Chapter 1593 Modern and Primitive
In contrast, although East Africa and the United States have few fulcrums in northwest Africa, East Africa has Togoland and Dakhla, and the United States only has Liberia, the role they can play is much greater.
For example, in the past, during World War II and the Cold War, Monrovia, the capital of Liberia, made great contributions to the construction of the United States' world hegemony.
During World War II, the Port of Monrovia was a crucial transit point for the United States transporting supplies, troops, and aircraft to the North African and European battlefields. At the time, Monrovia's Roberts Field Airport was a key hub for Pan Am's transatlantic routes and a crucial transit base for the US Air Force.
During the Cold War, the National Security Agency established a massive communications and monitoring facility in Liberia to monitor communications in Europe, Africa, and the Soviet Union.
During World War II and the Cold War, the United States' opponents, whether the Axis powers or the later Soviet Union, were all European countries. Northwest Africa was only a secondary direction in their wars and competitions with the United States.
Therefore, once the United States enters an era of peace, or an era of unipolar hegemony, its attention to Liberia will naturally decline.
However, after the rise of the giant East Africa in Africa, the situation has completely changed. Liberia is likely to become an important fulcrum in the US global strategy for a long time in the future.
Even in a non-war era, the United States will maintain military and communication facilities in Monrovia and other places for a long time due to the need to compete with East Africa, in order to monitor the activities of the East African Navy in the Atlantic and the trade trends in East Africa.
In the future, Europe's major powers will also strengthen their deployment in northwest Africa because of East Africa, just like the Soviet Union in the past.
During the Cold War, the Soviet Union was very enthusiastic about the North African region. Typical examples include Egypt and Algeria, both of which received strong support from the Soviet Union.
Algeria is already a country in northwestern Africa. At the same time, the Soviet Union also participated in the conflict in the Western Sahara region, supported pro-Soviet forces, and tried to win over Mauritania, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau and other countries.
Although the Soviet Union's expansion in northwest Africa ultimately failed, this was mainly due to the Soviet Union's geographical location, which made it difficult to compete with northwest Africa.
East Africa will not take the Soviet Union's activities in this region seriously, but...
Thalmann said: "For Northwest Africa, the future European contestant will most likely be Germany or the Soviet Union."
“Even if the Soviet Union could truly dominate European affairs, it would be difficult for them to exert influence in northwest Africa.”
"If it's Germany, that would be troublesome and could cause drastic changes in the local situation. Now that Germany has access to the Mediterranean, they can play a greater role in western North Africa than in East Africa."
It was difficult for the Soviet Union to leave the Black Sea, and for the Baltic Navy to come here, it was almost the same as an expedition.
On the other hand, although Germany's location is not very good, it is one level better than the development conditions of the Soviet Navy. Whether it starts from its Atlantic coast or the Adriatic Sea, it is not difficult.
Speaking of Germany, Christine said with some anxiety: "Germany's strength in Europe is now so strong that even the Empire feels a little threatened."
"Although both our countries are German, Germany's true thoughts may not be the same. Deep down, they may not see us as one nation."
"Moreover, Germany and the Empire also had some historical differences, especially on the issue of colonies, and Germany has always been dissatisfied with the Empire."
Before World War I, Germany's overseas colonial transactions with East Africa were the most infuriating aspect for the Germans in East Africa. Even now, a large number of Germans believe that East Africa should be "returned" to Germany.
The Germans' mentality is easy to understand. They did not expect that World War I would be so brutal. Although Germany gained certain benefits in the end, they were completely insignificant compared with its losses in the war.
The envisioned goal of quickly defeating Britain and France and inheriting their huge overseas assets was not achieved.
Naturally, the Germans became completely psychologically unbalanced about their previous territorial trade with East Africa.
If Germany had won the First World War cleanly, they obviously would not care about the "small amount of money" given to East Africa. However, the result of the First World War was completely beyond their expectations. In turn, the entire overseas colonial system that Germany had built over decades was given to East Africa. Not to mention Germany, it would be difficult for any country to accept it psychologically.
Of course, from East Africa’s perspective, East Africa also feels that it has been wronged. After all, even if these lands are not sold to East Africa, can Germany keep them?
