Holy Roman Empire - Chapter 387

Chapter 387: Chapter 74: A Flight of Fancy Plan
Having laid down the “Africa Strategy,” Franz could only sigh at the grand ambition to claim the majority of the African continent in one go.

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Indeed, it was more about claiming than occupying. Currently, Austria had not completed even a third of the aforementioned plan, and the actual controlled area might be less than one fifth.

Even with Franz’s efforts to encourage immigration, the population in Austro-Africa still fell short of five million.

With such a scant population controlling a territory of seven to eight million square kilometers, one can only imagine how sparsely populated the land was.

Of course, this does not take into account the local natives; otherwise, the population would have long surpassed ten million.

If the subsequent strategy were to be completed, tens of millions of inhabitants would be needed. However, the entire New Holy Roman Empire barely just passed the sixty million mark.

The world is now almost entirely divided up, and the last unclaimed lands will undoubtedly witness a fierce battle for dominance.

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Currently, France and Austria are at the forefront of colonizing Africa, followed closely by the British, Portuguese, and the Dutch who also own small colonies.

This macro strategy of the Colonial Department might be better described as an “idealistic strategy.”

As long as the other nations are not foolish, they won’t allow this plan to become reality.

Having glanced over the map cursorily, the territories ambitiously outlined began with Guinea and Mali in the west, extended north to Libya, bordered the Boer Republic to the south, and reached as far as Somalia to the east.

Though this era lacked satellite positioning, Franz estimated roughly that the combined area of these regions was heading towards twenty million square kilometers.

After some thought, Franz picked up a pen and began to mark a cross over it, prepared to send it back for the Colonial Department to redo.

Such an impractical strategy was unfeasible. It could only become possible if a world war were provoked, and Austria emerged as the big winner.

However, Franz was no warmonger, and Austria was not the German Empire of history that had to challenge the world.

Whilst many believed that the German Empire sought war due to economic development needs for resources and markets, Franz deemed the primary cause to be resources, since market issues could be resolved.

The world economy operates in a major cycle, and national economies in smaller loops. Theoretically, as long as this cycle spins unimpeded, economic growth can continue.

At the heart of this economic cycle are population and resources. The world population stands at around 1.1 billion.

Of this number: the European Region accounts for approximately 275 million, primarily the collective total of Russia, Austria, France, and the United Kingdom surpassing 200 million.

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The Asian region boasts about 820 million; the two Eastern populous giants together amass 700 million, with the remaining areas similarly sparsely populated.

The African Continent has around 60 million, and colonial activities have led to a population increase locally, as recent years have seen a high emigration rate, causing many areas to experience negative growth.

The American region approximates sixty million; truly thinly populated, with North and South America combined having so few people, and the two Americas accounting for half of that.

The current volume of international trade is actually not great, with countries’ economies relying primarily on domestic markets. Taking Austria as an example, international trade accounts for less than 5% of the economic output.

If colonial trade turnover were included in the domestic economy, then international trade would be even more insignificant in Austria’s economic volume.

This is determined by productivity; overall social wealth is finite, and the goods available for export too limited to increase trade turnover significantly.

On the international market, the largest exported commodities are textiles, followed by grain. Industrial products and machinery hardly have a significant market.

The collective total value of all export commodities on the international market doesn’t even reach one billion British Pounds, perhaps even less than seven hundred million.

With a market of this size, the main economic drivers for nations are their domestic markets. Any one of England, France, or Austria, their domestic economic volumes are such that a billion is not a sufficient measure; at least two or three times that.

In an era where domestic economy is dominant, internal circulation is of utmost importance. With sufficient resources, in theory, the economy can develop normally.

One can look to the United States for an example. Many believe Latin America is the Americans’ backyard, a dumpsite for U.S. industrial products.

The reality is that the Latin America region totals a little over two million people, sixty to seventy percent of whom are Indian tribes with negligible purchasing power.

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The nations of South America don’t care for American influence, preferring to import European goods rather than American “junk” products.

However, since the late 19th century, the U.S. economy has still surged forward, growing ninefold within forty years.

This is the power of resources. Just like Germany, lacking a sufficient export market for goods, German people were driven to the battlefield by capital, while the United States capital was able to stabilize, relying on its own abundant resources.

