African Entrepreneurship Records 2

Chapter 1430 Budapest
1926 1 Month 29 Day.

Hungary.

In recent years after the end of World War I, Budapest, the capital of Hungary, has developed rapidly. Before the war, Budapest was an important city in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and it developed even faster after the war.

Today, Budapest has successfully become a world-class city with a population of one million. Before World War I, Budapest's population was close to one million, making it one of the top ten cities in Europe at the time.

In recent years, Budapest's industrial development has been rapid, especially in the steel, textile and machinery manufacturing industries, which has led to a large influx of Hungarian rural people into Budapest. In the past, the Hungarian rural population was also one of the main sources of immigrants from East Africa.

The reason for this result is very simple, that is, the living conditions of the lower-class people in Hungary are not ideal. This is also normal. As an agricultural area of ​​the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Hungary's economic level is relatively backward.

Moreover, Hungary was more reactionary and backward than other regions of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and the Hungarian government was basically monopolized by the nobility, or the large landowner class.

Based on this characteristic, there is no doubt that the development of the bourgeoisie in Hungary will inevitably be restricted. However, thanks to the overall environment in Europe, even in Hungary, a "backward" country, the industrial growth is considerable.

This has also led to a result that the Hungarian Labor Party in Budapest has developed by leaps and bounds in recent years.

Dragsell Cafe.

In Budapest, cafe culture is very popular. Just as Germans like to have loud conversations in beer halls, Hungarians like to plot big things in cafes.

The Dragssel Café is located in Budapest near the Danube River, but unlike ordinary cafés, the location of Dragssel is not very good.

Although coffee culture is popular in Budapest, there is no doubt that in the early 20th century, the main coffee consumers in Budapest were the middle class of Budapest.

The Dragsel Café is located closer to the industrial area, and most of the people living here are workers who do not have much savings.

However, the actual business of Dragsell Café is still quite good, and it has a group of regular customers.

"Good morning, Mr. Temo, you came really early today. I just opened for business and you are the first customer." The owner of Dragsel Cafe said to Middleton.

Middleton is not a native of Budapest, but from a small village called Dragsel, so he named his cafe after his hometown.

Temo replied to Middleton in a friendly manner: "Good morning, Middleton. As usual, give me a cup of Catoro. How is business recently?"

The so-called Catoro is a kind of cheap coffee sold at Dragsell Café. Catoro is also a place name.

It’s just that Katoro is located in faraway East Africa, a coffee producing area in the Great Lakes Province of East Africa. East Africa is a major coffee exporting country, especially in Central and Eastern Europe, where East African coffee has an absolute advantage in the market.

East Africa can provide Central and Eastern European countries with a wide range of coffee products at different prices. In addition to East Africa itself, the coffee production in East Africa's Southeast Asian colonies has also grown rapidly in recent years.

Middleton poured some Catoro coffee beans from the jar and ground them. He said to Temo, "It's the same as always, Mr. Temo. You know, the location of my coffee shop is not very good, and the decoration is relatively simple, so there are not many customers. It is only regular customers like you that allow me to make a little money to support my family."

Temo took out a newspaper, read today's news, leaned back in the cafe chair, crossed his legs and said to Middleton: "Don't belittle yourself, Mr. Middleton. After all, every penny you earn is earned with your own hands."

“Compared to those business-oriented cafes, your cafe is small and simple, but it does provide convenience for us guests who live nearby.”

"Moreover, your coffee price is also very reasonable, which is a good thing for many people who are short of money but love to drink coffee."

Middleton turned the mechanical crank of the grinder and said to Temo with a smile: "As expected, Mr. Temo, you and Mr. Brad, Mr. Hines and others are truly cultured people."

"My old and run-down coffee shop is no longer useless in your words."

"But as you said, my secret to running this cafe is to be affordable and fair. After all, there aren't many customers like you who have status."

