Chapter 409 Belgian Congo
As for the colonization of Africa, in fact, Belgium could not unify its thoughts before, which made Leopold II waste a lot of time and words to convince the parliament.
Now Leopold II takes the Kingdom of East Africa as an example, and he has indeed defeated those who opposed it. The conditions of the Prince of Hechingen are so poor that they can grab such a large piece of land in Africa, and the size of Belgium is Just a little more.
The nobles know each other well. Among the nobles in these years, the Hohenzollern family is undoubtedly the most prosperous. First, the Prussian royal family unified Germany and turned it from a kingdom to an empire. Secondly, Sigmaringen gained Romania. , and finally the Hechingen royal family who made a fortune and established the East African Kingdom.
Although the status of the East African Kingdom is not high, and Africa is not a good place after all, the wealth acquired by the Hechingen royal family is very enviable.
However, Leopold II clearly overestimated his subordinates by asking the cabinet to come up with a plan. Although the ministers were educated by His Majesty the King from time to time, they were treated as jokes and there was no plan at all.
Leopold II said at this time: "Huh, I knew this would happen a long time ago. Since you can't come up with a plan, you have to listen to me next."
Said With that, Leopold II ordered the servant to bring over the map of Africa and said: "This is the map of Africa." On the map, the red area is France, the blue area is Portugal, the gray area is Spain, the green is the United Kingdom, and the black is East Africa... The remaining areas are the places we can choose."
At this glance, it was an instant. Everyone feels like the competition is fierce.
Leopold II explained: "Colonial maps are often relatively fictitious. In some places, countries may not really control them. They only have verbal claims. In fact, it still depends on whose fist. Hard.”
Hearing that there was a fist fight, this made the Belgian ministers retreat: "Your Majesty, if this is the case, then wouldn't the risk of colonizing Africa be very high? Except for the East African Kingdom, there are no countries here that are easy to mess with."< br>
Leopold II confidently broke the news: "Then you are totally wrong. Now in Africa The country that should not be messed with the most is the Kingdom of East Africa. Not long ago, the Kingdom of East Africa and the British colony of Cape Town had a small dispute in South Africa. In the end, the British chose to give in and were forced to cede an area of more than 100,000 square kilometers. Territory.”
Sure enough, Leopold II’s words aroused doubts among the ministers.
"This is impossible! Your Majesty, the British will not suffer such a loss."
"Yes, it has always been the British that invaded the territory of other countries. It is simply impossible for others to bite the British back. It’s just a matter of words. If it were France before, it would still be possible. Now no country can challenge Britain.”
"And if this happens, it will be an international scandal, no less than the previous major incident of Britain's defeat in Afghanistan. No British newspapers reported it. How did your Majesty know about it?"
...
The ministers talked all over the place Tao, all agreed that Leopold II was nonsense. If this happened in other regions, it would be easier to accept, but Africa is the most backward region in the world, and has not even produced a decent civilization. How can an East African kingdom in Africa compete with the British?
Leopold II knocked on the table and said: "Quiet, look at what you look like now! How can I deceive you? Although this thing is unbelievable, it actually happened. Yes, my message is from the Cape Town official The information obtained by the personnel with money was also confirmed by Charlotte (Princess). "
Although Ernst implemented a closed-door policy, it is of course impossible for East Africa not to communicate with the outside world, including Ferdinand. The Grand Duke and his wife are an example.
As big nobles in Europe, they have a lot of relatives and friends. They get a lot of letters every year, but it's usually not a big deal.
Before Archduke Ferdinand achieved success, he did not want to communicate with his old friends. Even the exchanges were mainly based on necessary greetings.
As for Princess Charlotte, she doesn’t have the same concerns as her husband, but her social circle is generally those noble ladies in Europe, and they don’t talk about politics at all, and Charlotte has been criticized for being too much before. She cares about politics and almost sent her husband to meet God, so now it is even more taboo to talk about politics with her sisters.
That is to say, Leopold II, as her brother, asked her about some situations in East Africa, but Charlotte didn't know much about it, unless it was some important events that everyone in East Africa knew.
The East African Kingdom’s war in South Africa is such a major event. After all, this is the first time South Africa has defeated a country that is also a white regime (the Transvaal Republic). It is quite exciting for the East African Kingdom. A major event, almost every bulletin board introduced the East African Army's achievements in detail. Leopold II continued: "The East African Kingdom dispatched tens of thousands of troops this time, and they defeated several small countries in South Africa like the autumn wind sweeping away fallen leaves. This is their confidence."
"Tens of thousands of troops!"
Leopold II: "Yes, tens of thousands of troops. This is the fundamental reason why the East African Kingdom can make the British bow their heads."< br>
“But, Your Majesty, I want to remind you that the cost of tens of thousands of troops is not a small amount. Our local defense pressure is very high. If we send out separate troops to colonize Africa, I am afraid that the gains will outweigh the losses!”
Leopold II: "Okay, what does this matter have to do with our national defense? To be honest, anyone in Belgium's position will have a headache. If either Germany or France has an idea, Belgium will It may become a battlefield. With our national strength, we cannot survive alone unless we mobilize the whole country. And precisely because of our bad geographical environment, we should break out of Europe and enhance our national strength through colonization.
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And we don’t need to send too many troops to Africa at once. I have studied the situation of all colonies in Africa. Basically, no colony has developed its army as vigorously as East Africa. This is also a place that we can learn from. ”
Ernst has made the development of the army his top priority since the beginning of the East African colony. Now it has been proved that this is a very correct decision. The army is the foundation for the East African Kingdom to establish itself in Africa and even the world.
Listen After hearing Leopold II’s explanation, a minister asked, “Your Majesty, where should we start? Where do you land in Africa? "
Leopold II pointed to the Congo River on the map and said: "We started from the outlet of the Congo River and colonized inland along the north of the Congo River. "
"Your Majesty, this is the power of the Portuguese! ”
Leopold II shook his head and said: "No, north of the outlet of the Congo River is a small African country called the Kingdom of Ngoyo. The Portuguese did establish a stronghold here before, but it was destroyed by the Kingdom of Ngoyo. And that was already in the last century. This is currently unclaimed land. Moreover, the south bank of the Congo River is not the territory of the Portuguese. It is the land of the Kingdom of Congo. If it were not for the face of the Portuguese, then I would Directly choose to invade the Kingdom of Congo."
"Your Majesty, France seems to have a colony here," someone said, pointing to the red area north of the Congo River.
This red area was the coastal zone of Gabon in the previous life, where the French had colonial activities decades ago.
Leopold II said: "This is normal, the French have too many colonies."
"Then will we run into the French! ”
Leopold II said: "Don't worry, we just need to be the first to develop inland. France has so many colonies, but we only need this one. They will not pose a threat to us."
Lee Opode II wanted to acquire land in Africa, which was actually the Republic of Congo (Brazzaville) in his previous life, which was also the French Congo.
Times are very good now. Belgium does not have to go to the Congo rainforest to open up colonies like it did in its previous life. It also does not have to worry about the issue of access to the sea. There are only a few indigenous countries here. To win here, Belgium will Strength is not a problem.
As for the Congo rainforest, although it is very large, it is of little value, and the climate is harsh. In the previous life, Belgium could benefit from the Congo, which was the result of continuous expansion into the inland. The Congolese colonies have already reached the west. Went to Rwanda and Burundi in East Africa.
After Leopold II and a group of ministers reached a consensus, the Kingdom of Belgium officially embarked on the grand mission of colonizing Africa. Although the colonial area was completely different from its previous life, it was still called the Congo Colony.
(End of this chapter)