The impact of the economic crisis was greater than Franz had expected. Due to the butterfly effect, the global industrial output was much higher than the same period in history, but the market did not increase much.
After the economic crisis broke out, these hidden crises were exposed. By the end of 1876, the economic crisis had spread across the sea to the American continent.
The first to be affected were not the capitalists in the north, but the farmers in the south.
The decline in textile production was not only in Austria, but also in all European countries. This directly led to a decline in the market demand for cotton. For the first time, cotton in the south was unsold on a large scale.
The seemingly ordinary event had a far-reaching impact. There were calls in the American Union to develop their own cotton textile industry, and some people began to act.
In order to obtain greater benefits, the farmers were no longer willing to be raw material suppliers and began to reach out to the downstream industries.
Franz, who received the information, just laughed it off. The development of industry in the Union had little impact on Austria. In a sense, it was still positive.
This meant that the strength gap between the north and the south would gradually narrow. In order to balance the strength gap between the north and the south, the European countries had tacitly restricted immigration to the north in recent years.
Even so, the balance was maintained, and the northern government's advantage was still obvious.
If it were not for the deterrence of the Fao and the other three countries, which made the capitalists in the north not dare to act rashly, the second war between the north and the south might have already begun.
From Austria's standpoint, it was natural that the southern government had a certain industrial strength to be able to compete with the north, and not simply rely on the European countries to fight.
In case one day, there was a change in Europe and they had no time to take care of the American continent, the southern government at least needed the strength to fight.
Franz was not worried about the military's combat effectiveness. It had been proven that the capitalists in the north could not win against the farmers in the south, but the war was about industrial and organizational capabilities.
"Industry" was a prerequisite. Without enough industry, there was no way to ensure the supply of weapons and ammunition, and there was no way to talk about organizational capabilities.
There were advantages and disadvantages. After the southern government developed industry, it was bound to hit the international market and add a competitor.
However, the first to suffer was the British, who made them the hegemon of the cotton textile industry?
The Government of Vienna had already bet on the second industrial revolution, and the core industry was transitioning to new industries. They were not afraid of competition in this regard.
Not to mention the Americans, even Britain and France were lagging behind in this regard. They were not lagging behind in terms of technology, but in terms of talent training.
Austria had also developed a new technology that could be put into industrial production in a few months, while Britain and France needed two to three years to prepare.
In Austria, any random person on the street had the potential to become an engineer, but in England and France, the ratio was much lower.
Needless to say, the United States of America had an even more backward education system. The most suitable development path for them now was to copy the European countries.
First, they would rely on piracy to increase the quantity of the industry. When it reached a certain scale, they would then change the quantity to cause a qualitative change and gradually open up the path of independent innovation.
This was also the path that Austria had taken in the beginning. It was just that they caught up with the second industrial revolution, and they got on the fast train and saved a lot of time.
…
"Immigration" was a hot topic in 1876. The government promoted the benefits of immigration with great fanfare, and the high salaries on the African continent were exposed.
In a grocery store in Vienna, the owner, Ralf, was trying to persuade his employees.
"The African continent isn't so beautiful. Poisonous insects and ferocious beasts appear frequently, and there are also savage and cruel man-eating tribes. If you're not careful, you'll end up on the barbecue grill.
Don't be fooled by the beautiful propaganda in the newspaper. That's just to fool you. If it was so easy to get rich, I would have emigrated.
… "
After a long speech, many people's desire to emigrate faded. Everyone knew that the African continent might not be as bad as the boss said, but it definitely wasn't beautiful.
Even in the newspaper, no one said that the African continent was beautiful. The emphasis was on "high salaries" and "opportunities", and the "risks" were downplayed.
To this day, the African continent's mortality rate was still higher than the mainland. Even the mainland's illegal factories had greatly increased the mortality rate, but it was far from the lethality brought by diseases.
This data wasn't a secret, and the newspapers would also report it. To reduce the mortality rate, the government also published the "African Survival Manual", which recorded the things that needed to be paid attention to in life.
This proved that the African continent wasn't a paradise, and to get rich, one must first survive.
Seeing that everyone was shaken, Ralf nodded in satisfaction.
