Chapter 1594: The Anschluss and the Superpower
This is also one of the important characteristics that distinguish East Africa from other colonizers in their colonization methods. East Africa attaches more importance to stability and controllability, and is willing to pay more colonization costs for this.
If East Africa had not been a country established in the late 19th century, Ernst would have been willing to learn from the ways of other colonial countries. However, by the end of the 19th century, traditional colonialism had clearly reached the end of its life.
At that time, the last wave of colonialism was just a last gasp. After entering the 20th century, the various problems and contradictions presented by colonialism became increasingly obvious.
Therefore, from Ernst's perspective at the time, even if East Africa wanted to continue its overseas colonial expansion, it had to make changes. This also became the overall idea of a series of East African policies that were contrary to the traditional colonial model.
In the eyes of the international community at that time, and even in the eyes of many countries today, East Africa's overseas colonization was considered bizarre because the benefits East Africa gained from overseas expansion were far less than the costs.
However, Ernst did not consider the gains and losses in the short term at all. East Africa wanted to benefit from the colonies not only in the next ten or twenty years, but also until the 21st century, so as to maintain the overseas colonial system that might last for hundreds of years.
As long as this system can last until the 21st century, East Africa will be able to recoup its costs sooner or later.
…
May 7, 1935, Berlin.
After the initial preparations, Germany officially launched its annexation of the Austro-Hungarian Empire today. Members of Parliament and government representatives from both Germany and Austria-Hungary flocked to the Berlin Reichstag.
Adolf sat in the upper seat with high spirits and said to everyone present: "Today is a day worth remembering forever for Germany. After the efforts of several generations of Germans, the unification of the German region will be completed in our hands."
"Germany and Austria-Hungary were originally one family. Historically, the territories of both countries were once part of the Holy Roman Empire."
"Since 1806, the entire German nation has finally become a unified, united, and complete country after hundreds of years of humiliation and suffering."
1806 was actually the year when the Holy Roman Empire fell. Of course, to be more precise, the Habsburgs were constantly weakened by Napoleon and could no longer become a leader widely recognized in the German region.
The last Holy Roman Emperor, Francis II, issued an edict in Vienna, announcing the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire and giving up the title of Emperor. Then, the Holy Roman Empire at that time transformed into the Austrian Empire, the predecessor of the current Austro-Hungarian Empire.
If Francis II had not given up his claim to the Holy Roman Empire, the Austrian Empire would actually be the Holy Roman Empire. However, in the eyes of the Habsburg royal family at the time, there was not much benefit in maintaining the claim to the Holy Roman Empire.
Especially after losing its control over northern Germany, the Habsburg royal family lost the important capital to suppress nations such as Hungary. Therefore, in order to maintain the rule of the empire, giving up the claim to the Holy Roman Empire was more beneficial to the Habsburg royal family.
This also led to Adolf having to set the time of the demise of the Holy Roman Empire as 1806. In order to better digest the Austro-Hungarian Empire, he could only use the banner of the Holy Roman Empire to make it more legitimate.
Because the territory of the Holy Roman Empire itself included most of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, including present-day Hungary, Bohemia, and these areas were not entirely inhabited by Germans.
Adolf said: "Before Napoleon, what is now Germany and the Austro-Hungarian Empire were countries in their own right. The people of the original land were all part of the Holy Roman Empire. It was only out of fear of this powerful empire that Napoleon had to dismember it."
"Now, everyone has returned to the embrace of the Reich. This is a reflection of the will of the entire German nation."
Although somewhat contradictory, Adolf had no choice but to adopt such a narrative. Here, he forcibly labeled the Hungarians, Czechs, Slovaks and other ethnic groups as remnants of the Holy Roman Empire, thereby blurring the distinction between them and the Germans.
After all, the Holy Roman Empire was recognized as the orthodoxy by the Germans and was also the greatest common denominator between Germany and the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
Although considering Hungarians, Czechs and other ethnic groups as part of the country goes against Adolf's racial theory, it is obvious that Adolf's principles can be flexible compared to practical interests.
