Chapter 1386 The internationalization of the Rhine Shield
In fact, compared with late-developed countries like East Africa, France is still too strong in its family. From the late 19th century to the early 20th century, France has become the world's second largest capital exporter. Second only to the United Kingdom.
At this stage, Europe is a well-deserved world financial center. In addition to Britain, France and Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, Switzerland and other countries have developed relatively well, and Belgium's foreign capital output is 3 billion Rhine Shield About $500 million.
However, before the war, the direction and focus of capital exports of these countries were different. Britain's investment was mainly within the empire, that is, the vast colonies occupied by Britain, followed by the entire America.
France's foreign investment is mainly in Europe, with Russia accounting for the majority, followed by East Africa and finally its own colonies.
The reason for this result is that the quality of the French colonies is obviously not as good as that of the British colonies. British capital can choose India, Canada and other regions and get good returns. However, the French colonies have relatively slow investment.
Lastly, Germany has much fewer investment options than Britain and France, mainly Central and Eastern Europe, the Ottoman Empire and East Africa. It is worth mentioning that the Austro-Hungarian Empire is a key area for German investment.
However, since the World War, the pattern of the world's financial industry has also undergone great changes. For example, the United States has become the world's largest creditor, and East Africa has also become a post-war debt since it was heavily in debt before the war. One of the world's major creditor countries.
This transformation is actually in line with the economies of the two countries. After the war, the sum of industrial output in East Africa and the United States exceeded 50% of the world's industrial output, while Europe shrank to 3%. About ten, and in the 1970s, about the period of the Franco-Prussian War, Europe's industrial output was close to 65% of the world's industrial output.
It can be seen that the rise of extraterritorial countries such as East Africa and the United States has a strong impact and destruction on the European economy and industry.
For example, South America, a key capital export region in the past, was actually divided by the United States and East Africa due to World War I. After the war, it was almost impossible for British capital to return to this region, so British capital can only further Move into the country's colonies.
France is even worse than Britain. France's largest investment is in Russia, but the Russian Labor Party came to power and caused France to lose all its investment in Russia. The only good news is that France suffered a loss that is definitely smaller than in previous lives. This is because the rise of East Africa has allowed French capital to find a new investment hotspot.
In fact, from the distribution characteristics of capital outputs in European countries before the war, we can see that the flow of capital in Europe is actually more inclined to its own sphere of influence, followed by regions and countries with relatively close international relations. Finally, It is an independent and sovereign state with relatively reliable reputation.
East Africa is a third party for France, that is, an independent and sovereign state with relatively reliable reputation. Under such a general premise, France's investment in East Africa will not be treated differently.
If East Africa, like Russia, does not admit the old debt, then France's economy will probably go bankrupt after the war. After all, France's investment in East Africa is second only to Russia, and this time France is not a victorious country, and it can be from Germany Get compensation to make up for the country's losses.
In response to the new changes in the current international economic situation and the actual situation of the economic development of East Africa, Ernst said: "After the war, the world's financial industry pattern has undergone a huge change. Although the international status of the pound remains stable, it has already To some extent, France's status as a franc may be shaken due to the war and Russian default. "
"This is the most important impact of World War I on the old world order, which may make the international economy The order has undergone major changes. "
"This provides favorable conditions for the internationalization of the Rhine Shield, and we also take advantage of the current great opportunity to establish a stable Rhine Shield Zone."
Before the First World War The three major currencies in the international currency field are the British pound, the US dollar and the franc, which correspond to the British pound area, the US dollar area and the franc area.
The East African Rhine Shield is not as powerful as the German Mark in international trade due to its short history, and can only rank fifth in the world.
Of course, this is closely related to the reasons why East Africa's financial industry is developing late and the opening hours of the East Africa market are late.
The East African Rhine Shield has the conditions to become one of the world's strong currencies, thanks to the rapid increase in East Africa's influence around the world since the end of the 19th and the early 20th century and the rapid development of East African industry.
