Chapter 1100 Mostar Hydropower Station
When East Africa entered the Third Five-Year Plan and continued to develop its own industry, other parts of the world were not at peace. In particular, the conflicts among European countries were becoming increasingly acute. Among them, the game between Britain, France, and Germany was the most prominent, and the secondary contradictions were It is reflected in the dispute between Austria-Hungary and Russia over the right to speak in the Balkans.
Austro-Hungary and Russia had acute domestic problems, which also made them weak links in the imperialist chain.
Yes, the Austro-Hungarian Empire was also included by Ernst as an equal existence to Russia. This can be seen from the results of the previous war. There was a coup in Russia, but the new government managed to retain most of its interests, while Austria The Hungarian Empire was directly dismembered, and the Austro-Hungarian Empire was truly the biggest loser in the war.
Therefore, it can be said that Austria-Hungary and Russia are close rivals, and the two countries have long-standing disputes in the Balkans and are natural competitors. If the Ottoman Empire, their old enemy, has not weakened, they may be able to join forces in Central and Eastern Europe. The "landlord" table, together with the Western European bloc of Britain, France and Germany, forms the two major card games in Europe.
Comparing with the original history, since the failure of Italian unification, the Austro-Hungarian Empire is actually much stronger than the same period in history. At least the threat of western Italy no longer exists, allowing the Austro-Hungarian Empire to devote more energy to competing with Russia in the Balkans.
After the Russo-Japanese War, Russia could be said to have lost a lot of face, which made the Austro-Hungarian Empire even more arrogant in the Balkans. However, generally speaking, Russia was a leaner camel than a horse. For the old rival of Austria-Hungary, Russia He didn't take it seriously either.
…
April 7, 1911.
The city of Mostar in the southwest of the Bosnian region of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
Today a major project in the city of Mostar was completed. The Mostar Hydropower Station built with support from East Africa was completed on the Neretva River.
Kerlev, general manager of the newly established Mostar Hydropower Company, said happily in front of the completed Mostar Hydropower Dam: "The completion of the Mostar Hydropower Station will become a new economic development engine for our city. , to help our city’s power supply and industrial development.”
Kleif is a typical East African and one of the representatives of East Africa's business community in Bosnia, and most of his employees are locals.
But unlike other places in Bosnia, the locals in Mostar are very strange, because more than 80% of the local population are Chinese, 17% are Croats, and finally 3% Serbian.
So among the workers who participated in the construction of the Mostar Hydropower Station in front of Kelev, except for a very small number of East African technicians, they were mainly Chinese, with a small number of Croats.
The original three major ethnic groups in Mostar were Ottomans, Croats and Serbs.
The city of Mostar was once a border military town run by the Ottoman Empire. After the Austro-Hungarian Empire took control of the Bosnian region, the Hechingen Consortium "cooperated" with the Austro-Hungarian Army stationed in Mostar at the time to bring this original city to the city. Towns with Ottoman characteristics were completely de-greened, and the Hechingen Consortium became the largest local landowner, further introducing immigrants from the Far Eastern Empire to the entire lower Neretva River valley.
Of course, the Far Eastern immigrants imported from East Africa at that time were actually "black households", and most of them "settled" locally as laborers hired by the Hechingen Consortium.
In the early days, agriculture was mainly engaged in the lower reaches of the Neretva River in East Africa. The area had a Mediterranean climate and abundant water resources. Far Eastern immigrants, under the arrangement of the Hechingen Consortium, opened up farms and plantations there. At that time, Far Eastern immigrants were actually similar to Russian immigrants. serf.
This provided convenience to the Hechingen Consortium. With the support of a large number of cheap immigrant labor from the Far East, the Hechingen Consortium continued to open up wasteland downstream along the Neretva River. After more than thirty years of development, Neretva The lower reaches of the river actually became a prosperous zone for Bosnia and Croatia.
This can be seen from the population situation in the lower reaches of the Neretva River. Today, the local population exceeds 630,000, of which 480,000 are Chinese, which is more than 70% of the local population. The lower reaches of the Retva River cover an area of just over 4,000 square kilometers. Such a comparison can show the degree of prosperity of the local area with the support of East Africa. It is more than 4,000 square kilometers, which is basically equivalent to the size of a medium-sized prefecture-level city in the previous Far Eastern Empire (the average area of a prefecture-level city in our country is about 28,000 square kilometers). kilometer).
In such a small place, the population exceeds 500,000, which is relatively rare at least in the Balkans. You must know that the entire Kingdom of Serbia has a population of only more than two million, and Bulgaria has more than four million. Therefore, the lower reaches of the Neretva River are in Heixing. It is definitely a densely populated area under the governance of the Root Consortium.
As for why East Africa wants to support a pro-East African force here, it also starts with East Africa’s penetration into the Bosnia region.
East Africa After the Austro-Hungarian Empire occupied the Bosnian region, it had already begun to create an East Africa-like region in the Austro-Hungarian Empire. However, the work in Bosnia was not smooth at that time.
First of all, Bosnia is a country dominated by mountains and hills, and is blocked by Croatia, so transportation is not smooth.
So East Africa can only use the Port of Ploce in Croatia in the previous life as a starting point to penetrate into the Neretva River Basin.
The Neretva River was an important river in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia in the past, and the port of Ploce is close to the Neretva River.
The lower Neretva River Valley area from Ploce to Mostar constitutes a rare flat land on the border between Bosnia and Croatia.
This is also the basis for the "land enclosure movement" carried out by the Hechingen Consortium in the local area. It can be said that most areas except Mostar were basically developed by the Hechingen Consortium later.
Ploce was a port city in Croatia in its former life, while Mostar is the fifth largest city in Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is also the only way from Sarajevo to the Adriatic Sea.
As the second largest city in the region, the Port of Ploche can be said to have been independently developed and constructed by the Hechingen Consortium.
Without the intervention of East Africa, the Port of Ploce would probably have to be built in 1939 by the later Kingdom of Yugoslavia like in its previous life.
The city of Mostar is different. Mostar is located at the intersection of the Dinara Mountains and the Vranica Mountains. The Neretva River flows from here into the plain area downstream, so Mostar controls Neret. The flat and open valley area of the lower reaches of the Wa River.
It is also a battleground for military strategists in history. In the previous life, the important Battle of Neretva River in World War II took place here. Controlling Mostar means that it is not far from Sarajevo, one of the most important cities in the Balkan Peninsula. .
Sarajevo is close to the city of Mostar, separated by the Vranica Mountains, so the Neretva Valley is the main channel from Bosnia and Serbia to the Adriatic Sea.
This also shows that East Africa’s local layout is mainly between the port of Ploce and the city of Mostar, which is equivalent to cutting off the main transportation routes between the inland areas and the coast.
East Africa’s penetration into Bosnia was not always smooth sailing. At least the early Ernst vision of controlling the economy of the entire Bosnian region was not realistic.
The main reason is that Bosnia has a complex ethnic composition. It is the intersection of the three major religious forces of Catholicism, Orthodox Christianity and Arabia. It was also the center of competition between the three traditional European powers, the Ottoman Empire, Russia and the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Among them, Sarajevo is the most fiercely competitive. As can be seen from the local population composition, Sarajevo is the main place where ethnic and religious believers live together.
(End of this chapter)