Adolf's twisted statement was indeed acceptable to some representatives of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Although they came from Bohemia and Hungary, their ancestors had married into German nobles, so their identities could actually be changed.
As for nationalists who don't buy into Adolf's tactics, there certainly are some, but such people are obviously very few and would not be invited to Berlin today.
Adolf went on to say, “So the merger of Germany and Austria-Hungary was not Germany’s unilateral annexation of Austria-Hungary, but rather the two countries returning to the embrace of the ancient empire.”
"The new state, or successor to the Holy Roman Empire, the Greater German Empire will be the common home of all of us..."
After Adolf finished his speech, everyone present shouted: "Long live the Greater German Reich!"
Even some people who are not willing to do so can only follow suit and cheer in this atmosphere.
When the news of the establishment of the Greater German Empire was announced from Berlin, mainstream newspapers and news in all countries of the world rushed to report on this situation.
In East Africa, the Rheinische Herald reported: "A behemoth with a land area of 1.12 million square kilometers and a population of over 120 million has appeared on the European continent. Germany has become a superpower capable of competing with the Soviet Union in terms of size, and it possesses a more powerful industry, more workers, and a more powerful army than the Soviet Union..."
"With the formation of this powerful empire, the entire European continent will be completely changed..."
The overall coverage in East Africa of Germany's annexation of the Austro-Hungarian Empire was positive. At least from a grassroots level, it was difficult for the people of East Africa to feel aversion to this new country.
In the Soviet Union, reports on Germany were more targeted and full of concerns.
The Soviet newspaper Pravda wrote: "Germany's invasion and occupation of the Austro-Hungarian Empire has become a reality. This is a huge disaster for the non-German peoples living in Germany and for the working class. They will face oppression from an even greater machine of violence..."
"The convergence of capitalism, militarism, and feudalism in Germany and Austria-Hungary will cause the entire European civilization to regress."
"At the same time, after annexing Austria-Hungary, Germany will further threaten the security of our great motherland. We should never be too vigilant against Germany!"
Although Germany called itself the Greater German Empire after annexing the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the international community continued to use the name Germany to describe this new world superpower.
There are currently six countries in the world that can be called world superpowers, namely East Africa, the United States, Germany, and then Britain, France and the Soviet Union.
There is some controversy about the last three. Britain and France have huge overseas colonies and populations, and their local development is also world-class. However, the gradual decline of the two countries is also an objective fact. The current situation of the two countries is somewhat similar to that of Russia in its previous life.
Russia undoubtedly has the foundation to become a superpower, but it is unable to utilize it and is constantly declining in international competition.
This is the situation with Britain and France now. Although their size seems impressive, these resources cannot be integrated and optimized. For example, colonial separatism is an unsolvable problem. At the same time, it is becoming increasingly difficult for the two countries' local governments to suppress their colonies.
The controversy over whether the Soviet Union became a superpower lies in the fact that the overall level of development of the Soviet Union's industry is still relatively low. Before the completion of its second five-year plan, the Soviet Union's industrial scale was also slightly insufficient.
However, one thing is certain: if the Soviet Union is given another ten years of peaceful development, it will inevitably become the world's undisputed emerging superpower.
The gap between other countries other than East Africa, the United States, Germany, Britain, France and the Soviet Union and the five major powers is too obvious, even Japan and Italy, which are also major powers.
From the perspective of land, among the six major countries, Germany, which has the smallest land area, also covers more than one million square kilometers, while Britain and France, together with their colonies, are two behemoths.
In terms of population, the six superpowers have a population size of at least over 100 million. Among them, the country with the largest population is Britain, including overseas colonies. The British population is close to 500 million, of which India's population may exceed 350 million.
Of course, the India here includes Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Myanmar.
After Britain, the second most populous superpower is East Africa, with a population of over 200 million, including colonial populations. The third is the Soviet Union, with a population of over 150 million.
The United States and Germany ranked fourth and fifth, with populations of over 120 million each.
France, on the other hand, has become the country with the smallest population among the six superpowers. Even if all of France's colonies are included, the population of France barely reaches 100 million.
