Holy Roman Empire - Chapter 438

Chapter 438: Chapter 11, City that Never Sleeps

On Christmas Eve of 1868, a memorable day unfolded, marking the dawn of a new era for humanity.

August was an average citizen of Vienna, and the changes that Vienna underwent over the years left him overwhelmed as if he were living in a dream.

Accompanied by his children and gazing at the bright street lamps, he found the perfect Christmas gift.

“Father, is this an electric light? Why is it so bright?”

Upon hearing his son’s question, August didn’t know where to begin. In his time, there was no internet—knowledge was disseminated entirely through books.

Although August was well-educated, his expertise was unrelated. As a doctor, he had no need to study electric lights and naturally couldn’t answer this question.

It wasn’t just him; very few in the whole of Vienna understood why. Vienna wasn’t an industrial city; while there were studios engaged in such research, there were no factories producing these products.

As an inland and capital city, Vienna combined the political, financial, cultural, research, and educational centers into one.

With so many titles to its name, the city couldn’t handle being an industrial center as well; its exploding population would have overwhelmed the beautiful metropolis.

In just twenty years since Franz ascended to the throne, Vienna’s population had doubled and was still growing at a rapid rate of 8%.

This clearly wasn’t natural growth; if populations naturally increased this rapidly, unifying the entire world wouldn’t be a dream.

Even with factories closed, as the capital of two empires, Vienna still saw a significant influx of people each year.

Population growth is the driving force behind urban development, and to this day, Vienna has become the most prosperous and beautiful city in the world, second to none.

With the highest per capita income worldwide, not even Paris and London could compete, despite their developed economies, the mass of workers dragged down the average.

This was also why Vienna could become the City that Never Sleeps ahead of others. Its citizens could afford the costs of lighting, whereas other cities could not.

Electricity wasn’t cheap in those days, only the middle class and the wealthy could enjoy it. A regular worker’s annual income wasn’t even enough to open an account with the power company.

Following the breakthrough in large generator technology in 1866, Austrian power companies sprung up like mushrooms after rain. If a city didn’t have a power company, it was definitely a small town.

Now, every Austrian city with a population over one hundred thousand had established power companies, or at the very least, a branch office.

As a new energy industry, the Vienna Government continuously supported power companies, which are now in a golden era of claiming their territories.

Unfortunately, costs remained high, and electricity hadn’t become universally accessible. The biggest barrier to universal electricity wasn’t the cost of generation but rather the cost of wires, or to be specific, copper and rubber.

Even with low efficiency, a kilogram of coal could always generate a degree of electricity. Austrian coal was cheap, and power generation wasn’t picky—it could use any type of coal.

The pure cost of generation was under 5 groschen per kilowatt-hour, but by the time it was delivered to households, the price per degree of electricity became 8 pence, an increase of a whopping 159 times.

(1 Shield = 100 pence = 10,000 Groschen)

There was no choice; with few users and high wire costs, adding the amortization fees, it naturally went up.

The most direct benefit of the development of new energy sources was that, amidst widespread economic depression, Austria’s copper smelting and rubber industries grew against the market.

Many businesses along the related industrial chain benefited, bringing at least 5 billion Divine Shields to the market and contributing to the economic recovery of Austria.

Patting his son’s little head, August said affectionately, “I don’t know the answer to that question either. It’s a task for my little scientist to research personally.”

Vienna had a strong academic atmosphere, and scientists held a very high social status in Austria, especially since the Emperor Franz, enthusiastic about granting titles to scientists, enormously boosted their popularity among all social classes.

Of course, titles weren’t so easy to obtain; not every year did someone receive one. Franz was a realist; he wouldn’t pay any attention to grand claims that lacked results.

Still, it hardly mattered; it didn’t deter the public’s enthusiasm. August was no exception, always steering his son’s interests towards scientific research.

Clearly, the little guy wasn’t so keen, shaking his head he said, “No, the laboratory is too dull. How can it compare to galloping across the world on horseback? My ambition is to become a great soldier.”

Watching his son gesture excitedly, August could only accept this reality with resignation. Not being a top student, it was too difficult to become a scientist—a soldier was also a fine choice.

