Chapter 693: Independence Again!
The military gap is indeed the easiest to make up. After all, it is impossible to surpass East Africa in other directions. To put it bluntly, the Orange Free State is just a small place compared to East Africa, and its population and land are already greatly restricted.
However, if the Boers in this region are mobilized to the extreme, that is, like Paraguay in South America, with hundreds of thousands of troops, Transvaal can also do it.
Of course, doing this is clearly not the wish of the Transvaal leaders present here. If it were really like Paraguay, the future of the Transvaal Republic would be ruined, unless it also learned from Paraguay and reintroduced a large number of population.
But now Paraguay is like a blood transfusion, is it still the same Paraguay? So things must not develop in that direction. After all, we are not the war maniac like Pelosi who imitates "Napoleon". We just want to get a small piece of land in South Africa and rebuild the homeland of the Boers.
Moreover, the Transvaal Republic was probably not as brave as Paraguay was back then. Although Lopez Jr. failed, he did manage to fight three against one, and the enemy had the support of the world hegemon, Britain.
At that time, Paraguay was obviously more modernized than the current Orange Free State. After all, in the eyes of East Africa, the Boers were just a group of herdsmen in South Africa.
At that time, Paraguay had been rising rapidly under the leadership of two generations of presidents, the Lopez family. They sent people to visit and study the powerful European countries and imitated the West to build their own country.
Not only did it attract a large amount of foreign investment to boost the economy, it also introduced technology to build railways, steel mills, and lay telegraphs. It also attached great importance to public facilities, and schools, hospitals and other institutions that were beneficial to people's livelihood came into being.
The Orange Free State has a smaller population than Paraguay, and its land is not as fertile as Paraguay. The former Transvaal Republic was rich in mineral resources, but it has become a wedding dress for East Africa.
In the past few years, the country had experienced the Transvaal and Orange Civil War, and its economic development was a mess. The only gain was that it built a modern army with certain practical experience under the support of Britain.
This army is also the source of confidence for the people of Transvaal, so the smallest gap between the Transvaal Republic and East Africa is military.
"Communicate with the British first. They are too slow. Threaten them appropriately. If they cannot deliver the aid to us, we will disband our army and stop confronting East Africa. I don't think this is the situation the British want to see!" said the Secretary of Defense.
It's more like giving up than saying it's a threat. Just like the British workers went on strike and demanded that the government and factory owners increase their wages, if Britain cannot meet the demands of the Transvaal people, the Transvaal people can also give up in the fight against East Africa.
"I have to say, this is a good idea. Every time we make a reasonable request, the British don't pay attention. Instead, this kind of indirect threat may be more effective!" said Pretorius Jr.
It is ironic that the Transvaal Republic's top leaders have reached a consensus and are ready to put pressure on the British, because in the 21st century, there is also a politician in a former Soviet republic who is begging for food from the European and American governments.
This kind of political correctness also exists in the small "international community" in the South African region. The Boers, Portuguese, British, and even blacks all agree that the East African Kingdom is an "evil" empire.
Therefore, the people of Transvaal can stand on the moral high ground and ask the British government for money. If there were 21st century media in this era, I am afraid that little Pretorius would also learn from Ozawa and criticize those British politicians who did not stop aid to Transvaal and accuse them of collusion with "anti-China".
What is also a coincidence is that the current top leader of the Orange Free State is from Transvaal, while Ozawa is Jewish, and neither of them is considered "their own people" by the "indigenous people" in the region.
…
Cape Town.
In fact, Britain was also speechless about the "reasonable" demands of the Transvaal people.
"Can't these idiots solve this problem themselves! We simply don't have the time and energy to take care of the so-called Transvaal people now. Moreover, an army of more than 10,000 people should not be too many for the Transvaal people. Even if we sell a few more cows, we should be able to make our money back!" said Governor Bartlett Freer.
"Your Excellency, Governor, the Boers do raise a lot of cattle and sheep, but their ability to convert them into cash is very poor. They used to be able to export goods directly from the east, but now they can only be exported through our territory by local merchants, so there is less room for price flexibility. In addition, the Boers attach great importance to the quality of life. They are not very willing to pay taxes or spend money on military expenses. Besides, apart from crazy people like Prussia, there are probably few countries that do that."
What the subordinates said was reasonable. The Orange Free State was surrounded by East Africa on three sides, and its traditional trade routes were cut off. Coupled with the impact of the war, the family fortune was almost lost. Moreover, British profiteers raised prices and squeezed the Boers' profit margins, causing the Orange Free State government's fiscal revenue to further decline.
In the past, the Orange Free State could collect taxes from local diamond mine owners or transit merchants. Now these are all run by the British, and the Orange Free State has become a colony administered by Cape Town, so naturally it can no longer collect this part of the tax.
Bartlett Freer said helplessly: "Asking us for money is definitely impossible, but we should not be soft-hearted to those profiteers who are stingy. They should have contributed to the resistance against East Africa. After all, isn't our ultimate goal in South Africa to protect their interests? So let the Orange Free State government discuss it and re-establish tariffs and impose taxes on local companies!"
“Will this cause dissatisfaction among the country’s business community?”
"There's nothing we can do about it. For the benefit of the British Empire, someone has to sacrifice their personal interests. Besides, they have been eating a lot of fat food over the years, and it's time for them to contribute to the country." Bartlett Freer said indifferently.
"Your Excellency the Governor, I have an idea. I wonder if I can kill two birds with one stone. I don't need to offend the local merchants, and I can appease the Boers."
"Hmm? Tell me about it."
Bartlett Freer would naturally prefer to do so if he could avoid directly offending his country's merchants and mine owners in the Orange Free State.
"We might as well let the Orange Free State become independent again!"
Bartlett Freer asked in shock, "Do you know what you are talking about?"
"Your Excellency, Governor, this is the best solution. In fact, the Orange Free State is a burden to us. Our colonial government cannot directly gain much benefit from the Orange Free State. Most of the benefits are taken away by local businessmen. Moreover, the Orange Free State is a powder keg that can explode at any time for Cape Town. Sooner or later, they will have a conflict with East Africa. If a war breaks out, we will be dragged into it and unable to escape."
Bartlett Freer: "You mean the strategic initiative?"
"Yes, if the Orange Free State becomes independent again, they will not be able to morally blackmail Cape Town, and they can only rely on us, Britain. Even if they become independent again, they still have to obey our orders when facing threats from East Africa."
Britain was not opposed to the Transvaal people declaring war on East Africa, but the timing of starting the war must be in its own hands. It cannot be dragged into the war by the Transvaal people and passively start a war. Therefore, allowing the Orange Free State to regain independence can solve this problem.
(End of this chapter)
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