African Entrepreneurship Records 2

Chapter 1570 Academician
Birds of a feather flock together. Adolf and Benito of Italy had a good relationship, or rather, extreme nationalist leaders often had good relationships; they all believed in the "superiority of their own nation," but this was clearly a contradiction.

However, the fact that even a country of different skin color like Japan could form an alliance with both of them in the past suggests that they could collude together under specific historical circumstances.

The common enemies that "united" them were the old world order that Britain and France were trying to maintain, the bourgeois democratic system, and the Labour Party forces represented by the Soviet Union, among others.

The old international order was essentially a distribution of global interests. East Africa and the United States, due to their advantageous geographical locations, could break free from the constraints of the international order and steadily and slowly erode the world market, without rushing into anything. However, the geographical environment of Germany and Italy did not allow them to do so. Both were locked into Europe, and without breaking the blockade, they risked being dragged down.

Bourgeois democracy is also the common enemy of extreme nationalists, or rather, the enemy of people like Adolf, Benito, and the Japanese emperor. This is also a point of connection between Adolf and Benito's "friendship," as both sides were anti-democratic.

Finally, the Soviet Union and the Labor Party, being their mortal enemies, made purging them their first act upon coming to power.

……

1934 6 Month 2 Day.

Vienna, Austria.

With the Habsburgs fleeing the city, the situation in Vienna gradually stabilized, and the coalition government consolidated power. Labour Party slogans and flags could be seen everywhere in the city hall and on the streets.

Soldiers from the coalition government patrol the streets, and Vienna is now safer than ever before.

The lives of ordinary people have not been greatly affected, while those at the bottom of society, such as the unemployed, thieves and criminals, have disappeared.

With the establishment of the coalition government, the former either joined the army or went back to work in the factory, while the latter were directly imprisoned or put into reformation, and those with serious crimes have been executed.

Vienna now appears to have regained its vitality and prosperity, but beneath this temporary prosperity, undercurrents are surging. Externally, there is the threat of German invasion, and the remnants of the Austro-Hungarian Empire are poised for a counterattack. Internally, although a purge has taken place, most of the enemies are merely lying dormant. And now, there is an even more important problem that urgently needs to be addressed by the coalition government.

In the coalition government meeting room, Koprenecki said with a solemn expression, "Vienna is now facing a severe test, namely the problem of food shortage."

"Vienna had a population of nearly two million, but the land around Vienna was very limited and could not support such a large food supply. Meanwhile, Hungary, the most important grain-producing region of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, was controlled by reactionary forces such as the Habsburgs."

"Therefore, to solve the food problem, we must launch an eastern expedition to acquire the grain-producing areas in the east."

Vienna is undoubtedly a large city. Before 1934, its population was already close to three million. In the previous life, at the same time, Vienna's population was less than two million.

The reason for this difference is that the Austro-Hungarian Empire survived for more than a decade and benefited from the economic boom of the 1920s, which accelerated the concentration of the empire's population in Vienna.

Even with a large exodus of people, there are still over two million, at least several hundred thousand more than in the previous life.

This has both advantages and disadvantages for the coalition government. The advantage is that Vienna has a larger population and more concentrated industries, so they control more resources.

Just like in Russia, the Labour Party gradually gained control of the country by relying on the resources of major cities such as St. Petersburg and Moscow, and eliminated the remnants of Tsarist Russia and external interference forces.

Similarly, Vienna is now facing the same problem as Moscow: food shortages, and this problem is even more severe.

Vienna is situated in a basin with limited arable land, but as the political center of the country, it has a large population. Before the industrial era, the Vienna Basin was largely self-sufficient, but now Vienna relies on supplies from regions such as Hungary for most of its food.

Not to mention, some rural areas around Vienna are not yet under the control of the coalition government, but are instead controlled by nobles and landowners.

Therefore, Vienna's food problem was particularly severe, and the situation was further exacerbated by Rudolf's re-establishment of the government in Budapest. Hungary had already suspended food shipments to Austria and imposed a blockade on Vienna.

