Holy Roman Empire

The eternal theme of this world is only interests.There is a serious conflict of interest between Britain and France, and there is not enough external pressure. Naturally, it is impossible to truly unite.

The German and German empires in time, space and time put so much pressure on the French. The Parisian government would rather spend a lot of money to attract the Russians, and it was not enough to move closer to the British for the first time.

After the Franco-Prussian War, the Germans and the British became France's biggest enemies at the same time. In the following decades, the British and French wars almost broke out.

The German-French contradiction can surpass the British-French contradiction. It was because of the death of William II that the national sentiment that stimulated the French again and again was used by the British.

After realizing that the Germans threatened their own interests, the British proactively released goodwill to the French.

Even so, the Paris government hesitated for a long time before letting go of its face and becoming a little brother, otherwise the two sides would not be so easy to compromise.

Now it goes without saying that France, which is in the sky, can feel no threat. Why should it be a younger brother for the British?

Thinking of this, Franz was relieved.The most stable pattern is when the Anglo-French contradictions, the Anglo-Austrian contradictions, and the French-Austrian contradictions are intertwined.

In the case of serious conflicts of interest between each other, the three countries of Britain, France and Austria can sit together. It has to be said that diplomacy is really delicate.

When the external problems are over, it is the turn of the internal problems.In recent years, the Austrian economy seems to have flapped its wings and flourished through the east wind of the Second Industrial Revolution.

Not only Austria, but the economy of the entire European continent is booming. Taking the railway industry as an example, the total mileage of European railways increased by 58% from 1870 to 1875.

Among them, the Pobo Federation and the Russian Empire have the fastest growth rates, followed by the Greater France and the Nordic Federation. The British and Austrian railways developed earlier, and the growth rate has now tended to moderate.

Of course, this growth rate is related to the foundation. The slow growth rate of Austria does not mean that the mileage of railway construction is also less than that of other countries.

The growth rate of the Russians is the most unfavorable. Others are all growth percentages. They directly describe how many times the increase.

This is not because the Tsarist government has done a great job in building railways, mainly because the Russian railway industry has developed slowly.After the Russian-Russian War, the total length of the railway opened to the Russian Empire was less than 3,000 kilometers. It is really not difficult to double it.

In 1870, the total mileage of the local open-air railway exceeded 60,000 kilometers, and the base number was there, and the growth rate naturally slowed down.

The large railway plan proposed by Franz was no longer just a plan until now. After more than 20 years of efforts by the Vienna government, it is nearing the end.

Perhaps two decades ago, the 100,000 km railway was just a dream, but today the open railway + under construction railway in Austria has a total mileage of more than 100,000 km.

As of the end of 1875, the total mileage of Austrian domestic traffic was up to 76,000 kilometers, and within five years, the local railway mileage would exceed 100,000 kilometers.

Of course, in addition to the rapid development of the domestic economy, the main factors causing the data explosion are also the "African localization strategy."

As of now, as many as 23 cities and regions have been added to the mainland with the approval of the Imperial Parliament, and this part of the territory is close to a million square kilometers.

As the local area becomes larger, the demand for railways will naturally increase.The railways open to traffic in this part of the territory are close to 10,000 kilometers, and the railways under construction are up to 8,000 kilometers.

These data are strictly confidential, and once released, it will absolutely shock the world.

Of course, confidentiality is relative to ordinary people. It is not a secret for politicians. The railway lies there and cannot be hidden. It is easy to investigate if you want to know.

In this era, railways did not represent national power. Austria has the world's largest railway mileage, followed by not John Bull, nor France, but the United States of America.

If it were not for the United States to split, it is definitely them who have the largest total railway mileage now, because it is the United States of America that ranks third in total railway mileage.

This is very frustrating. The European countries have a limited local area. The regional railway density may be higher than that of Americans, but the total mileage cannot be compared.

Now the country with the highest railway density is Britain. The three islands of England are surrounded by the sea, and there are an amazing 23,000 kilometers of railways in operation.

This density is unmatched in Austria.Not to mention that even now, even the Franz ’s plan for a large railway cannot be fully implemented in time for the British.

