African Entrepreneurship Record

Cameroon.

Idenau is a German colony in the Cameroon region, but this colony doesn’t have much connection with the German government. It was established by civilian colonial groups.

The government-led colonies in Cameroon are Douala. Although both colonies are relatively small, currently, Idenau is considerably larger than Douala.

However, due to the convening of the Berlin Conference, the German government is pushing for the merger of Idenau and Douala to create a more competitive Cameroon colony and subsequently develop inland.

”After the Berlin Conference, Idenau and its surroundings will definitely become Germany’s first official colony in West Africa. In the future, this place will represent the first step of the German people in conquering the ocean and mark the beginning of Germany’s rise to become the world’s leading power,” Karl Peters excitedly said.

The management of Idenau does not find anything wrong with Karl Peters’ statements. Since Germany defeated France, it has effectively become the new overlord of continental Europe. However, being the overlord of Europe only represents Europe; to become the world’s hegemon, one must control the ocean. Germany must acquire a vast colony like Britain to support its ambitions.

”Bismarck as Prime Minister was somewhat hesitant. Otherwise, Germany would not be trailing behind Belgium and Italy in colonial matters. If we had acted ten years earlier, we might have seized colonies even larger than today’s East Africa,” Karl Peters said.

Bismarck was never a timid figure; he was rather audacious. During his tenure, he launched three large-scale unification wars, maneuvering between powers, and successively defeating Austria and France, two strong nations, with bold moves. Each step was extremely daring, and one misstep could have led Prussia to ruin.

However, Ernst considers Bismarck’s strategy to be extremely precise. Bismarck had valid reasons; he believed Germany should focus on Europe and prevent French retaliation. He opposed colonial expansion due to the immense costs and minimal returns.

Germany’s biggest issue was to first deal with France. Without addressing France, no matter how many overseas colonies Germany had, they would be of no use.

Geographically, France precisely restricts Germany’s maritime routes. One could say North European countries can play this role too. The Baltic Sea’s outlet is narrow, and Denmark, Norway, Sweden, and the Netherlands are nearby.

Beyond is the ocean hegemon, Britain. Unless Germany heads to North America, it cannot bypass the French on the North Atlantic coast. But now there is no place left in North America to colonize.

Even if Germany passed through Austria via the Mediterranean, it wouldn’t achieve this goal since the dominant naval forces in the Mediterranean are still Britain and France.

In peacetime, Germany naturally does not need to worry about this issue, but once war breaks out, both England and France have the capability to cut off Germany’s maritime trade routes, rendering colonies unable to support the German mainland and making them a direct burden, as seen in the First World War when Germany withdrew overseas forces back to the homeland, only negotiating with the British in East Africa relying on Folbeck’s genius command.

But this was merely negotiation. If Germany could wholeheartedly develop the Tanganyika colony, just like today’s East Africa, it would have relied on its own industrial strength to fight against many countries.

Generally speaking, colonies do not have industrial presence like East Africa. Developing industry implies increased risk of colonial independence. If East Africa were a German colony today, given its size and level of industrial development, there would be constant risk of independence, without needing enemies; our own people would rebel.

Bismarck was clearly aware of this, so his strategic decisions always centered on the European continent, focusing forces first on eliminating the menace posed by France.

Bismarck was adept at diplomatic means. He knew clearly that pursuing overseas colonization at this time would surely offend the British, leading Germany to face pressure from both England and France.

However, most Germans disagreed with Bismarck’s viewpoint. The lure of benefits made them oblivious to these risks.

Seeing Britain’s overseas colonial profits, German industrial and commercial sectors naturally became envious, and the call for overseas colonization grew louder. As long as the German monarch distrusted Bismarck, this sentiment could instantly become Germany’s developmental direction.

From a geographical standpoint, Britain and Germany are natural partners, but Germans don’t understand ”low profile.” After Bismarck stepped down, it became ”two suns in the sky,” leading to a life-or-death contest with Britain, ultimately resulting in the Anglo-German fallout.

This was driven by colonialists, with Idenau’s administrator Karl Peters being such a colonialist.

Speaking of Karl Peters, he actually had connections with East Africa, but that was Ernst’s previous life.

In this timeline, Karl Peters became one of the founders of the German West Africa Company. In 1882, his colonial company, German West Africa Company, landed in Bamuso along the Cameroonian coast, using traditional colonial methods of stealing, deceiving, and robbing, establishing Idenau Port as a base to successfully seize a colony for Germany in northwestern Spanish Guinea.

In actual history, in the previous life 1884, Karl Peters founded the German East Africa Company, eventually enabling Germany to acquire German East Africa.

In the previous life, the establishment of German East Africa was not supported by Bismarck himself. However, Karl Peters threatened that if Germany did not accept East Africa as its colony, he would turn to the Belgians who had the upper hand in Congo, which clearly triggered strong resentment among domestic colonialists who pressured the Bismarck government.

The Bismarck government, under domestic public pressure, ultimately had to compromise, and German East Africa was officially established, becoming Germany’s most important colony thereafter.

Now, East Africa was poached by Ernst, making it impossible for Karl Peters to plan colonies in East Africa.

As for Karl Peters establishing colonies in West Africa, this was inevitable because Karl Peters was an extreme colonialist.

This is largely related to the education he received. In his early years, Karl Peters studied in Britain, spending four years in London where he studied British history, colonial policy, and philosophy, and joined the German Colonial Association upon his return.

Karl Peters was also an activist. Inspired by the success of colonialism by the Heixinggen royal family in East Africa, in 1882, he founded the German West Africa Company, under the guise of trade, conducting private colonial ventures.

His supporters were none other than the German Colonial Association. This association held significant power in Germany, with many dignitaries being its members. To some extent, overseas colonization became the consensus among many ”visionaries” of the era in several countries.

East Africa had the most stimulating effect on this organization. Even a small Prince state like Heixinggen could become a great power with a territory of tens of millions of square kilometers through colonial ventures. Who wouldn’t envy? Thus, East Africa actually accelerated the colonization process of other European colonizers in Africa.

Without East Africa, they would have also been stimulated by Belgium. This is one reason why the Congo Basin dispute in the previous life ignited the Berlin Conference.

In the previous life, Belgian colonization of Congo amounted to just over two million square kilometers. East Africa’s provocation to Germany now is evidently stronger than Belgium’s.