Chapter 23: 1834

Vienna, Schönbrunn Palace, the nursery.

Franz was sifting through a mountain of data, searching for useful information.

At this time, Austria possessed 30 kilometers of railway, Prussia 6 kilometers, France 150 kilometers, and Great Britain 600 miles (approximately 965 kilometers). Every nation harbored ambitious plans for railways; the French government had already launched a construction project for 730 kilometers of track, and by 1848, the total length of French railways would surge to 1,814 kilometers. Yet, compared to the states of the German Customs Union (Zollverein), this was still conservative, as the entire union (excluding Austria) planned to build 6,000 kilometers of track. The British had approved a plan for 6,000 miles (approximately 8,047 kilometers) of railway, and by 1870, they would possess 15,357 miles (approximately 24,714 kilometers) of track, building the densest railway network in the world.

The Tsarist government of Russia had not yet realized the importance of railways, approving only a few easily constructed routes totaling about 200 kilometers. Even by 1866, Russia would have a mere 1,488 kilometers of railway. The Americans, at this time, had a plan for only 2,000 kilometers of track, but by 1850, they would possess 9,021 kilometers. Historically, Austria had only approved plans for about 350 kilometers of railway, and by 1848, it had only reached 1,200 kilometers.

The Austrian government approved Salomon Rothschild’s Northern Railway construction plan, through which the Northern Railway Company would build 700 kilometers of track over the next decade. However, Salomon’s dream of a Southern Railway fell through—not because Emperor Francis II disagreed. Francis II was quite satisfied with Salomon Rothschild’s bribes, but regarding the ownership of the Southern Railway Company, the military and Count Kolowrat refused to budge. Furthermore, Friedrich List, a special advisor to Francis II, supported the views of the military and Count Kolowrat, and intelligence provided by the secret police was also highly unfavorable to Salomon Rothschild. Ultimately, Francis II decided to adopt Friedrich List’s suggestion, dividing the contract for Austria’s Southern Railway among three different companies.

Later, the military demanded several new railway lines from Francis II, citing national security. Through the machinations of Count Kolowrat and Friedrich List, the operating rights for these lines were sold to the highest-bidding merchants. What Count Kolowrat, Latour (the Minister of War), and Friedrich List did not expect, however, was that two critical railway lines would fall into the hands of the French. At this point, Austria had approved a total of 1,400 kilometers of railway construction.

American cotton production accounted for 85% of the world's total, which forced the British to urgently seek new sources of raw materials, setting their sights on Egypt and India. Regarding steam looms, Austria had 1,324, Prussia 223, France 1,511, and Britain 7,000 (if water-powered looms were included, Britain had 100,000). Notably, Saxony, as the textile hub of the German region, possessed 450 steam looms.

Encouragingly, Austria’s machinery manufacturing industry was quite capable, able to produce steam looms independently and even export them to other German states. Saxony was Austria’s largest customer, though for various reasons, the profits Austria could glean from this were minimal.

The Austrian army numbered 450,000, France 500,000, Prussia 200,000, and Russia 600,000. The Austrian army possessed the largest number of artillery pieces on the European continent, roughly 1,300, followed by the Russians with about 900, the French with only 800, Prussia with fewer than 600, and the British home army with only 300. This resulted in military spending consuming more than half of Austria’s fiscal budget annually. Even so, Austria’s investment in military technology and soldier training was gradually failing to keep pace with historical trends.

Regarding the navy, Austria had a significant number of ships, but lacked large vessels. Its actual combat capability was inferior even to that of the Russians, while the French navy was far superior to the Russian. However, at this time, the combined naval forces of all European nations were nowhere near a match for the British. The extent of this disparity was such that the Austrian navy might not even be able to defeat a single British squadron—and Britain possessed over a dozen such squadrons. Even so, the Austrian navy remained capable of achieving overwhelming victories against the navies of non-European nations.

The total foreign trade volume of the Austrian Empire at this time was 300 million florins, compared to 1 billion francs for France, 400 million rubles for Russia, and 150 million thalers for Prussia. This figure was expected to double one year after the Austrian Empire joined the German Customs Union. However, due to reduced tariffs on certain goods and increased management costs, the actual impact on fiscal revenue was only around 5%. Of course, with the expansion of trade and the improvement of infrastructure, fiscal revenue would grow steadily.

Because Austria’s own monetary system was chaotic, there were even several types of marks in circulation. The currency conversion formula for Austria in this book is:
1 Gold Florin = 3 Ducats = 4.2 Silver Thalers = 5 Silver Florins = 150 Groschen = 600 Pfennigs.
Common currency: 1 Silver Florin = 12 Kreuzers = 30 Groschen = 120 Pfennigs = 0.83 Thalers.

The British large steamships "Arsnam" and "Atlantic" were under construction; they would become the pioneers of Britain’s conquest of the seas. Austria had a population of 31 million, but the quality of its citizenry was concerning; the number of illiterates was higher than in war-torn Spain, with only neighboring Russia comparable to Austria. However, Austria ranked first on the European continent in the number of university students, which, of course, might be related to the high number of universities in Austria.

Austria’s pig iron production was 100,000 tons—one-third that of France, less than one-tenth of Britain’s, slightly lower than Prussia’s, and even trailing Belgium. Russia’s pig iron production was 150,000 tons.

Austria’s agricultural strength was unexpectedly robust, with food production four times that of France and 20 times that of Prussia at the time. Austria had begun using chemical fertilizers earlier, while French agriculture was in a slump compounded by natural disasters. Austria possessed 2.8 million horses and mules, 11 million cattle, 5 million pigs, and 30 million sheep. In animal husbandry, Austria was on par with France; Prussia was roughly equal to France and Austria in the number of pigs, cattle, sheep, and poultry, but suffered from a severe shortage of horses and mules, with a total only one-tenth that of the French-Austrian level.

Austrian ordnance relied primarily on private armories and foreign imports. Austria’s armories were mainly located in Bohemia and Lower Austria, with a small town called Szamanczi producing half the rifles for the entire empire. The Austrian military held a near-monopoly on the empire’s ammunition trade. Yet, this created a paradox: if the price of ammunition was set too low, the military could not make a profit, but if it was set too high, the soldiers could not afford to use it.

The standard annual pay for an Austrian soldier was 100 florins. However, due to the empire’s fiscal problems, only half that amount—50 florins—was paid during peacetime. The saved 50 florins were used for equipment upgrades and provisions. Some high-ranking officials in the Austrian military even complained that bullets were more expensive than soldiers, asking why they could not use swords and spears instead. This, they argued, would solve the problem of idle vagrants on the streets while simultaneously resolving the military budget issue. Fortunately, this official was ordered to retire early, successfully saving the lives of a great many soldiers and ammunition suppliers.