Knowing to know, Franz did not follow suit.The railway density of the British is so high, one of the main reasons is that the repeated construction is serious.

It is important to know that the distribution of British railways is extremely uneven. Capitalists only invest in railways in economically developed regions, while nobody in economically backward regions cares.

The three islands of England are surrounded by the sea, and are just economically developed areas. Why do you need so many railways?If it is properly planned and allocated, the transport in the UK can go to another level.

Obviously, this is impossible.Capital is pursuing profits, and profitable businesses are robbed.

If Austria did n’t use Franz as a bait from the beginning, the capitalists fled, and the railways in developed and backward regions were tied together. Now the domestic railway construction will probably follow the British.

Austria's railway bundling plan encountered an economic crisis on the eve of dawn, and capitalists who originally thought that blood earned, because of the capital breakdown, directly became a blood loss.

The same routine can only be played once. Prior to this, Austria had not completed industrialization, and it did not even have the qualification to enjoy the economic crisis. Everyone ’s vigilance was naturally not strong.

The capitalists ignored the risks of long-term investment and were fooled by the word "monopoly" before they got involved.

Not to mention that local capitalists are inexperienced, and even international capitals such as Britain and France are no exception. The word “monopoly” is fooled, and hundreds of millions of Aegis investments are directly tied up in railway construction.

The financial strength persisted, and the lack of strength was forced to sell, which caused the Austrian government to bottom out and continue the unfinished railway plan.

Up to now, railway investment is still popular, but it has nothing to do with madness.The most important thing is the policy. The Vienna government has already intervened in railway freight pricing.

Each place has a maximum price. At the same time, the government also stipulates that the railway is a public infrastructure with a certain public welfare nature. The annual profit of the railway company must not exceed 30%.

Frankly speaking, this number is still very tempting. Except for the financial industry, few industries have a 30% profit.

However, this is completely different from the huge profits chased by the capitalists.After all, railway is a big investment project, and when calculating profit, it is based on turnover, not calculating total investment.

If you calculate the total investment, Austria does not have any railway, with an annual rate of return of more than 30%, and even the world does not have it. This is impossible.

The only advantage is probably stable earnings.The turnover of the Austrian railway has been growing steadily, and the annual growth rate is generally not less than 3%.

Affected by economic development, the turnover of some sections of the road has soared by tens of percent in a year.

In addition to freight rates, railway companies have other profit models. For example, the real estate projects around the station are all railway companies' industries, or they have participated in investment.

The station is not a tall thing, it can be repaired in many places.Railway companies are not stupid. If they have no interest, why would they repair the station there?

Moving forward or backward does not affect the normal operation of the railway.There is no competition for airplanes, cars and railways this year. Even if the station is a few kilometers away, everyone still has no choice.

Flipping through the report for the first time, Franz showed a satisfied smile.In 1875, Austria's economic growth rate exceeded 8% again, and the dividends from the second industrial revolution have already begun to ferment.

Among them, the performance of the power industry is the most prominent, with an annual growth rate of 23.6%, which is completely unmatched.

In contrast, the development rate of traditional industries is dwarfed. For example, the textile industry, which emerged at the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, now has a poor growth rate of only 1.8%.

However, behind this data, the Austrian textile industry capacity increased by 5.6%.What this means is too obvious. The growth rate of production capacity far exceeds the growth rate of industry output value, which means that industry profits are declining.

Of course, technological progress has also led to a decline in production costs. When it comes to a specific company, profits may rise.

However, the slowdown of industry growth is an indisputable fact.Competition in traditional industries is intensifying, and profit decline is the general trend.

This is not something manpower can change.The further the development of science and technology, the higher the added value of the product. For the primary industry with little technical content, the profit will only become thinner and thinner, and in the end, it will only cost.

There are, of course, exceptions. For example, the steel industry has a history of thousands of years and a proper traditional industry, but the development of the steel industry is still rapid.

In 1875, Austria ’s steel production exceeded 8 million tons, leaving the British behind, ranking first in the world.

