Chapter 1160 Prime Minister Kuyper
This is extortion! Wilhelmina looked at the shameless man in front of her with a complicated expression. Sure enough, now that the British Empire and France are inseparable, are clowns like East Africa now unscrupulous?
When Wilhelmina was extremely confused, Dutch Prime Minister Kuyper couldn't stand it anymore.
Kyper was actually pro-Allied, which made the Netherlands neutral in World War I but actually favored Germany.
This also caused the Netherlands to suffer from war even though it was neutral.
On the one hand, almost all the world's supplies poured into Europe due to the war, which made the prices of tea, sugar, rubber and other supplies in Europe extremely low.
These items are almost the main output of the Dutch colonies. The Dutch colonies are the East Indies and the Antilles in the Caribbean. As tropical areas, they can only produce a limited number of items. Tropical produce.
The reality is that almost all the British and French colonies and American countries can produce the same type of products, and this time and space has added East Africa, a major exporter of tropical agricultural products in the world. Not to mention the Netherlands, even tropical countries such as Brazil feel that There was deep ill will in East Africa, which almost caused the Dutch colonial trade revenue to plummet.
On the other hand, in order to win the war, the Allied Powers in the previous life began to prohibit the import of goods that could be transferred to Germany in the middle and late stages of the war, and the Netherlands became the key to this. After all, the Netherlands can be said to be the fastest in the Ruhr area of Germany to go to sea. channel, a large number of commodities are extremely dependent on the Netherlands for transshipment.
At the end of the war, the United States also joined the blockade of the Netherlands. The United States stopped supplying oil, coal, iron and other materials to the Netherlands.
Hundreds of ships carrying food were caught in English ports, leading to the "Potato Riots" of 1918.
The "Potato Riot" was actually a riot started by Belgian refugees who fled to the Netherlands because they could not keep up with the relief.
In the later stages of the war, nearly 900,000 Belgians fled to the Netherlands, including hundreds of thousands of Belgian soldiers. The nearly one million war refugees meant that the Dutch had a population of only over 6 million. , obviously embarrassed.
This is also the fundamental reason why Wilhelmina immediately agreed to Teller's offer to help the Netherlands solve the refugee problem. Of course, it was only the early days of the war, and the Netherlands' carrying capacity obviously did not reach that level, but dozens of Thousands of refugees are enough to give the Dutch government a headache.
Of course, the final result of the war was still good for the Netherlands as a whole. Although there were some twists and turns, the Netherlands obtained a large amount of real money from Germany.
The existence of Prime Minister Kuyper is also good news for East Africa. The existence of a pro-German Prime Minister allows him to open the door to trade between East Africa and Germany.
Kyper knew very well the value of the Netherlands to East Africa, so he was completely confident in Trel's blackmail.
Kyper said: "Sir Taylor, your request is really too much. You must know that any issue related to territory touches the core interests of a country. Although we are in Kalimantan, The power is not big, but the island of Kalimantan is also an integral part of the Netherlands.”
The so-called power is not big, only for the two countries of Britain and East Africa on the island of Kalimantan. , the British occupied the northern part of Kalimantan, while East Africa occupied the western part, and the Dutch held East Kalimantan.
The Netherlands is a small country. The core of its colony is Java Island, and the power it can allocate to other islands is very limited. On the other hand, West Kalimantan controlled by East Africa is indeed East Africa's core interest in the Southeast Asia region. Its population, military, etc. are much larger than those of the United Kingdom and the Netherlands. After all, West Kalimantan has become one of the provinces of East Africa, and It is the only overseas province far away from the mainland. This is different from the two provinces on Madagascar. The two provinces on Madagascar are very close to East Africa and are completely planned as local areas.
Trel said: "Prime Minister Kuyper, don't be too busy to refuse. Even in Europe, territorial transactions are very common, so we in East Africa definitely approach the Netherlands with a friendly attitude. Trading. "
"Although Kalimantan is very large, its development is limited. East Kalimantan controlled by the Netherlands has almost no economic output, and the Bulongan Sultanate under your country's rule, The Kutai Sultanate also had disputes with the United Kingdom, so from a security perspective, even if our country does not have any plans for East Kalimantan, the British will not give up these areas. It is better to sell East Kalimantan to East Africa. We in East Africa can also serve as a buffer zone between the United Kingdom and your country.”
The Sultanate of Burungan and the Sultanate of Kutai are both regimes in East Kalimantan and are also the sphere of influence of the Netherlands. During the expansion of Kalimantan in the century, there was indeed a fierce conflict with the Netherlands.
The reason for this result is naturally the interference of East Africa. The establishment of East Africa was based on the loss of a large number of African colonies in the previous life, so the British expansion in other regions also appeared more fierce.
Kuyper laughed angrily and said: "Oh, according to what you said, we should be grateful for East Africa's contribution? And Kalimantan was handed over to your country, how can it become a buffer zone!"
Special Lyle explained: "This is easy to understand. In fact, the Nanyang region can be divided into five major parts. According to strength, they are Britain, France, East Africa, the Netherlands and the United States."
"British India and Myanmar The colonies are originally close to the Nanyang region and control the Strait of Malacca. There are also many colonies in the south such as New Guinea and Australia. Most of your colonies are bordering the United Kingdom. In general, the United Kingdom controls the northern part of Nanyang, and your colonies Mainly distributed in the south, if we in East Africa are caught in the middle, we can cut off the direct connection between your country and the United Kingdom, which is beneficial to both of us."
As for France and the United States, there is no need to say more, although. The colonies they occupy are relatively rich compared to many areas in Southeast Asia, but they are basically not as dispersed as Britain, the Netherlands and East Africa, and their influence cannot spread.
“Now, we in East Africa lack East Kalimantan as a strategic fulcrum. If your country trades East Kalimantan to our country, then our East African colonies will be able to isolate the British and the United States from west to east. Go south.”
If East Africa occupies Kalimantan, it can cooperate with Mindanao, Balabac Island, New Guinea and the Pacific Islands to form the second largest power radiation area in the region after the United Kingdom, further increasing East Africa's influence in the South Ocean. rising.
Trel continued to add: "Of course, your country values actual interests more. We can guarantee some of the privileges of your citizens in East Kalimantan, and the two countries can jointly develop the East Kalimantan region. , the subsequent benefits can also be shared, of course, the territorial sovereignty belongs to East Africa is unshakable.”
“And we are willing to give you a fair price to buy the East Kalimantan area, so that your country can. If you can get two benefits, does it matter whether East Kalimantan is still a colony of your country? "
"You know, it is difficult for your country to hold East Kalimantan alone. Moreover, colonial activities have become more difficult in recent years, and the cost of colonial rule is rising day by day. With your country’s national strength, it is somewhat beyond your power to control the island of Java. It is better to sit back and enjoy future benefits under the protection of East Africa. We already have it in East Africa. Your country can definitely join in the plan to develop East Kalimantan.”
As a world power, East Africa’s ability to develop East Kalimantan is unquestionable, but if it is the Netherlands, it will be very difficult. Without development and the risk of independence, the Netherlands will naturally not be able to further expand the economic value of East Kalimantan, and it will be difficult to develop Baoshan.
Kuyper also somewhat agreed with Teller's explanation later, but he couldn't make up his mind for a while. After all, Teller's words sounded good, and it was up to two people to decide what East Africa would do in the end. In this case...
(End of this chapter)