African Entrepreneurship Record

”Thank you, Your Majesty!” In response, Prince Karl could only express his gratitude, as Sigmaringen was the weakest in power, and there was no alternative.

Of course, backing Sigmaringen besides Germany, was Romania, the supporter. Just to win over Romania, the German government knew what to do. For Germany, Romania’s geographical position was very important; it was a key link between Eastern Europe and the Ottoman Empire.

”It’s all for the Hohenzollern!” Constantine accepted Prince Karl’s thanks with a clear conscience.

”For this Berlin Conference, our royal family members will not attend. We’ll select someone among the ministers, one who is relatively outstanding, to go to Berlin and participate in this international conference.” Ernst said to his father.

The Heixinggen royal family only had a few members, so they naturally couldn’t run around recklessly. This wasn’t just about taking responsibility for themselves, but also for the country, even though Ernst was not entirely willing when he visited Europe last time.

If Friedrich grows up, then Ernst might consider it. Right now, Ernst’s greatest fear was that his foundation would collapse suddenly with the decline of the Heixinggen royal family.

Therefore, Ernst would not be careless about anything concerning the safety of the royal family members. For example, at this Berlin Conference, they would definitely need to take a ship first and then transfer by train.

The conference had time constraints, which was vastly different from the last visit to Europe, coupled with the poor world transportation experience now, Ernst did not want to be repeatedly bothered.

Constantine thought the same way. Even though there was a naval escort last time Ernst visited Europe, Constantine was still extremely anxious.

Other European nobility, plenty of relatives, of course, there were many related to the Heixinggen royal family too. However, Sigmaringen, which had the closest relationship with the Heixinggen royal family, was already far beyond five generations, only sharing the Hohenzollern name.

All in all, the sparse population of the Heixinggen royal family greatly restricted their activities, which was why Ernst had been striving to expand the royal family population.

”Hmm, this kind of international conference should be our first participation from East Africa, and it’s as a strong nation, so those attending must be well-versed, at least in European nobility etiquette, to avoid errors.” Constantine said.

Most East African officials were certainly insufficient in this regard, as noble etiquette wasn’t a required course for East African officials.

Only those officials who joined the ranks of the nobility would put extra effort into European etiquette, after all, in this era, the center of civilization was Europe, and the cultural discourse power of Europe was in the hands of the nobility.

”Let’s have Sivert go! Sivert is young, and going to sea is a troublesome matter; being young means stronger endurance, and Sivert’s business capabilities are up to standard, plus he has relatively rich experience.”

Sivert indeed visited many countries, but those countries have long since disappeared; those were the indigenous countries that once dealt with East Africa, and there’s hardly any trace left except for those who fled to West Africa.

And meeting the African chiefs was naturally different than going to Europe for a conference. In front of the African natives, East Africa could behave as they wished, since the natives lacked civilization, coupled with East Africa’s advantageous position, there was no need to be polite to the natives.

But this time going to Berlin was different; East Africa was definitely going to take a stand, at least involve a lot of benefit exchanges.

And the countries participating in this conference were basically world powers recognized by mainstream European society, with only three countries outside of Europe, which were the Ottoman Empire, the United States, and East Africa.

Others, like Norway and Denmark, are considered world powers, which was quite unreasonable. For instance, Norway, in Ernst’s impression, was always a country without much presence, apart from some resources and nothing special.

As for the welfare system in Norway in the previous life, it was quite attractive. This was a common feature of Nordic countries, but it was based on the support of the large European market and a small population.

In reality, in Norway’s icy and snowy environment, the population couldn’t naturally increase much.

And in the 19th century, Norway was lacking in many aspects, from any indicator it couldn’t be called a ”strong nation,” its only advantage might be the ”traditional independent European country.”

Of course, excluding such countries that were there to make up numbers, Germany, Austria-Hungary, Russia, the United Kingdom, and France were indeed worthy of respect in terms of strength.

As for the United States, it was too far from East Africa, and the Ottoman Empire was the one losing territory, the Ottoman Empire’s North African territories these years were almost raising flags for autonomy, with autonomy being considered good, most were directly separated from the Ottoman Empire independently or occupied by other powers.

The Ottoman Empire, with its powerful influence in North Africa, would certainly not gain anything good from this Berlin Conference, given that the purpose of the conference was to divide the African continent.

In reality, if not for East Africa’s rise in southern Central Africa, the entire African continent would have been a fat piece on the European plate.

The rise of East Africa was crucial, as it made this Berlin Conference more justified, considering in previous life no African countries were present, but now with East Africa participating, East Africa was half-owner of a part of Africa.

”Our stance at this Berlin Conference will still mainly support the German nation, but I don’t recommend expressing our stance too clearly. It’s better to maintain consistency with Austria-Hungary on this matter because we both are actually countries from outside the region.” Ernst said.

Like in the previous life, Austria-Hungary wasn’t enthusiastic about colonies or lacked the power; the main reason was the geographical disadvantage being too prominent, and with East Africa’s interference, the situation for Austria-Hungary was greatly different from the previous life.

Take the last Russo-Turkish War, it was the major cause for the rapid breakdown of relations between Austria-Hungary and Russia in the previous life, after all, the Ottoman Empire lost too quickly in the past, Russia went straight to Constantinople, causing Austria-Hungary’s panic, fearing Russia would solely take the Balkan Peninsula benefits.

But in this life, not to mention Austria-Hungary annexed parts of Italy’s territory, which made them more confident in their strength, the Russo-Turkish War was not fought well by Russia under the support of various countries, ending as a stalemate, making Austria-Hungary more relaxed.

The rational Austria-Hungary naturally wouldn’t react aggressively like in the previous life, provoking Russia and leading to the dissolution of the Triple Alliance.

Of course, Austria-Hungary’s relationship with Russia wasn’t too good now as well, they still pulled some tricks during the Russo-Turkish War, such as Bosnia being incorporated into Austria-Hungary.

However, overall the relationship between the two countries was greatly alleviated compared to the previous life, coupled with Germany’s mediation, the Triple Alliance could still maintain.

Of course, it was partly related to Italy; this life, Italy’s unification became a mirage, Europe lost a ”great power,” Germany and Austria-Hungary naturally wouldn’t choose Italy as an ally like the previous life.

Instead, this was a good thing for both countries, as Italy joining often caused more harm than benefit, in the previous life, Italy jumped ship before World War I even started, causing a major reason for the Allies’ failure.