Chapter 1109 Four-Nation Meeting
Being so close to these relatively developed cities in East Africa made Klein feel that the Belgian colony was simply like a large rural area. In fact, it was not even a large rural area. Although through immigration, Nowadays, the Belgian Congo's agriculture has improved, but overall the situation is still very serious with a vast land and sparse population.
Of course, if you don’t compare the entire Belgian Congo, but only Pointe-Noire City, the situation will be much better. As the core of the Belgian Congo, Pointe-Noire City has a population of more than hundreds of thousands, and the city size It's quite impressive.
The development of Pointe-Noire was actually influenced by East Africa. The new western development of East Africa also provided opportunities for the development of Pointe-Noire. A large number of goods from the Belgian Congo colony were exported through Pointe-Noire. to East Africa.
Of course, this is also related to Belgium’s basic strength as a medium-sized industrial power. Even without the influence of East Africa, Belgium can develop Pointe-Noire, with East Africa mainly playing a driving role.
Guman said to Klein: "Your Excellency, Mr. Klein, now everyone has seen the scenery of Bangui City. I will lead you to the city hall, where Special Envoy Morris has been waiting for a long time."
< br>Governor Klein nodded and said: "Okay, maybe we can have some fun in Bangui after the meeting."
Subsequently, under Guman's arrangement, the members of the Belgian delegation took the bus Following the convoy organized by the East African government, they drove towards the city center.
This time the Belgians came to Bangui City, they were actually invited by East African officials. Not only Belgium, but also the Kingdom of South Germany and Germany were also invited. East Africa planned to hold an international conference in Bangui City.
As the capital of Oubangui Province, Bangui City has always been the economic and political center of northwestern East Africa, as well as a transportation hub and a regional cooperation and exchange center.
To the north is the Kingdom of South Germany, and to the west is the German Cameroon colony. After the second Moroccan crisis, France has agreed to cede Gabon to Germany, so now the area of the German Cameroon colony has expanded a lot. In addition to East Africa, the Kingdom of South Germany Apart from the three German countries of Germany and Germany, the only remaining colony in the west is the Belgian Congo colony.
East Africa Special Envoy Morris is hosting the governments of the Kingdom of South Germany, German Cameroon and Belgian Congo in Bangui to discuss regional cooperation matters.
Morris said to everyone with a smile on his face: "Welcome to Bangui. The main purpose of inviting you to come this time is to strengthen trade and cooperation between East Africa and other countries. I believe you can already The city of Bangui itself shows the strength of East Africa in the region. If our four countries can unite, we can accelerate the development of the region and protect the interests of various countries in Africa.”
Bangui. Looking at the whole country of East Africa, the city is actually not that outstanding, but compared with other parts of Africa, it is definitely one of the few big cities.
As one of the political and economic centers in northwestern East Africa, Bangui currently has a population of more than 280,000, which is not small even in Europe.
The construction of Bangui City is particularly outstanding against the background of neighboring countries or regions in East Africa. There are many high-rise buildings, railways, highways, ports and other transportation are all available. All kinds of factories are basically complete, and cars can be seen everywhere on the city streets.
It can be said that the city of Bangui at this time was considered a relatively developed medium-sized city in Europe. In contrast, the Kingdom of South Germany, German Cameroon, and Belgian Congo were like uncivilized cities. The ground is average.
Although many new things have been introduced into their respective jurisdictions under the colonial activities of various countries, the main activities are still based on agriculture and mining, and the shortcomings in population size make their respective jurisdictions very It is difficult to develop as fast as East Africa.
So East Africa also hopes to show the strength of East Africa to the three countries through the development of Bangui City, thereby taking the initiative in this meeting.
Xavier, the Governor of the German Cameroon Colony, was not as restrained as the members of the delegation from the Kingdom of South Germany and Belgium. He asked Morris: "Special Envoy Morris, what are your specific thoughts on holding this meeting? Just say it!" Morris also had a preliminary understanding of Xavier. As the governor of German Cameroon, Xavier implemented Prussian-style colonial policies very well there.
Xavier, who was born as a Junker, can be regarded as a warrior to a certain extent. He carried out iron-blooded suppression and military governance in Cameroon. Of course, this is basically the case in the colonies of other countries, but the Germans are relatively rough. That’s all.
Morris did not sell out. He said to Xavier: "No problem. In fact, our East African government organized everyone this time and held this meeting in Bangui. The purpose is still very obvious. That is to discuss the cooperative development of the Central African region among the four countries. ”
The Central African region, that is, Central Africa, includes the vast areas of Cameroon, Chad, Gabon, the two Congos, the Central African Republic, and Angola. area.
Now this area happens to be occupied by East Africa, Germany, Belgium and the Kingdom of South Germany. Therefore, in order to extend the borders of its own economic development and to establish an economic circle dominated by East Africa, the East African government decided to use the central Africa serves as a model for preliminary exploration.
Governor Klein asked: "What are the specific plans for East Africa?"
Morris replied: "The location of Central Africa can be said to be more important. It is the land passage connecting East Africa and West Africa. At the same time, next to the Gulf of Guinea, while Our East Africa and West Africa regions can be said to be the best places on the African continent south of the Sahara. Therefore, in the economic development of Africa, Central Africa, which connects our country and the West Africa region, is very prominent.”
“So our East Africa region is very prominent. Interested in joining forces with you? countries in Central Africa to jointly develop Central Africa to promote the development of local infrastructure and economy, establish a Central African Economic Cooperation Organization, better promote the development of all countries, and maximize everyone’s interests under a unified framework.”
< br>Morris's answer also made the people from the other three countries present understand the true thoughts of East Africa. Belgium is still more excited. With this cooperation framework, it means that East Africa respects Belgium's interests in Africa. As for the Kingdom of South Germany, it has always been It is on the side of East Africa.
Only the Germans are temporarily hesitant. If East Africa wants to dominate the economy of Central Africa, can’t Germany do the same?
If East Africa did not exist, it might still be possible with Germany's national power, but without East Africa, Germany would not be so interested in the Cameroon colony. Just like in the previous life, once the war broke out, Germany could throw away its overseas colonies at any time. Completely clean and fully prepared to deal with the European battlefield.
So Cameroon Governor Xavier thought for a moment and realized that Germany would definitely not be able to stop the actions in East Africa, and there was no need to stop it. This was actually a good thing for Germany.
After all, Germany does not have the ability to develop Cameroon, so it will not be able to obtain benefits from the Cameroon colony. If it can be achieved with the help of East Africa, it will be more beneficial to Germany.
East Africa is different from Germany. As a local snake, East Africa's development costs for surrounding areas are much lower than Germany's. After all, Germany wants to develop Cameroon on its own, and everything must be imported from the mainland. The cost is very high, and the most deadly point is that Germany wants to develop Cameroon on its own. Except for East Africa, the other three countries in Central Africa do not have sufficient populations.
Due to the tropical rainforest climate, the population of Central Africa has never been large. Under Xavier’s militarized governance, a lot of it was consumed, so Germany simply did not have enough manpower to develop Cameroon. .
So after careful consideration, Xavier also expressed his agreement, but this matter still needs to be consulted domestically. The same is true for Belgium, with the exception of the Kingdom of South Germany.
The Kingdom of South Germany itself was supported by East Africa, so cooperation between the two countries has never been interrupted.
(End of this chapter)