Holy Roman Empire - Chapter 330
Chapter 330: Chapter 17: The French Who Are Good at Learning
The cotton crisis didn’t just affect the British; the French were also in a tough spot. As a great nation that had completed industrialization, the French demand for cotton was also very high.
The cotton textile industry was an essential part of the French economy, and Napoleon III, who valued the development of the domestic economy, naturally couldn’t ignore this problem.
After seeing the Austrians successfully promote cotton planting in Africa, Napoleon III also began to entertain the idea of following suit, even picking out a location.
At the Palace of Versailles, Colonial Minister Stern said with difficulty, “Your Majesty, our colonies in West Africa lack sufficient immigrants, making it very difficult to promote cotton cultivation.”
Cotton is a labor-intensive industry, especially during harvest time when a large number of workers are needed.
The growth rate of France’s population was even slower than that of a snail, almost at a standstill. If immigrants were organized from within the country to develop the African Continent, there was a real risk the mainland population might decrease.
This was obviously impossible since a population decline would lead to a shortage of labor, inevitably causing labor costs to rise, something the domestic capitalists would definitely not tolerate.
Napoleon III asked, “If we introduce preferential policies to attract immigrants from the European Region, can we solve this problem?”
“Your Majesty, the majority of immigrants leaving Europe each year come from the Germany Region. Since Austria opened its colony in Africa, most of these immigrants have entered Austrian colonies.
From 1854 to now, in just a short span of seven years, Austro-Africa has absorbed more than 1.4 million immigrants.
With these immigrants, the development speed of Austro-Africa far surpasses any area of the African Continent. Under the banner of recreating a second home for the Germans, it is difficult for us to compete.”
Foreign Minister Auvergne directly shattered Napoleon III’s fantasy. Starting from the early 19th century, the Germany Region has been the primary source of European immigration, accounting for half of Europe’s migrants.
Following closely behind were the Ireland region, the Italian Area, and Southern Europe. As for Ireland, its peak immigration period had already passed.
Southern Europe was Austria’s stronghold, and even if people immigrated, they went to the better-developed Austrian colonies.
Because France invaded the Kingdom of Sardinia, it caused resistance among the people of the Italian Area, and few immigrated to French Africa.
Napoleon III nodded, accepting this undeniable fact. With insufficient population resources, overseas colonization was naturally fraught with difficulties.
This little difficulty didn’t intimidate Napoleon III; on the contrary, it fueled his ambition to annex the Italian Area. The Napoleon Family originated from the Italian Area, and he held a special affection for Italy.
Returning home in glory is many people’s dream, and Napoleon III was no exception. Coming back as the Emperor of France was prestigious enough, but to also hold the title of King of Italy would be even more perfect.
Finance Minister Pelissis spoke up, “Your Majesty, if we want to solve the labor shortage in Africa, it’s not without a solution.”
Napoleon III, delighted, asked, “Oh, let’s hear it; what do you propose?”
Pelissis suggested, “Your Majesty, as far as I know, when Austria first began colonizing Africa, their earliest immigrants came from Balkan Peninsula refugees.
Although there are no refugees now, we can still find a way on the Balkan Peninsula to resolve the immigration shortage.”
The Balkan Peninsula colony was also considered one of the best-developed French colonies, and after many years of recovery, the population of the French-Balkan Peninsula had reached 3.8 million.
However, because it is geographically close to Russia and Austria, it faces substantial military pressure.
Russia and Austria also interfere behind the scenes, often inciting local uprisings, making French rule in the area very difficult.
Previously, the French government had even proposed selling the French-Balkan Peninsula and retaining only the Dardanelles Strait.
Unfortunately, no buyer could be found internationally. The British didn’t want to be neighbors with Russia and Austria on land, the Russians couldn’t afford it, Franz thought the French asking price was too high, and it was likely to provoke a backlash from the Russians.
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After making a round, the territory ultimately remained in the hands of the French. To secure this lucrative colony, the French government stationed 80,000 troops in the Balkan Peninsula.
The enormous military expenditure offset the profits gained by the French government from the Balkan Peninsula. This seemingly appetizing land had, in fact, become nothing more than a chicken rib.
Napoleon III spoke hesitantly, “The people of the Balkan Peninsula are fierce, and the Russians are promoting Pan-Slavism there; the locals are hardly likely to be willing to go to the colony.”
This was also a flaw in the colonial strategy of the French government, which had neither carried out a thorough cleansing immediately nor sent immigrants to the Balkan Peninsula for ethnic integration.
If external forces did not interfere, then ruling over the Balkan Peninsula would not be an issue based on France’s past experience.
Unfortunately, neither of their neighbors, Russia and Austria, were easy to deal with, and the two happened to be allies, which made life difficult for the French colonial government.
Luckily, all parties were imperial states that didn’t export any national republican ideas; otherwise, the French would have had even more trouble.
The most popular ideology in the French-Balkan Peninsula now was Pan-Slavism. Initially, Franz had also prepared to engage in cultural exports, but harsh reality told him that German culture truly had no market here.
Finance Minister Pelisi spoke confidently, “We can levy a poll tax and then introduce favorable immigration policies. All we need is cheap labor; we don’t need local intellectuals.
For the stability of the colony, we can first carry out a thorough cleansing, and get rid of all the local hardliners, and then gradually organize immigration.
Now is the best opportunity, with Alexander II and the nobility at home fighting each other, they simply have no time to interfere with us.
The Austrians don’t like Pan-Slavism either. If we suppress these perverse doctrines, the Vienna Government will not interfere.”
The starting points are different; land powers see things differently from sea powers. At first, everyone looked down upon Austria’s colonial policies.
Now, just because of self-sufficiency in cotton, other land powers like France understood the Austrian approach.
Eagerly organizing immigration to develop colonies might cost a bit more, but it also strengthens control over the colonies and can provide raw materials and markets for domestic industrial production.
The French originally had direct control over the African Colony and wanted to digest North Africa; the Austrian approach opened new perspectives for them.
The literacy rate among the Balkan Peninsula people is very low. If it weren’t for the Near East War, these people would still be serfs, with no cultural tradition to speak of.
If they were to develop industry, these people would be inferior labor, but for primary agriculture, they would become excellent labor.
Due to cognition, employing these people only requires paying wages based on the Balkan Peninsula’s standards, less than half of the French level, and they would work themselves to the bone.
Because of the lack of cultural heritage, they don’t even know their own nationality. After entering the French colonies, it wouldn’t take long for these people to become French.
The group of refugees organized by Austria earlier is an example. Upon reaching the African colonies, in just a few years, they were preliminarily Germanized.
Even if there are differences in behavior, these people now consider themselves Austrians; is there still fear they will not integrate?
Napoleon III made a decision, “Let’s try it out; command the Governor of the Balkans to conduct a thorough cleansing and eliminate all our enemies and potential enemies.
I remember that when the Austrians annexed Austro-Balkan, they turned one-tenth of the local population into laborers to achieve today’s stability; we can also follow suit.”
At this point, Napoleon III also felt some personal regrets.
The Kingdom of Sardinia had not yet been taken; otherwise, the areas providing immigrants would have been even greater.
However, the Italian Area is different from the Balkan Peninsula; it has a complete cultural heritage. Its global influence is also much larger; it cannot be disturbed lightly.
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