To break this deadlock, the coalition government must send troops eastward out of Hungary to occupy more grain-producing areas. As for Bohemia north of Vienna, although most of the area is under the control of the Labour Party, grain production has already been severely affected by the war.

At the same time, transporting food from Bohemia was not easy, because the German invasion caused many reactionary forces in Bohemia to resurface and carry out sabotage activities in the rear, among which cutting off food supply lines was the most common sabotage activity.

Faced with the question raised by Koplenich, Horner, the military commander of the coalition government, also looked displeased. He frowned and said, "It is a very difficult decision for us to mobilize forces to launch an eastern expedition now."

"The Germans have launched an offensive from the west and north and have occupied a lot of places. We are also in dire need of troops on the western and northern fronts to deal with the German offensive."

"As for Hungary, the Habsburg army is not to be underestimated either. Because of the previous Hungarian Revolution, some of the Austro-Hungarian Empire's elite troops were stationed in Hungary. Now, Rudolf is using these troops to deal with us."

"Their fighting strength was not necessarily much weaker than that of the German army. After all, Austria-Hungary was also a major European power, and it was a steel army that fought alongside Germany in World War I."

"This also means that if we want to launch an eastern expedition against Hungary, it is definitely not enough for us to send only ordinary troops. This will inevitably disperse our strength and easily put us in a dilemma."

On one side was the powerful German army, and on the other was the formidable Austro-Hungarian army. If the coalition government were to deal with only the Austro-Hungarian army, it would be able to secure victory, if not a sure win.

However, the German invasion from the west and north has put the coalition government forces in a very difficult position. The coalition government is already struggling to deal with the German army, and if more troops are diverted to the Hungarian battlefield, it could trigger the collapse of the western and northern fronts.

This is not the worst-case scenario. A worse scenario is that if the coalition government forces are also bogged down on the Hungarian front, and Vienna's food problem remains unresolved, Vienna may well experience internal turmoil first.

Koplenich said with a great headache, "In that case, we have no choice but to take a gamble. We cannot reduce our forces on the western and northern fronts. The German army is our greatest enemy, and we absolutely cannot let our guard down."

"We also need to break through on the Eastern Front, so Vienna needs to mobilize fully, recruit soldiers and form troops, and try to see if we can break through."

"At the same time, the food rations of Vienna citizens must be strictly limited to prevent waste, and the food rations must be strictly supplied every day, with priority given to soldiers and workers."

There's no other way; Vienna's current difficulties can only be addressed through these means. The fact that the Russian Labour Party could break the food blockade in the past doesn't mean the coalition government can do it easily. After all, Moscow is surrounded by open plains, meaning there's a large amount of arable land and food production around it. Furthermore, the lack of natural defenses in the surrounding area makes it easier for the Russian Labour Party, occupying Moscow, to take the initiative, collect grain from the countryside, and suppress reactionary forces.

The limited grain production around Vienna and the mountainous terrain that blocked communication with the outside world within the Vienna Basin also made it easier for reactionary forces to use the surrounding terrain to disrupt the coalition government.

Thus, as time went by, and with the decisions made by the coalition government in response to the current difficult situation, the Vienna problem began to emerge.

The shortage of supplies led to a decline in the living standards of Viennese citizens. This was not only due to food supply problems, but also to issues with the raw materials needed by Viennese industry, which naturally reduced the output of industrial goods.

In this situation, the East African Migration Agency, embassies, and security agencies in Vienna have also become more active.

Vienna's East District.

Kyasov, an employee of the East African Immigration Service, took a list and went to a house in the East District according to the address on it, and knocked on the door.

"Who is it?" a voice came from inside the room.

“Mr. Krast, I am Kyasov, from the East African Migration Service. I wonder if you remember me?” Kyasov replied.

Upon hearing Kyasov's voice, there was finally movement inside. The door was unlocked, and a pair of eyes peeked out from the crack.

Those eyes stared at Kyasov for a moment, then cautiously looked behind him. Only after confirming there was no problem did they relax and say, "So it was you. I remember you came here two months ago."

Kyasov smiled and said, "Mr. Klassef, you have a good memory. May I come in and have a seat?"

