Chapter 874: Counterproductive
Chapter 857 Counterproductive
The flurry of the international situation did not affect Austria’s Near East development program. Iron still needs to be hard, or else you can’t grasp the opportunity when it’s delivered to your door.
Near East development program from 1884 to start the plan, to now has passed four years.
Four years for a country, can only be considered a small episode; for a place, but can be a sea change.
The Near East today has been transformed into a large construction site compared to the depression that existed just four years ago when the war was over.
A railroad is advancing like a dragon; a town is rising; the old city is still being demolished, and the new city has already begun to be built.
Within a short period of four years, Austria had emigrated more than three million people to the Near East and controlled most of the area.
“The Near East development program is still progressing too slowly; at the present rate, it may not even be completed in another ten years.
The international situation is becoming increasingly tense, and the possibility of war breaking out in Europe is becoming more and more likely, we don’t have enough time to wait, the government must find a way to speed up the development of the Near East.”
To the outside world, the Near East was advancing at an alarming rate, but in Franz’s eyes, it was still a little too slow.
Four years on, the Near East was still a big construction site, with slightly larger projects underway, except for the establishment of a number of towns.
The original plan was to complete the development and reconstruction of the Near East within ten years, but the reality told Franz that it simply could not be done.
Prime Minister Karl was alarmed and said, ”Your Majesty, our Near East development is already progressing very fast. If we blindly speed it up again, a series of problems will arise behind us.”
It wasn’t that the progress couldn’t be accelerated, but it was already difficult to do so while ensuring the quality of the project.
After all, there were few engineering machinery and equipment these days, and it was all up to manpower to shoulder and carry the work. Restrictions on the rapid completion of the Near East development program, not the Austrian government does not try, but the social productivity can not keep up.
Franz is not learning engineering machinery, in this problem can not help. Even if you can draw the latter equipment, it is only the exterior, the interior of what is completely unknown.
Relying on the shape of the imitation engineering equipment is simply unrealistic, many mechanical equipment involved in the internal knowledge of basic science is very much, did not follow up on the front simply can not be built.
Franz shook his head: ”The international situation is changing, time waits for no one. The Near East development program cannot be fully completed in a short period of time, so the project will be graded, and priority will be given to securing important projects.
For example: projects such as roads, bridges, and stations should be at the top of the list; it doesn’t matter if the new city construction projects come a little later.”
Franz admitted that he was in a hurry, but his intuition told him that the day when the situation in Europe would get out of hand was not far off.
Without spreading the railroad network before the outbreak of war and laying the foundation for the mainland to connect to Africa, he really did not have a clue in his heart.
Prime Minister Karl reminded, “Your Majesty, after we issued a warning, the French have already made concessions, and now the three countries of France, Belgium and Germany have come to the negotiating table.
From the current European situation, the French are not ready for war, and the possibility of war breaking out on the European continent is still very small.
The Near East development program we have formulated is a whole, and the various projects are complementary to each other.
Slowing down the construction of cities along the way and speeding up the construction of railroads in one go will put the railroad operation into a serious loss for a long period of time in the future, making it very uneconomical economically.”
The European war will not be fought for a while, this is not the personal opinion of Chancellor Karl, most people in the Austrian government see it this way, and it can even be said that 99% of Europeans hold this view.
There was only a little friction between France and Germany, and what the French did was at best political blackmail under military threat.
The greatest risk of war also comes from the two major alliances against each other, however, now between the two major alliances is only the deterioration of relations between Britain and Russia, France and Austria can only be regarded as the normal stabbing between the powers.
Franz shook his head: “Losses are losses, anyway, we never expect the Near East railroad to make money, early completion is no more than a little loss.
In order to obtain the strategic initiative, this little price, we are still able to bear.”
The economic account is no more important than national strategic security. The railroad through the Near East meant that Austria formed a strategic advantage over France.
Of course, this is based on the background of the continental war continues, if the beginning of the division of victory, this plan is not important.
Sometimes Franz wondered whether he should follow Prussia’s example and make a first move to catch the French off guard.
Only after considering the British and Russians, Franz decisively gave up this tempting plan. Successful gains are limited, lost that will have to lose their pants.
Do not take the initiative to provoke a war, does not mean that Franz did not do anything. The French dared to put forward hegemonic terms to the two countries than Germany, in fact, is also Austria indulged out.
It seems that the French took advantage of the situation, not realizing that they also pushed themselves to the opposite side of the European countries.
