Holy Roman Empire - Chapter 497

Chapter 497: Chapter 70, The Frenchman Who Wants to Stop Losses
 

“`

The scaled-down version of the African railway network plan was ready. Guided by the principle of frugality, except for the central government funding half of the main lines, other branch line constructions would be left to the colonial governments to figure out.

Main lines were a strategic necessity, connecting the colonies into a single entity and increasing their risk resistance. Even in the event of a world war, Austria could retain its hold on the African Continent.

Not to mention, just the gold mines in the South African region alone justified the construction of this railway. Keeping the prying eyes of other nations at bay required real power.

The Portuguese people dared not align with the British, simply because John Bull did not offer enough incentives to make the risk worthwhile. Should significant gold mines be discovered in South Africa, would they still be able to restrain their desires?

Frankly, in this era, colonies were merely another form of wealth. For the Portuguese, as long as the profits were substantial, even if they lost other colonial regions as a consequence of Austrian retaliation, it would still be worthwhile.

Otherwise, why would Franz bother fighting the British in the South African region? If the Vienna Government merely announced the annexation of the Boer Republic, Governor Derfu was not foolish; how could he possibly continue the war?

The greatest value of the Anglo-Ebura War was to soberly remind the London Government that they truly were not up to par in land warfare.

As for the Cape Town Colonial Government, it would likely take decades for them to emerge from the shadow of this war.

Once the railway is connected, even if the gold mine reserves are exposed, the Cape Town Colonial Government wouldn’t have the audacity to cause trouble, such is the effect of war.

It also dampens the fighting will of the London Government. Austria, once united, could easily mobilize hundreds of thousands of troops, making the cost of seizing gold mines from Austrian hands prohibitively high, beyond their resilience threshold.

All in all, Franz’s attention to the African Continent had surpassed that of Europe; in his view, it represented Austria’s future.

There was no choice; expansion in the European Continent was too difficult. Without the African colonies, the European Continent would not have seen such peace over the years, and Franz would have instigated troubles long ago.

Without even mentioning anything else, given the longstanding grudges between the Habsburg dynasty and the Ottoman Empire, they would never have survived to this day.

In the original timeline, Austria didn’t act against them because of its inadequate strength. Through diplomatic blunders, coupled with intense domestic political struggles, they repeatedly faced military failures on the European Continent, barely managing to protect themselves.

It was the opening of the Austro-African colonies and the sufficiency of resources within them that deterred Franz from instigating wars in the European Continent.

It was a question of investment return. In the original timeline, none of the belligerents of World War I emerged victorious; all were severely weakened, ultimately benefiting the fisherman.

World War II was even more devastating, with participating European nations suffering not just severe weaknesses but almost total annihilation, leaving only France, which narrowly escaped disaster.

The risks involved were too great, and the rewards too small. After all, territory on the European Continent was not easy to assimilate—choking on it would signal the end.

Just look at the French, who, in their effort to assimilate the Italian Area, had to concentrate their resources, even impacting their overseas colonial expansion activities.

The most likely clash between France and Austria on the African Continent hasn’t shown any signs of happening. Influenced by the strategic shift, France’s expansion rate in the African Continent has greatly reduced, leaving enough buffer between the two countries.

The land on the African Continent is limited, and with the French expansion slowing down, Austria naturally would not hold back.

Even if the two countries divided their areas of influence, without satellite maps in this era and the African Continent being so vast, it was difficult to define clear boundaries even if borders were pushed forward by one or two hundred miles.

A line on a map led to significant errors when translated to actual borders. Luckily, most of the border areas between the two countries were vast deserts, otherwise the French territory would have significantly shrunk already.

It was not just Austria taking the opportunity to grab land; the British were intensifying their infiltration into the Sudan area. Had it not been for the sudden outbreak of the Anglo-Ebura War, which occupied the focus of both Anglo-Austrian countries, the French might not have been able to hold on to their interests in Sudan.

Of course, with the alliance of England, France, and Austria, these issues would gradually fade as everyone would exercise as much restraint as possible.

In Paris, following the French government’s decision for strategic contraction, the forces invested here also weakened. Now, they are unable to suppress the situation in Mexico.

Napoleon III is now quite troubled, hesitating whether or not to give up the Mexican Empire. The decision is difficult to make, as the French government has invested too much in Mexico over recent years, and to give it up directly would truly be a waste.

If Austria had not refrained from expanding its influence into Mexico, Napoleon III might even suspect that Maximilian I was a spy sent by the Habsburg dynasty, specifically to create trouble for France.

Of course, this thought was fleeting. From the perspective of family interests, if the Habsburg dynasty had any interest in Mexico, they would not have allowed Maximilian I to establish an outsider as Crown Prince.

