Chapter 1640: Manipulating Public Opinion
Since the British want to make the situation more chaotic, it means that they have the ability to do so. As the "world hegemon", the British still hold many "weapons" and chips that cannot be ignored.
Although Britain has fallen behind militarily, they still hold the world's financial and public opinion hegemony and have a rich fortune accumulated over a hundred years.
The current world system was established under British leadership, and they have cultivated a large number of "comprador" classes and interest representatives around the world, all of which are forces that Britain can directly manipulate.
For example, let these groups that are tied to British interests serve Britain's strategy in their own countries, lobby their own governments, guide public opinion through the news media they control, and so on.
Britain in the 1930s was very similar to the United States in its previous decade.
Britain has lost its absolute military advantage, even though it still has the world's most powerful navy. The United States also lost its absolute military advantage in the 2020s because of the emergence of a new competitor.
But it is undeniable that the US military is like the current British military, a lean camel is bigger than a horse, and both countries still maintain an advantage in size in their navies.
The technological advantage no longer exists, and the situation faced by the UK is even worse than that of the United States, because in this time and space, the number of countries that are not inferior to the UK in military technology is far greater than the number of countries faced by the United States in its previous life.
In its previous life, the United States only lost its technological advantage over the Far Eastern empires' navies, while the British Navy had no technological advantage over East Africa, Germany, or the United States, and the gap between Italy, Japan, and France and Britain was not significant.
This resulted in Britain having the world's largest naval force, but being unable to make use of it, and its influence in the Atlantic, Mediterranean, Indian Ocean and Pacific Ocean was rapidly shrinking. For example, in the Pacific region, Japan was eroding Britain's interests in its Far East Empire, but Britain had no way to deal with Japan.
In several other areas, the British Navy seems to be powerless. In the Indian Ocean, no country can challenge the East African Navy. In the Atlantic direction, the United States, East Africa, etc. are all strong competitors of Britain.
Finally, there is the Mediterranean. Britain’s main competitor in the Mediterranean is Italy. It is indeed difficult for Italy to pose a challenge to Britain now, but Germany has also launched a naval construction project in the Adriatic Sea.
To sum up, the British Royal Navy has actually become a "mascot". Any targeting by a naval power may completely tear off the fig leaf of the British Royal Navy.
Therefore, the British government does not dare to allow the Royal Navy to easily participate in some uncontrollable regional conflicts.
This is just like the United States' timid attitude towards war in the 1920s of the 21st century. Even if we move forward 20 years, the United States still dares to go to Afghanistan to fight a war. The military-industrial complex and the US military are happy to hear about war.
The same is true for the UK. Twenty years ago, the UK would not be afraid of any country militarily. As for before the 20th century, the UK could basically deal with any country it wanted to deal with.
The British were more cunning than the Americans in that they were better at instigating conflict. For example, in the late 19th century, they supported Japan to attack the Far Eastern empires and Tsarist Russia, and they also supported Portugal in dealing with East Africa. However, in the South African war, Portugal proved to be ineffective, and Britain eventually intervened.
As for Britain today, it has completely lost its former arrogance and is afraid of being dragged into the war.
Therefore, Britain has only one option, which is to carry forward its ancestral skill of being a "shit stirrer" and let other powers fight among themselves, so that they cannot unite to deal with Britain.
As the British government reached a consensus, it added fuel to the chaotic world situation at the end of 1936. Anyone who paid attention could find that a large number of negative news and reports that were likely to cause confrontation suddenly emerged in countries around the world.
For example, the amount of negative news about the Soviet Union and East Africa in German newspapers increased sharply, and correspondingly, some negative news about Germany also appeared in East Africa.
The trade dispute between Germany and East Africa has been deliberately exaggerated, and there has been an increase in mutual criticism between the people of East Africa and Germany, mixed with a lot of fabricated false information.
For example, a certain East African is discriminated against in Germany, or a German company is maliciously harassed by an East African government...
This phenomenon is not only seen in Germany and East Africa; it is also seen in the United States, Italy, Japan, and other countries and regions that the UK can influence.
