Chapter 1607: French Alertness
Just because the Habsburg Monarchy and the Kingdom of New Austria could not absorb the demand did not mean that East Africa had to reduce the scale of immigration. There were still many colonies in East Africa that were crying out for food, including Togoland, which was adjacent to the two countries.
The year 1935 was also quite special. After all, according to previous experience, Japan's invasion of the Far East would be completely expanded two years later. At that time, East Africa would be passive in recruiting immigrants from the Far East, and this would be more so as time went on.
Ernst therefore said to Emperor Rudolf: "The Habsburg Monarchy and New Austria must absorb as many people as possible. It is already the 1930s. After the 1940s, it may become difficult for you to find a stable source of immigrants."
"If we miss this window of opportunity, there's a high probability that the two countries supported by the Habsburg family will become like Latin American countries, or even worse than them."
"Latin America has a centuries-long history of immigration, and back then, conditions were far superior to those of the current Habsburg Monarchy and the New Austrian Kingdom."
Emperor Rudolf himself had some doubts about Ernst's advice. He said, "Ernst, aren't you worrying too much?"
Hearing his question, Ernst did not get angry. Instead, he asked, "Rudolf, do you know which areas in the world have experienced the largest population outflow in the past hundred years?"
Emperor Rudolf thought for a moment and said, "Europe, Russia and the Far East, India..."
Ernst smiled and said, "All the places you mentioned can be integrated into one big collection, that is Eurasia."
"We can also refer to Eurasia as the Old World. Since the Age of Exploration, the flow of the world's population has been from the Old World to the New World."
"Africa is a special case because Africa itself had extensive exchanges with Eurasia in ancient times. Moreover, while Africa has seen a large outflow of population, there has also been a large inflow of population, so the two are relatively balanced."
The outflow of population from Africa is rather tragic, as it was mainly achieved through the bloody slave trade. However, even though the method was rather bloody, it is an objective fact that black people flowed into South America and formed a large ethnic group.
Ernst also said: "Secondly, the outflow of Africans is mainly black, which means that the Habsburg Monarchy and the New Austrian Kingdom must not recruit black people as their base population."
"So, for the Habsburg Monarchy and the new Kingdom of Austria, the only source of immigration they could choose was the Old World, or Eurasia."
"The main areas of population outflow in Eurasia can be divided into three categories. The first is Europe, which also includes the Soviet Union. However, even in the Soviet Union, population mobility is far less than that of the Tsarist Russia, let alone other European countries."
"When there's no large-scale war, Europe's population outflow has basically stagnated. After all, Europe is now arguably one of the regions with the highest quality of life and the most developed industry in the world, and the willingness of Europeans to emigrate has also fallen to a historic low."
"This is also the reason why the Habsburgs are not choosing Europe when recruiting immigrants."
Emperor Rudolf nodded profoundly and said, "That's true. It's extremely difficult to attract immigrants from Europe right now. Two years ago, there might have been a chance."
Two years ago, during the Great Depression, it was indeed a good opportunity to attract immigrants to Europe. Unfortunately, the Habsburg family missed the last train.
Now, they have gone into exile in Africa. As European countries gradually emerge from the impact of the Great Depression and there is a temporarily peaceful international order, European people do lack the motivation to live in other "backward" places.
Ernst pointed out: "You are not going to make much progress in Europe until a new war breaks out in Europe, which may take several years."
"However, you do have an opportunity right now. Civil war could break out in Spain at any time. If you take the initiative, you might be able to rescue some Spaniards and neutralize the immigrant group."
That being said, even if Spain fell into turmoil, the amount of immigration resources that the Habsburg family could obtain from Spain would not be too much.
On the one hand, Spain has a small population, at least compared to other major powers. For a so-called "major power", the population should be at least over 20 million, but Spain just barely crosses the line. The Ottoman Empire is similar.
On the other hand, the Spaniards had many choices. The entire Americas, most of which were once Spanish colonies. These areas were obviously more attractive to Spanish refugees than the so-called Habsburg Monarchy and the New Austrian Kingdom.
