Chapter 841: The Great Powers’ Diplomatic Mission
October 3, 1891.
Port of Dar es Salaam.
“Welcome everyone to East Africa!”
Now that East Africa is one of the world's great powers, it can have equal dialogue with any country in the world. Conversely, most countries want to build good relations with East Africa.
Among these countries, Germany is undoubtedly the most enthusiastic and cares the most about East Africa. This time, the German delegation's visit to East Africa was led by Prime Minister Kaplivi himself.
Previously, it was hard to imagine a leader of a world power visiting an African country, not to mention that it was the 19th century. Even in Ernst's previous life, it would have been difficult to witness such a scene. As far as I can remember, only a certain American president had visited his hometown in Kenya to trace his roots.
As for Britain and France, they basically have no great power majesty in the 21st century, especially since France itself is the emperor of Africa. Paris is considered the capital of West Africa, and its international status has declined too much compared with the 19th century. But in the 19th century, the status of countries like Britain, France and Germany was similar to that of the Far East Empire, the United States and Russia in the previous life.
Of course, it is a bit of a stretch to say that Caprivi is the leader of Germany. Although he is the Prime Minister of Germany, as a monarchy, Germany also has an emperor, so Caprivi can only be regarded as one of the main leaders of Germany.
Caprivi: "Hello, Lord Whitt."
"His Majesty the King and His Royal Highness the Crown Prince welcome you very much." Siwei Te said politely.
Although Dar es Salaam has a developed economy, it is not the capital of East Africa after all, so Caprivi and his group will have to take a train to the first town.
Looking at the young man in front of him, Kaprivi was very envious. It was rare for him to hold a high position at such a young age. He had endured so many years to become the prime minister.
Of course, Siweite is not young now, he is just a middle-aged man, but compared with Caprivi, he is naturally very young. Young officials are a common phenomenon in East Africa.
Ernst treated the older people in the government as treasures and used them to calm the East African government. After all, young people are prone to impulsiveness, especially in East Africa, a rapidly developing country.
For example, the aging Defense Minister Count Alman has basically bid farewell to daily affairs, but still sits firmly in the position of Defense Minister.
Led by Siewert, the German delegation took a brief tour of Dar es Salaam. As a window city, the development of Dar es Salaam attracted the attention of German officials.
Dar es Salaam is only a quarter the size of Berlin, but it still impresses Caprivi.
“Even in Germany, Dar es Salaam ranks among the top ten. It’s hard to imagine it’s an African city.”
Siwei Te said: "After more than ten years of development, East Africa is also a populous country. With the accumulation of population and resources, it is not difficult to develop a relatively developed city. Moreover, Dar es Salaam is not inland of East Africa. It used to be the political center of the Sultanate of Zanzibar. It is not without economic foundation. At that time, Dar es Salaam was one of the important commercial centers on the western Indian Ocean coast."
"Haha, Mr. Sweet, you are too modest. If East Africa did not exist, the people of Zanzibar at that time would not have been able to build a world-class city. Moreover, you not only have Dar es Salaam, but also Mombasa, New Hamburg Port and other cities. The development of East Africa is obvious to all." said Caprivi.
Although he praised East Africa highly, Kaprivi actually felt it was a pity that Germany had not valued such a good land in the past, and it fell into the hands of the Hechingen royal family.
At the same time, a feeling of dissatisfaction with Bismarck also arose. If Bismarck had devoted a little more energy to colonial affairs, there would be no East Africa.
As the new German Chancellor promoted by William II, Caprivi's political opinions were not completely opposite to Bismarck's, but also completely unrelated.
Unlike the Europe-centered "Continental Policy" of the Bismarck era, Caprivi advocated a "new route," which was to broaden the empire's diplomatic vision to the world stage, to develop from a continental power into a world power, to seize overseas colonies, and to expand Germany's colonial empire.
In Caprivi's view, if he had just worked a little harder, he could have used East Africa's vast territory and market, instead of having to sit down with East Africa to discuss cooperation as he does now.
Of course, Caprivi was just thinking about it. Now that the matter was done, Germany had lost the best opportunity to intervene. Perhaps the connection between his country and East Africa was not as deep as that between the Austro-Hungarian Empire and Germany.
But on second thought, the existence of East Africa is not a bad thing, at least for the country. Because if there is no East Africa, I am afraid that this vast area will be divided up by Britain and France. On the contrary, the existence of East Africa allows Germany to have a share.
Moreover, as a non-traditional colonial country, Germany does not have a big appetite now and is not accustomed to showing off its power overseas. Of course, it is impossible for it to go wild in East Africa. After all, although Germany's development speed is the fastest in Europe, it is still not as strong as Britain and France.
This is also one of the purposes of Caprivi's visit to East Africa, which is to promote cooperation and exchanges between the two countries and boost the further development of the German economy.
What Germany lacks most now is the colonial market. As an independent country and one of the great powers, East Africa naturally cannot become a colony of Germany. It can only take a step back and allow German industrial and commercial products to enter East Africa more smoothly. If possible, it would be best if the two countries could form an alliance.
Germany was not as timid as the Austro-Hungarian Empire. It would have naturally been a great success if it could have formed an alliance with East Africa, rather than just an alliance between Austria and East Africa.
After admiring the city of Dar es Salaam, the German officials boarded the train to the first town with great reluctance. Then, the tall chimneys and the roaring sounds of machines in Dar es Salaam gradually dissipated.
The First Town held a warm welcome ceremony for Caprivi's visit, and the East African Guard of Honor carried out a ceremony to welcome a senior foreign leader in the country for the first time.
Ernst personally met with Caprivi at the Svet Palace and held specific negotiations on the cooperation.
Alliance! Of course not. East Africa no longer needs to defend its national security. Moreover, alliance is not as good as freedom. After all, an alliance with Germany will definitely not be led by East Africa. And it will be difficult to shirk responsibility if there are any troubles after the alliance.
Ernst declined politely, saying, "We in East Africa are peace-loving countries. We have just experienced the South African War in Africa, so making some strategic misjudgments may cause misunderstandings among third countries, which is not conducive to the stability of the world situation and the economic development of East Africa."
The third-party country can refer to the United Kingdom or France, which has a grudge against Germany. It can be understood in any way. East Africa is already so "powerful" now. If it forms an alliance with Germany again, I am afraid many countries will not be able to sleep well.
Caprivi had anticipated Ernst's refusal. In other words, an alliance means banding together for warmth. Obviously, East Africa's current diplomatic environment does not require concerns about security issues. On the contrary, an alliance with Germany may drag East Africa into trouble.
Caprivi feels a little sad about this. Germany is surrounded by enemies on all sides, while East Africa's geographical advantages are extremely prominent, second only to the United States among the world's major powers.
Before the South African War, Britain could still rely on Cape Town and Portuguese colonies to exert a certain amount of pressure on East Africa. After the South African War, the security issues in East Africa had been completely resolved. Just like the United States today, Canada in the north was insignificant, and Mexico in the south was completely defeated.
(End of this chapter)
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