I hope this doesn't cause trouble (I'm no expert) but isn't the 1810s a little early for railways? Stockton to Darlington wasn't until 1829.
Steam-powered, yes, but railways were used elsewhere long before then (mostly for mines), powered by either animals or gravity.
That's true, the problem is just that horse-railways and the like are entirely unsuited for use by proper trains. The way I see it is that they can build as many railways as they want right now, but they will have to rip them out of the ground and replace them with proper ones almost entirely in two to three decade's time.
Austria is basically industrializing at this point in time. Much like Britain. Since it's deliberately pushing for industrial development, this will give them an edge over other powers on the continent, especially since they'll be making full use of the abundant resources available. The railways being built will be meant for steam engines- not horse railways or anything. The British had developed steam engines by this date.
Here's a map of the Vienna-Trieste canal... Sort of. It stops at Laibach/Ljubljana, but you can still see Trieste on the map; use your imagination for the Laibach-Triest part of the canal. 
Then, I found this map, which made my couple-minutes work of highlighting the Venice-Milan line from a different map. It dates from 1849, so it includes the first railways in Austria and the projects at the time (the narrower lines) without it being confused with the later lines built post-1867 (most of them were built after 1880, actually). I imagine the Budapest-Zagreb line, which was built much later, would go through Székesfehérvár/Stuhlweissenburg, Varaždin/Warasdin (either through Vesprém or Balatonsemesz; either way has an interesting impact on potentially-early Lake Balaton Tourism) before hitting Zagreb/Agram. Even if it would be easier to connect Zagreb to Ljubljana instead...
The Vienna-Trieste Canal still sounds crazy to me (German wiki says that it was considered impossible to build past Ljubljana, which is still a major goddamned canal) but hey, the project it totally historical. Nevertheless, connecting Prague, Olomouc/Olmütz, Vienna and Pressburg (likely Budapest too very quickly) by rail is going to be massive once they become proper train lines. The historical industrial heartland of the Empire is going to be connected several decades earlier. Connecting Vienna and Trieste either by canal or rail is also very important. Then, everything can be expanded very rapidly when a railway boom happens: Trieste to Pola (the latter being the Navy's primary naval base after abandoning Vienna), Zagreb and Trieste to the Dalmatian ports (Rijeka, Split, Dubrovnik and maybe all the way to Kotor) is also going to be massive. Then, from Budapest, all of Hungary can be connected (historically, Hungarian railway building boomed after 1867 pretty massively). This is all excellent for the Empire's development.
Looks like JoFer is quite the Anglophile now- Is he finally getting over his boner for France?
Oh, and by the way, it's Venedig in German. Venetien refers to the province of Venetia.
It dates from 1849, so it includes the first railways in Austria and the projects at the time (the narrower lines) without it being confused with the later lines built post-1867 (most of them were built after 1880, actually). I imagine the Budapest-Zagreb line, which was built much later, would go through Székesfehérvár/Stuhlweissenburg, Varaždin/Warasdin (either through Vesprém or Balatonsemesz; either way has an interesting impact on potentially-early Lake Balaton Tourism) before hitting Zagreb/Agram. Even if it would be easier to connect Zagreb to Ljubljana instead...
The Vienna-Trieste Canal still sounds crazy to me (German wiki says that it was considered impossible to build past Ljubljana, which is still a major goddamned canal) but hey, the project it totally historical. Nevertheless, connecting Prague, Olomouc/Olmütz, Vienna and Pressburg (likely Budapest too very quickly) by rail is going to be massive once they become proper train lines. The historical industrial heartland of the Empire is going to be connected several decades earlier. Connecting Vienna and Trieste either by canal or rail is also very important. Then, everything can be expanded very rapidly when a railway boom happens: Trieste to Pola (the latter being the Navy's primary naval base after abandoning Vienna), Zagreb and Trieste to the Dalmatian ports (Rijeka, Split, Dubrovnik and maybe all the way to Kotor) is also going to be massive. Then, from Budapest, all of Hungary can be connected (historically, Hungarian railway building boomed after 1867 pretty massively). This is all excellent for the Empire's development.
Looks like JoFer is quite the Anglophile now- Is he finally getting over his boner for France?
Oh, and by the way, it's Venedig in German. Venetien refers to the province of Venetia.
The British had certainly invented the technology by this date- Richard Trevithick etc- but at this stage it was little more than a curiosity. The first railway line, and the first ever commercial use of steam ages, was not until 1829, unfortunately.
