African Entrepreneurship Record

Chapter 476: Chapter 154: Taking Sides

The meeting of the German Parliament means nothing can be kept secret. At least Britain and France, among other countries, are already aware that there is a force within Germany eyeing their overseas colonies with inappropriate ambitions.

As Bismarck said, the current German government cannot afford to waste efforts on those worthless lands, which are mainly the islands in Africa and the Pacific region. The good places, including India, Southeast Asia, the Caribbean coast, the Middle East, North Africa, and Australia, are all under the control of Britain and France.

Latin America is rather unique. Now considered an independent continent, it is not anyone’s colony but at most a semi-economic colony of Britain, France, Spain, Portugal, and the United States.

Much of Latin America used to be Spanish and Portuguese colonies. After Spanish and Portuguese colonial powers were driven out of Latin America, a power vacuum emerged. British, French, Dutch, and other European colonial powers attempted to fill this void, but they faced strong opposition from the U.S. and the original sovereign countries, Spain and Portugal.

In 1823, the United States declared the Monroe Doctrine, proclaiming that America is for Americans, opposing European colonization and interference in American affairs. Britain, France, and other countries were wary of tri-nation forces, so they did not forcibly divide the region. By the time the 19th century arrived and the power of the United States grew rapidly, the European powers no longer had the strength to divide the region.

Now, with Bismarck in Germany, he can suppress the colonialists, but Bismarck is ultimately just a Chancellor and can only represent the current government.

Hohenzollern Castle.

”Mr. Klein is very grateful for your information. Please accept this token of appreciation from me.” Tom expertly took out a red envelope and handed it to Kalein.

”Haha, there’s no need to be so polite. It was just a small favor, but rest assured Mr. Thomas, I will keep an eye on any useful information!” Klein happily pocketed the red envelope and said, ”Please send my regards to His Majesty the King!”

”No problem!”

After seeing Klein off, Tom carefully sorted out the content of this parliamentary session and sent it via telegram to East Africa.

As part of the Prussian Kingdom’s Hohenzollern Province, the local parliamentarians naturally maintained contacts with the Hohenzollern royal family.

If Constantine had not gone to East Africa, the Upper House of this Imperial Parliament would surely have included at least one seat for the Hohenzollern Principality.

However, this was of no consequence, since nearby Sigmaringen was in the Imperial Parliament, any changes would reach the Hohenzollern royal family, and similarly, anything known to the Hohenzollern royal family would basically be known to other countries as well.

This also demonstrated why East Africa remained so low-profile for ten years; East Africa had no parliament, so the risk of information leakage was minimal.

Moreover, Europe’s exploration of Africa was progressing very slowly. Before Ernst colonized East Africa, European exploration of sub-Saharan Africa was almost limited to the coastal areas and around the Nile River.

(Image: 1901 map of explored areas of Africa, red for well-known areas, only North Africa and the banks of the Nile in Egypt, blue for somewhat known coastal and river areas, grey indicating completely unexplored areas)

East Africa soon received the message sent by Tom.

Constantine asked: ”It seems that after Germany’s unification, it has also started to try to exert its influence in the world. At least some people are no longer satisfied with the current reality. What should we do?”

Ernst replied: ”Take advantage of this warship deal we have with the Austro-Hungarian Empire to solidify the relations between our countries. It’s time for us to pick a side!”

Constantine: ”Choose the Austro-Hungarian Empire?”

Ernst: ”Yes, East Africa needs allies, and there’s no better option than the Austro-Hungarian Empire.”

Ferdinand: ”But I’m afraid some people within the Austro-Hungarian Empire do not believe East Africa qualifies to be considered their ally.

After all, the status of African countries in European eyes is indeed very low, almost parallel with Antarctica.”

Ernst smiled and said: ”We don’t care about the opinions of some people within the Austro-Hungarian Empire. By just associating with the Austro-Hungarian Empire’s name, we can avoid a lot of trouble.”

