AH Challenge: Austro-Hungarian Congo

With a POD before 1885, make it happen.

Someones will said ASB... is hard but possible, that means than both side of A-H Empire will make a common policy for the colony(the most harder part), and with all the nationality, can make a lot of headache if one opposed to than a make a revolt(another hard one), accept to have a better and more update navy(hard one), and having a K.u.K colonial army(another very hard), but ironically with both the size of congo and all, they will think than give to a second rate colonial power that colonies will avoid more disbalance in the great power, and if the A-H thinks, here they can leave all the most rebellious ethnics part of the empire(several slavs for austrian, slovaks and rumanis for the Magyars), who can make some interesting butterflies(like a slav congo, a rumani one, etc)

is very hard, but original
 
If Emperor Franz Joseph is replaced by his brother Maximilian who was married to a Belgian Princess and the Germans and Great Britain come to an agreement then this could happen.
Even the Belgian King could live with this, provided his son in law lets him in on the deal.
However it would piss of the French tenfold. This could have serious consequences for the British French relations.
 
If Emperor Franz Joseph is replaced by his brother Maximilian who was married to a Belgian Princess and the Germans and Great Britain come to an agreement then this could happen.
Even the Belgian King could live with this, provided his son in law lets him in on the deal.
However it would piss of the French tenfold. This could have serious consequences for the British French relations.

Don't even have to replace Franz Josef with his brother, the Crown Prince Rudolf was married to Stéphanie of Belgium, Leopold's daughter.
 
Don't even have to replace Franz Josef with his brother, the Crown Prince Rudolf was married to Stéphanie of Belgium, Leopold's daughter.

FJ was the guy who did not want any colonies. In his opinion they cost more than they were worth, that's why he needs to go.
With him as Emperor the answer would always be "Thanks, but no thanks..."
 
No, but Rudolf can succeed his father and might have different ideas about Imperialism.
It's much less about what Franz Josef thinks and more about Austria's geographical position. The Habsburg Empire isn't in a good position to be a potential colonizer, their navy is bottled up in the Adriatic and the polygot empire was concerned with other domestic affairs.
 
1. By definition this has to occur sometime between 1867 (the Ausgleich and creation of AH) and 1885. Sorry but I just don't see it happening. As has been stated, Franz Joseph had better things to do the worry about sending various people who could barely get along with each other at home to some God forsaken jungle in the middle of Africa. Rudolf isn't the answer either (or for that matter Maximilian). Judging solely by Rudolf's beliefs on how the Empire should have been liberalized and reformed I can't see him being terribly big on the whole Imperialism thing. Any chance of real Habsburg colonization efforts died with the Ostend Company. Perhaps an attempt could be launched under Franz II, but realistically after that... no. Sorry.

2. If I ever hear anyone say Franz Joseph needs to go in reference to removing him for power for one reason or another again, I am going to slap the speaker so hard they'll be seeing the jewels on the Crown of Rudolph II for weeks.
 
Well it could always be run by the Finance Ministry, like Bosnia was and thus technically it would not be under either party's unilateral suzerainty.
 
1. By definition this has to occur sometime between 1867 (the Ausgleich and creation of AH) and 1885. Sorry but I just don't see it happening. As has been stated, Franz Joseph had better things to do the worry about sending various people who could barely get along with each other at home to some God forsaken jungle in the middle of Africa. Rudolf isn't the answer either (or for that matter Maximilian). Judging solely by Rudolf's beliefs on how the Empire should have been liberalized and reformed I can't see him being terribly big on the whole Imperialism thing. Any chance of real Habsburg colonization efforts died with the Ostend Company. Perhaps an attempt could be launched under Franz II, but realistically after that... no. Sorry.


Rudolf's liiberalism would not necessarily stop him supporting a colonial venture. In the late 19C many men of progressive views supported imperialism as part of the "march of progress" bringing enlighenment to the backward parts of the world. Only in the 20C did it come to be seen as a specifically right-wing policy.

As for Max, well, if he thought that being ruled by a Habsburg would benefit the Mexicans, why not the Congolese?


2. If I ever hear anyone say Franz Joseph needs to go in reference to removing him for power for one reason or another again, I am going to slap the speaker so hard they'll be seeing the jewels on the Crown of Rudolph II for weeks.

Trouble is, this is difficult to avoid in any Austrian WI.

FJ was averse to change, and generally accepted it only under duress, so it usually came too late. If you want any change to come "in time" you are virtually obliged to remove him. Whether this would save the Empire is of course another question. Well meaning liberals like Max or Rudolf might just have made the roof fall in that much quicker.

Incidentally, there was an attempt on FJ's life in 1882 - google "Oberdank".
 
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