Chapter 307 The Birth of Germany
While taking over Mayotte, East Africa also coveted the four main islands of Grande Comoro, Anjouan, Moheli and many small islands near Mayotte. Among them, the Sultan of Anjouan is the nominal ruler of the Comoros Islands. The Kingdom of East Africa is ready to have a heart-to-heart talk with the Sultan of Anjouan and send some of his citizens to the Sultanate of Zanzibar. In the future, the Comoros Islands will be the Comoros Islands of East Africa.
It is definitely not possible now as the immigrants have not arrived yet, so the East African Navy will first be responsible for stabilizing the Sultan of Anjouan Island.
After stabilizing on Mayotte, the East African Navy immediately headed towards Anjouan. Under the cordial visit of Archduke Ferdinand and the East African Navy, the Sultan of Anjouan immediately signed a treaty with East Africa, and the Comoros Islands became a protectorate of East Africa.
At this time, Anjouan had actually lost control of the other three islands, but East Africa only took advantage of the righteousness and excuse to suppress the natives on the remaining two islands, Grande Comore and Moheli, in the name of the Sultan of Anjouan.
There is a mixture of forces on the Comoros Islands. Except for Mayotte, which is completely controlled by East Africa, the other three islands are composed of African blacks, Arabs, and Malays. Among them, Arabs are in a ruling position and Arab culture is prevalent on the islands.
Fortunately, the Comoros Islands, with their tropical rainforest climate, have a small population and are not difficult to control in East Africa.
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On January 18, 1871, William I was inaugurated as Emperor of the German Empire in the Hall of Mirrors at the Palace of Versailles in Paris.
Just at the end of last year, with the help of the Franco-Prussian War, the four southern German states formally joined the German Confederation, and the German region has been unified.
The southern German region has always been one of the most economically developed regions in Germany, so after annexing the southern German region, Germany's strength has achieved the effect of one plus one being greater than three. The Kingdom of Bavaria alone has a strength that cannot be underestimated by most European countries.
With the announcement of the establishment of the German Empire by William I in Versailles, Germany as a whole also appeared for the first time in human history.
The newly established German Empire, with a population of more than 40 million (historically 41 million) and a territory of 610,000 square kilometers, surpassed France to become the most powerful country on the European continent.
Germany has the most powerful army and vast territory currently recognized in Europe, and its strength is far beyond that of Prussia or Austria before.
When Emperor Franz of the Austro-Hungarian Empire heard the news of the establishment of the German Empire, he felt mixed emotions. This also meant that Austria had completely lost its influence on the German region, and the Austro-Hungarian Empire had to change its business. On the contrary, Hungary was very happy. With the unification of Germany, Austria would no longer be able to suppress Hungary with the help of the German region.
The East African Kingdom expressed congratulations when the German Empire was founded, but that was all. If Germany had announced its establishment in Berlin, Ernst might have gone to join in the fun, but he would have stayed away from Paris so as not to bring hatred to East Africa.
When Germany was unified, the population of East Africa had reached 4.7 million, of which the number of German immigrants from Germany and the Austro-Hungarian Empire alone (including newly born population) reached more than 1.8 million. Together with the Germanized Slavs (Croats, Slovenes) and interethnic marriages (Paraguayans, Chinese, Germans, etc.), the pan-German population was 4.45 million. The remaining more than 200,000 immigrants included newly introduced Italians, Russians, Chinese, etc.
There is no doubt that East Africa as a whole is a German country. It is the third largest German country after Germany and the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The remaining Luxembourg and Liechtenstein are not worth mentioning in terms of size.
At the same time, the Kingdom of East Africa is the fifth largest country in the world in terms of land area (including the royal territory of Alaska), after Britain (including colonies such as Canada and Australia), Tsarist Russia, the Far East, and the United States.
East Africa has not announced the specific land area of East Africa to the international community. Although it has had contact with other colonists in many areas, territory and colony cannot be equated in this era. Therefore, in the impression of most countries, East Africa still remains on the east coast of East Africa and the mainland part of the former Zanzibar Sultanate. These countries and regions do not include Mozambique and some Austrians.
Mozambique truly felt the oppression of East Africa, and the Austrians at least knew that East Africa had completed the conquest of Kenya and Tanganyika, otherwise how could East Africa open up investment in Kenya.
The East African Kingdom, with its vast territory and millions of people, is now in need of low-key development. Only by completely controlling Zimbabwe and the Zambia region can the East African Kingdom appear on the international stage.
So starting in 1871, East Africa began to change its previous radical expansion path, and there were no more expansion plans except for Mayotte.
On the border, the East African Kingdom also began to keep a low profile, vigorously developing trade relations with the Boers and Portuguese and avoiding armed conflicts.
At the same time, Ernst began to prepare for the transfer of part of the Hechingen Group's industries to East Africa. Today, the Hechingen Group has become one of the world's top conglomerates, owning the entire East African Kingdom as its backyard. It also has a say in Germany and the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and has industries in other parts of Europe. Therefore, the Hechingen Group has become rich enough to rival a country, and even if some of the proceeds leak out, it will be enough for East Africa to digest for a long time.
The core of the Hechingen Consortium is the Hechingen Bank. In addition to the companies under the Hechingen Consortium, under the command of Ernst, the Hechingen Bank holds controlling stakes in a number of emerging companies in Germany and the Austro-Hungarian Empire, mainly in the fields of electricity, military industry, food, machinery, etc.
A typical example is the Skoda factory founded by Austrian Count Skoda in the Czech Republic (1869). Hechingen Bank held a 17% stake. At that time, the Skoda factory was just a machinery factory, and Count Skoda was confused by the investment of Hechingen Bank.
Most of the emerging companies in the European power sector have investments from the Hechingen Bank, while the food industry is completed through monopoly. The tropical cash crops produced in East Africa are mainly sold to Central and Eastern Europe, so many newly-born food factories in Central and Eastern Europe have the presence of the Hechingen consortium behind them. There is no way. Africa has a huge advantage in distance compared to its counterparts in Southeast Asia and the Americas. When East Africa's coffee, tea, rubber and other industries mature, they will further squeeze the original market.
At the same time, the Hechingen Bank invested in the oil industry in the eastern part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and Romania, especially in Romania. Carol I gave the green light, almost allowing the Hechingen Bank to dominate the Romanian oil industry.
As industries of the Hechingen royal family, East Africa and the Hechingen Consortium have developed very rapidly, while the export strategy implemented by East Africa as a country is a typical small profit but quick turnover, focusing on the agricultural sector.
The Heixingen Group is concentrated in the fields of finance, light industry and high technology, with high profit margins and a relatively large scale.
What East Africa lacks most at present is heavy industry. On the contrary, neither side has any experience in this regard and needs further exploration. Without heavy industry, it will be impossible to provide basic industrial production materials, the main body of the Hexingen Consortium will not be able to separate from Europe, and East Africa and the Hexingen Consortium will not be able to form a combined super political and economic entity. Therefore, the development of heavy industry is the current primary goal of the East African Kingdom.
(End of this chapter)
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