Chapter 1560 West African Market

South America is a severely affected area by the rampant extreme nationalism. This situation is prone to occur given the immigration structure of South America as a whole. After all, most of the South American countries were colonies of Spain and Portugal in the past. At the same time, German and Italian immigrants account for a large proportion of these countries.

The economy of South America has never been very good. Argentina used to be the only country that stood out, but now even Argentina's economy has collapsed, not to mention other South American countries. Therefore, the economic situation in South America as a whole has provided fertile ground for the development of extreme nationalism.

Not to mention the underdeveloped countries in South America, other regions of the world are also affected by the wave of extreme nationalism in Europe, including East Africa.

Although Adolf has always looked down on the "mixed-blood" people in East Africa, Adolf's government has put a lot of effort into East Africa.

Germany attempted to support extreme nationalist forces in East Africa and thus tie East Africa to its chariot. Therefore, Germany's infiltration in East Africa was also strictly guarded against, just like it did against the Soviet Union.

…

The time came to 1934.

Although the world has not been peaceful in the past year, it has been generally stable. At least no major war has broken out. However, conflicts in the international community have also accumulated more and more.

There are three major conflict locations in the world. The first is the domestic unrest in the Austro-Hungarian Empire in Central and Southern Europe. Behind the turmoil in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, many countries including Britain, France, Germany, the Soviet Union, and Italy were involved.

Then there was the conflict between East Asia, the Far East Empire and Japan, which also involved the game between the United States and Britain. During this period, Britain's attitude towards Japan changed, and it was determined that Japan had become the main threat to its East Asian interests. At the same time, relations between the United States and Japan began to deteriorate.

Finally, the competition between South America, East Africa, the United States, Germany, and the United Kingdom is becoming increasingly fierce. Apart from Antarctica and Oceania, there is almost no untouched land in the world.

Against this international backdrop, at the beginning of 1934, East African governments began to discuss how to respond to the chaotic world situation.

Rhine City.

East African Defense Minister Schwager first introduced the overall world situation: "Since the great global economic crisis that broke out in late 1929, three forces have been rapidly rising in the international community, which has become the main root cause of the current global chaos."

"These three forces are the labor forces represented by the Soviet Union, which are growing stronger throughout the world; the extreme nationalist forces typified by Germany, which are rapidly expanding throughout the world; and the rapid awakening of anti-colonial consciousness in colonial and semi-colonial countries represented by the Far Eastern Empire, India, and Latin America."

"The combined influence of these three forces, or social ideologies, is impacting the international social order established under the leadership of Britain and France since the 19th century, and may also pose a threat."

"It can be said that the life of the old international order has entered its countdown stage."

"The world colonial system began to disintegrate, an anti-democratic wave emerged in the international community, the Soviet Union, Germany, and various military governments, more dictators would emerge, the world market would split, and countries would launch a new round of arms race, and so on."

The collapse of the world colonial system is an inevitable trend, and the outbreak of the great global economic crisis in 1929 has promoted this process.

As the economic crisis broke out and continued, the world's major industrial powers, or the great powers, accelerated the transfer of the crisis abroad and plundered the wealth of colonies, semi-colonies and backward areas, causing great suffering to the people of the third world.

As the saying goes, where there is oppression, there is resistance. Therefore, under this economic situation, it is not surprising that anti-colonial movements have emerged one after another around the world, and the sense of independence has become stronger.

As for the anti-democratic wave that Schwager mentioned, the "democracy" here is worth pondering. After all, if it is true democracy, this situation should not occur.

This actually refers more to the "democratic" political model established under the leadership of Britain and France, or in other words, the "democratic trick" has come to an end.

Since the 19th century, Britain and France have almost been the world's "beacons of civilization". The political systems of the two countries have spread widely around the world along with their hegemony, and other countries have rushed to learn from them.

However, as time entered the 20th century, the political systems and cultural and ideological dissemination of Britain and France basically became unsustainable. After the economic crisis of 1929, with the rise of the Labour Party and extreme nationalist parties, they fell into a desperate situation.

