African Entrepreneurship Record

Chapter 422: Chapter 99 Belgian Congo

Regarding the colonization of Africa, internal consensus within Belgium was previously difficult to achieve. This caused Leopold II to waste considerable time and effort convincing the parliament.

Now, by citing the East African Kingdom as an example, Leopold II has indeed given those opponents a solid argument. The conditions in the Heixinggen Principality are so poor, yet they were able to seize such a large territory in Africa, and surely Belgium is of no less stature.

The nobility are quite familiar with each other. In recent years, the Hohenzollern family has undoubtedly been the most glamorous among the nobility. First was the Prussian royal family’s unification of Germany, transforming it from a kingdom into an empire. Then, Sigmaringen gained Romania. Finally, the Heixinggen royal family got rich and simultaneously established the East African Kingdom.

Though the East African Kingdom doesn’t hold high status, after all, Africa isn’t exactly a coveted place. However, the wealth that the Heixinggen royal family has obtained is indeed enviable.

Yet, for Leopold II to ask the cabinet to come up with a plan was evidently overestimating his subordinates. Although ministers have previously been lectured by His Majesty, they treated it as mere anecdotes with no actual plans prepared.

At this point, Leopold II spoke: ”Hmph, I knew it would be like this. Since you cannot come up with a plan, you will have to listen to me next.”

Speaking thus, Leopold II ordered a servant to bring over the map of Africa and stated: ”This is the map of Africa. The red area is France, the blue area is Portugal, the gray is Spain, the green is the United Kingdom, and the black is East Africa... The remaining regions are places we can choose.”

Upon seeing this, everyone instantly felt that the competition seemed quite fierce.

Leopold II explained: ”Colonial maps are often quite deceptive. Some areas might not truly be under any country’s control; they merely have verbal claims, but the reality depends on whose fists are stronger.”

Upon hearing that it would come down to strength, the Belgian ministers hesitated: ”Your Majesty, if that’s the case, isn’t the risk of us colonizing Africa quite high? Except for the East African Kingdom, none of the countries here are easy to deal with.”

Leopold II confidently revealed, ”That is where you are gravely mistaken. Right now, the nation in Africa that you least want to provoke is precisely the East African Kingdom. Just recently, a minor skirmish occurred between the East African Kingdom and the Cape Colony of the United Kingdom in South Africa, and ultimately, the British chose to back down, being forced to cede a piece of land tens of thousands of square kilometers.”

Indeed, Leopold II’s words aroused skepticism among the ministers.

”That’s impossible! Your Majesty, the British would not suffer such a loss.”

”That’s right; it’s always been the British invading other territories. It’s simply impossible for others to retaliate against the British. If it were France before, maybe, but no nation can challenge Britain now.”

”Furthermore, if such a thing happened, it would be an international scandal, not unlike the significant defeat Britain faced in Afghanistan before. British newspapers did not report on this, so how do you, Your Majesty, know about it?”

...

The ministers were discussing heatedly, unanimously believing Leopold II to be talking nonsense. If this had happened elsewhere, it might have been acceptable, but Africa is the most backward region in the world. No decent civilization has ever emerged there, so how could the East African Kingdom, established in Africa, challenge the British!

Leopold II knocked on the table and said: ”Silence! Look at what you have become! Would my status require me to deceive you? Although this event seems incredible, it did happen. My information was acquired from Cape Town officials using money and was also confirmed by Charlotte (the princess).

Although Ernst implemented a policy of isolation, East Africa could not completely avoid external exchanges. The example being the Grand Duke Ferdinand and his wife.

As European nobility, they have numerous relatives and friends, receiving many letters yearly. However, most of them are about trivial matters.

Grand Duke Ferdinand didn’t want to connect with old acquaintances before achieving results. Even if he communicated, it was mainly out of necessity.