Thälmann was dissatisfied with this and said, "Germany is ungrateful. Given their situation at the time, being able to cash in on their colonies was the best outcome."
"Not to mention that even though we did not participate in the World War, the help we provided to Germany was enormous. We supported Germany from beginning to end, despite taking great political risks."
"In the end, these ungrateful people not only didn't know how to be grateful, but also bit back."
"They didn't consider that without the help from East Africa, Germany would have been overwhelmed by the Allies long ago, given its huge shortage of food, medicine, rubber and other important supplies."
"And the current German Chancellor, Adolf, is also a man of few words. His presence has further deteriorated the relationship between the Empire and Germany, especially hurting the feelings of the people of both countries."
"Even Benito of Italy wouldn't make that mistake at this point."
Here, Thälmann is mainly talking about the racial concepts of the two people. If Adolf could be similar to Benito on racial issues, the distance between Germany and East Africa would not be pushed further.
The foundation of the East African nation lies in ethnic and racial integration, cultural identity and assimilation, but Adolf firmly denied cultural identity and assimilation.
Christine said: "Based on the current development of relations between the two countries, I believe that if Germany becomes the ruler of Europe in the future, it will inevitably become a potential enemy of the empire. The relationship between the two countries may even be more tense than Germany's relationship with the United States."
"If Germany ruled Europe, even if relations with the United States deteriorated, it would only isolate the United States on the North American continent."
"The geopolitical disputes between East Africa and European rulers were even more intense, especially in key areas such as North Africa, the Middle East, and the Indian Ocean."
This is why it is difficult for East Africa to accept the emergence of a unified superpower in Europe. After all, Europe is naturally connected to political blocks such as North Africa and the Middle East, and also controls the Suez Canal, the main artery of the Eurasian trade route.
These areas are equally important to East Africa or are coveted by East Africa.
The North African region can be said to be a buffer zone between East Africa and Europe, and also a barrier to East African national security. To understand this issue, we can refer to Mongolia in the previous life. Although Mongolia is also a buffer zone, both Russia and the Far Eastern Empire obviously hope that this buffer zone can be controlled in their own hands.
For example, when the Soviet Union existed, it controlled this so-called buffer zone, but when it needed to exert its hegemony, it deployed heavy troops there to threaten and oppress the Far Eastern Empire.
Similarly, for North Africa, if it is controlled by East Africa, East Africa will be able to further improve its national security and gain strategic advantages over Europe through the Mediterranean.
On the other hand, if a unified superpower emerges in Europe and controls North Africa, the northern border of East Africa will be under military pressure.
There is a prerequisite here, that is, the emergence of a unified regime in Europe, or the emergence of a European hegemon whose words are law.
The current situation in Europe is very favorable to East Africa. In a fragmented state, although North Africa is basically controlled by European countries, it is unable to form a joint force against East Africa, thus giving East Africa any sense of threat.
There is no need to mention the importance that the Middle East and East Africa attach to this strategic hub for containing the three continents of Europe, Asia and Africa, as well as the local energy.
In fact, now the three countries of East Africa, the Soviet Union and Germany are engaged in fierce competition in the Middle East.
Although Germany is not yet the hegemon of Europe, it can already exert significant influence in the Middle East. What will happen if it is allowed to integrate the power of the entire Europe?
Foreign powers that control the Middle East will inevitably further threaten East Africa's interests in the Indian Ocean.
It can be said that there are already signs of conflict of interests between East Africa and Germany in the Middle East, not to mention that East Africa is competing more fiercely with Germany in industry.
The differences between the two countries in politics, geopolitics and economy are growing, so it is no wonder that the top leaders in East Africa are becoming increasingly wary of Germany.
If we put aside the ideological threat posed by the Soviet Union, Germany might be included in East Africa's list of Europe's top enemies.
…
Dakhla Port.
At this moment, a rather spectacular scene appeared in the Dakhla Bay. In the Dakhla Bay, there were more than ten ships of different sizes and shapes anchored.
There are both East African warships and three domestically produced ocean dredgers working close to the shore.
