African Entrepreneurship Record

Chapter 1097: Chapter 106: Confidence

The British government quickly authorized the current ambassador to East Africa, Russell, to negotiate with the East African government. The two countries exchanged views on the stability of the Indian Ocean and South Atlantic regions.

In fact, East Africa’s current diplomatic and military activities in South America are not deliberately aimed at Britain. The fundamental reason is the need for the country’s industrial development, which necessitates taking a more proactive stance in relevant areas.

Ernst candidly told Russell, ”Our political and diplomatic activities in East Africa are conducted based on the development needs of our nation. Compared to Britain, East Africa is a weak and poor country. Therefore, we need to participate more in international trade to pave the way for development.”

The implication was that East Africa could not cease its current overseas diplomatic and military activities, as they are driven by national interests.

Russell had no solution to Ernst’s evasion. To put it bluntly, Ernst’s humble and harmonious dialogue was already a good result, as it’s the British government that needs something from East Africa now.

He said, ”Your Highness, our United Kingdom has always been a peace-loving nation, and our attitude towards East Africa is relatively ’friendly.’ However, the actions of the East African government do not align with your words. The Persian Gulf and South America are core interests of the Empire, and there’s no doubt that East Africa’s actions have caused substantial harm to our interests.”

Ernst naturally couldn’t admit this. He responded, ”Any activities by East Africa in the Persian Gulf and South America are legal and just. We also have significant interests in these two regions, so Ambassador Russell is overly concerned.”

In essence, East Africa’s actions in the Persian Gulf and South America are akin to snatching food from the British lion. Britain’s control over these regions is relatively weak. Even in the Persian Gulf, the UK mainly relies on puppet regimes to secure its interests. Of course, Britain has a strong military presence in the Persian Gulf, so East Africa’s small tricks will certainly be ineffective in the short term.

However, South America clearly doesn’t have this problem. Although South American countries have weak economies, they maintain relatively strong autonomy. Even with political inclinations, they prioritize their own countries, making them valuable allies. Thus, East Africa maintains a friendly attitude towards South America in its current diplomacy, and the actions of the East African Navy are meant to support this round of diplomatic activities.

Compared to South America, East Africa’s actions in the Persian Gulf region are significantly more excessive. It can be said that East Africa is essentially exporting war to the Persian Gulf coast. Although the effect under British suppression is not obvious, East Africa is the first nation predominantly in the Southern Hemisphere to challenge British regional hegemony globally.

From the perspectives of Ernst and Russell, the Persian Gulf is regarded as core interests by both countries, while competition in South America is more reflected in economic competition.

Moreover, this economic competition isn’t very pronounced. East Africa’s market development in South America is an objective fact without any issues, but the industrial product competition between East Africa and Britain in international markets isn’t intense because their main trade products don’t overlap.

Take East Africa’s automotive and electrical products: These are two advantageous export categories for East Africa. The competitors in the international market have never been Britain; instead, they are the United States and Germany.

Britain’s strengths lie in the light industry sector, with the most typical being the British cotton textile industry. Though East Africa is a textile-producing nation, the current focus of East Africa’s cotton textile industry remains on meeting domestic market demand, which is even more evident in other light industry sectors. Many of East Africa’s light industrial goods lack international competitiveness.

Conversely, the United States and Germany are Britain’s main industrial competitors, especially Germany, which is comparable to the former Far East Empire’s industrial competition to the US, continually challenging Britain in the mid-to-high-endlight industry product domain.

If the Far East Empire had continued with low-end industrial production, the US would have been pleased. However, once the Far East Empire touched on mid-to-high-end industrial production, the US changed its approach.

This is also the main reason for the industrial conflict between Germany and Britain. As for East Africa, it hasn’t reached this stage yet. Currently, East Africa lacks this capability in light industry. As for the US, although its light industry is quite developed, its industrial quality is far inferior to Germany’s, hence posing less direct a threat to Britain.

Today, the US, relative to Britain, mirrors the early 21st-century relationship between the Far East Empire and the US. The US’s industry, compared to Britain’s, is relatively low-end, and Britain has invested significantly in American industries, leading to British apprehension about US development.

Contrarily, East Africa is different. Apart from domestic capital, the economic development dividends of East Africa have overwhelmingly benefited Germany, Austria, and France. Due to its diplomatic reasons with East Africa, Britain did not participate and thus did not gain substantial benefits.

So, the British government addressing East Africa as a breakthrough essentially reflects picking the softest target. Firstly, East Africa’s strength compared to the US and Germany still has some distance. Secondly, East Africa and Britain have nearly no bound interests, unlike their relationship with the US.

Russell: ”Competition between East Africa and the Empire is unbeneficial, especially the expansion of the East African Navy, which has disrupted regional balance. Should it touch the Empire’s red line, we will not stand by idly.”

The current words from Russell accurately reflect the demeanor of the British Empire as the most potent contemporary nation. In that sense, Russell was indeed threatening East Africa.

Of course, for Ernst, such a threat is harmless. Had it been a decade ago, constrained by national strength, Ernst might have compromised. However, East Africa’s robust national power now provides Ernst the confidence to refuse.

Ernst: ”Ambassador Russell, East Africa may be poor and weak, but it is by no means a small country open to slaughter. Twenty years ago, East Africa secured victory in South Africa. Twenty years later, East Africa fears no threats from any country worldwide. Opposing East Africa is tantamount to opposing one-twentieth of the world’s population, and over a hundred million East African citizens won’t agree.”

Expressing this sentiment invigorated Ernst, and upon reflection, the South African war was already two decades ago. At that time, East Africa dared to wage war against world powers like Britain and Portugal and the reasonably strong Boers. Now, East Africa fears war even less.

Were it a minor country, Russell might have commanded more respect, but in facing a major power like East Africa, notable for being outside the British system, Russell had to calm down.

After calming his mood, Russell inquired, ”Your Highness, there’s really no need for conflict between East Africa and the Empire. We can make concessions to East Africa to some extent, and East Africa should contribute to regional peace, especially concerning naval development, which should be within reasonable frameworks. As for other aspects, they can be resolved through negotiation. I’m confident that the Empire and East Africa will reach a mutually satisfactory outcome.”

Ultimately, Russell offered East Africa its due respect, based on its power and status. Unlike Russia, which Britain could contain by supporting Germany, Austria-Hungary, the Far East Empire, the Ottoman Empire, or even Japan, containing East Africa would require Britain to act directly.

However, as Ernst mentioned, East Africa stands behind one-twentieth of the world’s population. Russell doesn’t believe dealing with East Africa would be as easy as it was with India. In fact, during the South African war, Britain had already defined East Africa as the ”Prussia of Africa,” acknowledging its war capabilities.

Now, two decades later, even if the combat abilities of the East African army have declined, the development of its industrial capabilities and war potential are incomparable to the past. Engaging in conflict in the Indian Ocean with East Africa at this moment would merely benefit the Germans. There’s no doubt that if a war broke out between East Africa and Britain, Germany would undoubtedly stab Britain in the back.