There is no outside attention from the outside world when the refugee crisis occurred in the Balkans. Although many media reported it, it was also mentioned.

It doesn’t matter to yourself, and it’s hang up. It’s common in any world. In this era, the Ottomans did not have a good impression of Europeans.

It can almost be regarded as the endorsement of barbarism, and a pagan is the kind that has no human rights.

Of course, everyone can't pay attention to it. Even their own people can't fill their stomachs. Who is in the mood to care about the life and death of the Ottomans?

The outside world does not pay attention, and Franz is happy. The Bai Zuo who stood and spoke without a headache in the back of his back is still at the primary stage and has no right to speak.

Everyone's eyes were gathered in Constantinople and the Crimean Peninsula. Now that the Near East War has fought, the two sides have begun to compete in speed.

If the Russians conquered Constantinople first, they would gain a strategic advantage and could cut off the Bosphorus. In addition to compromising, Britain and France could only fight with them in the Balkans.

On the contrary, if Britain and France conquered the Crimean Peninsula first, they would have a strategic advantage and could destroy the Russian shipbuilding industry in the Black Sea, and the Battle of Constantinople was no longer necessary.

Don’t look at the Black Sea Fleet being finished, the Russians are not ready to fight back. The construction of sail warships in this era is not difficult, and the Russians did not stop working in the shipyard of the Sea of ​​Azov.

After suffering a loss, the Russians carried out maintenance on the shore artillery along the Black Sea coast. Even if the bureaucrats of the Tsarist government were incompetent, they knew that they could not continue to be beaten passively.

At an important military port, shore artillery has been redeployed. The British and French navies are not stupid, so they will naturally not use warships and shore artillery to bombard each other.

According to St. Petersburg's plan, as long as Constantinople is conquered, the British and French fleets entering the Black Sea will become rootless duckweed, and slowly grinding the enemy to death.

The Sevastopol Fortress began to stagnate, and Constantinople also fell most of the time to determine the fate of both sides.

History has changed, and the Russians with Austrian support have burst out stronger combat power. With the personal intervention of Nicholas I and the cracks of several logistics officials, the Russian army on the Crimean Peninsula finally successfully changed their clothes.

However, logistics supply has become more difficult. The more advanced modern weapons are, the greater the logistical pressure will be, which is also a major challenge for the Russians who rely on ox carts to transport.

Vienna

Franz is looking at the map of Africa, and the colonies cannot be opened up randomly. There is a main land that cannot be touched. Austria is not suitable for launching major conflicts with the old colonial empires.

Secondly, Franz is not prepared to touch a poor and has no resources and no development potential. Colonization also depends on the cost. It is always a loss-making business, and it is destined not to be long-term.

In the end, the powerful indigenous people cannot be provoked. If they are not successful in the army, they will be embarrassing.

After excluding these three factors, there are not many choices left.

The most recent ones are of course attacking the Ottoman Empire, Tunisia, Libya, and Egypt. After thinking about it, Franz made a fork on these three options without hesitation.

The timing was wrong. Now there was no Ottomans and Britain and France. They rashly attacked and caused interference from Britain and France, so Austria made wedding dresses for them, and in the end they could not even get any hair.

The most valuable South Africa, the coastal areas have fallen into the hands of the British, Algeria is already the meat in the French bowl, and Morocco is also peeped at by Britain, France and the Soviet Union.

Franz had no choice but to find that good places belonged to other people. Morocco has not been divided yet, so it is okay to intervene in and get a share of the pie. Of course, you must choose a good entry point.

The land that has not been targeted by the great powers in this era almost does not exist. It doesn’t matter if you target it. As long as it is not eaten, everyone can use their own means.

The alternative list suddenly came out: Guinea, Côte d'Ivoire, Nigeria, Benin, Togo, Gabon, Congo, Namibia, Kenya, Tasania, Somalia, Zanzibar, Madagascar...

Inland is not considered, and areas beyond Africa are not planned, and Franz is very suspicious of the Austrian Navy's ocean-going capabilities.

Franz asked: "The plan cannot keep up with the rapid changes. The outbreak of refugee waves in the Balkans is a trouble and an opportunity. Since it encounters it, it cannot be wasted.

It is very difficult to immigrate to the African continent from home. Just look at the countries of Britain and France. People would rather go to the American continent on the side of Dayangning than to the African continent close to it.

The quality of refugees in the Balkans is not very good, but no matter how bad it is, it is stronger than the indigenous people. If the early population of the development colony has existed, our colonial plan will start early.

This is a map of the African continent. These unmarked ones are all homeless lands. Everyone thinks about it. Where is the best place for us to start?"

The mineral resources are all unknown in this era. European colonists have not yet been able to complete exploration, so everyone's judgment is very primitive now.

