Chapter 761: Strategic Railroad Plan
Chapter 744 – Strategic Railroad Plan
Human beings are good at reflecting, especially after experiencing the “pain of the skin”. The growing wave of revolutions made the rulers realize the danger.
Austria, with its conservative cultural tradition, had not suffered much from the economic crisis, and its social tensions were relatively mild, so it was less affected by the revolutionary wave.
Several outbreaks of unrest in the country involved international forces, the popular will for revolution was not high, and the Vienna government’s sense of crisis was not yet too strong.
While Franz was still considering whether or not to convene an international conference, Napoleon IV had already issued a call to the European countries.
It could not be helped that the French people were too enthusiastic for revolution. It was a powder keg, and the slightest spark could start a revolution.
According to incomplete statistics, from the beginning of a gunshot in Lyon to the present, the outbreak of rebellion and riots in France has been as high as 116 cases, more than the sum of the rest of Europe.
Not to mention marches and strikes. In almost every French city, there have been strikes. Whenever the Lord gave face, there were demonstrations in the streets of Paris.
Having gained an insight into the situation in France, Franz understood the urgency of Napoleon IV’s call for an international conference.
The Holy Land of the Revolution was really not to be blown away. In recent times, the people of Paris seemed to have fallen in love with the revolution as a meaningful activity, rioting almost two to three times a week.
Luckily, the French ruling class is on the same side when it comes to suppressing revolts, or Versailles would have to change owners again.
Several financial consortia in Paris had already provided 1.5 billion francs to the French government to suppress the rebellion and stabilize the situation in the country. With money to buy off the army, Napoleon IV was able to stabilize the situation.
From the current situation, the three big rogues are still stabbing each other, and the first to collapse will definitely be France.
Victory was at hand, but Franz had to pull back. It was true that Austria was suppressing France as a rival, but this did not include pushing for a French revolution.
Revolutions are filled with too much uncertainty, and if the French revolution succeeds at this time, who knows if it will spread to all of Europe next?
Without any surprise, European countries, including Austria, responded to Napoleon IV’s call.
After preliminary consultations, it was decided that on April 15, 1882, a meeting of the International League of Reaction would be held in Paris.
……
Palace of Vienna, Economic Conference
Railway Minister Soltren: “In view of the current economic situation in the country, the Ministry of Railways has decided to bring forward the plan for a strategic railroad network.
The main lines are: the Railway around the Arabian Peninsula, the Middle East Railway, the North-South Railway in Central America, the South Ocean Railway, and the Railway around Austro-Africa.
Considering the special circumstances, the Arabian Peninsula Railway and the Middle East Railway, will be constructed in sections, part of the geographic conditions of the region is temporarily shelved, such as the maturity of the technology before construction.
Our colonies in the South Seas region are all islands, the construction of railroads will inevitably be carried out according to the topography of the islands, and at present the key areas are the autonomous province of Lanfang and the island of New Guinea.
Especially Lanfang Autonomous Province, which has become the economic center of the South Seas region, actually does not have a decent railroad, which is a joke.
Circum Austro-African Railway, because of geographical constraints, with our current technology, it is not yet possible to ensure a full penetration.
The Ministry of Railways is negotiating with the French to see if it can be paralleled with their railroad in the Egyptian region.
Replace the original one with ‘Libya – Egypt – Sudan – Uganda’, replacing the ‘Libya – Chad – Central Africa’ railroad line.
If the plan works out, our next step is to build a bridge over the Suez Canal to connect Africa to Asia and Europe.
The situation within France is very bad right now, and as long as the Ministry of Foreign Affairs can cooperate in applying pressure, the chances of success are very high.”
The Ministry of Railways’ plan for a strategic railroad network basically covered all of Austria’s overseas colonies except for Alaska and the Patagonian Plateau.
Theoretically, after the completion of these railroad trunk lines, the Vienna government’s control over the overseas colonies will be on another level.
Foreign Minister Weissenberg: “Sir Södertren, your plans are all very good, except for the last part of the Ring of Africa Railroad, which is a bit unreliable.
France is not a small country, even if they are in a bad situation now, we were able to exert diplomatic pressure to force the Paris government to make concessions, the future will be a mess.”
Soltren wondered, “Why? The railroad runs through Africa and Asia and Europe, it can effectively promote Egypt’s economic development, and the French are beneficiaries.”
Weissenberg patiently explained, “This is not just a matter of economic interests, but also involves strategic security.
If we follow the plan of the Ministry of Railways, Egypt becomes a transportation hub between the Middle East and Austrian Africa, and at the same time is caught in our encirclement network.
Once Franco-Austrian relations deteriorate or a war breaks out, our troops will be able to kill Egypt through the railroad.
Under a multi-line siege, there is absolutely no possibility for the French to hold Egypt. If you lose Egypt, you lose the Suez Canal.
Losing control of the Suez Canal, the French lose more than half of their overseas trade and can basically declare defeat.
Even if the French government chooses to compromise now due to the crisis of the situation, the French will still sabotage it out of national strategic security.”
In a sense, Egypt is the lifeline of France, the original time and space of the French to follow the British, why is it not because of being stuck in the neck?
It’s pretty much the same now, if a certain Franco-Austrian flips, the French will have to hold Egypt.
Otherwise lost the Suez Canal, the Cape of Good Hope and can not go, their sea lifeline will be pinched in half.
Prime Minister Felix added: “It is not only the Trans-African Railway that is in trouble, but the South Sea Railway as well.
The Lanfang Autonomous Province is a special existence, the central government has never been in charge of them, and naturally there is not much binding force.
If they didn’t pay taxes every year, I would have forgotten that there was such an autonomous province.
Just in the past 1881, the Lanfang Autonomous Province government paid 3,764,000 Shendian in taxes to the central government, and all we need to do is to provide them with security.
It’s a stable source of money. When formulating policies involving the autonomous province of Lanfang, in principle the government opposes any policy that might intensify conflicts.
If you want to build a railroad in Llanfang Autonomous Province, the Ministry of Railways must obtain the consent of the Autonomous Provincial Government. This is difficult, they are very conservative on the issue of building railroads.”
There is no way around it, the Autonomous Province of Lanfang is acting too peacefully and has almost no presence in politics.
The people who deal with them most are the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Revenue, which deals with international conflicts, and the Ministry of Revenue, which collects taxes, and then there’s nothing more.
There is no one who doesn’t like the idea of a stable source of revenue that can be lucrative without much cost.
The Government of Vienna did not want to break the current harmony, and as long as taxes were paid on time and no trouble was caused, nothing else mattered.
Soltren nodded thoughtfully, as a technocrat he just didn’t know much about these issues, it didn’t equate to him being a political hack.
If the plan couldn’t be implemented, then it was fine to revise it. Any big government plan was only introduced after many revisions and weighing the interests of all parties.
(End of chapter)