Chapter 1368 Rudolf's Population Plan

June 16, 1920.

Vienna.

This ancient European city is no longer as prosperous as it used to be.

The streets are bleak, and the once bustling stores have become quiet and lonely. Pedestrians wear masks and rush around, but dare not communicate too much.

The number of military and police in Vienna is also significantly greater than usual. They are responsible for maintaining the operation of the city. In addition to epidemic prevention work, the military and police in Vienna are also responsible for resisting small-scale riots that may occur in the city and monitoring outsiders.

From time to time, you can see houses sealed with white seals, indicating potential risks here. Once someone approaches, they will be driven away by uniformed patrols.

Most of these houses are quarantine areas for severely infected people, so they are the focus of attention.

For the Austro-Hungarian Empire, an ancient European traditional power, the empire has re-entered a period of disaster since 1914.

This can be seen from Vienna today. After the start of the World War, Vienna fell into a state of panic. It finally survived until the end of the war, but waited for the outbreak of the European influenza in 1920.

The impact of the plague on Vienna even exceeded that of the war. Even during the war, Vienna always belonged to the rear, and Vienna was still full of red lights and wine, but the plague had no spatial restrictions. Most areas of the empire were affected, especially densely populated areas such as Vienna, which became a breeding ground for the plague.

The imperial crown prince Rudolf sat in the car seat, frowning through the car window, watching the disaster that swept the entire empire.

"How is the disaster situation in Vienna now?" Rudolf asked.

Conrad, the Prime Minister of the Empire, said in the co-pilot seat: "Report to Your Highness, the number of people infected by the epidemic in Vienna is at least more than 30%. Most of them have been infected with the plague, but most of them have recovered. However, from February to now, the death toll in Vienna has exceeded 170,000."

170,000 people are not many for Vienna, which has a population of more than 2 million, but this data is already very scary, which means that the mortality rate of European influenza in Vienna exceeds 7%, which is obviously higher than that in East Africa.

However, this is understandable. East Africa's strictness in the field of health is already ahead of most countries in the world, and because it is far away from Europe, it is not as affected by the plague as the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

Secondly, the war has had a certain impact on the epidemic prevention work of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Although the war is over now, all fields of the Austro-Hungarian Empire have been affected to varying degrees during the war.

Today, the recovery of the Austro-Hungarian Empire's industry is very slow. If it were not for the assistance of East Africa, the Austro-Hungarian Empire might not even be able to produce sufficient epidemic prevention materials.

"I don't know when this damn plague will end, damn French!" Rudolf said with gritted teeth.

Now most European countries are well aware that the so-called European flu is likely to have originated in France. However, thanks to the public opinion advantage accumulated by the French over a long period of time, the whole of Europe can only take the blame for France.

France has long been the cultural and communication center of Europe, an important maker and participant of the old order, so it has a profound influence in Europe.

This influence is lacking in other European countries. Even Britain may not have more say than France in this regard. Of course, if it is expanded to the world, it will definitely not be better than Britain.

Conrad said: "Now even if we point out that the plague originated in France, it will not help. After all, the plague is likely to be caused by war, so Germany will also help France cover up the source of the plague in this regard."

After all, the most suspected source of the plague is the Western Front, and the armies of various countries participated in the Western Front, especially Germany and France as the main forces.

Rudolf sighed and said, "The death toll in the entire empire has exceeded one million in this plague, which is even more terrible than war."

The more populous the city, the greater the impact it suffered in this round of European flu. However, the good news is that the urbanization level of the Austro-Hungarian Empire is relatively low among the great powers, only higher than Japan and Spain.

This has reduced the losses of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in the plague to a certain extent, but Rudolf is obviously not happy about this.

He said: "In this plague, economically developed and densely populated areas are more vulnerable to the impact. Therefore, in the early stage, the pressure on us in Austria is greater than that in Hungary and other regions. Thinking of this gives me a headache. The population and ethnic structure issues are one of the root causes of the internal contradictions in the empire today. This plague may further aggravate this contradiction."

Conrad has a different view on this. He said to Rudolf: "Your Highness, don't worry too much about this. According to the current trend of the plague, it can be basically determined that no one in the entire Europe will be spared."

"And the medical conditions in Hungary and other regions are more backward than Austria. The losses in other regions of this plague will only be more serious than Austria."

