Franz Joseph once called Leopold II of Belgium a “thoroughly bad man”.But suppose that he was the one in charge of the Congo Free state(or whatever it is if it is an Austrian colony instead of his private possession), how much of an improvement would it have been? What would have driven Franz Joseph to get Congo and how would he have run it?
AHC/WI:Congo Free State Franz-Joseph edition?
- Thread starter Avrorrange
- Start date
Interesting idea. Probably would induct chieftains into pageantry of the Hapsburg court like the theory about Mexico. Im just speculating here.
Id suspect that in this situation Franz would rule it directly as a private possession of the Habsburg Dynasty. A plausible reason for Franz to have wanted to gain the Congo would have been after Leopolds atrocities came to light. During that period the Belgium government had tried to find a buyer for the land rather than take on the responsibility of governing it. Franz could have pushed to buy it due to some sense of showing the merits of neoabsolutist rule from the cruelties of Leopold.
Regardless of whether it’s his private possession or a crown colony, Franz can look to the decade plus long rule Austria-Hungary has had already over the Bosnia condominium for inspiration on how to govern the Congo. In that example He’d probably set up administrative divisions or just rename the ones already in place and set up a series of ministries answerable to a governor who’d be in control of the local administration and military as well. The governor could either then answer to directly to the Emperor or answer to a imperial minister who’d be based out of Vienna.
So we have two scenarios
1: Franz take it over at some point after the Heart of Darkness have been published. He run it in benign neglect for a decade and half until it‘s lost in WWI. likely the local Austrian garrison keep fighting the until the end of the war. The size allow them to do so. afterward It likely end up under French control with some areas given to Portugal.
2: Franz gain it earlier at alt-Berlin, this will have bigger effect, we will likely see a expansion of Triest and Fiume, money made in Congo could go to expand these ports, as they grow in importance, this also demand a expansion of their infrastructure, and the infrastructure conneating them with the rest of Austria, we likely see expansion of the railroads to them or even the Triest-Vienna canal being dug. The navy likely grow in importance. In WWI this means that Austria can far easier send soldiers to Italy and the Austrian navy will be a problem. Of course that ignore the foreign policy effect of Austria being more active in Albania, we could very well see Austria messing more in the Balkans. Of course in al this case the Congo Free State won’t get the same benign neglect, but at the same time Franz is unlikely to be cartoonish evil as Leopold ended up being.
Thin
What I didn’t think about in scenario two, is that the expansion of Austrian navy also mean that the Italians need to invest more in their navy to stay competitive with the Austrians. That means the Italians have less money to invest into the army. But it could also mean that the Italian decides to join the Central Power as their and Austrian navy will be competitive with Entente navies in the region.
What I didn’t think about in scenario two, is that the expansion of Austrian navy also mean that the Italians need to invest more in their navy to stay competitive with the Austrians. That means the Italians have less money to invest into the army. But it could also mean that the Italian decides to join the Central Power as their and Austrian navy will be competitive with Entente navies in the region.
Anything else aside, Franz-Joseph could also have used the Congo as a penal colony for ethnic separatists. It'd be pretty much giving them exactly what they wanted, seceding their people from Austria-Hungary, in the most ironic way possible, because Imperial Law would equate "their people" with "their accomplices".