Chapter 141: Core Industries
Chapter 139: Core Industries
What are the core industries developed in Austria?
Franz does not yet have an answer in his mind, the Austrian Empire is still very rich in resources, and in the primary stage of industrialization there is almost no shortage of anything.
Historically, from Austria to Austria-Hungary did not launch any foreign colonial expansion, it had something to do with the abundance of resources in the homeland.
Of course this is limited to the early stage, if you look at the perspective of development, Austria’s domestic resources will not be enough.
Take the steel industry as an example, in the era of countries with annual steel production of 10,000 tons, 100,000 tons, one million tons, Austria is not a lack of resources, ten million tons of the era is barely able to keep up with, once it enters the era of several tens of millions of tons, or even hundreds of millions of tons, it will be difficult to sustain.
This is the long term problem, at least for a few decades, Franz does not need to headache for this problem.
Theoretically, the vast majority of industries could be the backbone of Austria, for example: agriculture and agro-processing, metallurgy, machine building, military industry, railroads, shipbuilding, textiles ……
This is the benefit of having a strong base, before Lombardy and Venice were lost, Austria’s industrial volume was very close to the French.
No surprise there, Austria in this era was a combination of Austria-Hungary + half of Italy, and Lombardy + Venice topped half of Italy.
Franz won’t say something stupid about all industries going hand in hand, the world is so competitive that if the government is not able to tilt its policies towards certain industries, can you be guaranteed to beat the competition?
Not to mention Austria, even the British as the only industrialized country in the world, they didn’t have a comprehensive development, focusing on the financial industry, shipbuilding, textile industry.
This is not a good choice, once you make a choice, it is a decades-long unchanged state policy, and all the economic development in the country will be changed as a result.
There are many factors that determine a country’s pillar industries, including: resources, markets, industry strengths, interest groups, national development direction, the international situation ……
Free economy? Market Economy?
These talk on the line, do not take it seriously, or be prepared to cry.
In any successful country, the pillar industries are supported by policies such as: tax cuts, introduction of policies favorable to the development of the industry ……
Mizuno Palace.
Franz is walking around the square with Felix, incidentally discussing the direction of Austria.
“Chancellor, where do you think Austria’s strategic center of gravity will be in the future?” Franz asked
This was an age of the weak and the strong, and expansion was the theme of the age. Ever since the Vienna system had been broken, all European countries had entered into a new round of competition.
Smaller countries have no choice but to go with the flow; larger countries want to develop, rowing against the current, not advancing or retreating.
The Austrian Empire was actually at a crossroads, and the choice of a Russian-Austrian alliance was Austria’s first strategic choice, but this time it was the choice of an ally.
Why did the Austro-Hungarian Empire in history go and step on the powder keg of the Balkans? Was it really what the pundits and scholars commented on – a strategic decision failure?
Franz originally thought so, and after having been there he realized that it was wrong.
Austria had many opportunities for foreign expansion, they held back, and finally chose to step on the thunderbolt of the Balkans, definitely not by the rulers themselves.
Just think about the international environment at that time, Franz will understand, this is the choice of necessity.
The Great World War, all the powers are expanding their power, only Austria and Spain in place, did not keep pace with everyone.
This means that there are two sheep mixed in the wolf pack, if you do not want to be eaten, then at least disguise yourself as a wolf.
Austria occupied the region of Bosnia and Herzegovina and packaged itself as a wolf in exchange for a few years of peace; Spain did nothing, the Americans found out about the fat sheep, and then the Spanish-American War broke out.
Without hesitation, Prime Minister Felix replied, “The German region!”
“Reason?” Franz asked
Prime Minister Felix thought for a moment and said, “After the annexation of the South German region, we will have a direct border with the French, don’t look at the current Franco-Austrian relations, but the French’s European hegemony has always been present, and we have to consider the defense of the Western Front.
There is also the Kingdom of Prussia that has to be guarded against, in order to avoid interference from various countries, at the same time as we unify the South German states, they will also annex the North German region, resulting in the fact of a bifurcated Germany.
After the unification of North Germany, the strength of the Kingdom of Prussia will be increased by at least four layers, the threat is greatly increased compared to the present, and most importantly they still have the ambition to unify the entire German region.”
“What if we draw the scourge westward?” Franz asked
Austria is such a big guy, it doesn’t look like it’s easy to mess with, and once it annexes the South German states, it will be even more difficult to mess with.
In contrast, Belgium, Luxembourg, and Holland were all soft, or fat, soft.
Belgium’s industrial development, the Netherlands developed maritime industry, and a large number of colonies, Luxembourg, a small place, that is also the country of steel.
“Your Majesty, I’m afraid that the Prussians have the heart, want to expand to the west, the French that they will not be able to pass, the British will not agree.” Felix said thoughtfully
To the common man, the Prussians would not have the guts to challenge the French.
As for the attitude of the British, in reality, as long as Prussia can dry out the French, without the hitmen over, they can do nothing, the big deal is to be blocked for a few years by the sea.
The French were not to be messed with, but compared to a strengthened Austria+Russia combination, they were a bit easier to deal with.