Especially in many places in South America, Spaniards can communicate, live and work without any obstacles, and the environment in South America is also very comfortable, which is very attractive to the local Spanish people.
In addition to the former Spanish colonial countries in the Americas, the second choice of the Spanish people is other developed or wealthy countries.
Representative countries include the United States, France, the United Kingdom, and even East Africa...
There is a complete path for Europeans to immigrate to the United States, so the United States has a strong appeal to the whole of Europe, including the Spaniards.
It is easy to understand why France ranks second. France is a neighbor of Spain and is ahead of Spain in all data. Therefore, many Spaniards immigrate to France.
The UK is also very close to Spain and is one of the most developed countries in the world.
As for why East Africa ranks fourth, there are many reasons. The most basic reason is that East Africa itself has a high level of development, a stable society, and a remarkable economy compared to most parts of the world.
Secondly, the reason why East Africa is attractive to Spain is the friendly relationship between the two countries. The two governments have established a friendship since the 19th century, and after decades of development, Spain has also been deeply influenced by East Africa economically.
Apart from these countries, other European countries are more attractive than the two so-called "countries" established by the Habsburg family.
Therefore, Ernst had no hope that the Habsburgs could introduce a large number of immigrants from Spain. Although the Habsburgs had once ruled Spain, that favor had long since ended.
Not to mention that the current Habsburg family is very different from the Habsburg family that ruled Spain. To be more precise, the current Habsburg family should be called the Habsburg-Lorraine family, because from Queen Theresa, the paternal line became the Lorraine family.
From the perspective of pure blood and dynastic family, this was a clear break. After 1740, the ruling family in Central Europe was no longer a "pure" Habsburg on the paternal side, but a completely new family - Habsburg-Lorraine.
Ernst went on to say, “Then there is South Asia, which is also a densely populated region on the Eurasian continent, but the population of South Asia mainly flows to Britain and its colonies.”
"At the same time, South Asians are not good candidates for immigration. They are lazy, perfunctory, have poor discipline and organization, and their combat effectiveness is also very low."
"At the same time, religion in South Asia is also a significant issue, which means the cost of assimilating them is too high. Whether it is Arabs or Hindus, it is impossible for them to easily convert to our European culture."
"To be frank, South Asian immigrants are completely inferior products."
After Ernst's elimination, the only place in the Old World that could support the population needs of the Habsburg family was the Far East.
Although there are places such as the Middle East, Central Asia, and Southeast Asia in the Old World, the religious forces in these places are stronger and the population is relatively small.
Ernst analyzed, "You definitely can't absorb Arab immigrants. So, your best option is the Far East."
"However, just because the Far Eastern Empire is now a major overseas immigration country doesn't mean it has always been that way. Although the Far Eastern Empire has been in chaos for many years, I can tell you that it will definitely be no more than twenty years before the Far Eastern Empire reaches a consensus and unity."
"Once that day arrives, the Far Eastern Empire's internal strife and external wars will basically cease, and the country's focus will shift to economic and livelihood development. Furthermore, the Far Eastern Empire's highly efficient government will definitely limit population outflow, just like the Soviet Union does today."
Ernst's words were not an exaggeration at all. Even the current Nanjing government was much more efficient than most governments in the world, because the bureaucratic system of the Far East Empire was too mature and had reached its peak in the feudal era.
This is also an important reason why the Far Eastern Empire was able to suppress the capital forces in the feudal era. On the other hand, looking at Europe, it was because there were too many divisions and loopholes that capital forces such as the Jews were able to successfully counterattack and turn things around the fastest.
Europe's means of managing capital are very crude, basically relying on "killing" without any other mature means. This has allowed capital to continuously erode all aspects of Europe except the military, and has become a powerful foundation for modern European capitalist reforms.
To this end, Ernst detailed the political differences between the Far Eastern Empire and Europe, ultimately analyzing: "For a strong government like the Far Eastern Empire, its decline, even its withdrawal, requires a complete overthrow, and ultimately the collapse of the entire system. However, once a new system is established, the country will quickly achieve revival and control."