When Napoleon III first received this news, he was stunned by this baffling move; he even speculated whether Maximilian I had a secret illegitimate child abroad.

“`

In his view, even if members of the direct line of the Habsburg Family had no interest in the Mexican throne, abducting a collateral member to establish as the heir was still better than supporting an outsider for the position.

If not for the weak influence of the Bonaparte family, unable to secure the recognition of the Constitutionalists in the country, Napoleon III would have supported one of his own from the beginning.

Napoleon III regretted it, had he known Maximilian I would be this incompetent, he wouldn’t have supported this fool for the throne.

A portly elder gentleman well into his sixties saw the Emperor’s distress. After all, it was Napoleon III who had spearheaded this political investment; now that they had to give up on Mexico, the Emperor certainly couldn’t be the one to propose it.

“Your Majesty, our investment in Mexico has already failed, and continuing to pour in more might not even recover the costs. What we need to do now is cut our losses.

Now that the tripartite alliance is in place, we can intimidate the Americans. We need to find a buyer quickly to take over and strive to sell at a good price.”

Selling off Mexico’s interests was indeed a good choice, at least better than a total loss.

To eradicate the Mexican rebel army, the French had already lost tens of thousands of soldiers and plunged over a billion Francs into loans.

This loss was almost on par with what the British suffered in the Anglo-Ebura War. However, input doesn’t guarantee returns; the more the Mexican rebel army was suppressed, the more it grew, and the situation continued to deteriorate.

After pondering for a while, Napoleon III, puzzled, asked, “Mexico isn’t even our colony yet, the situation continues to deteriorate, who can we sell our interests there to?

Spain is embroiled in a civil war due to a succession dispute, so they can’t intervene with Mexico now; the British are too calculating to offer a high price; the Austrians, focusing their overseas colonial strategy on the African Continent, are not interested in Mexico.

The remaining countries either lack the strength to take over or are too poor to even consider the offer—they would balk at the cost even if it were given away.”

This was the crux of the issue— if they were all incapable of controlling the situation, who else could they hope would take it off their hands?

No one is a fool, anyone who understands Mexico’s situation knows it’s a mess, and wouldn’t leap into this pitfall.

Pausing, as if struck by a thought, Napoleon III angrily admonished, “Marquis Fickel, don’t tell me it’s the Americans? That’s impossible.

We could sell to any country, but never to the United States of America or the United States; that was agreed upon in the Four Nations Convention.

If we breach the treaty, we would face sanctions from the other three nations, and the newly formed British-French-Austrian tripartite alliance would crumble instantly!”

In containing the Americans, the stance of the British-French-Austrian tripartite alliance was unanimous. Today’s France is a responsible great power and cannot act rashly.

To dismantle the tripartite alliance over a bit of money was not within Napoleon III’s shortsightedness.

He was acutely aware of the diplomatic predicaments facing France; on the surface, relations were healed, but the ostracism by other European countries was ever-present behind closed doors.

Especially after annexing the Italian Area, their days had been tough. If the tripartite alliance were breached, the Anglo-Austrian countries would definitely seek retribution, and there might be another Anti-French Alliance.

Seeing Napoleon III’s anger, the elder immediately shut his mouth. He had done his part considering the money from the Americans. If the Emperor did not agree, there was nothing he could do; he could not become involved himself.

Sensing Marquis Fickel’s plea for help, Finance Minister Allen spoke up to defuse the situation, “Your Majesty is correct, Mexico must not fall into the hands of the Americans.

However, the issue of Mexico must also be resolved quickly; if we delay further, our losses will only increase.

I personally suggest, whoever accepts the Mexican Empire, as long as they can guarantee the normal fulfillment of our debts with the Mexican Government, can get our interests in the region.”

Clearly, Finance Minister Allen was lucid; he was very aware that with Mexico’s chaotic situation, they couldn’t possibly sell for a good price. If they could just ensure that debts were serviced, it would be a godsend.

Even then he wasn’t very hopeful, because there were too few at this time willing to take on the role—unless they risked falling out with the Anglo-Austrian countries by bringing in the Americans, it was nearly impossible to find such a big sucker.

The debt owed by the Mexican Government to France was no small amount; with Mexico’s fiscal revenue, they would need decades to repay even without any expenses.

After reflecting for a moment, Napoleon III said, “The Foreign Ministry should immediately make contact with the various European countries to probe who might be interested in taking over the Mexican Empire.

We can’t afford to care too much anymore; we don’t seek to sell for a high price, we just need to sell quickly, to avoid a complete loss.”