Both the monarch and the minister are Austrians, or Germans. For the long-term stability of the empire, they naturally hope that there will be more Germans in the empire.

It should be mentioned here that Conrad was promoted by Rudolf to become the new prime minister of the empire. Now Emperor Franz has basically become the mascot of the empire and no longer participates in the politics of the empire.

In other words, since the middle of the war, Crown Prince Rudolf has become the actual controller of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

Rudolf is now an old man in his sixties. After experiencing World War I, he has become more mature and stable. Of course, he has also become more cold-blooded and black-bellied.

When he was young, Rudolf was rebellious and sympathetic to the people in the empire. Now, Rudolf lives more and more like his father, Emperor Franz.

Crown Prince Rudolf said: "My father used to maintain the balance within the empire by relying on superb checks and balances, but as time goes by, this balance is becoming more and more difficult to maintain. The empire has missed the best opportunity to integrate the national ideology. If we can't solve this problem, the Austro-Hungarian Empire may be annihilated in the long river of history at any time."

At this point, Rudolf's tone became a little heavy, and a trace of ruthlessness flashed in his eyes, saying: "We must adopt some subtle policies and means to help the empire overcome this difficulty."

Rudolf's overall idea is naturally to increase the number of Germans in the empire, and it would be best if the Germans can truly become the main ethnic group of the empire.

However, the difficulty is also very great, and it can even be said that the possibility of resolution is slim. The key point is that the birth rate of Germans in the empire is relatively low.

The birth rate in Austria is lower than that in Hungary and other places, which is obviously easy to further shake the foundation of Habsburg's rule.

However, Hungary is not actually the Habsburg's confidant. From an objective point of view, Hungary is actually a more determined royalist than Austria. This is mainly because Hungary's relatively backward economy makes its resistance to monarchy less intense than Austria.

This is also one of the contradictions within the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The Austro-Hungarian Empire was glued together by the Habsburgs, but the interests of the empire were not completely consistent with those of the Habsburg family.

Rudolf had no idea how to resolve this contradiction. Any operation might backfire, so Rudolf's attitude towards Hungary was relatively contradictory.

Of course, Hungary cannot be disposed of at will, which does not mean that other regions are the same. As the territory and population gained in World War I were digested, the number of Slavs in the Austro-Hungarian Empire increased further.

And Rudolf also wanted to use this as a breakthrough to solve the ethnic problems of the empire.

Rudolf said: "Now, we need to speed up the de-Slavicization of residents in the new territory, and at the same time make good use of our advantages to increase the number of mixed-blood German population as much as possible."

"The Kingdom of Dalmatia is a good example. Although they have Far Eastern ancestry and look very different from other people in the empire, these outsiders are also more likely to be Germanized."

This is actually the fanaticism of converts. East Africa and the Kingdom of Dalmatia in the Austro-Hungarian Empire have this phenomenon. These mixed-blood Germans who joined the "German" family halfway attach more importance to their current identity than pure-blooded Germans themselves.

Of course, the situation in the Kingdom of Dalmatia is more intense than that in East Africa. After all, the ethnic and cultural integration of East Africa has been completed, while the mixed-blood Germans in Dalmatia seem incompatible with the surrounding areas.

To the north are Croatians and Slovenes, to the east are Serbs, and to the south are Montenegrins. It can be said that except for the Adriatic Sea in the west, the mixed-blood Germans in the Kingdom of Dalmatia are surrounded by Slavs.

This also made the mixed-blood Germans in the Kingdom of Dalmatia more loyal and patriotic, which was reflected in the First World War. From the beginning to the end, the mixed-blood Germans in the Kingdom of Dalmatia showed a higher war blood than other regions in the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

And this kind of loyalty and patriotism is spontaneous. Since the Allies blocked the Suez Canal and Gibraltar, East Africa, the black hand behind the original support of the Kingdom of Dalmatia, quietly ended.

No mistakes, one post, one content, one 6, one 9, one book, one bar!

Today, the Kingdom of Dalmatia has completely become a new political entity in the Austro-Hungarian Empire. In fact, if the pure-blooded Germans in the Austro-Hungarian Empire are willing to accept them, there is almost no difference between the two.

