Chapter 474 Discussion

Leford's pessimism ultimately comes down to a money issue. The mainland will only suck blood from Mozambique, so Mozambique will never be able to invest funds in local development like East Africa. Not only does it have no money, but Portugal cannot provide Mozambique with other favorable support to reduce colonial costs, so the way to increase revenue and reduce expenditure is blocked.

The East African naval exercises made the new Governor of Mozambique somewhat aware of reality, while the attitude of the British colony of Natal towards the East African exercises was "knowing it", which was neither cold nor indifferent.

The East African Navy did pose a certain threat, but the British were not afraid of this threat. In 1877, Britain had a total of nearly 180 main warships, and the East African Navy was like an ant in front of the British Royal Navy.

Of course, this ant still poses some threat in the Western Indian Ocean region, because the Royal Navy is a global force and it is impossible for them to gather in one place to crush this ant.

"What are the Germans trying to do? Are they demonstrating? If they dare to do this in India, Cape Town, or the Red Sea, I would admire them. But to conduct such a meaningless exercise in Natal is too much of a compliment to us! Even if it happens in Cape Town, I'm afraid the Germans will know what the world's best navy is."

The Natal Colony was, after all, just a small colony centered around the Port of Durban, which was far from a large colony like Cape Town. Therefore, the behavior of East Africa was very disdainful in the eyes of the Governor of Natal. It was like two people fighting, and one person ran to the enemy's house to intimidate the other's children.

The purpose of East Africa is not simply to show its muscles, but more to express an attitude to the outside world, that is, East Africa is different from other countries in the region. The colonists are not fools. They also have to screen their targets. Otherwise, it would be embarrassing if they encounter a tough one and fail. This kind of thing is common in the world.

The East African Navy is the best window to showcase East Africa's mental state and national governance capabilities. The good development of the navy shows that the government's organizational capabilities will not be too bad. Countries with strong organizational capabilities are generally the toughest nuts to crack for colonizers.

As for the land, the East African Army should not show up. To be honest, the East African Army is only a second- or third-rate army in Europe, at most slightly worse than the armies of the great powers. It would be bad if it scares the surrounding forces.

In general, the East African naval exercise did have some effect. At least it let the British know that there was a fleet in East Africa that looked pretty strong. If they didn't use a big move, it would be extremely difficult to colonize East Africa. However, what the British feared most was who was on the other side of East Africa?

After more than half a year of investigation, Benjamin obtained relatively comprehensive information, and the British government had a clearer understanding of the area of ​​the East African colonies.

"From the Somali Desert in the northeast to the Namib Desert in southwest Africa, we can draw a diagonal line across the African continent facing the equator. This diagonal area is clearly the territory of the East African Kingdom. This is also almost the shape of the territory of the East African Kingdom. In addition, the two Portuguese colonies on the left and right just show that the territory of East Africa is in the shape of a diagonal line. Therefore, we estimate the area of ​​this diagonal line. We believe that the land area of ​​East Africa is at least about 7 million square kilometers. My God! The number alone is terrifying. There are few countries in the world larger than East Africa."

Benjamin: "Large area doesn't mean it's useful. Australia has deserts, Canada has ice sheets, Brazil has rainforests, so in the end it all comes down to effective territory. What do you think is the effective territory of East Africa?"

"Mr. Prime Minister, this is difficult to describe, but it is certain that most of Southwest Africa is a desert area of ​​little value, and the northeastern region of East Africa is also a large desert area. These two areas are probably nearly two million square kilometers. There should also be rainforests like Brazil, but the specific area is difficult to analyze. But one thing is certain, that is, the scale of development in Africa should not be large. If Africa wants to be fully developed like America, it will probably take hundreds of years."

"It's wrong to think so. The development of America is constrained by insufficient manpower, so there has been a slave trade for hundreds of years. But Africa is different. It was originally the homeland of black slaves. I mean, what would happen if East Africans used black people to develop Africa?"

"What a fantasy! If black people were really that useful, the Germans wouldn't have gotten to take advantage of them. You should really communicate more with black people. I'm sure that except for a few rare cases, most black people are so stupid that they can't do anything well. They are also not as reliable as machines. Machines don't riot, but black people do. I think the same is true for black people in East Africa. They are likely to resist East African colonization like the Indians did."

You can say that the Indians are weak, but their determination to oppose aggression is still good. It's a pity that the Indians do not have a unified core force to fight against the despicable white colonists.

It took the United States more than a hundred years to massacre the Indians. If the East African kingdom wanted to expand its colonies in East Africa, it would also encounter black rebels.

However, he did not realize that there were not many black people in East Africa, or that there were too many Germans in East Africa. The resistance of black people in East Africa had been completely destroyed, so the status of black people in East Africa was that of slaves obtained through buying and selling.

Of course, no matter how big Africa is, its national strength is not determined by its area alone, especially for immigrant countries. Brazil and Argentina have such good natural conditions, but they are so rotten. Therefore, the Benjamin government does not believe that the national strength of East Africa will be higher than those countries in the Americas.

As for the special case of the United States, East Africa cannot copy it. The title of "the Chosen Land" does make some sense, but even so, it took the United States a hundred years to develop into one of the great powers, so the Benjamin government does not believe that East Africa has this potential.

Therefore, East Africa itself is not worthy of too much attention, but whether there is support from the German and Austrian governments behind East Africa. If the two countries are not interested in overseas colonies, Benjamin himself would never believe it.

"The Hechingen royal family is also a Hohenzollern family like the Prussian royal family, and the relationship between the two families is quite close, just like Sigmaringen in Romania. I even think that in addition to Germany, the countries led by the Hohenzollern family may have planned to form a national relationship network through family connections, so East Africa must be in the same group with Germany."

"Maldos, your idea is totally wrong, because our intelligence investigation shows that East Africa is obviously closer to Austria-Hungary, especially the alliance treaty signed by the two sides. This shows that East Africa chose Austria-Hungary instead of Germany when choosing a camp. The same is true on the economic level. Austria-Hungary is East Africa's first trading partner, which can be seen from the destination of merchant ships."

Benjamin: "East Africa is a very special place. Maybe it is not a colony of Germany or Austria. It is not impossible."

In the past, Britain's perception of East Africa was that this country might have been created by Prussia. After all, the surname Hohenzollern can explain a lot of things. However, East Africa's subsequent behavior was not like that. Instead, East Africa became closer to the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

(End of this chapter)