Holy Roman Empire

This is an era of the jungle, and expansion is the theme of this era.Since the Vienna system was broken, European countries have entered a new round of competition.

Small countries have no choice but to go with the flow; big countries want to develop, so they sail against the current, and if they do not advance, they will retreat.

The Austrian Empire is actually at a crossroads. Choosing an alliance with Russia and Austria is Austria's first strategic choice, but this time it is an ally.

Why did the Austro-Hungarian Empire step on the powder keg of the Balkans in history?Is it really what experts and scholars commented on—was the strategic decision wrong?

Franz originally thought so, but after being personally on the scene, he found out that he was wrong.

Austria had many opportunities to expand abroad, but they held back, and finally chose to step on the thunder of the Balkans, which was definitely not the ruler's own will.

Just thinking about the international environment he was in at that time, Franz understood that this was a forced choice.

In the battle of the great world, the great powers are all expanding their power, but Austria and Spain are standing still, not keeping up with everyone's pace.

This means that two sheep are mixed in with wolves. If you don't want to be eaten, you must at least disguise yourself as a wolf.

Austria occupied Bosnia and Herzegovina and packaged itself as a wolf, in exchange for a few years of peace; Spain did nothing, the Americans found this fat sheep, and then the Spanish-American War broke out.

Prime Minister Felix replied without hesitation: "The German region!"

"Why?" asked Franz

Prime Minister Felix thought for a while and said: "After the annexation of the South German region, we will directly border the French. Don't look at the relationship between France and Austria, but the French have always had the idea of ​​European hegemony. We have to consider the Western Front. defense.

There is also the Kingdom of Prussia that has to guard against it. In order to avoid the interference of various countries, when we unify the southern German states, they will also annex the North German region, resulting in the fact that Germany is divided into two.

After the unification of North Germany, the strength of the Kingdom of Prussia will increase by at least four levels, and the threat will be greatly enhanced than it is now. The most important thing is that they still have the ambition to unify the entire German region. "

"What if we lead to misfortune?" Franz asked.

Austria is so big, it seems that it is not easy to mess with, once the South German states are annexed, it will be even more difficult to mess with.

In contrast, Belgium, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands are all soft persimmons, which are still fat and oily.

Belgium has a developed industry, the Netherlands has a developed navigation industry, and a large colony. Luxembourg, a tiny place, is also a country of steel.

"Your Majesty, I'm afraid the Prussians are powerless and want to expand to the west. They will not be able to pass the French, and the British will not agree." Felix thought for a while and said.

In the eyes of ordinary people, the Prussians have no courage to challenge the French.

As for the attitude of the British, in fact, as long as Prussia can overthrow the French, they will be powerless without their thugs, and at worst they will be blocked by sea for several years.

The French are not easy to mess with, but compared with the enhanced combination of Austria + Russia, they are easier to deal with.

"That requires the ambition of the Prussians and the interest of the French in the Rhineland region. As long as one of these points is satisfied, this war can be detonated." Franz said confidently

There is no way, other countries are countries that own the army, but Prussia has the army that owns the country.Nationalism has awakened again, and when the time comes, it will ignite if it is a little stimulated.

If they didn't have the guts to start a war, wouldn't there still be Austria?The big deal is that Pau joins forces with France, and I don't believe that the Prussians can resist the temptation.

After eating the stuffed pie, in the future they can only fight to the death with the French. By the way, the way of joining forces between Britain and Prussia is also broken, and the political system of the Three Emperors Alliance dominating the European continent is re-established.

Do you want to do this?Franz was puzzled.It seems that this pattern is most beneficial to the Russians.

Austria just harvested a stable rear, and at most grabbed a few French colonies, and the Russians' road to the sea would be unimpeded.

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?

Although Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg are also German nation-states, they do not recognize it themselves, and desperate resistance is necessary.

Even if Prussia defeated the French with our help, wouldn't the British still be behind it?

If you can't take one bite, there will be no second chance.As long as the Prussians turn against Britain and France, we will no longer support them. "

One word wakes up the dreamer, the Kingdom of Prussia is not the later German Empire, the size gap between the two sides is huge, how can it be possible to explode the same strength?

The population of the Netherlands is about 306 million, the population of Belgium is about 440 million, and the population of Luxembourg is about 20. Most of these people are Catholics. The population of the Kingdom of Prussia is about 1300 million. Can they digest it?

The total economic volume of the three countries combined is almost the same as that of the Kingdom of Prussia.

Of course, this is just the current strength comparison between the two sides, and changes will definitely occur in the future, but no matter what changes occur, it will not be easy to annex a country with rising nationalism.

Franz even believed that Prussia's annexation of these three countries was more like a dream than Austria's annexation of the Balkans.

Well, actually it's all about thinking about it.

Without external force, it is possible to slowly nibble away.If you swallow it in one gulp, you will either kill a blood stream or choke to death.

That being the case, Franz knew what to do.

Austria cannot compete with the British, at least in their three core industries, Austria cannot be their opponent.It doesn't matter, the development path of the British cannot be learned from Austria.

