At that moment, the Austrian Empire's task was to connect these railways, at the very least ensuring that they passed through all the major cities.
Historically, the Austrian Empire had clearly not paid enough attention to Transylvania, Galicia, and Illyria, leaving it a step behind even before the war began.
But why did the nations still maintain the system established during the Austro-Hungarian Empire?
The answer was that it was more than adequate as long as there was no war. The railways in the eastern Austrian Empire had been designed to develop the economy, and with advances in technology, increased train capacity, and economic decline, some of the problems of the past had been obscured.
Franz clearly had no intention of making the same mistake. And if history followed its original course, the next great war would be the Crimean War, fought in the Near East.
Historically, the Austrian Empire had not taken part in that war. Yet the Crimean War had determined the fate of the Austrian Empire.
The Austrian Empire had turned its only ally into a sworn enemy, been toyed with by Napoleon III, and watched the great powers easily overturn its so-called fait accompli. "All for nothing" was the perfect way to describe what had happened to the Austrian Empire.
Of course, whether the Crimean War would happen in this lifetime was still an open question. After all, under the treaty, as long as the Russians wished it, the Ottoman Empire had to bar the British and French fleets from entering the Black Sea. That would give Russia absolute superiority in the Black Sea.
But it was precisely because of this power that Britain and Russia would sooner or later clash in the Near East. Franz hoped that war would come as late as possible. After