Chapter 601: No longer the protagonist (1/2)
After some research and discussion, Franz finally came up with an unexpected answer-the British couldn't stand it.
This ”unable to support” does not mean that the British are about to die. In fact, the British Empire is at its peak. No one can threaten their world empire.
It's just that the colonial empire is essentially for making money. Now there are too many international conflicts. Countries stab each other and dig holes, which greatly increases the cost of colonial maintenance.
The investment is getting larger and larger, but the gains have not increased simultaneously, and sometimes because of turmoil. In this context, it is not surprising that the London government wants to stop this unnecessary struggle and reduce the cost of colonization.
There was also a colonial conference (Berlin Conference) in the original time and space, but it was brought up by the Belgians. Leopold II successfully used the contradictions between the powers to successfully get the Congo region.
Now that the Congo region has fallen into the hands of Austria early, the African continent is almost divided up, and Leopold II will naturally not do useless work.
The Berlin conference is not going to happen now, and the major colonial empires still lack an opportunity to communicate in depth and mediate conflicts.
Although Britain, France, Austria and the three countries formed an alliance, they only reached an agreement on the core issue. As for the details of each colony, we have not had time to discuss it.
Don't look at the three major countries occupying an advantage in the partition of the colonies, just think that they can do whatever they want, in fact, the major colonial empires are not easy to mess with.
Perhaps their military strength is not as good as that of the Three Kingdoms, but they can still do it secretly with a knife, such as spreading nationalism and supporting the colonial independence movement.
The recent upsurge of colonies is the best proof. If anyone counts, the number of uprisings in the colonies is increasing year by year.
If this situation continues, no one should want to make money happily. Especially the British, who have the most colonies, have the highest cost of domination.
The Vienna government's feeling is not obvious. It was caused by Austria's colonial policy and special geographical environment.
Although Austria's colony area is not small, the indigenous population is not large. There are not many people. Where can I get messy again?
The rebellion that can be suppressed by the police is not worth mentioning at all. In contrast, the British are tragedy. Not only is the territory the largest, but the population is also the largest.
Nearly half of the colonial uprisings that have broken out in recent years have occurred in British colonies. The London government has no problem unless it is in a hurry.
This is the result of the hatred of the English people everywhere. On the surface, everyone dare not do anything to them, but stabbed secretly without pressure.
In addition, Austria alone invests millions of SHIELDs every year, which is used to export various doctrines and ideas, most of which are targeted at the British.
It is not that the London government did not fight back, the problem is that they could not find suitable chess pieces, otherwise the British would not make great efforts to keep the Ottoman Empire.
The British eat most of the colonial movement and offend the most. Now not only Austria, almost every major colonial empire in Europe is secretly doing small moves.
As long as no such evidence is found, apart from secret revenge, the London government is powerless on the bright side.
Even if they are trying to make excuses and exert diplomatic pressure on small countries, France and Austria will jump out of the round and let them vent nowhere.
This is a disadvantage of large numbers of people. The total population of the British colonies is as high as 450 million, the total population of the French colonies is only 40-50 million, and the total population of the Austrian colonies is less than 30 million.
In the colonial movement, the British received the most generous returns and also paid the highest cost of domination.
”Population is wealth” is not always correct. It also requires a process of transformation. Only by using the population can wealth be created.
There is no doubt that the British could not make use of so many people in the colonies. Otherwise, don't say Austria and the two countries, even if the European countries together, are not their opponents.
In colonial development, Austria was the most fully utilized labor force. This is not the start of Franz, nor is it how well the Vienna government manages it, it is entirely determined by the quality of the population.
The population of the Austrian colonies is small, but European immigrants and their descendants account for more than half of the total population.
This number is incomparable to Britain and France. The population base determines that they cannot afford so many immigrants. Without enough immigrants, local indigenous productivity is very backward, and the wealth created is naturally limited.
The French should feel this deepest. From the perspective of the financial revenue of the colonies alone, the French colonies have lost money for many years.
It's no surprise that the colonies lost money not only through the French family, but almost all colonial empires.
However, it usually starts at the beginning of colonial development, and after a certain degree of development, it will turn a profit, and only a few colonies have been losing money.
Austria is one of the representatives. At its peak, it lost tens of millions of SHIELDs every year. Even now, there are still many places that are losing money. Generally speaking, it has only achieved a balance of payments.
Of course, this is simply a calculation of the direct fiscal revenue of the colonial government. The situation changes if the colony adds to the domestic economy.
The English people hate it, that is, they occupy the most fertile land. Even the most backward methods of governance can make direct profits and earn more than everyone else.
In contrast, the French were tragedy. Compared with the same period in history, they carried out the ”Desert Empire” more thoroughly.