In Franz's view, a head-to-head attack on the core industry is the best way to suppress it. If you start planning to defeat the core industry of the Prussians in advance, then they will only be a military power.

Franz made the same choice as Prussia, giving priority to the development of military industry, railways, and manufacturing, plus Austria's advantageous industry-agricultural product processing.

The construction of railways depends on government investment and encouragement of private investment. Commercial competition is also an internal problem. The military industry also relies on government funding. In this era, the international market can only be regarded as a small supplement, and Mao Xiong next door is a good customer.

The manufacturing industry can only compete in the international market, but Franz is not worried. With the big market of the Holy Roman League and the good ally of Mao Xiong, it is much stronger than Prussia in history.

Needless to say, the agricultural product processing industry has almost no competitors. Austria's biggest competitors in the European grain market, Russia and the Ottoman Empire, both directly export grain.

Historically, the Russians exported wheat and imported flour at the same time. This is not a joke on the Internet, but it really existed in this era.

There is nothing strange about it. The boat transported the grain out, and when it came back, it was empty, and the bottom of the warehouse had to be pressed with stones.Shrewd businessmen found that the price of flour in the Russian market was good, and they found it profitable, and sold it back to the Russians.

This also means that Austria's competitors in this field are food processing companies in grain-importing countries, and the two sides have distanced themselves in terms of cost from the beginning.

This kind of industry that has advantages and does not require much investment naturally needs to focus on development. Historically, during the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Hungary was the largest flour supplier in Europe.

As for the iron and steel industry, which is valued by countless traversers, and even considered to be the embodiment of national strength, why is it not the core of development?

Just look at how little demand there is for steel in this day and age.

The Austrian Empire only has [-] to [-] tons of raw steel per year, while the Russians have several thousand tons of raw steel, and the British are not much better, with an annual output of less than [-] tons of raw steel.

There is no way, the market demand is so big.Even with the addition of pig iron, the demand is not much higher. Anyway, no one has broken through the million tons mark.

If the steel industry is the core industry, believe it or not, there will be a lot of unsalable steel in the Austrian market in a few months?

At that time, in order to solve the unsalable steel, the government had to invest a lot of money in other industries. In the end, it was surprising to find that the steel industry did not develop, but the industrial crisis came first.

Instead of this, it is better to develop the railway and military industry to drive the consumption of steel. If there is market demand, there will be production. This is the law of the market.

The key development of the iron and steel industry is ahead of schedule, let alone the high-tech industry.Except for the military industry, the economic model of a country is determined by the market and the prospect of industrial development.

This era is a high-tech desert, and many epoch-making products cannot be promoted even if they are produced in the laboratory.

This kind of advanced field cannot be regarded as the core industry of a country. As a sub-key development object, it is still possible to carry out technical reserves in advance.

Chapter 24 Railway Network

On July 1849, 7, Franz proposed at the enlarged meeting of the Austrian government: "Establish the Austrian core industrial system".

Immediately afterwards, the Austrian government started field research work to list which industries as the core development focus, which cannot be decided by Franz with a slap on the head.

No matter how good the reason is, it is necessary to collect enough data and analyze it to ensure that nothing goes wrong before it can be confirmed.

The actual result is very embarrassing. There is enough evidence to show that in this era, the development of the military industry should be focused on, so the focus is-naval military industry.

The army's hundreds of thousands of rifles add up to the price of one or two battleships.Artillery is more expensive, but it is not much higher. The largest military expenditure of the army in this era is personnel salaries and training expenses, not weapons and equipment.

The focus of military industrial enterprises is R&D and production capacity. Production capacity need not be considered. The domestic market is only so big, and the international arms market is smaller. Blindly increasing production capacity is deadly.

It doesn't cost much to research and develop. How much money do you need to invest in several types of artillery and rifles?Is 100 million dong per year enough?

If it is not enough, 1000 million dong will never be spent.

In this era, the sum of the research and development expenses invested by all European countries in army weapons and equipment, whether there is 1000 million dong, is a big question mark?

Franz estimated that there was not. Most of the military industrial enterprises in Europe are private enterprises, and they are all for profit. The investment in research and development is too large, and they cannot recover the cost at all.

As long as profits are good, don't expect capitalists to innovate in technology.

Technological innovation in this era is not a good word. With a failure rate of more than 90.00%, capitalists are cautious when investing.

This is why there is a saying that war promotes the development of weapons. Only during the war period will everyone be willing to invest in the development of new weapons and equipment.

In contrast, the navy is the gold-swallowing beast. Unfortunately, the navy of the Austrian Empire seems to be too small, and it can probably rank six or seven or eight in the world.

If the focus is on the development of the navy, it is estimated that it will not take long to rush to the third place in the world, after Britain and France.

Then I couldn't rush forward. These two are different from the scumbags behind. Both the accumulation of technical strength and the overall national strength are much stronger.

Considering the dreaded naval arms race, Franz was instantly cowed.The Austrian navy can only circle around the Mediterranean Sea. What's the use of building a large fleet?

