Chapter 93 Mtwara
Mtwara is located on the east coast of Mikindani Bay, a natural deep-water harbor in southern Tanzania.
As the first step after the restructuring of the new administrative division, the construction of Mtwara Port was given top priority.
The construction work was jointly completed by the Ron Roda government and staff from the Upper Marina District.
The scale of the preliminary construction can accommodate approximately two ships after completion, which is enough. The fleet arriving from Europe can be diverted here.
Two ships can distribute hundreds of Austro-Hungarian immigrants at a time. Together with the immigrants arriving from the Far East, the accumulation over time is enough to meet the population needs of the Lower Maritime District and the East Malawi Lake District.
When Ernst was thinking and reviewing the Paraguay War, he actually had a worry in his heart.
Detailing the tragedy of the Paraguay War, on the surface it is Paraguay’s leader Lopez who desires to become Paraguay’s Napoleon, using an advanced army to safeguard Paraguay’s own interests (territorial disputes and autonomy between Paraguay and neighboring countries), In the end, the Three Kingdoms attacked him.
In fact, there was a shadow of the British behind the Paraguay War. Affected by the American Civil War, Britain lost its agricultural market in North America, so it sought to make up for its losses in South America through trade expansion and economic expansion. damage to North America.
Since 1857, according to agreements reached with the Argentine federal government and the Brazilian government, the British began to build railways connecting the most important agricultural areas and ports in these countries.
At the same time, Britain wanted complete freedom of navigation on the Paraná and Paraguay rivers, as well as tax-free trade with the interior Argentinian provinces and the owners of Paraguay.
Paraguay firmly opposes this. However, since the Paraná River leads from Buenos Aires through Paraguay to the wealthy area at the southern tip of Brazil, Britain must crush Paraguay's resistance no matter what.
In addition, Britain hoped that by funding Brazil and Argentina in the war, "destroying the seedlings of independence in these two countries, and thereby gradually bringing them under its own control, in order to gain a solid position in South America." Before the war broke out, Britain tried its best to ignite the flames of war.
The script played by the British in South America was exactly the same as the continental balance of power it played in Europe. It relied on provoking conflicts among countries in the region to achieve its own goals. Purpose
As a traditional British art, we have to guard against the fact that Britain actually used similar methods in Africa in its previous life
For example, the conflict between the Boers and the Zulu Kingdom, and the dispute between Morocco, Germany and France.
These have nothing to do with Ernst, because in the previous life, the British solved the problem of German East Africa personally.
In the previous life, Britain launched the ambitious Plan II-C in Africa, which extended the British colonies in Africa from Cape Town in the southernmost tip of Africa to Egypt in North Africa.
At that time, the biggest obstacle for Britain to complete this plan was the German colonies lying in front of southern Africa. After reunification, Germany successively opened up German East Africa and German Southwest Africa (Namibia) in Africa.
These two colonies happened to contain the British South African colony, one in the east and the other in the west.
If the British wanted to connect the entire British African colony, they could not avoid German East Africa. After all, the west of German East Africa was the Congo rainforest.
Tropical rainforests are also known as green deserts. The difficulty of development can be imagined. A flood season can allow the British to feel the power of nature (refer to the Amazon rainforest video). Even in the 21st century, tropical rainforests Rainforests are also extremely difficult to exploit.
In the previous life, German East Africa was completely backed by Germany, with some ability to fight back.
Now Ernst's East African colonies are not closely related to Germany. After all, German East Africa is an overseas territory directly managed by the German government, and the East African colonies in this time and space are just the private domain of the Hechingen royal family.
In the previous life, Germany was unable to take care of its overseas territories and colonies during World War I, let alone desperately protect Ernst's East African colonies.
Moreover, the East African colonies cannot be bound to Germany in the future. Otherwise, like in the previous life, if Germany loses the war, the East African colonies will also be ceded to countries such as Britain and Portugal.
So Ernst cannot always stand on the German boat. It is better for East Africa to be more independent in the future.
Of course, if you want to be independent, you must stand on your own feet and arm yourself, otherwise no one will take the East African colonies seriously.
