Chapter 456: Development of the BiH Region
Chapter 446: Developing Bosnia and Herzegovina
On April 6, 1869, the weather in Stockholm was exceptionally sunny, and amidst the laughter of the populace, the Nordic Confederation was established.
After the collapse of the Kalmar Union, the three Nordic countries were once again unified. The only regret was that Finland was missing, and the Baltic region was no longer there, without the splendor of its peak.
The emergence of the Nordic Confederation also meant that Sweden, Denmark and Norway, the three marginal European countries, were able to make their voices heard in the world.
Franz did not personally go to the ceremony, this era out of the way really inconvenient. Unless it is the Lord who loves to join in the fun, generally everyone’s enthusiasm to go abroad is not high.
The unification of Northern Europe has no effect on Austria, the headache is the Russians. Must be this time Alexander II’s expression must be very wonderful, the emergence of the Nordic Federation, Russia’s northern border of the defense pressure can increase a lot.
After the example of Prussia, who can guarantee that the Nordic Confederation will not follow suit? If another one, dig out Finland, then the Russian Empire will have to move the capital.
St. Petersburg is indeed a good place to live, but unfortunately the defense pressure is a bit too high. It didn’t matter when the Russian Empire was strong, once it fell into a state of decline, it was dangerous.
In contrast, Moscow was much better. Located in the center of Russia’s Eastern European lands, it is basically considered absolutely safe strategically, and when the enemy hits here, winter will let them finish.
The Moscow region is surrounded by granaries, do not have to worry about food. There are also rivers to facilitate the transportation of goods, transportation is also convenient, and then build a few railroads will be perfect.
Of course, before Poland was lost, there was sea transportation, and St. Petersburg had even more advantages. Moscow still needs to be developed now, and moving the capital would at least require the railroad network to be built first.
Alexander II certainly didn’t think that much about the political and military double whammy that is only now compressing the rebels in the Moscow area.
After all this, the economy of the Moscow region had been devastated. The bourgeoisie, which supported the revolutionaries, has lifted a stone and smashed its own foot.
It is easy to start an uprising, but difficult to control it. Originally, they supported the revolutionaries only to fight for their rights, but now they have not gotten their rights, but they have gotten themselves into it first.
When the civil war broke out, in front of the survival of the revolutionaries, the revolutionaries didn’t treat them politely, expropriated the expropriations, and beat the white slips.
In short, they lost a lot. Unless the rebels achieved victory, these preliminary investments, there is still a possibility to recover.
If the rebels failed, it was questionable whether they people could escape the purges of the Tsarist government. Alexander II was not small-minded, but he could not tolerate rebels.
It was natural for Franz to publicize such a negative example. Recently, the Vienna newspapers reported the news of the Moscow rebels all of a sudden, the position determines the point of view.
The dirt on the rebels was naturally magnified and incidentally glorified the Tsarist government. We are all monarchies, and our asses can’t sit on the wrong side of the fence.
Otherwise, Alexander II lost the Russo-Prussian War and would have been a surrogate for a fainting monarch, so how could he possibly be mixed up with the title of Lord of Reform?
Not only Austria, but most of the European media did not put the pot of losing the war, on Alexander II’s head, but the bureaucrats he purged took the blame.
Including the news covering the Russo-Prussian War, the Kingdom of Prussia was intentionally or unintentionally downplayed, with the emphasis on the corruption of the Russian bureaucracy that led to the defeat of the war, and it was clear that people were not yet happy to accept the fact that Prussia had risen to power.
Although the Kingdom of Prussia defeated the Russian Empire and became a member of the club of European powers, they did not take the place of the Russians.
Originally, Europe was dominated by the four great powers, but now that the Russians were out, it became the three great powers, Britain, France, and Austria, who dominated Europe, and the Kingdom of Prussia did not gain the international status it wanted.
International status in this era was not only status, but also the division of interests. As vested interests, Britain, France and Austria had no intention of dividing the power of speech among Prussia.
This hurt the Berlin government. Britain, France and Austria could all be considered world empires, and all of them had large colonies and divided the world together with Spain, Portugal and Holland.
As a newly rising power, Prussia was embarrassed. It is now the last train of the colonial era, the old colonial empire has completed the run, even if there is no actual occupation, but also first sworn sovereignty.
What is left to the Prussians is not even a leftover, except for a small colony in Asia, you can not see the figure of Prussia.
It was very bad for the Kingdom of Prussia, which was recovering its economy after the war, yet the world was so big that there really wasn’t any left.
There was also a colonial conference to divide up the African continent in the original time period, which is not needed now. It’s all about to be carved up, what need is there for an international conference.
At least the coast was, most of it was occupied by Britain, France and Austria, with Portugal and Spain also occupying parts of it, and Holland being squeezed out.
This would be no need to talk about giving up colonies, there simply wasn’t much land to colonize. Besides, they didn’t have the strength to invest overseas, and being able to keep a small colony on the Central and Southern Peninsula would have been good.
Prussia had no choice but to develop itself. The arrival of the Japanese delegation at this time was welcomed by the Berlin government.
