Chapter 250: Outbreak of the Refugee Crisis

  Chapter 243 – Refugee Crisis Breaks Out

No one paid attention to the battle between the British and the Duchy of Montenegro, the difference in strength between the two sides was too great to be made up for by a single passion, the winner and loser had already been decided from the very beginning.

Including Franz did not look favorably on the Principality of Montenegro, their base was too thin to withstand the consumption. Even if they repelled the attack of the English-Saxon alliance, they would still be the losers.

This is the sadness of a small country, the population is just a little bit, no matter how good the fighting strength is, people will always die in a war, and the Duchy of Montenegro can’t afford to die.

Near East War fought to the present, the Balkan Peninsula loss of population has long exceeded a million, and may even exceed two or three million, especially the loss of young and strong is particularly heavy.

The Ottomans captured strong men to fight, and the woolly bear was not polite. Including the current offensive and defense of Constantinople, the Russians have captured a lot of young men sent to the front as cannon fodder.

Gray livestock is no longer valuable, it is also the tsar’s soldiers, belonging to their own people, how also more valuable than these cannon fodder.

Constantinople attack and defense, every day there are thousands of people lost, even if the hairy bear family is big can not hold ah!

If you use cannon fodder, Mareshkov will not be under pressure. Dead is dead. The Austrian government is very cooperative.

Without Austrian citizenship, the Austrian government is not obliged to protect their safety, the Danube Valley two duchies in recent times can be the Russians scourge miserable.

Those who initially resisted learning German are now crying. There is no way, language test failed, political and ideological audit failed, can not get nationality.

The two Danube duchies are still nominally Ottoman territories, and the Austrians are only temporarily occupying them and have no obligation to protect their security.

Franz could only regret the atrocities of the Russian army. To protest go to St. Petersburg, the Russian army is not under his control, he is unable to help the current situation.

The arrest of the soldiers was not a big deal. Anyone who knew the Russians knew that most of the gray animals were not paid, and their only income was to go to the battlefield and rob them.

According to the news from the front line, at least half of the local people have encountered the Russian army robbery, in addition to the Austrian army stationed in the area is relatively safe, the other areas are left to the Russians to loot.

Because of the westward strategy, Austria drew back a large number of troops, naturally can not take care of all the areas, only the Austrian army soldiers stationed in the area of the Austrianization of the situation is good, which gives the Russians an opportunity.

Franz guaranteed that there was absolutely no Austrian collusion with the Russians on this issue, and that these atrocities were spontaneously organized by Russian soldiers.

Everyone cooperated very well, that is the Russians finished looting and needed to sell the stolen goods, and the Austrian-controlled security zone was the best place to trade.

Almost every time Russian troops crossed the border, it was a mess. The lucky ones were just robbed, the unlucky ones then had their homes destroyed.

The world is a cruel place, and by the time the news reached Franz, it had all happened, the wood had been turned. How many people died locally was a complete unknown and could only be counted slowly after the war.

Not only were the Russians and Ottomans scourging the Balkans, but the British, French and Sardinian coalition forces were no slouches either. In order to improve the food, everyone is hands-on plentiful food now.

Being scourged by so many armies in turn, the rich would have run away long ago, including the nobles of the Ottoman Empire.

These are smart people who know that reasoning with the big-headed soldiers doesn’t make sense, and that in times of war and chaos, human life is the least valuable.

Those who could run away ran away, and the rest were a bunch of poor people. Either they are the bottom of the free people or serfs, there is no place to go even if they want to run away.

Marshal Radetsky said with a worried frown, ”Your Majesty, an urgent telegram came from the front, the Serbian region was stormed by refugees and was suppressed by the army.

The atmosphere is now very tense, and I’m afraid it won’t be long before chaos occurs again. The newly formed 9th Division stationed at the front line is requesting domestic support.”

There is no way, any war inevitably you have to produce a large number of refugees, because of the war lost their livelihood, in addition to go out to beg for a living, everyone has no choice.

Franz asked with concern, “On the border, how many refugees are gathered?”

Marshal Radetsky thought for a moment and then answered, “At least a few hundred thousand, or possibly millions, the scene is too chaotic to make an effective count.

In the early days, we also received tens of thousands of refugees, and then because the number was too large and we were worried that it would affect the order at the local level, the General Staff ordered an interception.

This was a dereliction of duty on the part of our General Staff; some time ago, we were all so busy with our westward strategy that we neglected to pay attention to the refugee problem.

