Chapter 527 Oppo Conflict

The establishment of a grain reserve system by the British has also affected the international grain trading market. Grain prices, which have been falling, have finally stabilized.

But this is of little use, and the oversupply situation remains unresolved. Although the culprit of the collapse in food prices fell on the Russians, smart people know that the Vienna government is also the culprit.

Since he is a smart person, he will naturally weigh the pros and cons. Black Russians don't matter, even the tsarist government is used to being hacked.

Austria is different. The food dumping by the Vienna government in the first half of the year would not have been so smooth without the participation of capitalists in various countries.

Once the cover is lifted, the interest groups involved are huge. Few people are willing to do something that offends people.

With Christmas approaching, Vienna already has a festive mood. The winter of 1872 in Vienna was exceptionally warm. There was no snow and even little cold wind.

At this time, trouble came to the door. On December 21, 1872, the Polish government issued a note to the Austrian diplomacy: asking Austria to hand over the land occupied by Poland, otherwise the consequences will be at your own risk.

Well, after receiving this diplomatic note, the Vienna government was stunned, and Franz was also frightened. He really couldn't understand the terrifying consequences.

The anti-Austrian arrogance in Poland has been on the rise recently, and Franz knows it. But he didn't take it seriously, the strong never cared about the thoughts of the weak.

In his opinion, no matter how noisy the Poles are, that is, they shout a few slogans at home, and when they die, they submit a few diplomatic protests, and then they should do whatever they want.

In order to take back the old land that Prussia and Austria divided up into Poland, after the establishment of the Polish government, it also made many requests to the Vienna government.

Franz understands this kind of behavior. No matter whether it is collected or not, the government must act like it, otherwise how will it explain to the people?

The Vienna government has never responded to the Poles as if they didn't exist. What Franz never expected was that the Polish government would dare to submit a diplomatic note with such a strong tone.

This is not a trivial matter, and a formal diplomatic note is not the same as a private complaint, which requires responsibility.

There is nothing to say, Franz immediately held a cabinet meeting, ready to seek the bad luck of the Polish government.

"Are the Poles motivated by something, or did someone give them the confidence to think they can be arrogant to us?"

Anyone who knows Franz knows that this is anger. Poland was able to become independent, and Austria also secretly contributed, and it was nothing to ask for anything in return. Now the Polish government is rubbing its nose on its face.

If you open the history book, you will find that the Aobo territorial dispute is a bad debt. In this case, it is natural that whoever is stronger is justified.

Foreign Minister Wesenberg explained: "Your Majesty, Poland is a big agricultural country, and after the agricultural crisis broke out, Poland's agricultural exports and imports fell sharply.

Some time ago, in response to the crisis, we raised tariffs on Polish agricultural products, which aroused strong dissatisfaction with the Polish government.

About 34% of Poland's agricultural products are exported to Austria, which is then sold to the international market after processing. After the tariff increase, the trade volume of agricultural products between the two countries has dropped by two-thirds.

This has directly led to the unsalability of a large number of agricultural products in Poland, which has caused a serious social crisis and the political situation in Poland has become unstable.

The Poles sent a diplomatic note at this time, which may have something to do with their domestic situation. The government wants to take the opportunity to specialize in domestic conflicts. "

There is no way to do this. The international market is shrinking, Austria has to cut production capacity, and many capitalists engaged in agricultural product processing have begun to transform.

In this context, domestic agriculture must be protected, and it is inevitable to reduce the import of agricultural products.

The Vienna government was ready to abandon the agro-processing industry long before the agricultural crisis broke out. There is no way, this industry does not have much technical content and can only be used as the first generation industry.

In recent years, agro-processing enterprises in various European countries have sprung up, and the market competition has become increasingly fierce. Austria was able to maintain its dominance in the agro-processing industry, mainly by controlling most of the raw grain production capacity.

Obviously, this situation cannot continue. After the outbreak of the agricultural crisis, the agro-processing industries of various countries no longer worry about raw materials, and Austria's cost advantage no longer exists.

In this context, if we continue to increase investment in this, it is better to invest our strength in emerging industries and promote the second industrial revolution to widen the gap between everyone's strength.

Without the government's key support, the high-profit agricultural product processing and manufacturing industry can continue to survive, while the lack of technical content in the flour mill will not be easy.

This is the inevitable result of economic development. The higher the technological content of the enterprise, the more obvious the advantage it occupies in the competition. Enterprises without technical content can only fall into the vicious circle of price wars, and it is difficult to go further.

