Chapter 1562 Entering the Mediterranean
The international news of the Reichstag bombing quickly became a hot topic in Europe and the world. However, the reactions of countries around the world were different. The Soviet Union strongly condemned the German government, while most European countries, especially Britain and France, praised Adolf.
Contrary to what people might imagine, although Britain and France were wary of Germany, in reality, the two countries adopted a policy of appeasement towards Germany.
In fact, as long as Germany does not destroy the old international order maintained by Britain and France, or threaten the hegemony of the two countries, it may not be an excellent "ally" in the eyes of Britain and France.
There was no problem at all for Adolf to start a war and expand Germany's territory and market. After all, the Soviet Union was the closest market to Germany and a huge market that could fully satisfy Germany's appetite. In addition, the Soviet Union had extremely rich resources and vast land, which could make up for Germany's resource shortage.
In other words, Britain and France supported Germany's military and expansion, but under the premise that Germany and the Soviet Union were enemies.
As for Adolf's suppression of the German Labor Party, this was a plus in the eyes of Britain and France.
Now, Europe's capitalist countries have actually leaned towards extreme nationalist parties, thereby strangling the development of European labor parties and safeguarding their own interests.
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Compared with neighboring Germany, Adolf continued to purge his opponents and consolidate his power. By early 1934, the Habsburg family's rule in the Austro-Hungarian Empire was further weakened.
As the imperial order collapsed and deteriorated, the Habsburg family's determination to seek a way out was further strengthened.
February 31, 1934.
In Vienna, Emperor Rudolf quietly signed the "Lease Agreement of the Port of Dubrovnik" with East Africa.
The person responsible for signing this agreement was Alfred, the new Foreign Minister of East Africa. At this time, Rudolf and Alfred were having a conversation in Schönbrunn Palace.
"Dubrovnik is one of Dalmatia's important ports. According to the agreement, this port will be operated by East Africa, and the East African Navy will be allowed to enter and build military facilities there." Rudolf pointed to the southernmost city in Dalmatia and said, "I believe East Africa can leverage this opportunity to strengthen its influence in the Mediterranean. This is also a symbol of the traditional political friendship and mutual trust between our two countries."
Dubrovnik is the southernmost port in the entire Austro-Hungarian Empire. It is close to Montenegro in the south and is located in a natural bay.
As for the importance mentioned by Emperor Rudolf, it is debatable. In Dalmatia, the most important ports for the Austro-Hungarian Empire were first Zadar and then Split.
Dubrovnik did have an extremely glorious history, even competing with Venice, but that was hundreds of years ago. In 1667 AD, a major earthquake struck Dubrovnik, directly destroying the city. After that, Dubrovnik's economy declined rapidly, and it did not recover even during the Austro-Hungarian Empire period.
By the 19th century, Dubrovnik had become a city whose main selling points were its resorts and cultural heritage, rather than its economic and military importance.
To put it bluntly, sanatoriums and cultural relics have no competitiveness in this era. Dubrovnik is just living off its past success.
Of course, in recent years, Dubrovnik's economy has improved to a certain extent, which is mainly due to the growth of Dalmatia's population and economy. A large number of Germans have flocked here, giving this ancient city some new vitality.
However, Dubrovnik has lost its best opportunities for development, the most noteworthy of which is the construction of the Mostar Railway.
For the Kingdom of Dalmatia, one of the most important aspects of its economic development is to provide commercial and trade transit services to the inland areas of the Balkan Peninsula.
Especially for the three countries and regions of Bosnia, Hungary and Serbia, the ports of Dalmatia are their important sea routes.
However, Dalmatia's terrain is mainly mountainous, which isolates it from transportation links with the inland. Therefore, there are only a few gaps in the mountains where roads and railways can be built to connect with the inland and expand its economic hinterland.
Dubrovnik also has such conditions. In the past, the Austro-Hungarian Empire built a railway from Dubrovnik to Sarajevo.
However, under the influence of East Africa, the Mostar Railway was built ahead of schedule, which directly promoted the rise of the Port of Ploče. The Port of Ploče is only about 70 kilometers away from Dubrovnik. Since the railway was opened first, there was naturally no need for Dubrovnik to repeat the construction.
This caused Dubrovnik to miss a good opportunity for development, but this was an inevitable result.
The main reason why East Africa chose Ploče as the starting point of the railway was to speed up the transportation of pro-East African immigrants to Dalmatia and the Balkan interior.
