Chapter 304: Strategic Immigration
During the economic crisis, the Immigration Bureau of the Colonial Ministry was probably the busiest. From the end of 1857 to the beginning of 1859, in just over a year, the Immigration Bureaus accomplishments surpassed those of the previous years combined.
In order to survive, many people had no choice but to leave their hometowns. Among them, the largest number of immigrants went to the Balkans, accounting for 40% of the total number of immigrants.
This was still the result of deliberate government control. Otherwise, more than 80% of the immigrants would have chosen to go to the Balkans.
There were only two types of people who went to the African colonies voluntarily: those who were ambitious for wealth, and those who were desperately impoverished, struggling to survive, and forced to leave out of necessity.
Immigrants to the African continent could sign employment contracts with the government, plantation owners, or mine owners to have a stable income without worrying about the livelihood of their families.
Many people saw immigrating to the African continent as a form of labor migration. After all, it wasnt compulsory to migrate. At the end of their contract, they could choose to stay or return home.
For those struggling to make ends meet, as long as they could earn an income to support their families, it was considered enough, even if it meant going to a distant place.
After the personnel adjustments were completed, Franz spoke again: Colonial Ministry, lets discuss the development situation of the colonies.
Minister of the Colonies Josip Jelai replied: Your Majesty, at present we have already opened colonies in the Gulf of Guinea, Nigeria, Congo, Cameroon, Libya, and other areas.
We have established 68 colonial outposts and have 18 cities. The number of immigrants to the colonies has exceeded one million, and the directly controlled colonial territory covers an area of over three million square kilometers.
Among them, in the Gulf of Guinea, we have 25 colonial outposts, including eight cities, with a controlled territory of about 700,000 square kilometers. The total population there is 1.848 million, of which 284,000 are immigrants and the rest are natives.
In the Congo region, we have 14 colonial outposts, including four cities, covering a territory of about 680,000 square kilometers. The total population under its jurisdiction is about 3 million, of which about 318,000 are immigrants and the rest are natives.
The Nigeria colony was recently established, with only eight colonial outposts, including three cities, covering a territory of about 280,000 square kilometers. The total population under its jurisdiction is about 2.18 million, with immigrants accounting for about 185,000.
The Cameroon region was developed even later. At present, there are only 5 colonial outposts, including 2 cities, which control over 100,000 square kilometers of territory. The total population under their jurisdiction is about 560,000, with only 58,000 immigrants.
We continue to implement the replace-the-population strategy in the Libya region. Progress has been much slower than expected due to local resistance. Approximately 150,000 people remain stranded and the plan may not be completed until next year.
We have control over all the cities in the region and transported 86,000 immigrants. All the coastal oases have been controlled, and we still nominally control 1 million square kilometers of desert.
The Sinai Peninsula has few resources, so we did not develop it. We have only transported two thousand immigrants, and nominally rule over more than 60,000 square kilometers of the peninsula.
The European islands are directly under our rule and do not count as colonies.
In more distant overseas regions, colonial outposts have been spontaneously established by the private sector and have not yet been incorporated into government administration.
So far, with the exception of the Gulf of Guinea colony, which has managed to break even and even achieve a surplus due to gold mining, other regions are still in a state of loss.
In total, our colonial income in 1858 was negative 9.85 million guilders. Immigration expenses and military expenditures for foreign expeditions accounted for the majority of it.
It is expected that in the next two to three years we will recoup our investment in the Congo region, which was developed much earlier. For the rest of the colonies, it will take more time, at least five years, before they can contribute positively to our finances.
Franz nodded. Obviously, Austrias colonies still have a lot of potential. What the colonial government currently controls is only a small part, and there is still a lot of land waiting to be occupied.
However, Franz was not so optimistic about using colonial revenues to supplement the central governments finances. As long as the colonies could break even, it would already be a profit.
After hesitating for a moment, Franz said, The population ratio in the colonies is a big problem. The number of natives is too large, which is not conducive to our long-term rule.
