Chapter 139: Core industry

What are the core industries in Austria?
Franz had no answer in his mind. The Austrian empire was rich in resources, and it was almost lacking in the early stages of industrialization.
Historically, from Austria to the Austro-Hungarian Empire, no colonial expansion was initiated, which was related to the richness of local resources.
Of course, this is limited to the early stage. From a development perspective, Austria's domestic resources are not enough.
Take the steel industry as an example. In the era of annual steel production of 10,000 tons, 100,000 tons, and 1 million tons, Austria had no shortage of resources. The era of 10 million tons barely managed to keep up. In the age of 100 million tons, it is difficult to continue.
This is a long-term problem, and Franz does not need to worry about it for at least decades.
In theory, most industries can become Austria's pillar industries, such as: agriculture and agricultural products processing, metallurgy, machinery manufacturing, military, railway, shipbuilding, textile ...
This is the advantage of a thick foundation. Before Lombardy and Venice were not lost, the industrial volume of Austria was close to that of the French.
It's no surprise that Austria in this era is a combination of Austria-Hungary + half of Italy, and Lombardy + Venice tops half of Italy.
Franz won't say the stupidity of all industries going hand in hand. The world is so fiercely competitive. If the government can't give policy tilt to certain industries, can you be sure to beat competitors?
Not to mention Austria, even the British, as the only industrial countries in the world, have not fully developed, with a focus on the financial industry, shipbuilding industry, and textile industry.
This multiple-choice question is not easy to do. Once a choice is made, it is a state policy that has remained unchanged for decades, and domestic economic development will change as a result.
There are many factors that determine national pillar industries, including: resources, markets, industry advantages, interest groups, national development direction, international situation ...
Free economy? Market economy?
Just talk about it, don't take it seriously, or get ready to cry.
In any successful country, pillar industries have received policy support, such as: tax cuts, and policies that are conducive to the development of the industry ...
Schönbrunn Palace
Franz is taking a walk with Felix on the square to discuss Austria's development direction.
"Prime Minister, what do you think of Austria's future strategic focus?" Franz asked
This is an era of weak meat and strong food, and expansion is the theme of this era. Since the Vienna system was broken, European countries have entered a new round of competition.
Small nations have no choice but to follow the wave; big nations want to develop and sail against the water.
The Austrian Empire is actually at a crossroads. Choosing Russia-Austria alliance is Austria's first strategic choice, but this time it is an ally.
Why did the Austro-Hungarian Empire step on the gun barrel in the Balkans in history? Is it really commented by experts and scholars-is it a strategic decision error?
Franz originally thought so, and found that he was wrong after the immersion.
Austria has many opportunities for external expansion, and they all resisted. In the end, they chose to step on the mine in the Balkans, which was definitely not the ruler's own willingness.
Just thinking about the international environment at the time, Franz understood that this was a last resort.
In the great world conflict, the great powers were all expanding their forces. Only Austria and Spain were in place and they did not keep up with everyone.
This means that two sheep are mixed in the wolf pack. If you don't want to be eaten, at least disguise yourself as a wolf.
Austria occupied Bosnia and Herzegovina and packed itself into a wolf for a few years of peace; Spain did nothing, Americans discovered the fat sheep, and the Spanish-American War broke out.
The Prime Minister Felix replied without hesitation: "Germany!"
"Reasons?" Franz asked
The Prime Minister Felix thought for a while and said, "After the merger of the South German region, we have directly bordered the French. Don't look at the good relations between France and Austria, but the French hegemony has always existed. We have to consider the Western Front. Defense.
In addition, the Kingdom of Prussia also had to guard against it. In order to avoid the interference of various countries, when we unified the South German state, they would also merge the North German region, resulting in the fact that Germany was divided.
After the reunification of North Germany, the strength of the Prussian kingdom will be increased by at least four levels, and the threat is greatly enhanced than now. Most importantly, they have the ambition to unify the entire German region. "
"What if we are in trouble?" Franz asked.
Austria is so big, it doesn't seem to be easy to mess with, and once it merges with the South German state, it is even harder to mess with.
In contrast, Belgium, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands are all soft persimmons, and they are still fat and soft.
Belgium has a developed industry, the Netherlands has a well-developed maritime industry, and a large colony. Luxembourg, a projectile land, is also a country of steel.
"My Majesty, I am afraid that the Prussians are powerless and want to expand to the west. The French will not pass the barrier and the British will not agree." Felix thought for a moment and said
To ordinary people, Prussians have no courage to challenge the French.
As for the attitude of the British, in fact, as long as Prussian can defeat the French, after the thugs, they will be powerless, and will be blocked for several years.
The French are not easy to mess with, but compared with the enhanced version of Austria + Russia, it is better to deal with it.
"Then the Prussian ambitions and the French interest in the Rhineland region, as long as one of them is satisfied, the war can detonate." Franz said with confidence.