The democracies of Britain, France and Germany are economic oligarchs and capital democracies. Internally, wealth flows into the upper classes without restriction, while the lives of the lower classes have not changed or benefited from industrialization. Even compared with the people in those enslaved colonies, the coal, textile and other workers in Britain are not much better off.

In the British and French colonies, the lives of the lower-class people will only become more difficult. No matter how hard Britain and France squeeze them, they can't squeeze out a drop of oil. This description may be more appropriate: the British and French people can still keep a pair of underwear, but the lower-class people in the colonies don't even have a pair of underwear. However, in this cannibalistic era, even if there is one more pair of underwear, it will not change anything.

At the same time, because of the study of the British and French political systems, the governments of other backward countries and regions are almost all composed of representatives of the interests of the two countries, that is, compradors. When such people rule a country, it will only accelerate the loss of the country's wealth and be sucked dry by Britain and France.

Therefore, at the beginning of the 20th century, the people in colonial and semi-colonial countries had already realized that the so-called "democratic system" of Britain and France had not brought any beneficial changes to their lives, but had made their lives even more difficult.

In this case, this so-called "democracy" is unnecessary, so some people turn to the Labour Party, some to extreme nationalist parties, or even to military governments or the arms of dictators.

Needless to say, the Soviet Union and Germany are the most typical countries. However, the new president of the world's largest democracy, the United States, Roosevelt, is undoubtedly also a "dictator."

Of course, the world's largest democracy was controversial in the early 20th century. For example, some people believed that the Far Eastern Empire was the largest democracy, but more people believed that the Nanjing government was a "dictatorship."

In addition, the Soviet Union also had its own ideas. They believed that the Soviet Union was the only "democratic country" in the world, while Europe, the United States and other countries were "fake democratic countries." In this way, the Soviet Union became the largest democratic country in the world.

Of course, the Soviets thought so, but the international community did not see it that way. Its leader was a "recognized" dictator in the world, and even some members of the Imperial Russian Federation admired him because of his harsh methods. They sighed, "How great it would be if Joseph was the Tsar of Russia!"

In short, after the outbreak of the world economic crisis in 1929, the thinking of the world's people has undergone earth-shaking changes. Compared with the past "democratic system", they are more willing to believe in "strongman politics" and hope that someone will lead them to change the status quo.

Among them, the most typical case is Germany. Almost all Germans knew that after Adolf came to power, he would inevitably become a "dictator" and "tyrant" and even lead Germany into war. However, most Germans still voted for him.

In fact, Adolf became a dictator who was elected by the German people and eventually came to power legally with the support of other interest groups in Germany.

These are all manifestations of the "anti-democratic wave" at this stage. If this is the case in Europe and the United States, it goes without saying that this is the case in other countries and regions in the world.

Of course, these changes are not too difficult to accept for East Africa, which is relatively politically stable.

The division of the world market and a new round of global arms race have made East African governments even more worried. As the world's largest industrial country, a complete world market is naturally beneficial to East Africa.

Now, due to the economic crisis, world powers represented by the United States have raised and strengthened tariff barriers, and Britain and France have even decoupled their colonies from the world economy, which has damaged the interests of East Africa.

The two countries that are most reluctant to see the division of the world market are East Africa and Germany. East Africa is the largest industrial country, while Germany is heavily dependent on the international market.

Defense Minister Schwager said: "The fragmentation of the world market has had a huge impact on the Empire's economy. Although we have actively developed new markets over the years, this cannot completely solve the problem. Therefore, the Empire should further plan for more regions, especially the colonies of Britain and France."

"Among them, we believe that within Africa, East Africa should redistribute resources and markets across the continent. After all, Africa is East Africa's Africa and the base of the empire."

"The Empire should accelerate its penetration and expansion into North and West Africa, building a large African market with the Empire at its core, and integrating resources across Africa through railways and highways."

“North Africa and West Africa are right in front of East Africa. If they are tied to the East African economy, it will be difficult to escape the control of the empire. Moreover, unlike the European market, there is no uncertainty.”

“At the same time, after integrating the African market, the Empire can use North Africa as a springboard to strengthen our influence on the European economy.”

Naturally, some people have raised objections to Schwager's remarks. Alfred, the East African Foreign Minister, said: "North Africa and West Africa are almost all British, French and German forces. I do not recommend taking overly radical actions in these regions."