Rather than calling it an alliance, it would be more accurate to say Ernst wants East Africa to seek the status of a protectorate of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Of course, not the kind of protectorate Zanzibar was.

This matter isn’t easy, merely wanting benefits is impossible, so Ernst plans to offer some benefits to the Austro-Hungarian Empire, depending on what East Africa can offer.

Ferdinand volunteered: ”Let me handle this!”

”No problem!” Ernst said. Indeed, there is no more suitable person than Grand Duke Ferdinand.

...

In May, Grand Duke Ferdinand traveled to Austria under the pretext of inspecting the Friedrich ironclad ship, also visiting the Mei Quan Palace en route.

”What? Alliance?” Even Franz, who is usually serious, was taken aback by his brother’s statement, ”Do you know what you’re talking about?”

”What’s there to be so surprised about? The alliance between the Kingdom of Hohenzollern and the Austro-Hungarian Empire, in my view, is simply a perfect match.”

”When did you change your name? Aren’t you still called the Kingdom of East Africa?”

”The name East Africa has become outdated. Now, within the kingdom, the German population has reached tens of millions, so there’s nothing strange about adopting a German name.”

”Have you included Black people in your population count?” Franz retorted.

”Black people do not qualify to become our citizens. If they were included, then the population of East Africa would exceed thirty million.”

However, Franz remained skeptical: ”You can fool others, but don’t fool yourself, my dear brother. Even within the Empire there are just over ten million Germans; how is it possible for a single region in Africa to have more than ten million Germans?”

Ferdinand said: ”That depends on how you define a German. Without counting the new-born population, the true German population in East Africa is close to four million, with Southern Germans contributing over 1.5 million, and Austro-Hungarians, North Germans, Americans, and others contributing about 2.5 million.”

”Is this data reliable?”

”In 1870, the population of Germany was around forty million. The German regions have long been the largest outflow of people in Europe, and this is even more so during economic crises.”

”Are you sure you haven’t added Slavs and other ethnic groups into this count?”

”If you include Slavs and other Europeans, it would be between forty and fifty percent, with most Slavs being Slovenes, Croats, and Serbs.”

Franz’s eyelid twitched; it turns out they’ve been poaching from within the Austro-Hungarian Empire! If we include those Slavs, East Africa has at least taken away two million Austro-Hungarian subjects. But in hindsight, this seems beneficial; it explains why Slovenian and Croatian nationalists have been less active in recent years.

”Even including the Slavs, the population should not exceed ten million.”

”That doesn’t count the nearly half of the Far Eastern immigrants! Together, they total just about ten million.”

”Aren’t you worried that such a heterogeneous nation might collapse?” Franz questioned.

”You should worry more about the Austro-Hungarian Empire, brother! Compared to East Africa’s demographic issues, the Austro-Hungarian Empire genuinely has severe problems, with Germans making up only a little over twenty percent, and each ethnic group having its own historical identity, constantly posing a threat of disintegration!”

The Austro-Hungarian Empire’s problems are a chronic issue. The Habsburg family’s scheme of loyalty to the Emperor clearly cannot cope with the rise of nationalism unless they manage to meld all these ethnicities into a new national identity.

”The Empire’s problems are indeed unsolvable, are you guys also choosing the same path?”

Grand Duke Ferdinand shook his head and said: ”Ethnic integration. East Africa is a purely immigrant nation, and with the Hohenzollern royal family as the rulers, they wield more power than any monarch in European history, allowing for extremely forceful assimilation policies. Once the next generation grows up, cognitive issues will disappear.”

”Will it still be considered Germanic?”

”Who knows! If the Austro-Hungarian Empire could do the same, I believe you’d choose that too; as the Habsburg family, we never cared about the source of the populace. That’s how we established the Austrian Empire. But now, some among them, especially Slavs, influenced by Napoleonic ideas, are identifying with their nationalities, severing ties with the nation. However, departing from the Empire creates no unity and offers no benefits, except for the establishment of their own countries.”

Perhaps living under Austro-Hungarian rule might be difficult now, but it’s proven to be more prosperous than other alternatives.