Chapter 217 Ernst's Little Abacus
December 3, 1869.
Sweet Palace, the first town in the Central Region of East Africa.
"Haha, East Africa is really a treasure." Prince Constantine said as he looked at the detailed data in his hand, "Ernst, what are you going to do next?"
The other end of the phone: "Father, all affairs in East Africa can proceed as usual, but there is one thing we still need to speed up, otherwise, it may cause trouble in the future."
"What's up?"
"It's about the Geledi Sultanate in the Somali region."
"Are you going to do anything to him?"
“Although the population of the Geledi Sultanate is small, its location is very important, especially since most of its residents are black, which is a potential threat.”
What Ernst said about location being important was in relation to East Africa’s population policy and had no geographical significance.
Constantine had not witnessed the horrific birth rate of black people in the 20th and 21st centuries, so he could not feel the urgency in Ernst's heart.
Historically, from 1961 to 2021, the entire population of Somalia increased from 2.94 million to 17.06 million. Now the Sultanate of Geledi is just a country in southern Somalia with a population of only about 100,000, so it is not difficult to take over the Sultanate of Geledi.
Historically, the Sultanate of Zanzibar defeated the Geledi Sultanate and made it its vassal state. So East Africa might as well just go all the way and directly annex the Geledi Sultanate.
Somalia, like Ethiopia, is a mixed race of black and white people. The difference is that most of the people in Somalia are Arab countries. Arabs use culture as a bond rather than blood ties. This is similar to the German culture in East Africa that promotes racial integration.
(Figure: The dark blue area is the distribution of black and white mixed races in Africa)
"Ernst, you are making a fuss out of nothing. The Sultanate of Geledi has a population of only a few hundred thousand and cannot be a threat to East Africa. However, its geographical location is not bad. If you want to eat him, just tell me. There is no need to hide it from me. Just tell the truth between father and son."
"Father, I am making plans for the future situation in East Africa. In fact, the Sultanate of Geledi does not have any resources that I value. Only Mogadishu is of some value, but East Africa itself has ports such as Dar es Salaam and Mombasa."
"Besides, after the opening of the Suez Canal, Mogadishu will be even less valuable. The Geredi Sultanate is not really in the Horn of Africa. It can block the passage from the Red Sea to the Indian Ocean. Moreover, there are large areas of desert. It is not worth much to take it."
(Figure, Location of the Geledi Sultanate)
"Okay, let's take it down first and see if it's worth it. Anyway, the population is small, so it won't be difficult to occupy it." Constantine said.
"Well, when the time comes, we can just use immigrants to replace all the blacks here. In this way, there will be very few pure black forces in the entire northern part of the East African colony." Ernst said.
Prince Constantine was very disdainful. He thought his son's reaction was a bit excessive, as if hearing about black people was like hearing about some scary and difficult monsters, and he was a little terrified.
However, if Ernst's plan was completed, it would not be harmful to East Africa, so he could do as he pleased. In an ordinary conversation between father and son, the fate of another ancient African country was decided.
"This year is a critical year. Before May next year, we have to lay a more solid foundation for East Africa as a whole, so that when East Africa becomes a kingdom, it will look better," said Ernst.
When it comes to the topic of nation-building, Constantine immediately became interested. In fact, Ernst had already hinted that the goal was to build East Africa into a country.
But this was the first time that Constantine heard Ernst clearly say that East Africa should become a kingdom, not a principality, a marquisate, or a grand duchy. The temptation for Constantine to become a kingdom was too great!
"Ernst! Are you sure you can accomplish this?" Prince Constantine suppressed his excitement, his voice trembling slightly.
"Father, East Africa has the conditions, so it's natural for it to become a kingdom. To be honest, if you want to amuse yourself, there's no problem in calling yourself the Emperor of Africa," Ernst joked.
East Africa's geographical location determines that it does not need to position itself according to European laws and procedures, but Ernst does not want to be a real African, so it is better to have some relationship with Europe.
In Europe, there has only been one emperor from beginning to end, and that is Caesar of Rome. Now there are rulers of three countries in Europe who call themselves Caesars, namely Francis of Austria, Nazianzu of France and Alexander II of Tsarist Russia.
There is no controversy about Franz's emperorship. After all, the Holy Roman Empire is orthodox. There is controversy over whether the three can be considered orthodox nobles. The Tsarist Russia was completely ostracized by Europe. Not to mention the Tsarist Russia, even if the Eastern Roman Empire was still alive, it could only be called the Byzantine Empire by Western European countries.
"How do you plan to do it?" Constantine asked curiously. The difficulty for East Africa is to gain recognition from European countries. Otherwise, even if it calls itself the Kingdom of God in the Universe, it will only be a joke in the eyes of others.
“It’s very simple. We will first establish the Kingdom of East Africa. The legal basis will naturally come from the land of East Africa. This is also one of the reasons why I want to take over the Sultanate of Geledi.
Then, Uncle Franz came forward and declared that he recognized the legitimacy of the East African Kingdom. In this way, we got the recognition of a European emperor, which naturally also represented the official recognition of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
Then, we obtained recognition from Prussia, Romania, the German states and the Kingdom of Sweden. This was not difficult since they were all related.
Finally, we will focus on Tsarist Russia and Spain. Tsarist Russia is okay, at least we have cooperated with them before. As for Spain, you don’t have to worry about that.
The success rates of the above countries are basically over 60%, the success rate of Austria-Hungary is 100%, Romania, Prussia and Sweden are also 100%, but their influence is slightly weaker than that of Austria-Hungary. Most of the states in southern Germany will support us, and northern Germany has become a mouthpiece for Prussia.
In short, if we gain recognition from these countries, we will basically control international public opinion, and even if countries like Britain and France have objections, they will have no choice but to accept them.”
The most cunning thing about Ernst's plan is that it forcibly links East Africa with Europe. An African country requires Europe to recognize its legitimacy, which is equivalent to adding a layer of protection for itself.
And the most important point is that the East African Kingdom's legal system comes from Africa, not Europe, but what legal system is there in Africa? East Africa can interpret it however it wants.
Franz became Ernst's tool. According to European procedures, for a country to be promoted to a kingdom, it needed to be crowned by the emperor. The Kingdom of Württemberg next to Hechingen was crowned by Napoleon and became a kingdom from a grand duchy.
However, Ernst's plan for establishing a nation in East Africa was to first establish a kingdom on its own, rather than conferring a title on it by the emperor. However, he later had Emperor Franz acknowledge it, so that the right of interpretation was still in the hands of East Africa itself.
However, it is also easy to give European countries that are unaware of the truth the illusion that East Africa is a subsidiary of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, which adds a layer of protection to East Africa.
As for why it was the Austro-Hungarian Empire, it was because Prussia was too powerful after the Franco-Prussian War. Prussia became one of the top powers in Europe, which would have a huge impact on all countries. If East Africa were to rely on Prussia again, Britain and France would definitely go crazy in the future.
Although the Austro-Hungarian Empire was also very powerful, everyone knew that it was living off its past strengths, so other countries would not be too wary of it, but at the same time they did not dare to look down on it too much.
(End of this chapter)
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