Holy Roman Empire - Chapter 231:

Chapter 231: Chapter 118: Balkan Peninsula Development Plan

Translator: 549690339

In a quaint castle in Prague, an elder over fifty years old solemnly asked, “Holst, are you really prepared?”

“Once you accept the government’s deployment, you’ll have a hard life for a long time to come, and it’ll be too late to regret it then.”

Holst seriously replied, “Father, the Vics family has already declined. In the last struggle for power, we suffered heavy losses in our network of relations within the government.

To seek a position in the government, one can only pass the civil service examination. There are too many competitors on this path, and our family has always developed within the military, where we do not have an advantage, and I’m not confident about making a name for myself.

The situation in the European continent is stabilizing, and for a long time to come, Austria will not be at war, eliminating the chance for a stroke of fortune on the battlefield.

This is an opportunity now. With military merits accumulated on the battlefield, staying in the country would at most make me a Glory Knight.

The family could contribute some money to exchange for an estate from the government, but going to the Balkan Peninsula now would allow me to jump to becoming a Succession of Knights, instantly owning an estate that is double the size.

Under normal circumstances, even struggling for twenty years in the country might not guarantee success. In that case, why not take a risk?”

In order to strengthen control over the Balkan Peninsula, the Vienna Government mobilized within the country. Just as Prime Minister Felix had predicted, the lower-layer nobility with aspirations to advance couldn’t resist such a temptation.

Compared to starting colonies overseas, the Balkan Peninsula is after all at our doorstep, and even though we’re a bit strapped for cash now, the future development is still something to look forward to.

As one of the strongholds of conservatism, Austria still maintains the old tradition where the firstborn inherits the family estate, while the second son goes out to make his way.

The great nobles still have the capacity to provide sufficient titles for their direct descendants, whereas the collateral branches and smaller nobility have to struggle on their own.

To limit the number of domestic nobility and ensure the quality of nobility, the Vienna Government is also considering enacting an “Aristocratic Law.”

Once this law is enacted, noble successions must go through the Noble Assembly for evaluation, and it would be difficult for a prodigal to inherit a title.

Besides the eldest child inheriting titles, even the noble offspring who received non-military titles will lose the capability to pass them on through succession.

Since it has such a significant impact, it is still being discussed in the Noble Assembly. After all, this law is too unfriendly to the declining nobility, making it too difficult for them to pass the assessment.

Franz is preparing to enact this law when colonizing the new lands, letting these declining nobles gamble their fortunes in the colonies.

The domestic pie is only so big, clearly not enough to go around, and even with the addition of the territories in the Balkan region, the cake is still not big enough.

The collapse of the British and French colonies is largely due to the unequal distribution of interests. The capitalists got too many benefits, yet expecting others to risk their lives for them, how could that be possible?

Since ancient times, the feudal system has been a sharp tool for expansion. Counties directly managed by the central dynasty often get lost, but seldom does the land split again once it is granted as a fief. Even if it becomes independent, it cannot be free from the influence of the native culture.

Of course, this is only one aspect; the bigger reason is the solidification of social classes. Either make a bigger cake to leave upward mobility for everyone, or else revolution is inevitable. This multiple-choice question is easy to answer.

After pondering for a while, the elder said, “Alright, I respect your choice, child. Our family can’t provide much support for you right now, but we can recruit a group of people from the estate to leave, which would help alleviate the population pressure.

These people have lived dependently on the family for generations, their loyalty is not an issue. With their help, I believe you can quickly make a breakthrough.”

In this era, the influence of the nobility is significant, not only because of their status but also because they have a group of vassals under them.

Even though serfdom has been abolished, this kind of influence hasn’t dissipated.

The Austrian Government is now encouraging these nobles to develop in the Balkan Peninsula, not just the nobles themselves. If they try to survive alone in an unfamiliar place, who ends up ruling whom is anyone’s guess.

Moreover, at present, everyone’s initial industries are land-based; surely the nobles can’t be expected to do the farming themselves?

It’s much easier for these people to organize emigration than for the Austrian Government to do so.

The densely populated Germany Region, in the era of agrarian states, had already reached the limit of its population capacity, and redirecting a fraction of the people now is a good way to ease internal conflicts.

In any case, industrialization does not have a large demand for labor at this time, and Austria is still the second most populous country in Europe. Adding the population of the territories in the Balkan region, it’s getting close to the significant figure of 50 million.

Right now, the most important thing is to promote national integration. With uniform language and writing as a backdrop, and the next generation seeing a lot of mixed-race children, who can still make waves with nationalism?

It can be said that the New Holy Roman Empire, as long as Franz doesn’t act rashly, has a promising future.

Developing the Balkan Peninsula also has an unexpected benefit: the number of emigrants to the United States has decreased.

After all, crossing the ocean in this age carries its risks. Compared to the unknown America, the risk is much lower in the Balkan Peninsula, right at our doorstep, and with the Danube River providing easy transportation, one could return in ten days to half a month.

Especially for those with families, emigrating to the Balkan Peninsula means they can bring their loved ones along. If they go to America, it is a farewell of life and death.

Since the great revolution, the Germany Region has seen a surge in emigration. On average, sixty to seventy thousand people leave each year, and the Austria Region also sees roughly twenty to thirty thousand people leave each year.

These emigrants have caused the population in the United States to explode. In 1850 the United States accepted 310,000 immigrants, in 1851 it accepted 379,000, while in 1850 the whole country had only 23,192,000 people, by 1860 the population had grown to 31,443,000, literally skyrocketing.