On the surface, everyone showed weakness and did not do anything, but subconsciously the “French threat theory”, has surfaced in the minds of many people.
Don’t expect everyone to be rational, with this “subconscious”, really if the Franco-Austrian war breaks out, everyone will be inclined to Austria.
……
On November 24, 1888, after a series of bargaining, France and Germany signed the Coal Export Agreement in Paris.
Without any surprise, the French government won a big victory, according to the treaty: the two countries of Belgium and Germany will export 50 million tons of coal to France at par for the next five years, of which no less than eight million tons of high-quality coking coal.
The word “parity” speaks of the heartache of the two countries, and although it is not clearly explained in the treaty, everyone knows that it is a very low price.
Specifically, less than a month after the signing of the treaty, the overall retail price of coal in France fell by nearly one-fifth.
The iron and steel industry benefited the most from the drop in coal prices, and in the last month of 1888, French iron and steel production increased by 18% over the same period last year.
This was just the beginning of a second spring for French industry, influenced by the fall in energy prices.
The capitalists who got the benefits did not forget to sing the government’s praises. Overnight Napoleon IV became the greatest monarch of France.
Good words are loved by all, and Napoleon IV enjoyed looking at the flowery praise in the newspapers.
Soon Napoleon IV could not be happy anymore, after the sweet taste, the capitalists were not satisfied, but wanted to go further.
“Affordable coal”, no matter how cheap, but also than their own hands to get a greater benefit, not to mention the affordable coal is not very good to buy.
The French government’s pressure is only to force than Germany and the two countries on the export of coal to France tax cuts, coal mining enterprises are still to make a profit.
Even if the government signed the treaty, the capitalists can still not buy, many companies after the treaty, but increased the ex-factory price sold to the French.
There were even some national capitalists who simply refused to sell coal to the French as a protest against the unequal treaty.
The governments of Belgium and Germany are also temperate, they have already touched the bottom line by cutting taxes, and it is simply impossible for them to force companies to lower their prices for exports.
After the signing of the treaty, the amount of coal imported by France from the two countries did not rise, but fell, “affordable coal” does exist, just can not be bought.
From the domestic coal prices fell can also be seen, France imported coal prices are only the same as the international market, want to take goods below the market price than the German coal mining enterprises in the two countries do not cooperate.
The government did cut taxes, but people are not willing to lower prices. We are all capitalists, who do not want to earn more ah?
The main conflict now is not between countries, but between capitals.
According to the conventional means, the French capital can’t help the coal bosses of Belgium and Germany, so it can only turn to the government for help.
……
Versailles Palace, Napoleon IV frowned and asked: “What do you think of the proposal of the steel guild, how is it?”
Foreign Minister Karel Kadlec: “Your Majesty, we have just signed a treaty with the two countries of Belgium and Germany, and it would be unaccountable to the international community to breach the treaty so soon.
Judging from the current situation, there is also no possibility of the governments of Bidde and Germany continuing to make concessions, so I’m afraid it would be counterproductive if we force them to make a deal.”
As a matter of fact, from the very beginning Karel Kadlec was opposed to forcing the two countries too much, and advocated using the unified procurement contract to suppress the price.
However, the domestic capitalists did not cooperate, everyone is accustomed to freedom, how can we give the procurement power to the government?
Facts have proved that forcing really can not solve the problem, the three governments did reach an agreement, but the domestic enterprises still boycott.
Although the situation of sky-high coal prices no longer exist, but want to lower than the average international price of cheap coal procurement, still impossible to realize.
Than Germany and the two countries many enterprises refused to export coal to France, not capitalists have how patriotic, mainly by the domestic patriotism to force.
Nationalism has risen, and now to do business with the French, you have to bear the hat of a traitor.
Not only coal mining enterprises, than Germany and many enterprises in the two countries are not in cooperation with the French, the whole society has set off a boycott of French goods.
This is the reason why the French capitalists, anxious to seek the help of the government.
If we do not suppress the wave of anti-French in the two countries, France in the international market is not much, another part of the loss.
Economy Minister Ailsa: “It’s true that government intervention may bring uncertain risks, but the situation is now out of control.
If the government doesn’t intervene, not only will we not be able to get cheap coal, we will also lose our market in Belgium and Germany.
There is every indication that there is British capital behind this. Several of the companies leading the boycott of coal exports to us have Anglo-Australian capital holdings behind them.”
……
(End of chapter)