Chapter 1608 Caravan
East Africa's colonial routine inherited the original strategy of local expansion and attached great importance to population. The military forces and domestic populations of other colonists in overseas colonies were usually measured in thousands or hundreds, while those in East Africa were often measured in tens of thousands.
Except for small areas like the port of Dakhla, which have inconvenient transportation and scarce resources.
The high quota population base is the core means for East Africa to firmly control its colonies and overseas territories. As long as the conditions are met, East Africa will not hesitate to fill the region with immigrants in a big way.
In this regard, only Tsarist Russia and East Africa are similar. However, Tsarist Russia's colonies have basically become its own territories, while East Africa's overseas territories are not suitable for complete localization. Not to mention overseas territories, even Darfur, which is adjacent to East Africa, has not been officially included in East Africa's territory.
However, there is no doubt that East Africa has been diligent in developing colonies and overseas territories.
Governor Louis said with emotion: "The so-called colonies in East Africa are fundamentally different from ours. Their overseas colonies are actually overseas provinces under the name of colonies."
"Take Togoland alone as an example. It is similar to the three provinces we have established in Algeria, or even more so."
"Algeria has at least retained its local population, while East Africa has been extremely extreme in its demographics, achieving a fundamental 'Germanization' that is completely aligned with the continent itself."
Algeria is a French colony, but there is a clear difference between Algeria and other French colonies. France basically regards Algeria as its own territory and tries to completely integrate it with mainland France, thereby initially realizing France's goal of becoming a trans-Mediterranean empire.
In this way, the Mediterranean region from Algeria to mainland France will completely become France's "inland lake", and by building Algeria into a "second France", mainland France will also become stronger.
This will allow France to respond more calmly to changes in the world situation and strengthen France's ruling power over its overseas colonies.
By the beginning of the 20th century, a trend had become increasingly obvious, that is, the problem of colonies backlashing against their homelands in various colonial empires.
Especially for Britain and France, their home countries are too small, making it increasingly difficult to suppress the development of their colonies. This is especially true for Britain, because many of its colonies have gained bargaining chips with the mainland after so many years of development.
The direct result of this change was the increasing independence and autonomy of British colonies such as Canada, Australia, South Africa and New Zealand.
Countries such as Canada, Australia and New Zealand have effectively become independent nations and can participate in international affairs without going through the UK.
Although the situation in South Africa is a bit special, it is due to the geopolitical competition between East Africa and Britain. However, East Africa and South Africa have maintained peace for nearly 40 years. This has made South Africa more active in breaking away from British control in recent years.
In addition to these white colonial countries, the trend of non-white colonies such as India to break away from Britain is becoming increasingly obvious.
These countries and colonies were beyond Britain's control, which was itself closely related to the decline of Britain's mainland power. Of course, this decline more reflected the increase and decrease of power between Britain and its overseas territories.
France also faces similar problems, but the problems it faces are not as prominent as those faced by Britain. First of all, there is basically nothing outstanding about France's colonies, and the gap between them and mainland France is still very large.
Secondly, North Africa and West Africa, where France's colonial focus is located, are close to mainland France. France can quickly detect any changes and nip the danger in the bud.
Just like now, the unusual activities between Togoland and the mainland of East Africa were quickly noticed by the French in French Dahomey. If there were really actions against France in East Africa, the French mainland would not be completely ignorant of the situation.
Governor Louis continued, "The various configurations of East Africa in Togoland are completely based on the French configuration in Algeria. Therefore, our neighbors must not easily regard it as an ordinary colony, but should treat it as a province of East Africa itself."
"The various changes in Togoland over the years have occurred right under our noses. We are very clear that the Togoland colony alone has an overwhelming advantage over all our surrounding colonies."
"Moreover, Togoland is the strategic fulcrum of the East African Atlantic Naval Fleet and an important part of its core activity area. Our Dahomey is actually within the range of the East African Navy's guns."
