Chapter 918 "East-France Territory Recognition Agreement"
The French government’s choice was very rational, and East Africa was no less concessionary. Lieutenant Masers reported the news to his superiors, and East Africa was originally far away from Madagascar. It was nearby, so the East African government received news of the border friction between the two countries earlier than the French government.
“We have foreseen this day a long time ago. After all, the issue of Madagascar has been foreshadowed as early as the last century, but no one thought that East Africa and France would eventually have differences in this region. ” said East African Foreign Minister Herman.
This is nonsense. East Africa only appeared on the stage of history in the mid-to-late 19th century, and France had colonial activities on Madagascar as early as the end of the 18th century. There was no role for East Africa in the first place, but it was just that East Africa was everywhere. The birth of Madagascar disrupted the original game between Britain and France. Now the British do not even pay as much attention to Madagascar as they did in their previous life.
This is easy to understand. The South African War actually replaced the Boer War in the previous life and represented the bud of the decline of British global hegemony. Therefore, at this time, the British did not want to do it again on the island of Madagascar.
Of course, after all, France has never fought against East Africa, so East Africa has no idea. This does not mean that East Africa does not have the confidence to defeat France on its homeland. In the eyes of East Africa, the East African territory on the island of Madagascar is also part of the homeland.
“If we can talk, we will talk; if we can’t, we will fight. There is no fundamental conflict of interest between us and France, so starting with negotiations on this matter can appropriately release goodwill to the French government.” Enns Te said.
Ernst is not very interested in the Kingdom of Imerina, just like the Abyssinian Empire. After all, these two countries are rare countries in Africa that have their own independent ideologies. In the future France cannot occupy this place either.
As a result, the French government and the East African government both tended to negotiate a solution to the issue of territorial sovereignty on the island of Madagascar, which laid the foundation for the two countries to carve up the island of Madagascar.
In June 1896, the East African government took the initiative and the French government responded positively. The East African and French governments held negotiations in Paris. After some discussions, the two countries finally decided to occupy the area as a boundary based on the facts. , established the boundary between the two countries.
After all, the historical and geographical boundaries of the border area between the two countries were originally blurred. After all, how our territories and colonies came from is a confusing account, and it is impossible to really follow the standards of the original indigenous people.
So it is in the best interest of both parties to directly use the actual occupied areas of the two countries as a reference. Of course, in some details, both governments have shown a certain degree of "tolerance".
So in harmony, in August 1896, the governments of East and France formally signed the "Agreement on Territory Recognition of East and France", which clarified the border areas between the two countries, namely Madagascar, Gabon, The fixed borders between French Somaliland and East Africa peacefully resolved the territorial dispute between the two countries. Everyone believed that the agreement was public and equal.
This also disappointed some extra-regional countries who hoped for a conflict between East Africa and France, including Britain, Portugal and Germany.
England and Portugal suffered big losses last time, while Germany did not want France to go too smoothly, and at the same time, it did not want East Africa and France to get too close.
Of course, East Africa and France will naturally not be disturbed by the attitude of third-party countries. Both countries are big countries. Although France is one level stronger than East Africa, its influence in Africa and East Africa is unparalleled, and France also has a lot of interests in Africa. , so the two countries respect each other and there is a basis for cooperation.
The signing of the "East-France Territorial Recognition Agreement" is also a historic event of great significance for East Africa.
“After the signing of the agreement, the borders between East Africa and neighboring countries, regions, and forces, including the Abyssinian Empire, Egypt, Sigmaringen, Germany (Cameroon Colony), and Belgium, have been basically confirmed and implemented . ”
There is actually Britain, but Britain is the only one to confirm their respective spheres of influence through war with East Africa. There is no relevant formal agreement or treaty between the two countries. This is actually a trick played by the UK. What the UK likes most is to deal with issues left over from history to ensure conflicts between regions.
Fortunately, East Africa signed relevant treaties with the Egyptian government long before the British completely colonized Egypt. Otherwise, Egypt might really have reason to bring out the "South Sudan" issue in the future.
And considering the size of East Africa, only Egypt would be the "Wakanda" hiding Africa, and it would dare to provoke a hegemonic country like East Africa.
“Before the adoption of this agreement, the territorial scope of our East African mainland was basically determined and implemented, and it was possible to conduct a nationwide census in response to this incident.” said Geers, director of the National Bureau of Statistics.
In the past, the specific value of East Africa’s land area was unstable. After all, East Africa has continued to expand. After the South African War, the estimated land area of East Africa in 1890 was about 13 million square kilometers. This time it is exactly the same as the national area. Make more accurate measurements again.
“In addition, our country’s administrative divisions should also be readjusted. With the stabilization of land area and the industrial transformation and population migration activities carried out by the construction of the ‘three regions’ in East Africa, Angola, Mozambique and Orange have The development of such areas has accelerated. In order to facilitate regional governance, administrative divisions should also be adjusted in these areas that do not have clear administrative regions.”
Previously, East Africa had ruled Mozambique and Angola for five years. Through the construction of the three departments, the three places should be able to reach the national average level by 1900.
Ernst also agreed with this. He said to everyone: "In this case, let's start a new round of compilation of the national divisions. My request is based on the economic and population of each place. , environmental carrying capacity, geographical location, terrain, climate and other comprehensive factors to implement this zoning adjustment.”
“Of course, it is not limited to the current population and economic level of various places, but also focuses on the future. For example, the West, Southwest Africa and Angola are definitely different. As an important external channel for the west coast of East Africa, Angola’s potential is not inferior to that of the eastern coast. As time goes by, it can even catch up with parts of the eastern coast. Therefore, in this country In the round of zoning adjustments, we should take a longer-term view.”
“Secondly, some original unreasonable regional zoning should also be adjusted according to local conditions, such as Buqiong, the capital of Western Great Lakes Province. Bujumbura is too remote and has inconvenient communication with other areas in the province due to terrain. This should also be taken into account.”
Bujumbura is located in the southeast corner of the Western Great Lakes Province, and the Western Great Lakes Province as a whole is biased towards the Great Lakes. (Lake Victoria) Basin, but Bujumbura, the provincial capital, belongs to the Lake Solon (Lake Tanganyika) Basin, and is the most developed city in the Lake Solon Basin. This is really a bit awkward.
Therefore, according to Ernst’s idea, Bujumbura will no longer serve as the capital of Western Great Lakes Province in this zoning adjustment, and the new province will be directly selected from the eastern cities of Western Great Lakes Province.
Bujumbura became the capital of the new province. As we all know, among the three major lakes in East Africa, the Great Lakes (Lake Victoria) and Lake Malawi are too obviously favored, while Lake Solon (Tangani Lake Tanganyika) has long been neglected, so in order to effectively manage and develop Lake Tanganyika, Ernst intends to set up a new province around the lake area.
This new province also has another purpose, which is to weaken the Plateau Province. After all, the area of the Plateau Province is relatively large in the eastern region.
As the East African government decided to re-measure the land area and East Africa wanted to carry out a new round of administrative division adjustment, from 1896 to 1897, the East African government conducted a new round of surveys and inspections of the country.
The focus is on the border areas, as well as Angola, Mozambique, Madagascar, Orange and other areas that have been incorporated into East Africa not too long ago and have no relevant administrative divisions.
(End of this chapter)