At this time, enterprises must either transform or upgrade their technology. For example, the development of more new products and the dazzling variety of foods in the supermarkets of later generations were all forced by reality.

In order to survive, agricultural product processing enterprises cannot simply process one product, but must increase links, improve technical content, and increase product added value.

In the long run, this agricultural crisis has also prompted the upgrading of the Austrian agro-processing industry. In 1872, more types of biscuits, cans, and various types of junk food were added to the market in Vienna than in the past five years combined.

The emergence of these high value-added products has brought many enterprises into a new life,

Revitalized. Unresponsive businesses are still struggling.

From the perspective of future generations, competition in this era is nothing at all. Even the most competitive flour mills, as long as they are properly managed, can still make good profits, and they are still far from losing money.

Prime Minister Felix said sternly: "No matter what the reason is, we must give a strong response to the provocations of the Poles, let them know that they are serious. When necessary, military actions can be taken to make the Poles sober up."

Taking military action, Franz frowned. He felt that things were not as simple as they seemed, and that even if the Poles were out of their minds, there was no reason to provoke Austria.

Before Franz could speak, the Chancellor of the Exchequer Karl raised an objection.

"It's easy to teach the Poles a lesson, even to conquer Warsaw, the question is what can we gain?

The current international situation is not suitable for external expansion, and the Kingdom of Poland is too poor. Unless we accept Polish agricultural products as compensation, we may not even be able to collect military expenses. "

It is taboo for the military family to start a division in anger.

Although the land of Poland is good, Franz really has no ambition. After the War of Independence, the Polish nationalism has risen, and it is too difficult to digest them.

Just for a piece of land suitable for growing grain, it is completely worth the loss to bury the hidden danger of splitting the empire. This time bomb is owned by whoever wants it, and Franz is not going to put it at home anyway.

Accepting Polish agricultural products as compensation is even more of a joke. Just as after the First World War, Britain and France accepted German industrial products to offset their debts.

The Germans failed to open up the British and French markets for domestic industry and commerce through the war. Instead, they achieved their goal through reparations after the war.

Britain and France, greedy for temporary gain, also paid a heavy price for this. Affected by cheap industrial and commercial products from Germany, the British and French industries went into decline.

At the beginning of World War II, as a side of the defeated country, the German industry actually surpassed the sum of Britain and France, which has to be said to be an irony.

This kind of stupid thing, the Vienna government can't do it. It is too late to protect domestic agriculture, how could it be possible to ignore the fundamentals for a little benefit.

"Warn the Polish government first and order them to quell the anti-Austrian movement in the country before Christmas, or we will have a military parade in Warsaw."

No interest in Poland does not mean that the threat of force cannot be used. If the Polish government is really screwed, Franz doesn't mind fighting a battle.

Only in this way, it is cheaper for the Russians. If Poland is disabled, Franz is very suspicious of what the Kingdom of Prussia will rely on to fight the next Prussian war.

Neither Alexander II nor Alexander III were easy to match, and the war potential of the Russian Empire was far higher than that of Prussia.

After suffering a loss, it is very difficult for the Russians to greedily advance. As long as the tsarist government fought steadily and the war turned into a war of attrition, the Kingdom of Prussia would not be able to consume the Russians.

At this time, the Kingdom of Poland became very important. If it was a little more ruthless and recruited millions of cannon fodder from the Kingdom of Poland, then when facing gray animals, Prussia would not be drowned in the sea of ​​​​people tactics.

Other Franz is not sure, but one thing is certain, that is, the tsarist government will not be short of food this time.

Even if the transportation of the Russian Empire was still unsolvable, the Tsarist government would have stockpiled enough strategic supplies before the outbreak of war.

This time, the Prussians could not be caught off guard by the Russians. Before the preparations were completed, it was impossible for the tsarist government to take the initiative to provoke a war.

The Russian-Austrian alliance is still a few years away, and during this period, the Kingdom of Prussia cannot take the initiative to attack, otherwise Austria will be dragged into the water.

Shaking his head, Franz dismissed these messy thoughts. No matter what, the international situation is ever-changing, and no one can guarantee what will happen tomorrow.

Perhaps when the Russian-Prussian War broke out, the situation changed again. Now Austria's strength is also growing rapidly. Perhaps when the Russian-Prussian War broke out, Austria had already left them far behind.

As long as his own strength is strong enough, any challenge is not a concern. Perhaps at that time, the outcome of the Russian-Prussian war will also become irrelevant to Austria.