A mosquito is still meat, even if it is to add an overseas trading partner, it may also promote the development of the domestic economy.
The Berlin government took the opportunity to sell a lot of products to the favored Japanese delegation, among which the best-selling ones were second-hand weapons and equipment.
Strengthening the military was the first and most important step of the Meiji Restoration. There was nothing wrong with what the Japanese did in this regard. Without sufficient force in this age of the weak and the strong, even more wealth was for others.
Prussia’s efforts to open and expand the East Asian market did not attract the attention of the outside world. In everyone’s impression the Japanese government was very poor, including Franz ignored the madness of the Japanese in developing their military.
In 1869, the Japanese delegation and Prussia signed a large foreign trade order of one million five hundred and eighty thousand guilders. This number was not small enough to rank in the top twenty of the year in any single foreign trade deal contract.
The astonishment of the newspapers only made the capitalists sigh for a missed opportunity to make money, and this kind of business news Franz consistently refrained from reading.
Now he was reviewing the strategic plan for the development of the province of Bosnia and Herzegovina, as one of the poorest provinces in Austria, this provincial government of Bosnia and Herzegovina did not intend to remain salty.
This is also forced out, the previous provincial governments just need to do a good job, the political achievements came out, to their predecessors have done it.
The population of the province of Bosnia and Herzegovina was already small and deeply cleaned up, and after more than a decade of persistence, the assimilation work has already been considered to be the initial end.
The language and writing had been standardized, and the change of customs was almost complete. By the time of this government, this fixed political achievement could not be brushed off.
The years are getting old, time passes in a hurry, many people in the Austrian cabinet are getting old, and a change of government is just a matter of these few years.
Candidates who are qualified to fill the seats are those who have an outstanding track record in governing localities. This does not mean that local officials have no chance, as long as the outstanding performance can also be reversed to the top.
Even taking a step back and becoming a minister of a certain ministry is still a step forward. Ambitious people naturally will not miss this opportunity.
Franz is not afraid of the people under him to have ambition, ambition also represents motivation. It would be a disaster if they were all a bunch of salty fish waiting to die.
The Austrian bureaucracy model is all about climbing up the ladder one step at a time, and without the political achievements of the local principal, it is simply impossible to enter the cabinet.
Even if you want to make a party, you have to have that opportunity to do so. There is no political achievements simply can not climb up, contacts and relations again, stayed below or for nothing.
It is much easier to break up a faction than to build one. Bureaucrats themselves are also in competition with each other, and once the main figures within a faction become political enemies, they will fight it out themselves.
It often just takes a position to get there. If the bureaucrats all became a bloc, then it would only mean that the emperor was irredeemably stupid.
Bosnia and Herzegovina is not completely without advantages, at least there are mines here. These include: coal, iron, copper, manganese, lead, mercury, silver, lignite, bauxite, lead and zinc ore, asbestos, rock salt, barite and other minerals.
These are the gifts of nature and the basis for the economic development of BiH. The Government of BiH is ready to mine them, and not only mine them but also to develop heavy industry.
Simply put, it is to make steel, smelt copper, and sell salt along the way. Of course, other minerals will also be developed, but now these three more “money”.
Franz remembers that the heavy industry in Bosnia and Herzegovina was well developed in the original time and space, but then went into decline because of the war.
Although Bosnia and Herzegovina is mountainous, but there are rivers here, can develop water transportation. If the railroad branch line is extended, then the development of heavy industry also has potential.
Austria’s heavy industry was too concentrated in Bohemia, which didn’t matter in times of peace, but in times of war, Bohemia was too close to the front line.
The conditions in Bosnia and Herzegovina are naturally not as good as those in Bohemia, but the establishment of a small heavy industry base is still not a big problem.
Not only the region of Bosnia and Herzegovina, many areas of the Balkan Peninsula have the potential to develop heavy industry. Compared to the European continent, the Balkan Peninsula is rich in mineral resources.
Not to mention long-term development, at least at the beginning of the industrial era, the required resources can still be satisfied. Only in terms of development costs, the Balkans are still relatively high.
After all, the region of Bosnia and Herzegovina has already been assimilated, Franz is still willing to invest a certain amount of resources. To be able to develop it would be a profit, and if the economy could not develop, a few more heavy industries would be a good result.
Without hesitating for long, Franz put a “√” on the document and approved the program. The rest of the things do not need him to bother, give the policy, the later issues should be bureaucrats free to play.
As long as it was not a crazy plan, he seldom rejected the development plans submitted by local governments.
No one can guarantee the success of any big strategic plan, but it will not succeed if it is not tried.
For a country, the margin for error is still very high. Especially in poor provinces like Bosnia and Herzegovina, the economic development of the strategic plan, a few failures will not shake the foundation.
The central government has to subsidize the administrative expenses, so how bad can it be?
But if it succeeds once, then it will make a lot of money. Not to say to become Austria’s developed provinces, as long as in the financial self-sufficiency, is a great victory.
(End of chapter)