Chapter 1070 The conflict between France and Germany
The core of the German government's discussion on East Africa is still to bring East Africa into its own camp. If it can bind a large country with a population of over 100 million and a land area of over 10 million square kilometers, the benefits to Germany are self-evident.
William II said with some dissatisfaction: "We have always shown goodwill to East Africa in the past, but the attitude of the East African government is ambiguous. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs should think of more ways to tilt East Africa's attitude towards us as much as possible, and it is best to sign an alliance."
Prime Minister Bateman was also troubled by the slickness of the East African government. He said helplessly: "In recent years, we have been trying to penetrate into East Africa, but with little success. East Africa is not like those countries in Central and Eastern Europe. Even if we accept our There are also many investment restrictions.”
“This is not what I am most worried about. The biggest problem in East Africa is that their economic system is naturally exclusive. It is almost impossible to influence domestic public opinion in East Africa through the economy. It is also impossible to effectively support forces that are inclined to us.”
Economic aid and loans are never free, especially aid and loans from great powers. Unlike the UK, Germany’s economic aid is more concerned with political returns and is less concerned with returns than the UK.
In Central and Eastern Europe, due to the relatively backward economy, it is difficult to accumulate funds for industrial development, even in semi-industrialized countries like Austria-Hungary.
By penetrating into these areas, German capital has achieved a certain degree of binding interests with local forces. In this way, national decision-making will naturally favor Germany as the sponsor, especially for these free market countries.
East Africa is obviously different from these countries and regions. East Africa has never been a free market country, and the state-owned economy is ridiculously strong. Therefore, it is almost impossible to kidnap the East African government through economic means.
Even the vast majority of German investments in East Africa can only be achieved through joint ventures, and in this case, German capital cannot even occupy full dominance of these joint ventures, let alone influence East African domestic politics.
William II's face was a little gloomy. This is what William II couldn't understand the most. In other words, the East African government obviously didn't know what to do.
Culturally speaking, the root culture of East Africa is the same as that of Germany. From the perspective of the royal family, everyone belongs to the Hohenzollern family. From an economic and geographical perspective, they are also highly complementary. Therefore, in the view of William II, East Africa is a natural We should join forces with Germany.
William II: "No matter what, East Africa is a country that cannot be ignored. Even if a country of this size cannot be used by me, it must not be allowed to fall to France and other countries. I heard that the French and East Africa are economically disadvantaged. It’s quite close.”
Bateman nodded and said: "The East African government may be motivated by the need for checks and balances, but the Rhine royal family does not have much enmity with France, and it is not unusual for them to cooperate in the economy. Not to mention France, even if they have had bad relations with East Africa, Britain and Portugal, East Africa also has trade relations with them as usual."
Wilhelm II: "The location in East Africa is still too comfortable! If Germany were geographically the same as East Africa, we wouldn't be so passive."
East Africa can engage in balanced diplomacy and achieve a win-win situation. In the final analysis, East Africa has a huge geographical advantage. East Africa, like the United States, is far away from disputes in Eurasia. There are few powerful countries around the region to compete with it, so it has great flexibility and autonomy. powerful.
This is not good news for Germany. Its strong autonomy means that Germany cannot successfully control East Africa, even if the economies of Germany and East Africa are deeply bound.
In the economic and trade between the two countries, there is no question of who is dominant. Germany is an important market in East Africa, and East Africa is also an important market for Germany. East Africa is also Germany's main supplier of raw materials, and East Africa is very important to Germany in this regard. But there is basically no demand.
Bateman: "In short, for East Africa, we can only use win-win methods, but we must also put a certain amount of pressure on East Africa, at least to make them realize that without the help of Germany, it will be more difficult for East Africa to complete industrial construction on its own. , so that East Africa will ask for more from us.”
… Paris .
Compared to the German government, the French government is more concerned about the future direction of diplomacy in East Africa.
The then French President Fallier said: "We must not let Germany and a populous country like East Africa join forces, otherwise it will be a disaster for the whole world and a disaster for France."
“Just imagine, if East Africa joins the German camp, then our rear, as well as the colonies in Asia and Africa, will be threatened by the East Africans.”
As the most powerful country in Africa, East Africa is a big mountain that weighs on any African country or colony. This is the political influence extended by East Africa's strong strength in Africa.
Even though most of France’s colonies are not bordering East Africa, France does not dare to underestimate the country of East Africa. France’s colonies of Gabon, Djibouti and Madagascar are facing threats from East Africa.
As for the colonies in West Africa and North Africa, they cannot effectively cut off the influence of East Africa. After all, the naval strength of East Africa is not weak, and East Africa’s development of the west coast has become a reality at a speed visible to the naked eye in recent years, and it is in front of the eyes of the world.
The trade between East Africa and France is mainly transited through the west coast of East Africa, so France is no stranger to the development of the west coast of East Africa.
If the East African Navy moves north along the west coast of Africa, it can threaten almost all West African countries and colonies. If it goes to the extreme, the East African Navy can also follow the Atlantic Ocean and reach the coast of France.
Just from the map, you can see the significant impact of East Africa on the world structure. Now that East Africa’s population data has been exposed, it has further strengthened Falier’s idea.
"A big country with a population of 100 million, even if we add our own mainland and overseas colonies, we don't have that many. At the same time, the military strength of East Africa cannot be ignored. Its navy has always been one of the important forces of the world's navy, with four of the most advanced dreadnought fleets. If East Africa and Germany are allowed to reach partial cooperation and East Africa attacks at any point, it may cause us huge troubles. "
As of this year, France has only begun to build its first dreadnought ship, while East Africa has already built four dreadnought ships and is equipped with a quasi-dreadnought ship. From this perspective alone, the East African Navy has surpassed the French Navy.
So Britain, the United States, and Germany can look down upon the East African navy, but France cannot. In recent years, France has actually fallen behind in naval construction.
"We must try our best to keep East Africa on our side just like we did with Britain and Russia, and at least ensure neutrality. The relationship between East Africa and Germany is far from being comparable to that of Britain and Russia. They originally belong to the same culture and the same language. , so we need to increase our focus on East Africa.”
“Especially monitoring the small actions of the Germans. Nowadays, most of our energy is concentrated in the eastern interior. Any unstable factors that may affect our future decisive battle with Germany must be resolved first.”
President Fallier's major contribution to France was that during his term of office, he achieved a major improvement in the relations between Britain, France, and France and Russia. In his previous life, he directly created the Allied Powers and completed the final victory in the war against Germany.
So it can be seen from Falier's methods that he attaches great importance to cooperation in the diplomatic field, thereby uniting all forces that can limit Germany's development.
(End of this chapter)