Chapter 1094: Make the circle bigger
Islands are naturally defensive and can isolate the risks brought by land forces. The British mainland takes advantage of this to stir up trouble in the entire European continent. As long as the UK ensures naval superiority, it can guarantee the mainland. safety.
This is also reflected in the Persian Gulf. The United Kingdom occupies several of the most important islands in the Persian Gulf, such as Qeshm Island, the largest island, Greater Tunb Island and Lesser Tunb Island that contain the Strait of Hormuz. Island and Abu Musa, Bahrain Island in the Persian Gulf.
The United Kingdom basically uses these islands as its base to control the political situation in the entire Persian Gulf. Therefore, the United Kingdom will definitely not cede these islands to East Africa.
The Pirate Coast is the United Arab Emirates, and Qatar is a secondary force controlled by the British in the Persian Gulf. As Qatar is a peninsula and is located next to Bahrain, the United Kingdom will not let it go easily.
As for other places, although the British influence is great, they are not under the direct control of the British. Even the Pirate Coast or Qatar were actually captured by the British to a certain extent because their value was too low.
The only valuable local industry is pearl fishing. At one time, Qatar and Bahrain actually belonged to the same country. Later, the Bahrain royal family moved to Bahrain for pearl fishing. As a result, the housekeeper who stayed in Qatar to look after the house became a king on his own. .
The occurrence of this bloody drama reflects, to a certain extent, the poverty situation along the Persian Gulf coast from the 19th to the early 20th century.
This is also the main reason why East African government negotiators are not satisfied with the conditions offered by the British government.
Freer said bluntly to Russell: "Not only does this place have no economic output, but the area you have designated is too small. Even on the entire Pirate Coast, there are only a few tribes, not even countries. No, so your country is too insincere.”
The Pirate Coast was also the United Arab Emirates in its previous life. The full name of the UAE is the United Arab Emirates. The characteristics of the country can be seen from the name alone. It is essentially a country composed of several tribes united together.
After all, there are many rulers like chiefs in East Africa. In the process of conquering the indigenous people in East Africa, thousands if not tens of thousands of chiefs were killed.
The top political forces on the Pirate Coast are actually no different from those on the African continent. They are all based on the most basic tribal civilization.
Frere continued: "And the name Pirate Coast means that the specialty of the area is pirates. The locals need to be pirates to make a living. If we get it in East Africa, we will basically lose money. Business. ”
The Pirate Coast was actually the territory of the former Oman Empire. In the 18th century, Oman experienced repeated civil strife, and local leaders in the UAE appointed themselves emirs and became independent regimes. At that time, both Arab and European merchant ships were repeatedly robbed by small countries in the region, so the area was called the "Pirate Coast."
In the 19th century, the British East India Company sent fleets to destroy coastal fortresses in Ras Al Khaimah, Sharjah, Dubai and other places to ensure a smooth route from India to Egypt.
This can also be seen that the British designated this area as a colony not because of its importance, but to curb the breeding of pirates, and the most important thing was to maintain the safety of British trade routes.
So, the Pirate Coast was a burden for the British at first. The British actually did not have much interest here every year, and had to pay additional governance costs.
Now Britain actually wants to dump this burden on East Africa and at the same time exchange for political benefits, which can be described as "killing two birds with one stone."
Russell naturally knew this, so he had to whitewash the Pirate Coast to a certain extent, thereby increasing its "price".
Russell said: "Your Excellency Freer is wrong. The Pirate Coast is still relatively important. East Africa itself is a major food-producing country, and you don't need the Pirate Coast as a food production base. Therefore, the climate problem on the Pirate Coast is actually important to your country." "Words are not too important, but by obtaining this place, East Africa will have a solid base, thus forming a certain political influence on the Persian Gulf." "After all, overseas territories can never be judged by economic accounts, but also by political gains and losses. , there is no doubt that if the Obtaining suzerainty here will be of great benefit to your country’s political influence in the Persian Gulf.”
Russell’s words still make sense, but colonial activities themselves have economic benefits. In history, there are many examples of Western colonial countries voluntarily giving up some colonies because they could not make ends meet. The most typical example is Russia's sale of Alaska to the Rhine royal family. In essence, Russia has underestimated the economic value of Alaska.
From the current perspective, the economic value of the Pirate Coast is not even as good as Alaska. Alaska under the governance of East Africa also produces fur, timber, ore and other products, and the only thing the Pirate Coast can offer is the previous The pearl industry was mentioned.
But the pearl industry is not enough to drive the development of the Pirate Coast. The entire Pirate Coast can be said to be one of the poorest areas in the world.
Moreover, the climate here is too harsh. After all, Alaska under the control of East Africa still has a temperate marine climate distribution, which is more suitable for human habitation. It has certain basic agricultural conditions, at least the conditions for growing potatoes, barley and vegetables.
Looking at the Pirate Coast, fresh water resources are extremely scarce, and nomadism can only be achieved by breeding a small number of camels, and the crop output is almost negligible.
This can also be reflected from the population of the Pirate Coast. Although there are no accurate figures, according to the assessment of the East African government, the population of the entire Pirate Coast is probably only tens of thousands.
You must know that the entire pirate coast covers an area of more than 100,000 square kilometers. Such a small population is already the limit of the pirate coast at this time.
In the previous life, when the United Arab Emirates became independent from Britain, its population was only more than 300,000, and that was decades later. Moreover, the oil industry in the United Arab Emirates had been developing for many years, so at this time, East Africa was called The Pirate Coast is a barren land, which is not a disparagement at all, but the reality of the Pirate Coast.
This is also the fundamental problem why East African government officials look down upon the pirate coast. If the pirate coast itself were to rely solely on its output, even if the local indigenous people were emptied, East Africa would only be able to resettle a population of more than 10,000 people.
After all, although East Africa is not rich, the standard of living of its citizens is much higher than that of a real backwater like the Pirate Coast. The resources that could originally provide for the lives of the local indigenous people are not enough to support the survival of East African residents of the same size.
So Friel said to Russell: "The value of the Pirate Coast is too low, so if it wants to use this place as a condition for negotiation, the UK should make greater concessions. For example, this circle is too small and should be circled Bigger, encompassing the entire pirate coast.”
"Actually, the only thing we can take a fancy to is Al Ain Oasis. There is still some fresh water resources here, but other areas are not of much value at all."
Al Ain Oasis is the largest oasis on the Pirate Coast. It occupied more than 90% of the freshwater resources of the previous UAE.
Of course, even the best land on this pirate coast is not of much value in the eyes of East African government officials, because although the Al Ain Oasis is not a desert, it is not much different.
The only thing worth looking at here is the fresh water resource. In the previous life, the most powerful Abu Dhabi tribe in the United Arab Emirates relied on this oasis to develop. The Al Ain Oasis was also the earliest capital of Abu Dhabi. Later, because of oil Industrial development moved the capital to the coast.
Freer held a red pencil, and under Russell's gaze, he surrounded the entire Pirate Coast, which was almost the same area as the United Arab Emirates in his previous life.
In fact, if it weren’t for Ernst’s previous instructions, Friel would never have been able to buy into the British. After all, enclosing such a large desert would be of little value to East Africa, at least in most of East Africa. According to officials, this is not a good deal.
(End of this chapter)