Chapter 1450: Adding Sand

"Damn traitors, you will pay the price for your choice today, you Hungarian sinners!" After the meeting, Hungarian nationalist Merz angrily roared at the Hungarian representatives.

Faced with Merz's criticism, most Hungarian representatives remained calm and turned a deaf ear.

"Okay, Merz, now that the matter is done, what can we do? We should blame the previous Hungarian government for leaving such a big mess and the selfish Hungarian Labor Party members." Klaar, an acquaintance of Merz, patted him on the shoulder and consoled him.

"The Hungarian government had its own fault. It was able to let the Labor Party be wiped out. This made outsiders laugh. If they had been able to detect any signs of movement from the Hungarian Labor Party, they would not have ruined their lives and futures."

The Hungarian Labor Party rebellion directly destroyed the brain of the former Kingdom of Hungary. Many former high-ranking officials of the Hungarian government were executed, and most of the rest were imprisoned with an uncertain future.

"To be honest, the previous government should bear the main responsibility for our current situation. If it weren't for their incompetence, the Austrians wouldn't have been able to take advantage of us again."

Merz did not agree with this explanation. He retorted: "Can Hungary not function without these good-for-nothings? Just now in the parliament, you should have stood with us and destroyed the evil plot of this villain, Clavel."

Klar spread his hands helplessly and said, "Merz, your idea is a bit naive. The composition of the Hungarians attending this conference shows that we don't have more choices."

"Many Hungarian nobles were killed by the Labor Party. As a result, the highest-ranking Hungarian participant in the conference is actually Duke Mente. However, Duke Mente has lived in Vienna for many years. Otherwise, he would not have escaped. He himself does not have much affection for Hungary."

"Moreover, the Clavel government must have made advance contact with these surviving Hungarian nobles and high-ranking officials and promised them a lot of benefits."

"Even they have been bribed by the Austrians. We are powerless and it is impossible for us to prevent the passage of the resolution of this meeting!"

"To be frank, if we don't cooperate with the Austrians' decision, they will definitely not mind making an example of us."

"In the past, we would naturally not agree to the unreasonable demands of the Austrians, but now the entire Hungarian nobility is irreplaceable to Austria."

Hungary is now no different from a lost country. Sixty percent of its land is occupied by the Hungarian Labor Party, and the remaining areas may not actually be in line with Hungary.

Take Croatia for example. In theory, Croatia belongs to Hungary. In the Croatian-Hungarian Compromise Agreement signed in the last century, it was clearly stipulated that Croatia belongs to Hungary and recognized Croatia's high degree of autonomy. However, the agreement also stipulated that the Governor of Croatia would still be appointed by Hungary and that there would be limits on the number of seats in parliament.

Now, Croatia has completely and openly surrendered to Austria, and the Hungarians can do nothing about it.

In the past, the Austrian government was afraid that the Hungarians would cause trouble and was worried that it would cause the division of the empire. Now that the Hungarian Labor Party government is in fact split from Austria, Austria's concerns no longer exist.

In other words, the Hungarian Labor Party provided opportunities for the Austrian government, especially some radical policies that Austria did not dare to implement in the past. Now that the two countries have completely torn their faces apart, they naturally no longer have to consider those minor issues.

In other words, the Hungarian Labor Party is the actual representative of Hungary, and those who were originally the Hungarian ruling class are now just losers. They are only one level stronger than those exiled governments, and naturally have lost the power to bargain with the Austrian government.

So, in the end, the topic still revolved around the Hungarian Labor Party government.

Merz gnashed his teeth and said: "The Hungarian Labor Party has completely ruined the future of the entire Hungarian nation by making such a fuss."

Of course, no matter how angry the original Hungarian ruling class is with the Hungarian Labor Party, it is just impotent rage unless they can take the lead in regaining Hungary.

But Hungary's current ruling class does not have this ability at all.

…

Schönbrunn Palace.

Clavel was reporting on the meeting with Emperor Franz and Crown Prince Rudolf.

"After this meeting, the Hungarian issue will be completely resolved. From now on, Hungary will no longer have the strength to challenge the central government of the empire."

