Vienna. After a long period of political maneuvering, on August 21, 1866, the African localization strategy was finally submitted to the New Holy Roman Empire Parliament as a formal bill for discussion. The moment that would decide the Empire's fate had arrived.
If it passed the Imperial Parliament, then Africa would become the Holy Roman Empire's century-long strategy, and even the nation's center of gravity might shift.
The utterly comic spectacle of European royalty turning into African misery was about to play out in the nineteenth century.
Franz had not gone mad; he had already done enough. Once the African localization strategy passed, its future impact would be immense, both good and bad. The strategy might even fail.
Under such circumstances, Franz naturally would not force the bill through. The Imperial Parliament was still best suited to take the blame for such matters. The long delay had been left precisely so the colonial interest groups could work their magic and persuade the governments of the various states.
According to the Holy Roman Empire's constitution, such a major national policy required the support of eighty percent of the legislators to pass.
Without question, Württemberg, Bavaria, and Lombardy would support it. So long as they still wanted the African Continent's cotton, they could not stop the process of African localization.
The main resistance came from within Austria. The regions most likely to be affected by African localization were Hungary and Romania, Austria's two great granaries.
At Parklen Estate, representatives from all parties promoting the localization of the African colonies gathered to discuss commercial countermeasures. To win the opposition's support, Baron Fikeni proposed:
"Gentlemen, the greatest opposition now comes from the farmers at home. This group is enormous in number, and the Empire cannot ignore their views.
"I propose that we make a