In the Palace of Vienna, ever since the British took the lead in breaking the rules, Franz's desk frequently received requests for war.
Don't get me wrong, they didn't want to fight the British. The Austrian military wasn't that stubborn, and the British Royal Navy was still a deterrent.
The goal of the request for war was naturally the unclaimed land that hadn't been divided. Since it was a fight, the Austrian military wasn't willing to fall behind.
Franz said nonchalantly, "The military's battle plan is here. Basically, all the unclaimed land is in these plans.
If there are any that slip through the net, it's beyond our ability and we can't get it. Now you can choose one of them! "
The noisy colonial partition movement seemed to become a child's play here, and it didn't seem like Franz attached any importance to it.
Colonial Secretary Stephen said, "First of all, we can exclude Persia. The British have been operating here for a long time, and they have India as their backing. As a latecomer, it's difficult for us to compete with them.
Secondly, the Indo-China Peninsula can also be excluded. Britain, France, and Prussia have gathered forces, and the situation is complicated.
Yes, according to the information we received, the competition between Britain and France is very fierce, and the people of Prussia are about to be squeezed out. If we join in, we will probably have the same fate.
Now, only East Africa and South America are more suitable for expansion.
The South American countries have become independent and have been recognized by the European world. If we attack them, it will easily cause panic in the small European countries, which will hurt our international image too much.
Relatively speaking, it's easier to expand to East Africa. If the British want to attack Ethiopia, we can also get a share, such as occupying the Horn of Africa (Somalia). "
When he heard "Horn of Africa," Franz's first reaction was "chicken ribs."
What was there in the Somali Peninsula?
The answer was pirates!
This was the impression that Somalia left on Franz. No, it was also "poor." There might be resources and minerals, but definitely not much. Otherwise, Franz wouldn't have no impression of it.
The only value was probably its strategic significance, which also depended on the situation. For example, now, the strategic value of the Somali Peninsula couldn't be displayed.
It seemed to be on the path of the Suez Canal, but the British were stuck in front.
Austria already owned the Arabian Peninsula, and its navy was unable to compete with the Royal Navy. The strategic value of the Somali Peninsula was greatly discounted in the hands of the Government of Vienna.
Foreign Minister Wesenberg: "Judging from the current international situation, East Africa is the most suitable region for us to colonize. Apart from England and France, there were no other competitors.
The French's target is the Sudan region. Their power has not extended here yet, so they will not compete with us for the Somali peninsula.
Although the Government of London attaches importance to the East African region, the strength they can invest in the African continent is limited. While waging war in Ethiopia, they are already unable to compete with us for the Somali peninsula.
The only pity is that the economic value of the Somali peninsula is too low, and the benefits it can bring us are very limited. "
The East African region was intertwined with the forces of the United Kingdom, the Fao, and the United Kingdom. It was obviously the private land of the three major countries. Naturally, no country would be stupid enough to come over and fight for territory.
With fewer participants, the competition would naturally be smaller. Unfortunately, the benefits were small. If it weren't for the opening of the Suez Canal, the British probably wouldn't even look at Ethiopia.
Franz nodded. "Then the Somali peninsula is fine. Even if there is no economic value, being able to suppress the British's expansion, the strategic benefits are enough to cover the costs. "
The expectations weren't high, so naturally, they weren't disappointed. The world had been divided up, and the rest were just leftovers. It would be good if they didn't lose money.
…
Austria moved, and other countries didn't stay idle either. A new alliance was launched, and the Paris conference had become a joke.
Perhaps after the last round of colonial division, Paris might be able to negotiate results. The meeting wasn't announced to end early, but that was because the British had done a good job of diplomacy.
The Government of London also wanted face. The Paris conference was convened under the British's call. If it ended because they broke the contract, Britannia would completely lose face.
Even if they were deceiving themselves, they still had to keep this fig leaf. However, the governments of various countries didn't pay attention to it anymore. The delegations returned home, and the ones left to continue the negotiations were the diplomats who were stationed in Paris.
