Chapter 585: Industrial Nationalization and Industrial Regionalization
Richard Metternich and Prince Metternich, you and me, sorted out all the advantages of the Austrian Empire.
"The Kingdom of Bohemia has a large amount of iron ore and coal, which can serve as the industrial heart of the Austrian Empire!"
"The Hungarian and Galician regions have rich agricultural resources. If they are sorted out, they will definitely become the most important granary of the empire."
"The Kingdom of Lombardy and Venice is the most important textile industry base of the empire, and it can also provide a large amount of finance to the empire."
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As a result, under the organization of Prince Metternich and Richard Metternich, the entire Austrian Empire was divided into several regions.
Among them, the Kingdom of Lombardy-Venetia is the main one, and Slovenia and Croatia (due to Josip Jelacic’s decisive actions during the 1848 Revolution, Croatia’s independence was far greater than that of Croatia during the Austro-Hungarian Compromise) are auxiliary light industries.
Tourism region.
It is a heavy industrial zone with Bohemia as the main one and Vienna, Buda and Pest (these three big cities were established to prevent one heavy industry from becoming dominant in Bohemia).
There are also agricultural concentration areas and food processing industry areas, led by the Hungarian Plain and Galicia.
There are also the Danube Principalities newly occupied by the Austrian Empire (Meternich and his sons have regarded this as the inherent territory of the Austrian Empire) and Transylvania, because they are not as somewhat different as Bohemia, Hungary, Lombardy and Venice.
Areas with distinctive characteristics do not have the same political significance as Vienna, Buda, and Pest, so Metternich and his sons plan to build Transylvania and the Danube Principality into a Black Sea Rim Commercial Free Trade Zone, among which Bucharest is also included in the list.
Prince Metternich plans to build it into an "advanced industrial demonstration zone".
(Mainly the most important strategic materials in Romania are in the Carpathian Mountains of Transylvania. The cost of transporting coal resources back from the Carpathian Mountains is far greater than the cost of extraction in Bohemia. Oil has not yet been fully developed.
Before industrialization, the role of the Danube Principality was only to satisfy the monarch in expanding territory and serving as a buffer zone.
It's just that Prince Metternich forgot one thing. The labor cost in the Carpathian Mountains is far lower than that in Bohemia and Hungary. The fact that French capital is not willing to set foot in a place does not mean that the local capital of the Austrian Empire is not willing to set foot in it.
Sweatshops more severe than those in Bohemia will be established in the Carpathians.)
Metternich's approach of dividing heavy industry, light industry, tourism and agriculture into different regions is actually a disguised way of using economic means to bind nationalists in various places.
Except for the Kingdom of Lombardy and Venice, no place could survive independently from the Vienna government of the Austrian Empire. At the same time, it also accelerated the industrialization trend of various nations in disguise.
Take the Kingdom of Bohemia as an example. If the future Kingdom of Bohemia breaks away from the Austrian Empire, then Bohemia will lose the huge market of the entire Austrian Empire and will also face competition from the German region.
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After World War I, Czechoslovakia faced the dilemma of lack of market after the disintegration of Austria-Hungary, which resulted in Czechoslovakia having to cut wages for domestic workers to resist the invasion of foreign capital.
Once the industrialization of each nation is formed, the connection between the upstream industrial chain and the downstream industrial chain will need to rely on the regulation of the imperial government, and the Kingdom of Hungary will no longer be able to influence areas where it does not occupy the majority.
In this case, the resistance of various ethnic groups will be even smaller, and the imperial government is fully capable of using economic means to isolate a small group of resistance forces.
After Metternich told Richard Metternich about the responsibilities of each region's future industrialization and the means to prevent future rebellions of various ethnic groups.
Richard Metternich also recalled what Jerome Bonaparte said to him at the train station.
Who is our enemy and who is our friend? This is the first priority in maintaining an imperial regime.
Who were the enemies of the Austrian Empire? The Hungarians? Richard Metternich began to use dialectical analysis to analyze the problems faced by the empire.
No! No! The Hungarian peasants are not the enemy of the empire! The real enemies of the empire are the powerful aristocrats who are entrenched in the Hungarian land. They are the empire’s most serious problem!
Richard Metternich, who had figured out the enemies within the empire, said to Prince Metternich: "Father, I think the empire should distribute all the land that was confiscated from the Hungarian nobles to the Hungarians, and at the same time end the use of military means to rule Hungary.
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Prince Metternich looked at his son in front of him in surprise. He didn't know whether these words were his son's own insights, or whether they were thoughts conveyed to them by Jerome Bonaparte through his son's mouth.
