Chapter 52 - Trieste, December 15, 1866

Chapter 52 - Trieste, December 15, 1866

Trieste, the most important port of the Austrian Empire. Since the end of the Austro-Prussian War, Austria ceded Venice to Italy through France, and Trieste automatically became the most important port of the soon-to-be-established Austro-Hungarian Empire (February 1867). The Austrian government is currently negotiating with the Hungarian Magyar nobility, and both sides are fiercely debating rights and obligations. In February of the following year, they reached a compromise, granting the Magyar nobility the same rights as Austria, but the Magyars must ensure that Hungary remains within the empire. This resulted in the dual monarchy.

Trieste became the shipbuilding and commercial shipping hub of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. It had fought a two-century-long war with Venice, but the locals later sought protection from the Habsburgs and were incorporated into the Austrian Empire. Since then, it has always been a core territory of Austria. Trieste actually has its own dialect, but due to the increasing presence of Italians, Venice's temporary prosperity, and the influence of Italian culture in Europe, speaking Italian became the mainstream.

After World War I, Italy annexed Trieste, claiming that it spoke Italian. As a result, Austria lost Trieste, which had been under its rule for five hundred years. This was truly ancient land, highlighting the inefficiency and incompetence of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Today, the city still retains a strong Viennese style, and many people speak German. If the Austrian government had promoted German education here, Austria would not have become a landlocked country after World War I. However, Trieste later transformed from the jewel of the Austro-Hungarian Empire to an unremarkable city in Italy.

This shows the power of cultural influence. Originally, Trieste spoke its local dialect, but after centuries of dealings with Italian states (especially Venice), it ended up speaking Italian and was eventually annexed by Italy. This is also the reason why Ernst wanted to reform the immigration education in East African colonies. If you successfully shape the identity of immigrants, the East African colonies will be full of "Germans" in the future.

Today, Trieste is directly connected to Austria's capital, Vienna. A railway line connecting Trieste to Vienna was completed in 1857. Backed by the entire Austro-Hungarian Empire as an economic hinterland, Trieste became the third-largest city in the empire, after Vienna and Prague. As the empire's largest seaport, Trieste was responsible for the supply of coal and the transportation of goods, and it was also the headquarters of the Austro-Hungarian Navy. It was called the "Blue Coast of the Austro-Hungarian Empire." At that time, Trieste was one of the largest cities in Europe and the world.

However, after it came under Italian control, Trieste became a frontier city and lost its economic hinterland. It became insignificant among Italy's other ports, and many Italians didn't even know about the city. Future generations would only learn of Trieste from Churchill's Iron Curtain speech, where he said, "From the port of Szczecin on the Baltic Sea to Trieste on the Adriatic, an Iron Curtain has descended across Europe."

...Ernst walked through the streets of Trieste, now considered half a son-in-law of the Habsburg family, and was in a good position to make investments within the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Trieste was one of his targets, and he planned to establish a center for East African long-distance trade fleets there. Although Venice and Trieste had overlapping functions, Ernst still wanted to diversify, placing eggs in two baskets. After all, Venice and the Austro-Hungarian Empire were now two different countries. If goods were sent from Austria to Venice, Italy would impose an additional tax. Therefore, the shipbuilding factory would remain in Venice, but the fleet would be redirected to Trieste for development.

Ernst's choice of Trieste was based on economic reasons and the need to bring in population to the East African colonies. The issue of white immigration had always troubled Ernst. It was difficult to persuade Germans from Prussia to move to East Africa, as their education level (compared to other parts of Europe) was high. Moreover, Prussia was thriving, offering more opportunities, so fewer people were interested in moving abroad. Those who went to the Americas were either attracted by its earlier development and better environment or were criminals and outcasts who couldn't make a living in Prussia. These were the kind of people who wouldn't fit in with East Africa's colonies.

On the other hand, the Austro-Hungarian Empire was on a downward trajectory, with its national power slipping. The degree of industrialization was low, and ethnic conflicts were severe, giving Ernst the chance to recruit. The population of the Austro-Hungarian Empire was second only to Tsarist Russia and Germany (which was now excluded from Germany), and the education level of the people was much lower than that of Germany, but slightly higher than Tsarist Russia's. Many illiterate peasants existed, and this provided an opportunity for Ernst to reshape their cultural identity through education. These peasants, lacking education, were the ideal immigrants for the East African colonies.

Illiterate peasants, at any time, had the greatest reproductive ability, and since there was no possibility of increasing land in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, combined with the exploitation by the local nobility, these peasants had few choices. They could either move to the cities to work, but the Austro-Hungarian industrial capacity couldn't absorb so many people, and the harsh factory conditions weren't necessarily easier than farming. Alternatively, they could rebel against the local nobility's exploitation, but with the conservative forces in power, the chances of success were near zero. The final option was to emigrate overseas, seeking job opportunities in other areas.

Unlike the educated people in Germany, who would view East Africa as a scam, the peasants of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, when told to go to East Africa, might first ask, "Where is East Africa?" At this point, Ernst would intensify his persuasion, painting East Africa as a paradise. He would find a few trustworthy people to convince them. After all, in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, these peasants had no land, no job prospects, and the best option seemed to be to try their luck overseas. These peasants were not as easily fooled as the Chinese immigrants, who had reached a dead end, but they were still in a difficult situation.

If you went back to when serfdom was still in place, it would have been even more difficult, because serfs were the personal property of the nobility, and to persuade them to emigrate, one would have had to deal with the local nobility. Now, the serf system had only recently been abolished. These peasants were no longer dependent on the nobility, and had to take care of everything themselves.

Without land, they could only continue to work for the nobles, but the population kept growing, and with the improvement of agricultural tools, fewer people were needed for farming. So, the landless peasants moved to cities, seeking work in the industrial sector, but with the limited industrialization in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, there weren't enough jobs to accommodate all of them.

Ernst then organized his company to recruit in various cities within the Austro-Hungarian Empire, convincing unemployed peasants to move to East Africa. Not only would they get paid, but food and accommodation were also provided. In the future, they could even return to Europe with the money they earned. Agricultural workers were still workers, and Ernst wasn't lying. They would indeed have food and shelter, although they would have to build their own houses and grow their own food. The wages were not much, but they could save some money. As for supporting a family, that was a different matter, but it was an opportunity. He encouraged entire families to move to the East African colonies. The colonies would provide free education for their children.

As for returning to Europe, that was indeed possible. After four or five years, there was hope. After all, the merchant ships of the East African colonies only carried passengers in one direction, and there were only a few ships. If they wanted to return to Europe on another country's ship, the price of a ticket wasn't cheap, and they wouldn't be able to save enough for a return trip without working for four or five years in the East African colonies.

In the East African colonies, they could only make ends meet; wealth was out of the question. The East African colonies didn't have as many chaotic industries as the Americas, and there was no concept of entrepreneurship. The only valuable land belonged to the colonial government, so the kind of land acquisition and farm building that the Americans did in the West wasn't possible. However, the East African colonies did cover the cost of the immigrants' travel, which was better than going to the Americas, where the government wouldn't pay for the ocean crossing.

One of the advantages of going to East Africa was that they would still be farming, which was their original job. If they went to the Americas, they would have to work as unskilled laborers, but in East Africa, they would be doing something they already knew how to do. No one could deceive them, and the conditions would never be as bad as when they were serfs.

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