There is no way, other countries are state-owned troops, and Prussia is an army-owned state. Nationalism was awakened again, and by that time it was a little stimulated to ignite.
If they didn't have the courage to provoke war, wouldn't there still be Austria? It is a big deal that Puao has joined forces with France to believe that the Prussians can resist the temptation.
After eating the stuffing cakes, they will have to die with the French in the future. By the way, the way of joining forces with Britain and Britain is also broken, and the political system of the Three Emperors Alliance to dominate the European continent is established again.
Would you like to do this? Franz was puzzled. It seems that this pattern is the best for Russians.
Austria just harvested a stable rear, grabbing at most a few French colonies, and the Russians' road to the sea was unobstructed.
Felix smiled and said, "My Majesty, I believe the Prussians will be very interested in this proposal, but they have the strength to swallow the bait?
Although Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg are also German nation states, they themselves do not recognize that desperate resistance is necessary.
Even if Prussia defeated the French with our help, wouldn't there still be British support behind it?
If you ca n’t eat a bite, you wo n’t have a second chance. As long as the Prussians and English and French turn their faces, we will no longer support them. "
One word awakened the dreamer, and the Kingdom of Prussia was not the German empire of later generations. How could the same strength erupt?
The population of the Netherlands is about 3.06 million, the population of Belgium is about 4.4 million, and the population of Luxembourg is about 200,000. These people are mainly Catholics. The population of the Kingdom of Prussia is about 13 million. Can they digest it?
The economic aggregate of the three countries is almost the same as that of the Kingdom of Prussia.
Of course, this is only a comparison of the strengths of the two sides now, and it will definitely change in the future, but no matter what changes occur, it will not be easy to annex a country with a rising nationalism.
Franz even thinks that the annexation of these three countries by Prussia is more like a dream than Austria's annexation of the Balkans.
Well, in fact, just think about it.
Without external force, slowly eating can be achieved. If I swallow it, I will either kill a bloodstream or be choked to death.
That being the case, Franz knew what to do.
Austria cannot compete with the British. At least in their three core industries, Austria cannot be their opponent. It doesn't matter that the British did not learn from Austria.
In Franz's opinion, it is the best way to suppress the core industries and to start the layout and defeat the Prussian core industries in advance, then they are just a military power.
Franz made the same choice as Prussia, giving priority to the development of the military industry, railways, manufacturing, plus Austria's advantageous industry, the agricultural product processing industry.
Railway investment depends on government investment and private investment is encouraged. Commercial competition is also an internal problem; the military industry also relies on government funding. In this era, the international market can only be regarded as a small supplement, and the bears next door are a good customer.
The manufacturing industry can only fight the international market, but Franz is not worried that there is a big market such as the Holy Roman Alliance and a good ally of the bear, which is much stronger than Prussia in history.
It goes without saying that there are few competitors in the agricultural processing industry. Austria's biggest competitors in the European grain market, Russia and the Ottoman Empire, directly export grain.
Historically, the Russians exported wheat and imported flour from the outside. This was not a slogan on the Internet, but it really existed in this era.
It's no surprise that the ship carried the grain out, and when it came back, it was an empty ship, and the bottom of the warehouse was pressed with stones. The savvy merchants found that the price of flour on the Russian market was good, found it profitable, and sold it back to the Russians.
This also means that Austria's competitors in this area are food processing companies in food-importing countries, and the two sides have distanced themselves from the beginning cost.
This kind of industry that has advantages and does not require much investment naturally needs to focus on development. In history, during the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Hungary was the largest flour supplier in Europe.
As for the iron and steel industry that is valued by countless passers-by and even considered to be a reflection of national strength, why isn't it the core of development?
Just look at how small the demand for steel is on the market in this era.
The Austrian Empire has only 20,000 to 30,000 tons of raw steel each year, Russian talents are thousands of tons of raw steel, and the British are not much better. The annual output is less than 100,000 tons of raw steel.
There is no way, the market demand is so great. Even if pig iron is added, the demand is not high. Anyway, everyone has not exceeded the million-ton mark.
If the steel industry is taken as the core industry, believe it or not a few months later, there will be a large amount of slow-selling steel in the Austrian market?
At that time, in order to solve these slow-moving steel, the government had to invest a lot of money in other industries, and was surprised to find that the steel industry had not developed and the industrial crisis had come first.
Instead, it is better to develop railways and military industries to drive steel consumption, and there will be production when there is market demand. This is the market law.
Focus on the development of the steel industry is ahead, let alone the high-tech industry. Except for the military industry, the economic model of a country is that the market determines the prospect of industrial development.
This era is a high-tech desert. Many epoch-making products, even if they are made in the laboratory, cannot be promoted.
This kind of advanced field cannot be a core industry of a country. As a sub-key development object, it is still possible to reserve technology in advance.
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