Chapter 825 Shared Colonies

Chapter 825 Shared Colonies

Vienna, Schönbrunn Palace.

When Franz was still planning how to develop the gold mines in the Transvaal without being discovered by other countries.

The elder Pretorius's gaffe at the German Confederation Congress forced the former to reconsider his plans.

Austria's monopolization of the Transvaal was not good news at this time. The common man was not guilty, but he was guilty of carrying the treasure. This was how the Boers became the dead souls of the British.

Pretorius the Elder did not want the kingdom, and whether Franz sympathized with the Boers or not, it was impossible to support such a person from the latter's position.

Since they don't want to be a country, they can only be a colony. The remaining problem is how to rule this distant land.

The Boers are not a bloodless race. From the Battle of Blood River and the later Anglo-Boer War, it can be seen that this nation is very tough and not afraid of strong enemies.

Franz even began to regret getting involved in South Africa too early, regretting helping this group of guys who called themselves "Germans" and didn't want to be controlled by the German Confederation.

In fact, it is not right to say this. After all, the reason why this matter is causing trouble is entirely due to the fanaticism of nationalism. Rather than helping them, it is better to say that it is forced by the democrats.

Compared with the subsequent year of 1848, this time was just the drizzle before the storm.

The issue of how to control the Transvaal is not urgent, but it is not simple. Taking strong measures like the British will definitely not work.

It's not that the war is unwinnable, but the price is too high. The Austrian mainland is too far away from the Transvaal, and if you are not careful, you may repeat the mistakes of the British in history.

The Anglo-Boer War was the most costly period in the long colonial history of the British. Even the famous Churchill became a prisoner of war of the Boers.

In the end, the number of the British Expeditionary Force even exceeded the total local population. After paying an extremely heavy price, the protracted war was barely won by relying on the scorched earth policy.

Although Austria has two colonies in southern Africa, Tanzania and Namibia, it currently does not have the ability to connect them to the Transvaal.

The Transvaal and the Austrian East African colonies were separated by Portuguese Mozambique, and there were no developed routes inland.

As for the colony of Namibia, it seems that it is very close to the Transvaal, but it is blocked by high mountains and is almost impassable, and it still has to face the harsh natural environment of the African interior and the savage and warlike indigenous people.

But there is no need to worry too much, because this time it is just the personal behavior of old Pretorius and does not represent all Boers.

It was not difficult for Franz to divide and disintegrate them, but it was too early to take action against the far away Transvaal at this time.

And the most important point is that at this time, the Transvaal and Orange were poor and useless places.

Otherwise, the British would not have given up such a large colony half-sold, half-gifted. In fact, it is wrong to say so, because the British have not yet taken possession of this land.

There is really no reason why the British should not do this kind of generosity to others.

As for the five million, or the one million to be delivered this year, it is actually a reminder for the British.

Because although it is expected that banknotes have the same purchasing power as metal currency within the German Confederation, the British can only buy things within the German Confederation.

With 20% cash and 80% goods, Britain's economic crisis will become even more serious.

In fact, this is also digesting the gold in Franz's hands. Sometimes having more money is not necessarily a good thing.

Franz had to consider the relationship between economic development and money supply. There should not be too much money in the market, nor too little money, in case Austria ended up following the footsteps of the Spanish Empire.

But this game will soon become unplayable because new giant gold mines will be discovered. Although Franz also made arrangements, it was impossible to monopolize it, and it was even more impossible to prevent the news from being leaked.

Therefore, Franz must put his gold into the market as soon as possible and reasonably, so as to reduce the impact he suffers.

For the Transvaal, Franz was only prepared to send some missionaries and teachers. Compared to military conquest and economic control, Franz found it easier to start with culture and ideology.

First, we must cultivate a group of "real Germans". At the same time, we must let the locals know what the German Confederation has done. We must not make people think that this is the personal credit of the old Pretorius.

If necessary, Franz would not mind having one more floating corpse in the Atlantic Ocean.

It is completely unnecessary to send officials at this time, and it is a bad idea, not to mention whether the local people will accept the management.

In such a desolate, remote and poor place, these officials who had seen the world either bullied the locals to death or were bullied to death by the locals.

Compared to them, the Boers who have lived there for hundreds of years must be more familiar with the local conditions. They don't do much except create conflicts and chaos.

As for missionaries and teachers, these people have more communication with the grassroots, know how to use things other than power to subjugate others, and can more easily integrate into the local circle.

Finally, regarding the nature of the land, Franz felt that the Transvaal (actually including Orange) could be regarded as a German Confederate colony.

Metternich felt a headache for Franz's proposal. Because judging from the situation, other countries are not prepared to pay. Five million pounds to be paid in five years is not a small amount of money.

"Archduke Franz, I hope you can understand one thing. That is, other princes are not prepared to pay this money. Is it feasible for our country to develop it exclusively?"

The old prime minister was also helpless. After all, there were not many countries with colonies in the entire German Confederation.

Austria is the only country with the ability to develop overseas. Even if it is shared by other countries, it will not be able to allocate much money.

If a country is established, then the account of the German Confederation can be charged to that country. Although we don’t know when it will be recovered, everyone finally has something to look forward to.

However, a non-monarchy was not acceptable within the German Confederation, and just looking at old Pretorius, one could tell that the Boers were definitely very poor.

In addition, according to intelligence, the total population of the Transvaal is only more than 20,000, and it is impossible for them to afford to pay back the money.

Seeing that the money will be wasted, who would be willing to pay for it?

"No, we don't yet have the ability to develop such deep inland areas, and the so-called Boers are not yet a nation. At best, they are named after geographical units, like Viennese and Venetian.

As for the money, they don’t have to pay it, but all countries must shoulder the task of protection and civilization. After the development is completed, the interests of the Austrian Empire will account for 80%, and it will have veto power on all matters. "

Metternich didn't quite understand Franz's approach. Most of the German princely states in Germany didn't even have a navy, so what defense tasks could they undertake?