Chapter 1615 Technological Revolution
This is a typical example of politics and military safeguarding the economy. In the northern hemisphere, East Africa can cover and influence areas mainly in the Middle East, North Africa, West Africa and other regions.
East Africa's base is south of the 12th parallel north. South of the 12th parallel north, East Africa's military and political influence exceeds that of any other country in the world.
For example, Colombia is at the forefront of the competition between East Africa and the United States in Latin America. The northern tip of Colombia is approximately 12 degrees north latitude. The city of Gezira at the northern tip of East Africa is also approximately 12 degrees north latitude. The Gulf of Aden, located south of the Red Sea, passes through the country at 12 degrees north latitude.
It can be said that once the countries in the northern hemisphere cross the 12th parallel north, their military, diplomatic and economic activities will inevitably be affected by East Africa.
Within this line, East Africa has absolute political, economic and military advantages, even in the South Pacific. After all, East Africa also has a series of colonies in the South Pacific.
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After entering the Eighth Five-Year Plan, East Africa's economic development has clearly reached a bottleneck. In the past, East Africa could still learn from other countries and thus have a clear path for economic and industrial development.
However, East Africa now has no clear learning and catching-up goals. During the Seventh Five-Year Plan period, East Africa could still target Germany's advantageous industries, but this shortcoming is no longer obvious after the Seventh Five-Year Plan.
Of course, this is aimed at the current East African national group, not Ernst, who has past life experience.
After the Seventh Five-Year Development Summary Meeting, Ernst expressed some of his views to Crown Prince Friedrich.
"East Africa's current development is like wading through a river. In the 1920s, we could still move forward by feeling our way forward, but now East Africa has entered deep water."
"To move forward, we need to follow the example of the Age of Exploration, where countless explorers and sailors, through trial and error, forged new paths for economic development. Given the current situation in East Africa, we can clearly see that we must continue to steadily advance electrification."
Electrification is actually one of the hallmarks of the Second Industrial Revolution. East Africa itself is also a very representative country in the Second Industrial Revolution, and it can even be said to be a leader. However, compared with Germany and the United States, East Africa mainly focused on the second half of the Second Industrial Revolution.
This period, that is, the early 20th century, the second industrial revolution lasted from the late 19th century to the early 20th century. Before the 19th century, East Africa did not perform well.
The countries that caught up with and seized the important opportunity of the Second Industrial Revolution basically did well. The major countries that completed the Second Industrial Revolution basically maintained or became great powers. The representatives of small countries were also the Netherlands and Belgium.
Ernst said: "Now that the second industrial revolution has basically been completed in East Africa, if the empire wants to lead the third industrial revolution, it must focus on science and technology."
"Because one of the most important characteristics from the first to the second industrial revolution is the significant improvement in the requirements for scientific theories and the quality of scientific researchers."
"During the First Industrial Revolution, craftsmen and technicians played an important role in technological breakthroughs, such as Watt and Stephenson in the UK. In the Second Industrial Revolution, scientists and engineers were more representative, such as Siemens, Edison, and Tesla."
"During the first industrial revolution, many breakthroughs came from empirical exploration, while the second industrial revolution placed greater emphasis on theoretical guidance."
"Therefore, for the Empire, we must cultivate a more professional team of talents in the field of scientific research. In this process, the importance of the government will be further enhanced. For example, many of the country's key experiments and projects are now organized by government departments."
It is true that the market can also contribute to scientific research, but at the current stage, the government can play a greater role. After World War II, the technological breakthroughs of the United States and the Soviet Union all had this feature.
After all, large-scale projects like nuclear engineering and aerospace engineering require enormous investments, a large number of talented individuals, and are difficult to find profitability in a short period of time. The latter point is particularly unfavorable in the market, often discouraging private capital.
This can actually be seen from the transition from the First Industrial Revolution to the Second Industrial Revolution. During the First Industrial Revolution, the government basically did not directly participate, but during the Second Industrial Revolution, the government directly became a guide, even a leader and planner.