If the colonial population is counted, Japan's population can also exceed 100 million, but population is not a decisive data in the superpower indicators. Otherwise, the Far East Empire and India can be calculated in this way.
The gap between Japan and the superpowers in terms of industrial level is even greater. For example, among the superpowers, the Soviet Union, which has the worst overall industrial quality, has a higher level of industrial development than Japan.
Japan's industry is concentrated in Asia, which is now considered the ceiling, but the gap compared with East Africa, the United States and Europe is still obvious.
Not to mention Italy, which has a significant gap in population, area and industry compared with the six superpowers.
If Japan and Italy want to become superpowers, the former must achieve the goal of dominating Greater East Asia, and the latter must establish Mediterranean hegemony, but the possibility of the two countries achieving their goals is almost zero.
…
We have talked about East Africa and the Soviet Union’s attitude towards Germany before. Obviously, the Soviet Union was most worried about Germany, followed by France.
Although France is now basically in a semi-lying state in its diplomacy and competition with Germany, when the news of the German-Austrian merger reached France, it still caused an uproar, and many different voices emerged in France.
France's "Times": "With the rise of the new Holy Roman Empire in Europe, France must increase its military investment to ensure France's security..."
France's Le Volkskrant urged: "Germany should remain calm. Both Germany and France are leaders in European affairs. In today's declining Europe, the relationship between Germany and France should be one of cooperation, not competition and hostility. Both sides should put aside historical grievances and coexist peacefully."
The French "Communiqué" stated: "Germany has become the most powerful country in Europe. We hope that the German government can focus its energy and responsibilities on resisting the Soviet Union, the common enemy of Europe. France can cooperate with Germany in this matter..."
It can be seen that France's attitude towards Germany is the most complicated. Some people regard Germany as a mortal enemy, some hope for reconciliation between Germany and France, and some instigate and provoke Germany to deal with the Soviet Union...
France is now unable to achieve ideological unity, which is the sequelae of World War I. If it were France before World War I, it would not even be possible to allow Germany to annex the Austro-Hungarian Empire so easily.
This also means that France as a whole is more inclined to hope that Germany will show mercy and let France off, rather than that France can still become a major power that can stand on its own in European and world affairs.
Compared with France's entanglement, Britain's attitude towards Germany is simpler.
The British news media did not criticize the German-Austrian merger, but they also emphasized and called on Germany to act within its capabilities, especially on maritime issues, to avoid a recurrence of World War I and maintain peace in Europe.
Of course, the Germany mentioned by the British media obviously does not include the Soviet Union.
This is equivalent to suggesting that Germany should make concessions to Britain in its subsequent military actions. As long as it does not harm British interests, the British can tolerate Germany's expansion towards the European continent.
Finally, there is the United States. The United States now has no time to care about Germany's development. Compared with Germany, its threat is not even as great as the pressure brought to the United States by the Soviet Union and East Africa.
Among the six world superpowers, Germany itself occupies one place. The other four capitalist countries did not strongly oppose Germany's annexation of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. As for the last one, the Soviet Union, its attitude is unknown. After all, the Soviet Union itself can be said to be an enemy of the whole world and a clear hostile country of Germany.
Therefore, Germany's annexation of the Austro-Hungarian Empire was completed almost without any waves. At the same time, the sudden expansion of Germany's national strength also caused major changes in the diplomatic activities of non-superpowers and great powers in the world.
First of all, the countries around Germany, such as Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Belgium, etc., are afraid of Germany. After all, Luxembourg and the Netherlands were once part of the Holy Roman Empire. Denmark, Sweden and other Nordic countries also want to make friends with Germany.
The Balkan countries also put Germany first in their foreign affairs, and now their lifeblood is in Germany's hands.
Outside of Europe, countries including the Middle East, the Far East and Latin America also adopted a more active and friendly attitude towards the more powerful Germany, including the Far East Imperial Nanjing Government, as well as Argentina and Persia.
Italy and Japan, which originally tended to cooperate with Germany, also welcomed the strengthening of their quasi-allies.
(End of this chapter)
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