So if the British Government continued to "do nothing" this year, the number of people starving to death would multiply.
Even with O'Connell's backing as a prominent figure, the vast majority of Irish people remained skeptical.
It had to be said that Britain's propaganda machine had been remarkably successful. They had managed to smear Austria as an Arab country more barbaric than Russia.
But with O'Connell, Ireland's national leader, lending his support, Franz believed the locals' view of the Austrian Empire would improve considerably.
After the famine, Ireland's population had fallen from 8.5 million to less than six million. Add in the population growth that should naturally have occurred, and three million was a reasonable estimate.
If even one-sixth of those three million vanished souls made it to Austria's colonies, it would greatly ease the labor shortage for land reclamation. If just one-quarter came to Franz, he could complete the colonies' infrastructure projects.
If he could get one-third of them, Franz could build another moderately powerful country in Central America.
If he could send half of them—1.5 million—to West Africa, Austria could link all its colonies there together.
In an ideal scenario, if all three million emigrated to the Americas, Franz would dare push the Americans east of the Mississippi River within twenty years, cutting them off from the Pacific for good.
But of course, that was impossible.
In reality, the first to set foot on the road to Austria were the girls whom the British Government had used as breeding machines for the colonies. They were known as "Famine Orphan Girls."
Most of them were destitute and alone, or had already severed ties with their families, so they were strongly inclined to leave Ireland.
Moreover, the British Parliament and the Anglican Church were quite happy to see O'Connell, Ireland's