East Africa is a typical example of the latter. The government directly leads the general direction of scientific research development and actively guides the direction of scientific and technological development through education, infrastructure and standard setting.
In the past, during the third information and technological revolution, the government became a "strategic venture capitalist" in the high-tech field, directly investing funds and taking early risks, laying the foundation for the country's innovation ecosystem.
In fact, this is the role that East African governments are playing now, as are the Soviet Union and Germany.
Crown Prince Friedrich naturally understood this. He said, "Today, in the field of scientific research and education, only the Soviet Union has more stringent and comprehensive management than us."
"However, the Soviet Union's achievements were indeed very impressive, so much so that in recent years it became the fastest-growing country in the world."
"Now, not only has the Soviet Union's industry been completely transformed, but it has also firmly established itself in the world's top tier in terms of breakthroughs in cutting-edge science and technology, especially in aerospace and other engineering fields."
In the past, it was no coincidence that the Soviet Union was the first country to go into space, because the Soviet Union's own constitution was very suitable for the development of such projects and industries. Even in the later Russian period, relying on the Soviet Union's legacy, Russia was able to maintain a first-class level in the aerospace field.
Ernst said: "We have implemented the Soviet economic development model in the past, so we are naturally familiar with its advantages and disadvantages. While this development model was indeed effective in the early stages, it cannot unleash the full potential of society."
"I've said before that the government should play a greater role, but that doesn't mean we should completely ignore the market. The two should be fully integrated. The government's line is clear and definite, while the market is more sensitive and can effectively test the real-world application of some scientific research results, thereby correcting the direction of scientific research development and avoiding total failure due to going in the wrong direction."
"If the government's direction of technological development goes astray, the market may be our retreat. We must strike a balance and encourage and support technological breakthroughs in the market or among the private sector."
"As for the government's key development directions during the Eighth Five-Year Plan, I have also summarized some key areas. The first is materials. Breakthroughs in materials are the key area that can achieve major technological changes."
"For example, the first industrial revolution revolved around steel technology, which promoted the development of industries such as steam engines, railways, and shipbuilding."
"During the Second Industrial Revolution, breakthroughs in materials, such as rubber, chemicals, and alloys, were even more crucial. These laid a solid foundation for the development of technologies in the automotive and aviation sectors, while also driving further changes in the military industry."
"As for the third technological revolution, I still believe that breakthroughs in materials are key, especially in the development of the electrical industry, as well as the nuclear industry, aerospace industry, and even consumer industries like the textile industry."
"Therefore, in the third technological revolution, East Africa must continue to increase research and development in the field of materials."
"As for materials, the development of the semiconductor industry is also a key breakthrough direction during the Eighth Five-Year Plan."
The theoretical basis of semiconductor materials has been basically perfected at present, but it still requires time and patience to truly realize it. In the past, it was not until after World War II that a major breakthrough was achieved. Therefore, if East Africa wants to achieve progress in semiconductor materials now, every step is difficult.
At present, East Africa, as the country with the highest level of electrification in the world, is still struggling in the research and development of semiconductor materials, and other countries are far behind East Africa.
"Only with reliable semiconductor materials can the Empire truly achieve the leap from the electrical age to the electronic age, realize the third technological revolution, and find a new path for economic and social development."
"So, if the Empire wants to lead other countries in this field, it would be best if we could achieve a breakthrough in semiconductor materials during the Eighth Five-Year Plan. We have a high chance of success."
East Africa had already begun planning breakthroughs in semiconductor materials in the 1920s, and had established relevant laboratories and scientific research teams. In recent years, it had also achieved many results. Therefore, Ernst was very confident that the Empire would achieve a breakthrough in semiconductor materials during the 85 period.
Crown Prince Friedrich also had expectations for this. After all, his understanding of semiconductor materials was quite profound, at least beyond that of most people of this era. The rulers of many countries probably had never even heard of this term.
He said: "I also hope that day will come soon, so that the Empire's development in the fields of computers and electrical appliances can achieve a complete transformation."