French Dahomey also belongs to the coastal area of the Gulf of Guinea. Although there are colonial forces of various countries active around the Gulf of Guinea, there are also independent countries such as South Germany, indigenous tribes and kingdoms.
However, this cannot change the objective fact that East Africa has hegemony in the Gulf of Guinea.
In fact, the British felt more uncomfortable than the French in this regard. After all, France's colonies in West Africa were a mess. For example, to the north of Dahomey were Upper Volta and Niger, and further north were the three French provinces of Algeria, French Libya, and Tunisia.
This means that even if East Africa blocks the Gulf of Guinea, Dahomey can still communicate with mainland France by land and transport various weapons and resources through the ancient Sahara trade route.
Britain's colonies did not have such conditions. Although Britain occupied several of the most fertile and best-equipped areas in West Africa, its several West African colonies were isolated from each other.
Especially for Britain's Nigeria and Ghana, if the East African Navy blocks the Gulf of Guinea, it can directly cut off their connection with the British mainland, and the two colonies themselves will not be able to huddle together for warmth.
Governor Louis said: "In the Gulf of Guinea, even a world maritime hegemon like Britain can only succumb to the East African Atlantic Fleet, not to mention that our naval power has long been unable to compare with the first-tier."
The first tier of navy that Louis mentioned here refers to the three countries of Britain, East Africa and the United States, which is also the view of the French government.
Britain has always attached importance to the development of the Royal Navy and has abundant financial resources. East Africa and the United States are both huge in size and have abundant resources available to their navies. There are only two countries in the world with such economic scale as East Africa and the United States.
Therefore, facing the naval development of these three countries, the French Navy is completely powerless to follow up and can only benchmark against the navies of other countries, such as Germany, Japan, and Italy.
Governor Louis said: "France has actually lost the military initiative in the Gulf of Guinea a long time ago. Without a strong naval force to support it, the French colonies along the Gulf of Guinea are like lambs to the slaughter in East Africa."
"Everyone knows that as long as East Africa wants to disrupt the original order and balance in West Africa and expand locally, it is not difficult to do so. However, when faced with such a giant country, we can only be tolerant in every way."
"This is just East Africa's naval power in the Gulf of Guinea, and Togoland's land armed forces are enough to suffocate us."
"So we must understand the various developments in Togoland, which are related to France's interests and even its safety in Daholland and other regions."
…
The French acted quickly, sending various personnel into Togoland to investigate the specific situation, including spies, caravans, and other forces that the colonial government could use.
It is not very difficult for people to enter the Togoland colony in East Africa. After all, the Togoland colonial government also encourages trade with other neighboring countries.
Therefore, Togoland has many nodes open to the outside world. In addition, Togoland is the most developed region in West Africa, so its foreign trade is very prosperous and it also assumes certain functions as an international transportation hub. For example, trade between Ghana and Dahomey can be transited through Togoland.
There is also Natitingou, the "capital" of the Habsburg Monarchy, which was previously an important commercial town in northeastern Togoland and one of the important commercial routes between the French colonies of Dahomey and Upper Volta.
Natitingou easily became a key area for intelligence gathering in the Dahomey colony.
At the end of December, a caravan from the French colony of Dahomey slowly entered Natitingou. Among the caravan was a French intelligence officer named Rubirola.
Rubirola, swaying from his camel, asked Sakuma, the organizer of the caravan, "Mr. Sakuma, does your caravan pass through Natitingu every year?"
Sakuma is a black man and the owner of this caravan. However, he did not dare to be presumptuous when facing Rubirola. Instead, he said nervously, "Yes, Mr. Rubirola, our camel caravan passes through Natitingu every year to Upper Volta, or even further. We may stay in Natitingu several times a year."
Rubirola asked, “When was the last time you stopped in Natitingu?”
After a brief pause, Sakuma replied, "It was about three months ago. We had just transported a batch of supplies to Dori, and on our way back, we stopped briefly in Natitingu for a day."
