Chapter 1100 Mostar Hydropower Station

When East Africa entered the Third Five-Year Plan and continued to develop its own industry, other parts of the world were not peaceful, especially the contradictions among European countries were becoming increasingly acute, especially the game between Britain, France and Germany, and the secondary contradiction was reflected in the dispute between Austria-Hungary and Russia over the right to speak in the Balkan Peninsula.

The domestic problems of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and Russia were acute, which also made the Austro-Hungarian Empire and Russia the weak links in the chain of imperialism.

Yes, the Austro-Hungarian Empire was also listed by Ernst as equal to Russia. This can be seen from the results of the First World War in the previous life. There was a coup in Russia, but the new government at least kept most of its interests, while the Austro-Hungarian Empire was directly dismembered. The Austro-Hungarian Empire was the real biggest loser in the First World War.

So the Austro-Hungarian Empire and Russia can be said to be a match, and the dispute between the two countries in the Balkan Peninsula has a long history. They are natural competitors. If the old enemy of the two countries, the Ottoman Empire, had not weakened, perhaps they could have another table of "Dou Dizhu" in Central and Eastern Europe, forming two major European poker games with the Western European group of Britain, France and Germany.

Compared with the original history, since the failure of Italian unification, the Austro-Hungarian Empire is actually much stronger than the same period in history. At least the threat of western Italy no longer exists, allowing the Austro-Hungarian Empire to devote more energy to competing with Russia in the Balkans.

After the Russo-Japanese War, Russia lost face, which made the Austro-Hungarian Empire more arrogant in the Balkans. However, in general, Russia is still stronger than the horse, and Russia does not take the old rival of the Austro-Hungarian Empire seriously.

…

April 7, 1911.

Mostar, southwestern Bosnia, Austro-Hungarian Empire.

Today, a major project in Mostar was completed. The Mostar Hydropower Station, supported by East Africa, was completed on the Neretva River.

Kelefu, general manager of the newly established Mostar Hydropower Company, said happily in front of the completed Mostar Hydropower Station Dam: "The completion of the Mostar Hydropower Station will become a new economic development engine for our city, providing help for our city's power supply and industrial development."

Kelefu is a typical East African and one of the representatives of East African business groups in Bosnia, and most of his employees are locals.

However, unlike other places in Bosnia, the locals in Mostar are very peculiar, because more than 80% of the local population are Chinese, 17% are Croatians, and finally 3% are Serbs.

Therefore, among the workers participating in the construction of the Mostar Hydropower Station in front of Kelefu, except for a few East African technicians, they are mainly Chinese, and there are a small number of Croatians.

The original three major ethnic groups in Mostar were Ottomans, Croats and Serbs.

Mostar was once a border military town operated by the Ottoman Empire. After the Austro-Hungarian Empire controlled the Bosnia region, the Hechingen Consortium "cooperated" with the Austro-Hungarian army stationed in Mostar at the time to completely "green" this town with Ottoman characteristics. In addition, the Hechingen Consortium became the largest local landlord and further introduced immigrants from the Far Eastern Empire to the entire Neretva River valley.

Of course, the Far Eastern immigrants imported from East Africa to the local area at that time were actually "illegal households", and most of them "settled down" in the local area in the form of laborers hired by the Hechingen Consortium.

In the early days, East Africa mainly engaged in agriculture in the lower Neretva River valley. The local climate was Mediterranean and there was abundant water. Under the arrangement of the Hechingen Consortium, the Far Eastern immigrants opened farms and plantations in the local area. At that time, the Far Eastern immigrants were actually similar to Russian serfs.

Because the lower Neretva River valley belonged to the Austro-Hungarian Empire and the Ottoman Empire front, the local population was not large, and the terrain was relatively rugged and there were a lot of virgin forests, so it was not suitable for living.

This provided convenience for the Hexingen Consortium. With the support of a large number of cheap Far Eastern immigrant labor, the Hexingen Consortium continued to open up wasteland downstream along the Neretva River. After more than 30 years of development, the lower reaches of the Neretva River have actually become a prosperous area in Bosnia and Croatia.

This can be seen from the population situation in the lower reaches of the Neretva River. Today, the local population exceeds 630,000, of which Chinese account for 480,000, more than 70% of the local population, while the entire lower reaches of the Neretva River only account for more than 4,000 square kilometers.

This comparison shows the degree of prosperity of the local area under the support of East Africa. More than 4,000 square kilometers is basically equivalent to the size of a medium-sized prefecture-level city in the Far East Empire in the previous life (the average area of ​​prefecture-level cities in my country is about 28,000 square kilometers).

Such a small place has a population of more than 500,000, which is rare at least in the Balkans. You must know that the entire Serbian Kingdom has a population of more than 2 million and Bulgaria has a population of more than 4 million. Therefore, the lower reaches of the Neretva River are definitely densely populated areas under the governance of the Hexingen Consortium.

Why did East Africa support a pro-East African force here? It all started with East Africa's infiltration into Bosnia.

After the Austro-Hungarian Empire occupied Bosnia, East Africa had already begun to build a region similar to East Africa within the Austro-Hungarian Empire, but the work in Bosnia was not going smoothly at the time.

First of all, Bosnia is a country dominated by mountains and hills, and it is blocked by Croatia, so the transportation is not smooth.

So East Africa can only infiltrate the Neretva River basin from the Ploč Port in Croatia in the previous life.

The Neretva River was an important river in Bosnia and Croatia in the previous life, and the Ploč Port was next to the Neretva River.

The lower Neretva River valley from Ploč to Mostar constitutes a rare flat land in the border area between Bosnia and Croatia.

This is also the basis for the Hechingen Consortium to carry out the "enclosure movement" in the local area. It can be said that most of the areas except Mostar were basically developed by the Hechingen Consortium later.

Ploč was a port city in Croatia in the previous life, and Mostar was the fifth largest city in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and it was also the only way for Sarajevo to the Adriatic Sea.

As the second largest city in the region, the Ploč Port can be said to be independently developed and built by the Hechingen Consortium.

If East Africa had not intervened, the Ploč Port would probably have to be built in 1939 by the later Kingdom of Yugoslavia, just like in the previous life.

Mostar is different. Mostar is located at the intersection of the Dinaric Mountains and the Vranica Mountains. The Neretva River flows from here into the plain area downstream, so Mostar controls the flat and open river valley area in the lower reaches of the Neretva River.

It is also a battleground for military strategists in history. In the past, the important Battle of the Neretva River in World War II took place here. Controlling Mostar means that it is not far from Sarajevo, one of the most important cities in the Balkan Peninsula.

Sarajevo is close to Mostar, and the two places are separated by the Vranica Mountains, so the Neretva River Valley is the main channel for Bosnia and Serbia to the Adriatic Sea.

This also shows that East Africa’s layout for the local area is mainly between the port of Ploče and the city of Mostar, which is equivalent to cutting off the main transportation route between the inland area and the coast.

And East Africa’s infiltration into Bosnia was not smooth sailing. At least Ernst’s early idea of ​​controlling the economy of the entire Bosnia region was unrealistic.

The main reason is that Bosnia has a complex ethnic composition. It is the intersection of the three major religious forces of Catholicism, Orthodoxy and Arabism. It was also the center of competition among the three traditional European powers of the Ottoman Empire, Russia and Austro-Hungary. Sarajevo is the place with the most intense competition. It can be seen from the local population composition that Sarajevo is the main place where ethnic groups and religious believers live together.