Chapter 248: Persuasion
After successfully establishing colonies in Guinea, Austria’s colonial expansion did not stop there. They turned their attention to the Congo region next.
There was a lot of unclaimed territory in this era, and whoever occupied it could claim ownership. Of course, Franz was not going to be polite.
By October 1854, Austria had successively established thirteen colonial outposts on the African continent and transported over forty thousand immigrants to these colonies.
……
Franz asked in confusion, “Prime Minister, why have we stopped sending immigrants to the colonies?”
It’s important to note that according to Austria’s original plan, the goal was to transfer all refugees there, but so far less than one-tenth of that has been achieved.
Prime Minister Felix explained, “Your Majesty, the plague in the Balkan Peninsula has spread. If we urgently transport immigrants now, we risk bringing the plague to the colonies.
Despite our best efforts to recruit doctors, the medical facilities in the colonies are still not very promising. The consequences would be unimaginable if the plague were to spread there.”
Franz shook his head and said, “Prime Minister, you are thinking too much. The colonial population is so small that even if a plague were to break out, it would be very easy to isolate and contain.
Moreover, winter is coming, and this plague should be nearing its end. Even if it were to reach the African continent, the situation would probably not be too serious.
According to the information we’ve gathered, the death rate among Russian soldiers infected with the plague is only about 70-80%, which is even lower than the natural death rate in the African colonies.
The war in the Balkans is coming to an end, and most of these refugees will probably decide to return home. It will be difficult for us to find immigrants in the future.”
This is no exaggeration. In this era, the mortality rate of immigrants to the African continent is indeed alarmingly high, with many dying on the way.
Is the mortality rate lower for refugees left in the Balkans? The answer is no!
In fact, their mortality rate would only be higher if they stayed in the Balkans.
Without sufficient benefits, the Austrian government is unlikely to spend much to help refugees, and the Ottoman Empire is even less likely to help. Can they really expect France to play the role of a savior?
At this time, everyone is struggling just to feed themselves. To help millions of refugees in the Balkans would require a huge expenditure of financial and material resources. Without sufficient benefits, who would be willing to do it?
Without adequate aid, these refugees would turn into bandits, causing more damage to more areas and more people to become refugees.
Before the 20th century, with limited human productive capacity, there were only two ways to deal with a refugee crisis: Provide aid or resort to killing.
Most of the time, the solution was killing, because the feudal dynasties simply could not provide enough aid. There was no question of good or evil; it was all about survival. If there wasn’t enough food, it came down to the survival of the fittest.
The Austrian colonization movement of Africa was very cautious, sending about 5,000 to 8,000 immigrants at a time and distributing them among a dozen or so settlements. It wasn’t that they didn’t want to send more; the amount of food available limited the number of immigrants.
If the goal was just to move people, then organizing a hundred or eighty cargo ships could easily move tens of thousands of people. But then logistics would be a big problem.
The African continent was underdeveloped, and the local indigenous tribes practiced little agriculture and relied entirely on natural resources for survival. The early colonizers in Africa also survived by relying on local natural resources.
Obviously, this was only suitable for a small number of colonists. The distribution of a few thousand people in a colonial settlement was not because Franz didn’t have enough people, but more out of concern for unexpected situations where the logistics of the settlement could be cut off.
With fewer people, they could afford to take risks and get enough food from the local area to survive. Once the population grew too large, however, this would no longer be possible.
Prime Minister Felix went on to explain: “Your Majesty, our pace of immigration is already very fast. In terms of the number of immigrants, apart from the French, not even the British have as many immigrants in Africa.
The local areas do not have enough production to support the immigrants, and there is not enough return in the short term. If no valuable mineral resources are found, these areas will be under considerable financial pressure in the future.”
Of course, if he didn’t know the local resource conditions, Franz would also be concerned about this issue. However, this reason could not be said.
Acting stubbornly was not an option either. Without the cooperation of the upper echelons of the government, it would just turn into a colonization effort by the emperor alone, which would obviously end in tragedy.
