Chapter 664 Hidden Internal Crisis

"In fact, the deep-seated reason that pushed Germany and France to reach an agreement this time is that France has devoted more energy to Southeast Asia in recent years. France has gained considerable advantages in Vietnam and Cambodia, and has basically built the core of France's colonies in the Far East."

"In 1883, France had expanded its Far East colonies to the vicinity of the Gulf of Tonkin in the Far East Empire, and the Nguyen Dynasty of Vietnam had completely become a protectorate of a great power."

"France's greatest progress in Africa was the northward expansion of its coastal colonies in Gabon, which annexed the Orono Kingdom (an ancient kingdom in central Gabon) in the west, while the road to the west and south was blocked by Belgium's Congo colony."

"Germany also had some offensives in Africa, mainly in the Kingdom of Bam (part of German Cameroon) in the Gulf of Guinea. This area was adjacent to the Spanish colony of Guinea, and to the west was the British colony of Bonny."

From these points, it can be seen that France could not exert its full strength in West Africa, and Germany's colonial cause was surviving in the cracks.

There are many methods of colonization, and Germany's colonial policy is conservative. In contrast, East Africa is radical. In fact, East Africa was not "colonialism" from the beginning, but an "overseas nation-building" project promoted by the Hechingen royal family.

The two are very different in nature. Colonization is the search for a reservoir for industrial and commercial capital of various countries to serve the interests of their home countries, seek to gain huge profits from the colonies, and promote local development. The home country is always the core.

The Hechingen royal family had no "local core" from the very beginning, because before Ernst traveled through time, the Hechingen royal family had actually been incorporated into Prussia. Without a "local" core, there was almost no difference between them and the ordinary nobles in Europe. It can be said that the Hechingen royal family had almost no advantages except for their connections, and connections require strength to consolidate. The Hechingen royal family lost its "fiefdom", and its political value was greatly reduced. They were also "relatively poor". It was okay for one generation, but it would only get weaker and weaker in the future.

This is also the fundamental reason why Ernst actively promoted the "establishment of a nation overseas". Having fun on the European continent is nothing more than becoming a wandering "capital" like the Jews. In fact, once a ban is imposed by various countries, most of the wealth accumulated by the Jews for generations will be plundered. It can even be said that the current status of the Jews is the "leeks" cultivated by Europe.

Therefore, the consortium route has never been Ernst's ultimate goal of development. Money can solve a large part of the problems at any time, but power is the foundation of the Hechingen royal family.

In Europe, the Hechingen royal family changed from a "feudal noble" to an aristocratic family vassal of the Kingdom of Prussia. This fact represented a decline in the importance of the Hechingen royal family. This also meant that no matter how the Hechingen royal family developed in Germany, the upper limit was there and they would never be able to surpass the Prussian royal family. Moreover, the Hechingen royal family had a small population, so its political development in Europe was doomed to be unsmooth. This was very obvious before the Hechingen royal family expanded into Africa.

After the establishment of the East African Kingdom, the Hechingen royal family was directly promoted to the leader of an important political entity in the world. Even though many European countries have prejudices against the identity of African countries, it cannot change the fact that the East African Kingdom exists and develops.

This was the development strategy of the Hechingen royal family. In fact, the Jews also had a similar strategy, but they never had the concept of "self-reliance" and continued to carry forward their "parasitic" tradition. In Europe, the Jews could not find a way out, so they invested more energy in the United States, an emerging fully capitalist country.

Germany's current colonization is still mainly driven by civil forces. Bismarck's convening of the Berlin Conference was also driven by public opinion, but it was not as strong as in history.

Because Germany now has a better option, which is the "Greater German Economic Circle" proposed by the German business community.

The so-called Greater German Economic Circle is highly targeted. In fact, it refers to the "fat meat" of East Africa. The potential of East Africa has already been demonstrated. At the same time, for economic development, East Africa exports a large amount of food, minerals and other raw materials. It also has a relatively strong market consumption capacity other than Europe and the United States, which makes it quite attractive to any country in the world.

