Chapter 826 New Germany

"Archduke Franz, please forgive me for being blunt, the princes won't care about this land if they don't pay, and even if they care, they don't have enough naval power."

Franz asked them to guard against not the enemies at sea, but the possible war on land.

"Don't worry, didn't we give them 20% of the benefits?"

"Just 20%?" Metternich was a little curious. Archduke Franz has always been a very generous or prodigal man. Why did he think that 20% of the benefits could buy off the entire German Confederation this time?

But even if there is a war one day, it will be after his death. With the current development speed of the Austrian Empire, if it continues for a few decades, those small states may naturally submit to it and there will be no need for them to help defend it.

"Don't worry, I promise that there will be reasons that they can't refuse."

Franz also realized his problem. After all, Metternich didn't know that the world's largest gold mine was buried under the Transvaal. He could only continue to use the old method of mystification.

This does sound much more pleasant, and 10 million florins per year is not a big financial pressure on Austria.

What made Metternich unhappy was that the Austrian Empire paid for the land, but he could not use it.

They should have directly expelled all black tribes as they saw, just like they did with black people, and only allowed "black workers" to enter at most.

In fact, most of Austria's colonies in Africa are facing the problem of insufficient labor. Due to their racial issues, white people are not suitable for working in places with too strong sunlight. They are very easy to get sunburned, and they cannot accept the tropical climate.

Most of the initial construction of colonies is simple manual labor, but why can West Africa do this, but Franz has to violently expel them in East Africa?

First, East Africa already has the simplest basic towns, not starting from scratch.

Second, there are a considerable number of Dutch descendants in the area.

Third, West Africa came into contact with colonists earlier, and the country has a higher level of development. It already has basic kingdoms and is easy to communicate.

The tribal countries in East Africa are relatively primitive. Although the locals are mainly Bantu people, there are more than 300 languages. There is almost no common language, or guides who are proficient in all languages.

Relatively speaking, although there are many countries in West Africa, each region has a common language, and there are a large number of guides, and there are quite a few people who can speak Spanish and Dutch.

These two languages ​​are not a problem for Austrians, especially the nobles have almost all learned these two languages.

Fourth, there are many powers in West Africa and it is close to Europe, so Franz dare not do too much.

East Africa is relatively much better, especially with the existence of the Oman Empire as a scapegoat, Franz can naturally be a little more presumptuous.

Back to the point, Metternich and Franz each took a step back to determine the fate of the Boers.

Fortunately, they avoided the fate of being expelled by the British, but not so lucky, because their country was not recognized, but they were not so unfortunate, because they would no longer be alone, they would become Germans.

——The historical evaluation of this negotiation by later Transvaal historians.

Andreas Pretorius returned home in glory, because the British side would send warships to escort him back as a sign of sincerity.

A German Confederation fleet and some German Confederation aid personnel also went to Transvaal with him.

The so-called German Confederation fleet was actually 90% Austrian warships, and the rest were things used by other states to fill the facade.

As for the so-called aid personnel, they were varied, not only missionaries, teachers, carpenters, blacksmiths, but also doctors and soldiers.

However, all of them had one thing in common, they were all nationalists. In fact, this was proposed by Prince Metternich, and Franz said that cultural transformation was needed.

Metternich immediately thought of the nationalists in the country. For so many years, Austria and Prussia had been playing the role of international police in the German Confederation to deal with nationalism.

Austrian German nationalists demanded the expulsion of all foreign nationalities, including Magyars and Italians.

The Prussian nationalists not only wanted to expel the Poles, but also the Hohenzollern family, a foreign royal family, and the East Prussians.

In addition, Franz had been supporting the Archbishop of Cologne, who lived up to expectations and started the integration of politics and religion. At this time, Prussia was in a three-legged tripod, with a hundred flowers blooming and a thousand boats competing.

The Swiss region that Prussia had just swallowed up had no influence at present, and it was a gathering place for the French-speaking people. With the Prince of Shotgun in person, there was no chaos for the time being.

In short, both Prussia and Austria had captured a large number of radical nationalists, and other small states were no exception.

These people were very difficult to deal with, and they could neither be killed nor released. As a result, prisons in various countries were overcrowded, and an early industrial chain was formed in Prussian prisons.

At this time, Prince Metternich proposed this to solve the urgent needs of various princes, and Franz also agreed with this approach.

Transvaal can be said to be the best place for them, and this group of people don’t have to worry about being reversely assimilated.

In fact, the most important thing is that most of these people are talented, and having attended high school in Prussia may not be a big deal.

But in most remote areas of Austria, local families would compete for people who have attended high school, and even want to beat them up to worship them.

And many of these nationalists in prison have received real higher education, and many of them have university degrees.

Some are experienced soldiers, even soldiers who have studied systematically in military academies, and some top craftsmen who have been abroad.

It was difficult for ordinary people at that time to come into contact with such things, and those who would come into contact with these ideas were some more avant-garde people.

Rather than wasting their youth and food in prison, it would be better to let them go to Africa to shine.

And Franz had another consideration, which was to send them far away, so as not to be released again in 1848 to make trouble for Franz.

It was simply killing two birds with one stone, and this was the case for most German princes.

So the exile place for German nationalists appeared. Of course, the princes would not say so on the surface, and the monarchs still had to save face.

That’s why the [New Germany Aid Plan] was created. The German Confederation renamed the colonies of Transvaal and Orange [New Germany].

However, not all princes were happy. For example, the Luxembourg Parliament was ruled by German nationalists.

They had always benefited from nationalism before, but this time their speaker, Little Coulder, was ordered to go home and reflect on his behavior at the German Confederation meeting.