At that time, behind Ploče was the largest and least developed river valley plain in southern Dalmatia, so East Africa was able to enclose large areas of land, build immigrant farms, and rapidly expand the immigrant population.
Dubrovnik does not have such conditions. This is not because the situation in the hinterland of Dubrovnik is much worse than that of Ploce, but because it lacks rivers like the Neretva River to connect with the inland.
All in all, Dubrovnik had a little bad luck. If East Africa had chosen Dubrovnik at that time, it would have had a high probability of developing into one of the most economically developed cities in Dalmatia today.
However, East Africa did not care much about the economic development of Dubrovnik, but valued its military function more, which led to this contact with the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
Minister Alfred first expressed his gratitude to Emperor Rudolf: "Your Majesty, thank you for your support for East Africa. The Port of Dubrovnik is indeed of great significance to East Africa, especially for the Empire's maintenance of its interests in the Adriatic and Mediterranean Seas."
East Africa has always lacked a strategic fulcrum in the Mediterranean. Now that Emperor Rudolf has taken the initiative to give the opportunity to East Africa, it will naturally help East Africa a lot.
This means that the East African Navy now has its first stable military base in the Mediterranean, which is of great significance to East Africa.
Although the Port of Dubrovnik has many flaws, such as its geographical location is not too dangerous, the port conditions are limited and can only accommodate small and medium-sized military ships, namely frigates and destroyers.
However, this is much better than East Africa not even having a foothold in the Mediterranean region.
East Africa has tried hard in the past, but unfortunately, the powers in the Mediterranean did not give East Africa this opportunity.
In the Mediterranean, there are three most important key nodes. The first is the exit of the Suez Canal, which is in the hands of the British. The second is the Strait of Gibraltar. The important ports on both sides are controlled by the United Kingdom, Spain and other countries respectively. The last is Istanbul, which controls the Black Sea and Mediterranean shipping, which is also something that East Africa cannot get involved in.
The Suez Canal and Gibraltar are related to trade between East Africa and Europe, while Istanbul is related to trade between East Africa and the Soviet Union. However, these trade routes are not controlled by East Africa. This is also an important reason why East Africa wants to build the North African Railway.
For the time being, it is impossible to lay out the above three important trade nodes, and those secondary strategic locations in the Mediterranean are also difficult for East Africa to obtain. For example, Cyprus, Tunisia, Malta, etc. are basically controlled by British and French forces. In addition, Italy, the Ottoman Empire, and the Austro-Hungarian Empire also have some good places, but these countries are not weak countries that East Africa can control.
This has led to a situation in which East Africa has been unable to establish a stable naval foothold in the Mediterranean for a long time.
However, this is easy to understand. European countries must be more afraid of East Africa, especially Britain, France and other countries. If East Africa's power is placed in the Mediterranean, then the hegemony of the Mediterranean will probably fall into the hands of East Africa.
This is by no means alarmist. After all, with East Africa's terrifying national strength, once it gains a foothold in the Mediterranean, no country will be able to easily drive it out, and it may even directly damage its own Mediterranean interests.
For example, Britain, the current hegemon of the Mediterranean, is strictly guarding East Africa. Britain will try its best to thwart any attempt by East Africa to gain a stable military base in the Mediterranean.
For example, East Africa once had contact with Greece and tried to lease the port of Crete to build a military base, but was interrupted by Britain.
Furthermore, if East Africa wants to open a breakthrough in the Mediterranean, it can only turn to cooperate with countries that are not controlled by Britain and France. However, these countries are not soft persimmons. The main ones are the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Ottoman Empire, Italy and Spain. They will not give in easily.
Take the Austro-Hungarian Empire as an example. Before 1934, no matter how weak the Habsburg family was, as the rulers of the empire, they could not easily lease their ports to East Africa.
After all, the Austro-Hungarian Empire was also a world power with its own interests and dignity. If East Africa built a military base on its own territory, wouldn't the Austro-Hungarian Empire lose face?
But now the situation has changed. The Habsburg's rule in the Austro-Hungarian Empire is in jeopardy. At this time, the interests of the Habsburgs and the Austro-Hungarian Empire have diverged. Obviously, compared with an uncontrolled Austro-Hungarian Empire, family interests are more important.
