Chapter 408 The Executioner is Online
In March 1871, Leopold II said to his cabinet members: "Belgium is small in area and lacks resources. At the same time, we are sandwiched between big countries. If we Belgians want to gain a foothold in this era, we must have our own vast colonies!"
King Leopold II of Belgium had a dream of becoming a great power since he was a child, but the size of Belgium made it difficult for him to realize his idea, so Leopold II believed that the way out for Belgium lay in colonies.
In 1872, East Africa achieved an unprecedented victory in South Africa. This news made Leopold II, who had been paying attention to Africa since he came to power, completely unable to sit still.
Leopold II: "The Kingdom of East Africa! Who among you knows anything about it?"
Huh? The ministers looked at each other in bewilderment. No one knew the specific situation of the East African Kingdom. Even if they knew the name, they had only heard of it.
Looking at these ministers, Leopold II said angrily: "I have always emphasized that the future of Belgium lies in the colonies, but you just ignored my words."
"Your Majesty, it's not that we don't care about this matter, but colonization is extremely expensive. If it is not a rich colony, there is no value in occupying it."
Leopold II: "That's bullshit! Any land has its value, but only wise people can discover it. The only two people in the world who are as wise as me are Prince Constantine of Hohenzollern Hechingen."
"Here I have detailed information about the East African Kingdom. This is data I obtained through various investigations. The Hechingen royal family began to colonize East Africa in 1865. As of this year, the territory of the East African Kingdom in Africa is likely to be around several million square kilometers. The army of the East African Kingdom can be seen from Somalia to South Africa, as well as Central and West Africa."
Leopold II had long had ambitions for Africa, so after he ascended the throne (1865), he began to send expeditions to investigate the overall situation in Africa.
"What does this mean? It means that Hechingen, a small German country with no autonomy and a population of only tens of thousands, has become a superpower with millions of square kilometers of land in just eight years."
"The population of the Port of Mombasa in the Kingdom of East Africa alone exceeds that of the Principality of Hechingen. According to data from March this year, there are more than 100 ships entering and leaving the Port of Mombasa every day, and most of them are ocean-going ships."
This data is true, because currently there are only two ports in East Africa, Mombasa and Dar es Salaam, which are responsible for the export of bulk goods in East Africa. In addition, the two ports are located on traditional waterways, so the scale of imports and exports is relatively large.
However, Ernst could not imagine that Leopold II would send people to Mombasa to keep an eye on and observe the developments in East Africa.
"You don't know about the East African Kingdom, but you should know about the Hechingen Bank, right?"
"Why was the Hechingen Bank able to develop into the leading bank in Germany in just a few years? I think the resources of the Kingdom of East Africa provided a huge boost to the Hechingen royal family. Africa represents a huge wealth that has yet to be shared. A small country like the Principality of Hechingen can get such a big piece of the pie in Africa. Our Belgium is hundreds of times the size of the Principality of Hechingen, so we should acquire a large area of land in Africa."
This statement is a bit inappropriate. East Africa did play a role in the rapid development of the Hechingen Bank, but it was not as great as the contribution described by Leopold II. The main reason was that Ernst bet on the right horse every time, especially the Second Schleswig War, the Austro-Prussian War, the Franco-Prussian War, the Italo-Austrian War and the current European and American railway economic frenzy, which completely established the Hechingen Bank's position as the largest bank in Germany. Generally speaking, it rose to prominence by relying on war finances, and the Kingdom of East Africa itself did not provide much help to the Hechingen Bank.
"So we should take action in Africa now, otherwise we will just be eating scraps from the East African Kingdom."
Originally, Leopold II was a relatively cautious person. After all, it was not easy for him to get a colony as large as Congo from many powerful countries in his previous life. Without extraordinary means, such an achievement would not have been possible.
In his previous life, when Leopold II conquered Africa, it happened that European countries also turned their attention to the African continent. Belgium entered the scene quite late and only began actual action in 1876.