In addition to malicious attacks and confrontations in the news and public opinion, under the manipulation of the British government, the "compradors" they support in various countries will also cooperate with Britain under certain conditions to deliberately create incidents and provoke conflicts between countries.
This was particularly evident in Britain's colonies and overseas areas of influence, where the drama of "two peaches killing three men" was constantly being played out.
For example, if there is high-quality mineral resources controlled by British capital somewhere, the UK will deliberately bid to two or even more national companies with complex relationships, causing conflicts between them.
For example, in Australia, Britain relaxed the entry threshold for Japanese investment, allowing them to compete with East African capital, triggering further fierce confrontation between the United States and East Africa in South America, and deliberately guiding commercial conflicts between Germany and East Africa in the Mediterranean and Europe.
The UK is using market manipulation to sow discord among countries, which is a good overt strategy.
Because for the major powers in the world today, overseas markets are an important "battlefield". Since the great economic crisis of 1929, the world market has become increasingly divided, and the tariff barriers of various countries have become increasingly high, even to the point of creating "closed" markets like the Soviet Union and the United States.
Britain, relying on its vast colonies and sphere of influence, possessed a huge market that was coveted by other countries in the world, and naturally did not want other countries to enter it in the past.
Now the UK is deliberately leaving it open, thus triggering competition among these countries. The UK's actions have made the whole world even more chaotic.
Just like the Internet in the 21st century, the anger of people all over the world has increased a lot, which in turn affects the decision-making of governments around the world.
Of course, the effect of what the British did is not obvious at present, especially the less democratic governments are less likely to be affected, typical examples being the Soviet Union, Japan and Germany, while East Africa and the United States are not much better.
Even the United States, which has always prided itself on "freedom", is now ruled by the political strongman Roosevelt, so the British's small moves have a relatively limited impact on the government level of various countries.
However, given the current world situation, there is no need for their instigation. Countries dislike each other, and Britain is only adding fuel to the fire.
...
December 7, 1936.
East Africa, Rhine City.
East African governments quickly became aware of the various rhythms that have appeared in domestic news and public opinion in East Africa since the end of the year.
Crown Prince Friedrich said, "Someone is deliberately trying to manipulate public opinion in our country and sow discord between the Empire and countries like the United States and Germany. Considering the recent frequent disputes over overseas interests, Britain is highly suspected."
"Because some of the news coming back from the British colonies was very unusual, their diplomatic activities with some countries were quite frequent, and it seemed as if they were intentionally targeting the normal overseas business activities of East African companies."
"This was particularly evident in South America and Southeast Asia, where the UK sold some industries to the US, and in regions like Australia, where the UK relaxed restrictions on Japan."
"The former is understandable, but the changes in Britain's attitude towards Japan are quite intriguing. The British are undoubtedly the main victims of Japan's expansion in the Far East, especially the Far Eastern Empire. Britain has lost a lot of benefits, and now they are actually relaxing investment restrictions on Japan in Southeast Asia."
In fact, Britain was not intentionally targeting East Africa, but was setting a trap for almost all countries. However, it happened that many of Britain's colonies and interests were relatively close to East Africa's sphere of influence, so this made Britain's combination punch look like it was targeting East Africa, leading to Crown Prince Frederick's misjudgment.
Ernst couldn't figure out what the British actually thought, but he couldn't rule out this possibility.
"Friedrich, you have a point. If the British are deliberately targeting us, it's not without basis. The expansion of our sphere of influence does create a greater sense of crisis in Britain."
"Putting everything else aside, the fact that India is right under our noses is enough to make the British uneasy right now."
"Except for Canada, most of Britain's other colonies had access to East Africa, which the British considered a huge security risk."
"Just like how we view Alaska, in the eyes of East Africa, Alaska is not much different from a hostage in the Pacific. If Japan, the United States, or even the Soviet Union and Canada take action against Alaska, we will have no good solution."
Except for Canada in North America, most of Britain's colonies are within the military coverage of East Africa.
Colonies like Egypt, South Africa and Nigeria would not even have the possibility of struggling if they were targeted by East Africa. India, Persia and other places would also be isolated and helpless. Australia, New Zealand and the like would have to rely on the United States, otherwise East Africa would have it in their hands.
