Chapter 1086: France as the bottom line
The details of the game with the British government will naturally be left to a professional team. It is impossible for Ernst to reach a certain deal with the United Kingdom based on his personal likes and dislikes. Moreover, it is related to the East African economy, and the reshaping of the diplomatic circle must also be cautious.
Of course, British Ambassador Russell also thought so about this. Although he promised Ernst some general conditions, the final decision was made by the London government, and he also had to prepare for the subsequent negotiations.
The two men, who had their own agendas, ended the meeting in a hurry. Ernst convened a meeting with government officials, and Russell had to go back and report to London.
…
In the conference room.
Ernst shared the details of his conversation with Russell with government officials.
“This time the British government does want to exchange some interests with us. What do you think of the British government’s proposal?” Ernst asked.
Sweet was the first to speak: "The British demand is nothing more than to restrict the expansion of our navy. From this point of view, it can be seen that the UK is now facing huge pressure in the navy, but we certainly cannot restrict the development of our navy. After all, in When other countries in the world are engaged in naval competition, the final result of us going in the opposite direction will inevitably put our country at a disadvantage in international competition."
Military power is the foundation of East Africa's independence, and the East African navy has experienced a long period of suppression, forming a large gap between its scale and other world powers. It is now far behind Britain, the United States, Germany, and France. Even Japan, a small country in East Asia in the eyes of the East African government, also dominates East Africa in its navy. This is obviously not acceptable to East Africa.
Although the Austro-Hungarian Navy ranks even behind East Africa. The navy only has a scale of more than 200,000 tons, which is only about half that of East Africa and ranks seventh in the world. However, the Austro-Hungarian Navy is positioned as a regional navy. Can't even get out of the Ria Sea.
East Africa is not a small natural maritime country like the Austro-Hungarian Empire. East Africa has a long coastline and a vast territorial sea area that needs to be guarded by the navy. At the same time, East Africa's external trade also relies on the sea. This is completely different from the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Although the sea is very important for trade, it is not too dependent on it, because the Austro-Hungarian Empire is located in the inland center of Europe. Among the foreign trade of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Central and Eastern European markets are the main ones, followed by the Italian Peninsula and the Ottoman Empire, which can all pass through. Realized on land.
Although East Africa is also bordered by many countries and colonies, the economic conditions of these countries and colonies are difficult to describe. The only ones worthy of East Africa's attention are the Abyssinian Empire and Egypt.
Although Egypt is good in size, it falls within the British sphere of influence, and because land routes are blocked by the Sahara Desert, trade between East Africa and Egypt is mainly completed through the Red Sea and Mediterranean routes.
In other words, all the colonies and countries around East Africa are lumped together, and the market size is less than 20 million, not to mention that those colonies are economically controlled by their mother countries.
As a result, the bulk of East Africa's foreign trade will be outside the African continent, and a powerful naval force will inevitably be needed to safeguard East Africa's interests.
The East African Navy does have a relatively large flexibility. Although Ernst and Russell had previously said that they had no intention of competing with the British Royal Navy for the world's number one position, let's assume that the British Royal Navy's total tonnage is two million tons and the East African Navy's is 199 tons. 10,000 tons, then the British Royal Navy is still the number one in the world, but is this what the British want?
Of course, this is a bit exaggerated. There is certainly no country, including East Africa itself, that would think that East Africa would build a navy based on this idea, but whether they want to and whether they have the ability to do it are two different things. From an economic point of view, the United States and Germany can definitely do it. As the world's largest economic power, the United States can theoretically build a powerful naval force larger than the Royal Navy. Although Germany is not as economical as the United States, it The industrial strength is enough to support Germany in doing so.
Merk: "I think that if our navy wants to ensure our country's economic interests, its overall strength should at least reach the level of France. The total tonnage of the French navy is more than 800,000 tons, and the United States and Germany are almost at the same level, so 800,000 tons It is the bottom line of our country.”
Bruce, the current Commander-in-Chief of the Navy, retorted: "It's far from enough. Eight hundred thousand tons is just the standard for a world naval power. If it doesn't exceed 800,000 tons, it would be embarrassing to say that it is a world naval power. And eight hundred thousand tons is far from it." The upper limits of the navies of the United States, Germany and France are all actively expanding their armaments. In the next few years, more than one country's navy will exceed the one-million-ton level. Therefore, a conservative estimate is that the goal of our navy should at least exceed one million tons. "
In the context of naval military competition, the current naval strength of various countries is far from reaching the upper limit. As a result, East Africa cannot use the current standards to measure the development of the navies of other countries in the world.
Bruce continued: "And East Africa, as a two-ocean country, actually has far more power than that. In addition to the Indian Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean, East Africa also has huge interests in the Pacific Ocean. Therefore, from a realistic perspective, our navy should be ranked between the German and French navies. Therefore, the current tonnage of the navy is far from enough, even if it reaches the level of France and Germany. "
In fact, Bruce somewhat underestimated France. When discussing world naval power, France definitely plays an important role. To a certain extent, the French navy is the executive force second only to the United Kingdom in the current world navy.
As the second colonial power in the world after the United Kingdom, the French Navy is responsible for areas second only to the United Kingdom, such as the Atlantic Ocean, the Caribbean, South American waters, West African waters, the Mediterranean, the Red Sea, the Far Eastern waters, the waters east of Madagascar, and the South Ocean. There are French colonies in the sea and even in India.
So according to France's actual needs, France should theoretically be equipped with the world's second most powerful navy, but this price cannot be afforded based on France's economic situation.
Take Germany for example. Although Germany has acquired some overseas colonies in recent years, most of them can be ignored. Even though the area is considerable, most of them are located in the corners of the country that no one cares about. For example, some of Germany's colonies in the Pacific are not worth mentioning. To put it mildly, Australia, a prison penal colony, can be easily handled.
As for the German High Seas Fleet, its scope of capabilities has always been compressed by the United Kingdom in the Baltic Sea. But if it just wants to play a role in the Baltic Sea, then Germany naturally does not need the existence of the High Seas Fleet, which kills chickens and is only used to kill chickens.
However, relying on its strong industrial strength, Germany has built a navy that is more powerful than France and poses a huge threat to Britain. Therefore, its naval power does not simply consider the needs of its own navy.
Take the current East African economy as an example. East Africa’s economy ranks fourth in the world, behind the United States, Germany and the United Kingdom. When discussing industrial strength, East Africa ranks third in the world after the United States and Germany. Comprehensive East Africa’s In terms of naval needs, economic conditions, and industrial capabilities, the size of the East African navy should be ranked second to fourth.
Sweet said: "So in terms of economy and demand, our country's navy should not be weaker than France at least in theory. The French navy should be used as a reference to formulate a basic strategy suitable for the development of our country's navy."
The reason why France was chosen as a reference is actually because the French navy can be regarded as the bottom line of the world's powerful navies.
(End of this chapter)