In Franz’s view, “resources” are the core of colonization. It is under this concept that the movement for the localization of colonies originated.

After much hesitation, Franz didn’t outright reject this “fantastic plan.” He was very averse to pie in the sky, yet he had to admit that painting a grand vision was extremely effective.

Otherwise, history wouldn’t have seen so many fantastic plans, such as the British’s 2C plan, a direct route from Cairo to South Africa running from south to north.

Including: Egypt, Sudan, Uganda, Kenya, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Botswana, South Africa, Tanzania.

Even though this plan was vast, John Bull eventually realized it. However, it didn’t last long before the Colonial Empire collapsed.

The Germans, coming later on the scene, also devised the “Teutonic Africa Plan,” which wasn’t too ambitious, encompassing only: Namibia, Angola, Congo, Tanzania.

Whether a strategy can succeed depends on strength, not the size of ambition, so this strategy was nipped in the bud.

The French’s “2S plan” was somewhat perverse. After occupying North Africa, they prepared to strike from Senegal to Somalia.

This plan was not much different from Austria’s strategic plan, “Guinea to Somalia” was not much different from “Senegal to Somalia.”

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As for Austria bordering the Boer Republic to the south, they had barely managed it, with the emergence of a colonization foothold of a thousand people in the Zimbabwe area.

Going as far north as Libya wasn’t difficult, after all, that was the inland area of Africa where competitors couldn’t yet reach.

Only eastward to Somalia was still a far-off dream, with Sudan and Ethiopia in between. Of course, bypassing via Uganda and Kenya was also an option.

In practice, however, it was anything but simple. Because Austria’s colonial strategy included all these areas together.

In any case, it was an idea worth praising in spirit. Since this plan was submitted, it meant that the Colonial Department believed success was possible.

Of course, “success” didn’t mean all targets were achieved, just strategically accomplishing the plan. Missing a few colonies in the process was inevitable.

Considering it was a crucial moment for the localization of colonies, Franz tacitly approved of the plan’s existence. Of course, when it came to implementation, it definitely couldn’t be so rigidly followed.

For example: regions connected by rivers were prioritized, while desert areas were deferred, places with strong native forces were put aside for now, and regions that might trigger conflicts required restraint from expansion…

In this era, the African continent had no national borders, mostly just bands of native tribes talking about the concept of a nation was far-fetched.

This colonial strategy naturally wouldn’t follow the future borders. In fact, Franz couldn’t even find future borders on the map.

After some modifications, Franz successfully scaled down the strategic plan.

For instance: He didn’t dispute with the French over the North African deserts, as they also couldn’t be controlled in this era.

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Specifically, it meant giving up on most of Mali and basically all of the Niger region. If it weren’t for the need to connect to Libya, Franz was ready to give up on Chad as well, now reluctantly kept.

The eastern parts, Ethiopia, and Somalia, were also pushed to the bottom of Franz’s list; he wouldn’t consider these areas until others were occupied.

Namibia and Tanzania were ranked second to last, essentially deemed as areas to be abandoned. The rest depended on the capabilities of his subordinates — whatever they could take was considered a win.

This way, the plan shrank by about one-third, greatly increasing its feasibility.

Occupying most of the African continent would attract too much resentment, but Franz believed it was possible to successfully control one-third or about forty percent of it.

This was decided by a combination of strength and the advantage of acting first. Once the localization strategy succeeded, it would usher in another peak of immigration. As long as there was enough population, Franz feared no challenge on the African continent.

Just like the current West Africa region and Congo region, with their populations over a million, who has the power to snatch these places away?

Wars also have costs, and without sufficient interest, it’s not enough to motivate a Colonial Empire to wage war.

On the African continent, aside from the gold mines in South Africa, no other area was sufficient to provoke a major conflict between the great powers.

In actuality, South Africa’s gold mines weren’t worth a bloody fight between two major powers. Though the reserves were high, before they could be mined, it wasn’t much to speak of.

Don’t look at the hundreds of tons of output each year; gold mining also has costs. To recoup war expenses through gold, Franz didn’t believe it could be achieved in his lifetime.

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