Vienna wasn't an industrial city, so it wasn't affected by the economic crisis. Other than the financial industry being slightly affected, there were almost no changes in other industries, and the grocery store's business was still passable.
Unlike in the past, when salaries could be cut during the economic crisis, Ralf's first priority now was to keep his employees.
The seemingly unskilled grocery store's salesperson also couldn't do everything.
First of all, they had to have a good memory. They had to remember the location of the goods so that they could find the customer's goods in the shortest amount of time.
Secondly, they had to have a certain level of cultural knowledge and be able to keep a clear account.
Finally, they had to have a pair of sharp eyes. They had to be able to catch thieves in this era without surveillance.
Those with talent might be able to do this job in a few days; those without talent would frequently get into trouble after a few years of training.
Most of the salesperson's jobs were lifelong, and the main reason was that there was a risk of changing people. If they were replaced by incompetent people or people with bad intentions, the boss would suffer a great loss.
Just as Ralf was proud of his eloquence, a familiar voice sounded.
"Mr. Ralf, I have signed up for emigration."
Ralf said, "It's okay, Rennes. You can still withdraw after signing up. Emigration is voluntary, and you won't be forced."
After a moment of silence, Rennes lowered his head, "I'm sorry, Mr. Ralf. Thank you for your care, but I still want to go out and make a living. "
Ralf was already furious, but in order to show his gentlemanly demeanor in front of everyone, he forcibly suppressed his anger, "You have to think carefully. Once you take this step, it will be hard to turn back."
Rennes lowered his head, as if he didn't dare to reply.
Looking at Rennes's expression, Ralf knew that he had already made up his mind. He sighed and pretended to be generous, "Fine, since you have already decided, then go out and make a living!
If you don't do well outside, you can still come back. This is your second home. May God bless you! "
Looking at everyone's touched expression, Ralf's inner anger also calmed down. Rennes had left, but he had also bought people's hearts.
Unlike a factory where he could use a whip to force everyone to work, a grocery store couldn't be managed like that. If he lost people's hearts, any of the salespeople could make him suffer heavy losses.
There were countless lessons learned from the mistakes of others. Ralf had summed up the experience of others' failures before he gradually developed and expanded.
Now he had a total of five grocery stores in Vienna, and they could operate normally by relying on his ability to put on a show. This was the cheapest way to buy people's hearts.
The grocery store was just a small episode. Not many people emigrated from Vienna. The largest number of emigrants came from the most developed industrial region of Bohemia, followed by Lombardy, Venetia, Bavaria, and other regions.
Currently, the majority of emigrants were unemployed workers. Affected by the wave of unemployment, people couldn't find new jobs after losing their jobs and lost their source of income. They had no choice but to go out and make a living.
The departure of the unemployed workers didn't attract anyone's attention. For many people, they couldn't wait for all these people to disappear.
In every economic crisis, unemployed workers were the most unstable factor. Without these people, social security was obviously better.
But it was different for the capitalists. Looking at the large number of emigrants leaving the mainland, many capitalists were deeply worried. If people left, where could they find cheap labor?
They had originally planned to use the economic crisis to suppress the rising salaries, but now they only dared to think about it.
They were afraid that if they were forced into a corner, the entire factory would be empty. This was a lesson learned from the mistakes of the past. The newspapers had also published similar news.
For example, the proud Thrandil Machinery Factory in Bavaria. Because the labor conflict did not reach an agreement, in the end, the workers left and emigrated.
The newly recruited workers, because their skills were not up to standard, produced a high rate of defective products, causing the products to lose competitiveness in the market, and the factory was forced to close.
There were many similar cases of people courting death in the newspapers. There were even promises of increased benefits, but in the end, it was not fulfilled, causing the workers to go on strike again.
There were bad effects, but naturally, there were also good effects. Affected by the increase in salaries, the domestic market, which should have shrunk in the economic crisis, instead showed a reverse growth.
Although a part of the population was lost, the purchasing power of the remaining people increased. The theory of cultivating the market in economics appeared for the first time in Austria, and it played a big role.
Except for some industries that relied heavily on exports, most of the companies that focused on the domestic market had begun to gradually walk out of the crisis by the end of 1876.
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