Chapter 1545 Low-risk Venice
Venice.
Since the Italo-Austrian War in the last century, Venice has been under the rule of the Austro-Hungarian Empire for a long time. However, after so many years, the development of Venice in the Austro-Hungarian Empire can only be described as mediocre.
Although Venice, as an important seaport, has a strong appeal to the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Trieste had already become the shipping center of the Austro-Hungarian Empire before the occupation of Venice, and this trend has not changed after the occupation of Venice.
In 1932, the cargo throughput of Trieste reached more than four million tons, while that of Venice during the same period was less than one million tons, less than a quarter of that of Trieste.
Trieste is closer to the economic heartland of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, so most of the empire's goods are transited through Trieste, such as Austria, Bohemia, Hungary and other places. It is naturally difficult for Venice to compete with Trieste.
In terms of industrial structure, Venice has also declined severely. Historically, Venice is a shining pearl on the Adriatic coast with a long history and profound accumulation.
However, the Italo-Austrian War in the last century was an unprecedented catastrophe for Venice. The war destroyed Venice's normal economic order. At the same time, a large number of people were lost, and many industries and personnel were poached from East Africa at that time.
Therefore, Venice at the end of the 19th century can only be described as a state of disrepair. However, due to various considerations, the Austro-Hungarian Empire's investment in the local area was limited.
In a tavern in Venice, the Italian Lerto was criticizing the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
"Austria is the main culprit for Venice's decline. Venice used to be one of the most prosperous cities in Europe, with commerce and trade flourishing. Now, let alone in Europe, even within the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Venice cannot even be ranked."
"Only by breaking away from the Austro-Hungarian Empire can Venice have a brighter future economically."
Lerto drunkenly complained to his drinking buddies that in his opinion, everything the Austro-Hungarian Empire did to Venice was wrong.
This is certainly not an objective statement. It is true that the Austro-Hungarian Empire attached more importance to Trieste, but the decline of Venice was inevitable even without the existence of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
In the past, Venice and Trieste were both under Italian rule after World War I, but Venice's economy did not improve. Even in the 21st century, Trieste was more developed than Venice.
Trieste in the 21st century is dominated by logistics, manufacturing and international trade, while Venice can only survive by relying on tourism. Tourism accounts for more than 50% of Venice's economy, with indirect impacts exceeding 70%, and there is a serious outflow of population.
Therefore, even if it separated from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Venice would not be able to achieve better development, at least economically. In the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Venice could at least eat from the same pot.
Although the Austro-Hungarian Empire invested more in Trieste, Venice also received a lot of policies, after all, the Austro-Hungarian Empire lacked ports.
If Venice belonged to Italy, its port status would be further weakened. Italy has a long coastline, narrow terrain, and numerous ports. Even in the past, Venice would hardly be taken seriously.
But Lerto didn't think so much. As an Italian, he naturally disliked and even hated the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
He went on to say: "Without Austria, Venice is the Venice of us Italians. We can definitely make Venice better and more beautiful than Trieste."
Lerto's complaint was recognized by his co-worker Valer, who said, holding a beer bottle, "Lerto, what you said is very good. We should drive the Austrians out of our city."
"Without the Austrians' exploitation, our lives wouldn't be so bad. Look at Italy next door. It has developed vigorously under the governance of Prime Minister Benito."
"Previously, the newspapers even said that Italy has the potential to become the sixth most powerful country in Europe, ranking above Spain. The Austro-Hungarian Empire has been in decline for many years. Our Venice's development will inevitably be hindered in such a country."
The radical remarks made by Lerto and Valier scared Level beside them.
"Keep your voice down, or you'll attract the police, or it will be hard on you." Lewell fearfully reminded the two drunkards in a low voice.
Valier shouted disdainfully: "Lever, you are too timid. Can the police arrest and convict us just because of our one or two complaints?"
"What's more, we are telling the truth. The fact that they dare to arrest us only shows that the Austrians are guilty."
Level scratched his head and said, "The Austro-Hungarian Empire is not as bad as you say. The current economic situation is not good, and the Austro-Hungarian government should bear some responsibility."
