African Entrepreneurship Record

Chapter 1444: Chapter 17: Italy Beer Hall_2

In the late nineteenth century, East Africa emerged unexpectedly as the primary destination for German immigrants, a status it held for less than forty years before fading due to Germany’s rapid economic development.

Moreover, the later data on East African immigrants contained significant discrepancies, with many Slavs being directly classified under German immigration, primarily contributed by Austria-Hungary.

At least thirty percent of the Germans who initially immigrated to East Africa were actually Slavs, thus helping Austria-Hungary curb the growth of the Slavic population; otherwise, the situation in Austria-Hungary would have been even more difficult.

It is hard to say why Austria-Hungary did not disintegrate directly after the devastation of World War I, but it is clearly linked to East Africa, or rather the influence of Ernst within the empire.

Conrad continued, ”We should select only those American Germans with lower educational levels to minimize the risk.”

What Conrad said reminded Rudolph of East Africa’s past strategy: recruiting immigrants by targeting the most honest people from the bottom of society.

Although the comprehensive quality of these people was low, it did not hinder East Africa from becoming a great power in the early twentieth century.

After all, population quality can be improved in various ways, just like East Africa’s widespread implementation of compulsory education. East Africa progressed from a backward agricultural country to one with a leading level of per capita education, though the process was arduous, stability prevailed.

Crown Prince Rudolph said, ”That’s also an approach. The American Germans, having suffered from previous unfair treatment and discrimination, are indeed psychologically easier to rally, especially since the empire was once their motherland.”

German immigrants, once the world’s largest immigrant group, despite the country’s division, more often identify themselves nationally, making it reasonable to call Austria-Hungary their motherland.

Even today, the citizens of Germany and Austria can communicate freely, and many Germans in Austria still hold on to the idea of a Greater Germany, like a certain failed artist developing in Germany.

So much so that in the past, the failed artist’s annexation of Austria was not considered aggression but unification, and Austria offered little resistance.

Conrad went on to add, ”Not just the United States, we should also consider East Africa, whose population is ranked third in the world, making it the largest German country.”

Having broadened the scope, Conrad naturally accepted East Africa as a ”fact” of being a German nation.

Thinking of East Africa, Conrad was very envious and admiring of its current progress. The empire perhaps should have learned from the Rhein Royal Family to expand into Africa rather than mired in Europe’s quagmire. 𝘧𝓇ℯℴ𝓂

After all, at that time, Austria-Hungary was far more powerful than the nominal Hexionggen Principality, but due to other countries’ lack of emphasis on Africa, the Rhein Royal Family seized considerable benefits.

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While Rudolph and Conrad were strategizing Austria-Hungary’s future, on the other side of the Alps, in the Italian Kingdom’s capital hundreds of kilometers from Vienna, a group of radical youths were ”envisioning” Italy’s future.

Turin.

Once the capital of the Sardinian Kingdom, now the capital of the Italian Kingdom. Unfortunately, due to the failed unification wars of the previous century, the so-called Italian Kingdom retained nominal status, symbolizing Italians’ last defiance.

Turin, Italy’s most developed city, and one of Europe’s metropolitan areas with over a million people, is particularly known for its light industry, though its heavy industry ranks prominently in Italy as well.

Even though the Italian Kingdom did not complete its grand unification, the national population remains considerable. Before World War I, the Italian Kingdom already had a population exceeding twenty million, despite many citizens emigrating.

This large population makes Italy the gatekeeper among Europe’s populous nations. Besides its over twenty million domestic population, Italy’s Red Sea colony also has a population of over a million, highlighting the arduous developments of the Italian Kingdom.

The reason Italy is deemed the gatekeeper of Europe’s populous nations is that, apart from a few major countries, only the Italian Kingdom has populations exceeding twenty million.

As Europe’s gatekeeper of populous nations, likewise Spain is the world’s great powers’ gatekeeper, with a population of just over twenty million. Based purely on population, the Italian Kingdom is not much poorer than Spain, but in other metrics, Italy falls short.

In a Turin beer hall.

A middle-aged man gesticulating passionately was describing his ambitions to everyone.

Compared to neighboring Austria-Hungary and France, the Italian Kingdom’s management of the pandemic is much more lax; Italians are inherently more relaxed, and Italy does not face the population crisis France and Austria-Hungary do, but rather, a somewhat pronounced domestic population density.

Therefore, even as the pandemic severely impacts Italy today, various commercial venues remain operational.

This is also the case in Turin, where a large gathering of disillusioned Italians congregates in this corner beer hall. In this era, it is difficult to find anyone undeterred by disenchantment, given the unfavorable social environment, thus spreading a pessimistic sentiment throughout society.