Chapter 1600: Development of the Southern German Kingdom
October 3, 1935.
Kingdom of Southern Germany.
The first country to be affected by the administrative division changes in the Azande region of East Africa was the Kingdom of South Germany. As East Africa's most important ally in Africa, the economy of the Kingdom of South Germany is highly tied to East Africa.
The Shari River Basin is now the most developed area in the Kingdom of South Germany due to its early development history. The adjustment of the administrative divisions of East Africa upstream also means industrial restructuring. The related enterprises, foreign trade, transportation and other issues of the Kingdom of South Germany also need to change.
Therefore, regarding this administrative division adjustment in East Africa, the Kingdom of South Germany specifically invited the East African Ambassador to the Kingdom of South Germany, Clermont, to inquire. The current monarch of the Kingdom of South Germany is William II, grandson of the former Prince Leopold of Sigmaringen.
After supporting Sigmaringen in East Africa to develop the Kingdom of South Germany, the first heir was Leopold's son William, also known as William I. However, he died in 1927 and the throne was inherited by his eldest son Friedrich William, now William II.
Benu City.
This is the new capital of the Kingdom of South Germany. During the reign of William I, the territory of the Kingdom of South Germany expanded unprecedentedly, and the Kingdom of South Germany acquired large tracts of land in the former Nigeria and Cameroon.
So at the end of William I's reign, in the 1920s, the Kingdom of South Germany began planning to move its capital from the original New Sigmaringen (N'Djamena) to the city of Benu.
The so-called Benue City is named after the Benue River, which is an important tributary of the Niger River and the longest tributary of the Niger River, about 1,400 kilometers long. The coast is also the key development area of the current South German Kingdom. The city of Benue is built on the banks of the Benue River.
At the Royal Palace in Benu City, William II asked Ambassador Clermont, "Ambassador Clermont, regarding the recent administrative adjustments in East Africa, what changes does your government plan to make?"
Ambassador Clermont replied, "Your Majesty, don't worry about this. Our current round of regional adjustments is primarily aimed at promoting local economic development and better connecting to the North African Railway. Of course, there are also ecological considerations."
"This is also good news for the Kingdom of South Germany, because after this regional adjustment, the original Oke River basin will be fully under the management of the new Azande Province. This will improve efficiency in the bilateral coordination on the water source of the downstream Shari River and reduce domestic disputes over water use."
Regarding the water distribution of the Shary River, William II was actually not very interested. After all, the relationship between the Kingdom of South Germany and East Africa was not that between the United States and Mexico. East Africa would not completely ignore the lives of the people along the downstream of the Kingdom of South Germany for the sake of the development of its own Shary River basin.
William II said: "I am naturally full of trust in East Africa. After all, the Kingdom of South Germany is East Africa's most steadfast ally and partner."
"However, I'd like to know what plans your country has in place after the opening of the North African Railway. Can our Kingdom of South Germany participate in this? Did you also take the North African Railway into consideration in your administrative division adjustments this time?"
Clermont did not hide it, but said affirmatively, "This is natural. It can be said that the upcoming completion of the North African Railway itself is an opportunity for this regional adjustment."
"As for the layout of the North African railway, it is no secret. In order to stimulate the potential of the future North African railway, we have incorporated most of the former East Azande Province into the Bavaria Province."
"Bavaria will become a key node and railway hub for trade between the Great Lakes region and Europe."
William II rested his finger on his chin and thought for a moment before saying, "So, in other words, the future development direction of East Africa's trade route on the North African Railway is to connect with the Great Lakes region?"
Clermont responded positively to his idea: "The North African railway requires huge investment, and the population along the route is sparse and the economy is seriously lagging behind. It is not enough to support trade between the empire and the Mediterranean countries."
"Therefore, in order to recover the construction costs and maintain funding for subsequent railway operations, this railway must be connected to an economic entity of sufficient size."
“Although the Great Lakes region is not a core area in East Africa, its size is second only to the eastern, western and central regions.”
"Furthermore, the Great Lakes region itself is located in the interior of the empire and has no access to the sea. The North African Railway has become a good option. In this way, some goods that focus on efficiency and timeliness can be sold to the Mediterranean market via the North African Railway, instead of having to go through ports like Mombasa and Douala as in the past."