The emigrants of this era were all young and strong; the old, weak, sick and disabled could not endure the turmoil at sea, they were all quality labor supplies.

Every time he considered this, Franz could only sigh at how the countries of South America fell short, seemingly unaware that they could compete with the United States for immigrants, despite their favorable conditions.

It wasn’t as if they needed to act together; if even a few nations prioritized attracting immigrants, diverting some of the United States’ population, the Americans could not have developed so rapidly.

In this situation, Franz was also powerless. The nations of Europe had yet to recognize the threat posed by the United States and had taken no measures to curtail their burgeoning power.

Of course, he wasn’t entirely inactive — at least he occasionally took to the newspapers to smear the nouveau riche Americans, an entertainment popular and well-received among the European public.

No matter what, if the migration to America could be reduced by tens of thousands, that was tens of thousands; these numbers added up over time and could be considered a weakening of a rival’s strength.

It was known that thanks to these immigrants, the Germans later came to form the largest ethnic group in America — it would not be overstated to say that German people played an enormous role in the rise of the United States.

Vienna

Franz was carefully reading the “Plan for the Development of the Balkan Peninsula” submitted by the Cabinet.

The strength of a nation did not merely lie in its large territory, ample population, or abundant resources. These were only one of the necessary conditions; more so, it depended on the extent to which territory was developed.

The Russian Empire was big enough, even larger than the two Europes put together. Just considering the land area, resources, and population, their power should be sweeping across the universe like mighty Qin, gobbling up the world.

Yet in reality, the Russian Empire, with all its advantages, not only failed to swallow Europe, but any united front from two major powers could give them a tough time.

The main issue was the low level of domestic development. If the Russian Empire had already industrialized, there is no doubt that dominating the European continent would not be a dream.

The New Holy Roman Empire didn’t have the Russians’ boldness; even with a loose management system, it was still able to leap to become one of the top superpowers.

In Franz’s view, if the acquired territory couldn’t be developed effectively, then this territory, unable to be converted into national power, would become a heavy burden.

It was already difficult to continue expanding on the European continent. Intensive development of the existing lands was the proper approach.

Previously, the Vienna Government had already formulated many development plans. Except for a few Sub-States with a high degree of autonomy, the remaining areas had entered the government’s planning agenda, and many places had already begun organization and implementation.

The current Balkan Peninsula development plan was just a preliminary conception, and there was still a long way to go before actual implementation.

After some thought, Franz said, “Prime Minister, according to this development outline, the Two principalities of the Danube Basin will become the Empire’s second granary in the future.

But we must consider an issue: if Russo-Austrian relations deteriorate, the exports from these regions could only be sold along the Danube River to the Germany Region or transported overland to the sea.

Moreover, the supporting industries look more like services custom-designed for the Russians. I have to doubt whether Russians have that much purchasing power?

They are still a serfdom empire, and even if they undergo social reforms in the future, I think the purchasing power of their common citizens will, at best, reach only half that of Austrian citizens.

If the industries targeted at the Russian market, it would be best to take two approaches: either sell high-end products to their nobility or take a low-end route, selling to the common folk with the prices of these goods needing to be cheap enough.”

Due to geographical reasons, the economies of the Two principalities of the Danube Basin would inevitably be influenced by both Austria and Russia – internally by the Austrian domestic market, and externally by the Russian market.

Economic development must also target these two markets as its core, with other European nations considered only after these.

Prime Minister Felix explained, “Your Majesty, the future of Russian-Austrian relations is unclear to anyone. However, even if the relations deteriorate, the likelihood they will blockade us is very low.

Even if the Tsarist Government wanted to, their domestic interest groups would not agree, and given the Tsarist Government’s enforcement capabilities, they simply could not execute such a blockade.

This can be seen from the current situation; the Russians have cut off trade with England and France due to the war, yet only Ukraine and central parts of Russia have truly stopped trading.

The main reason for the cessation was not the Tsarist blockade but because the war interrupted the Black Sea transportation routes, and these regions have had their markets overtaken by our goods.

Goods from England and France have never stopped entering Russia through the Baltic Sea. The main reason they haven’t reached the southern and central parts is the high transportation costs, which have resulted in a loss of competitiveness.”

As for the issue of industry, these are just preliminary considerations. Ultimately, the choice lies in the hands of capitalists, whose market sensitivity is undoubtedly superior to ours.

The Government will merely formulate corresponding policies and will not directly invest in these light industries. I trust that the capitalists will perform even better.”

Franz nodded. He never harbored illusions about the Tsarist Government’s executing capabilities, and the possibility of a blockade indeed seemed unlikely.

In history, even when Russo-Austrian relations had broken down, the Russians never blockaded the Danube, and clearly, the Tsarist Government would not dare to make such a rash move that could provoke war.

As for the industrial issue, that was even less of a concern. Since the Cabinet Government was not prepared to invest directly, let the capitalists take on the venture, bearing the outcomes of profit or loss themselves — this was not something for the Emperor to fret over.

From a developmental perspective, Russia and Austria might become economic competitors in the future, with food exports being the mainstay industry for both nations.

Austria exports finely processed agricultural products, whereas Russia exports raw agricultural goods directly; still, competition between them does exist.

If this issue is unresolved, the conflict of interests will almost inevitably affect the relations of the two countries.

In this respect, Franz could only be grateful that the Tsarist Government was a dictatorship, which meant that such contradictions would not erupt in the short term.