Franz had originally intended to use colonial expansion as cover for military preparations to intervene in the American Civil War. In the end, they never intervened in the American Civil War, but Austria's new wave of massive colonial expansion erupted first.
Africa came first. Three infantry divisions might not seem like much, but when deployed to overseas colonial ventures, they were enough to sweep through a dozen native tribes.
One look at the map made it clear that the colonies stretching from West Africa to the Congo region had already connected into one continuous expanse.
To the south, Austrian colonial influence had advanced along the rivers as far as Zambia; to the east, it had penetrated Uganda and Kenya.
In the Middle East, using the Sinai Peninsula as a springboard, Austria had extended its reach deep into the Arabian Peninsula. It had already talked several tribes into signing land-purchase treaties, and Austrian colonial outposts had appeared in the Persian Gulf region.
They only had to wait for the Suez Canal to open, and these regions would fall into Austrian hands.
In Central America, Austria focused mainly on infiltration rather than immediately launching wars of conquest. Once the immigrants lured over from America were settled there, none of those countries could avoid Austrian control.
Take Nicaragua, for example. Ethnic Germans accounted for forty percent of its white population, making them the largest ethnic group there. With Austrian troops stationed in the country as well, its government had no choice but to lean toward Austria.
The New Holy Roman Empire had already added a Lanfang Autonomous Province. Franz did not mind adding a few more; peaceful **** was also a fine way to expand.
Of course, this only worked in sparsely populated places like Central America. After all, the local white population