Chapter 307 The Birth of Germany
While taking over Mayotte, East Africa is also eyeing the four main islands of Grande Comoros, Anjouan, and Moheli and many small islands near Mayotte. Among them, the Sultan of Anjouan Island is the nominal ruler of the Comoros Islands. The Kingdom of East Africa is ready to have a heart-to-heart talk with the Sultan of Anjouan Island and send some of its citizens to the Sultanate of Zanzibar. In the future, the Comoros Islands will belong to East Africa. Comoros Islands.
This is definitely not possible now. The immigrants have not yet arrived, so the East African Navy is first responsible for stabilizing the Sudan of Anjouan Island.
After Mayotte stabilized, the East African Navy immediately headed towards Anjouan Island. Under the cordial visit of Archduke Ferdinand and the East African Navy, the Sultan of Anjouan Island immediately signed an agreement with East Africa. Treaty, the Comoros Islands became an East African protectorate.
At this time, Anjouan Island had actually lost control of the other three islands, but East Africa only obtained justice and an excuse to control the remaining two islands in the name of the Sultan of Anjouan Island. The indigenous peoples of the Comoros and Moheli islands were suppressed.
The forces on the Comoros Islands are mixed. Except for Mayotte, which is completely controlled by East Africa, the other three islands are composed of black Africans, Arabs, and Malays. Among them, the Arabs are in a dominant position, and Arab culture is prevalent on the island.
Fortunately, the Comoros Islands, which have a tropical rainforest climate, have a small population, so it is not difficult to control them in East Africa.
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On January 18, 1871, William I was proclaimed emperor of the German Empire in the Hall of Mirrors at the Palace of Versailles in Paris.
At the end of last year, with the help of the Franco-Prussian War, the four southern German states officially joined the German Federation, and the German region has been unified.
The South German region has always been one of the most economically developed regions in Germany. Therefore, after annexing the South German region, Germany's strength has achieved the effect that one plus one is greater than three. The Kingdom of Bavaria alone has the power that most countries in Europe cannot underestimate. strength.
With William I proclaiming the establishment of the German Empire at Versailles, Germany as a whole appeared for the first time in human history.
The newly established German Empire had a population of more than 40 million (historically 41 million) and a territory of 610,000 square kilometers. It surpassed France and became the most powerful country on the European continent.
Germany has the most powerful army recognized in Europe and a vast territory. Its strength is far beyond what Prussia or Austria could match before.
Emperor Franz of the Austro-Hungarian Empire had mixed feelings in his heart when he heard the news of the establishment of the German Empire. This also meant that Austria had completely lost its influence in the German region. The Austro-Hungarian Empire must change its career. On the contrary Hungary is very happy that Germany is unified, and Austria will not be able to use the German region to suppress Hungary.
When the German Empire was founded, the Kingdom of East Africa expressed congratulations, but that was limited to that. If Germany was announced in Berlin, Ernst might join in the fun, but he had better not go to Paris, as he could not bring hatred to East Africa.
At the time of German reunification, the population of East Africa also reached 4.7 million. Among them, the number of German immigrants from Germany and the Austro-Hungarian Empire alone (including the newly born population) reached more than 1.8 million. With Germanized Slavs (Croats, Slovenes) and ethnic intermarriage (Paraguayans, Chinese, Germans, etc.), the pan-German national population is 4.45 million, leaving more than 200,000 immigrants including newly introduced Italians. Russians, Chinese, etc.
There is no doubt that East Africa as a whole is a German country. It is the third largest German country after Germany and the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The remaining Luxembourg and Liechtenstein are not worth mentioning in terms of size. At the same time, the Kingdom of East Africa is the fifth largest country in the world in terms of land area (including the royal territory of Alaska) after the United Kingdom (including Canada, Australia and other colonies), Tsarist Russia, the Far East, and the United States.
East Africa has not announced the specific land area of East Africa to the international community. Although it has had contact with other colonists in many areas, the land and colonies cannot be equated in this era. Therefore, in the impression of most countries, East Africa still remains on the east coast of East Africa and the mainland part of the former Sultanate of Zanzibar. These countries and regions do not include Mozambique and some Austrians.
Mozambique has truly felt the oppression of East Africa, and the Austrians at least know that East Africa has completed the conquest of Kenya and Tanganyika. Otherwise, how could East Africa let go of investment in Kenya.
The East African Kingdom, which has a huge territory and millions of people, now needs low-key development the most. Only by completely controlling Zimbabwe can the East African Kingdom in Zambia appear internationally.
So starting in 1871, East Africa began to change its previous path of radical expansion, and there were no expansion plans except for Mayotte.
On the border, the East African Kingdom also began to keep a low profile, vigorously develop trade relations with the Boers and Portuguese, and avoid armed conflicts.
At the same time, Ernst began to prepare for the transfer of some of the Hechingen Consortium's industries to East Africa. The Hechingen Consortium has developed to this day and is one of the top conglomerates in the world, with the entire East African kingdom as its back garden. At the same time, it has the right to speak in Germany and the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and it also has industrial distribution in other parts of Europe. Therefore, the Hechingen Consortium has grown to the level of wealth that rivals the country. Just a little bit of soup will be enough for East Africa to digest for a long time.
The core of the Hechingen Consortium is the Hechingen Bank. In addition to the companies under the Hechingen Consortium, the Hechingen Bank, under the command of Ernst, controls many emerging companies in Germany and the Austro-Hungarian Empire, mainly concentrated in In electric power, military industry, food, machinery and other fields.
A typical example is the Skoda factory founded by the Austrian Count Skoda in the Czech Republic (1869). The Bank of Hechingen holds 17%. At this time, the Skoda factory was just a machinery factory. For Hechingen The bank's investment confused Earl Skoda at the time.
Most of the new companies in the European power field have investments from Hechingen Bank. The food industry is completed through monopoly. The tropical cash crops abundant in East Africa are mainly sold to Central and Eastern Europe, so many new companies born in Central and Eastern Europe There is a Hechengen consortium behind the food factories. There is no way. Africa has a huge advantage over its counterparts in Southeast Asia and the Americas in terms of distance. When East Africa's coffee, tea, rubber and other industries mature, the original market will be further squeezed.
At the same time, the Bank of Hechingen invested in the oil industry in eastern Austria-Hungary and Romania, especially in Romania. Carol I gave the green light, almost allowing the Bank of Hechingen to dominate the Romanian oil field.
East Africa and the Hechingen Consortium, as royal industries of Hechingen, have developed very rapidly, and the export strategy implemented by East Africa as a country is typical of small profits but quick turnover, concentrated in the agricultural field.
The Hechingen Consortium focuses on finance, light industry and high-tech fields, with high profit margins and a relatively large scale.
What East Africa currently lacks most is heavy industry. Neither of them has much experience in this area. Further exploration is needed. Without heavy industry, basic industrial production materials cannot be provided. The main body of the Hechingen Consortium cannot break away from Europe. East Africa It is impossible to form a super political and economic entity combined with the Hechingen Consortium, so the development of heavy industry is the primary goal of the current East African Kingdom.
(End of this chapter)