"This would put us in a position to engage in direct conflict with Britain and France. Although the Empire is confident of defeating them, this could lead to the direct collapse of the world order, benefiting the United States, Germany, and the Soviet Union."

Schwager said, "I understand Minister Alfred's concerns, but they are a bit overblown. It is simply impossible for Britain and France to concentrate their energy on confronting us right now."

"They were pinned down in Europe by Germany and the Soviet Union, especially France. Their biggest enemy was always Germany. Compared to the loss of their country, the damage to their African colonies was obviously not worth mentioning at all."

"Adolf is an ambitious man, and the French are well aware of this. Therefore, we can use this to force France to make concessions to us."

"Britain is also threatened by Germany. Although the German navy is restricted by the treaty, the British navy is also restricted by the treaty. Moreover, the British navy is dispersed. They have to take care of both the Mediterranean and the Indian Ocean at the same time. Britain has nothing but a navy."

For the East African military, Britain's military strength is no longer enough. Although the British navy is still the largest in the world, as long as a war breaks out, East Africa's production capacity will explode and it will quickly surpass Britain.

This is even more true after the emergence of the air force. The London Treaty restricted the development of the navies of various countries, but the air force was obviously not among them. However, the air force is able to take the initiative and pose a threat to maritime power.

Of course, the air forces of countries around the world have also developed rapidly in recent years, and East Africa is not the only one that stands out. However, due to East Africa's huge size, efficient administrative means, and overall stable economy, East Africa has more funds and energy to inject into naval development.

One of the most important contributions of the Air Force to East Africa is that it has improved the security of East Africa's coastal waters. East Africa's coastline lacks natural barriers and the pressure on the coastal waters is high. In the past, it relied solely on the navy, and it was inevitable that some areas were overlooked.

For example, during the South African War, East Africa had to guard against attacks from British naval forces from four directions, namely India, the Red Sea, South Africa and the Atlantic Ocean. At that time, if the British Navy had focused all its efforts on dealing with East Africa, the waters near East Africa would basically have suffered a major blow.

At that time, the East African Army could only passively cooperate with the Navy to maintain the security of the East African coast and was unable to take the initiative to attack. The emergence of the Air Force ended this situation.

The East African Air Force can conduct high-altitude patrols and, with the help of radar, sonar and other technologies, conduct early detection of threats outside the East African coast and even launch direct attacks when necessary.

For example, the British military base in Seychelles. In the past, it was difficult for East Africa to detect any unusual movements at the British military base in Seychelles. Now, Seychelles is directly under the close surveillance of East Africa.

Schwager said: "The era of Britain and France is long gone. Even in Europe, Germany and the Soviet Union now have greater influence and determine the future destiny of Europe."

"The core interests of Britain and France are in Europe. They cannot leave Europe. Doing so will only accelerate their decline."

"So, when we make some big moves in Africa, Britain and France can only turn a blind eye. The initiative is in the hands of East Africa, and they are more afraid of falling out with the empire."

"Because of transportation issues in North Africa, we can slowly expand our presence. West Africa is a huge market. Although its consumption capacity is low, it can greatly alleviate the export problems of the Empire's industry."

"Its resource advantages even exceed the market. Accessing West Africa's resources will further reduce our industrial development costs, thereby improving the competitiveness of the East African economy."

In 1934, the population of West Africa was approximately 40 to 50 million. This population size has not changed much in strength over the years, but even the low-end consumer market of 40 million people is quite attractive.

Schwager said, "We can use the South German Kingdom to accelerate the development of transportation in West Africa, thereby strengthening our control over the West African market on land. Combined with sea routes, West Africa will become one of the Empire's most stable overseas markets in the future. Its security is even greater than that of the Southeast Asian and South American markets."

East Africa is developing the South Pacific and South American markets, separated by the Indian Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean. The West African market is actually adjacent to the East African market, but due to restrictions in transportation and politics, the scale of trade is relatively limited.

Once these two problems are solved, there will naturally be no obstacles for East Africa to integrate the West African market into its economic cycle.

(End of this chapter)