Other ships are mainly transport ships, including special ships responsible for material supply to meet the daily needs of the navy and workers, as well as large ocean-going cargo ships responsible for transporting construction materials.
However, the most eye-catching one is an engineering ship belonging to the navy, which is responsible for special tasks such as lifting and piling.
On the land of Dakhla, there are also a large number of construction machinery, completing tasks such as leveling the land, pouring concrete, and digging wells.
At this time, the Sunset also quietly arrived in the Dakhla waters. The Sunset's main job was to patrol, so it did not enter the Dakhla Bay.
Looking at the busy construction site, Captain Thalmann of the Sunset was filled with emotion: "Although both are port construction, Dakhla and Monrovia are two extremes."
"We have achieved a high degree of mechanization and modernization in infrastructure construction, while the Americans are still using primitive means to exploit Liberian labor to build the port of Monrovia."
"Now, I can conclude that the Port of Dakhla will be completed and put into use before the Port of Monrovia, becoming a solid fortress for the future empire on the northwest coast of Africa."
The construction of the Port of Dakhla in East Africa and the Port of Monrovia built by the United States in Liberia present two completely different forms.
This is not because the United States is lagging behind. As the world's second largest industrial country, the United States is obviously not too far behind East Africa.
A more important factor is that in Liberia, the United States has sufficient cheap labor resources to utilize, and using black labor can greatly save construction costs.
But the situation is different in East Africa. In Western Sahara, not to mention people, even animals and wild grass are hard to find. It is also difficult to find cheap labor.
Therefore, during the construction of Dakhla, a large number of East Africa's most advanced engineering equipment and local professional workers became the highlights of the construction of Dakhla Port.
Christine said: "The Empire attaches great importance to the construction of Dakhla Port, so it has set relatively high requirements for construction speed and quality."
"To build a modern port and supporting military and civilian facilities in this almost desolate place in a relatively short period of time requires a massive investment of financial and material resources, as well as various large-scale engineering equipment."
"The construction of Dakhla Port has set a precedent in the Empire. Future overseas military bases will likely be constructed based on Dakhla."
In the past, the construction of overseas military bases in East Africa tended to use and drive local labor, which was most prominent in the construction of East African military bases in the Nanyang region.
In the Middle East, where the local population is relatively sparse, East Africa can also assist in construction work by hiring workers from neighboring countries. For example, in military bases in the Persian Gulf, East Africa has hired workers from Oman, Iran and the Ottoman Empire.
The situation at Dakhla Port is completely different. It is difficult to find people here, so the main force of construction is basically domestic workers from East Africa and East African engineers.
When it comes to treating its own citizens, East Africa is obviously not as harsh as it is to foreign workers, so it has invested a lot of specialized equipment to assist in operations.
Thalmann said, "You are right. The Empire is the country with the strongest infrastructure capabilities in the world today. In the construction of overseas military bases, there will definitely be more and more places like the one being built at Dakhla Port today."
"These engineering equipment and specialized personnel are the foundation of the Empire's strength. They also provide a model for the Empire's future military bases and engineering construction in harsh, sparsely populated areas."
"It might even change some details of the empire's overseas expansion strategy."
As mentioned before, many places and countries are now constrained by local population and environment in the construction of overseas military facilities, which makes the site selection of overseas military bases an important reference standard.
For example, the Monrovia Port currently under construction by the United States does not have the best water depth conditions in Liberia. The Buchanan Port in southern Liberia was the most modern deep-water port in Liberia in the 21st century.
Moreover, Buchanan is located further south than Monrovia, which makes it more conducive to the United States' strategic containment of East Africa.
The reason why the United States does not build a military base in Buchanan is mainly because the conditions in Buchanan are too poor. The conditions here mainly refer to the fact that Buchanan has no urban infrastructure at all and there are almost no people there. Unlike Monrovia, although it is also very backward, it at least has a certain population base, and as the capital, it can mobilize resources from all over the country.
If Buchanan were in the hands of East Africa, he would likely be valued. However, East Africa does not like towns like Monrovia that have already developed to a certain extent, because it is easy for local military deployments to be interfered with by local people.
(End of this chapter)
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