Chapter 1128 The Beginning
With the arrival of 1914, East Africa’s new economic policy was initially compatible with the planned economic system. According to the East African government, this required both planned economic guidance and market freedom. An economic path with East African characteristics. The New Economic Policy was implemented smoothly despite criticism and rebuttal.
While East Africa is undergoing major reforms in its national economic system, new waves are brewing on the European continent and are preparing to lead Europeans into the abyss.
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“In Greek mythology, the siren used her song to attract sailors. Any ship that heard her song and could not resist the temptation would crash into the rocks on the coast. Today, the leaders of various European countries, as if they have heard the song of the sirens, are pulling Europe to the brink of war," wrote an East African journalist in the "Rheinische Volkszeitung" in February 1914.
Europe will go to war. This has become the consensus of most countries in the world, but no one can imagine the huge destructiveness of this war.
In fact, war is not an unfamiliar word to Europe. Group fights were often fought in European history, such as the Thirty Years' War, the Seven Years' War, the Napoleonic Wars, etc., all of which involved many countries and lasted for a long time. long war.
But when these wars occurred, the lethality of weapons was still very limited, and after Europeans enjoyed nearly fifty years of peace, they had forgotten the pain of the past wars, and even ignored the present The terrifying increase in weapon lethality.
The last most eye-catching war in Europe was the Franco-Prussian War. Although the scale was good, it lasted short. Germany was in an advantage from the beginning, which did not cause too much losses to the two countries.
In the Balkan War, the mutual attacks between the Balkan countries were also completed in a short period of time. For example, the Balkan Alliance fought against the Ottoman Empire, or the war between Bulgaria and the Anti-Bulgarian Alliance took place within a few months. In terms of completion, the two Balkan wars combined took less than a year.
Nowadays, European politicians probably have the mentality of "quick victory" and "decisive war". Many people only think that once the war is launched, it will end in a short time.
Before the start of the First World War in the previous life, almost all participating countries were full of confidence in the war. The huge confidence accumulated from the colonial wars believed that war was the best way to gain military glory.
Especially among the old nobles who became increasingly lonely during the two industrial revolutions, they hoped to restore the glory of their families through war. These people became the most radical promoters of war, using the power and power in their hands to status, and promote the beauty of war through public opinion.
For example, in Britain, optimism prevails, believing that the war will end in a few weeks. After all, the British, who have been in peace for a long time, have long forgotten the cruelty of war. Since the Napoleonic Wars, the British have not experienced In large-scale wars, even the American Revolutionary War, they defeated the opposing side and did not suffer much loss.
And because of East Africa, Britain lost the lessons of the two Boer Wars and did not become the laughing stock of European countries. Although losing to East Africa was more embarrassing, it was still much better than being educated by the Boers in the previous life.
Although France suffered heavy losses in the Franco-Prussian War, its strong national pride plunged the entire country into a state of crazy revenge. They wanted a war of blood and fire to wash away the shame. They did not realize how much the war would bring. of harm.
Germany, dominated by Prussia, has had almost no defeats in recent years and has won several national destiny battles. Coupled with the rapid development of the domestic economy and the rapid advancement of industrial strength, the expansion is boundless.
Before World War I, in the minds of Europeans, Europe was the master of the world. Whether it was the old Britain, France, or the emerging Germany, they all achieved unprecedented success.
European armies were invincible in the colonies, crushing like bulldozers all foreign natives who dared to resist them. Along with this, European capital spread all over the world, dominating everything from the Ivory Coast to the Moluccas. The economic lifeline of most of the world. Nowadays, European civilization has shown amazing penetration capabilities. It seems that the world's civilizations can be classified in this way: European and barbaric. This is the golden age of Europe.
In this context, European people generally have an extremely strong sense of national superiority and pride. This sense of superiority and pride is not entirely the result of propaganda - they have indeed achieved extraordinary success.
Their views on war are also different from those of today's people. They regard war as a common way of national development. Compared with today's people, they advocate force more.
In other words, from top to bottom in Europe, whether politicians or ordinary people, there is an extreme desire for war. They regard war as an important way to change the destiny of the country and individuals.
To sum up, Europeans in the early 20th century were actually a group of war lunatics disguised as civilization.
As the social thinking of European countries becomes more extreme, and the competition for interests becomes increasingly fierce, conflicts become irreconcilable, and the pace of war is getting closer. The big and powerful countries outside the region are preparing to stay out of the matter, which is nothing more than the Far Eastern Empire. , East Africa, the United States, Japan and other countries.
As for the fact that Europeans are not worried at all about internal strife and allowing these extra-regional powers to usurp the so-called center of civilization from Europe, Europe in this era has such pride and complacency.
Of course, East Africans have no time to understand the mentality of Europeans. Now the East African economy is also in a boom, and most people have no time to pay attention to what is happening on the European continent.
But there are also a few people who see business opportunities through the exaggeration of East African news. As long as they can connect with the European battlefield, it is not a huge profit!
With the rollout of the new economic policy, a group of relatively powerful private businessmen have emerged in East Africa in the past three years. In order to open up sales in the European market, they dare to adopt new technologies, new processes, and new ideas. .
Although the European war has not yet started, many people have realized that this is an opportunity that cannot be missed. Therefore, in 1914, many East African businessmen went to Europe to explore the market.
This is actually related to the overheating of the domestic economy in East Africa. Nowadays, the East African market is so hot that people believe that investment can make a profit. A large number of companies have appeared throughout East Africa, engaged in various types of production activities.
This will inevitably lead to a large-scale overproduction of industrial production in East Africa. Therefore, East Africa naturally needs to find a way to sell goods, especially those private enterprises. In overseas markets, Europe has the highest consumption level. Yes, it is relatively close to East Africa, so many private companies in East Africa have started to go abroad.
As a country of immigrants, East Africa has deep cultural roots with Europe, so it is relatively convenient to go abroad, especially the German and Slavic regions.
Under this situation, a large number of East African businessmen appeared in various European countries, trying to sell East African industrial products to all parts of Europe. This is also the first time that Europe has come into contact with so many East Africans so far. .
Previously, East Africa implemented a closed-door policy. Except for international students and public officials, it was almost difficult to see East Africans in Europe. But now there are many East African faces in European countries. As a mixed race, East Africans are relatively Easy to identify.
This can also easily arouse Europeans' curiosity about East African countries. Through these cultural disseminators who bring their own dry food, Europeans can correctly understand the situation of East African countries for the first time, but by this time it is already too late. After all, Europe is only one step away from the quagmire of war, and Europe will have no time to take care of itself.
(End of this chapter)