African Entrepreneurship Records 2

Chapter 1542 The Bohemian Textile Workers' Movement
The construction projects of East African overseas railways are all located in countries and regions under the influence of East Africa. Even Western Australia has deep trade ties with East Africa.

The development of overseas markets is inevitably linked to politics and military affairs. Since modern times, Britain, the United States, and East Africa have advocated so-called free competition after completing industrialization, which is essentially to bypass political isolation.

Even a powerful nation like 19th-century Britain needed gunboat diplomacy to achieve its goals, rather than relying solely on the advantages of its economy and industry.

East Africa, Rhine City.

Ministry of Commerce of the People's Republic of China.

"In 1932, my country's overseas railway projects under construction mainly included the Asunción-Lima Railway and the Persian Gulf-Caspian Sea Railway, with a total construction length of more than 2,000 kilometers."

"This has greatly alleviated the operational problems of domestic railway construction companies during the economic crisis. Coupled with our domestic railway renovation projects and the Libyan railway, it has ensured the stable development of my country's railway industry in the near future..."

Crown Prince Frederick listened to the Ministry of Commerce's report and was satisfied with the result.

He said, "In the past three years, the global railway industry has encountered major setbacks, especially in Europe and the United States, where many railway companies have gone bankrupt, and railway lines have been closed or even dismantled."

"Globally, only in relatively economically underdeveloped regions, as well as in our country and the Soviet Union, has the railway industry developed relatively actively."

In economically underdeveloped regions, namely non-industrialized countries, railway construction is already lagging behind, and the existing infrastructure is far from meeting the demand.

Among industrialized nations, East Africa and the Soviet Union stood out, but the two countries differed greatly. East Africa had more overseas railway projects, while the Soviet Union mainly focused on rapid domestic development.

Secondly, East Africa's current railway industry combines resource integration with overseas market expansion, while the Soviet Union's domestic railway industry was still underdeveloped, roughly equivalent to East Africa's development stage in the last century.

In other words, the Soviet Union's current transportation infrastructure development resembles that of the early stages of industrialization, a phase that countries such as Britain, France, Germany, and the United States have all experienced.

"Today, the Empire's economy appears to be more prosperous than that of most countries in the world, but this is all achieved through government macro-control. Therefore, the Ministry of Commerce and other departments should not make the misjudgment that the Empire's economy has now settled smoothly."

"We must guide domestic enterprises to formulate prudent development plans and prevent blind expansion. We should maintain this approach until the global economic environment improves significantly before making corresponding adjustments."

"Our work involves strengthening support for high-quality enterprises, raising the entry threshold, and continuing to improve the oversight mechanism."

"Another important task for the Ministry of Commerce is to strengthen economic cooperation with other countries, especially in regions such as South America, Southeast Asia, and the Middle East."

It is unrealistic to think that work relief can completely solve the economic crisis. It can only play a short-term role. In the long run, to overcome the economic crisis, we must either expand overseas markets or solve internal distribution problems. East Africa is taking a two-pronged approach, with the ultimate goal of stabilizing supply and demand.

……

Time came to 1933.

Over the past year, the Austro-Hungarian Empire had endured a long and turbulent period. By the end of 1932, apart from the continued economic difficulties, the empire's political turmoil had subsided somewhat, with no large-scale nationwide conflicts occurring except for some civilian demonstrations and street riots.

However, this did not mean that the Austro-Hungarian Empire had become stable. On the contrary, various forces were gathering strength, attempting to deliver a fatal blow to this aging empire.

In Liberec, a small town in northern Bohemia of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, a new storm is brewing.

Liberec was a small city in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, with a population of approximately 60,000 in 1932. The city was situated on the banks of the Lusatian River and surrounded by mountains.

According to the map, this small Austro-Hungarian city is close to Germany, less than 20 kilometers from the German-Austrian border.

Bohemia was already located too far northwest within the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and Liberec was even further northwest of Bohemia.

However, Liberec, a small border town with a population of only 100,000, was one of the most important textile centers in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, second only to Vienna.

Liberec became the textile center of the Austro-Hungarian Empire due to a combination of factors.