In the past, the main cargo exports from the Great Lakes region were basically transited through the Port of Mombasa. However, the transportation from the Great Lakes region to Mombasa also had to be completed by road and rail. Even after going out to sea, it still had to go through a sea route of up to 5,000 kilometers before finally reaching the Mediterranean region.
In the future, when the Great Lakes region and North Africa are connected by railway, goods from the Great Lakes region will have to travel over 3,000 kilometers of railways before finally reaching the port of Benghazi on the Mediterranean coast.
Both routes pass through land and sea, but have different focuses. The former has a longer sea route distance, and after entering the Mediterranean, it only reaches the northern exit of the Suez Canal, that is, Port Said, and continues to travel a distance to various destinations in Europe.
If you are going to markets such as the Soviet Union, the Ottoman Empire, or the Balkan Peninsula, it is very convenient, but if you want to go to Western European countries, it is not so convenient.
The latter, the North African railway line, also known as the Western Line, has a longer land distance and relatively limited transport capacity, but it is faster to reach the Mediterranean market.
The terminus of the North African Railway, the Port of Benghazi, is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea. The distance from Benghazi to various places along the Mediterranean coast is relatively uniform, which can further save sea transportation costs for some freight.
Especially for countries in Western Europe and northwestern Africa, it saves nearly 1,000 kilometers of sea distance compared to the eastern line which ends at Port Said north of the Suez Canal.
It can be said that after the North African railway is completed, if air transportation is not considered, this route will be the fastest route from East Africa to Europe, especially Western Europe.
Therefore, for those products with high added value or timeliness, it is also possible to consider choosing the North African Railway Line.
For provinces and cities along the North African Railway, especially in East Africa, the North African Railway is more cost-effective in the Mediterranean trade.
William II was obviously very interested in the North African railway because this line had the same function for southern Germany.
He said: "We are also very interested in the North African railway, which will facilitate trade between the southeast and Europe and North African countries. We are considering building a southern railway, which may be connected to the North African railway."
Clermont replied, "We certainly welcome this. After all, the economies of our two countries are already highly integrated. The Kingdom of South Germany has grown significantly in terms of population and economy over the years. Connecting to the North African railway will definitely benefit the southeastern region of South Germany."
Although the Kingdom of South Germany was a large country, even close to two million square kilometers, its population distribution was very uneven due to environmental and water resource reasons. Most of its territory was desert and extremely arid areas, and more than 90% of the population and cities lived in the south.
In 1935, the total population of the South German Kingdom was approximately 5.8 million, of which nearly 4 million lived in the area from the Chari River to Lake Chad, which was the southeastern part of the South German Kingdom.
This is a very good result. After all, there are not many countries and regions in Africa with a population of over five million.
In 1935, in the population ranking of African countries, apart from the Kingdom of South Germany, there were only five countries and regions with a population of more than five million: East Africa, Egypt, British Nigeria, Abyssinia, and Algeria.
As for other countries and regions, there is a lack of reliable data, or they are relatively fragmented. For example, Morocco is divided into French Morocco, Spanish Morocco and a so-called international zone. If Morocco were completely unified, its population might be equivalent to that of the Kingdom of South Germany.
In addition to these countries and regions, the populations of other countries and colonies range from hundreds of thousands to one or two million, and even three or four million, but it is highly unlikely that any of them actually exceed five million.
The current population of South Germany is not low compared to the whole of Africa, but the Kingdom of South Germany has only been established for a few years and is not comparable to those countries at all.
If we assess the comprehensive strength of African countries, the Kingdom of South Germany can even squeeze into the top three. Its national strength is comparable to that of Egypt, but Egypt's population is more than three times that of the Kingdom of South Germany.
Egypt's population is close to 20 million, which also includes several million people from Sudan in the past. Because of the existence of East Africa, Britain accelerated the integration of Egypt and Sudan.
Thanks to this, Egypt now holds the third most populous position in Africa, after East Africa and British Nigeria.
In addition to its population advantage, Egypt has many advantages over the South German Kingdom. For example, Egypt has a long history of development and an earlier modernization process. During the Ali era, Egypt had already made initial attempts at modernization, but was later interrupted by Britain and France.
