Austro-Hungarian Congo

What are the chances Austro-Hungary ends up with the Congo instead of Belgium? It may as well be Franz Joseph property like it was with King Leopold II.

I just want know...
 
What are the chances Austro-Hungary ends up with the Congo instead of Belgium? It may as well be Franz Joseph property like it was with King Leopold II.

I just want know...

There've been arguments about how an Austro-Hungarian colony would function. Due to the dual-monarchy, a colony would either have to be entirely owned and operated by Austria/Cisleithania, or entirely owned and operated by Hungary, or equally shared between the two. Having it be the private property of the Kaiser is an interesting alternative, though. As for the chances of it ending up with the Congo instead of Leopold II, well, the Austro-Hungarian government has had a history of not backing colonies. The closest it came was in 1898 when Spain attempted to sell the Rio de Oro to them, and though the deal was successfully negotiated, the Hungarian government blocked it.

So you can see, the odds are slim. Either you'd need to avoid the Ausgleich entirely, which also has implications for the 1848 revolutions and the Austro-Prussian War, so the nation remains centralised, or somehow get the entire government on board with the idea.
 
What are the chances Austro-Hungary ends up with the Congo instead of Belgium? It may as well be Franz Joseph property like it was with King Leopold II.

I just want know...

Slim and none, and slim just left town.

Leopold II was a monarch in a very... unique position to have the resources, motivation, skill, and international climate/reputation building skills to get his International Association of the Congo put in charge of the region as a neutral broker for commerce. Not the least of which being he lead a very modest country who didn't have the power to make it a national colony by the backdoor, a legislative culture with a long and strong reputation for refusing to partake in territorial adventures, loose market laws, ect. None of these apply to Old Man Franz.
 
Very low, seeing as Austria-Hungary didn't share Belgium's inability to expand (by conquest or influence) into the rest of Europe. While Belgium was hemmed in by France, Germany, and the Netherlands, Austria-Hungary had all the Balkans as a potential target and main focus for expansion. Additionally, Franz Joseph didn't share Leopold II's burning desire to gain colonies, the latter having tried gaining colonies in Argentina, Borneo, the Philippines, China, Japan, Vietnam, and the Pacific Islands and was foiled and opposed by the Belgian government in his attempts to gain various parts of Africa before resorting to private ventures in the name of 'philanthropy.'

You'd need to keep the Balkans from becoming a (relatively) easy route of expansion for Austria and give Franz Joseph a bit more expansionistic/colonial ambition to see an Austrian-led state in the 1800s take over the Congo.
 
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