31
Old Linz
21 April 1816, Linz
The men from Vienna came by one day.
Max remembered it well. He had been slouching around his father’s shop, directing customers to purchase with a sour look on his face, keeping one eye at the shop window for pretty girls. Then, instead of a pretty girl, he saw a skinny, short little man, a monocle in one eye and a sneer on his face.
The man wasn’t German; Max knew it instinctively. Germans knew their own. This man wasn’t German. The door clanked as the man entered the Hoffman store; he looked around with thinly disguised contempt and half-coughed out in bastardized German:
“Are there any able-bodied men who are looking for work?”
His father whacked him on the back of his knees and Max stumbled forward, face-planting in the dust in front of the monocle-sporting man. He heard a muffled squeak; looking up, red-faced, he saw that the man had taken a few steps backward.
Max attempted to smile. “I am looking for work,” he said, slowly and ponderously, unsure of how much German the foreigner knew.
“Follow me,” the foreigner said curtly, and turned to leave. Max picked himself off the floor and dusted himself off, giving his father a dirty look. Then he left.
Like many of the farmers who lived on the land on the outskirts of Linz, Max had to walk five miles to get to the city, often with a few mules behind him, carrying the produce of the day, following his father. He’d never learnt his letters; neither did he want to. The librarians and bankers of Linz had sons his age, but he’d never been able to relate to them. He did not speak their pretentious tongue, or consult over pages and pages of numbers as they did, and he was proud of that. And so were his friends. That was why he’d never gotten into a fight with a city boy in all his seventeen years. (Well, not an altercation that he’d consider a fight; they couldn’t even throw a punch.)
Max entered the town square, and saw to his surprise that there were a large number of boys his age milling around, chatting to one another in amiable tones. He saw Willy and hastened over, nodding at Kurt as he slid into the tight knot of conversation. The town clock chimed.
“They’re building a canal,” Walther told him, passing him the small tin mug that they used to hold the cheap beer snitched from the pub nearby. “From Vienna to Trieste, apparently.”
“Where the fuck is Trieste?” Vienna was a far-off dream, a metropolis next to sleepy Linz. If not for Joseph Ferdinand, Max would have lived and died on the outskirts of Linz, and if not, maybe on some godforsaken field in Italy, a bayonet in his hands.
Walther scrunched up his face. “The sea, I think. We just got it from Napoleon. Probably?” He flicked his eyes to behind Max, and Max turned to see a horse-drawn cart, filled to the brim with wheelbarrows and shovels. “We need to dig out the dirt. Build trenches. Build a trench all the way to Vienna.” He elbowed Max. “You man enough?”
Max puffed out his chest. “You’re fucking stupid, Zimmermann. Of course I’m man enough.”
“So it’s decided then,” Willy said, and Max realized that the entire group of boys had been listening in on the conversation. “We’re going to go to Trieste and we’re going to dig a canal to Vienna and we’ll make a bloody massive pile of thalers while doing so.” A ragged cheer went up, and the nine young men went to sign their names on the stained roll of paper being passed around at the other end of the town square.
It would be the last they would see of their hometown.
Last edited:
Nitpick: Pretty sure they didn't use marks as currency. Guldens or Thalers, probably.
Good update. Dialogue made me chuckle.
Good update. Dialogue made me chuckle.
32
Richard Trevithick in Eisenerz
31 September 1816, Eisenerz
Archduke John of Austria tapped his foot on the ground and gestured grandly out over the small town and the multitude of little figures by the mines, as a gust of autumn wind ruffled his hair. “Eight hundred thousand tons of iron per year- eighty thousand tons per month- four thousand per day,” he announced to the appreciative British investors, who nodded attentively and scribbled little notes down in their leather-bound notebooks. “I trust you’ve been to the Seegrotte? The gypsum there, you can use it. Salzburg has salt- salt for duck and chicken, to keep them fresh over the long winter months.”
Some of the investors knew him, but one, Richard Trevithick, who was not an investor, had in fact run into the Archduke at Falmouth, where his home was located. He watched the Archduke pontificate at length, and fondly, over the myriad sights and wonders of Styria. One would have thought that he’d been born there.
An hour or so later, in the stagecoach, juddering unevenly over the gravel path back to Graz, where an iron foundry was under construction, Trevithick and the Archduke were deep in conversation over the future network of Austria.
“...by necessity, Vienna would have to be the centre of any would-be railway network,” John finished.
Trevithick shook his head and gestured at the map. “No, look; every segmentation of the Empire has a coherent central point for potential railways. Proximity to Vienna is not an option and should never be an option, not with railways.”
