Refugee Camps

The difficulties encountered in the immigration effort did not come as a surprise to Franz. They were an inevitable result, not something personal will could prevent.

There were millions of refugees in Poland. The Russians lacked the means to provide relief, and to maintain local stability, they had only two choices: expulsion or slaughter.

Expulsion was the Russians' only option. It was not that the Tsarist Government lacked the courage to raise the butcher's blade; rather, once the blade fell, international intervention would inevitably follow.

This was already the latter half of the nineteenth century. The rules of the game had been laid down, and anyone who flagrantly broke them would inevitably be shunned by the European world.

At the height of its power, the Russian Empire naturally had no fear of offending the European world. But things were different now. The Prusso-Russian War had not yet ended, and if the Tsarist Government did not wish to be diplomatically isolated, it had to follow the rules of the game.

Once the Russian Army began expelling refugees, Austria's immigration efforts were naturally affected. Even if the Tsarist Government cooperated fully, Russian soldiers could not possibly distinguish every single refugee.

In these war-torn times, when communications were unreliable, no matter how hard the Immigration Bureau tried, it could not notify everyone.

Aside from establishing fixed immigration stations in the cities, there was little the Immigration Bureau could do. Even leaving the cities required caution.

Beyond the cities, there was no social order. Bandits and brigands did not care whether one was Austrian; they treated everyone equally—by robbing them.

Setting down the telegram, Franz said as if nothing had happened, "At this point, nothing we do will help.

"The difficulties in immigration have been caused by force majeure, not by any individual's fault.