The rise of such voices in Germany is understandable, but it is certainly not the result that the Hechingen royal family wants to see. This is also an important reason why East Africa sent Siewert, who has Chinese ancestry, to attend the Berlin Conference.

This also reflects a feature of East African immigration policy in maintaining the rule of the Hechingen royal family, that is, the large number of Far Eastern immigrants are the most staunch supporters of the Hechingen royal family.

If all the people in East Africa were German immigrants, then Germany's Greater German Economic Circle would have the potential to become a reality. By winning over the Germans, it would be entirely possible to manipulate East Africa's politics, economy, and military, undermine the Hechingen royal family, and thus turn East Africa into its economic colony.

This is a social problem. For example, in the United States, so many people have no concept of home and country. The problem in East Africa is even more serious than in the United States. The United States has a history of a hundred years, while East Africa has only more than 20 years.

Moreover, the Americans and the British are not on good terms, but the Germans in East Africa do not have this mentality towards Germany, so East Africa must be more vigilant on this issue.

In fact, the "Greater German Economic Circle" was not only opposed by East Africa, but also the Austro-Hungarian Empire did not agree with this concept. Ultimately, it was a question of dominance. If East Africa was in the lead, then East Africa would naturally agree, but conversely, Germany and Austria would definitely not agree.

Of course, the "Greater Germany Economic Circle" is just a wishful thinking of some civil groups. Although the German government also hopes so, it knows that this is impossible to achieve. The Greater Germany plan (German-Austrian merger) is still possible, but there is no possibility of the merger of East Germany.

First of all, East Africa has formed a self-contained interest group with independent national consciousness. This interest group is separated from the European aristocratic system. Except for the Hechingen royal family, it is unable to form a network with the European aristocratic group.

Of course, the more important thing at this stage is that European aristocrats will not recognize the aristocratic system of East Africa, just like Europe does not recognize that Russia is part of Europe. Europe has a history of demonizing Africa for at least several hundred years, so East Africa, as an African country, cannot get rid of various prejudices.

But Ernst didn't care. He wouldn't feel bad even if the backward nobles were eliminated. As for the nobles in East Africa, it was entirely because the Hechingen royal family was the royal family of a traditional feudal country, so enfeoffment of nobles was a necessary means of ruling.

And it doesn't matter if Europeans don't agree. Judging from the development of history in the past, it is a question whether the European aristocracy can be retained. Not to mention anything else, France has now become a republic. Although the aristocracy still exists, the power of the Republicans is growing. One day, the aristocracy will become a title, and even the title may not be retained.

People like Ernst, who knew that absolute monarchy would be eliminated in the future, would naturally not go against the historical trend, unless the Hechingen royal family wanted to follow the path of the Tsarist royal family in the previous life.

It’s just that the current system of absolute monarchy is suitable for East Africa, and other systems are not feasible in East Africa. However, with economic development and structural changes, the royal family must take the initiative to compromise in the future to seek interests in other areas and ensure the continuation of the Hechingen royal family.

In fact, the biggest crisis facing East African countries is the internal crisis. They are extremely unstable from top to bottom. If they go in the wrong direction, Ernst's efforts over the past decade will collapse. Now Ernst's goal is to make East Africa, as a country, keep betting on the right direction, and then continue to check for deficiencies and fill in the gaps in East Africa's rough national system. This will take at least fifty or sixty years. Finally, all parties in society will integrate and compromise with each other, and East Africa can mature as a country.

If the country is immature, it will be like the African countries in the past, with military coups, wars and political instability at any time.

Therefore, East Africa still has a long way to go, especially from the 19th to the 20th century, a period of drastic changes in the international situation. Only by ensuring national stability can it compete with other countries and become the final winner.

(End of this chapter)