"However, we still have to solve the problem of the Hungarian Labor Party. Now, various rebellions and conflicts in other regions have been basically settled, including anti-government forces in Croatia, Bosnia and other regions. They have been suppressed. In a short period of time, they can no longer make a comeback. The Empire can now focus on dealing with the Hungarian Labor Party."

"At the same time, I suggest communicating with Germany and using the German army to liquidate the Hungarian Labor Party. After all, the most terrifying thing about the Labor Party is its ability to infiltrate the grassroots, and the German army is an outsider, so they are not easily deceived by the Hungarian Labor Party."

Emperor Franz knocked on the table and said, "Very good. We originally thought that this turmoil would be a political disaster for the empire, but we didn't expect that the current situation has developed beyond our expectations and has become an opportunity to integrate the empire."

"Rudolf, you will be fully responsible for the recovery of Hungary. I hope to see the reunification of the empire before I close my eyes. This way, I can face the heroic spirits of the Habsburg ancestors with a clear conscience after my death."

Emperor Franz had a premonition of his physical condition, which was basically beyond recovery, and what he was most worried about was the disintegration of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

Now that the opportunity for the empire to be reunited has emerged, it can be said that this old man, who is now at the end of his life, has seen hope. Unfortunately, he is no longer able to personally promote the progress of this matter.

Fortunately, Rudolf had grown up and had done well over the years, leading the empire through the most difficult period, which was the First World War.

Therefore, Rudolf's ability as well as his dignity and status within the empire were completely consolidated, so Franz was very confident in handing the country over to him.

Rudolf solemnly assured Franz, "Father, I will make sure the glory of the empire continues. You must also take care of yourself. I believe that it won't be long before you can see with your own eyes that the wounds of the empire have completely healed."

Emperor Franz didn't say much, but nodded in trust.

Clavel then interrupted and said, "Your Majesty and His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, now, in addition to solving the Labor Party issue, we should also discuss the post-war treatment of Hungary."

"It is conceivable that by the end of the war, Hungary's original political ecology will no longer exist, and the war is likely to cause a decline in Hungary's population, which will greatly weaken Hungary."

"We should make a move in advance to ensure that after the war, Hungary will no longer be able to escape the control of the entire empire as before."

The decline in Hungary's population is actually a good thing for the Austro-Hungarian Empire. After all, an important problem of the Austro-Hungarian Empire from the beginning to the end was the insufficient main population. The decline in Hungary's population also means that the proportion of the population of other ethnic groups in the empire will increase, which is very important for Austria.

Rudolf asked: "Prime Minister Clavel, what good ideas and suggestions do you have?"

Clavier said confidently: "In our original plan, the main focus was on rebuilding the order of the original Hungarian government. That is, to place our people inside the future Hungarian government and to support the original pro-Austrian forces in Hungary."

"However, after careful consideration over the past few days, I believe that this is only a temporary solution. After all, the Hungarian nobles were once very loyal to the empire, but they still stabbed the empire in the back in 1848."

"There are even quite a few Hungarian nobles whose families were originally German nobles, but later changed their families and became the so-called Hungarian nobles, that is, Magyar nobles."

Before 1848, it was obviously impossible for Austria to rule Hungary without interfering with Hungary, including transferring some fiefs of German nobles to Hungary and marrying into Hungarian nobles.

However, after 1848, the local Hungarian nobles, whether they were actually Magyars or Germans, all considered themselves Magyars.

Therefore, Clavel believed that simply instigating corruption in the upper class was not enough to consolidate Austria's control over Hungary.

Therefore, Clavier continued, "The fundamental reason for this problem is that Hungarian national consciousness has been awakened, and it is obviously impossible for us to have a good solution to the entire Hungarian national issue in a short period of time."

"But we can't just do nothing. We were able to conquer Hungary before, so this time we should have an extra layer of insurance."

"The key point is to change the population structure of the entire Hungarian region as much as possible, especially to increase the proportion of Germans."