…
The University of Vienna, Austria's largest education base. More than 30 universities, large and small, gathered here, with the world's most advanced education system.
Today, the influence of Austria's universities wasn't limited to the local area. Students from all over the world made this place full of international atmosphere.
In this era, it wasn't easy to study in Austria. Not only did they have to have excellent grades, but they also had to pay high tuition fees, and there was a limit to the number of students.
The Ministry of Education had a clear rule that the number of students enrolled by universities couldn't exceed 4% of the total enrollment.
The number of students enrolled by Austrian universities was generally between 500 to 1,000. In order to ensure the quality of teaching, the universities that enrolled the most students wouldn't exceed 1,500.
This meant that each university would accept no more than 60 students each year. It seemed like a lot, after all, there were hundreds of universities in Austria.
In fact, this was only an ideal number. Most of the student slots were occupied by students from the German Confederation and the Kingdom of Prussia.
The two accounted for 43% and 29% of the total, respectively. The Swiss Confederation accounted for 5% of the total, and the rest was divided by other countries.
The difference in the ratio wasn't because the quality of education in these three countries was high, but because the culture was the same, the study visa was easy to get, and the Government of Vienna provided them with student loans.
In this era, all countries pursued elite education. Universities weren't something that ordinary people had the right to get involved in.
Not to mention international students, they didn't even have enough educational resources to distribute, let alone outsiders.
Almost all international students had to pay high tuition fees. Take the University of Vienna for example, international students had to pay 2,000 to 3,000 DND per year depending on their major.
This wasn't a small number. One had to know that the average annual income in Austria was less than 70 DND. An ordinary person's lifetime income wasn't even enough to pay for a year of university tuition.
Of course, this was only for outsiders. The tuition fees for internal students were much more affordable, usually between 50 to 500 DND. There were also student loans that could be applied for.
As long as one could get into a university, the expenses weren't a problem at all. The government was also responsible for the tuition fees for some of the scarce majors.
It wasn't just Austria that recruited fewer international students. It was the same for other countries. Even if they recruited international students, most of them were from Europe. Very few of them were from overseas.
Later generations felt that there were many international students in this era, but it was actually an illusion. The so-called international students had indeed gone abroad to study, but it was hard to say if they had learned anything.
Schools were also divided into different grades. The real universities recruited fewer international students, but there was no limit to the number of slots in the "diploma mill" universities.
There were even "universities" that specialized in recruiting international students. They randomly found a few "well-known scholars" to be teachers and indoctrinated them with all kinds of knowledge.
It didn't matter if they failed the exams. The schools had special packages for slackers. They could get a diploma as long as they paid the money.
It was better to stop dreaming if they wanted to learn real knowledge. The teachers in these schools might look pretty, but most of them had never been to university.
Austria naturally wanted such "for-profit universities." Other than the fact that their qualifications weren't recognized by the Government of Vienna, they looked like ordinary universities on the surface. It was enough to fool international students.
For example, the Austrian Army and Navy Higher Command College was a typical diploma mill. It scammed the Austrian Army Higher Command College and the Austrian Navy Higher Command College.
The difference of one word was like heaven and earth. Anyone with a little common sense would know that the army and navy were two completely different systems. Naturally, they were trained separately.
It wasn't impossible to train both the army and navy at the same time, but it was difficult to specialize.
Just like humans, the energy of a school wasn't limitless. Franz wasn't interested in training all-rounders. Austrian universities paid special attention to the training of specialized talents.
This could be seen from Austria's college entrance examination. Those with high overall scores could go to university. Those with good grades could also be directly admitted.
The latter had more students admitted. After all, there were more people who specialized in one subject than those who were well-rounded.
This wasn't without restrictions. The number of specializations that could be applied for was very limited. There was almost no choice.
After graduation, it was difficult to change professions because they basically had no foundation in other areas.
This group of people were mostly suitable for technology. After graduation, most of them became professional engineers. A few excellent ones entered scientific research institutions.
All-rounded students had much more room for development. They could be found in all walks of life. However, the number of all-rounders was too small.