Crown Prince Friedrich said: "Geopolitically, we are the country that has shown the most restraint towards the British overseas colonial system."
"If this is the reason, it's not surprising that the British are deliberately targeting us. However, we can't just sit there and watch the British disgust us. We should take some countermeasures."
"I'm not worried about the UK pulling other countries into a confrontation with us, but the US is not one of them," Ernst said.
"We should be wary of collusion between the United States and Britain. If Britain packages up its colonies and overseas interests and hands them over to the Americans, that will be our real trouble."
In Ernst's eyes, there are only two countries that have the real power to threaten East Africa's global layout, namely the United States and the Soviet Union.
Although Germany is also very powerful, East Africa is not afraid of Germany's challenge, even if it is a war, because it is difficult for Germany to launch a desperate war with East Africa due to geopolitical factors, even if Germany rules the whole of Europe.
It would be difficult for Germany to cross the Mediterranean Sea through North Africa. Although it had the Ottoman Empire as an ally in the Middle East, its military power in East Africa could not be challenged in the Indian Ocean, and it would be difficult for the Ottoman Empire to leave the Persian Gulf.
Therefore, even if Germany becomes bigger in Europe, it will be difficult for it to reach into the pockets of East Africa. The situation is different for the United States and the Soviet Union.
Due to the geographical location of the United States, it is very difficult for East Africa to restrict its activities, especially when it comes to South American interests. If the United States gains an advantage, it will be very difficult for East Africa to regain it. The same is true in the Far East and Oceania.
The threat that the Soviet Union might pose to East African interests is mainly in the Middle East and Central Asia, and secondly in the Far East. After all, these regions are directly adjacent to the Soviet Union. If the Soviet Union establishes an advantage in these regions, it can engage in a tug-of-war with East Africa for these areas. Of course, the British would never cooperate with the Soviet Union.
It is precisely based on this point that if the UK gives up its overseas interests, what East Africa should be most wary of is the US taking advantage of it.
Crown Prince Friedrich frowned and said, "If the British are determined to do this, it will be difficult for us to stop them from cooperating with the United States. After all, Britain and the United States share the same cultural roots."
"We can only ensure that the British sphere of influence around the Indian Ocean and East Africa does not fall into American hands."
Ernst said: "For now, the possibility of collusion between the UK and the US is relatively small. After all, the UK has not reached the point of desperation and is not about to sell off its overseas assets."
"However, it is inevitable that the UK will target East Africa and sow discord between us and countries like the US and Japan. Since the British are not doing this openly but secretly, we must also be prepared."
"We must strengthen our monitoring of South America and the South Pacific to prevent the UK from doing anything that harms our interests without our knowledge. We must also continue to consolidate our diplomatic and economic activities with the southern countries, preferably tying them all to the wheel of empire."
"However, if some countries do indeed side with the United States, we should respond in economic and political terms to make it clear that aligning with the United States will come at a price."
"We can't be too overbearing, or it might backfire. You have to strike the right balance."
Crown Prince Friedrich nodded. This was not a solution at all. He then asked, "Father, what should we do about the public opinion problems caused by those news reports among the people of our country?"
Ernst doesn't seem to care much about public opinion. He said, "The negative news right now doesn't really have much impact on us. It's mainly aimed at stirring up conflict between East Africa and other countries. While some of it is exaggerated and even malicious, it's not entirely groundless."
"Since those behind this want to stir up the emotions of East Africans, we can completely go with the flow and use this wave of public opinion to strengthen the construction of the national defense sector."
The British did take advantage of the conflicts between East Africa and other countries, but it is undeniable that these conflicts existed. Therefore, Ernst did not intend to stop this situation from happening. Moreover, he could use this sentiment to cover up East Africa's early preparations for war.
In any case, the public opinion in East Africa cannot hijack the official decision-making of East Africa.
Ernst added, "But we're not doing nothing. Now that these people have come forward, we can follow their lead and find the hidden dangers buried in our country in advance. When necessary, we can eradicate them completely."
East Africa certainly cannot ignore those private news media that are influenced by other countries and not controlled by the East African government. There is no need to take action against them now, but it does not prevent them from being recorded.
(End of this chapter)
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