Britain and France are both colonial empires, so they have large navies. The current naval powers are all colonial countries.Even if Austria is now preparing to participate in colonial activities, it doesn't need to explode the navy right away?

Franz is not going to rob India with the British, why should he play an arms race with them?

The final research report shows that it is enough to pay attention to the development of the military industry, and the government allocates several million research and development expenses every year to ensure the world's advanced level.

The level of basic industry is placed here. It does not mean that the more the government pays attention to and the greater the investment, the greater the final harvest.

Looking at this report, Franz could only scold those unscrupulous experts and professors who tampered with history in his heart.

Think about it, the new weapons that Prussia invested in the Austro-Prussian War and the Franco-Prussian War, apart from a new rifle, what else can it offer?

Could it be that the military industry developed with all the efforts of the country, the final result is a breech-loading rifle?

Isn't this nonsense?Are the leaders of the Prussian government all fools?

I dare not say anything else, Franz can guarantee that hundreds of thousands of guilders will be spent, and Austria can even produce machine guns now.

In other words, even if the military industry's plate is still small, as long as the government allocates a small amount of energy, it can maintain the world's advanced level.

That's right, the Austrian military industry in this era is still at the advanced level in the world, and it is not considered backward compared with any other country.

Franz is not prepared to develop across the ages. He is not ready to develop high-tech products such as aircraft and tanks immediately.

In fact, it has been developed, but it cannot be produced.

It's still hard to make a tank, the worst is the legendary steam tank, although it's a bit magical, it's theoretically feasible; but has anyone heard of a steam plane?

Just slap in the face, anyway, Franz has a thick skin.Fortunately, the Austrian government is pragmatic. Otherwise, when the national policy is determined, it will have to smash its teeth and swallow it in its stomach.

On September 1849, 9, the Austrian government separated the department in charge of railway construction and established the Ministry of Railways. Railways officially became the core industry in Austria for the next 11 years.

On September 9, the Austrian government determined the core status of the manufacturing and agricultural product processing industries, and the Ministry of Industry was in charge.

So far, the troika that drives the Austrian Empire forward is all in place.The question now is how to develop these industries.

"Your Majesty, this is the draft of the Ministry of Railways on the rapid construction of a national railway network. Please read it." The new Minister of Railways, Baron Stein, said

After speaking, he handed over a document to Franz.The document is not very thick, only a dozen thin pages.

Franz took the file and flipped through it. There was not much in it, but it was very informative.There are tables and text descriptions. All the content is purely handmade. It may be that the production is too hasty, and some lines are still curved.

After more than ten minutes, Franz browsed through it roughly, and said blankly: "Jenny, get a map of Austria."

This is a plan for the national railway network, and there are many cities involved in it. Franz does not have such a good memory, and he can clearly remember every place.

Looking at the map, Franz found that once this plan was implemented, all major cities in Austria would be connected in series, and some railways would even extend to the border areas. Obviously, the Ministry of Railways also took military needs into consideration.

"There is no problem with the plan, but the problem is whether it can be achieved technically? Many regional railways have to pass through mountains, which will bring a very severe test to the railway construction." Franz thought for a while and said

"Your Majesty, this is just a draft. In fact, before the construction, engineers must be sent to conduct field inspections along the way. Before we get these data, we cannot guarantee that it can be implemented.

We are ready to detour if certain road sections are restricted by geographical conditions and cannot be repaired.Now it's just the goal we want to achieve, let the railway extend to the major cities of the country. "Stein explained

Franz nodded. Strictly speaking, Stein is not a qualified manager, he should be an engineer.

However, the main job of the Austrian Ministry of Railways is to build roads, and the railway management is the responsibility of the subordinate railway company, which is also supervised by the Ministry of Communications.

If it were not to reflect the government's emphasis on railways, perhaps there would not be such a high level as the Ministry of Railways, but a railway construction company.

Since it was purely road construction, Franz naturally didn't mind appointing an experienced engineer to take charge of the work, at least he didn't have to worry about unconstrained railway construction plans.

Stein has successively participated in the design and construction of many railways in Austria, and is one of the most famous railway engineers in Austria in this era.

Originally a chief railway engineer hired by the Austrian government, he has now become the Minister of Railways.

The title has changed and the power has increased, but the job content has not changed.He is still in charge of repairing the railway and has to participate in the design and construction.

Railway designers in this era are very miserable. They have to personally participate in the field survey of important locations, but they don't have the benefit of sitting in the office and blowing the air conditioner.

Franz is not worried at all about whether the railway network plan can be completed, but when it will be completed is a question.

The 19th century is not the 21st century. There is a railway network of more than 8000 kilometers, and even the main roads have more than 1 kilometers.

It is not so easy to build so many kilometers of railways.There are only 1359 kilometers of railways in operation in Austria, and 896 kilometers of railways are under construction.

"How long will it take to complete this plan?" Franz asked with concern

"At least 20 years, if the financial resources are sufficient, this time can be greatly shortened."