Chapter 156 Population Issues

In November 1897, German Emperor Wilhelm II came to Constantinople and visited the Ottoman Empire.

As expected, Germany really got the right to build the Asia Minor Railway in the Ottoman Empire.

Once Germany successfully built such a strategic railway, Germany's influence in the Balkan Peninsula would rise sharply in the future.

Speaking of which, the Ottoman Empire was really lucky. First Britain and France, and then Germany, supported the Ottoman Empire for strategic reasons.

The railway built by the Germans to help the Ottoman Empire will strengthen the Ottoman Empire's control over its domestic territory and promote its economic growth.

This is undoubtedly bad news for Greece.

However, Greece could not stop the Germans. After all, what the Ottoman Empire could give, Greece could not afford.

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After the expansion in 1896, Greece's territory reached nearly 100,000 square kilometers, but its population was only about 2.5 million.

Albania, which is now controlled by Greece, is not a densely populated place. With an area of ​​more than 20,000 square kilometers and only about 300,000 people, it can be considered a sparsely populated place.

Moreover, among the three Balkan countries, Bulgaria, Greece, and Serbia, Bulgaria has the largest population, reaching 3.5 million.

The population of Bulgaria is about 2.9 million.

Now, Greece's population problem has become the main obstacle to national development.

On November 9, Prime Minister Alexandros organized a cabinet meeting to discuss population issues, and Constantine attended on behalf of King George.

In the meeting room of the Prime Minister's residence.

"The main purpose of this meeting is to seek a solution to the sparse population in Greece," said Prime Minister Alexandros, who was sitting opposite Constantine.

"Before, the population in Greece was very tight, and the tax was so high, the survival pressure of the Greek people was very high, which led to thousands to tens of thousands of young people in Greece immigrating to other countries every year," complained the Minister of Administration Mavromichalis.

The number of immigrants from several thousand to tens of thousands each year may not seem like much, but Greece has a total population of only 2.5 million, so this immigration rate is ridiculously high.

"In fact, even before the recovery of Albania, the Greek population was far from dense," echoed Minister of Commerce and Industry Krigis.

"Although everyone says that arable land in Greece is scarce, this is indeed true, but this does not mean that the arable land in Greece has been fully developed and utilized."

"Until now, there are still large tracts of wasteland in Thessaly, and no one is cultivating it."

"I visited Thessaly before and saw those large tracts of arable land abandoned. Some farmers even herded sheep there to increase their income," Krigis shook his head and sighed.

"What's this? The country still has to import a large amount of grain every year (importing rice from Congo is also considered importing), but no one is cultivating the land in the country."

In fact, this is one of the reasons why Constantine strongly supported the reform before.

Since Greece was an agricultural country before, agricultural tax was the main fiscal revenue of Greece. While Greece had an army of 50,000 people, it had to maintain a navy due to the special terrain of the peninsula. The government's expenditure remained high, and almost all the fiscal burdens were on the shoulders of farmers.

Greece is a country with scarce arable land. There are about 8,000 square kilometers of plains in Thessaly, but there is still a considerable part of the land that no one cultivates. This is because the tax pressure is too great. Farmers who work hard to cultivate the land can only make ends meet after paying taxes for a year's harvest. Who would be interested in farming?

Greece is quite special. There are a large number of Greeks engaged in the shipping industry. They are well-informed. When the pressure is really unbearable, they will choose to immigrate overseas, especially to North America.

This is also one of the main reasons for the weak population growth in Greece.

"Although the tax system has been revised now, the effect will not be seen in the short term," said Alexandros.

"In this case, the government should encourage people to reclaim arable land," Constantine said hurriedly.

"Generally speaking, the fertility rate of farmers is higher than that of workers."

"Also, I heard that there are many swamps in the coastal areas of Albania. According to the information fed back by the army, those swamps can be drained and become fertile farmland."

Under the notice of the Ottoman Empire, the poverty of the Albanian region is very similar to the situation in Greece. There is not much arable land, and due to the heavy tax pressure, there are still many arable lands in a state of barrenness.

"At the same time, in order to encourage childbirth, we must give certain material rewards to those Greek families who have given birth to multiple children."

"There are many MSL populations in Greece now. The Greek government must pay attention to the population problem. In any case, the status of the Greeks as the main ethnic group must be maintained. This point cannot be shaken at all."

If a country does not have a main ethnic group, it is very easy to fall into internal chaos and serious internal consumption in Europe at the end of the 19th century when nationalism was deeply rooted in the hearts of the people.

The Austro-Hungarian Empire has demonstrated this point.

Population ratio of the Austro-Hungarian Empire: Germans - 24% Hungarians - 20% Czechs - 13% Poles - 10% Ukrainians - 8% Romanians - 6% Croatians - 5% Slovaks - 4% Serbs - 4% Slovenes - 3% Italians - 3%

In order to maintain the existence of the empire, a unique dual empire was formed. The two main ethnic groups, Germans and Magyars, could not exceed 50% in total, and they were constantly arguing with each other.

It gave people the feeling of a weak fat man.

With the expansion of Greece, the population problem became more serious. There were 250,000 MSL in Albania alone.

As long as the majority of Greeks can be maintained, even if there are more ethnic groups in Greece in the future, there will be no waves.

Just like the black problem in the United States, although it has always been a hidden worry, white people in the United States have always been the main ethnic group in the United States, accounting for more than 60% of the share.

Even if blacks have been making trouble, as long as the number of whites is not a problem, blacks will not become a big trend.

The Semi-Balkan Peninsula where Greece is located is inhabited by various ethnic groups. As long as Greece still has the idea of ​​expanding in the Balkan Peninsula, the number of ethnic groups in Greece will increase.

"In order to prevent Greece from having the disadvantages of a multi-ethnic country like the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the dominant position of Greeks must be maintained, and the proportion must not be less than 60% at least." Constantine said solemnly to the cabinet ministers.

"Once it falls below this number, it will cause all kinds of ethnic problems."

Everyone nodded in agreement.

"Your Highness, what the Crown Prince said makes sense," said Alexandros.

"So, in the future, the encouragement of fertility in Greece will mainly refer to Greeks."

Since the defeat of the Ottoman Empire in 1896, the Macedonian region has been in chaos, and the Ottoman Empire has been unable to effectively control the situation in Macedonia.

Anyone with a discerning eye can see that the Ottoman Empire is powerless to save Macedonia.

An important city in the Macedonian region is also a city where non-Greeks are the majority - there are more than 100,000 Jews living there, making it the largest Jewish city in the world.

If Greece does not have an absolute majority of the main ethnic group, it is difficult to weigh the pros and cons of annexing such a place.