"Originally, the population of Hungary was not much different from that of the Germans in the Empire, and the fertility rate of Hungarians was also higher than that of Germans. The increase in the number of mixed-race Germans in recent years has narrowed the gap to a certain extent."

"But if Hungary doesn't undergo much change after the war, it's possible that the Hungarian population will surpass the German population in the future."

"Therefore, taking this opportunity to increase the German population in Hungary is the key to whether the Empire can completely stabilize Hungary in the future."

"Of course, this also faces a huge problem, which is where we can bring in so many German people to fill the gaps."

The current war in Hungary will inevitably lead to a decline in Hungarian population and free up a lot of land. This will give the Austrian government an opportunity to immigrate to Hungary, but the problem the Austrian government faces now is that it cannot find a suitable source of immigrants.

Clavier also said: "The main German gathering areas in the world are Europe, America and East Africa. However, the fertility situation of the German population in Europe is not ideal. Whether in Germany or the Empire, the German population is basically growing slowly and it is difficult for them to leave."

"As for North America, the Germans themselves are unlikely to return to Europe. In fact, in a few years, they will most likely be completely integrated into the American countries."

This is easy to understand. The Germans who immigrated to various American countries have basically settled down, and their living conditions are no worse than those in Europe. It is a pipe dream to want to introduce immigrants from America.

Of course, there have been cases of East Africa introducing immigrants from the Americas, but that was only done under special circumstances when countries like the United States encountered economic crises.

"As for East Africa, to be honest, East Africans call themselves Germans, but they are actually mixed races. In addition, East Africa has been developing well in recent years. Even if we want to introduce immigrants from East Africa now, it will only be better than nothing."

Comparing East Africa and the Austro-Hungarian Empire, East Africa's economy is more developed than that of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, there are more opportunities, and it is more stable than the Austro-Hungarian Empire, so East Africa is more attractive to immigrants from the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

In fact, in recent times, many Hungarians have applied for citizenship in East Africa. After all, Hungary is in turmoil now!

Therefore, how the Austro-Hungarian Empire now obtains more German immigrants has become a problem. The three main German distribution areas have only inflows but no outflows, making it difficult for Germans to overflow.

Rudolf asked, "Prime Minister Clavel, what solution do you have?"

"Bringing in German immigrants from abroad would be of little help and would be more expensive, while our main immigration destination for Austria is the Venice region," said Clavel.

"In this case, the only reliable source of immigrants we can find is the Kingdom of Dalmatia."

"You mean the half-Germans in Dalmatia?" asked Rudolf.

Clavier's expression turned serious. "Yes, it is this special group that grew up under the nose of the empire."

"Just last year, I personally visited the Kingdom of Dalmatia to learn more about it. The results of my field investigation surprised me. Now the mixed-blood Germans in the Kingdom of Dalmatia can be said to have completely taken shape and have become the main ethnic group there."

"Their population may have exceeded one million, far surpassing the local Croatians, Italians, Serbs and other ethnic groups. In addition, in recent years, mixed-race Germans have become increasingly common in Bosnia, Venice and other regions."

"This also means that the Dalmatian mixed-blood Germans not only had a certain population base, but also maintained a high fertility rate, which is exactly what the Austrians lack today."

"So, I have a bold idea, which is to speed up the flow of mixed-blood Germans within the empire. For example, after Hungary is recovered, we can directly distribute part of the land to the mixed-blood Germans in the Kingdom of Dalmatia, thereby increasing the local German population base."

Clavel's suggestion actually shows that the Austrian top leaders now accept the special group of mixed-race Germans to a certain extent.

It was impossible not to accept it. The fertility rate of pure-blooded Germans, that is, Austrians, could not be relied upon. Although the fertility rate of Austrians was also increasing, it was far less than that of other ethnic groups in the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

After experiencing the tug of war over ethnic issues such as Hungary, the Austrian top leaders now obviously no longer want to fight with them on ethnic and population structure issues as they did in the past. As long as they can increase the number of the main ethnic group, even mixed-race Germans are not unacceptable. After all, these mixed-race Germans are more reliable than other non-German ethnic groups.

(End of this chapter)