Firstly, regarding the most basic raw materials for the textile industry, Liberec is located in northern Bohemia, close to Saxony and Silesia, which are important wool, flax and cotton producing areas in Central Europe. Therefore, Liberec can relatively easily obtain the raw materials needed for the development of the textile industry.

In terms of transportation, Liberec was served by a railway in the 19th century, connecting important cities such as Vienna, Prague, Dresden and Berlin. It was an important transportation hub between Germany and Austria, which was conducive to market development and the import of raw materials.

In terms of tradition, Liberec already had a relatively developed hand-weaving industry before the industrial era, initially mainly consisting of family workshops producing flax and wool products. Later, Saxon immigrants brought more advanced textile techniques.

After the 19th century, British textile machinery was introduced to the area, and industrialization began in Liberec. Large textile factories with thousands of workers appeared in Liberec, and professional textile technology schools were established to train professionals.

From the late 19th to the early 20th century, Liberec's textile industry developed further, mainly by taking advantage of Germany's growth.

German companies and engineers brought the most advanced technology of the time, and Germany was a world leader in the field of chemical dyes.

Finally, the Austro-Hungarian Empire was one of the reasons why Liberec was able to become the most important textile center in the Austro-Hungarian Empire and even in Europe. He fully enjoyed the benefits of the imperial market and never lacked sales channels. At the same time, he could rely on the strong national power of the Austro-Hungarian Empire to sell his products to Eastern Europe, the Balkans, the Middle East and other regions.

In conclusion, Liberec's textile industry was extremely powerful, occupying an important position in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and was even hailed as the "Manchester of Bohemia".

This world-renowned textile city has a population of only 60,000, which speaks volumes about its development in the textile industry.

As the saying goes, "what brings success can also bring failure." In the past, Liberec relied on the textile industry and lived a prosperous life. However, after the economic crisis, Liberec was also the city most vulnerable to the impact.

On the one hand, Liberec faces increasingly fierce competition. Not to mention Europe, countless new textile cities have emerged around the world over the years. The textile industry has relatively low barriers to entry and is most prone to overcapacity.

On the other hand, Liberec's industry was overly reliant on textiles, resulting in a relatively simple industrial structure. Consequently, it was less resilient to economic crises. When the global economic crisis hit in 1929, Liberec's textile industry suffered a severe blow, leading to widespread unemployment among textile workers. This small town with a population of only tens of thousands became one of the most active labor movements within the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

In fact, since the late 19th century, Liberec has experienced several labor movements due to its high level of industrialization. In the 19s, local attempts to form a trade union were suppressed by the government.

In 1893, the first major strike by textile workers took place in Liberec, demanding a ten-hour workday and higher wages. The strike lasted for several weeks before being quelled, and the organizers were dismissed and punished.

In 1905, another general strike took place in Liberets, which was influenced by both the wave of strikes in the Austro-Hungarian Empire and the revolution within Russia.

Subsequently, Liberec became one of the most active areas of the Austro-Hungarian Labour Party, including the German Labour Party, the Austrian Labour Party, and even the Bohemian Labour Party.

The main force behind Liberec's movement was the Austrian Labor Party.

The reason why the Austrian Labor Party has a great influence in the area is that the population of Liberec is mainly German, who make up more than 80% of the population.

Liberec, Pelzer Textile Mill.

Neumann, the Austrian Labor Party leader in Liberec, is holding a workers' rally at the Pelzl textile mill, one of the largest textile companies in the area. At its peak, the mill employed more than a thousand textile workers, but now, due to the economic crisis, it employs only about four hundred.

The rally convened by Neumann included many former employees of the Pelzel factory who had been laid off, as well as workers from other factories and businesses in Liberets. More than 3,000 workers from the city have now gathered at the Pelzel textile factory.

"Fellow countrymen, since the capitalist economic crisis, Liberec's economy has been in recession, with a large number of workers unemployed, and even the industries that are employed are being exploited to the extreme by Liberec's capitalists."

"To put it bluntly, the workers in Liberec are now facing a life-or-death situation. As everyone knows, the economic situation in the whole of Germany and even the world is not good."