John smiled wryly and poured another tumbler of wine for Trevithick, who accepted it gratefully and downed it as the path smoothed out. “In order for one city to exert control over the entire region, I’d grant that. But Hungary, Bohemia and Lombardy-Venetia are but provinces; my brother feels that centralization is the way forward. Powerful provincial capitals are not conducive to that goal.”
“By definition, if useful resources are discovered at any point in the Austrian lands, the towns which will spring up around the mines and wells will have more relative power.” Trevithick cursed as a bit of wine spilled on his shirtsleeve. Falling leaves brushed past the window. “What matters is who is giving the orders. Vienna sends word directly to Schlossburg, and the coal is sent to whatever processing facility is required, not to Klausenburg.” He cocked his head at the Archduke. “Incidentally,” he inquired, “what’s precipitated this sudden interest in my engines?”
John smiled through half-lidded eyes. “London hasn’t realized it yet,” he said, “but steam is the future. While your engines carry men and material across the Empire, the men at Whitehall will be cursing themselves over their inability to recognize true genius. I trust the fee is sufficient?”
“Oh, very sufficient,” Trevithick said quickly.
John hummed noncommittally; he had lost interest in the conversation. The sun was half-obscured by clouds; heaps of stone, not quite hills yet not quite mountains, flickered by through the quiet forest. The dirt road was flatter, now, as they advanced towards Graz.
33
Haven't really been writing- may have a roadblock somewhere- so I'll just slow down my posts, so I have something to get back to. I've been thinking also about Franz I- if he was so liberal, but was put off by Napoleon's rise, what reforms could he possibly be amenable to? In my view, things like education, or tightening control over the magnates, or even industrialization- all of them being change- he would be averse to all of them, being a reactionary. What compromises might he be willing to make?
Anyway.
Franz Anton von Gerstner gazed out over the Bohemian forests. He closed his eyes, stretching out his hands, and made as if to breath in the scenery. His nostrils flared, he inhaled…
And choked, coughing as a cloud of sweet-smelling dust erupted from his sinuses.
The trees around him were ripe with the sound of steel on wood. Labourers from the surrounding villages had been conscripted for the task; British engineers milled about, hemming and hawing, scuffing their boots in the rich Bohemian soil. Franz gazed out and thought of his father, still teaching in the Prague polytechnic. It had been converted some time back; Kolowrat was an effective administrator. Though it would be odd if he had been anything but, what with having the heir to Austria behind him. His father had thought himself too old for the task (his mistress was another reason), and so Franz had taken it up. He, at least, was still young.
It caused a slight flutter in his chest, to think that he was accomplishing a historic duty, a historic obligation to progress. And, on a whim it occurred to him to trudge out into the sunlight, and Franz did so. He pivoted on his heel and advanced out from the thick forest, gazing out at the almost desolate landscape of tree stumps, the trunks themselves carted to Budweis proper for processing. Men, their arms thick and corded, lifted the hammers in their arms aloft; then brought them down. The metal rods went into the ground. The railway was advancing towards Linz. Slowly but surely… it was advancing.
The metal themselves had been constructed from iron mined in Przibram, just a bit north. The cities south of Linz, and Lombardy-Venetia too, were enriched by the mines at Eisenerz. Bohemia would build its railways on iron refined at the Budweis foundries, which themselves had recently been built, a combined effort by a convention of the nobility in Prague, convened only at the behest of Archduke Joseph.
Franz remembered the day the Archduke had passed by. The British surveyors had watched the carriage pass by with cold, almost dispassionate eyes, but for Franz it was a symbol of the grandeur of the dynasty. The Archduke had tipped his cap to him as he’d passed, and Franz would remember that. Even in Vienna, he’d not spoken with the Archduke face-to-face.
His father had forfeited the right to bring the railways of Bohemia to life. Franz, on the other hand, would be remembered for this. And he owed such an opportunity to the Archduke.
There was a shout from behind him as another tree fell. Franz put his hand over his brows and squinted at the horse-drawn carriage making its way shakily over the new rails. The labourers retrieved food and drink from the carriage as it passed; most looked down approvingly at the fruits of their hard work.
Anyway.
18 March 1817, Budweis
Franz Anton von Gerstner gazed out over the Bohemian forests. He closed his eyes, stretching out his hands, and made as if to breath in the scenery. His nostrils flared, he inhaled…
And choked, coughing as a cloud of sweet-smelling dust erupted from his sinuses.
