Chapter 1443 - 17: Italian Beer Hall

Chapter 1443: Chapter 17: Italian Beer Hall

After contemplating for a moment, Prime Minister Conrad said: "Your Highness’s plan could perhaps be even bolder; not only Dalmatia, we might further expand the sources of immigration."

"After all, the German population in Dalmatia is less than a million, and it’s already quite difficult to fill Venice, relying solely on this place’s population to promote nationwide Germanization is very strenuous."

Under Rudolph’s persuasion, Conrad no longer cared about the so-called debate over "bloodline." In comparison to the current issue of insufficient national population, mixed-blood Germans are practically a negligible issue, even not an issue at all.

Invest labor... chuck away the old mindset, and the world opens up. This is the current feeling inside Prime Minister Conrad’s heart.

Building upon Rudolph’s plan, Conrad went even further: "Your Highness’s plan reminds me of an issue that occurred a few months ago, the German diaspora within the United States."

"The United States is the country with the third-largest population of Germans in the world; perhaps we can take advantage of this opportunity to have some Germans dissatisfied with the U.S. government return to the German Region."

Rudolph said: "However, your suggestion carries high risks since the Germans in the United States have been brainwashed by long-term American thought, which might increase instability."

The so-called American thought is nothing more than democracy and freedom. Rudolph himself used to be a proponent of these ideas, yet now he defends monarchal autocracy, reflecting a shift in his thinking.

Prime Minister Conrad smiled wryly: "Your Highness, I am naturally also aware of this, but in the current world, among the main countries where Germans reside, we find it difficult to locate appropriate population sources."

"Germany — when Germany’s economy was in dire straits in the past, quite a few Germans settled in the Empire. However, now the outflow of German population has completely ended."

"Aside from that, other German Countries in Europe do not lag behind the Empire economically, and due to their small size, not only are we not attractive to them, but even if they experience population overflow, it wouldn’t meet our needs."

"Excluding these countries, the most significant gathering places for Germans are none other than South America and East Africa. South America is vast and sparsely populated, and those who immigrate there would likely not return."

"Lastly, East Africa, while abundant in population, possesses expansive and resource-rich land, with rapid economic development; it’s almost impossible for us to siphon off people from East Africa."

A century ago, there were quite a few East Africans migrating to Austria-Hungary, though many of them were among the groups East Africa actively mixed with Austria-Hungary."

After all, last century, East Africa was a country thoroughly implementing the closed-door policy. Without the East African Government’s approval, population outflow was impossible."

The Dalmatian Kingdom stands as one of the proudest creations of the East African Government, becoming a model territory for East Africa’s reverse exportation of immigrants."

However, these immigrants were hardly considered East Africans; rather, they were more likely to be Far Easterners, and indeed so. East Africa had channels for Far Eastern immigration, and however many Austria-Hungary wanted, it could provide."

Nevertheless, clearly, without Germanization, Austria-Hungary was unlikely to accept Far Eastern immigrants. The reason the Dalmatian Kingdom could be "swapped out" by East Africa lay in East Africa’s simplified "German education" and population smuggling."

At the time, most immigrants exported by East Africa to Dalmatia were undocumented individuals, paired with simplified German education.

This education differed significantly from that in East Africa’s homeland; the specific manifestation was poor education quality, aside from passing German, no other requirements were made.

However, East Africa’s compulsory education was not the same. Although in its early years, the quality was not high due to resource constraints, alongside spreading basic subjects like math, physics, and chemistry, and with education spanning a length of ten years, it far surpassed what the Dalmatian Kingdom implemented."

By the time before World War I, the average knowledge level of Dalmatia’s mixed-blood Germans was limited to speaking German, with simple reading and writing skills. Other knowledge may not have reached the primary school graduate level."

Nevertheless, these immigrants’ spoken language had thoroughly transformed into German; they could be considered half-Germans. Added to the mixed lineage, Austria-Hungary accepted them.

Before World War I, Austria-Hungary actually disfavored Dalmatian Kingdom’s mixed-blood Germans. Aside from mixed lineage, there was dissatisfaction with East Africa’s clandestine actions, plainly put, it was interference in Austria-Hungary’s internal affairs."

Of course, after experiencing World War I, Austria-Hungary admitted these mixed-blood Germans were quite invaluable, even if they remained uncomfortable, they were indeed useful and obedient."

Conrad continued: "So, looking at the world, currently, we cannot find a better source than the United States for Germans. The number of Germans in the United States even exceeds that in the Empire."

The German population in Austria-Hungary is just over ten million, whereas in the United States, it is at least fifteen million, possibly more than twenty million or even higher."

This is no exaggeration. German descendants make up at least fifteen percent of the U.S. population, and since the U.S. population is nearing one hundred million, the past two to three hundred years have consistently made the United States one of the primary destinations for population inflow from the German Region."