War Palace and Knee Pillow, Austria’s Destiny

1845 was a terrible year for Switzerland. There was no snow in the winter, flooding occurred throughout the year, crop failures, and imported grains from Belgium brought potato late blight. By winter, the price of bread had increased by 1,000% compared to 1844.

People had to scavenge for anything edible in rubbish heaps, many were on welfare, and the number of deaths throughout the year was more than double the number of births.

Switzerland used to be the center of the textile industry in Central Europe. However, with the introduction of trade protection policies in various countries, the Swiss textile industry has entered a cold winter.

Due to Franz's intervention, the Austrian textile industry suddenly emerged, and his control of cheap raw material production areas also caused a dimensionality reduction blow to the textile industry in the entire Central Europe region.

Industries such as clocks and watches and machinery manufacturing also suffered badly, especially after the opening of trade with Austria and France. The domestic industry was in mourning.

A large number of frighteningly cheap foreign industrial products entered the Swiss market. The introduction of advanced agricultural tools from Austria not only liberated the labor force, but also caused a large number of unemployed agricultural people.

At the same time, due to the profit-seeking nature of capital, a large amount of farmland has been turned into pasture, exacerbating this phenomenon.

Against this background, Switzerland's economy is much more fragile than in history. When natural disasters strike, the Swiss government and people are helpless.

Switzerland is surrounded by powerful countries, so it naturally does not dare to shift its conflicts to powerful countries like Austria, France, and Prussia.

As a result, various states in Switzerland have wildly imposed predatory tariffs. Ticcheno has taken advantage of its geographical advantage to increase taxes wildly. There are thirteen kinds of toll taxes alone, and a large number of contraband inspections have also been added. Every box of goods must be inspected.

Bern levied a consumption tax with the purpose of cracking down on the winemaking industry in canton Vaud. Valais simply banned goods from other states from entering the area because of its complete industry.

The only steadily growing industry in Switzerland is tourism. Due to its pleasant scenery in the Alps, the emerging bourgeoisie and aristocracy are more willing to pay for it.

Coupled with the development of the transportation industry and the influence of romanticism, tourism is developing into an independent industry.

However, the tourism industry at this time is more appropriately called travel. After all, most travel is done with a strong purpose.

For example, artists collect ideas and look for inspiration, businessmen look for business opportunities and negotiate business, or like Archduke Carl, they simply go to places to prepare for war.

Franz once set up a tourism company with Archduke John, which organized the wealthy and free people in Vienna to travel to stimulate local economic development and earn a fortune by the way.

But this tour soon turned sour. As long as a big shot went there, a large group of people would follow it like flies. It was more like political speculation than tourism.

But if there are no big names participating, there will be no room. The money was made, but the reputation was not spread.

In addition, the first organized commercial tourism in modern European and American history was initiated by Thomas Cook in 1841, and the second one occurred in 1845, also organized by Thomas Cook. In the same year, he established the world's first modern tourism industry. travel agency.

(Some experts say that China had the concept of tourism during the Shang Dynasty, and there were real travel agencies during the Southern and Northern Dynasties.

In addition, the continuous pilgrimage to Mecca in the Arab world since the seventh century can also be regarded as tourism, and many specialized organizations have also emerged in history.

So here I only say that it is the first one in modern times. )

However, Vienna has never been short of big names. In addition to politicians and officials, there are also artists and bankers. Anyway, you can always find a reason to travel.

But it wasn't until Franz took over the Dark Night Theater and the Daylight Theater that the industry got on the right track.

The stars of these "girl groups" are better at soliciting customers than Franz, and because Franz trained some older and less popular actors to become tour guides.

Many "canaries" saw hope for the future, so they were particularly concerned. Together with its professional counterparts, Austria's tourism industry is unparalleled in the world.

In the past, no one was willing to sign up for cultural classes even if they were whipped, but now they have become the most popular topic among these "canaries".

Franz has solved the retirement problem of these dancers and actors to a certain extent. After all, they cannot be young forever, so those who have just entered the industry or have entered the industry not long ago will be more inclined to the dark night and daylight theaters.

The addition of a large number of high-quality newcomers has improved the strength and potential of the two theaters to a certain extent, and they quickly outperformed the competition.

Coupled with the head effect, excellent editors, writers, and musicians have to participate. Franz has initially taken over Vienna's entertainment industry.

In terms of security, some veterans of Umbrella Company were hired as bodyguards, which perfectly solved the employment problem of Franz's personnel.

Back to the main story At this time, Switzerland was far from being called a peaceful country. Not to mention the civil war, their attitude towards travelers alone was very problematic.

Some regional governments even support the practice of robbing guests to solve their own economic crises. Those legendary luxury hotels often only allow tourists to live in filthy and cramped spaces.

Then there is the compulsory consumption. Some tourists want to drink a glass of goat's milk, but in the end they have to buy a sheep.

Some local handmade products are sold for astronomical prices. A no-name mechanical watch that sells for fifty francs in France sells for a sky-high price of five hundred francs locally.

The cost of food, accommodation and carriages is so high that you also have to pay high tips, so many foreigners who come here say they will not come again.

Of course, some people will choose to travel on a budget. They do not take horse-drawn carriages, rarely stay in hotels or shop, and bring their own food, just to experience the authentic nature.

The local shepherds will teach them how to be a new person. At this time, Switzerland was similar to Australia in later generations. Killing a few backpackers casually was not a big problem. After all, few people would stare at their backs all day long.

Clothes and personal belongings will be stripped away, and the bodies will soon be cleared away by wild beasts in the mountains. You will truly come and go naked.

In comparison, Austria's tourism industry is much more standardized, with a richer cultural atmosphere and no shortage of natural landscapes.

The most important thing is that prices are relatively low. After all, Austrian goods are expensive to export. In addition, due to heavy tax increases by customs in various countries, the prices are often very outrageous.

At the same time, Franz also paid great attention to publicity. In addition to beautifying the Austrian Empire in newspapers and magazines all day long, visiting artists and scientists would also receive special treatment, and even give them a small sum of money to create some works.

Although it is generally difficult to produce high-quality works in this kind of commissioned works, it turns out that as long as the net is cast wide enough, some big fish will always be caught.

Some French people, either because of their national integrity or because they were not given enough money, created a number of "black" Austrian works.

However, due to the lack of artistic appreciation of most people in this era, it had the opposite effect. Those catchy ballads and popular works became accomplices in the invasion of Austrian culture into France.

Of course, there are also natural rebels like Hugo. The more those authorities discredit them, the more he wants to take a look.