The trees around him were ripe with the sound of steel on wood. Labourers from the surrounding villages had been conscripted for the task; British engineers milled about, hemming and hawing, scuffing their boots in the rich Bohemian soil. Franz gazed out and thought of his father, still teaching in the Prague polytechnic. It had been converted some time back; Kolowrat was an effective administrator. Though it would be odd if he had been anything but, what with having the heir to Austria behind him. His father had thought himself too old for the task (his mistress was another reason), and so Franz had taken it up. He, at least, was still young.
It caused a slight flutter in his chest, to think that he was accomplishing a historic duty, a historic obligation to progress. And, on a whim it occurred to him to trudge out into the sunlight, and Franz did so. He pivoted on his heel and advanced out from the thick forest, gazing out at the almost desolate landscape of tree stumps, the trunks themselves carted to Budweis proper for processing. Men, their arms thick and corded, lifted the hammers in their arms aloft; then brought them down. The metal rods went into the ground. The railway was advancing towards Linz. Slowly but surely… it was advancing.
The metal themselves had been constructed from iron mined in Przibram, just a bit north. The cities south of Linz, and Lombardy-Venetia too, were enriched by the mines at Eisenerz. Bohemia would build its railways on iron refined at the Budweis foundries, which themselves had recently been built, a combined effort by a convention of the nobility in Prague, convened only at the behest of Archduke Joseph.
Franz remembered the day the Archduke had passed by. The British surveyors had watched the carriage pass by with cold, almost dispassionate eyes, but for Franz it was a symbol of the grandeur of the dynasty. The Archduke had tipped his cap to him as he’d passed, and Franz would remember that. Even in Vienna, he’d not spoken with the Archduke face-to-face.
His father had forfeited the right to bring the railways of Bohemia to life. Franz, on the other hand, would be remembered for this. And he owed such an opportunity to the Archduke.
There was a shout from behind him as another tree fell. Franz put his hand over his brows and squinted at the horse-drawn carriage making its way shakily over the new rails. The labourers retrieved food and drink from the carriage as it passed; most looked down approvingly at the fruits of their hard work.
Franz I was definitely reactionary. So much so that it's a shame Leopold didn't last longer than a couple of years.
I think he can be convinced (probably by Metternich) of some reforms if they will help maintain Austria's position. He had no problems with military reforms, after all.
I think he can be convinced (probably by Metternich) of some reforms if they will help maintain Austria's position. He had no problems with military reforms, after all.
Interesting.
You have started major infrastructural projects two decades earlier than I expected. This changes the entire demography game. These rail road projects, will serve to develop industry both indirect (shorter time and easier access to areas with rail roads) and direct (materials to build the railroads and coal mines). The result is that you push a stronger urbanisation earlier. You have here the influx of both regional, national and foreign workers before the Czech National Revival, which likely means that they will use German as Lingua Franca. In fact this may affect the whole Czech National Revival.
You have started major infrastructural projects two decades earlier than I expected. This changes the entire demography game. These rail road projects, will serve to develop industry both indirect (shorter time and easier access to areas with rail roads) and direct (materials to build the railroads and coal mines). The result is that you push a stronger urbanisation earlier. You have here the influx of both regional, national and foreign workers before the Czech National Revival, which likely means that they will use German as Lingua Franca. In fact this may affect the whole Czech National Revival.
Is it possible to hold something like a military exercise with Prussia or is this assuming a higher level of trust than existed at the time? Military exercises are a 20th-21st century thing, I reckon. Military reforms though... okay, this might break my writer's block. Thanks! The next update might be of interest to you then.
Thank you! I hope it's still fairly realistic. Not just the Czech National Revival, as you will see. In fact, this little poem might serve as a hint for future updates...
As in the Arsenal of the Venetians
Boils in winter the tenacious pitch
To smear their unsound vessels over again
For sail they cannot; and instead thereof
One makes his vessel new, and one recaulks
The ribs of that which many a voyage has made
One hammers at the prow, one at the stern
This one makes oars and that one cordage twists
Another mends the mainsail and the mizzen
To smear their unsound vessels over again
For sail they cannot; and instead thereof
One makes his vessel new, and one recaulks
The ribs of that which many a voyage has made
One hammers at the prow, one at the stern
This one makes oars and that one cordage twists
Another mends the mainsail and the mizzen
Nah, relations between Austria and Prussia were already back to being pretty cold. Not so much openly hostile like post-1848, but a lot worse than in 1814. Right when the peace happened in 1815, the Prussians happily blamed the Austrians for every and any failures during the Coalition wars (including blatant cases of Prussia being at fault). Plus, again being a reactionary, no doubt he considered the Prussians to be upstarts.