"But now it's not just the Austro-Hungarian economy that's in trouble. The economic situation in other countries like the United States, Britain, Germany, and France is not good either. This is a problem of the overall environment."
"And compared to Eastern Lombardy, Venice is much better off. Eastern Lombardy was ravaged by Hungary in the past, and has only slightly improved in recent years."
Eastern Lombardy used to be under the rule of Hungary. After the Hungarian Labor Party rebellion, Hungary's strength was greatly weakened, and the central government of the empire took back most of the power.
Before this, Hungary's attitude towards Eastern Lombardy could not be considered friendly. It basically only plundered but did not build. After all, Eastern Lombardy was an enclave relative to Hungary, and it was also an area where Italians gathered, so it was naturally impossible for the Hungarian nobles to treat Eastern Lombardy well.
In comparison, Venice under the rule of neighboring Austria was much better. Although Austria was also wary of the Italians in Venice, because Venice was close to Austria and was also a relatively important seaport, the Austrian government's policy toward the local area was mainly assimilation and economic feedback, rather than unilateral bloodsucking.
Regarding this, Lerto said: "Level, don't be deceived by the Austrians. The reason why they treat Venice well is just to be able to rule here better. It's just that their methods are more advanced than those of the Hungarian executioners."
"But this does not change the fact that the Austrians and Hungarians are invaders to us Italians, not to mention that they are originally in the same group."
"Besides, Venice's economy seems to be stronger than that of Eastern Lombardy, and it has little to do with us. The money is still earned by Austria."
Valere also echoed, "We are now just poor guys working for the Austrians, earning extremely meager wages, and it is difficult to support our families."
"Not to mention that many people can't even find a job right now and don't have enough food to eat."
The rich people in Venice are basically Austrians. The once wealthy Italians in Venice ran away and dispersed decades ago.
This also further intensified the conflict between the Italians and Austrians in Venice. In the past, the conflict between the two was mainly ethnic, but now it had to do with class conflict.
Valier said: "In Venice, the rich Austrians can still live a life of luxury, but the lower classes are facing severe livelihood problems. I think it would be better to rebel. It would be best to restore Venice's autonomy or join Italy."
These words were like a bolt from the blue, and Level decided to stay away from the dangerous man Valier in the future.
He said helplessly: "How can we resist? Can we expect the Italians in Venice to unite? If it were decades ago, there might be a chance, but in Venice now, we Italians don't even have a majority."
Today, in Venice's population structure, only about 36% of the population is Italian, and most of them are concentrated in towns.
This was the result of many years of efforts by the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Emperor Franz listened to Ernst's advice and deliberately used the war to reduce the local population, causing a large number of Italians to flee.
However, even so, the Italians still occupied the majority at the time. However, Ernst also proposed a vicious plan to cut off the source of the problem, which was to deprive Venice of the land around it and distribute it to the Austrians.
This has led to a result that Italians have become a minority among the residents in the rural areas of Venice. Although there are more Italians in the city, the fertility rate of the urban population is already lower than that of the rural population. Even some highly industrialized cities may experience negative population growth.
Venice has obviously not developed to that level yet, but the city's population fertility rate is also relatively low. If it wants to maintain the prosperity of the urban economy, it can only absorb the surplus population in the countryside.
Rural Austrians make up the majority of the population, and their continuous influx will constantly change the population structure of Venice. Naturally, the Austrian population in Venice will grow at a higher rate, while the number of Italians will decrease.
In addition, the number of foreign population in Venice has been increasing in recent years, especially in the economically backward Kingdom of Dalmatia of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Regardless of whether the German blood of the Dalmatian Kingdom is mixed, if they are given a choice, they will definitely trust the Austro-Hungarian government more than the Italians in Venice.
Level said: "The mainstream population of Venice has become Germans, including mixed-race Germans from Austria and Dalmatia, who together account for more than 30%. Other Slavs are unlikely to cooperate with us, as they don't even have a clear identity."
The situation in Venice was different from other places in the Austro-Hungarian Empire. It was basically controlled by the Austrian government, so the policy of national integration could be enforced.
