Chapter 1091 Britain chooses to give in
The disintegration of the Soviet Union in the past was partly due to the arrogance of the leadership in the middle and late stages. Especially at the propaganda level, the people's psychological expectations for the country's development were too high, making it difficult for the entire country to accept after their dreams were shattered.
In fact, the Soviet leadership was also riding a tiger, being held up by the low-end public opinion machine they had built. In fact, even at the end of the Soviet Union, its domestic economic situation was not at all as bad as imagined, at least compared to the vast number of countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America. The Soviet Union, whose system has not collapsed, is still far ahead of other regions in all domestic aspects.
So Ernst naturally "fully" absorbed the experience and lessons of the Soviet Union and cooled down the temperature of his own citizens in a timely manner. If the people of East Africa are cultivated into a "sage" mentality, then there will be countless shortcomings in East Africa.
…
London
British Prime Minister Asquith: "This is a message from Ambassador Russell from the Rhine. Sure enough, East Africans are a little greedy!"
The attitude of the East African government is indeed a bit bad for the United Kingdom. If other factors are put aside, it is difficult to accept the initiative of the United Kingdom to liberalize some markets. What's more, the East African government has also implicitly stated that it wants to take advantage of the British sphere of influence in the Indian Ocean. Acquire a piece of land within.
This has almost never been the case in the UK in recent decades. The reason why I say almost is because there are no countries that are more extreme than East Africa, such as Germany and Russia.
Of course, East Africa feels aggrieved by this kind of "slander" from the British government. After all, it is difficult to accept the British request for East Africa. It is unreasonable to restrict the development of its own navy. East Africa is willing to negotiate with the United Kingdom, so East Africa is willing to negotiate with the British. It is reasonable for the British government to want some benefits.
After all, Britain has made similar suggestions to Germany before, but Germany did not give Britain a good look at all, making the British government look like a clown.
Finance Minister George said: "The East African government's demands seem a bit greedy, but we must also seriously consider it. After all, if we do not actively cooperate with East Africa, they will also use other methods to achieve their goals."
“For example, at the market level, we have been imposing sanctions on East Africa in the past, but with little effect. And as East Africa’s national power continues to rise, they will actively expand their trade borders.”
“For example, East Africa’s actions in the Persian Gulf and South America are accompanied by military activities. If we continue to choose confrontation, the result will definitely be lose-lose for both sides.”
“But East Africa is not a small country. They can completely afford it with us, but we cannot devote all our energy to competing with East Africa in the Indian Ocean or the South Atlantic.”
Asquith sighed and said: "This is also what I am worried about. If the East African government is a country like Germany that refuses to take soft and hard measures, then we will be in trouble in the Indian Ocean and South Atlantic region, but the East African government is obviously better than Germany. The government needs to be sensible. They have expressed their intention to negotiate with the empire, but their demands are too generous. "
It can be said that the British government is extremely complicated about the current state of the East African government. If the East African government does not choose to negotiate, the United Kingdom will definitely be anxious. After all, the United Kingdom does not have the energy to engage with East Africa at this stage. However, the East African government has expressed its willingness to negotiate. The British government I still feel very sad because the East African government wants too much...
In fact, the East African government doesn’t really want much. As George just said, wouldn’t East Africa itself get it if the British government doesn’t give it? The East African government is actually in dynamic competition with the UK in accessing markets.
East Africa is close to South America, and its industry ranks third in the world. Although the British economy is strong, its industry can only rank behind East Africa.
This means that East Africa is not afraid of all kinds of competition from Britain in South America at all, even if Britain can influence the governments of South America. After all, the East African navy is not a dry job. East Africa may have respect for a big country like Britain and respect for it. South American countries will have to change their faces. After all, East Africa is not a good person, but a member of the imperialist powers. So at this point, it comes back to the naval issue. If the East African navy exceeds the British government’s expectations, it will be no less for the British government than the situation in the Indian Ocean and the South Atlantic getting out of control.
And the British government does not have the ability, energy and courage to launch a large-scale war in East Africa similar to the South African War, interrupting the momentum of East Africa's development.
Therefore, for the current British government, if it can reach some exchange of interests with the East African government so that the East African navy can be limited to a "reasonable range", it would be considered the best result.
This is actually similar to the way Britain used the Washington Naval Treaty in its previous life to check and balance the development of the navies of countries such as the United States.
In the previous life, Britain was actually the beneficiary of the "Washington Naval Treaty". After all, after the end of World War I, the United States had actually become the most powerful country in the world in all aspects. However, the "Washington Naval Treaty" limited the U.S. Navy to within the limits accepted by the British government.
So after thinking again and again, Asquith gritted his teeth and said: "We can agree to the reasonable request of the East African government. Of course, the premise is that it is within the scope of our acceptance. At this stage, it is impossible for us to cause trouble in East Africa in Africa. When we start from After Europe escapes, we will get back what we lost.”
It is definitely not possible not to accept East Africa's "goodwill". Now Britain simply cannot escape from the European situation, so Asquith decided to make temporary concessions to East Africa.
Of course, as the world hegemon, Britain is definitely not afraid of East Africa. As far as Asquith himself is concerned, the decision he is making now is just a compromise with East Africa. After the empire solves the problems in Europe, it will definitely let East Africa eat up even more. Spit out all the benefits.
Asquith said: "The East African government must limit its navy to our requirements before we can make concessions on relevant issues. When the situation in Europe stabilizes, we will use various means to make the East African government understand that the benefits of the empire are not So easy to get.”
George also agreed with the Prime Minister's statement that a temporary conflict with East Africa would definitely not be beneficial to the Ministry of Finance, not to mention the impact on other departments.
Just a two-power standard has turned the Imperial Royal Navy into a gold-eating beast that is difficult to fill the gap. If it wants to devote more energy to the Indian Ocean and the Pacific, it is difficult to come up with a "three-power" standard.
Asquith continued: "Next, the government must come up with a reliable plan. Although it wants to give up the market and land, it can only be decided by us, and it must not undermine the overall strategic layout and core interests of the empire. ”
George said: "Don't worry, Prime Minister, in fact, it is relatively easy to meet the requirements of the East African government. The competition between our industry and East African industry is not fierce. At least at the current stage, East Africa is not our country's main competitor in the international market. East Africa's The harm is not as bad as that of countries such as the United States, Germany and France.”
"So we can make some detailed divisions in the open market to avoid competition with East African goods. East African light industrial production has always been East Africa's shortcomings, and this is also the empire's strength. As long as East Africa does not involve our country's core interests , In fact, it will not have much impact on our country, but it will make the United States and Germany compete more fiercely with East Africa.”
Asquith also agrees with this point. East Africa is indeed not outstanding in the international market, especially in light industrial products. It can even be said that its performance is low and there are no very capable products. However, this area is the UK's strength.
Asquith said: "As for the East African government's land requirements, we also need to carefully consider it. The empire has a vast territory and sphere of influence. It is not too difficult to select the least valuable ones from the Indian Ocean region and give them to East Africa."
(End of this chapter)