If Ireland, Spain, and Austria-Hungary form an economic alliance according to Natsuki's vision, it may be regarded as the prototype of an international economic and trade organization, which is advanced beyond the times, but these three European countries are either shallow and in the ascendant, or they have been sinking for many years and have accumulated serious drawbacks, and even if they join forces with all their might, it will be difficult for them to seek a monopoly position in the economic and trade pattern of Europe and even the world, and at best they will form a certain advantage in a certain field, and the political and diplomatic significance is really not great. Pen? Interesting? Pavilion wWw. ｂiquge。 ｉｎfo

After listening to Natsuki's explanation, the new Austrian Emperor Karl I thought about it for a long time, and the previous novelty did not become the motivation for him to decide to participate in it. The person who sits on the throne must see all kinds of people and listen to all kinds of words, how important is the dignified national policy, how can it be persuaded by the words of others?

Xia Shu leisurely sipped tea, his eyes mostly stayed in the harbor in the distance, and the channel in and out of the port from time to time there were ship shadows passing by, all of them were small and medium-sized ordinary ships, when they were busy, but there was no atmosphere of Hamburg, Bremen, London, and Liverpool.

"If the Adriatic Sea is the most ideal holiday destination in Europe due to its beautiful scenery and warm climate, if the economic resources along the coast can be fully exploited and the Adriatic Sea can become a prosperous economic circle, it can lead to the development of the relatively barren southwest of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and at that time, who would think of breaking away from the rule of the empire and living in poverty like the rest of the Balkans, except for a few extreme nationalists?"

Natsuki's casual remarks immediately aroused the interest of Karl I, and he put aside the tangled question just now and asked, "In Your Majesty's opinion, apart from a large amount of investment, what other way can the economic resources of the Adriatic Sea be developed?" ”

Natsuki saw hope in the eyes of Karl I, but even if a region was full of gold mines, it would have to build roads, open mines, and build ports to turn natural treasures into real wealth, and these depended on investment.

There are officials in charge of the economy to give advice, and Karl I naturally knows this, and his expectation for Natsuki is only to hope that this genius can point out a secret path that mortals can't see. Seeing Natsuki shaking his head, he couldn't help but feel disappointed and regretful when he heard Natsuki still talking about the old words about economic laws, but he didn't dwell too much on these, looking at the shadow of the ship in Pula Harbor, he changed the topic and asked Natsuki what he thought of the main ships of the Austro-Hungarian Navy.

Natsuki made an analogy, the Austro-Hungarian fleet with four combined forces class as the core is like the sword of the palace guard, gorgeous, noble, and sharp, and there is no problem in defending the country against the enemy, but it is not suitable for cutting down trees like an axe.

Karl I was thoughtful about Natsuki's answer, and then he asked which side had a better chance of winning if a decisive battle broke out between the Austro-Hungarian fleet and the Italian fleet.

Natsuki replied that it might be a replica of the Battle of Lisa.

Hearing this answer, Karl I first showed a satisfied expression, but after thinking about it, his face became gloomy again.

The Battle of Lissa was a classic naval battle in recent history, in which the Italian and Austrian fleets were fought against the former, while the latter relied on tenacious fighting spirit, excellent tactics, and a certain element of luck to win a narrow victory, that is, the result was good, but the reflection of the current situation was worrying.

Karl I, who had a sad face, said: "If our combined forces class can carry out a comprehensive technical modification, can it compete with the British George V class?" ”

From this question, Natsuki can see that the new Austrian emperor has a high degree of attention to naval affairs, and is quite interested in naval techniques and tactics, which is the same as the late Archduke Ferdinand. The root cause of this doubt is the geographical relationship between Austria-Hungary and Italy as imaginary enemies of each other. According to the London Armistice, Austria-Hungary received an Iron Duke class and a St. Vincent class from the British, and later Italy only got a badly damaged George V-class, which seems to have taken advantage of Austria-Hungary, but due to the poor financial situation and the inherent problems of the dual system, the repair of the two reparation ships was intermittent and still a half-pulled project, and the Italians showed rare efficiency, and they spared no expense to repair the reparation ship, making it the main vanguard of their own navy. As a result, together with the "Dante", three Counts of Cavour, and two newly commissioned Caio-Durio classes, they formed a modern and powerful dreadnought fleet, which formed an unprecedented overwhelming advantage over the Austro-Hungarian Navy. In response, the Austrian and Hungarian governments raised funds for the repair of British reparations ships through loans and the issuance of government bonds, respectively, and started construction of two super-dreadnoughts armed with 380 mm guns ahead of schedule, but with the efficiency of the Austro-Hungarian shipbuilding industry, these contingencies would take at least two to three years to show results.