“Of course,” Kraster opened the door and let him in. “Mr. Kyasov, I didn’t expect you to still be in Vienna.”

As Kyasov walked into the house, he replied, "Of course. Although Vienna has changed hands, we foreign citizens will not be greatly affected."

Foreigners in Vienna were certainly not unaffected, but the coalition government didn't have the time to focus its efforts on them, especially after Germany declared war on the coalition.

Klast closed the door and bolted it. The room was rather dark, with the curtains drawn and the light not letting in much light. The lights were also off.

Of course, this is understandable. Electricity in Vienna is not cheap to begin with, and only some ordinary people in East Africa would do such a luxury as turning on the lights during the day. Not to mention that Vienna's power supply is even tighter now, and the coal needed for power plants is also in short supply.

Kraster had him sit on the sofa, poured him a glass of water, and said, "Two months ago, we could serve you tea, but we can't afford that now. I'm afraid we'll have to trouble Mr. Kyasov."

Kyasov didn't care at all. He said, "Plain water is good enough. Drinking hot water is very common in East Africa. Nowadays, it's already very good to be able to drink a hot drink in Vienna."

Boiling water also requires energy, which wouldn't have been difficult in early 20th-century Austria, but these are special times, so being able to boil water to entertain guests is already considered good.

Klass sat across from him and said, "I hope you can understand. Nobody could have imagined that so much would happen in Vienna in just a few months. Now, I can't even buy coffee."

Just like when the Russian Labour Party first seized power, Vienna is now subject to international blockade because it has become the capital of the Greater Austrian coalition government.

Vienna and the surrounding area obviously do not produce coffee and tea, so supply naturally became a problem. As for the stockpiles, most of them were given priority to frontline soldiers by the coalition government.

Kyasov joked, "Mr. Klassef, do you remember what I said two months ago? Now, you still have a chance. If you go to East Africa, you'll have plenty of your favorite coffee, to say the least."

Kraster asked, "Leaving Vienna is easy, but do you have a safe way?"

Kyasov nodded and said, "After our negotiations with the Greater Austrian coalition government, they allowed the continued operation of East African flights at the airport, so we can leave Vienna by plane and then transfer to other places to reach East Africa."

It's not surprising that the Greater Austrian coalition government has ties with East Africa. After all, so many years have passed since the Soviet Union, and other countries haven't been constantly threatening to attack it just because it was a Labour Party country. Now, it has even normalized relations with the United States.

Of course, the fact that the coalition government allowed East African airlines to enter and exit Vienna, rather than countries like Germany, naturally indicates that East Africa has its own unique circumstances.

First, East Africa is not a European country, much less a neighbor of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and therefore poses little threat to the coalition government. Second, East Africa is considered relatively "docile" in the eyes of the coalition government. The coalition government's actions were limited to poaching people from Vienna; it did not show any hostility towards them.

Of course, these are not the main reasons. More importantly, East African Airlines also conducts some business with the coalition government. Therefore, the continued operation of East African Airlines in Vienna became necessary for the coalition government.

As for those who were taken away from East Africa, the coalition government believes that since they were not of one mind with the government, they were simply left behind.

Klaster was also on the list of talents introduced to East Africa. Klaster was not very famous, but he had a more important identity, namely, he was a member of the Austrian Academy of Sciences.

Now that Vienna is occupied by the Labour Party, most of the staff at former government institutions like the Austrian Academy of Sciences are unemployed. This is not because the coalition government does not value talent, but because they do not have time to value talent.

The Austrian Academy of Sciences needs funding to operate, but the former government that used to pay their salaries has now moved to Hungary and can no longer provide them with salaries and allowances.

The coalition government is currently facing financial difficulties, and its limited resources must be prioritized for supplying the military, purchasing food and supplies, so it cannot afford to attend to the Austrian Academy of Sciences.

Class wasn't too bothered by unemployment; after all, compared to his colleagues who had been arrested by the Labour Party, he was already lucky to be alive.

Of course, it would be even better if we could leave this place of trouble, since everyone knows that with the German army advancing south, war may break out in Vienna in the future.

(End of this chapter)