Franz was not surprised by the difficulties encountered in the immigration work. This was an inevitable result, and it was not something that could be stopped by a single person's will.
There were millions of refugees in Poland, and Russia was unable to provide relief. There were only two options to maintain local stability: expulsion or massacre.
Russia's only option was to expel them. It wasn't that the Tsarist government didn't have the courage to raise the butcher's knife. The main reason was that raising the butcher's knife would inevitably lead to the intervention of the international community.
It was now the late 19th century, and the rules of the game had been set. Willfully breaking the rules would inevitably be rejected by the European world.
At its peak, the Russian Empire was naturally not afraid of offending the European world, but it was different now. The Prussian war was not over yet, and the Tsarist government did not want to be isolated diplomatically, so it had to abide by the rules of the game.
As the Russian Army began to deport the refugees, Austria's immigration work would naturally be affected. Even if the Tsarist government fully cooperated, the Russian Army soldiers would not be able to identify every single refugee.
In this era of chaos and constant communication, no matter how hard the Immigration Department tried, it was impossible for them to reach everyone.
Apart from setting up immigration points in the city, there wasn't much that the Immigration Department could do. They even had to be careful when leaving the city.
There was no social order in the world outside the city. Bandits and mountain bandits did not care if you were Austrian or not. They treated everyone the same — robbing.
Putting down the telegram in his hand, Franz nonchalantly said, "Now that things have come to this, there's nothing we can do.
The difficulties encountered by the immigrants were caused by force majeure, and it was not anyone's responsibility. If they could not complete the previous plan, there was no need to be held accountable.
Tell the staff in the Polish region to take care of their own safety. Try to get Russia to send troops to protect you. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs will be in charge of coordination. "
Austria had a complete assessment and accountability system. If an official did a good job, it would be considered a political achievement and would be used as the main reference for promotion. On the other hand, if an official could not complete a task, they would be held accountable. If there was a problem, their career would basically be over.
However, there were exceptions to everything. If it was caused by force majeure and there was no obvious fault on the part of the official, he would not be held responsible.
There was no doubt that what happened in Poland was a force majeure. Even the Government of Vienna could not stop it, let alone the staff.
With such a good opportunity, Franz naturally wanted to buy people's hearts. His words of concern were not only for the Polish officials, but also for the domestic officials.
"Yes, Your Majesty!"
Foreign Minister Wesenberg replied.
Prime Minister Felix: "Your Majesty, a large number of refugees have gathered at the Polish border and want to cross into Austria.
Many refugees crossed the mountains and entered the country through the forests. Since the outbreak of the Prussian war, the border guards had arrested more than 100,000 people who had crossed the border illegally.
Especially after Russia began to expel refugees, the situation became even more serious. Every day, tens of thousands of refugees deliberately broke through and were caught. "
Since the outbreak of the Prussian War, illegal border crossing had been a problem for the Government of Vienna. The actual situation was much more serious than Felix said.
This also involved issues left behind by history. There were many people on the Austria border who were related to the past. Many refugees who crossed the border illegally had the local people providing cover for them.
Apart from that, there were also a large number of illegal immigrant organizations. These organizations controlled unknown mountain trails and organized smuggling of refugees from the Polish region.
There was no doubt that these organizations were doing this for profit. Those who had money would be given a smuggling fee, while those who had no money would be sent to illegal factories or construction sites.
According to the statistics of the Austrian court, more than 76% of crimes in the border area were caused by illegal immigrants.
The Government of Vienna naturally had to crack down on such illegal criminal activities that seriously endangered Austria's social security.
Unfortunately, the results were minimal. Illegal immigrant organizations were like chives that quickly grew again after being cut.
In contrast, illegal immigrants who relied on relatives and friends were more obedient. Most of these people hid in the countryside, and their relatives and friends would find ways to make a living.
After a few years of learning the Austrian language, most of these people would apply for citizenship. The method was simple. They would run to the border and pretend to be Shinra citizens living in Poland. There were so many people in the German state that there was no way to check.
Well, the latter was the result of the Government of Vienna turning a blind eye.
Reality was like this. Sometimes it was hard to be confused. The people themselves said they were Germans, so the government naturally didn't bother to investigate further. Otherwise, the proportion of the majority ethnic group in Austria wouldn't have been on the rise.
For example, in the Galicia region, the local German population was less than one-tenth in 1848. By 1880, it had risen to 38.6%, surpassing the Poles and Ukrainians to become the largest ethnic group.
Under normal circumstances, this wouldn't have happened, but it really did happen in reality. Franz didn't know what happened in the middle, and he didn't want to know.
It seemed to be self-deception, but it was actually very effective. People integrated voluntarily, and there was no doubt about their recognition. If anyone questioned their ethnicity, they would be angry with them.
In essence, the European ethnic groups were a mess. Most of the ethnic groups were artificially separated by later generations. The 19th century was the last opportunity for Europe to integrate ethnic groups.
A large number of refugees entering Austria was inevitable. Everyone knew that the Kingdom of Prussia wasn't a match for Russia. If they ran to the Kingdom of Prussia, they would have to go through the flames of war.