From the beginning of the South African War in the last century and the end of World War I, East Africa has successfully radiated its influence from the mainland of Africa to the entire Indian Ocean coast, the Middle East and Central Asia, the South Asia and East Asia, South America and other places. This laid the foundation for the international circulation of Rhine Shield.
In the above-mentioned regions, East Africa has established a relatively stable economic sphere of influence and fulcrum, which can protect the movement of the Rhine Shield.
These areas are also areas that the East African Navy and the Air Force can cover and have certain advantages in the future.
For example, the Third Fleet in the Persian Gulf, the two economic free trade zones in East Asia, the in-depth economic cooperation between southern South American countries and East Africa, the extensive colonies in the South Ocean, etc.
This also shows to a certain extent why Britain tried every means to block the northbound passage of East Africa after the war and entered Europe. Once East Africa will have its influence deep into Europe, the East Africa Rhine Shield will almost be There is no difference between world currencies and it seriously threatens the dominance of the British pound.
In the context of the relatively lagging development of Britain's industrial and military strength, the financial industry can be said to be the last life-saving straw for Britain, so the UK will inevitably suppress other currencies that may threaten the status of the pound.
So it is not just the Rhine Shield of East Africa, the US dollar of the United States, the French francs, the German marks, etc., which are all targets of British suppression.
Among these, the US dollar and the franc had become the main international currencies second only to the British pound before the 20th century. For example, the US dollar, which is second only to the British pound in the reserve foreign exchange of countries around the world. Thanks to the strong economic and industrial strength of the United States and the very developed international trade in the United States.
Since modern times, France has played an important role in the international community, and has even long been one of the dominant players of the international order, with a wide influence around the world and a huge colony second only to Britain, so the Franc has always been It is the main international currency.
In comparison, the East African Rhine Shield and the German Mark were actually latecomers. German reunification was the middle and late last century. After the Franco-Prussian War, Germany became the main economy in the world. However, Germany, which has just been unified, has a good economic foundation, which has led to the continued rapid growth of the international share of the German Mark.
Although the East African Rhine Shield appeared later than the German Mark, it was even less effective than the German Mark.
After all, East Africa's complete liberalization of the domestic market was only after 1910, and the international participation of East Africa's economy has been low before. So Ernst said: "The influence of the Rhine Shield in the world is not matched by its value. This is one of the disadvantages of East Africa as a latecomer and even the youngest country in the world."
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The United States, Germany, and Japan are all latecomers, just like East Africa, but East Africa still occupies the identity of the youngest country in the world. The history of East Africa is less than a century, and it is more than that of countries developed from colonies such as the United States. Be much younger.
"So, the internationalization of Rhine Shield must further open up the popularity of Rhine Shield in the economic market and make it a widely recognized international hard currency, thereby achieving our shortening of our and European and American countries in the currency field. "
"With long-term efforts, we have laid a good foundation for the internationalization of Rhine Shield. In the industrial field, East Africa has the largest industrial scale in the world, and East Africa has a vast land and abundant resources. This provides a reliable intrinsic value for the Rhine Shield."
Of course, Ernst has not mentioned one thing, that is, the East African treasury has sufficient gold reserves. In the era of the gold standard, this is for the Rhine Shield of the East African A huge advantage.
"Rhine Shield lacks external influence now, so in order to improve the international liquidity of Rhine Shield, under the new economic situation, the empire should start to establish the international payment system, international settlement system, and international Reserve system, etc. ”
"This has raised higher requirements for us to further improve our country's financial industry system during the 55th Five-Year Plan."
"The empire's financial industry has developed significantly before World War I, compared with Europe and the United States."
" The country can be said to be very immature, so one of our current economic tasks is to rectify the domestic financial industry market and build a complete financial system. "
"At the same time, at the national level, it is planned to build a new international financial industry. Center, facilitating economic exchanges and exchanges between the empire and countries around the world. "
Previously, the international financial industry center in East Africa was Mombasa. During World War I, East Africa became the world's major industrial and strategic resource exporter. The reason is that Mombasa's economy has developed rapidly and its position as an international financial industry center has been greatly strengthened.