Franz said calmly, “Then let's find a solution to this problem. Our colonial outposts are all along the coast; send them several fishing boats and teach the immigrants to fish.
There’s so much fertile land nearby, just planting a little of everything should be enough to feed them. Once we get through the initial period, the food problem can be solved gradually.
The colonies do not support the lazy. If they don’t want to do anything, organize them to be cannon fodder. Whether it's sending them to fight with the local tribes or using them to explore the interior.
Once the food issue is resolved, the pressure will ease. After the colonies stabilize, we can start mining there. As long as one or two outposts produce results, we can recoup our costs.
These colonial outposts can also provide logistical support to overseas merchant ships, earning some fees to subsidize administrative costs.
If we don’t find mineral resources, then we turn to logging. I don’t believe there are no timber resources locally; in the plains, whether it’s growing grains, cash crops, or raising livestock, maintaining the operation of the colonies is still feasible.”
Franz wasn’t boasting. Relying on agriculture and animal husbandry might not make one rich, but it was certainly possible to become self-sufficient.
This kind of industrialized management wouldn’t make a lot of money, but it definitely wouldn’t lose money. Historically, the main reason for colonies running at a loss has been a lack of immigrants.
With an insufficient number of immigrants, effective exploitation of local natural resources was not possible, basic industries could not develop, and colonial governments could not generate enough tax revenue, so losses were the norm.
Prime Minister Felix reminded, “Your Majesty, all of this requires substantial investment. We have already invested millions of guilders in our colonial ventures. To achieve a balanced budget in these areas, this investment will exceed tens of millions of guilders.”
Franz replied with a cheerful smile, “Of course, I am fully aware of what we are doing. With this investment of tens of millions of guilders, we will have complete control over the Guinea and Congo regions.
With such large areas, we can make a profit of several million guilders a year just by planting coffee, palm, cotton, cacao, rubber, tobacco, and tea.
This is without even considering mineral resources. Surely we can’t be so unlucky as to find nothing?
The math is simple. The reason the major colonial powers like Britain and France haven’t done it is not because they don’t want to, but because they don’t have enough immigrants.
Currently, there are still 400,000 to 500,000 refugees in Dalmatia waiting to be resettled.
We can start with work for relief programs, keeping them in the area to improve local transportation, and then gradually move them to the African colonies.
Everything is hard in the beginning. Once we have completed this initial phase of investment, the period of reaping the benefits will follow. If government funding is not sufficient, we can raise funds from the private sector.
Colonies are different from the mainland. They don’t require direct government management. We can delegate those tasks to private companies.
I am even considering allowing individuals to participate in the colonial venture by encouraging the nobility to go overseas and establish colonies.”
Prime Minister Felix was convinced. The colonial venture was different from other enterprises; as long as the costs could be recouped, the government would profit.
The colonies might not be very profitable to run, but they could provide sufficient raw materials for domestic industry. The newly opened markets would further stimulate the development of domestic trade and industry.
Another benefit of the colonies was the reduction of emigration from the homeland. This situation might not be apparent now, but it would become more pronounced after industrialization was complete.
Especially after an economic crisis, when people couldn’t find work at home and were forced to emigrate overseas to make a living, the role of the colonies would become apparent.
As long as they were reasonably developed, and with some government guidance, they could attract large numbers of immigrants and prevent the outflow of the population.
At present there is a considerable number of emigrants from Germany. If only one-third or even one-fifth could be persuaded to emigrate to Austria’s colonies in Africa, there would be no fear of any hostile challenge on the African continent.
To retain these immigrants, it was also essential to develop the local economy. Without sustainable basic industries, it would be impossible to attract settlers.
There is strength in numbers. As long as the population of the Austrian colonies in Africa was substantial, Austria would have an advantage in the next round of African colonial division.
This advantage would have a direct impact on domestic economic development in the future, promoting the growth of domestic trade and industry.
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