But yeah, joint military excercises are definitely a modern thing. Foreign observers during campaigns are also a mid-19th century I think. Not that it matters in this case.
The repercussions for the Czech National Revival is going to be interesting. I can see it still happening, but maybe more through a Czechophile movement. Sort of like what happened in Slovenia iOTL with a lot of German-speakers identifying as Slovenes; i.e. the national identity perhaps being less based on linguistic-nationalism. Maybe it's just wishful thinking, though.
But yeah, joint military excercises are definitely a modern thing. Foreign observers during campaigns are also a mid-19th century I think. Not that it matters in this case.
The repercussions for the Czech National Revival is going to be interesting. I can see it still happening, but maybe more through a Czechophile movement. Sort of like what happened in Slovenia iOTL with a lot of German-speakers identifying as Slovenes; i.e. the national identity perhaps being less based on linguistic-nationalism. Maybe it's just wishful thinking, though.
Yes and no. The German Confederation was on its way to unification before it got derailed OTL (much like the Holy Roman Empire was before it was dismantled to keep Napoleon from making use of it). Under Austrian leadership (as the Greater Austria idea never really got traction - the idea of unifying all of Germany with all of Habsburg lands; Greater Germany was only ever about including Bohemia and Austria), it is likely such moves would continue - probably some type of EU-like arrangement, a loose confederation where individual states still maintain foreign embassies, but have a single army and some central authority (the embassies thing happened even OTL - Bavaria, IIRC, maintained separate ones even during the Empire). It'd be dominated by Austria, of course, and led by the Habsburgs.
That, of course, presupposes that Prussia is neutered. Once it gained the Rhine and entered the ranks of the Great Powers, Prussia got ambitious - and, ultimately, Germany is too small for two Great Powers. A conflict would be, if not exactly inevitable, then very, very likely.
Things which would help avoid the rise of Prussia:
Avoid the rise of the Prussian dominated Zollverein. The easiest way to do this is if Austria establish its own Zollverein in Germany, which includes Prussia.
Avoid the Schleswig Wars, these wars especially the first one was a major part in the prestige as the protector of German Prussia got. The easiest way to get around this, is simply letting Christian VIII live longer, if he's king when the revolution hit, he will likely deal better with it than his son. This removes the 1st Schleswig War and hve the benefit that we likely get a more conservative government in Denmark, which would result in the successor of Frederik VII will be a candidate the Estate (Provinzialständeversammlungen/Provinsialstænderforsamling) of Holstein will accept.
Avoid the rise of the Prussian dominated Zollverein. The easiest way to do this is if Austria establish its own Zollverein in Germany, which includes Prussia.
Avoid the Schleswig Wars, these wars especially the first one was a major part in the prestige as the protector of German Prussia got. The easiest way to get around this, is simply letting Christian VIII live longer, if he's king when the revolution hit, he will likely deal better with it than his son. This removes the 1st Schleswig War and hve the benefit that we likely get a more conservative government in Denmark, which would result in the successor of Frederik VII will be a candidate the Estate (Provinzialständeversammlungen/Provinsialstænderforsamling) of Holstein will accept.
I don't think Prussia can be effectively neutered at this point. Like Keb said, Prussia not only got ambitious when they gained the Rhineland, but it got significantly stronger, too. There was also already a significant North/South divide in the Germanies, with Prussia having a lot more influence over the northern states than Austria ever did. It's kind of too far for the latter.
I think the only way to really weaken Prussia is for Austria to somehow retake Silesia (an old dream, but would they even be able to hold onto it at this point?) and take away the Rhineland. The latter us pretty much impossible or very unwise; Prussia gained it so that France would have a strong detterent if it attempted to invade Germany again.
Meanwhile, Austria is bound to get into fights with the Sardinians (and French) and possibly the Russians (more and more garanteed as time goes on), so it'll distracted by non-German affairs eventually and likely often.
I think the only way to really weaken Prussia is for Austria to somehow retake Silesia (an old dream, but would they even be able to hold onto it at this point?) and take away the Rhineland. The latter us pretty much impossible or very unwise; Prussia gained it so that France would have a strong detterent if it attempted to invade Germany again.
Meanwhile, Austria is bound to get into fights with the Sardinians (and French) and possibly the Russians (more and more garanteed as time goes on), so it'll distracted by non-German affairs eventually and likely often.