Holy Roman Empire

Chapter 248: Chapter 135: Persuasion
Following the successful establishment of the Guinea Colony, Austria’s colonizing efforts did not cease, and instead, attention was turned towards the Congo Region.

After all, at that time, there were plenty of unclaimed lands everywhere, and whoever occupied them would own them, so Franz naturally did not hesitate.

By October 1854, Austria had already developed thirteen colonial outposts on the African Continent and had sent more than forty thousand emigrants to the colonies.

Franz asked with confusion, “Prime Minister, why have we halted the emigration to the colonies?”

You should know, according to Austria’s original plan, the goal was to send all the refugees there, yet we have completed less than a tenth of that.

Prime Minister Felix explained, “Your Majesty, the plague in the Balkan Peninsula has spread, and if we were to urgently transport emigrants now, we would likely bring the plague to the colonies.

Although we have made efforts to recruit doctors, the medical facilities in the colonies are still not optimistic, and the consequences would be unimaginable should the plague spread.”

Franz shook his head and said, “Prime Minister, you worry too much. There are so few people in the colonies that even if an epidemic were to break out, it would be very easy to isolate and quarantine.

Moreover, winter is approaching, and this epidemic should also be drawing to a close. Even if it were carried to the African Continent, the situation would not be too severe.

Based on the intelligence we’ve collected, the mortality rate of Russian Army soldiers infected with the plague is merely seven or eight percent, which is still lower than the natural mortality rate of colonists in Africa.

The war in the Balkan Peninsula is about to end, and at that time, the majority of these refugees will choose to return home. In the future, it will be more difficult for us to find emigrants.”

This is not an exaggeration, the mortality rate for those emigrating to the African Continent was abnormally high at that time; a significant number would perish en route.

Is the mortality rate for the refugees who stay on the Balkan Peninsula any lower? The answer is no!

In fact, their mortality rate would only be higher if they stayed on the Balkan Peninsula.

Without sufficient benefits, the Austrian Government would not spend substantial resources to aid the refugees, and the Ottoman Empire would be even less likely to do so. Could we possibly expect the French to act like saints?

In that era, everyone was struggling to feed themselves. Providing relief to millions of refugees on the Balkan Peninsula would consume vast amounts of financial and material resources. Without sufficient benefits, who would bother?

Without adequate aid, these refugees would turn into bandits and then go on to inflict harm upon more regions, turning even more people into refugees.

Before the 20th century, with limited human productivity, there were only two methods to deal with refugee crises: relief or killing.

Most of the time, the solution was killing, as feudal empires simply could not provide relief. There was no good or evil, right or wrong; it was all about survival. If there wasn’t enough food, it was a case of the survival of the fittest.

Austria was very cautious with its African colonization effort, typically sending between five to eight thousand emigrants each time and then distributing them across over a dozen settlements. It wasn’t that Franz lacked the population, but rather, he worried about the possibility of accidents occurring and the logistics at the colonial outposts being cut off.

With fewer numbers, they could afford to take risks and obtain enough food to survive from the local environment, but this was not feasible with larger populations.

Prime Minister Felix continued explaining, “Your Majesty, our pace of emigration has been very fast. In terms of the number of emigrants, aside from the French, even the British do not have as many emigrants on the African Continent.

There is not enough local output to support the emigrants, and there is no immediate return. If we cannot find valuable mineral resources, these regions will bring a heavy financial burden in the future.”

If Franz had not been aware of the local resource situation, he would naturally have been concerned about this issue. However, this reason was obviously not applicable.

Being obstinate was even less of an option; without the cooperation of high-level government officials, it would end up as the Emperor’s solitary colonization, and the result would clearly be tragic.

Franz said calmly, “Then, let’s find a way to solve this problem. All our colonial outposts are on the coast. Send them a batch of fishing boats and teach the immigrants to fish.

With so much fertile land around, they can grow a bit of anything and that should be enough to sustain themselves. Once they get through the initial period, the food problem can be gradually solved.

The colonies do not support the idle. If they don’t want to do anything, then organize them to serve as cannon fodder, whether it’s being sent to fight against local native tribes or being used to explore the inland areas.

Once the food issue is resolved, there will be less pressure. After the colonies stabilize, we can start mining in the area. As long as one or two outposts strike something, we will be able to recoup the costs.

These colonial outposts can also provide logistical support to overseas merchant ships, earning some fees to offset administrative expenses.

If we can’t find minerals, then go for logging. I don’t believe the area lacks even timber resources; whether it’s planting crops, cash crops, or raising livestock, it should be sufficient to maintain the operation of the colonies.”

This was not just Franz boasting. Depending on agriculture or animal husbandry will not make one rich, but self-sufficiency is achievable.

This industrial operation won’t make much money, but it will definitely not lose any. Historically, the main reason colonies lost money was the lack of sufficient immigrants.

Without enough immigrants, local natural resources can’t be effectively exploited, basic industries can’t be developed, and colonial governments can’t collect enough taxes. Running deficits then is only to be expected.

Prime Minister Felix reminded him, “Your Majesty, all this requires substantial investment. We have already spent over one million shields on colonial affairs. To balance the budgets in these areas, the investment will exceed ten million shields.”

Franz replied cheerfully, “Of course, I am well aware of what we are doing. Once this ten million shields is invested, Guinea and the Congo Region will be completely under our control.

On such vast land, by planting coffee, palm, cotton, cocoa, rubber, tobacco, and tea, we could make several million shields in profit every year.

This hasn’t even taken into account the mineral resources. Surely, with our luck, we won’t come up completely empty-handed?

This calculation is simple. Other major colonial powers like England and France haven’t done this, not because they don’t want to, but because they don’t have enough immigrants at their disposal.

There are still four or five hundred thousand refugees in the Dalmatia Region, waiting to be settled.

We can first implement work-for-relief, keeping them there to improve local transportation, and then gradually relocate them to the African colonies.

Everything is difficult at the beginning. Once we complete the first phase of investment, it will be time to reap the rewards. If government funds are insufficient, we can raise capital from the public.

Colonies are different from the homeland; the government doesn’t need to be directly involved in management. We can entrust these operations to private companies just the same.

I am even considering allowing individuals to participate in the colonial enterprise, encouraging nobility to go overseas to open up colonies.”

Prime Minister Felix was convinced. The colonial enterprise, unlike others, is profitable for the government as long as costs can be recovered.

In the administration of the colonies, we might not make a large profit, but it can provide sufficient industrial raw materials for domestic industry, and the newly opened markets can stimulate the development of domestic industry and commerce.

Another advantage of colonies is to stem the outflow of the homeland population. Although this is not obvious now, it will become more serious after industrialization is completed.

Especially after an economic crisis, when people can’t find work at home and are compelled to emigrate overseas for a living, the role of the colonies becomes evident.

As long as the development is satisfactory, with a little guidance from the government, we can attract a large number of immigrants to move there, avoiding population outflow.

The number of emigrants leaving the Germany Region right now is not small. We don’t need much—just one third or even one fifth—if cheated into moving to Austria’s colonies, we wouldn’t fear any enemies challenging us on the African Continent.

To retain these immigrants, the development of local economies is also necessary. Without sustainable development of basic industries, it is obviously impossible to attract settlers.

There’s strength in numbers. As long as the population of the Austro-African colonies is large enough, Austria will have an advantage in the next round of the scramble for Africa.

This advantage will directly promote the economic development of the homeland in the future, driving the progress of domestic industry and commerce.