Chapter 543 Southern Ryukyu Islands
"Father-in-law, the navy recently deployed three ironclad ships, and I am planning to seek a colony in the Far East."
"Well, do you have any ideas?"
The Far East was definitely the most attractive area during the colonial era. The Huaihai Economic Zone and Zhuhai Commercial Zone in East Africa were one of the important markets of the Hechingen Consortium. However, these two areas could only be regarded as economic colonization.
There is nothing to say about economic colonization. Even in the 21st century, it is the most common form. Just like aid to Africa, it is actually a kind of economic colonization.
Colonization, colonization, naturally allows the people in the region to create value for capital outside the region. East Africa is not a good person. There is no profit in the Far East, and it will not create regional economic zones such as the Huaihai Economic Zone and the Zhuhai Commercial Zone. development model.
The global trade system dominated by the United States in the previous life was the highest manifestation of economic colonization. After all, the definition of a colony is a country or region that has been deprived of political and economic independent power by a capitalist country and is controlled and plundered by it. The group of allies in the United States are all of this type.
In fact, compared to this kind of economic colonization, East Africa is more like a traditional colonial country in the strict sense. It is just that East Africa does not have a suzerain country. This is the case for the nearly 20 million black slaves in East Africa. prove.
Ernst took out a map from the drawer and spread it flat on the table. It was a map of the Far East.
"Father-in-law, you also went to the Far East last time, so you should be familiar with this place, right?" Ernst said, pointing to the location of the Ryukyu Kingdom.
"I have some impressions, but isn't it easy to get here?"
Archduke Ferdinand knew that the composition of this so-called Ryukyu Kingdom was very complex, and both the Far Eastern Empire and Japan had interests here.
“Yes, so my target is not the entire Ryukyu Islands, but the Southern Ryukyu Islands in the south.”
The Southern Ryukyu Islands, known as the Sakishima Islands in Japan, are also the Ryukyu Islands. The southernmost island group of the archipelago consists of the Miyako Islands and the Yaeyama Islands.
These names are relatively unfamiliar, but the geographical term Miyako Strait should be familiar to those who followed the news in previous lives. The Southern Ryukyu Islands are located on the south side of the Miyako Strait and are an important base for controlling the Miyako Strait. .
"Is there a dispute between the Far Eastern Empire and Japan over the Ryukyu Islands last year?" Archduke Ferdinand asked.
At the end of 1879, Japan decided to depose the King of Ryukyu and establish Okinawa Prefecture. Naturally, the Far Eastern Empire, as the nominal suzerainty of the Ryukyu Kingdom, was very opposed to this.
So Japan settled for the next best thing and proposed a dichotomy of the Ryukyu Islands. The southern Ryukyu Islands were given to the Far Eastern Empire, and the central and northern Ryukyu Islands were given to Japan. The condition was that the Far Eastern Empire increased Japan's most-favored-nation status in the treaty of goodwill. The Qing government naturally disagreed with the terms. At this time, the Far East was not polite to Japan. It thought that by leaving Asia and joining Europe, it would really become a Western devil. The two countries were in a stalemate, so the area became a disputed area with undetermined sovereignty.
In fact, until the 21st century, the Southern Ryukyu Islands were the territory of the Far Eastern Empire. This was made clear in the Cairo Declaration and the Potsdam Proclamation, and Japan illegally occupied it.
Ernst seems to think that it is better to let East Africa take advantage of this advantage. Now that the Far Eastern Empire and the Japanese Navy are out of date, East Africa can be the overlord.
So Ernst said to Archduke Ferdinand: "It doesn't matter, the snipe and the clam fight, and the fisherman benefits. Let's go directly to the Far East government to get the economic privileges of the region first, and wait until the end of the year to plan the region to become a colony." This is also A routine of East African colonization, this is how Lanfang Overseas Province became an East African territory. However, Ernst did not intend for the Southern Ryukyu Islands to directly become an East African territory, but to become an East African colony.