At the same time, the Habsburgs were already preparing to evacuate Europe and head for East Africa. This would make the Habsburgs more willing to sell themselves to East Africa, thus paving the way for the Habsburgs' subsequent development.
The Dubrovnik Port transaction took place in this context, and was initiated by Emperor Rudolf, the head of the Habsburg family.
Of course, even if it meant "selling out the country", the Habsburg family could not go too far, so they chose the port of Dubrovnik as a bargaining chip.
From the geographical point of view of Dubrovnik, it is the southernmost territory of the empire, very remote from the core area of the empire and not easy to attract attention.
Secondly, the Port of Dubrovnik is under the jurisdiction of the Kingdom of Dalmatia, which itself has the support of East Africa, and the local people have no resistance to East Africa.
Finally, Dubrovnik’s strategic position is not prominent, and not many people will care if it is sold to East Africa.
If it were important bases of the Austro-Hungarian Navy such as Zadar, Rijeka, and Puka, this would obviously not be possible.
However, East Africa did not actually attach much importance to the above-mentioned important naval ports of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. East Africa hoped to obtain a port on the Adriatic Sea closer to the Mediterranean Sea. Dubrovnik, located at the southernmost tip of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, met this requirement. It was more suitable for East Africa than other ports.
From this point of view, the ports on both sides of the Strait of Otranto are actually what East Africa most wants to obtain, so that the East African Navy can operate more conveniently in the Mediterranean, safeguard East Africa’s interests in the Mediterranean, and escort its own merchant ships.
However, the Strait of Otranto is bordered by Italy to the west and Albania to the east. Neither of these two places was within the Austro-Hungarian Empire, so there was no way to operate in East Africa.
Even if the Port of Dubrovnik falls into the hands of East Africa, the East African Navy can only engage in minor operations in the Adriatic Sea. In peacetime, this is indeed sufficient. However, once a war breaks out in Europe, or a conflict occurs between a Mediterranean naval power and East Africa, the Port of Dubrovnik may be blocked in the Adriatic Sea by other naval forces, cutting off its connection with the East African mainland.
Minister Alfred said: "If East Africa could sail freely in the Mediterranean, perhaps it could provide you with some assistance, and the current situation of the Austro-Hungarian Empire would not have deteriorated to this extent."
Austria has always been an ally of East Africa, but this alliance status does not mean much for cooperation between the two countries, especially at the military level.
For example, in the Battle of South Africa, Austria was unable to bypass the British and provide support to East Africa. Conversely, during World War I, East Africa was also unable to provide much help to the Austro-Hungarian Empire and could only maintain trade with the Austro-Hungarian Empire through the Baghdad Railway.
The reason for all this is that neither country has a strategic fulcrum in the Mediterranean to break through the blockade of Britain and France. If there was an external passage to the Mediterranean controlled by one of the two countries, the current situation would not have happened.
Emperor Rudolf sighed and said, "It's a shame. If the Empire had been able to expand towards the Mediterranean before, even to control what is now Libya, East Africa and Austria would have been able to help each other. Compared to Germany, East Africa is more trustworthy."
Compared with Germany, East Africa has stronger complementarity with Austria. Of course, the more important point is that East Africa is obviously less threatening to Austria than Germany. Such an ally that can achieve mutual benefit and win-win results without posing a threat to the Austrian regime is obviously a better choice for the Habsburgs.
Germany's annexation of Austria was not a bad thing for the Austrians, but it was not a good thing for the Habsburg family. After all, who would want to give up power easily?
East Africa is completely different. It has no ambitions towards the Austro-Hungarian Empire. On the contrary, in order to maintain East Africa's interests in Europe and the Mediterranean, it will naturally choose to strengthen cooperation with the Habsburg family and enhance the stability of its regime.
Ultimately, East Africa is too far away from the Mediterranean and Europe, blocked by the harsh Sahara Desert, and the sea routes are not controlled by East Africa and are at risk of being cut off at any time.
At the same time, the Suez Canal and Gibraltar are too narrow, and there are too many powerful countries and forces around them. Even if East Africa really controls the Suez Canal and the Strait of Gibraltar, it will face various risks.
Therefore, if East Africa wants to strengthen its influence on Europe, choosing a regional spokesperson is the safest way. In the past, the Austro-Hungarian Empire was the most suitable, but now that the Austro-Hungarian Empire is in danger, East Africa can only find another way out.
(End of this chapter)
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