It depends directly on the level of development, whether the local area is rich enough, and whether colonization can make profits. The Austrian government must also consider one more thing: whether it is suitable for developing agriculture and whether it can support these immigrants.

Prime Minister Felix analyzed: "Your Majesty, Guinea can consider that the coastal plains are easy to control, the local water resources are sufficient, suitable for the development of agriculture, and it is very good to establish a colonial stronghold in the first place.

From the perspective of distance, this place is also the closest. There are not many competitors here at present, that is, the French fooled several chiefs to sign a treaty, and their influence in the local area is not great.

Nigeria is also good, with superior natural conditions and relatively high economic value. However, the local indigenous people are relatively strong, and the British have also come to the depths.

Then there is the Congo region, where there are water passages deep into the inland, which is easier to control. The properties inside are also good, so colonization should not lose money.

At this stage, these three places are more suitable. There is no guarantee that they will get much benefit. At least within five years, these three places can achieve balance between income and expenditure.

In addition, my immigrants sent from the Balkans, after more than ten years of operation, they can also form a small market in the local area, which is also a small supplement to domestic industries."

Other regions are naturally delayed for the time being, and colonization also requires consideration of costs. Of course, we must choose the region with the most suitable interests.

Strategic location and future development are not within everyone's consideration. A colony that can make money now is a good colony.

Let’s talk about the future issues then. We are all realists and the colonies are not local. Don’t expect everyone to consider how far they are.

Colonial activities are another long-term investment. The pursuit of colonists is to be able to recover costs as soon as possible and make profits.

Of course, there are also colonies that are not profitable. For a country, it cannot simply calculate administrative costs and profits and losses.

It is acceptable if the colonial market can promote the development of domestic industry and commerce, or make up for some lack of domestic resources and bear certain losses.

In this regard, the Germans in history are the negative teaching materials, and the colonies occupied a large area, but unfortunately the development was limited. By 1914, Germany had only more than 20,000 immigrants on the African continent.

The German colonial operations have always been at a loss. The vast colonies have not made much contribution to the development of domestic industry and commerce. In foreign trade, the colonial market has only contributed 0.5%.

Franz naturally has to learn from his lessons. The first thing is to control the cost of colonization. The domestic management model is obviously unusable.

Metternich proposed: "Your Majesty, we have just started colonizing overseas and can only succeed but not fail. We should not take risks now.

Let’s start in Guinea and the Congo region first. The competitors in these two places are not strong. As long as we are fast enough to create established facts."

The colonies are different from the local area. The target Austria is now targeting only belongs to areas with some value but not high value.

Now the Near East War is at a critical moment, and everyone's attention is attracted, which is a good opportunity to take action.

In this era, the opening of African colonies was a coexistence of risks and opportunities. Britain and France would not make a big fight for two useless colonies.

That's right, it's a useless colony. There are too many areas suitable for agricultural production in Britain and France. Austria's goal is not yet special.

What’s more important is that there is no unified force in these two places. The former Congo Kingdom has long declined and has not stopped Austria’s strength.

In contrast, Nigeria is not a soft persimmon, at least it looks a bit powerful. It can be seen that the Fulani Empire, which ruled here, still has the spare energy to launch a jihad.

Of course, it is not that Austria cannot get here, it is mainly a matter of paying and profits. No matter how the Fulani Empire is, it cannot change them. They are just an agricultural country with a population of millions.

In the later years, Africa was the largest country in population, and now it has no shadow. The entire African continent has a total population of more than 20 million, distributed on more than 30 million square kilometers of land, with a vast land that is so sparse that it is hopeless.

This is also the reason why Metternich opposed to taking action rashly. Religion is also very crazy. Once activated, it will be enough for Austria to suffer.

In addition, the land is vast and sparsely populated, so it is also a headache for these religious fanatics to engage in destruction. Although the human bomb has not been born yet, suicide attacks have already appeared.

In order to maintain the rule of the colonies, Austria cannot send hundreds of thousands of troops to wipe out these miscellaneous fish? Cost is the core of the establishment of a colonial empire. If it cannot control costs, then the colonial empire is not far from collapse.

Without hesitation, Franz made a decision: "Let's take these two places first as the first step in our overseas colonization!

The General Staff immediately began military deployment. This time the army and the navy will operate together and not make any jokes. Everyone will be in a bad mood at that time."

Marshal Radsky replied, “Yes, Your Majesty!”

Obviously, Franz's words also meant to be harsh. The Balkan refugee wave has not yet passed, and the General Staff has not been held accountable. That is just for the sake of government stability, and it does not mean that it will not be investigated.

If this matter is done, then the merits and sins will be exposed; if there is a problem, even Marshal Radsky will inevitably be in a mess.
Chapter completed!