Chapter 465： Buy and draw (1/2)

The negotiations between the three countries soon reached an impasse. The French demanded the annexation of Italy, and Austria proposed the merger of the German Federation. This was not acceptable to the British.

In this way, it is equivalent to releasing two great empires at the same time. Although France and Austria are originally great empires, the British still do not want to see the two countries continue to grow.

If both France and Austria complete their respective strategic plans, Britain's world supremacy will be unstable.

You know, France and Austria have never formally acknowledged the British hegemony, and there have always been voices challenging the British hegemony within the two countries.

It is not 20 years ago. At that time, the total British industry exceeded the total of Europe. The absolute gap in national strength made the British dominate.

However, with the completion of the industrial revolution, this gap has gradually narrowed. Relying on the advantages of human resources, the total amount of industry in Austria is now almost on par with the British.

The French are not much worse than the British. It is estimated that after the annexation of Italy, France's total industry will be able to surpass the British in three or five years.

This is the advantage of large area and large population. Although it is still less than per capita, it can't stand more people!

Austria's native population is already as high as 69.76 million, which can pass the 70 million mark within the year; once France annexes Italy, the total population will exceed 54 million.

The total population of the British Isles is only over 32 million. Their birth rate is about 3.5%, far exceeding that of France, but lower than Austria.

This gap will not be seen in the short term, and the consequences will be catastrophic over time.

There will never be a shortage of smart people in this world. Naturally, some people can see the impact of population on national strength.

It is just that many people in the London government have been taken aback by Malthus's ”Population Theory”, neglecting the advancement of productivity in the industrial age and the advent of the colonial era, which increased the population capacity.

The Irish famine happened under this theory. The government bureaucrats believed that there were enough people in the British Isles and deliberately waited to see the famine happen.

This theory is actually true. The population that land can hold is really limited, but Malthus was a man of the last century, calculated according to feudal standards.

The industrial era is different. According to estimates by Austrian population experts, the local population can be doubled, and the colonies can support 200 million people.

Franz Franz is not clear, anyway, he directly used this number, otherwise how to encourage fertility?

Of course, there are few British people, mainly because the local population is small, not to say that there are fewer British people. There are still a lot of English people overseas, otherwise the colonial empire will not be able to support it.

The deadlock in the negotiations was everyone's expectation. The alliance between the major powers involves too many benefits, and it is not clear in a short time. It is normal to drag in for several years.

The alliance between France and Austria actually dragged on for many years. As early as after the French Revolution in 1848, both sides were discussing this issue.

Midway because the French regime changed, the alliance was also interrupted. In the late 1960s, with the continuous changes in the international situation, it provided opportunities for France and Austria to move closer.

Negotiations are back to negotiations, and the black hands should be played, but everyone has tacitly converged.

Franz cancelled plans to occupy British South Africa, and the British abandoned their strategy of uniting Portugal to drive Austria out of South Africa.

But the battle continues around the two Boer republics. Now it cannot be said that it is a Boer republic. Unconsciously, German has become the local mainstream.

No need to promote, even if the number of people speaking is mainstream. The governments of the two Boer republics are also helpless, and they do not want this, but there is no way.

Since the birth of the Boer people, it has been full of strong German flavor and cannot be washed away at all.

There is no way, even the Netherlands in this era was deeply influenced by Germanic culture, let alone their mixed race?

In 1830, about 12,000 Dutch were unwilling to accept British rule, and relocated to establish two Boer republics.

To increase their population, they accepted European immigrants. About ten thousand immigrants from the German region arrived in more than ten years, and some French missionaries came over, so the Boer people were born.

By the mid-19th century, the total population of the two Boer republics exceeded 30,000.

Beginning in 1856, the history of the Boer Republic changed, and a large influx of German immigrants changed the demographics of these two countries.

It was impossible to exclude German immigrants. At that time, half of the Boers had German descent, and if they were not good, they had civil strife.

Then assimilation is good, despite the efforts of the governments of the two Boer Republics, they still cannot withstand the immigration from Germany.

In the end, the assimilation was successful, but contrary to the original plan. As the conflict between Britain and India increased, the two Boer republics that needed to hold their thighs had to move closer to Austria.

Political changes, the two Boer Republican governments directly abandoned the original plan, and German became mainstream.

The situation has reached this stage, the two Boer republics have become German states, and the Austrian rivers will sooner or later.

Franz attaches great importance to South Africa, aside from fertile land, gold alone is an indispensable part of Austria's future strategy.

No one will give up currency hegemony. The British are tinkering with the ”sterling-gold system”, the French are building a ”franc system”, and Austria is no exception. They are establishing the ”Aegis-gold system”.

Who can become the final winner depends not only on industry, but also on who has a large amount of gold in his hands. Not enough gold, what gold standard hegemony is still in contention?

This has nothing to do with ambition. Franz was initially unprepared to compete with the British for currency hegemony, but with the development of strength, interest is forcing Austria to move forward.

Even if the government does not move, capital will move by itself. Now that the international currency hegemony has not yet reached the point of view, the financial capital of the three countries is about to become popular.

Unlike the struggle for world hegemony, the battle for currency hegemony is much more subtle, and ordinary people have not even noticed that the battle has begun.