African Entrepreneurship Record

With the surrender of the last resisting army in Mozambique, the South African War also began to approach its end, and East Africa turned its guns to fully attack the Cape Town colony.

Meanwhile, the shifting situation in South Africa triggered a massive upheaval in the United Kingdom, with Prime Minister Cecil facing increasing pressure by the day.

Cecil, whose full name is ”Robert Arthur Talbot Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquis of Salisbury.”

He was another Prime Minister extremely hostile towards East Africa, following the ”Moderate Faction” figure Gladstone, and his diplomatic policies and tactics were even more extreme than Gladstone’s.

For example, during Gladstone’s era, the political strategy towards Ireland mainly advocated ”autonomy,” but in 1886, after Cecil took office, it turned into ”military suppression.” Almost all wars in the late 19th century were proactively planned by him.

For example, the Second Boer War in the previous era, the suppression of the Far East Empire’s civilian uprisings, and the promotion of British colonial activities in various places in Southeast Asia and Africa.

Uganda, Kenya, and Rhodesia were all incorporated into the British Empire’s colonial map under his influence, so from his previous era’s political stance, the ”grudge” between him and East Africa is evident.

During Gladstone’s era, although Gladstone also pursued East Africa with ”encirclement and blockade,” it had not reached the point of wielding swords and guns, focusing mainly on economic sanctions.

Even if there was action, it was done through the proxy of Portugal and not directly, so compared to Cecil, Gladstone unexpectedly became the ”Moderate Faction” for East Africa, which is a great irony.

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Before the end of the Mozambique war, the British government in London was engaged in intense debates over the South African War, discussing whether to increase support for Count Roberts.

London.

”Africa is the last piece of paradise that hasn’t been completely divided; it’s an important map in the United Kingdom’s century-long destiny. If we don’t seize the opportunity, letting East Africa dominate in Africa would be disastrous for our nation, not to mention Egypt, Cape Town, British Somali... we are all facing threats from the Germans.”

Cecil tried to explain to the parliament the threat of East Africa, which are facts. The existence of East Africa has severely disrupted the British Empire’s progress during the colonial era.

Cecil’s political views also received support from a large number of parliamentarians, especially those with substantial interests in South Africa.

”Prime Minister Cecil is absolutely right. Our country has significant interests in South Africa. Cape Town itself holds extremely important strategic value as a crucial part of the British Empire’s global strategic security. Additionally, we have considerable economic interests in South Africa, especially in Kimberley’s mineral resources, which bring substantial annual revenue to the government. Therefore, we cannot abandon our significant political and economic interests in the South African region, and maintaining peace and stability in South Africa requires the eradication of the evil Heixinggen Kingdom,” a parliamentarian voiced his support for Cecil.

Of course, many did not buy into this brute-force argument.

Sir Herta from the conservative faction stood up and questioned, ”The current situation is that we are at a complete disadvantage in the South African war. Both our allies, the Boers, have been completely driven south of the Orange River by East Africa, and Portugal’s Angola has also been captured by East Africa, leaving only Mozambique struggling to hold on, and this is with our assistance.”

”Even the Natal colony fell a few days ago, marking an unprecedented humiliation in the British Empire’s history. Even in 1812, when the United States attacked the Canadian colony, we were never subjected to such disgrace.”

”Personally, this is extremely painful, but we also need to ponder if this is worth it, gentlemen?”

Sir Herta’s words were interrupted before he could finish, interrupted by someone who said, ”Sir Herta, are you suggesting we should surrender to an African country that has only just been established, with no historical presence?”

With an unchanged expression, Sir Herta said, ”Of course not. I am merely interpreting the perspective on the South African War from a national interest standpoint, and interrupting someone is not what a qualified gentleman should do, so please let me finish speaking before making any judgments.”

After setting the tone, Sir Herta straightened his thoughts and said, ”As far as I know, from the beginning of the war to now, the Allies have mobilized over seven hundred thousand troops in total. Our country alone has mobilized nearly four hundred thousand troops to South Africa, including nearly two hundred thousand from the mainland, fighting against East Africans in Cape Town, Natal, and Mozambique, along with more than twenty thousand Indians.”

”The Kingdom of Portugal has also fully cooperated with the Empire’s strategy, organizing more than thirty thousand troops in Angola and Mozambique, but how much have we achieved in the South African war?”

The parliament fell silent; merely the troops invested in the South African war from both sides exceeded a million, a rarity globally, arguably the largest war outside the Eurasian continent and the American Civil War.

Moreover, this war was a modernized conflict, with both sides equipped with world-leading weapons, and the pressure on Britain since the war began was unprecedented.

Sir Herta continued, ”From the start of the war to now, we have spent eighty million British Pounds, far exceeding the total war funds in other regions, yet our gains are zero, or even negative. To change the disadvantage in the South African war, how many more soldiers do we need to enlist? How much money do we need to spend!”

Calculating the economic account shocked everyone; eighty million British Pounds in this era is an astronomical figure, and this number will continue to rise with the ongoing war. Even the calmest British gentleman could not sit still, determined to stop the Prime Minister’s ”crazy” ideas.

Historically, the Second Boer War cost Britain two hundred and twenty million British Pounds in war expenses because the Boer War lasted two and a half years, and the South African war until now has not yet reached one year. Moreover, both sides engaged in a large-scale naval battle, coupled with the nature of the British Pound itself, so only a ”measly” eighty million.

However, eighty million is enough to give the British government a headache, because the South African war and the Boer War have another important difference, which is that the South African war is a defensive war, while the Boer War was an offensive war.

In the previous era, Britain launched the Second Boer War for the abundant gold mines in South Africa, naturally driven by motivation. The South African war aimed to suppress East Africa, this African power, and from the start, Britain’s benefits from this war were actually secondary; essentially, it was unrewarding.

”Prime Minister, it is time to end this purposeless war. Our disdain and arrogance towards East Africa have already cost Britain dearly, and if the war continues, we will only lose more.”

”Indeed, East Africa’s political map on the African continent is hard to change. We have no need to bleed the Empire continuously for a meaningless war.”

Pessimism about the South African war began to spread in Parliament. The heavy burden of the war and East Africa’s tenacious resistance, along with the British Army’s setbacks, made more of those originally middle-ground factions realize that the South African war was entirely detrimental to the British Empire, and timely withdrawal from the South African war should be the Empire’s only choice.