”

“What if we divert the disaster to the west?” Franz asked.

With Austria being so large, it seemed not easy to provoke. Once it annexed the South German Confederation, it would become even more formidable.

In comparison, Belgium, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands were all soft targets, and fat, oily soft targets at that.

Belgium’s industry was developed, the Dutch’s maritime trade was thriving, there was also a large expanse of colonies, and Luxembourg, despite being tiny, was a country of steel.

“Your Majesty, I fear the Prussians have the will but not the strength. They would have a hard time passing the French if they wanted to expand to the west, and the British would not agree,” said Felix after some thought.

To ordinary people, the Prussians seemed to not have the courage to challenge the French.

As for the attitude of the British, in reality, as long as Prussia could take down the French and there were no more enforcers afterwards, they would be powerless, at worst blockaded at sea for a few years.

The French are not easy to provoke, but compared with the enhanced version of Austria + Russia, they are a bit easier to deal with.

“It all comes down to the ambitions of the Prussians and the interest of the French in the Rhineland region. Satisfy one of these points, and the war can be detonated,” Franz said with full confidence.

There was no way around it, other countries may have armies, but in Prussia, the army owned the nation. Nationalism had been reawakening, and at that time, a little provocation would ignite the flame.

If they didn’t have the courage to start a war, wasn’t there still Austria? At worst, Prussia and Austria could join forces against France, and I didn’t believe the Prussians could resist the temptation.

Once they’ve taken the bait, in the future they can only go head to head with the French until the end, incidentally also cutting off the path for an English-Prussian alliance, and re-establishing the rule of The Triple Alliance over the political system of the European Continent.

Should he really do this? Franz was puzzled. It seemed that such a configuration was most advantageous for Russia.

Austria would merely gain a stable rear and at most snatched a few colonies from the French, while the Russians would have an unobstructed path to the sea.

Prime Minister Felix smiled and said, “Your Majesty, I believe the Prussians will be very interested in this proposal, but do they have the strength to swallow this bait in one gulp?

Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg, though Germanic nations, did not recognize it themselves and would resist fiercely to the death.

Even if Prussia defeats the French with our help, aren’t the British still supporting them in the background?

If they can’t handle it all at once, there won’t be a second chance. As long as the Prussians fall out with England and France, we will no longer support them.”

That statement was a wake-up call—the Kingdom of Prussia wasn’t the German Empire of later times; there was a huge gap in their capabilities, so how could they exhibit the same strength?

With a population of around 3.06 million in the Netherlands, 4.4 million in Belgium, and 200,000 in Luxembourg—mostly Catholics—the Kingdom of Prussia had a population of about 13 million. Could they assimilate all of them?

In terms of total economic output, the sum of the three countries was comparable to that of the Kingdom of Prussia.

Of course, this was only the present comparison of strengths; things were sure to change in the future. However, whatever changes occurred, annexing a nation where nationalism was on the rise would not be an easy task.

Franz even believed that Prussia annexing these three countries was more like a dream than Austria annexing the Balkan Peninsula.

Well, in fact, it was all just theoretically possible.

Without external forces, gradual assimilation could be possible. However, to swallow them whole would either result in a bloody mess or choke to death on the effort.

Since that was the case, Franz knew what he had to do.

Austria couldn’t compete with the British, at least not in their three core industries. Austria couldn’t possibly be a match for them. No matter, Austrians couldn’t follow the British development path anyway.

In Franz’s view, directly challenging core industries is the best suppression tactic. Starting early to lay out plans to crush Prussia’s core industries meant that they would only be a military power.

Franz made the same choice as Prussia, prioritizing the development of the military industry, railways, manufacturing, plus Austria’s advantage industry—agricultural product processing.

Railroad construction depended on government investment and encouraging private investment. Business competition was an internal matter; similarly, the military industry also relied on government funding, as the international market at this time was only a minor supplement, with the neighboring Russians being a good customer.

Manufacturing had to compete in the international market, but Franz wasn’t worried. With the huge market of The Holy Roman Alliance and the helpful ally Russia, Austria was far stronger than Prussia in history.

Agricultural product processing needed no mention, as there were hardly any competitors. Austria’s biggest competitors in the European grain market, Russia and the Ottoman Empire, were direct grain exporters.

Historically, the Russians exported wheat while importing flour from abroad—a fact not from internet memes, but a reality of this era.

No need to be surprised, ships would carry grain out and return empty, needing stones to weigh down the hull. Shrewd businessmen noticed the decent flour prices in the Russian market, saw a profit, and sold it back to the Russians.

This meant that in this field, Austria’s competitors were the food processing enterprises of grain-importing countries, and the two sides started off on different cost bases from the beginning.

This industry that had the advantage without needing much investment was naturally a priority for development. Historically, during the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Hungary was Europe’s largest supplier of flour.

As for the steel industry, which many transmigrators valued and even considered a reflection of national power—why wasn’t it a development core?

One only had to look at the demand for steel in the market at this time to understand.

The Austrian Empire produced only about 20,000 to 30,000 tons of raw steel a year, while the Russians managed a few thousand tons, and the British not much better with an annual output not exceeding 100,000 tons of raw steel.

There was no way around it; the market demand was just that small. Even including pig iron, this demand couldn’t get much higher; after all, no one had broken through the million-ton barrier.

If the steel industry was treated as a core industry, would you believe that in a few months, Austria’s market would suffer from a massive steel surplus?

Then, to solve the surplus, the government would have to invest a lot of money in other industries, only to find, to their surprise, that not only had the steel industry not developed, but an industrial crisis had arrived first.

Instead of that, it was better to develop the railways and military industry to drive steel consumption. Market demand would lead to production—that’s a market principle.

Putting too much emphasis on developing the steel industry was premature, and as for high-tech industries, there was no need to mention them. Apart from the military industry, a country’s economic model was determined by the market in deciding the prospects for industrial development.

In this era, high-tech was a desert; many epoch-making products, even if they were produced in the lab, couldn’t be widely distributed.

Such advanced fields may not work as a country’s core industry, but as a secondary focus to prepare for technical reserves in advance—this was viable.