In the Germany Region, the tradition of military strength was revered, and becoming a distinguished soldier was the goal of most people.

Don’t be misled by the fact that August is a doctor; in reality, he once served in the military but had already retired.

Under the universal conscription system, basically every adult male would join the military to serve. Men who had not completed military service were likely to face discrimination in society.

Now, Austria’s military service rate still stands at 95%, with the remaining 5% naturally considered defective. Even if ordinary people couldn’t join the regular army, they would still be enrolled in the reserves.

This was not only an obligation but also a right for everyone. The legal definition was: every citizen has the right and obligation to defend the country, and military service is one of those citizen rights.

This was not Franz’s responsibility but a core decision of the Austrian constitution: rights and obligations are equivalent.

Not having served implied not fulfilling the right and obligation to defend the country, which also meant losing political rights, including a series of social benefits.

There were not many social benefits at this time, so the impact was not highly apparent, but this would change in the future.

Now, the issues of unemployment assistance and old-age pensions had been brought forward. Napoleon III had set a precedent, and Franz had no choice but to follow suit.

Just like when Austria was the first to enact the Labor Protection Law, which had now become standard across European nations, including the Russian Empire.

From this perspective, the fighting power of Europe’s proletariat was very formidable. When it came to fighting for their own rights, everyone was very proactive.

The delay was mainly due to the burden on businesses. To increase these two expenditures, taxes inevitably needed to be raised—otherwise, where would the money come from?

It’s not surprising that Napoleon III lost his throne. Most of the criticisms later attributed to him were baseless; there was only one real reason: capitalists had long endured Napoleon III’s policies.

The “Socialist Emperor” came at a cost, and it was not as lightly handled as history books might suggest. Whether it was renovating Paris or improving worker benefits, all these required money.

Economic development certainly increased tax revenue, but the accompanying expenses also rose. When Napoleon III took the throne, France’s fiscal deficit reached 1 billion Francs.

Now, not only had he erased those expenses, but there was also surplus to provide workers with benefits. This money couldn’t just come from printing more currency.

An examination of the changes in taxation before and after his coronation reveals the issue. During the Orleans Dynasty, the big capitalists contributed less than one percent of the fiscal income; now it had surpassed thirty percent.

Whether it was unemployment benefits or retirement pensions, this money was coming from capitalists’ pockets.

Just looking at his establishment of the two major French central banks, “Land Mortgage Bank” and “Chattel Mortgage Bank”, and the creation of land banks in Paris and the provinces, it’s clear how much he took from financial capitalists.

Heeding the lessons of the past, Franz also pursued similar actions and even aimed to go further. However, Austrian capitalists couldn’t match up in strength and were politically oppressed by the nobility.

To alleviate the pressure, Franz periodically co-opted the big capitalists. Regardless of their level of power, once these people became part of the ruling class, their class stance changed.

Expecting them to share the hard-earned rights with their former capitalist peers was impossible.

Capitalists were naturally opposed to each other; competition caused this group to be fragmented. As long as no monopolistic conglomerates emerged, this group lacked the strength to confront the government.

…

On Christmas Eve of 1868, a scene that left its mark on this era unfolded. “The City that Never Sleeps,” a concept often found in science fiction, became a reality in Vienna.

The telegraph was undoubtedly one of the greatest inventions of the 19th century. Thanks to its efficient transmission speed, by the next day, the news of “Vienna, The City that Never Sleeps” dominated the front pages of European newspapers.

This Christmas, the European public could only think of one “City that Never Sleeps.”

Electric lighting had already appeared on the European Continent, but illuminating an entire city was beyond most people’s wildest dreams.

In fact, not all of Vienna was lit up; only the streetlights had been installed, and many citizens’ homes were still lit by oil lamps.

The newspapers naturally did not delve into these details, glossing over them, leading Europeans to assume that electrical lighting had been widely adopted in Vienna.

It was fine for smaller countries to spectate, feeling content with their fate; Vienna was already the wealthiest city in Europe, so being the first to become a city that never sleeps was to be expected.

But to some, it meant something different. For the people of England and France at that time, this was unbearable.

London