Chapter 247: Stability
On September 1, 1854, Constantinople fell in the midst of a somber atmosphere. The Russians fulfilled a century-long ambition, sending the Russian Empire into a frenzy and leaving the rest of Europe collectively speechless.
The day after the Battle of Constantinople ended, the New Holy Roman Empire issued a diplomatic note to the warring parties, boldly announcing its intention to mediate the conflict.
This responsible international stance was immediately praised unanimously by France and Russia. After more than two years of war in the Near East, there was finally a glimmer of hope for peace.
The attention of the world turned to London. The Ottoman Empire and the Principality of Montenegro had already been overlooked by everyone. Weaker nations without significant diplomatic influence should keep quiet.
At 10 Downing Street, Prime Minister George angrily threw the cup in his hand. Constantinople had just fallen like that, and the retreat seemed all too conspicuous.
A week ago, the Russians had already stopped their offensive, and the French troops began to evacuate the wounded and sick from the city. The outbreak of disease seemed to be a valid reason to stop the offensive.
Two days earlier, the French envoy had assured him with the utmost certainty that they would defend Constantinople to the death. The 120,000 French troops were supposedly enough to withstand any Russian attack.
Then, last night, he received the news that Constantinople had fallen. Facing defeat in Constantinople, 120,000 French troops miraculously broke through and even conquered Tekirda?, which was heavily defended by Russian troops.
This is what Prime Minister George wanted to say: Don’t make your deception so obvious! Such actions really put me in a difficult situation!
Foreign Minister Thomas, his face pale, said: “Everyone, the French have unilaterally ended this battle. We must take action immediately, otherwise we will be passive!”
It was not “we will be passive” but already are passive. No matter what agreement France and Russia reached, it was extremely unfavorable for the British Empire.
The British Empire’s carefully crafted policy of continental balance in Europe would collapse if the two countries formed an alliance. In this age, there is no powerful ally to rely on.
Secretary of War Stanley said gravely, “The French have already withdrawn and even sold Constantinople to the Russians. We cannot continue this war any longer.”
While the British government had long lost the desire to fight, exiting the war was no simple matter. A misstep could be a source of ammunition for political opponents, which could be a major source of trouble.
Stanley was the most concerned, fearing that if the French betrayed their ally completely, the British forces at the front might be swallowed up by the Russians before the armistice negotiations.
Given the long-standing enmity between Britain and France, such a scenario was not impossible. If it did happen, the rest of Europe would probably be glad to see it.
After hesitating for a moment, Prime Minister George made a decision: “Given the unclear situation, we can only adapt as things develop. Let's accept Austria’s mediation for now and deal with the rest diplomatically!
The next focus of the Foreign Office should be to find ways to isolate the Russians. It is absolutely essential that we do not allow an alliance between France and Russia, otherwise, we will greatly suffer a loss.”
Suffer a loss? Who hasn’t suffered losses in international politics? Thinking only of gaining advantages and not being able to bear losses is not suitable for politics.
If you lose something today, you find a way to get it back tomorrow. Flexibility is a basic quality of a politician; a temporary defeat cannot, of course, frighten the British.
With the British government’s stance, the Vienna Peace Conference was scheduled. After all the consultations, it was finally decided to officially convene on September 21.
History has changed. The Russians were not defeated on the battlefield but gained the upper hand instead. Of course, the peace conference could not be held in Paris because the Russian government also cared about its prestige.
……
The Port of Conakry in Guinea, which in later times became the largest port in West Africa, is currently still a wilderness.
Due to the presence of a natural port, it was fortunate to become one of the footholds for the Austrian colonization of Africa, entering the civilized era ahead of time.
Now the area is basically one big construction site. According to the Austrian government’s plan, the first step in colonizing Africa is to build a city.
No, it’s not quite a city, it’s planned to be a small town. It is planned to house eight thousand immigrants, together with a garrison of an Austrian infantry battalion.
Then, with the town as the core, the expansion will gradually begin to move outward until the entire area of the coastal plains is fully occupied.
The Port of Conakry is no longer called Conakry. It has been renamed with a distinctly Austrian flair — Neubruck.
This is only the beginning. If the colonization plan goes smoothly, many Austrian city names will appear here in the future.
Lieutenant Colonel Stephen, the mayor and commander of the garrison in Neubruck, looked at the report in his hands and shook his head helplessly. The newly founded Neubruck was lacking in almost everything.
Especially people — the plan was to settle 8,000 immigrants, but so far, only 1,200 had arrived. In less than two months, 56 people had died from various causes, and another 37 were lying sick in bed.
This mortality rate was only slightly better than that of a plague. If this trend continued, the average life expectancy of the new immigrants would probably not exceed 35 years.