In the short term, the Austrian education model was successful. In a situation where educational resources were limited, training talents in a specialized way could save the most costs and increase the success rate.
…
Morse was a victim of the diploma mill. With excellent grades, he fought his way out of thousands of people and finally obtained the qualification to study in Austria.
In the end, in order to save money, he entered the awesome "Austrian Army and Navy Higher Command College" to study military affairs.
Compared to other European countries, the diploma mill in Austria wasn't too much of a scam. At least the basic military training was passable.
Thanks to the national military service system, the teachers in the school had also served in the army and retained some of their professional skills.
Their commanding ability might not be strong, but the teachers were good at bluffing. With the theory materials in his hands, he could ramble on for a few hours without stopping.
This also made the diploma mill more realistic. Morse was quickly bluffed into it. He didn't care about the negative evaluation of the school from the outside world.
However, after a long time, he still had doubts. This school was actually full of international students. There were very few Austrian students.
The limited number of local students often absent-minded during the most important strategy classes. Morse was a little disappointed.
Something was not right. If the high-ranking military officers were all like this, the Austrian army would probably be on the same level as the Mexican warlords.
In reality, this wasn't the case. Morse had visited the Austrian military camp. Whether it was the training or the equipment, they all left a deep impression on him.
As a Mexican, coming to Austria to study was directly related to Morse's background.
His ancestors immigrated to the German Region, and Austria was the country with the strongest culture in the German Region. A bit of local background made him choose Austria.
In this era in Europe, the status of international students wasn't high and they were discriminated against in many places. Thanks to his identity as a German, he quickly integrated into the circle.
Just two hours ago, he received a piece of shocking news. He invited a few students to a tavern for a small gathering. After drinking, a local student revealed the truth to him.
He thought that the highly professional Austrian Army and Navy Higher Command College was, in fact, an empty shell that wasn't recognized by the Government of Austria.
Of course, it wasn't completely unrecognized. At least graduates here could obtain the equivalent qualifications of vocational colleges.
They didn't train high-level officers, but qualified soldiers. Those with excellent grades could even become low-level officers.
This could be seen in many places. Most of the time was spent on military training, and the command classes were limited to theoretical knowledge.
When the school teachers emphasized small group combat, they talked incessantly. When it came to big battle cases, they were like cows flying in the sky.
There was no helping it. Who asked these teachers to only serve as basic officers? They could speak clearly and logically for those who had personally experienced it. They could only brag about those who weren't familiar with it.
Most of the local students who went to school here came from connections that didn't charge tuition. Because their grades weren't ideal, they couldn't get into a regular military school.
Although this place was a bit lacking, some of the knowledge was still useful. Before serving in the military, they received some military knowledge in advance so that they could stand out faster after serving in the army.
This was also the reason why Morse found that many local students were absent-minded. It wasn't that these people were lazy. When the teacher talked about professional knowledge, they were still studying hard.
The so-called strategy class, everyone knew it was nonsense. Naturally, they wouldn't take it seriously.
It wasn't wrong to say that the Austrian Army and Navy Higher Command College was a military school. The military training wasn't fake. Every year, they still sent a batch of qualified soldiers to the Austrian army. Half of them could become low-level officers.
In the words of the students, it wouldn't be a problem for the outstanding graduates to enter the Austrian army and become a platoon officer. If they were lucky, they could make it to the war and achieve military merits. They could even climb a few steps.
As for the higher-level commanders, they needed to continue their studies. The Austrian officer training system was very complete. As long as one was outstanding enough, they could continue their studies.
There weren't any grassroots marshals, but there were still a few grassroots generals. These people were the goals that ordinary soldiers fought for. Although the chances were a little slim, it was still a chance.
This was undoubtedly disastrous for Morse. The Mexican army didn't have a so-called training system. What could they learn here, which was limited to the ability to command a platoon?
He came here to learn military knowledge to build a strong Mexico, not to become a low-level officer.
However, he chose this path himself. He could enter a regular military school, but in order to save money, he jumped into a huge pit.
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