African Entrepreneurship Record

Chapter 1096: Chapter 105: The Worried British

Surpassing the United Kingdom is evidently impossible, as the ability of East Africa to produce Dreadnoughts is closely linked to their early preparations, whereas the United Kingdom reacted swiftly after the Russo-Japanese War, building the world’s first Dreadnought within just over a year, showcasing the strength of their shipbuilding industry.

Even so, the East African Navy continues to attract significant attention from the Royal Navy, and since the birth of East Africa’s first Dreadnought, the East African Navy has changed its approach and returned to naval competition, currently ranking third in the world in terms of Dreadnought numbers, only behind the United Kingdom and Germany.

This fact alone requires the United Kingdom to guard against East Africa, as any naval movements by a country are of major concern to the United Kingdom, with Germany being particularly noteworthy, as the intentions of the German Navy are as plain as day, and East Africa cannot be easily ignored either.

George: ”Nowadays, the East African Navy is expanding again, with the number of Dreadnoughts reaching four, almost launching one every year. Among the nations worldwide, besides us and Germany, only East Africa is making such large moves in naval matters. It won’t be long before East Africa can assemble a formidable main fleet composed of Dreadnoughts, which increases the pressure on the Empire in the Indian Ocean and South Atlantic.”

”Moreover, the situation in Europe is becoming increasingly tense, and if we cannot extricate ourselves, the influence of East Africa may accelerate, spreading to the Indian Ocean and South Atlantic. Judging from East Africa’s current actions, they could potentially undermine our influence in the Persian Gulf and South America.”

”And this is not the most frightening aspect. On this basis, East Africa could even have irreversible adverse impacts on regions like Egypt and India toward the Empire, so curbing the development of the East African Navy, ensuring it does not challenge the Empire in the Indian Ocean and South Atlantic, should be prioritized.”

”Even if it means temporarily sacrificing some benefits, we must stabilize East Africa, and once the European situation calms down, we shall settle accounts with them. The same logic applies to the United States; we cannot let these two countries become destabilizing factors. The United States Navy is even more powerful than East Africa’s. Therefore, by suppressing the naval developments of both countries, we can more adeptly handle potential changes in Europe.”

George’s thoughts can be summarized as focusing internally before dealing externally, recognizing that countries like the United States and East Africa indeed pose challenges to British hegemony, but Britain’s core interests remain in Europe.

If Europe isn’t stabilized and a powerful nation akin to Napoleon’s regime emerges on the European Continent, Britain would face severe difficulties, threatening the British homeland directly, unless Britain moved its capital to India, Canada, or Australia, which under the European center doctrine is evidently unacceptable.

Asquith agreed with George’s views but still asked, ”We are already unable to fully limit the developments of the United States and East Africa, and the independence of these two nations is very strong. How can we persuade them to willingly reduce their navies?”

This is currently the most troubling aspect for the British government; as world powers, why would other nations necessarily heed Britain, which is why past economic sanctions against East Africa failed, considering the existence of other world powers like Germany, France, and Austria-Hungary, making it not a monologue of Britain, and Britain’s behavior is unattractive, unable to turn other countries into British pawns.

As the Chancellor of the Exchequer, George didn’t have any good solutions, saying, ”Perhaps we should liaise with our diplomats who regularly interact with East Africans, first learning about the specific situation in East Africa, thereby developing targeted strategies.”

The former British ambassador to East Africa, Cromwell, was soon summoned for a conversation.

Cromwell: ”During my time in East Africa, it coincided with the nationwide industrial construction phase there. East Africa embarked on its so-called first Five-Year Industrial Plan, extensively building factories and mining nationwide. From my observations of East African cities, the pace of industrial development in East Africa was remarkably fast.”

”Take their capital, Rhein City, for example. Rhein City is located in East Africa’s interior, more than a thousand kilometers from the coast, and is already built on a considerable scale, with a population of hundreds of thousands, not at all inferior to East Africa’s coastal cities, and cities of this size are numerous within East Africa. Large cities within the scope of East African railways, such as Morogoro, Dodoma, Mbeya, all hold significant scale.”

”As for the East African coastal economy, it is even more prominent. Needless to state, East Africa has constructed dozens of modern port cities along the coast of Africa, rivaling any country in Europe, with Dar es Salaam City’s population likely exceeding a million, and cities like Mombasa equally prosperous.”

”Hence, East Africa has developed a thoroughly complete industrial structure from inland to the coast, and overall, society is highly advanced. Though not yet on par with Europe and America, surely stronger than most regions or countries worldwide...”

Through Cromwell’s description, the development situation in East Africa is objectively portrayed in the minds of Asquith and George.

Asquith asked, ”So what level do you think East Africa’s national power is currently at?”

Cromwell replied, ”From when I left in 1906, East Africa appeared to be stronger than Austria-Hungary.”

”How does it compare to Russia?” George inquired.

Cromwell cautiously stated, ”In terms of economic scale, East Africa should not surpass Russia, but its pace of development should be far higher, and its domestic political stability also exceeds Russia.”

This is merely Cromwell’s speculation, considering Russia is the world’s second populous nation, with an overly large economic scale, whereas East Africa has only developed for a few years, this impression is hard to change with East African Government deliberately concealing facts.

Asquith commented, ”So currently East Africa’s national power stands between Austria-Hungary and Russia, roughly equating to mainland France.”

Although France has been in decline, it remains a world-leading great power, and even if East Africa’s national power equates to France, it can significantly alter the international landscape. Without mentioning others, even Britain currently cannot claim to overpower France.

In reality, France’s performance in World War I duly matched its external image, showing remarkable resilience against strong opponents like Germany, known as the Seventh Presidential Economy, with a staggering war potential.

Therefore, comparing East Africa to France isn’t a sign of British government underestimating East Africa, but rather a significant recognition, yet precisely due to this, Britain finds dealing with East Africa even more challenging.

Just imagine, at this moment, Britain speaking to France: ”Your navy is too powerful, maybe restrict it a bit!”

Would France agree? The answer is evidently no. France, in fact, is of the same stature as Britain, not being subordinate, and weren’t Germany a common enemy, France might be opposing Britain in the European situation.

Asquith pondered and said, ”First, engage with the East African Government, we need to ascertain their limits. If we can persuade East Africa to compromise, it’s a win-win, even certain expenses and sacrifices are within acceptable limits. If unable to achieve our goal, then we must resort to relatively extreme measures.”

East Africa has reached a point where Britain must take notice and weaken its strength, geographically posing a greater threat to Britain than the United States. Although the United States is stronger than East Africa presently, America cannot currently affect UK rule in India.

India is the core interest of British colonialism, likewise the baseline of current British hegemony, and East Africa is geographically much closer to India than Britain’s homeland. Should the development of the East African Navy not be limited, India’s colonial territories in the Indian Ocean will undoubtedly face East African influence, possibly leading to the collapse of the entire colonial system.

Thus, East African Navy’s strength is what the United Kingdom fears the most. To maintain imperial hegemony, sacrificing some interests is far preferable to allowing the East African Navy to fully grow and forcibly snatch interests from Britain.