During the same period, the world's major steel production:

8.23 million tons in Austria, 960,000 tons of steel output;

UK 7.42 million tons, steel output 760,000 tons;

France 2.74 million tons, steel output 235,000 tons;

1.565 million tons of the German Federal Empire, 315,000 tons of steel production; (plus the Rhineland region)

1.54 million tons in the United States of America with a steel output of 146,000 tons;

1.042 million tons of the Russian Empire, 24,000 tons of steel production

The Pupo Federation is 968,000 tons and the steel output is 126,000 tons;

346,000 tons of the United States of America and 38,000 tons of steel production;

...

The remaining countries can be ignored. Big data shows that the French have left the team and this gap is still widening.

This is not because the Paris government will not develop the economy. It is completely forced by reality. The coal mines in France are buried deep, the coal seam is shallow, and it is accompanied by gas.

The mining cost itself is high, but the quality is not good.It's okay to make iron. Steelmaking is a big deal. Import is the only way out.

In this context, the French also played black technology, that is-charcoal ironmaking.As far as Franz knows, French steel companies are still studying-charcoal steelmaking.

This is no joke. A considerable portion of French steel production is made from charcoal.Many French metallurgical experts vowed in the newspapers to guarantee that the quality of iron produced by charcoal is the best.

Don't be surprised, charcoal ironmaking is a traditional craft, which has a history of thousands of years.

Now the French are still studying the charcoal steelmaking technology, and have also achieved staged results. In the laboratory, the French have used charcoal to produce qualified steel.

Unfortunately, mass production cannot be achieved. In industrial trial production, the quality of the steel produced by this set of technology cannot only be guaranteed, but even the cost is life-threatening.

These practical problems did not dispel the enthusiasm of the French capitalists, and they continued their efforts on this road of no return.

The capitalists have such a reason. France has insufficient coal production and poor quality, but it is rich in forest resources. Once the charcoal steelmaking technology breakthroughs, it can get rid of the dilemma instantly.

If the study of Britain and Austria, coke can only rely on imports, this cost alone has made the French steel industry lose its market competitiveness.

In France, a country with a developed financial industry, most steel companies are listed companies.Whether it is successful or not, it is necessary to draw one to convince investors that charcoal steelmaking is not surprising.

In the interest trend, capitalists must also firmly believe that this is correct, otherwise how to pull the stock price?

Compared with the same period in history, the development of the French iron and steel industry in this era is not bad, and the most affected is the post-divided United States.

The United States of America has inherited most of the industry in the United States, but its development has not been smooth.Without the market in the South, it is necessary to make up for the trauma caused by the war. Naturally, the economy of the United States cannot be improved.

The United States, which has inherited two-thirds of the United States, has less than half of its overall national strength over the same period in history.The shrinking market and insufficient labor force are the main factors restricting the economic development of the United States.

Affected by the butterfly effect, the number of European immigrants to the United States in the past two decades has been less than one-third of the same period in history.

If no one has no market, industry will inevitably shrink. This is not something manpower can change.

Coupled with political factors, the federal government has lost its reputation due to the defeat, and many federal states do not bird the central government.

Each federal state has a set of leadership, and the policies formulated by everyone are based on the state.The so-called big picture concept, sorry, this thing does not exist at all.

You can often see some federal states setting up trade barriers to protect the industry and commerce of the state; you can also see some states open their doors and let industrial and commercial products from all over the world come in.

These policies are for their own benefit. The government can set up trade barriers to protect industrial products that can be produced locally.

Industrial products that cannot be produced locally and must be purchased from outside are naturally bought by anyone who is cheap and easy to use.

Affected by these factors, in order to restore the economy after the war, the United States of America, which lacked labor, had to introduce people of color.

In particular, cheap contract workers are most popular among capitalists.The labor provided by these labor export companies, in addition to the nominal personal freedom, is essentially no different from slaves.

The steel industry in the United States of America can be as large as it is today, and these cheap foreign labor is also indispensable.

It's just that the sequelae are also quite serious. This predatory exploitation has made the racial contradictions of the United States increasingly high.

To solve these problems, it cannot be done overnight.At least there must be a strong government that integrates the federal states.