Chapter 1149 Return to South America
As a large market, the arms trade is indispensable for publicity, and the use of war has the most significant effect on weapons publicity.
Just like the Gulf War in the previous life, the United States suppressed the Soviet weapons in one fell swoop. However, this does not mean that the Soviet weapons are not good and have not adapted to the new style of play of the US military. Another main reason is that The quality of the Iraqi army is too poor.
In fact, if the Soviet Union had not disintegrated, a big country like this would quickly be able to formulate appropriate solutions to changes in the battlefield. But at that time, the Soviet Union no longer had this opportunity.
Many times, the performance of a weapon depends on who is using it. In the hands of an excellent army, even a fire stick can give full play to its value. However, in those African countries in the previous life, common sense cannot be used at all. Consider.
And Bulgaria is the one chosen by Ernst. Of course, Bulgaria will not suffer a loss if East Africa does this. It is really like Ukraine in the previous life. It is also a skill to find the United States and a bunch of European countries to ask for military assistance. If even the West If everyone gives up on Ukraine, that would be true despair.
So, with Germany unable to escape and Bulgaria relying heavily on German weapons, East Africa can be regarded as Bulgaria's "big savior".
After talking about Europe, John Lear began to talk about the focus of the arms market: "When European countries were involved in the European war, the arms market vacated in Asia, Africa and Latin America was the big one."
< br>“These non-European arms markets are not a single business, as long as we can make good use of them This gap that major European countries cannot escape from will lay a good foundation for the future arms trade in East Africa.”
“For example, the Far East, the Middle East, Central Asia, West Africa, and Latin America were originally divided up by major countries in the world. , and now our only competitors are Americans.”
Today's land wars are still in the era of rifles and artillery. In this case, the United States has a unique advantage. After all, the United States is a country that does not prohibit guns, so rifle production in the United States is a large and complete industrial chain.
In addition, the United States is a completely liberalized market, so the United States produces almost all mainstream types of firearms. For example, the East African version of the Mauser rifle can also be found in the United States.
The United States has a strong gun production industry, and the United States has not stirred into the muddy waters of the war, which has also increased the competitive pressure on the arms market in East Africa.
Except for big countries like the Far Eastern Empire, the consumption power of many countries is actually not as strong as imagined. Some island countries don’t even need an army. Naturally, they don’t need high-end products such as artillery and warships. On the contrary, The most basic rifle can meet the needs of these small and poor countries.
Nowadays, East Africa's foreign trade can be said to be in full bloom. At the same time, East Africa's financial pressure has also been significantly relieved. After all, East Africa borrowed a lot of money from Europe and the United States before the war, and now it is equivalent to a process of repaying the debt.
This is also an important reason why East Africa can receive a large number of orders. East Africa is originally a party that owes debts. Now the warring parties in Europe can get the strategic materials they want from East Africa without using their gold reserves. It is a win-win situation. .
If East Africa did not owe so much debt before the war, it would be detrimental to the country's industrial exports. After all, without debts, Europe and the United States would have to pay real money to import materials from East Africa, and this It is difficult for any country to accept psychologically.
However, if European countries choose East Africa to use materials to balance their accounts, they will then become path dependent on the materials exported from East Africa, which will be difficult to get rid of at least before the end of the war.
East Africa has been preparing for World War I for several years. At this time, the United States has not even rolled out its production lines. There will definitely be a gap in the quality of industrial products between the two countries. In other words, the quality of East African products Overall it is higher than the United States.
For example, if drugs, beverages and other products produced in East Africa enter Europe before the United States, they will continue to maintain their advantage in product competitiveness.
……
October 1914.
While the European war firmly dominated the headlines every day, East Africa suddenly made big moves in South America and taught the South American countries a hard lesson.
On October 1st, the East African Navy officially launched a large-scale visit to South America, sending a large visiting team of five battleships, one battlecruiser, and ten cruisers.
It can be said that the East African Navy used a large part of the Atlantic Fleet's resources to carry out this visit to South America, or in other words, a demonstration. With the outbreak of the European War, the East African Navy also made adjustments and transferred most of the country's main navy ships to the Atlantic waters. The main task was to escort the country's merchant ships in Europe and ensure the smooth flow of sea routes.
After all, only "showing the sword" can allow Britain and France to see the strength of East Africa and prevent them from interfering with East Africa's maritime trade.
This is also an important reason why East African merchant ships can successfully reach Germany. Although the trade between East Africa and the United States with Germany was obviously hostile to the enemy during this period, Britain and France could only turn a blind eye. , close one eye.
After all, East Africa and the United States are important neutral countries that can change the war situation in Europe. Offending either of them may lead them into an abyss of destruction.
East Africa and the United States also maintain a tacit understanding and silently safeguard the right to "free navigation". After all, this is beneficial to both countries making money.
However, compared with the tacit understanding shown by the two countries when facing European countries, the competition between East Africa and the United States in other parts of the world is completely different.
The Americas, regarded as the back garden by the United States, is also the main battlefield for the two countries to compete for the world market. With Britain and France being held back by Germany.
South America has also made room. The United States, which proposed the Monroe Doctrine, is naturally full of joy and wants to take over the spheres of influence of Britain and France in South America.
However, in the eyes of the East African government, it is another matter. After all, in terms of distance alone, East Africa is not far from the South American continent, so East Africa definitely does not agree with part of the Monroe Doctrine.
So in order to compete for the spheres of influence and markets of countries such as Britain and France in South America, the United States and East Africa each showed their magic.
But in the end, it all depends on who has the bigger fist, thus forcing South American countries to make the most "reasonable" choice.
The East African Navy’s visit to South America this time can be described as large-scale, even starting from Mexico, non-South America, and finally ending in Argentina, far exceeding the scale of the last East African Navy’s visit to South America.
The last visit of the East African Navy to South American countries was mainly limited to the five southern countries of South America, namely Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay and Chile.
This time, all coastal countries are within the scope of the East African Navy's visit, while there are basically no inland countries in South America, except for the two unlucky ones, Paraguay and Bolivia.
However, a visit to Paraguay is also within the plan of the East African Navy. With the help of the Paraguay River, it is completely possible to reach Asuncion, the capital of Paraguay.
As for Bolivia, there is really no way. It is one thing that Bolivia does not have an outlet to the sea, and without a waterway connecting the outside like the Paraguay River, the East African Navy naturally has no chance to visit Bolivia.
Of course, this does not mean that Bolivia does not have a navy. Although there is no outlet to the sea, Bolivia has the largest freshwater lake in South America, Lake Titicaca, and the Bolivian Navy is in Lake Titicaca.
In the past life, the Bolivian Navy was also a major feature of the world. Although it was only a large lake, the Bolivian Navy was stronger than many countries, with more than 5,000 personnel, and was more powerful than Outer Mongolia, which is also a landlocked country. The navy is much more worthy of its name.
This can be considered a major regret of East Africa's navy's trip to South America. If the time were pushed forward a few decades, Bolivia would have at least had access to the sea at that time.
The loss of Bolivia’s seaport was due to the failure of the Guano War, that is, after 1879. At that time, the East African Navy was not as powerful as it is now. This was also the first time the East African Navy visited the west coast of South America.
(End of this chapter)