"Therefore, this is not just a problem in Liberec, but the entire capitalist world's economy has reached a critical moment of demise."

"However, even if the capitalist economy collapses on its own, we should not sit and wait for that day to come, but should unite to help us get through the crisis."

"Because before the collapse of the capitalist economy, we working brothers will not be able to eat and may starve to death at any time, so we must seize the fruits of our labor from the capitalists."

"Then we will learn from the Soviet Union and build factories that are collectively owned by our workers, so that all labor and profits will no longer be exploited, but will instead fill our stomachs and go into the pockets of our own workers..."

Neumann stood on the makeshift stage, and his words clearly reached the ears of all the attendees, drawing cheers from the crowd.

"Comrade Neumann, you tell us how to do it, and we'll do it. All the fruits of our labor will belong to us. We won't let the capitalists bleed us dry!"

"We want bread, we want freedom, we want dignity, down with the vampires of Liberets..."

"Since we're already on the verge of starvation, we might as well fight alongside you!"

“I’ve been unemployed for six months now and have no source of income. Our factory is also behind on our wages. These bastards should be hung from streetlights and sent to the guillotine…”

Even without Neumann's deliberate instigation, the people of Liberec were already burning with anger, but in the past they could only keep these injustices to themselves, fearing the suppression by the police and the army.

Of course, this is not cowardice, but rather that no one had organized them before. After all, an individual is very insignificant in the face of the state apparatus, like an ant that can be crushed at any time.

Now, Neumann has organized them, and they are not afraid of anyone. They are united, and even the police and the army cannot easily make them back down.

Neumann exclaimed, "Very good! As long as we unite, no one can easily stop us. We will overthrow the injustices of the past!"

"The people of the whole country will respond to us. At that time, not only in Liberec, but also in Prague, Vienna, Saxony, and Berlin, there will be our comrades and compatriots. We will set off an uprising throughout Germany and establish our own nation, the nation of the working people..."

"Let us, Liberec, be the first to launch this great political movement, to fire the first shot of the German workers, peasants, and all laborers, and to bring victory to every place!"

Although Liberec belongs to Bohemia, which was the Czech Republic in the previous life, it is not a big problem to call it a German region, because the area where Liberec is located had another name in the previous life, which was the "Sudetenland".

Liberec is located in the Sudetenland, where most of the people are German. Given that the Sudetenland borders Germany and Austria, it is in fact part of the whole German region.

Neumann's words also reveal that the Austrian Labor Party has grand ambitions this time. They not only want to launch an uprising within the Austro-Hungarian Empire, but also want to coordinate with Germany, which may also mean that the German Labor Party will cooperate with them.

Previously, the German Workers' Party suffered a major setback at the hands of Adolf, but it was not crippled and still has the ability to operate in Germany. After all, in last year's election, although the German Workers' support rate was not as high as that of the German National Party, it still accounted for more than 20 percent.

The election does not fully reflect the German Labor Party's influence in Germany because the German government intentionally favors the German National Party and suppresses the Labor Party. Therefore, the Labor Party's strength and support rate in Germany may even exceed that of the German National Party, although the Social Democratic Party may have diverted some of their supporters.

Of course, Neumann wasn't too concerned about how the German Workers' Party would proceed next; his main task now was to launch a successful campaign in Liberec and fire the first shot.

Neumann then began assigning tasks. There were more than 3,000 workers at the gathering, which was no small force in Liberets, considering that the entire population of Liberets was only about 60,000. Moreover, most of the workers participating in this secret gathering were young and strong, and could play an even greater role.

1933 1 Month 7 Day.

A formal urban riot broke out among the workers of Liberec, who, under the leadership of the labor organization, occupied the police station, factories, and municipal government offices.

In an instant, this "Manchester of Bohemia," the shining pearl of the Austro-Hungarian textile industry, became a "red" city. Moreover, due to its proximity to the border between Germany and Austria, the Liberec workers' uprising spread rapidly to both countries, rather than being confined to the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

Because the vast majority of these workers were textile workers, and because Liberets was in Bohemia, it was also known as the Bohemian textile workers' movement.

(End of this chapter)