But no matter what, Egypt had far more capital and foundation than the latter in the early days of the South German Kingdom.
The Kingdom of South Germany has developed to this day with external help, including East Africa, Romania and Sigmaringen, but East Africa has adopted a more laissez-faire attitude towards the Kingdom of South Germany, and its main support is to ensure its military security and provide some economic preferential policies.
Although the Romanian royal family is also a member of Sigmaringen, Romania is not under the control of the royal family. In addition, due to the long distance, its help to the Kingdom of South Germany is even more limited.
As for the Principality of Sigmaringen, it was the ancestral home of the royal family of the Kingdom of South Germany, but as early as the Prussian period, it was like Hechingen, existing in name only, and was too small to support large-scale colonial activities.
Therefore, it is very difficult for the Kingdom of South Germany to transform from a colony provided by East Africa into a medium-sized country.
William II said: "Although the main development direction of South Germany is now westward, the southeast, as a major source of revenue and tax revenue, cooperating with East Africa and connecting with the East African market is obviously the best outcome."
"Once the west is fully developed, the southern German economy will be fully revitalized. The inland region can connect to the vast East African market and, through the North African railway, participate in trade with North Africa, Europe, and the Middle East. Further west, through coastal development, connections with the west coast of East Africa, West Africa, and Europe will be strengthened."
"The only regret now is that we haven't gained access to the sea at the lower reaches of the Niger River. Otherwise, the future development potential of the Kingdom of South Germany would be even greater."
The Benue River is now a key development area in the Kingdom of South Germany, but the main stream of the Niger River downstream is in the hands of the British.
At the beginning, the Kingdom of South Germany, under the rule of William I, continued to expand westward, which inevitably brought it into conflict with the British, and its expansion was eventually forcibly interrupted by the British.
However, this is understandable. Throughout the early 20th century, as Britain's overseas presence continued to decline, especially as markets such as the Far East Empire and the Middle East continued to shrink, separatist trends in colonies such as India became increasingly stronger.
Britain is paying more and more attention to Nigeria. Compared with other regions, Nigeria is relatively easy for Britain to control, and it is not difficult for the British Navy to support Nigeria from the Atlantic. Moreover, Nigeria is a relatively prominent region in Africa in terms of population, arable land and resources.
Therefore, it was naturally impossible for Britain to allow the Kingdom of South Germany to continue to grow and threaten its rule over Nigeria.
Although the Kingdom of South Germany also has a powerful backer in East Africa, and is not afraid of Britain if East Africa supports it, East Africa has no intention of completely turning against Britain at this stage, so the Kingdom of South Germany can only stop while it is ahead.
Now, it is estimated that it will take southern Germany decades just to digest the land occupied in the west. If the territory expanded in the west can be effectively developed, it will not be difficult to feed two to three thousand people.
Of course, if the Kingdom of South Germany could obtain access to the Niger River, it would certainly hope to do so. In this way, the Kingdom of South Germany could rely on sea and water transportation to speed up the development of its western territory.
The British also saw this and were even more reluctant to allow it to occupy the Niger River estuary area.
Ambassador Clermont said, "The Kingdom of Southern Germany is now large enough, and you have also acquired a section of coastline. Although the construction cost of this coastline is high and it cannot be connected to the inland by water, it is sufficient to temporarily meet the needs of Southern Germany through land transportation."
"As for the British, although they are declining, they are still a superpower that no country can easily ignore."
"However, the South German Kingdom is not without opportunities in the future. With the development of the European situation, especially the growing strength of Germany and the Soviet Union, Europe will sooner or later fall into a new round of turmoil. By then, your plan to seize the lower reaches of the Niger River will face much less resistance."
East Africa is not worried about the South German Kingdom obtaining the area in the lower reaches of the Niger River including Port Harcourt. After all, even if the South German Kingdom annexed there and had the foundation to develop into a great power, the gap between it and East Africa is still huge. After all, there are only two superpowers like East Africa with an area of more than 10 million square kilometers in the world, and there are only four if Britain and France are included.
Moreover, East Africa also hopes that South Germany will obtain more arable land to promote its population growth, so that the population isolation zone in northern East Africa can be more stable.
(End of this chapter)
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