African Entrepreneurship Record

Chapter 143: Chapter 133 Rest

The war has temporarily ended, and the East African colony has resumed its normal operational processes of the past.

During the war, it was still necessary to transport immigrants to the front lines, which posed an enormous overload challenge for East Africa.

Therefore, this war machine of East Africa also needed to slow down. The entire East Africa was an agricultural colony, so its capability to support large-scale military operations was stronger than those traditional agricultural nations.

Fortunately, the East African colony was in its infancy, with a vast land area and a large arable area per capita, resulting in high total grain output. It supported the actions of new immigrants and the army while being self-sufficient.

The army needed to rest, the new immigrants heading west needed to hurry and start working to plant crops early and create value, while other regions in East Africa needed to speed up land reclamation.

In these two months, East Africa received 170,000 immigrants (this figure is not exaggerated, referencing the slave trade, the ability of British ships to transport Black people, so East Africa is not lacking in transport capacity, but in sources of immigrants, especially German immigrants). All were received by the Northwest New Occupation Zone, West Kenya region, and Omolate town.

If these 170,000 immigrants were spread in the already established colonial strongholds, each area in East Africa could definitely reach a new level of development.

In the first half of 1868, East Africa had already brought in over 500,000 immigrants, almost fulfilling Ernst’s target of 600,000 immigrants for the year by the end of last year with just the first half of the year.

Currently, the East African population has reached 1.2 million, with a land area of about 1.5 million square kilometers. Furthermore, Uganda from previous times has already been considered a feast on the table, adding another 200,000 square kilometers of land.

It is expected that by the end of the year, it can certainly be swallowed, and if the immigration activities proceed smoothly, it can at least reach 1.7 million.

With the population surpassing the million mark, Ernst is no longer panicked. A million is not only a unit but also a tranquilizer, a milestone surpassed by countries in this era.

In the 17th century, when the Netherlands rose, the population was in the millions; in the 19th century, when Britain rose, the population was in the tens of millions; and in the 20th century, when the United States rose, the population reached the hundred millions.

Surpassing the million mark, the East African colony can stand firm in Africa. On the African acre of land, its strength can at least rank fourth.

The first, of course, is the Muhammad Ali Dynasty in Egypt, under the nominal territory of the Ottoman Empire.

People familiar with history know that Muhammad Ali’s reforms allowed Egypt to enter a period of prosperity and strong military, even defeating its sovereign country, the Ottoman Empire.

Later, the intervention of Britain and France saved the dying Ottoman Empire, which caused Egypt to fall back into a semi-colonial state.

Although Egypt’s reforms failed, post-reform Egypt took half a step into industrialization, and its army was modernized, so Egypt’s comprehensive strength should be unchallenged as the first among African local powers.

Moreover, the current Egyptian territory also includes Sudan (including South Sudan), which practically borders the East African northwest region’s Omo River Basin colony.

Militarily, the East African colony is not necessarily afraid of Egypt, but unlike Egypt, it is not as comprehensive, embracing industry, agriculture, and even having a navy while achieving partial self-sufficiency in weaponry.

The second is France. There’s nothing much to say about France; just the distance of France’s North African colony (Algeria) from mainland France makes calling France the strongest power in Africa seem reasonable.

In any case, the French mainly expand in North and West Africa and do not border East Africa. The closest French colonies to East Africa are the Comoros Islands and French Madagascar, separated from East Africa by the Indian Ocean.

The third is the United Kingdom, similar to France, where its navy is too strong, with no countries other than other major powers able to match it globally.

The reason for not placing Britain and France before Egypt is that these two countries are not purely African nations.

So locally, excluding points of colonialism, the first is Egypt, the second is the Abysinnia Empire, and even Ernst himself doesn’t know the third.

The colonies of Britain and France have the support of national power, so East Africa naturally doesn’t want to find trouble with these two countries, but when facing the Boers and the Portuguese, it doesn’t flinch at all.

Because offending Britain and France leaves East Africa only to be beaten, unable to even fight back by leaving the Indian Ocean. However, when facing the remaining powers, it is different. The Boer population is only several hundred thousand, and the Portuguese population in Mozambique, along with traders and immigrants, probably only numbers around ten thousand (possibly just a few thousand).

The East African colony is on the same level as them, and as for the possibility of Portugal supporting Mozambique, it’s just talk unless they bring tens of thousands of troops over; Ernst won’t even bother to look at them.

Warfare doesn’t require personally charging ahead, as long as the immigrant population in the territory is large, so is the army, and the army is Ernst’s confidence to stand firm in East Africa.

Of course, there is currently no need for East Africa to clash with the aforementioned powers, as Africa still has vast empty lands to be developed.

Therefore, before the major powers set their sights on Africa, the East African colony can expand as it pleases, with only native forces as opponents.

And without external support, native forces are basically impossible to be a match for the East African colony.

Don’t think that the development of the East African colony is smooth sailing and rapidly expanding; that is all built on Ernst’s daily anxiety.

The East African colony is nothing more than a misconception given to the outside by Ernst using the identity of the Hohenzollern family, making it seem like the East African colony is Prussia’s overseas colonial attempt.

Compared to Prussia directing its efforts towards developing colonies, countries are more worried about Prussia unifying Germany, so the expansion of the East African colony has been tacitly approved by Britain and France, among others.

Moreover, Prussia itself has no energy to focus on overseas matters, as the kingdom’s top leaders are all preparing for the unification of Germany. As for the Heixinggen royal family’s African development, as long as Prussia didn’t have to spend money and effort, it’s sufficient, and the Heixinggen royal family is considered part of the family; in the end, the development of colonies in Africa will still lean towards them.

As for Russia, their interests are entirely on the Eurasian continent.

Austria-Hungary, however, supports Ernst, lacking the energy for overseas expansion, and with the Habsburgs’ relationship with Ernst being so good they are almost family, Ernst recruiting immigrants in Austria-Hungary benefits both Austria and Hungary, stabilizing their rule. These numerous factors cause Austria-Hungary to support Ernst’s colonization.

However, support is just support, as Austria-Hungary merely does Ernst a favor. Besides being lenient on immigration issues, there is no tangible benefit.

In summary, there is no country that the East African colony can fully rely on, and decisively siding with any party may lead to irreversible disaster.

Therefore, only relying on immigration and forming an army can ensure self-preservation, and immigration naturally needs standards. If any riffraff were accepted, they would definitely lead the way when imperialists come knocking.

This is also why East African immigration is slow; if quality wasn’t considered, two to three million immigrants a year would be easily achievable. However, it took the East African colony two and a half years to reach a population size of 1.2 million, which is the result of Ernst raising immigration standards in a contrarian way.