Now that there are more and more refugees on the borders under our control, the troops on the front line just couldn’t hold them down and sent telegrams asking for help, and only then did we notice.”

Because of the war, the Serbian region, the Bosnia-Herzegovina region, and the two Danube principalities were all under military rule, and because the Austrian government had not gained sovereignty over these regions, there was no local government set up.

Since they were under military administration, these problems naturally fell to the General Staff. The result was obvious: one could not expect a group of officers to be very capable of governing the localities, and to be able to maintain local stability, all by force of arms.

The Austrian General Staff, including Marshal Radetzky, ignored the refugee problem and did not report it to Franz at all. It wasn’t until things broke out and this time that their attention was drawn to it.

Frankly speaking, the handling of the General Staff was not wrong. If so many refugees had been let through, it would immediately have been a human tragedy.

I am afraid that the order that Austria had managed to establish on the ground with great difficulty would have collapsed immediately.

If the social order could be maintained by increasing the number of troops, then there was really no way to solve the problem of food.

To solve the problem of feeding hundreds of thousands, or even millions of people in this era, without making preparations in advance, where would Franz go to raise so many supplies to go over in a short period of time?

It was not that there were no supplies, but it was too late to mobilize so many supplies. The Austrian government had already mobilized a large amount of food for the relief of the refugees.

However, these foodstuffs were barely enough to relieve the local refugees in the Austrian occupied territories. In the face of the increased number of foreign refugees, there was really nothing that could be done.

Franz asked suspiciously, “That’s not right, there are so many refugees, they should have stormed our blockade line long ago, why did this problem occur after so many people had gathered?”

Marshal Radetzky replied, “Your Majesty, most of these refugees are old, weak, women and children, and lack of youth, so when they encountered the army blockade at the beginning, many of them chose to retreat.

Now that a group of routed soldiers has been added to the refugees, and someone is leading the charge inside, that’s when they started to storm our blockade line.”

Franz nodded, with the end of the Second Battle of Bulgaria, there was a large number of routed soldiers in the Balkans, and these routed soldiers went around to scourge the place, creating a large number of refugees out.

It is estimated that by now, want to continue to plunder can not find a place, there is no way, these people appeared in the ranks of the refugees.

If there is no one to lead, a group of old and weak women and children, even if the number of people again, but also do not dare to impact on the border line, after all, this era, no one speaks of human rights, as long as they dare to impact on the blockade line soldiers dare to shoot.

Figure out the situation, Franz also headache. No need to ask him to know how that is a kind of what kind of tragedy, easy to eat the picture has surfaced in his mind.

But letting them in is even more impossible, without enough food, these people are in chaos, will only create more refugees.

This is not the 21st century, as long as the government is willing to mobilize a large amount of supplies at any time. With the current situation of transportation relying on oxcarts, what way did Franz have to mobilize a huge amount of supplies for them?

People can do anything when they are hungry. Franz does not dare to test the goodness of human nature, even in later times, this is also a problem for all countries.

It can be said that this is not pleasing to the effort, only to reap the grudges of the work. Think of it Franz is a burst of complaints, since you ignore the neglect in the end ah, learn the British bureaucrats in accordance with the provisions of the work how good, do not know anything, he will not have to headache.

Now things are on the surface, can not not deal with it, right?

Franz asked, “Prime Minister, what do you think should be done about this issue?”

This is kicking the can down the road, anyway, Franz can’t think of the best of both worlds, then it can only let the cabinet come. If there is a way better, no way in the end the black pot will have to be taken by the cabinet.

Prime Minister Felix stammered, “Your Majesty, first send troops to reinforce the front line, no matter what, we can’t let more people become refugees, and then mobilize supplies from home to go over for relief.”

His words Franz heard and understood, that was to hold the blockade line and be done with it. When the supplies are mobilized, then relief will be provided, and by then the refugees will be almost dead, and there will be enough food to eat.

Marshal Radetzky thought for a moment and said, “Your Majesty, all other areas are blockaded, but I’m afraid it will be difficult in Bosnia and Herzegovina, there are too many mountains and forests in the area, I’m afraid it won’t be able to stop the flow of refugees.”

Finance Minister Karl asked suspiciously, “We’re not the only ones experiencing this problem, are we, what are they doing with the Kingdom of Greece, the Duchy of Montenegro, the Ottomans, and the Russians?”