Temo refuted Middleton's last words: "Boss Middleton, you are joking. I don't have any status. I just read a few more books. I'm not afraid of you laughing at me. In fact, I didn't even graduate from high school."

"And, in my opinion, apart from differences in moral qualities, most people are actually equal."

"In comparison, those bad guys who steal the fruits of others' labor, no matter how rich or powerful they are, are far less noble than you, Boss Middleton, in my eyes."

"First of all, Mr. Middleton, you are trustworthy and fair in business. You are not like those unscrupulous businessmen who become slaves to money."

"Secondly, as I said, every bit of your wealth was earned through your own hard work, and the source of every bit of money is clean, which is also very difficult."

Middleton took a coffee cup from the cupboard and poured the coffee powder into it.

Then he went to the stove, poured the water from the kettle into a cup, and passed it to the table in front of Temo.

Then he said, "I am just a nobody. Mr. Temo, you flatter me too much. You say so many nice things to me. It makes me feel a little dizzy."

"As for the identity issue you mentioned, in my eyes, Mr. Temo is definitely not an ordinary person. Even though you didn't even finish middle school, you are much better than ordinary people like us who haven't even attended middle school."

"Moreover, I have met some people with higher social status, higher education, or wealth, and they are not necessarily better than you. Just from your words and deeds, I feel that your level is much higher than most people."

"And Hines, Brad, Cleaver and so on, all of you acquaintances give me the feeling that you have broad minds and tempers that are admirable. Personally, I feel that you are people who can accomplish great things."

Middleton did not mean to flatter, but he thought so sincerely. As a cafe owner, Middleton considered himself a small businessman and had met many different kinds of people.

Temo and others gave him the feeling of elegant aristocrats, but the difference between the two was that Temo and others were more down-to-earth and people Middleton could relate to.

As for Temo and his friends, some of the issues they usually discussed in the cafe made Middleton feel even more confused and awe-inspiring.

Labor rights, political struggles, social progress, macro topics, but also interspersed with various detailed arguments. So, Middleton couldn't help but ask curiously: "Mr. Temo, your profession should be a writer or a newspaper commentator, right?"

Temo picked up the coffee that had not yet cooled down, brought it to his lips, took a sip and said, "You can say that my job does require me to write some articles, and it does have some connection with the newspaper."

"However, the specific details may be different from what you think. To be honest, the Hungarian government doesn't like us very much."

Middleton slapped his thigh and said, "I knew I was right. As for the government, newspapers and writers, they like to criticize the government, so naturally you will be disliked by the government."

"However, we, as small people, don't care about the government's attitude, and we can't decide the decisions of those nobles in the government. We just hope they can make less trouble."

"To be honest, a large part of the operating cost of my cafe is the various taxes paid to the kingdom. It has improved a lot in recent years, but I can only barely make ends meet."

Temo smiled and said, "Maybe! But one day, there will be a government that serves the people. Democracy is the general trend of the world, and Hungary is no exception. Maybe we will sleep and the new government will appear the next day."

Middleton had no idea what Temo meant by his last sentence, but he didn't care too much. After all, in his opinion, since Temo was a writer, it was not surprising that he said some profound words.

About four minutes later, a new customer came into the store. Middleton also knew this person. She was one of Temo's friends and an old customer, Hines.

Hines simply greeted Middleton who was working, and then sat down opposite Temo.

He whispered to Temo, "The organization has a new mission. Tonight at 7:30, you contact Crivelle and the others and come to my house."

Temo asked curiously, "What mission?"

Heins's expression turned serious and she said, "It's very important, so it's even more confidential. However, it's the thing you have in mind. When you come to my house tonight, I will reveal all the details and task arrangements."

Temo nodded thoughtfully. In his heart, he had actually suddenly realized what was going on. For some reason, his heartbeat even suddenly quickened.

He said with a hint of barely perceptible excitement: "No problem, I've been prepared for this."