East Africa now has computers in the modern sense, and there are two paths, namely electromechanical computers and vacuum tube computers. However, computers in East Africa, like other national key projects such as nuclear engineering and aerospace engineering, are highly confidential projects that are basically inaccessible to ordinary people.
However, all these projects cannot escape one limitation, that is, the limitation of material technology. Only when East Africa makes great progress in material science can these projects be accelerated and serve the real society.
Ernst said, "In addition to those key confidential projects, the aviation industry is also a key area of development for the Empire during the Eighth Five-Year Plan. Furthermore, its economic value must be fully realized during this period."
"Now, in the field of large transport aircraft, as long as we can achieve a range of more than 7,000 kilometers, we can achieve huge economic benefits for this means of transportation."
Why 7,000 kilometers? Because as long as this distance is broken, East Africa will be able to fully realize the development of the transoceanic market in the aviation field.
For example, air routes from East Africa to many cities in southern Europe no longer require transfers, but can arrive directly in one go. Transoceanic routes to South America, Brazil, Argentina, the Middle East, South Asia, Australia and other regions can also be opened.
The straight-line distance from Rhine City to Trieste, Rome, Istanbul, and Madrid does not exceed 7,000 kilometers.
If it is an airport in the north of East Africa, it can fly to more cities and regions in Europe.
One of the important reasons for choosing Rhine City as the center is that East Africa is currently building an "airport" between Rhine City, New Frankfurt and Kabwe. For inland cities in East Africa, aviation is its key development direction in the future. After all, inland areas themselves lack the sea transportation advantages of coastal cities and are at a disadvantage in economic competition.
Therefore, if the airport between the three cities of Rhineland can be successfully built and international routes can be opened as soon as possible, it will be of great significance to the economic development of the central province urban agglomeration headed by Rhineland.
The key data node for opening international routes is 7,000 kilometers.
Ernst said: "Thanks to the Empire's geographical location in the world, it can be said that the Empire is one of the most suitable countries in the world for the development of aviation."
"As long as we can achieve a range of over 7,000 kilometers for large transport aircraft, the Empire will be able to convert international air routes into real profits and open up new markets."
In terms of the most common world map, the location of East Africa, or the location of the African continent, can be called the "crossroads of the world". It is located right in the middle of the world's continents and is a natural and ideal aviation transit station.
The straight-line distance from East Africa to any other continent, even Antarctica, is no more than 10,000 kilometers.
Of course, for North America and the Far East, or the eastern part of Australia, it is still difficult for East Africa to travel to these regions by air, even if the aircraft range exceeds 7,000 kilometers.
From the Cameroon Province in East Africa to places outside Florida in the United States, or from the east coast of East Africa to the southern coast of the Far East Empire, or to the eastern cities of Australia, the distance is more than 10,000 kilometers.
However, for East Africa now, the most important thing is to open up direct air routes to Europe or South America as soon as possible. This also means that East Africa will have an additional way of communicating with these two places.
Ernst said, "In the aviation industry, the Empire must break through the 7,000-kilometer limit as soon as possible. Whether it's using traditional propeller aircraft or eventually jet aircraft, it's acceptable. Of course, the latter will definitely be the main force in the Empire's future skies."
"Furthermore, the development of the aviation industry is closely related to the semiconductor industry we mentioned earlier. Only when breakthroughs in semiconductor materials drive the miniaturization of electrical appliances can the development of the aviation industry create greater market benefits, especially in the field of air cargo."
As we all know, the cost of air freight is far higher than traditional transportation modes such as rail, road and sea transportation. If you want to make real profits, you must seek products with high added value and preferably small size.
Electronic products are the most ideal objects for air cargo transportation. That is why Ernst said that breakthroughs in semiconductor materials are related to the future development of air cargo in East Africa. In this way, Rhine City will have an extra leg to walk on in the industry in the future.
After all, as the capital of East Africa, high-end industries, especially the electrical industry, are important development directions in the development plan of Rhine City. Breakthroughs in semiconductor materials and the entry of East Africa into the electronic age may enable this city to continue to maintain its industrial advantages.
(End of this chapter)
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