Chapter 1181: Finding a Different Way
There are many reasons for the failure of the Austrian Empire in history, including unstable domestic political situation, suppression by foreign hostile forces, destruction of war, economic decline, weakness of the top leaders, and incompetence of the executors.
All these reasons combined led to the compromise between Austria and Hungary. This situation allowed the Austrian Empire to survive for decades, but it could only survive.
If Prince Schwarzenberg's policies could be continued, if Alexander Bach could get the support of the top leaders of the empire, if Franz in history could have enough determination, if the executors were not bad and stupid and could reasonably implement the empire's policies.
If the Austrian Empire had not failed in the Battle of Magenta and the Battle of Solferino, if it had not been tricked by Prussia in the Prussian-Danish War, and if there had not been a disastrous defeat in the Battle of Königgrätz.
But there are not so many ifs, and there is no need for so many ifs.
Franz does not like to gamble, whether he has an advantage or his life is hanging by a thread.
Due to some traditions and culture, Austrians and even Europeans are superstitious about decentralization and economic sanctions.
Franz did not intend to split the Crown of St. Stephen into four parts: Hungary, Slovakia, Croatia, and Transylvania.
Or rather, Franz did not intend to split it into only four parts. Franz would split Hungary (today's land) into three parts, namely Western Hungary, Central Hungary, and Eastern Hungary.
Franz also did not intend to appoint countless governors to check each other. He planned to combine Western Hungary, Central Hungary, the southwestern plains of Slovakia, and the countless royal estates scattered among them into a new royal territory.
That's right, instead of letting the Hungarians split and unite, like weeds that can't be burned out by wildfires and will grow again in the spring breeze. It is better to directly compress their size.
According to Franz's plan, Hungary will lose 91% of the territory of the Crown of St. Stephen. At the same time, the area of the royal territory will increase exponentially, and the increase and decrease will effectively prevent the Hungarians from rising again.
As for the Hungarian Parliament, it is not important whether it exists or not. What is important is whether the parliament obeys Franz's orders and whether it has the ability to go it alone.
First of all, the power of the Hungarian Parliament must be restricted, and all political, economic, military, cultural, and judicial powers must be returned to the government.
However, the parliament is not a place to keep idle people. The power of supervision and reporting must still be there, and the rest is the power of approval.
For example, if Franz wants Western Hungary and Central Hungary to become royal territories, then it must be approved by the Hungarian Parliament, and it is definitely not Franz's forced confiscation.
Members of the Hungarian Parliament must be strictly screened, and no illegal elements must be allowed to mix in.
After such a transformation, the Austrian Imperial Government and the Royal Family no longer have to fear the parliament.
As for comprehensive economic sanctions, there is no need. First, there is no need. Second, the style and efficiency of the Austrian Empire's bureaucratic system at this time are probably impossible to implement. Instead, it will cause complaints and cultivate a new generation of privileged classes.
Restricting imports and exports is not suitable for places like Hungary. The Hungarian Great Plain is the granary of the Austrian Empire. How can it starve itself?
Franz will not only not restrict imports and exports, but will also develop large mechanized farms like the royal territories.
As for restricting industrial development, it is also unnecessary. As long as the cheap industrial products of the Austrian Empire can enter the Hungarian market unimpeded, Hungary will not be able to develop industry at all.
Instead of restricting industry and causing complaints, it is better to build roads and open ships. This will not only make Hungary's industry disappear, but also win the hearts of the people and control the superstructure.
There is no need to prohibit investment. After all, no one will do a business that loses money. Businessmen are not saints. They will naturally invest and develop according to Franz's ideas.
The bad habit of private coinage should be banned, but Franz doesn't mind the Magyars contributing their silver and gold.
The top priority of all economic measures is land policy. More than 90% of Hungary after the war will be serfs. If the land problem is not solved well, it will definitely leave hidden dangers.
Historically, the land redemption policy of the Austrian Empire was shared by the government and the liberated serfs, and the land redemption price was set at twenty times the annual output.
The peasants and the government will pay one-third of the price for the land respectively, the landlords must accept one-third of the loss, and all feudal obligations of the serfs will be exempted.
This seems very beautiful and reasonable. With the help of the state, serfs only need to bear one-third of the original cost of the land, and it is a gratifying thing for the landlords to accept one-third of the loss.
However, the reality is that the heavy economic burden not only makes the serfs impoverished and live under great mental pressure, but also most of the land cannot be kept in the end.
The lives of the peasants have not improved, and some even began to miss the days of being serfs.
The already sluggish economy of the Austrian Empire was directly crushed by the debt problem caused by the land reform, and the landlords and nobles also complained.
Why did the imagined win-win situation of three parties turn into a lose-lose situation?
Because the so-called annual output is too variable, and the workload of verifying one by one is extremely exaggerated, the so-called investigation is completely formal.
The amount of annual output depends entirely on the mood of local officials and their relationship with local gentry, which gives room for operation.
In the end, the landlords who filled in the output truthfully suffered losses to varying degrees, while those who increased their annual output through bribery and fraud not only reaped a lot of benefits, but also got their land back.
It is so simple that bad money drives out good money. It would be strange if people did not do some tricks under this trend.
Similarly, some farmers with active brains and connections also copied it, and in the end, only the country and the "honest people" lost.
In addition, the Austrian imperial government also underestimated compound interest. When farmers and the government could not repay their debts, interest would be generated. As the principal and interest continued to roll, most farmers' income could not even repay the interest. Not only did they lose their land, they also became slaves in another form.
Hungarian nationalism also recovered a lot of blood. As a result, the Austrian Empire had to consider showing goodwill to Hungary.
So Franz's approach was to nationalize the land, let the nobles and landlords directly bear the cost of liberating serfs, and the country would act as a platform and referee in the middle.
(As mentioned above, the nobles used their land to invest in the royal estates. Some of them had done so before the war, and this was the last window of opportunity.)
The landlords could obtain continuous income, and the serfs could also benefit from being liberated at the first opportunity.
Responsibilities and obligations should never be one-sided. Since the serfs had fulfilled their feudal obligations to the landlords and nobles for thousands of years, the landlords and nobles should also bear the corresponding responsibilities.
In this way, Franz could use the price paid by others to exchange for his greatest benefit. At the same time, he could not only tie the nobles and landlords to his chariot, but also gain a wave of public support.