African Entrepreneurship Record

Chapter 1113: Chapter 122: Mostar Hydroelectric Power Station

As East Africa enters the third Five-Year Plan, continuing to develop its national industry, the rest of the world is not at peace. Especially in Europe, the tensions between countries are becoming increasingly sharp, notably the game between Britain, France, and Germany, while secondary conflicts are reflected in the dispute over the Balkan Peninsula’s discourse power between Austria-Hungary and Russia.

Austria-Hungary and Russia’s domestic issues are acute, which also makes Austria-Hungary and Russia the weak links in the imperialist chain.

Indeed, Ernst also listed Austria-Hungary as equivalent to Russia. This can be seen from the result of World War I in the previous life. A coup occurred in Russia, but the new government managed to retain most of its interests, while Austria-Hungary was directly dismembered, making Austria-Hungary the largest loser of World War I.

Thus, Austria-Hungary and Russia can be said to be well-matched opponents, and their dispute over the Balkan Peninsula has a long history, making them natural competitors. If their old enemy, the Ottoman Empire, had not declined, perhaps a ”Landlord” game table could have been set up again in Central and Eastern Europe, forming two major poker games in Europe alongside the Western European tripartite group of Britain, France, and Germany.

Compared to the original history, since Italy’s unification failed, Austria-Hungary is actually much stronger than in the same historical period. At least the threat from western Italy no longer exists, allowing Austria-Hungary to devote more energy to competing with Russia in the Balkan Peninsula.

After the Russo-Japanese War, Russia’s reputation suffered greatly, which made Austria-Hungary’s arrogance more rampant on the Balkan Peninsula. However, overall, the dead camel of Russia is still larger than the horse. As for its old opponent Austria-Hungary, Russia does not take it seriously.

...

April 7, 1911.

Southwest of the Bosnia and Herzegovina region of Austria-Hungary, Mostar City.

Today, a major project in Mostar City is completed. The Mostar Hydroelectric Plant, supported by East Africa, is completed on the Neretva River.

Kerleff, the General Manager of the recently established Mostar Hydroelectric Company, said happily in front of the completed dam of the Mostar Hydroelectric Plant: ”The completion of the Mostar Hydroelectric Plant will become a new economic development engine for our city, helping with our city’s power supply and industrial development.”

Kerleff is a typical East African and one of the representatives of the East African business community in the Bosnia region, with most of his employees being locals.

However, unlike other places in Bosnia, the locals of Mostar appear quite peculiar, as over 80% of the population are Chinese, 17% are Croatians, and finally, 3% are Serbians.

Therefore, among the workers participating in the construction of the Mostar Hydroelectric Plant in front of Kerleff, apart from a small number of East African technicians, the rest are mainly Chinese, with a small number of Croatians.

The three major ethnic groups in original Mostar City were Ottomans, Croatians, and Serbians.

Mostar City was once a military frontier town operated by the Ottoman Empire. After Austria-Hungary took control of the Bosnia region, the Heixinggen consortium, through ”cooperation” with the then stationed Austria-Hungary army in Mostar, completely de-Ottomanized the town that originally had Ottoman characteristics. Additionally, the Heixinggen consortium became the largest local landlord, further introducing immigrants from the Far East Empire into the entire Neretva River downstream valley area.

Of course, the Far East immigrants introduced by East Africa at that time actually belonged to ”illegal residents,” mostly settling locally in the form of laborers employed by the Heixinggen consortium.

In the early days, East Africa mainly operated agriculture in the downstream valley of the Neretva River. The local area has a Mediterranean climate and abundant water resources. The Far East immigrants, arranged by the Heixinggen consortium, developed farms and plantations locally. At that time, the Far East immigrants were essentially similar to Russian peasant slaves.

Because the downstream valley of the Neretva River was the front line of Austria-Hungary and the Ottoman Empire, the local population was not large, and with the relatively rugged terrain and large areas of virgin forest, it was not suitable for habitation.

This provided convenience for the Heixinggen consortium. With the support of a large number of cheap Far East migrant workers, the Heixinggen consortium continuously developed wasteland along the Neretva River downstream. After more than thirty years of development, the downstream of the Neretva River became a prosperous area of Bosnia and Croatia.

This can be seen from the population situation in the Neretva River downstream area. Today, the local population exceeds 630,000, with Chinese accounting for 480,000, more than 70% of the local population. The entire Neretva River downstream area covers only a little over 4,000 square kilometers.

Such a comparison shows the level of prosperity in the area supported by East Africa. Over 4,000 square kilometers are basically equivalent to the size of a medium-sized prefecture-level city in the former Far East Empire (the average area of a prefecture-level city in China is about 28,000 square kilometers).

In such a small area, a population exceeding 500,000 is relatively rare in the Balkan region. It’s important to know that the entire Kingdom of Serbia had a population of only over 2 million, and Bulgaria, over 4 million, so the Neretva River downstream area under the governance of the Heixinggen consortium is definitely a densely populated area.

And why East Africa wants to support a pro-East Africa force here has to do with East Africa’s penetration into the Bosnia area.

After Austria-Hungary occupied the Bosnia area, East Africa began to create a ”East Africa-like” region within Austria-Hungary’s territory. However, the work in Bosnia was not smooth at that time.

First, Bosnia is a country dominated by mountains and hills, and traffic is not smooth due to the transport barriers created by Croatia.

So East Africa could only start from the port of Puloch within the former Croatia, infiltrating into the Neretva River basin.

The Neretva River is an important river in the former Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia, and Puloch Port is adjacent to the Neretva River.

The downstream valley region from Puloch to Mostar along the Neretva River formed one of the rare flat land areas on the border between Bosnia and Croatia.

This was the basis for the Heixinggen consortium’s ”enclosure movement” in the region. It can be said that, except for Mostar, most areas were developed later by the Heixinggen consortium.

Puloch was a port city in the former Croatia, while Mostar was the fifth-largest city in Bosnia and Herzegovina and was also the necessary route from Sarajevo to the Adriatic Sea.

As the second largest city in the region, Puloch Port can be said to have been independently developed and constructed by the Heixinggen consortium.

If it hadn’t been for East Africa’s intervention, Puloch Port would likely have had to wait for its appearance like in the previous life, to be built by the later Kingdom of Yugoslavia in 1939.

However, Mostar City is different. Mostar is located at the confluence of the Dinaric Mountains and Vranica Mountains, where the Neretva River flows into the downstream plain area, so Mostar controls the flat, open valley area downstream of the Neretva River.

It is also a strategic location historically, with the important Battle of Neretva occurring here during World War II in the previous life. Controlling Mostar means being not far from Sarajevo, one of the most important cities on the Balkan Peninsula.

Sarajevo is adjacent to Mostar City, separated by the Vranica Mountains, so the Neretva River valley is the main passage from Bosnia and Serbia to the Adriatic Sea.

This demonstrates East Africa’s layout in the region, which mainly lies between Puloch Port and Mostar City, effectively blocking the main traffic route from the inland to the coast.

East Africa’s penetration into Bosnia was not smooth. At least the early idea of Ernst to control the economy of the entire Bosnia region was unrealistic.

The main reason is the complex ethnic composition of the Bosnia area, a confluence of Catholicism, the Eastern Orthodox Church, and the Arabian Sect, and also the center of the game among the three European traditional great powers of the Ottoman Empire, Russia, and Austria-Hungary, with Sarajevo being the most competitive place. This can be seen from the local population composition. Sarajevo is the main place of mixed residence for ethnic and religious believers.