Therefore, foreign populations could be easily assimilated, such as the Slavs in other parts of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
Only the Italians still maintain their own cultural characteristics. This is mainly because Venice was originally their land and the Italians have a relative advantage in population. But even so, more and more Italians are beginning to receive German education.
In general, the Italian culture in Venice has been fading, and the reason why it can still maintain its identity is because of its large original base.
But now, this base number is no longer an advantage. Others such as Austrians, Dalmatians and Slavs together account for more than 50% of the total population.
Level said: "Therefore, even if we want to fight Austria now, it will be difficult to succeed. Other nations will stand together to oppose it, not to mention that Austria has a military advantage. They control the army. We can't fight Austria with bare hands, right?"
Valere and Lerto's faces became a little depressed, but they still held on to their fantasies.
Lerto took a sip of beer and said, "That may not be the case. It is indeed difficult to achieve this by our own strength, but don't forget that we still have 40 million Italian compatriots."
"The total population of the Austro-Hungarian Empire is only over 50 million. Therefore, as long as the Kingdom of Italy can support us, or even send troops, Venice may be able to break away from Austrian control."
"I think the Kingdom of Italy and Prime Minister Benito should have the same idea. After all, a unified Italy is the goal of all Italians."
Level said: "If the Kingdom of Italy goes, it's hard to say what will happen, but I'm afraid they don't have the courage to do so. The last time the Hungarian Labor Party revolted was a good opportunity, but the Kingdom of Italy chose to stay put."
"Now that Austria-Hungary is only economically unstable, the Kingdom of Italy may be more careful."
Although Bohemia was in chaos, no one thought that the Austro-Hungarian Empire could not survive.
As for the reason, although Bohemia is in chaos now, there is no regime like the Hungarian Labor Party. At that time, the Hungarian Labor Party had already established an independent country. The Labor Party in the Bohemian industrial zone is indeed powerful, but because of ethnic issues, the Czech Labor Party and the Austrian Labor Party cannot cooperate effectively to form a coalition government.
Another reason was that the Austro-Hungarian government acted more quickly this time. As soon as problems arose in Bohemia, Rudolf ordered the army to enter and suppress them.
The situation in Bohemia was too complicated, and the various forces could not unite to fight against Rudolf's army, just as Czech nationalists could not cooperate with the Labor Party and Austrian nationalists.
This would actually be beneficial to the Austro-Hungarian government's efforts to defeat the enemy one by one. Of course, the situation in Bohemia was still relatively dangerous, especially since the turmoil might spread to other regions of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, which might produce a different chemical reaction.
At present, there are three main places where new crises are most likely to arise, namely Austria, Eastern Lombardy, and Croatia.
Among them, Austria posed the greatest threat. If turmoil occurred in Austria, it would mean that the core of the empire would no longer be stable, and it would be difficult for the Habsburgs to rely on Austria to maintain the country's centripetal force and stability.
This is similar to the situation in the previous life when Russia was the main force in dismembering the Soviet Union. There is no doubt that this is an extremely stupid development direction, but it happened to the Soviet Union in the previous life. The same thing could have happened to the more unstable Austro-Hungarian Empire, that is, the core ruling nation of the empire would oppose the existence of the empire.
Therefore, the next important thing for the Habsburg family is to maintain Austria's support for Habsburg rule. If this cannot be achieved, the Austro-Hungarian Empire will have no possibility of continuing to exist.
Eastern Lombardy and Croatia are easier to understand. The conflicts in Eastern Lombardy have long accumulated to a peak, and an outbreak is only a matter of time. As for Croatia, the situation is rather special.
If there had not been the previous Hungarian Labor Party rebellion, which eventually led to the reshaping of Hungarian politics, the country that Vienna would have had to be most wary of would naturally be Hungary, which is now in a stable period due to the redistribution of resources after the war.
Therefore, Croatia replaced Hungary and became the key area of attention of the imperial government.
Therefore, compared with the above-mentioned areas, places like Venice are actually low-risk areas in the eyes of the Austro-Hungarian central government.
(End of this chapter)
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