"That's why I said this is your final window of opportunity to introduce immigrants from the Far East Empire. So, you can't hide your attitude towards immigrants."
"The Habsburg Monarchy and the Kingdom of New Austria are indeed a bit small right now, and there's great potential for expansion. If the gamble succeeds, the Habsburg royal family's gains will be staggering. Once the expansion is complete, you'll find that population will be the two countries' biggest shortcoming."
…
Under Ernst's persuasion, the Habsburg family, after internal discussions, finally made up their minds to continue adding chips to the Habsburg Monarchy and the New Austrian Kingdom.
They decided to increase the number of immigrants from the two countries to 50,000 in 1936, which would add up to 100,000 people.
In this way, the Habsburg Monarchy and the New Kingdom of Austria basically took shape as countries, and as this movement unfolded, a large number of immigrants and supplies began to dock in Togoland along with East African merchant ships.
This phenomenon soon attracted the attention of the French.
Dahomey, Porto-Novo.
Louis, the French governor of Dahomey, soon received this information.
At the Governor's Palace in Porto-Novo, Louis asked his subordinates, "East African merchant ships have been active in the Gulf of Guinea recently, with Togoland as their destination. Do you know the specific reason?"
Many people looked at each other in confusion at Louis's question. At this time, Eluwa, a French official from the port of Cotonou in Dahomey, stood up.
"Your Excellency, Governor, I do have some information about recent activities in East Africa. The crews of some merchant ships in Cotonou Port said that East Africa has been very active along the entire west coast of Africa recently."
"Warships, transport vessels and merchant ships have been more active than usual from Western Sahara, south of Morocco, to the Gulf of Guinea, and across East Africa."
"Although I don't know what East Africa is doing, my guess is that East Africa must be strengthening its layout across West Africa."
"It's no secret that a military base is being built in Western Sahara, East Africa. However, they've also increased their investment in Togoland during this period. Combining these two pieces of information, we must be vigilant."
"If East Africa really targets West Africa, or even wants to expand its influence in West Africa, then our situation will undoubtedly be the most dangerous. After all, France has the greatest interests in West Africa, and Togoland in East Africa is right next to several of our colonies."
"So, we should act immediately to investigate any major East African activities in Togoland, and the colonial governments governing Upper Volta and Niger, and have them join the investigation and report back to mainland China."
Eluar's words immediately made Louis and other French officials in Dahomey nervous. In West Africa, the only country that could put pressure on France was East Africa.
As for Britain, they are unlikely to confront France in West Africa, at least they will not threaten France's core interests in West Africa.
On the one hand, France has greater advantages in West Africa. On the other hand, Britain needs France as its ally in Europe to curb Germany's development. In the international community, France and Britain also need to advance and retreat together to maintain the common interests of the two countries in the international order.
Moreover, it is precisely because of East Africa's strength in Africa that Britain and France have formed a community in West Africa similar to the one in Europe to jointly deal with the German threat.
Louis frowned and said, "If that's the case, then we're in big trouble. Although there's only one Togoland colony in Africa, it's very close to the East African mainland and can easily receive support from the East African mainland."
"Let alone East Africa itself, I'm afraid that Upper Volta, Niger, and our several colonial governments, combined, are not enough to defeat the Togoland colony in East Africa alone."
"The population structure of East Africans in Togoland is completely different from ours. The people in their colonies can basically be considered East Africans, while in our colonies, there are very few French people, and those natives cannot be trusted."
As the governor of French Dahomey, Louis knew very well that the three French colonies near Togoland seemed to be larger in number and territory, but this was completely meaningless to these French colonies.
Because all the European whites in the three colonies added up to only a few thousand people, and if you count the French alone, there are less than two thousand, and the remaining millions are all local indigenous people.
According to their estimates, the population of Togoland in East Africa should be between hundreds of thousands and several million, but the people in the East African colonies are basically all East Africans.
(End of this chapter)
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