African Entrepreneurship Record

Chapter 479: Chapter 157: Attitudes of Various Countries

Whether there is a true alliance is not important for East Africa, because if it really encounters an enemy, it is not something that Austria-Hungary can settle, after all, the only countries that can ignore Austria-Hungary are the great powers.

”I think Austria got a bit of a bargain from this!” Ferdinand expressed his dissatisfaction with the outcome of the negotiations.

”Don’t worry, our objective has already been achieved. Even if it’s just Austria, it has a deterrent effect on average countries. Although Austria-Hungary may be unclear to us internally, in others’ eyes Austria is Austria-Hungary.” Ernst said to his father-in-law.

As Ernst said, the news of East Africa ”allying” with Austria still elicited a certain reaction in other European countries.

British Prime Minister Benjamin was particularly attentive to Austria’s actions: ”This alliance between the Austrian government and East Africa suggests that the Austria-Hungary Empire has designs on Africa!”

”There might be a reason for this, after all, there aren’t many ways to divert conflicts during an economic depression, and the importance of colonies is becoming more prominent.” The Minister of Foreign Affairs said.

”We cannot stand by and watch Austria’s actions. Also, how is the intelligence gathering on the Kingdom of East Africa going? I didn’t expect they would align with Austria-Hungary first.”

Benjamin, unlike his predecessor Gladstone, was an ardent advocate and staunch defender of British colonial imperialism as the leader of the Conservative Party, vigorously pursuing policies of foreign aggression and colonial expansion.

Moreover, it’s worth noting that Benjamin himself was Jewish, thus having particularly close ties with Jewish financial circles, especially the British Rothschild family.

In 1875, when Egypt’s Governor Ismail Pasha encountered a financial crisis and intended to sell the canal shares he held, the French were still haggling over the price. Benjamin, having caught wind of the news, privately borrowed money from the Rothschild family overnight, purchasing all of the Egyptian government’s shares (about 45% of the canal’s total shares) for a low price of £4 million, plus some small shares, hence enabling Britain to control this crucial sea route between East and West.

Therefore, this British Prime Minister with close ties to the Rothschild family had little affection for the Heixinggen royal family behind East Africa.

However, the good news is that the region that currently garners the most attention from this British Prime Minister is still India. In 1876, his foreign policy priority was to continue strengthening the relationship between India and the British mainland, promoting Queen Victoria to become Empress of India, which would formally transform the British Empire from a habit of speech into an ”Empire” in text.

So in recent years, to ensure the safety of the Indian colonies, the British government has centered around India strengthening aggression towards its surroundings, including Southeast Asia, East Asia, Afghanistan, and Iran. And the secondary focus of Benjamin’s colonial empire was to use Southern Africa as a springboard to invade the entire African continent.

The importance of India is self-evident. As for why the British government suddenly began to heavily emphasize and strengthen its focus on Africa, the actual reason lies in the unsuccessful colonial strategies in other regions.

Britain had been the world’s foremost colonial nation, but British greed knew no bounds. After mediocre completion in colonial activities in the Americas, they set their sights on the entire world, with only the vast African continent left unpartitioned.

Due to the situation in India, Britain currently does not have the energy to ”care for” Africa, but the Benjamin government has already begun investigating African influences to facilitate the next steps of the invasion process.

And East Africa happens to be in front of the most important British colony in Africa (Egypt being a semi-colony).

”Last year, we dispatched twelve expeditions to attempt the exploration of the African interior. In West Africa, our actions were relatively smooth, but we encountered trouble in Southern Africa. The East African Kingdom prohibits any individuals or forces from conducting expeditionary activities within its territory, resulting in five expeditions being expelled and one missing.”

It is worth noting that this British exploration into the African interior was launched based out of their own colonies, specifically the British Gold Coast in West Africa and the Cape Colony in South Africa.

Progress in West Africa was relatively smooth, but in Southern Africa, they faced setbacks. The Kingdom of East Africa, controlling the northern bank of the Orange River, strictly sealed its borders, not giving the British any opportunity.

Benjamin angrily cursed: ”That fool Gladstone shouldn’t have allowed the East African Kingdom to swallow up the Transvaal Republic back then.”

”Prime Minister, we know too little about East Africa, so let’s not intervene hastily. Although the Transvaal Republic has already been annexed by the Germans, the Orange Free State is still there. We should look for an opportunity to incorporate the Orange Free State into Cape Town. The diamond resources of the Orange Free State would also be a valuable asset for the Empire.”

Benjamin: ”Of course I know this. First, send someone to lobby the Orange Free State government, persuading them to join in. Also, we need to enhance our intelligence work on East Africa. We must find out East Africa’s population and land scale. Austria’s unusual behavior indicates that the Kingdom of East Africa is definitely not simple.”

”Yes, Prime Minister.”

...

Berlin.

William I was also somewhat intrigued by Austria’s unilateral actions.

William I: ”Austria still has the leisure to exert influence in Africa. Could it be that Africa really holds potential profits?”

Bismarck: ”That’s impossible, Your Majesty. I speculate that the primary reason Austria signed with East Africa is that the high-level relations of the two countries are relatively friendly. The Heixinggen royal family merely seeks a buffer to ensure their nation’s safety, which is the survival strategy of many small countries worldwide.”

William I: ”But if so, Prince Constantine should be seeking us, as the Principality of Heixinggen is also part of the Empire.”

Bismarck: ”Your Majesty, if I may speak frankly, the Heixinggen royal family’s choice seems the most suitable to me. Africa is in the southern hemisphere, and the closest great power to East Africa is Austria-Hungary. They are only separated by the Suez Canal, and the Austrian-Hungarian navy is more formidable than ours. So if I were to choose, I would undoubtedly also choose Austria-Hungary. After all, it’s impossible for Prussia to go from the Baltic Sea to the North Atlantic, then turn toward the Mediterranean, and finally enter the Indian Ocean to take care of East Africa. Besides, the citizens of East Africa are Germans, sharing the same origin with Germany, and culturally leaning more towards Catholicism. Historically, the Heixinggen royal family has been closer to Austria-Hungary; they only had a brief honeymoon period with Prussia after the Revolution of 1848.”

William I: ”What you say is indeed correct. The Imperial Navy is in an awkward position. Although the Austrian-Hungarian navy isn’t much better, the Mediterranean is clearly much wider than the Baltic Sea.”

Bismarck continued: ”Letting Austria-Hungary exert influence in East Africa doesn’t matter. We can influence Austria-Hungary instead, especially since the current Austrian-Hungarian prime minister is pro-German.”

...

Compared to the British and Germans, France had no interest in East Africa at all; the French even believed that the alliance between East Africa and Austria was favorable for their African strategy.

France’s strategic focus is on North Africa and West Africa, so there’s no conflict of interest with East Africa. Moreover, having the Kingdom of East Africa annoy the British from time to time is seen as beneficial, preventing the British from making small moves in West Africa, where they are the true competitors.

As for East Africa’s willingness to ally with Austria, the French did not mind. After all, could Austria really establish a Triarchic Empire? As long as they didn’t cooperate with their archenemy Prussia, the French government had no major objections.

Russia: ”East Africa? Never heard of it, as long as it’s not the Balkan Peninsula.”

Portugal: ”...”