Like the British George V class, the Italian Navy's Count Cavour class and Caio-Durio class are both 25,000 tons, but they are all equipped with 46 times the diameter of the 305 mm main gun, the level of armor protection is slightly inferior to the George V class and the combined force class, and the actual speed is far from the design level, so the overall strength is much worse than the George V class. If the modified Combined Forces class can match the George V class, it will naturally have a better chance of beating the mediocre Earl Cavour and Caio-Durio classes in a fair and equal situation.

During his tenure in the German Navy, Natsuki paid close attention to the development of the main ships of various countries, and now he has become the soul of Ireland, leading the characteristic development of the Irish shipbuilding industry, and still maintains a high sensitivity to information from all sides. The Austro-Hungarian Navy's Combined Force class was superior in design to its Italian dreadnoughts of the same period, but its displacement and design limited its room for improvement, whether it was upgrading the main gun diameter or imposing caliber, or cramming all the most advanced auxiliary equipment into the ship's cabin, it was difficult to compete with the British Navy's George V class.

Seeing that Natsuki was silent, Karl I already had the answer in his heart, and he nodded solemnly: "Your Majesty is right, the only way out for this country is to develop the economy, and only when the economic situation improves, other aspects can be improved." ”

Natsuki appeased the situation and said: "As long as the Allied system is firmly established, Italy will not dare to make a mistake, their navy only looks strong, but in fact it is an empty shelf that lacks fighting spirit." If Your Majesty can trust my judgment, you can postpone the construction of two new capital ships, enrich the navy with submarines, torpedo boats, and airplanes, and invest the saved funds in economic construction and social development. ”

This well-intentioned suggestion was wise, but not enough to help Austria-Hungary emerge from its complicated predicament. Karl I's mood was still not high, which was similar to his previous state in public. He then chatted with Natsuki about technical matters, and until the end of the meeting, the two sides did not reach even a verbal agreement, but in Natsuki's opinion, the biggest gain of the meeting was that the two monarchs learned each other's ideas for the first time, and Karl I was so touched that he promised to seriously consider Natsuki's suggestion and hope to return to Ireland in due course.

Natsuki was a little disappointed about the fruitless meeting, but more understanding and sympathy. At the beginning of his reign in Ireland, he himself was worried about the country's development and could not sleep at night. Ireland's hard work is the absolute key to what Ireland is today, but the same reasoning may not be useful to Austria-Hungary and Karl I, who may not be able to make the right decisions on the major issues of right and wrong, but may not be able to guide this dualistic empire to a new life. Among the four major empires of Britain, Germany, Russia and Austria, Austria-Hungary is the most industrialized and urbanized, and its developed areas are not inferior to Western Europe.

In simple terms, the landlords of Galicia believed that they should rule the province, since they were historically the ruling elite of the Polish-Lithuanian kingdom, but the Ukrainians in the region were not convinced. The Czech social and political elite believed that their native Bohemia should be granted the same autonomous status as Hungary, but once the Habsburgs made concessions to the Czechs, they provoked protests from the German minority in Bohemia. The German-speaking elite in Austria saw themselves as representing the higher civilization of Central Europe, and that giving more rights to non-German-speaking inhabitants hindered civilizational progress, but this nationalism had a great tearing effect on ethnic relations.

In the 19th century, industrialization and urbanization continued within the empire, but due to uneven economic development, when economic and social stratification coincided with ethnic boundaries, weaker peoples developed resentment towards stronger peoples. For example, the Ukrainian and Slovenian small peasants and tenant farmers were very dissatisfied with the Polish and Magyar landlords, while the increase in the educational level of the national bourgeoisie and the awakening of the political consciousness of the working class led to a heightened expectation of self-government. For example, the Czech middle class and intellectuals in industrialized Bohemia strongly demanded the decentralization of administrative power to the Empire, but the Habsburg royal family was reluctant to approve it, fearing that decentralization would result in Czechish oppression of the German population of the region. As a result, street clashes abound between Czechs and Germans in the region, and even Czech and German parliamentarians in the Reichstag often clashed violently.

Before the 20th century, the main ideologies used by the empire to unite peoples were Habsburgism and Catholicism, but by the 20th century, both ideologies were deeply flawed. Austria-Hungary was so close to the fast-growing and powerful and successful states of Germany, Britain, and France that its subjects could not avoid international comparisons, leading to the conclusion that the Habsburg royal family was incompetent. Catholicism originally played a role as the glue that held the empire together, but by the beginning of the 20th century, the development of secular liberalism and nationalism rapidly reduced the ability of this ideology to integrate. The constitutional reforms introduced by the Habsburg royal family to increase the legitimacy of their rule did not weaken the national conflict within the empire, and even provided a new arena for it.

(End of chapter)