Now with the stimulation of the East African Kingdom, Leopold II could no longer hold back, especially the fact that the East African Kingdom forced the Cape Town Colony to compromise in South Africa, which became the fuse.
Cape Town was a British colony. It was really too legendary that East Africa was able to make an old colony like Cape Town compromise after only developing for less than ten years.
The matter of the Cape Colony's compromise had originally been put on ice by the Cape Colony as it was too embarrassing. However, it could not be hidden from Leopold II, who had been keeping an eye on developments in East Africa.
Leopold II had some knowledge of East Africa and his special interest in it began with Archduke Ferdinand (Maximilian I).
Princess Charlotte, the wife of Archduke Ferdinand, is the sister of Leopold II. When Archduke Ferdinand encountered difficulties in Mexico, Charlotte sought help from various European countries, and naturally would not let go of her motherland Belgium. At that time, she also asked for help from her brother Leopold II.
Leopold II had just ascended the throne not long ago, and Belgium was just a small country. How could it have the ability to interfere in Mexico, which was thousands of miles away? Given the size of the two countries, it would be more appropriate for Mexico to interfere in Belgium instead.
So Leopold II turned a blind eye and sent his sister to cause trouble for the Habsburgs. After all, Emperor Francis' words were more effective than those of a monarch of a small country like himself.
As a result, the Austro-Hungarian Empire was unable to interfere in Mexico's political situation due to the Austro-Prussian War. Even if it sent people to rescue Archduke Ferdinand, it would be of no avail. The main reason was that Archduke Ferdinand himself did not want to return to Austria in disgrace.
Archduke Ferdinand was a stubborn man at the time. He wanted to emulate Emperor Chongzhen and die heroically, but Ernst used brutal means to bring him to Africa, which caused him depression for a while.
Leopold II naturally knew the inside story. When his sister happily told him the news that Archduke Ferdinand was not dead, he thought it was the Habsburg family who took action. Unexpectedly, it was his sister's son-in-law who took care of the matter.
In addition, the Hechingen royal family also took the path of colonizing Africa, so this made Leopold II quite interested in the East African colonies. It would be nice to have the small country of Hechingen (compared to Belgium) to explore the way for himself.
The result of this exploration was remarkable. Within a few years, the East African Kingdom developed from a tiny place in East Africa into a superpower with a territory of several million square kilometers. Leopold II did not know the population, but based on the actions of the cities of Mombasa and Dar es Salaam and the East African Army in South Africa, Leopold II guessed that the population should be around one million.
Leopold II did not doubt the East African Kingdom's ability to recruit immigrants. He had specifically investigated this. After all, the Principality of Hechingen was just a small town in Europe with a population of about 10,000 people. Without a population, how could the Hechingen royal family colonize Africa?
Then, Leopold II sent people to observe the two East African window cities of Dar es Salaam and Mombasa, and then concluded that a large number of Germans and Far Easterners should be introduced.
It is easy to explain the Germans. The German region has always been the area with the most serious population outflow in Europe, so it is not surprising that East Africa can attract a lot of Germans.
But Belgium did not have as large a population as Germany, so Leopold II planned to learn from Ernst and introduce people from the Far East to serve as tools for his colonization of Africa. There were many people from the Far East in the East African Army.
After all, the East African Kingdom has already given the answer, so just copy it. It is the right thing to do to control barbarians with barbarians. It is most appropriate to use people from the Far East to suppress blacks. Belgium can just sit back and reap the benefits.
Thinking of this, Leopold II said, "What the Principality of Hechingen can do, we in Belgium should do even more. Look at how rich the Hechingen royal family has become now. Our Belgian population is at least over three million, and our industrial and agricultural levels are not bad in Europe. The Principality of Hechingen is just a tiny principality under Prussia, so we must also learn from the Kingdom of East Africa and create a second Belgium in Africa. Now you have to come up with a plan for me quickly, because time is running out."
(End of this chapter)
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
