Chapter 440 Vienna is so beautiful!
Overall, this military parade had some effect. Ernst underestimated the conservatism of people in today's era. In the eyes of the older generation, the East African Army uniforms were too untraditional.
In fact, the military uniforms of this era were not ugly, and were even gorgeous, but this gorgeousness was generally only seen by officers, and the quality of the uniforms of ordinary soldiers was somewhat uneven. The East African Army was relatively uniform overall, and there was not much breakthrough in appearance. In fact, because the high-top hats that were unique to European military uniforms were changed, they seemed a little less majestic.
In other words, the European military uniforms still retain the characteristics of the cold weapon era, while the East African Army is transitioning towards the World War II era, focusing more on practicality. If compared separately, the East African uniforms are a little worse in terms of artistry, but this set of military uniforms in East Africa is very suitable for the team image, with a solemn and oppressive feeling.
After a moment's silence, warm applause broke out on both sides of the streets in Vienna. The East African Army was not an Austrian army, so naturally it did not receive cheers, but the strict discipline demonstrated by the East African Army won praise from the majority of Viennese citizens.
"The East African Kingdom has the same warlike genes as Prussia in its bones. I guess this is the tradition of the Hohenzollern family!" commented a citizen.
It is not true to say that East Africa is as warlike as Prussia, because there are yellow faces in the East African army, which means they are not even Germans, so the influence of the Hechingen royal family must be added. Since the Hechingen royal family also has the surname Hohenzollern, the East African army must also be influenced by the Hohenzollern.
"Uh, how do you know that the East African Kingdom is warlike? Just based on a military parade that was just for show!"
"That's easy to infer. It can be seen from some details. Look at the eyes of the East African soldiers. I've seen that kind of look before. Only soldiers who have seen blood can naturally show it. You don't have to refute me. I also served in the Kingdom Army and was fortunate enough to have experienced several wars, so I have a very keen sense of smell for soldiers."
As the elite of the kingdom, the soldiers of the East African Guards Division were selected from various units, so it was not surprising that they had experienced war. Although the natives had no advantage in weapons, they could also broaden the horizons of the East African army.
"Secondly, look at their rifles. They are obviously not new. Although they are well maintained and even refurbished, you can tell at a glance that they have experienced many wars."
This is normal. The Dreiser rifle production line in East Africa has been dismantled and sent to the Far East, so only a small part of it is retained to maintain operation. Therefore, the soldiers on parade are still holding old guns. When they return to East Africa, they should replace them with 1873 Mauser rifles. In addition, the high-intensity training of the Guards Division means that they do not participate in wars, and the guns will also suffer great damage.
It should be emphasized here that the East African Kingdom Army has a complete and large-scale military-industrial system that is in line with the trend of the times. First of all, because the weapons of today are not as outrageous as those in the past, the technical difficulty is low, and the types of weapons are few, so East Africa also has the ability and technology to engage in military manufacturing.
Secondly, although Ernst has always stated that East Africa is backward and the education level of its residents is low, in fact the education level of East African residents ranks among the best in the world, with a literacy rate of over 20%, and the proportion of so-called semi-illiterate citizens exceeding about 40%. In other words, according to the standards of the times, the proportion of truly illiterate people in East Africa does not exceed about 140, so East Africa does not lack a reserve of basic workers, which also creates conditions for East Africa to establish its own military-industrial system.
The main reason for this situation is the dividend of compulsory education in the German region. The proportion of residents in East Africa who actually come from the German region (the entire Austro-Hungarian Empire is considered the German region) is about 45%, among which South Germans and Austrians account for the majority, and a small part are Hungarians and Slavs.
In 1870, the illiteracy rate in Germany was only 2%, so there was basically no illiteracy among the South Germans who immigrated to East Africa. The level of the Austro-Hungarian Empire was much lower (still as high as 22% during World War I), but the level of compulsory education in Austria was still very high.
As for semi-illiterate, it is the result of the forced promotion of German in East Africa. To unify the language, non-German immigrants must be given classes, and classes inevitably involve teaching vocabulary and grammar. Therefore, many immigrants can read some German articles even if they cannot write completely.
Of course, literacy rate does not mean a high cultural level. East Africa’s current focus is on promoting languages. It is still far behind in subjects like mathematics, physics, and chemistry.
Moreover, learning this kind of thing means not making progress but regressing. Even if German residents have received a complete compulsory education, if they do not go to a factory to screw screws or move bricks on a construction site, the current agricultural application scenarios are not enough to support their digestion of knowledge; it is enough to just look at traditional experience.
Therefore, many Germans may forget their primary school education within a few months after entering society. In addition, compulsory education is also uneven. The economic development levels of various regions in Germany vary. In some places, there are no excellent teachers and the teaching quality is worrying.
At the same time, East Africa also equated the various Slavic peoples who immigrated to East Africa from the Austro-Hungarian Empire with Germans, which also resulted in the literacy rate in East Africa not being linked to the German population, but being lower than the German population level.
Finally, and most importantly, East Africa is truly vast and rich in resources, which provides the basic conditions for the development of East Africa's military industry.
The current core area of East Africa (cooked land), which is the East African Federation area in the previous life, has an area of more than 1.2 million square kilometers, which is almost the combined area of Germany and the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
In terms of resources, Germany and Austria have an outrageous amount of iron ore and coal, which is the basis for the two countries to become world powers. Steel and energy symbolize national strength.
In East Africa, the coal reserves of Zimbabwe, South Africa and Botswana combined can surpass those of the two countries. The coal reserves in other regions can only be compared with those of the Austro-Hungarian Empire alone. However, if it can be compared with the Austro-Hungarian Empire, East Africa wins.
This means that East Africa can reach the industrial level of the Austro-Hungarian Empire by relying solely on the resources in the eastern part of East Africa, so East Africa is not stingy in developing resources needed for military industry.
In the future, we will need more intense competition, and we can do this by relying on South Africa, which was one of the top five mineral producing countries in the world in the past.
If East Africa wants to control and develop the coal and iron resources in the south, it must wait until the central railway is completed. After the completion of the central railway, the strength of the East African Kingdom will reach a new level.
After the military parade, there was nothing much to see, at least Ernst was not interested, but Karina was not satisfied yet.
"Brother Ernst, I heard there will be a light show tonight. Can you tell me what the effect is like? Is it as amazing as advertised?"
"Well, it should be more dazzling!" Ernst said perfunctorily.
Ernst really didn't know how to talk about the light show. It was true that he arranged it, but it was mainly for advertising. He had this light show as a demonstration. If other cities held celebrations and activities at the same time, it would not have been impressive if they didn't do it on time. In this way, the Hexingen Electric Power Company could get large orders, just like the last time they had the city that never sleeps.
As for how dazzling the light show is, Ernst certainly can't feel it. After all, it is far inferior to his previous life, so time travel also reduces a lot of fun for Ernst.
Evening, eight o'clock.
It was completely dark.
As the Vienna Hechingen Electric Company started the power supply, the colorful lights and light boxes in the streets and alleys lit up, and the whole of Vienna instantly became bright and colorful.
“Vienna is so beautiful!”
(End of this chapter)
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