Metternich replied, “The situation in the Kingdom of Greece was reported by the officials sent there by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and that fool Otto I saw the refugees and thought that the opportunity to increase the population had come, so he ordered government relief.

As a result, because of the influx of too many refugees, it exceeded their tolerance limit, plus the British army entered and disrupted the local order. The area was in chaos, and the new Greek government was in the process of suppressing the refugee rebellion.

It’s still not looking good, and it won’t be long before we have to ask the three governments for help. I doubt very much that the British saw this situation and were so quick to relent at the Paris conference.”

The remaining few countries were known without being said. The Ottoman-controlled areas were definitely in chaos, the Sudanese government was incapable of relieving the refugees, and Britain and France were not philanthropists who would help for nothing.

The Duchy of Montenegro was poor and they were still fighting the Allied Forces, as long as the refugees weren’t fools they wouldn’t run over there. If they are, then they should not expect a good outcome.

At this moment Franz began to envy the bad reputation of the Russians, because of the atrocities of the Russian army, the refugees are too late to avoid them, how can they come to the front?

Thanks to this, even the Austrian-controlled Danube two principalities, because the Russians in front of the block, this time are not affected by this Balkan Peninsula refugee tide impact.

Typical bullying, not bad enough reputation, the means is not ruthless enough, but also seems to be relatively rich Austria, became the unlucky egg.

Let Franz not have a reputation for massacring refugees? It was impossible! If it had been the Tsarist government, I guess it would have been possible to give this order.

Franz said fiercely, “If the area of Bosnia and Herzegovina can’t be defended, then we simply don’t have to defend it. Tell the refugees to make their way to the sea, and only when they get there can we mobilize enough food for rescue.”

This was the truth, transportation was too difficult inland. Even with the Danube, the river’s capacity was not unlimited, and priority had to be given to ensuring the consumption of supplies for the garrison and the Russians.

There were still hundreds of kilometers to go from Serbia to reach the port, and with mountains to climb along the way, there weren’t many people left who could make it there alive.

Never mind the cruelty, it was better to have hope than no hope at all. The Bosnian region was mostly mountainous and Austria had only just taken control, assimilation there was going poorly and it didn’t hurt to give up Franz.

“Yes, Your Majesty!” Marshal Radetzky replied in a low voice

He knew that this incident had upset the Emperor, but there was no way around it, the General Staff hadn’t reacted beforehand and had lost the best time to deal with it.

With so many people gathered together, the local bark and grass roots were probably chewed up. People are hungry to attack the blockade line is inevitable, Marshal Radetzky can not be ruthless slaughter of refugees, will have to let Franz deal with it.

Prime Minister Felix frowned and said, ”Your Majesty, now that the refugees have been relieved, how to resettle them in the future is also a problem. If they are allowed to remain in the Balkans, I’m afraid it’s also a hidden danger.”

He was against this kind of relief, besides consuming a lot of financial and material resources, in the end, he would not be able to reap a cry of gratitude.

Most of the people who were able to survive in this situation were moral degenerate masters, and those who weren’t ruthless enough wouldn’t survive to the end.

Franz thought for a moment and said, “Of course it is all repatriated to the Ottoman Empire, and when these people arrive, immediately loaded on ships and sent away, and pack the people in the Bosnian region together and send them away.

If the Ottoman Empire refuses to accept them, send them all to the African continent as the first immigrants for our development of the continent.

The navy immediately chooses a suitable place to land and takes over several strongholds on the African continent, and the Austrian colonial era begins early.

Organize ships as soon as possible, it’s definitely not that easy to transport so many people there this time, everyone should prepare their hearts in advance.”

If it was just simple refugees, then staying in the Balkans and resettling them, that wouldn’t be a problem, the big deal was to slowly carry out assimilation. Unfortunately, a large number of routed soldiers were mixed in here, and it instantly turned into a scourge.

Since this was the case, there was no choice but to give them a different place to live. People leave their homes, plus scattered resettlement, to the African continent, Franz is not afraid of these people dare to make trouble.

It is just that the hidden dangers of the Bosnia and Herzegovina region can be solved together, the Austrian government has wasted so much effort, and it is not possible to contribute money and effort for nothing.

These laborers, used to develop the African continent is just the right waste utilization. Overseas slowly reform a few years, time can wash away everything, and then send more priests to teach them.

Let them repent their sins, slowly return to normal life, and finally integrate into the Austrian system. Franz’s mind was clearer when he thought about it.

(End of chapter)