Chapter 413: Chapter 100, The Second Industrial Revolution Begins
 

Franz was busy. Following the localization of the African colonies, there were already over a dozen colonial cities that had submitted their applications.

Without a doubt, this was a roundabout approach. First, allow those regions that met the criteria to localize; the rest could wait until they qualify.

After all, these cities were the heart of the colonies. The surrounding areas were still managed by them, and they would be divided up as they developed in the future.

This was a consensus reached between the Vienna Government and the power faction in the colonies. Now that nobody desired independence, naturally, they would not mind the administrative division.

In a gesture of importance, Franz personally received the colonial representatives. These nobles were his supporters, as well as the foundation for future rule over the African Continent.

In terms of interests, everyone belonged to a large interest group. Franz was the group’s major shareholder, and they were the minor shareholders. Their fortunes were intertwined, sharing both losses and gains.

Internationally, the United Kingdom was once again restless, seemingly provoked by the closeness of France and Austria.

On September 2, 1866, the British Foreign Minister visited St. Petersburg, officially stating the visit aimed to improve relations between Britain and Russia. On September 28, the London Government issued a memorandum, attempting to mediate the Prusso-Russian war.

If Franz hadn’t received intelligence that the Revolutionary Party in Russia had been secretly sent back by the Prussians, he might have almost believed it.

The France-Austrian Alliance VS the British-Russian Alliance, it was indeed thrilling to ponder.

However, this was just a thought. Besides the deep contradictions between Britain and Russia that made a true alliance impossible,

the more significant reason was the overbearing strength of the Russian Empire, which, once it completed internal reforms, would be the hegemon of Europe. The London Government wouldn’t support such a colossus unless they were out of their minds.

Therefore, this act was clearly targeting the Russian-Austrian Alliance, and the British had expended much thought to dismantle it.

This was an open strategy; St. Petersburg accepting the British gesture would inevitably cause Vienna’s suspicions.

Such suspicions were trivial under normal circumstances, but during the Prusso-Russian war, these doubts were severely detrimental. If the Vienna Government hesitated even slightly, the Russians would suffer greatly.

Once this happened, it wouldn’t take long for the Russian-Austrian Alliance to exist in name only.

Knowing this, would Franz prevent it from happening?

The answer is: no!

The reason is very practical. The strategic value of the Russian-Austrian Alliance was already achieved. Over the next ten to twenty years, Russia would be dealing with its internal conflicts. The eastern front was already secure.

This security was more reliable than what any treaty could offer. Regardless of what the Tsarist Government thought, they wouldn’t have the strength to threaten Austria in the short term.

So, was there still a need to remain tied to Russia?

The world is pragmatic like that, and all Franz could do was to not breach the treaty, continuing to maintain a relatively good relationship between the two nations.

Alexander II would surely make the same choice. The existence of the Russian-Austrian Alliance was still of value to them, allowing for a stable period of weakness.

For strategic security, the Tsarist Government also would not break the treaty. This condition only applied while the Russian Empire was weak.

In the future, once the Tsarist Government wanted to expand in the European Continent, the Russian-Austrian Alliance would effectively come to an end; similarly, the day Austria unified the Germany Region would also mark the end of the bilateral treaty.

Wasn’t there a solution? Of course, there was, such as encouraging the Tsarist Government to lock horns with India – in which case the Alliance could endure for many more years.

Achieving this was both difficult and easy – it all came down to spending money.

For the Russians to invade British-India would be no easy journey, and the cost of the war would undoubtedly be extremely high. As long as there was a wealthy backer willing to finance, the Tsarist Government would have no objections.

What the future holds is uncertain, but for now, Franz couldn’t afford such expenditure. If he did possess such a grand sum, he would rather invest it in the Industrial Revolution.

The Second Industrial Revolution had already begun unfolding. Austria was one of the places where it originated, with the year 1866 marking a milestone.

In May, an engineer from the New Holy Roman Empire, Siemens, invented the world’s first high-power generator.

Signaling the advent of the era of electricity, prior to this, generators had been too weak in power to be used in industrial production.

Since the age of electric power had arrived, as the heart of the Empire, it was only natural to first enjoy the fruits. Franz decided immediately to install streetlights in central Vienna.

Electrical light had appeared in the previous century; in 1854, the Teuton clockmaker Henry Goebel had invented a carbonized bamboo filament bulb, which stayed lit for 400 hours.

As soon as it was reported in the newspapers, it caught Franz’s attention. He bought the patent outright, even though it had not yet been registered.

Franz remained honorable; he wouldn’t stoop to stealing someone’s patent. Then, naturally, the carbon filament was replaced with tungsten, and a vacuum environment was added.

Improvement was much faster than research and development. It took just over a year to finalize. Then Franz led the way into the era of electricity, starting a lighting revolution in the Palace.