……

At seven o'clock in the evening, many people came to Heins's house one after another, making the already small space of Heins's house seem even more crowded.

On the second floor, in front of a square table, everyone gathered around Heins and asked impatiently, "Heins, is this mission what we thought it would be?"

Heins nodded and said, "Yes, comrades, the latest instructions from the Budapest Party Branch in Hungary have been issued."

"Based on the communiqué of the Hungarian Party's year-end summary meeting last month and the opinions of the Moscow International, Comrade Kun and the Soviet comrades believe that we in Hungary already have the basis for an uprising."

"Comrade Kuhn and other senior officials have made the following judgment after combining the intelligence provided by representatives from all over the country."

"First, with the development of Hungarian industry in recent years, the number of workers has increased significantly, and the working class has undoubtedly grown stronger. Today, the Hungarian working class has the foundation to promote social change in Hungary."

"Secondly, the Hungarian organization has been developing more and more perfectly over the years. Local grassroots comrades have penetrated into factories, enterprises, government agencies, the military and other important departments, connecting the vast forces that can be united."

"Finally, there are the backward and corrupt Habsburgs and the Hungarian aristocratic government. Under their brutal rule, Hungary's social contradictions have accumulated to the brink of an explosion."

"So Comrade Kuhn emphasized that we must be the ones who ignite the fire of change in Hungary, and achieve Hungary's transformation by igniting contradictions in advance, learning from the Russian model, and completely turning Hungary into a workers' homeland."

"According to the instructions of Comrade Kuhn, the Budapest Party Branch has issued the following instructions to our area: On February 1926, 2, all members of the organization in Budapest will rise up at the same time."

"It concerns our neighborhood. We need to mobilize the workers in the machinery factory and the shipyard, organize teams, and on February 2, cooperate with the branch to seize important places such as the National Assembly, the police station, the city government, and the radio station."

"Now, I will start assigning tasks. Everyone, go back and get ready for the final battle. Temo, you will be in charge... Brad, you will be in charge of organizing the workers at the Olaf factory."

At Heins's house, the Hungarian members of the organization were very excited. After reconfirming their respective tasks, they left one after another to prepare for the final decisive battle.

In fact, in the previous life, after the end of World War I, the Hungarian Labor Party successfully seized power in Hungary, but this regime only lasted for a few months.

In this time and space, the course of World War I has completely changed, which also led to the Hungarian Labor Party not developing along the path of the previous life.

In its previous life, Hungary suffered a huge loss because of World War I. Not only did it have to pay a huge amount of war reparations, but it also ceded a large amount of territory. Therefore, it is not surprising that Hungary changed its color so early in its previous life.

However, the Hungarian Labor Party in this time and space did not believe that Hungary had the conditions for an uprising at the end of World War I, because Hungary had no reason to be defeated in the war.

The reason why they believed that Hungary had the basis for an uprising in 1926 was also based on changes in the actual situation.

Although the Austro-Hungarian Empire did not disintegrate because of World War I, it suffered heavy damage from the war. In recent years, the Austro-Hungarian Empire was the slowest developing country among the major European powers, including the Soviet Union.

Within the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Hungary was a relatively economically backward region with very acute social contradictions.

This contradiction has not been reversed with the recovery of the world economy. Instead, it has become more and more serious over time. The reason is very simple. As mentioned earlier, Hungary can now be said to be one of the most reactionary and backward regions in Europe.

The Hungarian government was even still in the old era, and the government was completely controlled by the Hungarian nobles, who basically belonged to the class of large landowners.

The Hungarian nobility is different from the German Junker nobility. After all, many German Junker nobility have been developing towards bourgeoisization since the last century, while the Hungarian nobility is more like a medieval nobility with almost no progressiveness.

Therefore, Hungary’s social contradictions were extremely acute. In addition to the contradictions between the central and local governments, that is, the contradictions between the Austro-Hungarian Empire and Hungary, its own internal problems were even more serious.

(End of this chapter)