However, one of Mombasa's shortcomings cannot be ignored, that is, Mombasa is located on the east coast of East Africa, which is not conducive to the development of financial-related fields in countries along the East Africa and the Atlantic coast.
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So Ernst said: "Mombasa's geographical location is flawed, or the terrain of East Africa has hindered the development of our financial industry. Therefore, in order to strengthen the construction of the financial industry and facilitate exchanges between East Africa and abroad, new ones should be required. Two new international financial industry centers were added. "
"One is Cabinda and the other is Dar es Salaam. Cabinda has become the international financial industry center on the west coast of East Africa, and Dar essa Ram City has become an important supplement to the development of the East Coast financial industry. "
In fact, if it were not for Gabon and Cameroon provinces in northwest of East Africa, due to natural factors, it would be difficult to carry out economic development and poor transportation. The reason is that the new financial industry center on the West Coast is definitely the better.
Just like Mombasa, its location is most convenient for exchanges between East Africa and the Far East, Indian Ocean coast countries and other regions. Further north is the Somalia region. Although it is also an East African territory, the climate environment in the Somalia region is too harsh.
Gabon and Cameroon in northwestern East Africa are the other extreme, Somalia is a typical tropical desert area, while the northwest is a typical tropical rainforest area.
East Africa has added two new international financial centers, of which one must have one on the east and west coasts, which is Mombasa and Cabinda. The city of Dar es Salaam has established this property, To facilitate the development of central and southern East Africa.
Although East Africa is a country with two oceans, the gap between the east and west coasts of East Africa still exists. The economy of the east coast is one level stronger than the west coast. After all, the livable belt on the east coast of East Africa is longer.
The only livable zone on the west coast is the coast of Angola, which makes the two have a huge gap in economic size. Of course, this is also related to the late development time of the western region and the smaller population. After all, the western region of East Africa is currently in the current state of western China. The economy is not even as good as the central part of East Africa.
"In addition to the construction of three international financial industry centers, the functions and status of Rhine's domestic financial industry centers are strengthened."
As the capital of East Africa, Rhine City is also a national central city and transportation hub, and naturally has the advantage of building a national financial center. In fact, if it were not for the reason that the aviation industry was not yet developed enough, Rhine City could also be built into an international financial center. .
However, this goal is definitely not possible at this stage. After all, the current transportation of Rhine City still relies on land transportation, that is, the status of a hub city for railways and highways, which can only facilitate the convergence and radiation of domestic capital in East Africa. Not conducive to exchanges with foreign countries.
This is also related to the geography of East Africa. East Africa occupies nearly half of the African continent, but there are no strong countries around it, or even economies of comparable scale. Except for East Africa, the second most developed country in Africa is actually Egypt. This semi-colonial country.
Egypt's population is only nearly 10 million, and its arable land is limited to the narrow strips on both sides of the Nile. Industry is almost negligible and there is no sovereignty to independently develop the economy.
However, except for Egypt, other land neighbors and regions in East Africa can be said to be even more terrible. There is only the South Germany, an independent country, and the others are colonies of various countries. The South Germany's size is also a terrible one. Too small, the population is only a few million.
Therefore, the economic volume of an East African country accounts for more than 90% of the entire Africa. From an industrial perspective, East Africa can completely represent the entire African continent.
So, the economic situation on the African continent is not enough to support Rhine as the center of the international financial industry at this stage.
Moscow is more likely to have such conditions among inland cities around the world. After all, Russia, where Moscow is located, has many neighboring countries on land, and its economic size is considerable.
So theoretically, Moscow can use the Eurasian railway and highway network to become the financial center of Eurasia. However, this is only theoretically. As for the current situation, Europe, especially Western Europe, is the most important thing. The economy is much stronger than Russia. From a long-term historical perspective, the Far East Empire will inevitably recover in the future. Therefore, Russia's geographical location seems to be both ends, but in fact it cannot eat either end, but instead it is caused by two. The possibility of siphoning in advanced economies, and the Russian economy in previous lives proved this.
However, Russia's geographical advantage cannot be denied because of this. After all, there is a saying that things are artificial, and the Russians just don't have such ability.
(This chapter ends)