As for the Kingdom of Dalmatia, Prime Minister Conrad frowned and said: "The new Kingdom of Dalmatia is indeed easier to Germanize, but after all, they..."

The Kingdom of Dalmatia was originally a subordinate kingdom of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, but the main ethnic groups in the Kingdom of Dalmatia were Romanians and Serbs.

Taking advantage of the First World War, the mixed-blood Germans, or the black households that were stuffed into the region by East Africa, not only naturally became the new main residents of the Kingdom of Dalmatia, but also successfully mastered the local discourse power. This is why the Kingdom of Dalmatia was called the "New Kingdom of Dalmatia" by Conrad.

It's no wonder that Conrad has prejudice against the new Kingdom of Dalmatia, after all, Conrad is a pure German.

Rudolf certainly knew Conrad's concerns, so he explained: "Although this kind of mixed-blood Germans look out of place, for the national conditions of the empire, we must accept them as a member of Germany."

"Otherwise, just based on the fertility situation in Austria, if there is no fresh blood to supplement, the concept of Germany in the future may naturally die out in the empire."

"Back then, the empire lost the opportunity to assimilate Hungary, Croatia, Slovenia and other regions because of this prejudice and arrogance. We can't let the Kingdom of Dalmatia become a new political force like Hungary and other nations in the future."

Because of economic development, the fertility rate of Germans in the Austro -Hungarian Empire is low, while Dal Martia's mixed -race Germans have a high fertility rate. In addition to being influenced by the traditional thinking of the Far East Empire, the main reason is that Dalma Tia's economic level is not high.

After all, the basic conditions of the Dal Martia kingdom are poor. If it wasn't for the original investment of East Africa, there would be no poor industry at the moment.

Rudorf went on to say: "Although East Africa's original behavior was very despicable, I have to say that the high fertility rate of hybrid morals is very eye -catching."

"If the traditional German group in the empire can also have such a high fertility rate, then I don't need to worry about the problems of the main ethnic group."

As a mixed -race virtue of Dal Martia, as a foreigner, it can develop to a population of nearly one million in decades and become the main ethnic group of the Dal Martia region, which is almost a miracle.

If the Germans of the Austro -Hungarian Empire have this consciousness, the number of Germans of the empire has been several times that of the number of virtues, even if it doubles, the German population in the Austro -Hungarian Empire can reach more than 20 million. The total population of the Austro -Hungarian Empire was only more than 50 million.

However, the fertility rate is not better than Hungary and Mrs. Slaw.

Conrad said: "There is always the upper limit of population growth, after all, the place of the Dal Martia kingdom is so small."

And Conrad's remarks not only did not persuade Rudorf, but made Rudolph's eyes shine, with new ideas.

He said: "Since Dar Martia's mixed -race virtue is so capable, we should encourage this situation even more. At the same time, we support these mixed -race virtues to Venice, Croatia, Persia," through various policies. "

The reason why Rudorf puts Venice first is that Venice is currently the most promising in areas where Germanization is most hopeful and strategic and economic value is very important.

Venice is a passage connecting the Austrian and Archai Sea. The problem of going out of the sea alone, Rudorf hopes that Venice can become part of Austria.

Moreover, another benefit of integrating Venice is that the population fertility rate of Venice is not enough, which is still severely damaged by the local population.

During the Olympic War, a large number of Venice Italians had greatly reduced the Venice's population in order to avoid war to immigrate overseas.

Because of geographical advantages, Venice has always been very good in the Austro -Hungarian Empire because of its geographical advantages, which has also made Venice's fertility rate not boost, although the Austro -Hungarian Empire did not want Venice's Italians to give birth.

Rudorf said: "We can completely turn Dal Martia into a fertility base for Germans, and then continue to encourage and support. The locals go to Venice to settle. In this way, the German population in Venice has further increased."

"Gradually replace the Italians and become the new main ethnic group of Venice, which can not only promote the integration of the population, but also stabilize our rule of Venice, avoid this most important outlet, and be taken away by the Italians again."

With the painful lesson of losing Venice in the last century, Rudolf naturally did not want historical to repeat itself, and the Austrian government has been banned from smuggling and immigration to Venice by residents of the Italian Peninsula.

When he heard the bold plan of Rudorf Emperor, Conrad did not oppose it, but carefully thought about the feasibility. After all, the plan of Rudorf was really feasible.