"Tell me! What do you think?" Prince Metternich did not refute his son, but patiently asked Richard Metternich.
"Father, I thought of it through the industrial division you just made!" Richard Metternich responded to Prince Metternich, and then added: "Of course, there is also His Majesty Jerome Bonaparte.
Those words you said to me at the train station!"
"What words?" Prince Metternich asked curiously.
Richard Metternich repeated the words of Jerome Bonaparte to Prince Metternich.
Prince Metternich showed a solemn look on his face. After a while, he relaxed his eyebrows again and praised: "As expected of a descendant of the Bonaparte family, his achievements are likely to surpass that of his uncle!"
"It's impossible!" Richard Metternich couldn't believe his old father's evaluation: "His Majesty Napoleon almost defeated the entire Europe!"
"His Majesty Napoleon did almost defeat the whole of Europe, but he also almost destroyed the whole of Europe!" Prince Metternich shook his head and said: "If a monarch only knows how to destroy and cannot build, sooner or later he and his empire will be destroyed.
Facing destruction, it is easy to destroy something, but it is difficult to rebuild it.
Although this Napoleon is far inferior to his uncle in the military field, his achievements in the diplomatic field and domestic affairs will greatly surpass his uncle."
At this time, Prince Metternich had basically no longer considered that the French Empire would one day pose a threat to the Austrian Empire. He believed that anyone who could say this would carefully consider every step he took.
The Habsburgs no longer have to face a capricious monarch like Napoleon. As long as the Austrian Empire has no ability to threaten the French Empire, the Habsburgs will always be the most loyal ally of the French Empire.
If the Austrian Empire poses a threat to the French Empire...what a joke, unless the Austrian Empire can defeat the Kingdom of Prussia in the north and the Russian Empire in the east.
Prince Metternich, who made a brief comment, once again directed the topic to Hungary: "You are right! The Kingdom of Hungary cannot use rough military rule. This will only aggravate the resentment of the Hungarian people towards the Habsburgs.
,but……"
Prince Metternich paused, spread his hands and responded to Richard Metternich: "But do you think a monarch with your Majesty's character is willing to listen to you and end the military rule of Hungary?"
Richard Metternich shook his head subconsciously. He knew his monarch too well. Whether he was pedantic or stubborn, he was a difficult monarch to get along with.
Although his weak willpower will be guided by external things (Jerome Bonaparte showed a little dissatisfaction with the Austrian Empire, and Franz Joseph came with his fiancée), he often expressed dissatisfaction with the ministers he appointed.
Maintain a ruthless style.
Such an emperor would never allow him to damage the current political environment without any setbacks.
Not to mention, Richard Metternich's talk of confiscating the land of the great nobility and distributing it to the peasants and ending the rule of Hungary invisibly offended some Hungarian aristocrats and Bohemian civil servants headed by Bach.
Their interests in Hungary were contrary to the policy proposed by Richard Metternich.
"Father, what do you think we should do?" Richard Metternich felt a little unwilling. He had clearly seen the problems faced by Hungary, but was unable to reform them.
"Richard, try to become prime minister!" Prince Metternich responded to Richard Metternich: "Only when you become the prime minister of the empire with more power than me can you change the entire empire with your own hands! In the past
It’s ours, and the future is yours!”
"But, I..." Richard Metternich hesitated for a few seconds and then said to Prince Metternich: "Can I really do it?"
"Of course!" Prince Metternich nodded and reassured Richard Metternich in a firm tone: "You are my son!"
Hearing Prince Metternich's affirmation of himself, Richard Metternich nodded firmly.
"Okay! Hungary's problem is not something that we and I can solve now!" Prince Metternich said to Richard Metternich: "Now let us, father and son, sort out the industrialization measures of the empire!"
Richard Metternich and Prince Metternich began to organize the industrialization of the empire in the form of official documents.
The contents include: 1. Completely liberate some serfs in Galicia and Hungary (serfdom has been abolished in most areas of the empire) and enable them to participate in social production.
2. Establish a credit mortgage bank modeled on France to stimulate investment by private entrepreneurs within the empire.
3. Introduce blast furnaces, steam engines, and textile machine technologies from Britain and France to improve the production efficiency of factories and textile mills.
4. The government has established the Ministry of Public Works and the Ministry of Railways (under the Railway Bureau) to raise funds through public-private partnerships to attract foreign capital to build railways and highways.
5. Vigorously develop tourism and food industries to make them have high added value. (That is, Chanel, Hermès, etc.)