Because the power output of the generators was too low, it led to high electricity production costs, making electricity a luxury item only accessible to the wealthy during this era.

Now, with the emergence of high-power generators, not only has the cost of electricity generation decreased, but there’s also the potential for industrial application. Naturally, Franz wanted to promote it. What better advertisement could there be than lighting up Vienna?

There’s no need to pay for advertisements; newspapers would spread the news around the world. Then, undoubtedly, London and Paris would follow suit, and if the Tsarist Government still had money, they would probably imitate this move as well.

Making money and such were minor matters; the most important thing was to make a name. Attract more people to the electrical industry, because without Franz pushing it alone, widespread electrification in industry would take an eternity.

In August, the transatlantic telegraph was completed, and Europe and America communicated directly for the first time via electricity.

This was different from previous telegraphs. Before this, the telegraph lines between Europe and America were not directly connected but passed through islands in the Atlantic Ocean, where messages needed to be relayed by ships.

This was a technical issue; limited by the era, nobody knew the condition of the seabed, and laying cables was a matter of luck.

If luck was not on their side, cables could be destroyed by marine life and needed to be laid again. Encountering special terrain could also potentially affect the laying operations.

One section of the submarine cable consistently had issues, and it wasn’t until now that they were completely resolved. Before this, messages over this stretch of distance could only be relayed by ships. Not to mention the message delays, the operating costs were also too high, making commercialization impossible.

Now, things were different. Direct communication was possible between the two continents, significantly increasing commercial value.

Influenced by this, the British have already announced the laying of submarine cables from London to Canada and from London to South Africa to India.

The French also planned to lay cables from Paris to French America and from Paris to French Asia.

Franz also ordered the laying of two submarine cables from Africa to Central America and from Africa to New Bavaria (Papua New Guinea).

The telegraph lines from France and Austria to Africa had been connected long ago, so naturally, there was no need to do it again. The problem of repeating telegraph lines between countries was inevitable as no one wanted to be dependent on others.

Moreover, this wasn’t a loss-making trade; most regions with telegraph lines could make a profit. Lines that would incur losses weren’t laid by anyone.

For example, Franz had no plans to lay a submarine cable to Alaska.

Since acquiring the land from the Russians, aside from establishing a fur company, no further development had taken place.

If it wasn’t for claiming sovereignty, the Vienna Government wouldn’t even bother sending tax officials. It was a land where costs outweighed revenues, with an annual deficit of tens of thousands of Divine Shields.

There was obviously no need to establish a telegraph line. Anyway, there was no fear of it being taken away; no country would go to war with Austria over a frigid land of ice and snow.

This was just the beginning; soon, all the major colonial empires were taking action, fully aware of the strategic role of the telegraph. To strengthen control over the colonies, this was an essential step.

In September, Alfred Nobel invented nitroglycerin explosives. Of course, this was kept highly confidential, and it wouldn’t be announced to the public until after the Prusso-Russian War.

After all, it was a weapon that could change the course of wars. Announcing it prematurely presented a headache; whether to sell it to the Russians or not was a problematic question.

Not selling it could strain relations, but selling it might very well affect the outcome of the war. Explosives were incredibly effective against the era’s bunkers and fortresses; many once impregnable defense lines were now inadequate.

Officially, Austria was not selling arms to Prussia. A proprietary new invention like this was doomed not to be sold to both sides.

The Russians winning the war was not something Franz wanted to see. If the Tsarist Government lost, they might need twenty years to recuperate; if they won this war, in maybe ten or eight years, they could stir up trouble again.

The resilience of the Russians was unquestionable, and their capacity for self-destruction was even more so. To avoid such trouble, Franz decisively opted to postpone the release.

Alfred Nobel himself was quite legendary. In 1860, he began researching nitroglycerin explosives.

In 1863, Nobel returned to Sweden and, together with his father and brother, worked on developing explosives. An accidental explosion destroyed their workshop, killed his brother, and led the government to ban further experiments.

Due to an explosion at a nitroglycerin factory, his brother Emil tragically died, and they were forced to close down the Swedish factory.

At this point, the Austrian arms factory extended an olive branch. The parties hit it off instantly and decided to collaborate on developing explosives.

In fact, most arms factories were government collaborations, otherwise, to whom would they sell the weapons?

The butterfly effect came into play, and at this time Nobel did not go all in but chose a safer partnership.

This wasn’t surprising, as Nobel was both a scientist and a businessman.

Avoiding risk is an instinct, and he wasn’t the only person researching explosives during that period. No one could predict whether there would be a market for the product before its accomplishment.

…

These were just some of the major technological advancements; there were even more minor inventions. The Second Industrial Revolution had already erupted, and the year 1866 had simply marked the dawn of a new era.