Concerned, Lieutenant Colonel Stephen asked, “When is the next group of immigrants expected to arrive?”
His assistant, Gold, simply replied: “I don’t know!”
Colonial life in Africa was markedly different from that in the homeland. Communication here depended heavily on the coming and going of ships. Without the regular monthly supply shipments, they might have felt completely abandoned.
To ensure constant communication between the colonies, Stephen also had a few small boats that could be used to reach other outposts.
Along Guinea’s more than 300 kilometers of coastline, the Austrian government established three colonial outposts where the first batch of colonists were distributed.
Learning from the successful experiences of other colonial powers, the Austrian colonial forces remained only in the coastal areas, leaving the deeper penetration of the mainland to the future.
Several indigenous tribes in the plains had already been wiped out. For security reasons, even the captives were handed over to the Portuguese.
The slave trade was still rampant in this era, with the United States being the largest buyer of slaves in the world. In recent years, nearly half of the U.S. population growth has been attributed to the purchase of slaves.
The slave market was still in a period of more demand than supply, as the African continent was not exactly hospitable at the time, with its dangerous wildlife and dangerous diseases.
The mortality rate among the immigrants was telling enough. They were just beginning to establish settlements at these outposts. If they ventured deeper into the mainland, the mortality rate would increase significantly.
Lieutenant Colonel Stephen said casually: “You don’t know? Aren’t you going to go ask?”
No sooner had Lieutenant Colonel Stephen finished speaking than he realized his mistake. This was a colony, not the homeland. Direct communication with the homeland would not be possible for decades!
Even at home, the telegraph was widespread only in the cities and had not yet reached the countryside, let alone the African continent.
Undersea cable technology existed, but given the high cost, the current African colonies were clearly not worth such a significant investment by the Austrian government.
“Never mind what I said,” Lieutenant Colonel Stephen added quickly.
Gold, his assistant, spoke seriously, “Lieutenant Colonel, I think we can’t keep waiting like this. If you don’t want to be overtaken by other outposts, we must take more proactive measures now.
Since we are short of manpower, we should just capture it. Look, it’s been more than two months, and we’re still at a standstill. There are no colonizers more well-behaved than us in the whole world.
Must we really wait for the enemy to attack before we can retaliate? We should learn from the Portuguese. Even if we haven’t found any precious minerals, we must find a way to recoup our expenses.
At the present rate of progress, I have serious doubts as to whether we can recoup our colonial investment within a hundred years. By that time, never mind being knighted for our achievements, our graves would be overgrown with weeds.”
Unlike Lieutenant Colonel Stephen, who had a military background, Gold, who had volunteered for the colonial venture, was not one to play it safe.
He had come to the colony with dreams of making a fortune, but now he found himself involved in the day-to-day construction of the outpost. As the town began to take shape, he hadn’t seen a shadow of the wealth he had hoped for.
The coastal plains were indeed promising and would have been highly coveted in Austria. Unfortunately, land was the least valuable commodity on the African continent.
According to Austrian colonial regulations, any Austrian citizen had the right to cultivate these lands. Anyone who established a farm owned it, with the stipulation that once ownership rights were confirmed, the land could not be left fallow.
It was hard enough to make a fortune farming back home, and Gold didn’t think it was possible to get rich farming here. These lands were set aside primarily for immigrant settlement.
The best way to make a fortune in the colonies was to find mines, especially gold and silver mines, which were the easiest means of wealth.
As early colonists, if they discovered mineral resources and reported them to the colonial government, they could receive a share of the profits from the exploitation of those resources. Alternatively, they could sell the discovery directly to the government for a substantial sum of money.
Lieutenant Colonel Stephen shook his head and said, “Gold, be patient. The mood among the immigrants is still unstable; they need our supervision.
Once we have a bountiful harvest of the first batch of crops, the situation will change. That will be the right time for us to start expanding.
If you have some free time now, you could organize the young and able-bodied among the immigrants for some basic training. Many of these people are not exactly ideal, but they would make excellent cannon fodder.
Here’s a piece of advice for you: the African continent is no easy place, and the dangers of the inner areas far exceed those of the coastal areas.
There are many opportunities to make a fortune in the colonies, but there is one essential condition: you must be alive to spend it!”
His message was one of stability. From the beginning of the colonial plan, the Austrian government had not expected a return in the first year; that would be very unrealistic.
Even the South African colonies established by the British were not yet profitable. So why should Guinea be expected to break even in the short term?
If it were that easy to make a fortune in the colonies, they would be overcrowded by now. One must never underestimate the passion for making money among the European populace of this era.
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