As for Princess Charlotte, she did not share her husband’s concerns, but her social circle mainly consisted of European noblewomen, and they hardly discussed political matters. Furthermore, she had previously almost sent her husband to meet his maker due to her excessive interest in politics, so she was even more cautious about discussing politics with her sisters now.

Leopold II, being her brother, had inquired about some situations in East Africa, but Charlotte wasn’t too familiar unless it concerned a major event well known among the East Africans.

The war in South Africa involving the East African Kingdom belonged to such significant events. After all, it was the first time South Africa defeated a white regime (the Transvaal Republic), a matter very uplifting for the East African Kingdom, with every bulletin board detailing the performance of the East African Army in the campaign.

Leopold II continued: ”The East African Kingdom mobilized tens of thousands of troops this time, sweeping across South Africa like an autumn wind, defeating several small countries. This is their foundation.”

”Tens of thousands of troops!”

Leopold II: ”Indeed, tens of thousands of troops. This is the fundamental reason why the East African Kingdom could make the British yield.”

”But, Your Majesty, I must remind you, the cost of tens of thousands of troops is no small sum. Our homeland’s defense pressure is already enormous. If we send out separate forces for colonizing Africa, it may not be worth it!”

Leopold II: ”Come now, what does this have to do with our national defense? To be honest, anyone in Belgium’s position would have a headache. If either Germany or France had thoughts, Belgium could become a battleground. Given our national strength, unless the entire nation is mobilized, we cannot escape unscathed. Moreover, it’s precisely because of our miserable geopolitical environment that we should break away from Europe and enhance our power through colonization.

Also, we don’t need to send too many troops to Africa at once. I’ve studied the situation in all African colonies and found that basically no colonial power develops its military as extensively as East Africa. This is something we can learn from.”

From the beginning of the East African colony, Ernst prioritized military development as the top priority, which has now been proven to be a very wise decision. The military is the foundation of the East African Kingdom’s foothold in Africa and even the world.

After listening to Leopold II’s explanation, a minister asked, ”Your Majesty, where should we start? Where should we land in Africa?”

Leopold II pointed to the Congo River on the map and said, ”We will start at the mouth of the Congo River, heading inland north of the Congo River for colonization.”

”Your Majesty, isn’t this the area of the Portuguese?”

Leopold II shook his head and said: ”No, to the north of the Congo River’s mouth is a small African country named the Engoyu Kingdom. The Portuguese did establish a post here before, but it was destroyed by the Engoyu Kingdom, and that was already in the last century. This place is currently the Land of No Master. Moreover, the south bank of the Congo River isn’t Portuguese territory either. It’s the land of the Kingdom of Kongo. If it weren’t for concerns about offending the Portuguese, I would have chosen to invade the Kingdom of Kongo directly.”

”Your Majesty, France also seems to have a colony here.” Someone pointed to the red area north of the Congo River.

This red area is the coastal region of the future Gabon, where the French have had colonial activities for decades.

Leopold II said, ”That’s quite normal, the French have plenty of colonies.”

”Will we clash with the French?”

Leopold II said, ”Don’t worry. We just need to move inland ahead of them. The French have so many colonies, but we only want this piece. They won’t pose a threat to us.”

Leopold II intended to acquire land in Africa, which was essentially the future Congo Republic (Brazzaville), or French Congo.

The timing is ideal now; Belgium doesn’t have to clamor as before, struggling to develop colonies in the Congo rainforest. Nor is there a need to worry about issues related to access to the sea. There are only a handful of indigenous nations here, and for Belgium, obtaining this location is no challenge.

As for the Congo rainforest, although vast, it doesn’t hold much value and the climate is harsh. In the past, Belgium’s ability to profit from Congo was due to continuous inland exploitation reaching as far as East Africa’s Daluvanda and Burundi.

After reaching a consensus with his ministers, the Kingdom of Belgium officially embarked on the grand endeavor of colonizing Africa. Although the colonial area is vastly different from the past, it remains called the Congo colony.