What if, in this life, the UK continues to promote the Two-C Plan? By then, even if Ernst seeks help from Germany, it may not be effective.
After all, compromises can be made between major powers, especially generosity to others. The interests of the German government and Ernst’s interests are not completely consistent. They may exchange the East African colonies and the United Kingdom for other regions. Benefit. This is based on history. In the previous life, Germany and France competed for Morocco. At first, Germany made good promises to Morocco's supporters. In the end, due to the joint oppression of the British and the French, Germany gave up on Morocco, while Britain and France took Cameroon. Sent to Germany as compensation.
Therefore, it is impossible for Ernst to be determined to work with the future German government and end up in trouble. This is also why Ernst actively communicated with the Austro-Hungarian royal family.
Many friends, many paths. If his grandfather hadn't stabbed Napoleon in the back, now Ernst would want to establish relations with the Napoleon government.
As for Britain, there is a high probability that it will be a potential enemy of East African colonization in the future, and Ernst is too lazy to fall in love with a cold butt.
The most important thing is that my family has nothing to do with Britain. My late mother was French after all, and my grandfather also had some influence in France, and some of his disciples were old officials.
Ernst had no contact even if he wanted to talk to the British. The Prussian royal family and some countries in the North German region had contacts with the British and had often formed alliances in history.
The Ernst family was mainly active in the South German region. Before taking refuge in Prussia, they had been hanging out with Austria and France. At the last time, they lived under Bavaria (the HRE period).
So the main connections are on the European continent, and it is difficult for the British to interfere in the affairs of the South German region. Without the size of Baden, Württemberg, and Bavaria, the British government will not even look at you. .
However, the Hechingen royal family can still take up the banner of the Hohenzollern family. Prussia under the rule of the Hohenzollern family, together with Romania, is still quite prestigious in Europe.
The royal family of Hechingen also has connections in other countries, such as Sweden, Russia, and Austria through marriage. These were the forces of public opinion that Ernst could win over in Europe.
It is better to have good relations with so many European countries in the future than to hang on a tree in Germany. Of course, before the outbreak of World War I, the East African colonies were Germany's trustworthy partners.
The interests of the German government and Ernst are not completely consistent, but the interests of the Prussian royal family and their own family are consistent. They are both members of the Hohenzollern family, and they can hold hands if they can.
After all, if the East African colonies are threatened by the British in the future, they will mainly rely on their own strength and counting on others is uncertain.
The establishment of Mtwara Port is to strengthen East Africa's strength on the southern border. A large number of subsequent weapons and materials can be transported through this port to the Lower Marina District and the East Malawi Lake District for storage stand up.
As we all know, Britain and Portugal are better off than wearing a pair of trousers. In their previous life, the two countries worked together to destroy German East Africa and German Southwest Africa.
Therefore, the Portuguese had to guard against it, and the two colonies were already bordering each other. Subsequent conflicts with the Portuguese in the direction of Zimbabwe and Zambia were inevitable.
Arm the southern part of the East African colonies first. It will be somewhat safe. As for the north, the eight northwest countries are now in a state of semi-death. Just wait for the plague to end and the East African colonial army will go directly to accept it.
In the northeast, players are still insignificant. Except for some tribes, the strongest ones are Abyssinia (Ethiopia) and the Ottoman Empire.
But the East African colonies and the two countries are actually not bordering each other, and are separated by some small religious countries and indigenous forces.
Moreover, the Ottoman Empire was so skinny that camels were larger than horses, which was a good buffer against the speed of Western countries' development of Africa.
A vast area of land stretching from the Balkans to Algeria was under the rule of the Ottoman Empire.
The Ottoman Empire itself was constrained by Western countries, and its domestic situation was relatively turbulent and unable to expand. This provided better cover for the early development of the East African colonies.
The half-dead Ottoman Empire is the true friend of the East African colonies. It can block the attention of Western forces on Africa and pose no threat to the East African colonies.
As for the Abyssinian Empire and the Ottoman Empire, they faced the same dilemma.
(End of this chapter)