Chapter 1440 - 16: Rudolph’s Population Plan

Chapter 1440: Chapter 16: Rudolph’s Population Plan

June 1920.

Vienna.

This ancient European city was no longer what it once had been in its days of prosperity.

The streets lay desolate; shops that had once bustled with noise and activity were now cold and lonely. Passersby hurried along in masks, unwilling to linger in conversation.

The number of military police in Vienna was also visibly higher than usual, tasked with keeping the city functioning. Beyond epidemic prevention, they were charged with containing any small-scale rioting that might erupt in the urban districts and monitoring outsiders.

Every so often one could see houses sealed with white strips, marking them as sites of potential danger; anyone approaching would be driven away by uniformed patrolmen.

Most of these houses were isolation zones for severe cases, and thus were under special scrutiny.

For Austria-Hungary, this old-established European great power, the Empire had entered yet another era of calamity after 1914.

This was plain to see in Vienna today. From the outset of the World War, the city had been plunged into an atmosphere of alarm; just as it finally endured its way to the war’s end, it was struck by the great outbreak of the 1920 European influenza.

The plague’s impact on Vienna even surpassed that of the war. Even in wartime, Vienna had always remained part of the rear area: the red lights still shone, wine flowed, and people drowned themselves in luxury. But disease knew no spatial bounds. Most of the Empire’s territory was affected, and densely populated places like Vienna became fertile ground for contagion.

Crown Prince Rudolph sat in the car, brow furrowed as he watched through the window at the catastrophe sweeping across the Empire.

"What is Vienna’s situation now?" Rudolph asked.

Conrad, the Imperial Prime Minister, sitting in the front passenger seat, replied, "Your Highness, at least thirty percent of Vienna’s population has now been infected. The vast majority have contracted the disease, though most have already recovered. Even so, from February until now, total deaths in Vienna have exceeded 170,000."

For a city whose population exceeds two million, 170,000 dead is not an enormous figure; yet it is dreadful enough. It means that the mortality rate of the European influenza in Vienna is over seven percent—a figure clearly higher than in East Africa.

This is understandable. In public health, East Africa’s strict standards already outstrip those of most countries in the world, and its distance from Europe has lessened the extent to which it has been struck by the outbreak, unlike Austria-Hungary.

In addition, the war had negatively affected Austria-Hungary’s epidemic prevention efforts. Although the fighting is now over, during the war every sector of the Empire suffered some degree of disruption.

Today, industrial recovery in Austria-Hungary is proceeding at a very slow pace. Without aid from East Africa, the Empire could hardly have produced adequate supplies for epidemic control.

"And who knows when this damned plague will end. Damn the French!" Rudolph said through gritted teeth.

Most European countries now understand that the so-called European influenza most likely originated in France. Yet thanks to the long-accumulated discursive advantages of the French, all of Europe can do nothing but collectively carry France’s burden of blame.

France has long been the cultural and communicative center of Europe, a key framer and participant in the old order, and so its influence runs deep across the continent.

This sort of influence is something other European states lack. Even the United Kingdom does not necessarily wield more say than France in this regard—though, on a global scale, the United Kingdom is undoubtedly superior.

Conrad said, "Even if we openly declare that the plague originated in France, it will do little good. After all, the outbreak was very likely induced by the war itself, and Germany will therefore help France cover up the question of where the disease began."

After all, the most suspicious source of the epidemic was the former Western Front, and the armies of many nations took part in that battlefield—above all Germany and France as the main belligerents.

Rudolph sighed. "This plague has already claimed over a million lives across the Empire. It is more terrifying than the war itself."

The larger a city’s population, the greater the shock it has suffered in this wave of European influenza. The only consolation is that the degree of urbanization in Austria-Hungary is relatively low among the great powers, higher only than Japan and Spain.

This has somewhat reduced the Empire’s losses from the epidemic, though Rudolph clearly took no comfort from this.

He said, "This time, it is the economically developed, densely populated regions that are hit hardest. So early on, Austria has been under more pressure than regions like Hungary. Just thinking about it gives me a headache. Our demographic and ethnic structure has long been one of the roots of internal contradictions within the Empire, and this plague may further exacerbate such tensions."

Conrad, however, had a different view. He said to Rudolph, "Your Highness need not worry overly about that. Judging from the way the epidemic is spreading, it is now almost certain that no part of Europe will be spared."

"Moreover, medical conditions in regions such as Hungary are even more backward than in Austria. The losses in those regions from this plague will only be greater than Austria’s."

Both ruler and minister were staunchly in the Austrian—or rather German—camp. For the Empire’s long-term stability, they naturally hoped that the German population within its borders would be larger.

It should be mentioned here that Conrad’s elevation to the post of Imperial Prime Minister was entirely due to Rudolph’s sponsorship. Emperor Franz has by now become little more than a mascot of the Empire, no longer participating in state affairs.