African Entrepreneurship Record

Chapter 1150: Chapter 159: Territorial Transaction

Therefore, in terms of giving back to Germany for East Africa’s support, East Africa is completely fulfilling its obligations to Germany. However, these returns are not what Germany urgently needs. Germany requires East Africa’s comprehensive strategic cooperation rather than those ”superficial” economic matters.

Nevertheless, Germany certainly cannot claim that economic cooperation between the two countries is unimportant. After all, Germany’s geographical location, climate, and size of territory determine many disadvantages for Germany, especially in relying on East Africa for support in many strategic materials.

Mochi said: ”In fact, East Africa’s suggestion is also the best choice for us at this time. We simply cannot cater to overseas territories, and if we can gain East Africa’s support in exchange for these overseas territories, it would be a good result. These overseas territories were just leftovers divided by England and France.”

”For the Empire, as long as England and France are defeated, rich colonies like the Middle East and India will fall into our hands with ease. Therefore, converting these colonies is most advantageous for us.”

Mochi’s remark led the high-ranking officials in Germany to silent contemplation. In truth, the German government understands this rationale, but it feels slightly stifling; the hardest part is overcoming the mental hurdle.

Now that Mochi has laid it out clearly, it’s at least a good psychological comfort for the German government. Everything is for the Empire. As for East Africa, Germany should now make more efforts to closer align with it. Even if it cannot become an ally, as long as East Africa shows a friendly attitude towards Germany, it is beneficial for Germany.

After all, apart from East Africa, other countries outside Europe offer little help to Germany, such as the United States. Despite its top global industrial strength, given its relations with the United Kingdom, it will likely lean towards the British side.

Although both East Africa and the United States have declared neutrality, state relations differ in closeness. East Africa is at least a Germanic country, naturally more inclined towards Germany.

This is indeed the case. Although Ernst chooses to stand by, he still secretly hopes the Allies achieve the final victory. East Africa’s support for Germany and Austria-Hungary has been considerable, especially for Austria-Hungary, which Ernst once helped significantly.

Having reached this point, William II could only helplessly say, ”Let the Bulls ambassador from East Africa come over and sign an agreement with us!”

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”Our East Africa certainly supports Germany. After all, Germany’s victory in the war is a great thing for the entire Germanic people. As fellow members of the Germanic nation, we wouldn’t oppose Germany in this matter but hope Germany can achieve European dominance.”

Bulls began by extensively talking about the friendship between East Africa and Germany, which is actually Bulls’ genuine thought. After all, East Africa is a Germanic country, and as a Germanic person, Bulls naturally leans towards Germany in his heart.

Of course, in the eyes of the German monarch and ministers, it’s not quite the same. Bulls, with his distinct mixed-race features as an East African, appears particularly out of place among the genuinely Germanic people.

This creates a sense of incongruity in the hearts of the German monarch and ministers. A clearly Far Eastern-blooded East African brazenly claiming to be a part of the Germanic people, what does that make them?

To be honest, in recent years, East Africans abroad have undergone significant changes. Previously, most overseas personnel from East Africa had authentic Germanic features, or occasionally a small number looked distinctly different as East Asians, with clear distinctions between the two.

But now, personnel traveling abroad from East Africa often have features with obvious mixed-race traits, and their accents contain distinct Swabian or Southern German influences.

These changes in appearance and language demonstrate the success of East Africa’s assimilation policy. Clearly, East Africa has thoroughly achieved racial integration, and the promotion of the German language has been quite successful.

The only unfortunate aspect is that standard German in East Africa slightly differs from Germany, especially the high echelons in Berlin, due to Berlin’s location in Germany’s Northeast, with noticeable accent distinctions.

However, the German government is not surprised by this kind of East African colloquialism, as East Africa’s standard German is originally derived from southern Germany, particularly the Swabia region.

Swabian German, in fact, has an extensive distribution in Germany and even globally. After all, Southern Germany once faced the most severe population loss across Germany, with significant communities residing in Austria, other regions of Germany, East Africa, North and South America, Croatia, and many other countries and regions.

For instance, in the Croatia region within Austria-Hungary, the Germans there refer to themselves as Danube Swabians, indicating the population movement in the Swabia region has driven the spread of the Swabian dialect.

The recent massive population movement, brought about by the East African regime, includes the former Heixinggen Royal Family, now the Rhein Royal Family, which itself belongs to the Swabian cultural circle.

In summary, Bulls and other East African officials provided the German monarch and ministers with a novel sensory experience. Of course, to the extreme Germanic nationalists in Germany, East Africa certainly does not belong to the Germanic people. Compared to those who consider themselves orthodox Germans, East Africans seem entirely like a new nationality.

Of course, the high-ranking officials in the German government won’t say that. Although East Africa’s people are mixed with many immigrants from the Far East region, in other aspects, they have little difference from Germans. More importantly, Germany currently needs East Africa and cannot afford to shun East Africa from the Germanic fold, which would only please Germany’s enemies.

William II said: ”Alright, Ambassador Bulls, let us get straight to the point. Concerning our overseas territories, it’s not that they cannot be transferred to East Africa, but East Africa must offer us commensurate value, as these overseas territories are crucial components of the Empire’s territory.”

Bulls replied: ”Certainly, we have no issues. East Africa will offer Germany a satisfactory proposal based on market value. For these colonies, we are willing to purchase them at the price of fifty million Rhine Shield.”

The value of the Rhine Shield is relatively low compared to major global powers. Fifty million Rhine Shield sounds grand, but it’s only about eight million US Dollars.

This price made William II frown, considering East Africa wants all of Germany’s overseas colonies.

Bulls said: ”This price is certainly not low. Given that areas like German Central Africa and the Pacific territories are largely unpopulated tropical rainforest regions, they are extremely challenging to develop, especially those islands in the Pacific, which cannot support large-scale operations.”

”To put it bluntly, many of these colonies are quite marginal, overlooked even by colonial powers like England and France. So, fifty million Rhine Shield demonstrates genuine sincerity...”

As the buyer, Bulls certainly highlighted the faults of these colonies. In fact, Bulls is not underestimating the attributes of these German colonies. For East Africa, German Central Africa and Togoland are the most valuable, but from East Africa’s perspective, they remain as they are.

Even though German Central Africa is adjacent to East Africa’s homeland, it’s covered by vast, untapped tropical rainforests. Even if East Africa intends to develop the area, it wouldn’t be easy, making it an even greater financial sinkhole for Germany.

For the German government, these overseas territories are indeed financial sinkholes. The investment far exceeds the returns, and Germany cannot sustain them.

It’s better to hand them to East Africa than benefit the Allies; Germany can at least gain some tangible benefits from East Africa. Upon defeating England and France, Germany can establish its authority over the European Continent and seize the affluent colonies of England and France.

Hence, even though Bulls appears somewhat stingy, Germany agreed to East Africa’s proposal. As for the specific payments, Germany insisted on replacing them with war materials needed by Germany. This aligns with East Africa’s intentions, as its port warehouses were long stocked with supplies aimed at profiting during wartime.