Chapter 661 Berlin Conference
As 1884 approached, a conspiracy "grand meeting" was brewing in Europe. Like the previous life, the location was chosen to be Berlin, but the purpose and content of this Berlin Conference were very different. Unexpectedly, the East African government was also invited.
The Berlin Conference in the previous life was mainly caused by the dispute in the Congo River Basin, but the fuse of this life's Berlin Conference was the Niger River Basin.
After all, East Africa has actually controlled most of the Congo River basin. Only the lower reaches of the Congo River are controlled by Belgium and Portugal respectively, and the estuary of the Congo River is completely controlled by Portugal's Angolan colony. Therefore, there is currently no so-called dispute in the Congo River basin.
"German Chancellor Bismarck intends to convene an international conference on West African affairs. In name, it is to introduce civilization to West Africa and change the backward situation there. In reality, it is to completely resolve the increasingly fierce confrontation and disputes in West Africa. In other words, the colonists of West African countries want to divide the interests of West Africa and speed up the progress of colonization in West Africa."
"Invite us? Will they let East Africa enter West Africa?" Constantine said jokingly.
"This is the weird part. East Africa is definitely the most powerful force in Africa right now. If we interfere in West Africa, they will be asking for trouble! So I'm afraid some of them are not well-intentioned this time."
"This Berlin Conference is actually a contest between Britain, France and Germany in West Africa, with the traditional colonial powers of Spain, Belgium, the Netherlands and Portugal as well."
Portugal's colonies in West Africa were mainly Ouidah, a small territory along the coast of the Kingdom of Dahomey, and the Portuguese islands of São Tomé and Principe in the Atlantic Ocean. As the saying goes, "A rotten ship still has three pounds of nails", this is the situation of Portugal, so the Berlin Conference could not avoid this completely declining colonial power.
Of course, Portugal is mentioned specifically, mainly because it is quite ironic that Portugal participated in this international conference. Just like in the previous life, the countries qualified to participate in this Berlin Conference were the sixteen "world powers" according to Western standards.
Specifically, they include the five major European gangsters, Britain, France, Germany, Russia and Austria, followed by the United States, Spain, the Ottoman Empire, the Kingdom of Sweden, the Netherlands, Denmark, Norway, the Kingdom of Italy, Portugal, and the only African country qualified to attend the conference - the Kingdom of Hechingen (East African Kingdom).
If Portugal is not considered a "powerful country", then Denmark, Norway, and only half of Italy are left in an awkward position. Although Belgium, the Netherlands, and Sweden are small in size, they are either developed or wealthy, or, like Sweden, are quite influential in Northern Europe. Moreover, these countries are no worse than the great powers in terms of industrialization.
"Sigmaringen was not invited to the Berlin Conference. Will this affect our strategic layout in Sigmaringen?" asked Prince Karl.
Sigmaringen was indeed more concerned about the content of this conference than East Africa, because the main direction of Sigmaringen's future territorial expansion was West Africa, in order to seek an independent seaport, but this Berlin Conference disrupted Sigmaringen's layout.
What's even more embarrassing is that Sigmaringen is not qualified to sit at the negotiating table, that is, the mainstream countries in the world do not recognize the existence of the Sigmaringen royal territory.
In fact, this is not discrimination by Europe, but many countries do not even know the existence of the Sigmaringen Colony, including Germany, which is leading the meeting.
Because Sigmaringen's geographical location is indeed too remote, even in East Azande Province, which is located at the border between East Africa and Sigmaringen, there are actually not many people except for the military, not to mention that Sigmaringen in Chad needs to be developed through East Africa.
Some French expeditions knew of the existence of the Sigmaringen territory, but they mistook it for East Africa.
Because before Sigmaringen, the indigenous peoples of Chad mainly dealt with East Africa. Many indigenous forces that fled from the Great Lakes region to Chad naturally regarded East Africa as their suzerain state.
Therefore, before the Sigmaringen royal territory colonized the Chad region, the East African Army often patrolled the Chad region to escort East African geologists and expeditions deep into West Africa.
As a result, the Chad region was tacitly recognized by the French as East African territory, but in fact it has become the Sigmaringen royal territory in recent years, and the local indigenous forces were driven away by East Africa in advance.
"Carl, don't worry. At this meeting, we will definitely guarantee Sigmaringen's basic interests. However, because the incident happened suddenly, I think it may be difficult for Sigmaringen to gain access to the sea in the future!" Constantine analyzed.
The final result of the Berlin Conference will definitely be to divide the spheres of influence according to the strength of each party in West Africa. Therefore, except for those countries that already have colonies in West Africa, countries like Austria-Hungary, Tsarist Russia, Norway, Sweden, and even East Africa are all spectators. Of course, since they are participating in the conference, they will definitely compensate the participating countries in terms of economic benefits, including the rights to do business, pass, and develop in West Africa.
In fact, large tracts of land in West Africa have not been developed, especially the inland. At this time, a quick way for colonists to develop the inland was to go deep into the inland areas along the waterways.
This is also the reason why expedition teams from Europe and the United States like to explore the source of rivers. In his previous life, Stanley carried out preliminary preparations for colonization of the Congo Basin under the banner of exploring the source of the Congo River with the funding from Belgium.
This time, he had no such opportunity, because the area west of Kinshasa was all within the control area of East Africa, and the inland river and lake troops of East Africa could patrol the entire middle reaches of the Congo River.
The estuary of the Congo River was completely controlled by the Portuguese as they destroyed the Kingdom of Congo. The Portuguese are still a considerable force in Africa, especially in recent years, they have greatly increased their military strength in order to deal with East Africa.
Therefore, explorers like Stanley could only carry out activities in the Niger River Basin. In addition, the fierce competition among Britain, France and Germany in West Africa in recent years led to the convening of the Berlin Conference.
Originally, France was the strongest in West Africa, but Britain also occupied many good places, the most famous of which was the Gold Coast. Now Germany, a new world power, has also plunged into the West African quagmire, and the entire West African coastline has become a mess.
There was no other way around it. East Africa blocked Britain's way south and north, so Britain had no choice but to lower its status and compete with Germany and France for the last uncolonized area in West Africa.
“Germany invited us to attend the Berlin Conference this time, most likely to get us to support its colonial activities in West Africa. As for East Africa wanting to profit from this conference, it is basically impossible. After all, Britain, France, Germany, and other countries do not want a giant country to emerge in Africa.
Therefore, our primary goal is to strive for economic benefits, just like Tsarist Russia and Austria-Hungary, while ensuring the relevant rights and interests of the Sigmaringen royal territory. However, the current situation of the West African coastline is complicated, and the last few major powers have difficulty reaching a consensus on the distribution of West Africa. "Ernst said.
The main reason is that Sigmaringen entered Africa too late. If Sigmaringen and Belgium had colonized Africa at the same time, this matter would have been much easier.
Constantine also said to Prince Karl: "If Sigmaringen wants to gain access to the sea, it must negotiate with Germany. You can ask Leopold to discuss this matter with the Prussian royal family in advance. If Germany agrees, then this matter will be much easier to handle. However, in this way, Sigmaringen will also owe Germany a favor in the future."
People are never afraid of owing favors, especially to the three royal families, which are all branches of the Hohenzollern family, and the three main branches. Therefore, the Prussian royal family will definitely support Sigmaringen, but the attitude of the Prussian royal family does not necessarily represent the attitude of the German government.
(End of this chapter)
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
