In reality, Franz's immigration policy was extremely attractive, at least several times better than those of other countries. Unfortunately, the people's attitude toward the colonies had not changed.
Most people still saw other continents as barbarous lands, but that was only while they could still get by at home.
Now that they couldn't get enough to eat and some had even been to prison, many were no longer so particular.
Whether to secure a sum of money to settle their families, or to provide their brothers and sisters with a decent bride price or dowry, they were willing to risk their lives and gamble on an unknown continent.
And so, large numbers of Germans began leaving their homeland, sailing to every corner of the world aboard merchant ships from the Austrian colonies.
Before setting out, many had already written their wills. But they would soon discover that things were nowhere near as bad as they had imagined—and, in some ways, even more terrifying.
However, the vast majority of immigrants drawn to the Austrian Empire this time were sent to the Lands of the Crown of Saint Stephen. After all, the land there was plentiful and fertile enough to support a large population.
Franz also believed that safety lay in numbers. As the region most heavily affected by the Year of Storms in history, Hungary was bound to erupt in one bloody upheaval after another.
He did not want his precious German immigrants swallowed up in the bloody storm. But they had to endure the trials, because only then could they be hammered into true Austrians.
There were a great many workers among these German immigrants, since industry everywhere except the Austrian Empire had been affected by the financial crisis.
Austria, thanks to its Central Bank, had suffered a smaller blow.