Chapter 304: Suez Canal Stakes
Chapter 294 – Suez Canal Stake
Paris Palace
Napoleon III is not sure to ask: “Auvergne, you are sure that the government of Vienna is really willing to join us to lead the canal program, and not intentionally come to make trouble?”
Foreign Minister Auvergne replied affirmatively, “Your Majesty, the Vienna government should be sincere, they are willing to fund the excavation of the Grand Canal with us.
No one would joke with hundreds of millions of francs, and as long as they have invested money into the canal company, they will support us for their own benefit.
It’s only that the Austrians have always been conservative, and they’re afraid that the final navigable volume won’t be able to satisfy the demand according to our plan, and that’s why they’re asking for a four-meter deepening in the depth of the canal design.”
Napoleon III rubbed his forehead and asked, “I remember that the canal company’s design depth is nine meters, the world’s largest ships can navigate freely, the Austrians still don’t think it’s enough?
Don’t they know that every additional meter will increase the investment by a huge amount? Now an increase of four meters means that the budget will be substantially increased.”
The Suez Canal is planned to be funded at 200 million francs, a figure that is already challenging investors to afford. Until the canal was open to traffic, no one knew that this golden waterway would be so lucrative.
Now most people don’t think the Suez Canal will be profitable; after all, there are free waterways to travel, and the Suez Canal tolls can’t be too high.
With such a high investment, no one could guarantee how long it would take to pay for itself. Capitalists naturally had little interest in such a long-term investment with uncertain returns.
Auvergne explained, “This is an issue that we have communicated with the Vienna government many times. But they are thinking more about the strategic value, which is related to the emergence of the ironclad.
The Vienna government believes that ship tonnage is about to rise dramatically, and the Austrian Royal Shipyard, which has just been established, is already building 10,000-ton cargo ships.
Some designers, it is said, have raised the tonnage design of ships to 20,000 tons. The Vienna government believes that the mainstream ships of the future will all exceed 20,000 tons, and technically speaking the problem is no longer significant.
The Vienna government believes that the tonnage of warships will also increase significantly, and if the investment is saved now and the future navigation is insufficient, the strategic value of this canal will not exist.”
Napoleon III was in deep thought, with the arrival of the ironclads, the keel that constrained the size of the ships was no longer a problem, and a substantial increase in ship tonnage was theoretically inevitable.
But the ship is not the bigger the better, but also take into account the market demand. Later generations of million tons of giant ships, in this era will be of no use at all, there are simply not so many goods to load inside.
But tons of giant ships, in this period has been competitive, at least Austria’s foreign exports of agricultural products, you need this big guy.
Minister of the Navy Dico spoke up, “Your Majesty, strategically, the more navigable the Suez Canal is, the better indeed.
If we have Austria on board, the funds for opening the Grand Canal will be split between our two families, and it will not be too much of a problem. Even if the private sector is unable to raise it, we can still have government equity.”
There was no doubt that the Parisian government was also plotting the Suez Canal because its strategic value outweighed its economic value, or else they wouldn’t have put in the money at all.
After a moment’s hesitation, Napoleon III said with bravado, “Add it, since the Austrians have dared to invest so much, there is no reason for us to be afraid!”
The strategic vision of the French in this era is really not bad, the Suez Canal and the Panama Canal were first engaged by them, and unfortunately they were not able to hold on to them.
……
On May 10, 1858, France and Austria signed the Suez Canal Cooperation. The treaty stipulated that each of the two countries would fund half of the excavation of the Grand Canal, with the French as the initiating country accounting for 51% of the shares and Austria for 49%.
This is nothing to say, in order to the Suez Canal France’s initial investment is not small, dominant is inevitable.
As the design was changed, the budget for the canal was raised to 340 million francs. This amazing figure, Franz is not bothered, not to mention 340 million francs, even 540 million francs is not necessarily enough.
Of course there was free labor to use, the construction cost still saved most of the cost, the final cost of how much Franz is not clear.
After all, it is now the two countries join hands, will not be forced to abandon the use of slave labor in the late because of the British sabotage, thus significantly increasing the construction costs.
Looking at the agreement in his hand, Franz smiled and said, “Urge the French to start construction as soon as possible.”
Since he joined the canal program, naturally, it is impossible for the French to dawdle like in history, and it took more than ten years before and after the Grand Canal was dug through.
“Yes, Your Majesty!” Metternich replied
Finance Minister Karl asked, “Your Majesty, for the Canal Company’s investment are we learning from the French and raising shares from the capital market?”
The Suez Canal was a sure-fire investment, but only a few people could see that.
In most people’s eyes, it was a long-term investment with unknown returns and was not so favored in the capital market.
Historically, the Suez Canal was halted due to lack of funds. If not for the support of the French government, the canal company would have gone bankrupt before the canal was dug.
Franz, who is accustomed to making a fortune in a muffled voice, naturally will not yell that the whole world knows, others are not willing to invest, he just picks up the advantage.
Considering the danger of eating alone, Franz decided to let the government in the front, or the future wealth rolled into the royal family’s pockets, it is easy to cause criticism.
“The economic crisis has not yet passed, and the market’s tolerance is limited. The government subscribes to half, and the rest of the shares are put into circulation in the market.”
There is no doubt that all the circulating shares only need the right to dividends, and the voting right is still in the hands of the government of Vienna and the government of Paris.
History has taken an inflection point, the Suez Canal, which was originally dominated by private capital, has now become a cooperative project between the two governments, filled with strong political implications.
London.
The joint French-Austrian excavation of the Suez Canal gave a huge blow to the British government’s railroad plans; after all, water transportation was cheaper.
Once the Suez Canal was navigable, the British geographical advantage fell, with France and Austria having a closer route into the Indian Ocean than the British Isles.
It wasn’t just a Grand Canal that Prime Minister Granville was worried about, it was also the improved relations between France and Austria that made it difficult for the London government.
Unlike in history, the Russians had not yet lost their continental hegemony, and both France and Austria were still only potential rivals, not at the point of directly competing for hegemony.
Without sufficient interest, the two governments would naturally restrain each other. Austria was now much stronger than in history, and having suffered a loss in the Near Eastern War, the French were also cautious.
“Gentlemen, the relationship between France and Austria has heated up, which has brought a huge impact on our continental balance strategy, what are your views?”
John Russell, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, said, “Mr. Prime Minister, you are too sensitive.
France and Austria are only cooperating on the issue of the Suez Canal, elsewhere they still have a lot of conflicts, and it is unlikely that the two countries will truly join forces.”
France and Austria did have conflicts, European hegemony aside, just on the issue of African colonies, the two sides had clashed many times.
Only this kind of small conflict, almost all between the colonial empires exist, has not risen to the point of hostility between the two countries.
Foreign Minister Thomas analyzed: “Under the Vienna system, the relationship between France and Austria has been very good in the past decades.
It was only after the February Revolution that relations between the two countries cooled down. The relationship between the two countries broke down during the War of German Unification, and now they are standing together again because of their common interests.
However, this does not affect our interests. As long as France and Austria have ambitions for continental supremacy, relations between the two countries will break down sooner or later.
Even the Russian-Austrian alliance, which is now close, will sooner or later part company on the question of continental hegemony, and I do not believe that the government of Vienna has no ambition.”
It is a matter of reality that allies are unreliable in the face of interests. Sooner or later, unless the strength of the countries remains in balance, they will move towards confrontation.
(End of chapter)