In addition to the Kingdom of Prussia, Poland was bordered by Russia and Austria. As long as they weren't tired of living, they wouldn't run to Russia, so they could only go to Austria.
If it wasn't for the Russian Army's intention to drive the refugees to the Kingdom of Prussia, there might have been more people who ran to Austria.
From a certain perspective, those who ran to the Obor Border right now were either lucky or smart people.
It wasn't safe to run to the Kingdom of Prussia, and they might not be able to get help. It was different to go to Austria. No matter how brutal the Russian Army was, they wouldn't cause trouble at the border.
Under normal circumstances, the Russian Army would stop as long as they entered the buffer zone that both sides agreed on.
If they could bluff their way through here, they would do their best. If they couldn't, they could still break through illegally. As long as they were smart enough to surrender when they saw the guards, they would have someone to provide food.
As for the future?
There was no need to think so much. It was better to survive first.
In any case, Austria was a country ruled by law. As long as they didn't break through with violence, they would only end up in prison or exile if they were caught.
After thinking for a while, Franz said slowly, "Build temporary refugee camps at the border. The number of people breaking through will increase. Not only the Austrian border, but the Austrian border will also become an area with a high influx of refugees.
I'm afraid the number of refugees this time will be astronomical. We might not even be able to fit them in our prisons. If we throw them all into the colonies, it will be a big problem to manage.
Prime Minister, if there are any major projects in the country that need to be built, we can't waste a batch of free labor. "
The most important thing in a country ruled by law was to abide by the law. No matter how many refugees there were, as long as they crossed the border illegally, those who should be arrested would still be arrested and those who should be locked up would still be locked up.
This was a matter of principle. Franz wouldn't break the rules. Being willing to fork out money to build a refugee camp was already a sign of his conscience. In this day and age, there was no such thing as providing free aid to refugees from other countries.
Prime Minister Felix: "The Ludwigs Canal in Bavaria (the predecessor of the Main-Donau Canal) can no longer meet the demand. The government is studying whether to expand it.
The Ministry of Agriculture plans to build 50 large and medium-sized reservoirs in the next ten years. The Ministry of Railways plans to build the Arabian Peninsula Railway and the Middle East Railway. The Ministry of Electricity is preparing to promote the hydropower project. They plan to increase the proportion of hydropower from 0.3% to 8.5% in the next ten years … "
A series of big plans made Franz feel as if he had returned to the Austrian era of construction. However, he was very clear that this was obviously different.
Back then, Austria used the entire country's resources to build infrastructure. Although these plans were huge, they only needed the government to invest a portion of their energy.
The expansion of the canal and the construction of the reservoir — the problems of these projects were all focused on "money." There was no technical difficulty.
The railway plan and the hydropower project were not the same. In addition to the economic problems, there were also technical problems.
Austria had the experience of building railways in the desert, but they were all short-distance. This time, they wanted to build hundreds or even thousands of kilometers of desert railways. It was on a completely different level.
The hydropower project was relatively simple, but it was only relative. The reason was very simple. The hydropower technology had just been born and was still in the experimental stage.
This could be seen from the electricity generated. Hydropower only accounted for three thousandths of the total electricity generated, which was almost negligible.
Most of the rivers in Europe had a relatively small drop, which undoubtedly increased the difficulty of using hydropower to generate electricity. If it weren't for the fact that Austria had many rivers, it was estimated that no one would have thought of promoting hydropower.
Franz asked, "Has the technical problem of the desert railway been solved?"
He didn't ask about the hydropower technology because the hydropower construction in Austria was mostly private investment. Capitalists were more shrewd than anyone else and no one would do a losing business.
Prime Minister Felix replied, "It has been preliminarily solved. The Ministry of Railways plans to build a sand-proof forest and plant shrubs, jujube trees, poplars, and sand-fixing herbs on both sides of the railway.
Considering the threat of sandstorms, in areas with frequent sandstorms, desert roads will be built first and railways will not be built for the time being. These are mainly branch railways that go deep into the interior and need to consider these issues.
Most of the areas that the Middle East Railway and the Circum-Arabian Peninsula Railway pass through are desert areas. Many areas are affected by sandstorms and are not real deserts. The sand-proof forest is enough.
We have already tried it, and it seems that the effect is good. As long as we don't catch a big sandstorm, it can play a very good protection effect, but it will take a long time. "
Franz nodded. The Middle East and the Arabian Peninsula were not as damaged as in later years, especially after Austria occupied these areas. The first thing they did was to implement policies such as fallow the land and ban livestock to protect the natural environment.
"Go according to the plan. The government is responsible for the distribution and rational use of these free labor forces. Send language teachers to educate them.
Remember to kick out the lawbreakers first. The rest depends on individual performance. Those who perform well can be treated slightly better, and those who are active can end their labor early.
After the end of their labor, allow them to leave freely. Those who are willing to stay will be paid labor wages.
If there are old and weak families among the refugees, they can be given preferential treatment and placed in areas with better conditions as much as possible. "
Giving preferential treatment to the old and weak was not Franz's idea. Those who could escape with their families would not be bad characters. With their families dragging them down, these people were often the easiest to assimilate.
…
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