As for why we had to wait until the end of 1880, it was because Japan happened to completely abolish the Ryukyu Kingdom at that time in history.
When East Africa establishes a satellite state in the Southern Ryukyu Islands at the same time, the Far Eastern Empire and Japan will find no reason to object. After all, the Ryukyu Kingdom has been destroyed. Even if they object, it will be ineffective. Who will give them a navy? The strength is not good enough, and the East African Navy has also failed to show up in the Far Eastern countries before.
Of course, Ernst also gave the Far Eastern Empire enough face to get the rule of the region from them. After all, they couldn't hold on to it. This meant that it was still the territory of the Far Eastern Empire in name, but in fact It is the reality of the East African colony.
As for whether this place can return to the hands of the Far East Empire in the future, it depends on whether the Far East Empire can be revived. Once it becomes stronger, it will be impossible for future generations of East Africa to just hang on.
In fact, the Southern Ryukyu Islands are of great value to the Far Eastern Empire and Japan. Japan attaches great importance to sea power and has great ambitions. The location of the Southern Ryukyu Islands is very important to both countries.
East Africa’s acquisition of the Southern Ryukyu Islands is nothing more than providing material supplies, ship maintenance, and troop garrisoning for the East Africa-Lanfang-Alaska route, or the Far East Empire route.
This can actually be done along the coast of the Far Eastern Empire, but Ernst does not want to station troops in the Far Eastern Empire, so he will really turn the Far Eastern Empire into his own colony.
The Southern Ryukyu Islands are not small in area and are relatively rich in products. They can support more than 100,000 people in later generations. In this era, they only have 10,000 people, so it is easy to occupy East Africa.
"Since you have a plan, I will naturally not object. However, it is not easy to gain a foothold here. Relying on diplomatic operations can only obtain nominal governance rights."
In fact, governance rights None of them are correct. It should be said that it is an escrow power. East Africa mentions the Far East as escrow for the region. This is not important to East Africa, but it is very important to the Far East Empire. After all, it involves territorial issues. Even if it still belongs to itself in name, it will not be a good thing in terms of face. If it looks better, you won't have to worry about having too many debts.
In fact, the reason why the Far Eastern Empire is arguing with Japan is because it has been closed to the country for too long. It has only been 40 years since 1840. It can be said that the shipbuilding industry, ports, navy, and sailors of the Far Eastern Empire are all new. For example, the Jiaozhou Port was built with the help of the Heixinggen Consortium, otherwise the Far East Empire would not have been kicked in the face by the Japanese.
The progress of the Far Eastern Empire in the maritime industry is not as advanced as that of East Africa. The establishment of East Africa was twenty or thirty years later than the opening of the Far Eastern Empire. Moreover, the Far Eastern Empire was opened step by step. Many bays were deserted before. To put it bluntly, it was forced out bit by bit by the British and French warships, and this process did not happen overnight. Historically, it took until the Xinchou Treaty.
So now many later ports in the Far East have not even been developed. Only the treaty ports that foreign countries forced the Far East Empire to open have modern ports.
Of course, this does not mean that many ports did not exist during the isolation of the country, but that they could not develop without official endorsement. After all, so many Chinese who went to Southeast Asia could not have swam there.
Although East Africa started a little later, it has the technical support from the German region, the support of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the expansion of ocean trade of the Hechingen Consortium, the expansion of East African immigrants and slave trade, overseas colonization, and the construction of East African ports, etc. As a result, the maritime industry in East Africa, a country with a large land area, has developed relatively prosperously, or at least it has not been held back.
East Africa is also closed to the outside world, but East Africa has always been engaged in maritime industry, but does not allow foreign forces to directly participate in East African maritime trade. The bunch of newly built ports in East Africa are for the use of its own commercial ships and navy. A kind of isolation with a one-way valve structure, rather than the isolation of the Far East Empire that does not go out.
(End of this chapter)