NOVPUBPrime Minister Felix said, "As of now, the number of bankrupt businesses in the country has risen to 1,876, and the number of unemployed has broken through 2.47 million, setting a new historical high.
Among these, the cotton textile industry has suffered the most severe losses, with one-quarter of the textile mills going bankrupt and more than half announcing production cuts, leading to a direct drop in capacity by 37%."
Following closely behind is the shipbuilding industry, affected by the reduction in international trade, which in recent months has had virtually no new orders. Even the existing orders have been greatly affected by the economic crisis, with a large portion announcing breaches of contract.
Steel..."
Bad news kept ringing in Franz’s ears, an inevitable result of the economic crisis.
In the period of the Great Depression, the market shrank, and companies cut production and staff to survive the crisis, leading to further market shrinkage, creating a vicious cycle.
Solving the crisis is very simple, either find a new market to shift the crisis or wait for the market to naturally recover.
The situation is now very clear, all of Europe has been dragged down by Austria, with nowhere to shift the crisis, relying only on market self-recovery.
After natural selection, outdated capacities were eliminated. The enterprises that survived were mostly those that had put effort into management or technology. After each economic downturn, it is also a period of technological explosion.
Unlike the past, after this economic crisis erupted, the Vienna Government did not increase public infrastructure investment to create jobs but instead let the market adjust freely.
Franz asked, "How is the immigration work progressing?"
The crisis is not terrifying, what is frightening is the unemployment it causes. Nowadays, the working class has severely insufficient risk resistance. Being unemployed for two or three months is manageable, but if one has no income for a year and a half, it can lead to significant problems.
Getting through the crisis is straightforward, just immigrate. The colonies are in a state of development and are lacking a considerable amount of labor.
Under normal circumstances, aside from the restless and those who wish to get rich, very few are willing to leave their homes and venture to the colonies.
To put it bluntly, the golden age to get wealthy in the colonies has passed. As development continues, the conditions in the colonies get better, but the opportunities to get rich become less and less.
Early immigrants, as long as they were willing to work hard and not die, could generally get rich. But now, one can only say there are more opportunities than back home.
To stand out, in addition to daring to fight, one must also have a flexible mind, plus a bit of luck. 𝙣𝒐𝙫𝙥𝙪𝙗.𝙘𝙤𝙢
With the decrease in allure, people’s enthusiasm for emigration has also waned. Even though Austria has started a strategy of colonial localization, the time has been short, and the infrastructure is still far from comparable to that at home.
Especially in the fields of transportation, healthcare, and education, the gap is vast. The transportation issue is due to the short development time, while healthcare and education suffer from a lack of talent.
It’s not that Austria lacks doctors and teachers, but that these professionals can live comfortably at home without the motivation to struggle in the colonies.
To solve these problems, the Vienna Government has even established schools on the African Continent to locally train doctors and teachers.
This is not something that can show effects in the short term; it requires time to accumulate. Especially in training doctors, according to Austria’s current education system, a medical major takes no less than seven years, with training a qualified doctor starting at ten years.
This is not about Franz having high standards, but about what reality requires. In an age lacking medical equipment, treatment depends entirely on the doctor’s personal abilities, and quick fixes are impossible.
Colonial Minister Stephen answered, "As of now, the number of people who have signed up for emigration has already surpassed the 1.2 million mark, with 680,000 having completed immigration and settlement.
The number of registrants continues to increase. Judging by the current domestic economic situation, it is estimated that the total number of emigrants may exceed 3 million."
This is characteristic of the economic crisis; people still have savings to rely on in the early stages, but life gets progressively harder as time goes on.
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It’s no wonder that people signed up for immigration to survive. If given the choice, you would hardly find anyone in Austria who wanted to go to the colonies.
To encourage immigration, the Vienna Government really broke their backs. There are mainly two scenarios in which the colonial companies recruit immigrants: one is direct immigration, the other is going to work in Africa.
Most people choose the latter, and even though the Vienna Government subsidizes those who directly immigrate with a resettlement fee, it can’t shake most people’s determination.
Many still fantasize about working hard in the African Continent for a few years, saving enough money to go back home and buy property. But the reality is that after living in Africa for a few years, most stay put.
Income is key. There’s a shortage of labor in the African Continent, so the wages for ordinary workers are naturally higher than in their homeland.
After getting used to higher wages, few can bear to return to lower wages and a decreased standard of living.
To attract more people, the colonial government even encourages bringing family members. Africa is no longer a savage land, and many move to the colonies with their families for convenience.
Franz nodded, "Keep up with the immigration work. Now is the best opportunity, once the economic crisis ends, it won’t be easy to get such a large number of immigrants again.
What about the situation abroad, how far has the Paris Congress progressed, and is it possible for the countries to reach a consensus in the short term?"
"Yes, Your Majesty! The plans set out by the Colonial Department will absorb immigrants as much as possible during the economic crisis," Stephen replied.
Foreign Minister Weisenberg: "Your Majesty, all the countries in Europe are mired in an economic crisis, and no one’s having an easy time.
However, the overall situation has stabilized. The French have suppressed the Italian uprising, and Napoleon IV has put Paris under military control, rendering the opposition incapable of causing trouble.
What is worth mentioning is the sharp deterioration of Prussian relations due to the outbreak of the Rhineland uprising, which burst the last bubble maintaining the relationship between the two countries.
According to the treaty, the Rhineland uprising occurred close to the handover period, and the German Federal Government wanted an early transition but was refused by the Berlin Government.
To get more immigrants, the Prussians sent troops to suppress the uprising and forcibly relocated a large population.
From the intelligence we’ve gathered, the Berlin Government has practically drained the cream of the Rhineland region, capturing engineers, scientists, doctors, and teachers almost entirely.
Only after the intervention of European countries did the Berlin Government begin the handover process with the German Federation Empire, though it is proceeding very slowly.
Preliminary estimates suggest that the Berlin Government may delay until after the New Year. They are still using the last of their time to poach people, and by the time the German Federation Empire takes over, there might not be any skilled workers left.
Due to the economic crisis, the Paris Congress is progressing very poorly. Governments are not focused on the conference, and some are even foolishly thinking about shifting the crisis to the colonies.
In the colonial competition, no one is giving way to others. With the British deliberately causing trouble, it seems they want to stir the waters and make the prospects of the Paris Congress even grimmer."
Franz nodded. The Kingdom of Prussia taking millions of immigrants from the Rhineland region is bound to displease the German Federation Empire.
This is poaching from the German Federation Empire’s corner, after all, the most precious assets of the Rhineland region are not the mineral resources but these highly skilled talents. That the two sides have not come to blows is already quite restrained.
As for the British deliberately sowing discord among nations, it’s a familiar tactic, a familiar taste. If they weren’t doing it, Franz would suspect something was wrong.
The Paris Congress was convened to mediate international disputes and reduce conflicts, true, but from the British perspective, the real goal is to reduce their own conflicts with other nations.
What do they care if other Colonial Empires clash? Deliberately stirring relations between countries is just John Bull’s habitual maneuver.
If the conflicts among European nations were resolved, and everyone lived in peace and good-neighborliness, could the London Government even sleep at night?
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