Chapter 312: The Sword Points at the Abyssinian Empire
The road to the unification of the Kingdom of Italy was completely blocked, and a lot of territory was folded in, but the population did not decrease accordingly, so the Kingdom of Italy must find a way out. But now the only way left is colonization.
Emmanuel II was inspired by the Kingdom of East Africa and was also preparing to open a colony in Africa, mainly to solve the food gap problem in the Kingdom of Italy.
Although it was temporarily hampered by financial constraints and could not be carried out immediately, Emmanuel II still asked people to start collecting information on Africa.
There is only so much information about Africa, and his men quickly collected the general information and reported it to Emmanuel II.
"Your Majesty, there are almost scattered forces from various countries along the entire coast of Africa. Among them, West Africa has the most advantageous conditions. The British, French, Portuguese, Spanish and Dutch countries are all distributed here. North Africa is the closest to us, but most of them are desert areas and there is no large-scale suitable area. The cultivated land, some oasis areas were controlled by the French and Ottoman Empire, and East Africa was divided between the Kingdom of East Africa and Portuguese Mozambique. Lord, South Africa is the British Cape Colony, and its climate is most similar to that of Italy, but we cannot afford to offend the British."
Emmanuel II frowned as he listened to the report of his men. Said: "It seems that the competition in Africa is also very fierce! I thought it was really a barren land? I didn't expect that there are already so many European forces."
"Your Majesty, the main reason is that other countries have a great first-mover advantage. Even the small Prince of Hechingen in Prussia can go to Africa to seize large areas of territory. Therefore, the strength of the African indigenous people is evident. Moreover, although these countries have strongholds in Africa , but except for the East African Kingdom and Portugal, the Boers have almost no power to develop the interior of Africa on a large scale. We still have many opportunities. "
Hearing this, Emmanuel II was also relieved: "Do you have any general direction?"
"Your Majesty, when we look at the information on Africa and the past two years, After careful analysis of the intelligence, we believe that the Abyssinian Empire on the coast of the Red Sea is a better place for the physique of our Italian Kingdom.”
Emmanuel II asked: "The Abyssinian Empire? What advantages does it have?"
"Your Majesty, first of all, Abyssinia is located on the coast of the Red Sea and is connected to the Suez Canal, which gives us It is convenient to conquer this place.”
Emmanuel II: “Isn’t North Africa closer to us?”
“Alas! If it were the original Kingdom of Italy, we would still have it. We may have developed in North Africa, but now we have been greatly weakened. The Ottoman Empire, which is currently the weakest in North Africa, has become an existence that we cannot afford to offend. Although the Ottoman Empire is weak, it is huge. In the past, when we were still strong, we might We are not afraid of the Ottomans. Now that we have lost nearly half of our territory, how can we compete with the Ottomans for national strength? Moreover, if we really conflict with the Ottomans now, I am afraid that Franz of Austria will wake up laughing in his dreams at night. Both of our countries are facing the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Dead enemies, so the two sides should maintain good relations and jointly deal with the threat of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.”
The Kingdom of Italy is in danger of national collapse in the face of the ambitious Austro-Hungarian Empire, and the Ottoman Empire’s European territories are under the influence of Austria-Hungary. When it comes to the threat of empire, the two countries share the same problem. Although the Ottomans still have a lifelong enemy - Tsarist Russia, France also exists to the west of the Kingdom of Italy. Historically, France is also a great threat to Italy. "Secondly, that is the second point I want to make, the Abyssinian Empire has a large amount of cultivated land. In this regard, North Africa is far inferior to the Abyssinian Empire. What our Kingdom of Italy needs most now is Cultivated land, and the cultivated land of the Abyssinian Empire is all ready-made. Their land has been developed for thousands of years. Unlike other parts of Africa, there is uncertainty. As long as we can suppress the Abyssinian Empire with force, That will definitely allow us to continuously import food to the local area.”
The agricultural conditions in the Ethiopian Plateau are indeed good. If the altitude were not too high, it is nearly a thousand meters higher than the East African Plateau, and the level of civilization is too high. Ernst would have been moved. The high altitude also has the benefits of high altitude. The Ethiopian Plateau Affected by the terrain, it intercepts rain, and the average annual precipitation is between 1200mm and 1600mm. It is known as the Water Tower of East Africa.
Especially in the southwest of the Ethiopian Plateau occupied by the East African Kingdom, the precipitation remains above 1300mm all year round, forming a unique rainy alpine plateau climate area.
Of course, it is worth noting that in this time and space, the Abyssinian Empire cannot be equated with the Ethiopian Plateau. In the previous life, Ethiopia as an independent country exclusively occupied the Ethiopian Plateau, but now it is the Abyssinian Empire and East Africa. Kingdom, but the main body of the Ethiopian plateau is still within the Abyssinian Empire. East Africa only occupies the southwest, and the southeast is a relatively dry plain area.
The agricultural areas of the Abyssinian Empire were concentrated in the northwest region of the Ethiopian Plateau, which was also the foundation of the Abyssinian Empire, making it an agricultural country like Egypt. The Sudanese region in the middle was dominated by nomadic industries. Mainly, there is only a narrow agricultural zone that relies on the confluence of the Blue and White Nile Rivers, and its water volume happens to depend on the water from the Blue Nile River originating from the Ethiopian plateau.
Emmanuel II: "In this case, the national strength of the Abyssinian Empire should not be bad. Are you sure it won't be a hard nut to crack?"
"Don't worry, Your Majesty, we have chosen this place. block area, naturally taking this aspect into consideration, this This is also the last point we want to emphasize. The national strength of the Abyssinian Empire is not worth mentioning. Three years ago, the British captured the capital of the Abyssinian Empire with very few troops. The emperor committed suicide due to defeat. The Nian Empire fell into disintegration. At the same time, Egypt in the north is also in conflict with the Abyssinian Empire. The two sides are fighting in the Sudan. This is the weakest period in the history of the Abyssinian Empire. ”
The Abyssinian Empire. As a local power, there were several vassal states in the Sudan. This was also the reason for the conflict between Egypt and the Abyssinian Empire. However, Egypt's rule over Sudan was relatively weak and its transportation was poor. As a result, Egypt was strong but took over the fragmented Abyssinian Empire. There is nothing the Bisinian Empire can do.
During Ali's time, Egypt's expedition to Sudan was limited to northern Sudan because of the harsh desert environment. Ali's conquest of Sudan was limited to northern Sudan, and he implemented a restrictive rule over Sudan similar to the Ottoman rule over Egypt.
After hearing this, Emmanuel II was very satisfied: "Sure enough, the natives are the natives. We cannot defeat Austria. If you don't believe it, there is nothing we can do against the Abyssinian Empire. What the British can do, we It can definitely be done.”
Then Emmanuel II began to prepare the plan for the Kingdom of Italy to invade and colonize Abyssinia, and the Colonial Department of the Kingdom of Italy also began to prepare. Abyssinia was an opponent that was large enough, had a large population, and had superior agricultural conditions. All this is needed by the Kingdom of Italy. Now that the domestic industry and commerce are independent from the Kingdom of Naples, they need markets, and because the surplus population caused by the war also needs land, there is nothing more tempting than invading the Abyssinian Empire.
All forces in the kingdom also actively supported Emmanuel II's decision. After experiencing the disastrous defeat of the second Italian-Austrian War, whoever likes the great ideal of unifying Italy can come. Anyway, the Kingdom of Italy It’s because we are afraid of being beaten. A weak opponent like Abyssinia is our first choice target in the Kingdom of Italy.
(End of this chapter)