Rubirola's eyes lit up, and he quickly asked, "Have you heard any rumors during this time, such as any changes or major events in Natitingu or other places in Togoland?"
Sakuma frowned, his eyebrows twisted together. He hadn't expected anything, and he said uncertainly, "Nothing serious should have happened, but I can't be sure. After all, Natitingu is just a transit station for our caravan, and we usually don't stay here for too long."
Hearing this, Rubirola said with a hint of dissatisfaction, "As businessmen, shouldn't you be well-informed about all kinds of news? Otherwise, the slightest change could bankrupt you and leave you with nothing."
In response to his doubts, Sakuma quickly explained, "Sir Rubirola, if you ask me about Dahomey and Upper Volta, I might be able to understand more, but it's really difficult for me to ask about Natitingou and the entire Togoland."
"As a businessman, we do have our own channels for obtaining intelligence, but most of the information is hearsay, and the authenticity of a lot of it cannot be confirmed."
"And in Togoland, it's different from other places. We used to attach great importance to Togoland and had many business activities carried out there."
"But since the Germans occupied this place, the situation has completely changed. Since the 1920s, East Africa has begun to expel the local black people. This has forced many tribes and villages that we used to interact with to move elsewhere."
"This change directly led to huge losses for us in the local market. Not only that, for quite a long time, East Africa also banned us from entering Togoland, which forced our trade routes to be interrupted and made it impossible to continue our business."
Rubirola asked curiously, "Then why do you have to go through Togoland to get to Volta now?"
It was obvious that Rubirola didn't know much about the local situation. As a civil servant, he was different from the French businessmen in French Dahomey. If possible, he would never stay in the colony for a long time and would eventually have to return to his homeland. Moreover, he had only worked in French Dahomey for a year.
Sakuma said, "Don't be anxious, Your Excellency. Let me explain slowly. East Africa was indeed not an easy country to deal with in the past. Togoland under their rule was simply a closed kingdom, and their attitude towards people like us was not good."
"However, in the early 1930s, the situation changed. East Africa relaxed its policy towards Togoland, allowing caravans and merchants to pass through. Of course, settling there was still obviously impossible."
"But even so, the reopening of Togoland is very attractive to people like us. On the one hand, we may be able to find new business opportunities. After all, East Africans are wealthy and have good purchasing power."
“On the other hand, Togoland’s location is the shortest route from Dahomey to Upper Volta and Ghana, which can save a lot of costs for long-distance caravans like ours.”
"Of course, there are two other important factors in choosing Togoland: the local security is very good and the transportation conditions are also top-notch."
"For long-distance caravans like us, the thing we fear most is robbers. In the past, there were many tribes that engaged in robbery, but in Togoland, we won't encounter such problems."
"Under the strong rule of East Africa, Togoland has become the most secure and transport-friendly region in the region. We can also obtain some necessary supplies and goods from Togoland, which is beneficial to our business activities."
"For example, we recycle some second-hand goods discarded by Togolanders at the price of scrap, which can be sold at a higher price elsewhere. Moreover, Togoland's accommodation, drinking water, and entertainment facilities are also the best in the region..."
Sakuma kept talking about the various advantages of Togoland, which made Rubirola feel a little worse. After all, the better Togoland was, the more it highlighted the "shabby" French colony.
The security in Togoland is good, so the French colony is naturally not so good. Just like Sakuma said before, in other places, they may encounter robbers, but in Togoland, they can avoid this situation. And in the surrounding areas of Togoland, let alone robbers, even wars at the level of tribal conflicts are not uncommon.
At the same time, Togoland's transportation construction has obviously made Togoland a local transportation hub and commercial center. After all, businessmen also want to take trade routes with better conditions and greater accessibility.
Finally, in terms of other infrastructure and configurations, Togoland is far ahead of its neighbors, which actually makes Togoland more attractive to West African businessmen.
(End of this chapter)
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