Next, the Colonial Ministry will focus on immigration. Try to send these natives to the Americas as much as possible to reduce the hidden threat to our rule.
If the progress is not smooth, then expel them. You can decide to what extent.
Anyway, I dont care what method you use. Within 5 years, the native population must be reduced by 30%, and within 10 years, our immigrant population must exceed the native population.
Under normal circumstances, this would be an almost impossible task. In this era, however, it was not difficult to accomplish. After all, the integrity of the colonialists could not be doubted.
Even if they didnt know what to do, they could learn from their British and French counterparts, especially the British, who had the most experience in this area.
Yes, Your Majesty! Minister of the Colonies Josip Jelai replied in a deep voice.
Knowing that this task would not be easy, Josip Jelai would still not refuse because the Emperor had ordered it. After all, the fact that it wasnt easy didnt mean that it couldnt be done. How would they know if they didnt even try?
Franz did not know whether to laugh or cry because, after the economic crisis, the enthusiasm of the nobility to invest in plantations increased dramatically.
Compared to unfamiliar industries and finance, people were more willing to invest in industries they were familiar with. After all, the returns from plantations are relatively stable and the risks are not as great.
There are so many immigrants on the African continent now, and they are not just organized by the government. Many of them have been recruited by these plantation owners.
The royal family was among the most prominent, being one of the earliest investors in the colonies and developing tens of thousands of hectares of plantations.
Everyone was enthusiastic about growing wheat, cotton, cocoa, coffee, and other crops that yield returns in a short period.
By contrast, Franz, who focused on rubber plantation investments, had become an outlier. Rubber was not as widely used now as it would be in the future, and with the longer investment cycle, it was naturally less popular.
If there were enough labor, Franz would be willing to plant higher-yielding crops like cotton and coffee, but unfortunately, there is a shortage of labor. In desperation, he had to resort to planting rubber trees for now.
At present, the imperial plantations had recruited more than 30,000 workers, which was still a drop in the bucket. They had no choice but to use the natives as workers.
They were still in the process of recruiting high-quality overseas workers. At that time, a round trip to Asia took almost half a year. It was difficult to speed things up.
Franz was now very concerned that, if left unchecked, plantation and mine owners would soon become obsessed with using cheap local labor. He did not want to see the revival of slavery in the colonies.
At this time, it was only because of the inexperience and lack of domestication of these natives, which resulted in frequent riots, injuries, and runaways, that farm and plantation owners had doubts about the extensive use of native labor.
Meanwhile, the gold mine owners had already begun to use local laborers on a large scale, suppressing resistance with the formidable force at their disposal.
Franz did not believe that everyones integrity would be high in the face of interests. Those who care about appearances simply emulate the royal plantations, hiring people by trading with tribal chiefs for commodities such as salt and cloth.
The ruthless ones would send people directly to capture slaves. The African continent was so chaotic, and there were many places that the authority of the colonial government could not reach. Thus, it was common for gold mine owners to be slave owners and slave traders.
From a short-term perspective, this is indeed a good thing, as it lowers production costs and yields more profit.
From a long-term development perspective, the extensive use of slave labor would encroach on the job opportunities of immigrants, not only severely hampering the economic development of the colonies, but also increasing social contradictions.
There was another reason that couldnt be said out loud, and that was Franzs desire to undermine his biggest competitors and weaken their development potential.
Historically, nearly half of the immigrants to the United States during this period came from the German, Italian, and southern European regions. Now most of these immigrants had been redirected elsewhere by Franz.
The labor shortage in the United States was more severe than in history. Against this backdrop, the conflicts between northern industrialists and southern plantation owners were even more intense.
The enthusiastic Franz naturally wanted to help them out. If there were not enough white immigrants, black immigrants would be used to fill the gap. If the quality was lacking, they would make up for it in quantity.
Just imagine, if half of the annual immigrants to the United States are black, then the future is bound to be very interesting. For this reason, whats a small cost compared to the potential gains?
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