“That depends on the ambition of the Prussians, and the French interest in the Rhineland, as long as one of these points is met, this war can be detonated.” Franz said confidently
There was no way around it, every other country had the state owning the army, while Prussia had the army owning the state. Nationalism has awakened again, and when the time comes, a little stimulus says it will ignite.
If they don’t have the guts to start a war, don’t they still have Austria? The big deal is that Prussia and Austria are joining forces to fuck France, and I don’t believe that the Prussians will be able to resist the temptation.
Pie ate down, the future they can only and the French to the end, and incidentally the British and Prussian joint road is also broken, the three emperors alliance dominated the European continent of the political system once again established.
Should we do this? Franz was puzzled. It seems that this pattern is the most favorable to the Russians.
Austria would simply gain a stable rear, grab a few French colonies at most, and the Russians would have an unobstructed path to the sea.
Felix smiled and said, ”Your Majesty, I believe the Prussians will be very interested in this offer, but do they have the strength to swallow this bait in one bite?
Although Belgium, Holland, and Luxembourg are also German nation-states, they do not recognize it themselves, and resistance to the death is necessary.
Even if Prussia defeats the French with our help, won’t they still have the British behind them?
If you can’t take one bite, you won’t get a second chance. As soon as the Prussians turn their backs on the British and the French, we won’t support them anymore.”
A word of caution, the Kingdom of Prussia is not the German Empire of the latter days, the difference in volume between the two sides is vast, how can the same strength erupt?
Holland’s population is about 3.06 million, Belgium’s population is about 4.4 million, Luxembourg’s population is about 200,000, and these people are predominantly Catholics, and the population of the Kingdom of Prussia is about 13 million, can they digest it?
Economically the three countries combined are not even close to the Kingdom of Prussia.
Of course this is only a comparison of the power of the two sides now, and it will certainly change in the future, but no matter what kind of change happens, it is not easy to annex a country that is on the rise of nationalism.
Franz even thought that Prussia’s annexation of these three countries was more of a fool’s errand than Austria’s annexation of the Balkans.
Well, actually it’s all a matter of thinking about it.
Slow encroachment is possible without external forces. If swallowed in one gulp, it would either kill a bloodbath or choke to death.
As it was, Franz knew what to do.
Austria was not going to be able to compete with the British, at least not in their three core industries. It didn’t matter, the British had a path of development that Austria couldn’t learn.
In Franz’s opinion the core industry hard touch is the best means of suppression, in advance to start the layout of the Prussian people to crush the core industry, then they are just a military power.
Franz made the same choice as Prussia, prioritizing the development of the military industry, railroads, manufacturing, plus Austria’s advantageous industries – agricultural processing industry.
To build railroads to rely on government investment, and encourage private investment, business competition that is also an internal problem; military industry is likewise relying on government funding, the international market in this era can only be regarded as a small supplement, next door to the woolly bear is a good customer.
Manufacturing industry can only fight the international market, but Franz is not worried, there is the Holy Roman Empire as a big market, and the woolly bear as a good ally, than the history of Prussia is too strong.
Agro-processing industry needless to say, there is almost no competitors, Austria’s biggest competitors in the European grain market, Russia and the Ottoman Empire, are direct exports of grain.
Historically, the Russians exported wheat to the outside world while importing flour from the outside, this is not a segment on the internet, but actually existed in this era.
No surprise there, the ships carried the grain out and came back empty and had to stone the bottom of the silos. Shrewd merchants found good prices for flour on the Russian market, found it profitable and sold it back to the Russians.
This also meant that Austria’s competitors in this field were the food processors of the grain-importing countries, and the two sides distanced themselves in terms of cost from the start.
It was natural to focus on this kind of industry, which had the advantage of not requiring much investment, and historically Hungary was the largest supplier of flour in Europe during the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
As for the steel industry, which has been valued by countless travelers and even considered a reflection of national strength, why isn’t it the core of development?
Just take a look at this era, how little demand for steel on the market to know.
The Austrian Empire every year so 20,000 to 30,000 tons of raw steel, the Russians only a few thousand tons of raw steel, the British is not much better, the annual output of less than 100,000 tons of raw steel.
There is no way, the market demand is so big. Even if you add pig iron, this demand is not high, anyway, everyone did not break through the million tons mark.
If the steel industry as the core industry, believe it or not after a few months, the Austrian market will appear a large number of steel stalled?
By then, in order to solve these stagnant steel, the government had to invest a lot of money in other industries, and finally surprised to find that the steel industry did not develop, but the industrial crisis came first.
Instead of this, it is better to develop railroads, the military industry to drive the consumption of steel, there is market demand will have production, which is the law of the market.
Focusing on the development of the steel industry is ahead of its time, and the high-tech industry is even more so. In addition to the military industry, a country’s economic model are the market determines the prospects for industrial development.
This era is a high-tech desert, many epoch-making products, even if they are made in the laboratory, the same can not be promoted out.
This kind of advanced field, as a country’s core industry can not, as a sub-focus on the development of the object, in advance of the technical reserves can still be.
(End of chapter)