Chapter 1111 Layout in the Far East
Time flies to 1912. This year can be said to be an eventful year in previous lives, with many major events happening on almost every continent.
In the direction of Asia, the internal conflicts of the Far Eastern Empire broke out completely, the Balkan War also broke out in Europe, the Argentine labor movement in the Americas, the US presidential election, and the resistance movement of black indigenous people against the Portuguese in Africa.
Of course, the last thing is impossible to happen. One of the two protagonists of the incident was driven back to Europe by East Africa, and the other was completely out of date due to long-term consumption in East Africa.
At this time, the East African government is obviously most concerned about the social changes taking place within the Far Eastern Empire. As the most important market in East Africa, any changes within the Far Eastern Empire may have a major impact on East Africa.
Moreover, East Africa is in a relatively delicate position in the Huaihai Economic Zone, which has the deepest influence in the Far Eastern Empire. It can be said to be the transition zone between the central power of the Far Eastern Empire and the southern forces. Therefore, in order to prevent the Huaihai Economic Zone from becoming a hotspot for conflict between the two forces, East Africa The government must always pay attention to changes in the political situation in the Far Eastern Empire.
To this end, at the end of 1911 when the situation was already tense, East Africa sent diplomats to conduct "negotiations" with both parties.
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East Africa, as a country, is unshakable in its determination to safeguard its own interests. Even Ernst himself will not overly interfere in diplomatic behavior at the national level in East Africa because of personal emotions.
Xuzhou.
Although the economic core of the Huaihai Economic Zone is Jiaozhou, East Africa's influence on the Huaihai Economic Zone is mainly realized through Xuzhou.
To this end, the East African Consulate in Xuzhou called various local forces in the Huaihai Economic Zone to hold a meeting in early 1912.
Mannheim, the Consul General of the East African Consulate in Xuzhou, told all parties participating in the meeting: "In the Huaihai Economic Zone, no force should show obvious political leanings towards the South and North, or participate in disputes between the South and North governments. In this political turmoil engulfing the Far Eastern Empire, we are only on the side of the ultimate victor."
People in the Far Eastern Empire are currently in a state of mind, and the same is true in the Huaihai Economic Zone. The Huaihai Economic Zone can be said to be a quite complicated place.
As a trade cooperation area, although East Africa has played a leading role in the past few decades, it cannot be as deterrent as other countries. Therefore, the East African government can only temporarily suppress conflicts in the region through negotiations.
After all, the Huaihai Economic Zone involves the intersection of five provinces: Shandong, Henan, Anhui, and Hebei. The official level alone has to deal with five provinces.
Mannheim said: "Everyone here must also be aware of the dangers of war. It can be said that for every large-scale war within the Far Eastern Empire, the Huaihai area was the most severely damaged. This has been a natural ancient battlefield since your country has written records. "
“In the last century, the turmoil and flooding of the Yellow River can be said to have turned the entire Huaihai region into a ruins, so that now the entire Huaihai region is one of the most economically weak places in the coastal area of the Far Eastern Empire.”
Of course, this is the case in the Huaihai area, but not in the Huaihai Economic Zone. After all, the eastern part of the Shandong Peninsula does not belong to the Huaihai area. It was only forcibly included by East Africa because East Africa carried out trade activities with Jiaozhou as its core.
Moreover, the Huaihai region is not as depressed as Mannheim said. After all, after so long, the economy of the Huaihai region has almost recovered, and in the trade with East Africa, Germany, and the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the economic level here is actually exceeded pre-war levels.
Of course, as an industrial power, East Africa will definitely have an advantage in local trade, but this is almost unavoidable. It is also impossible to say that East Africa really harms its own interests and sells its blood to support the development of national capital in the Far East. How can it be better than other imperialist countries? Relative fairness is already considered the most benevolent and righteous thing to do. Mannheim continued: "Economic discourse is political discourse. Your current power can be said to come from our support in East Africa, otherwise you will not be able to compete with the interest groups in the Pearl River or Yangtze River basins."
“If a war breaks out in the Huaihai Economic Zone and the tragedy of the 1950s and 1960s repeats itself, it will be bad for you and very bad for us in East Africa. Therefore, it is the common responsibility of everyone to maintain regional stability.”
"Don't be too petty. After all, other major powers are not as easy to talk to as we are in East Africa. You must have often dealt with the British and Americans, and you also know the true face of the major powers. East Africa is one of the countries with the friendliest attitude towards China. ”
“So in the current great changes in your country, you should remain consistent with our country and not easily interfere in the political or military conflicts within the Far Eastern Empire.”
East Africa's frank discussions with these local snakes are actually in line with the ideas of local political forces. In fact, as Mannheim said, cooperation with East Africa at least gives you the right to eat meat, unlike other comprador groups, which can only drink soup.
And what the economy of the Huaihai region was like at that time is obvious to all. It can be said that except for southern Anhui and Jiangxi, which were completely wiped out, the Huaihai region was the worst.
Although East Africa is unreasonable, the entire Huaihai region has maintained basic stability over the past few decades. On the one hand, a large number of refugees have immigrated to East Africa, which has alleviated conflicts. On the other hand, the development of local industry has made the economy of the entire Huaihai region even more developed than before the war. .
So everyone basically agrees with what Mannheim said. If it can develop peacefully, who likes war?
Of course, the most important thing is that the country behind Mannheim convinces everyone. As a major country in the world, East Africa has a relatively strong deterrence.
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In addition to negotiating with local snakes, the East African government also conducted "friendly" exchanges with the governments of the north and the south.
"No large-scale war is allowed in the Huaihai Economic Zone where our country and your country have signed an agreement. If any force introduces war into the Huaihai Economic Zone, we in East Africa cannot sit idly by and do nothing. At the same time, the East African government will not take the initiative to interfere in the dispute between the two parties. Conduct of War in Other Regions.”
All in all, East Africa must ensure that the Huaihai Economic Zone maintains a peaceful state within the Far East Empire. This requirement is actually not too much.
In fact, up to now, the main conflicts within the Far Eastern Empire are no longer as intense as last year. The southern government and the northern government have secretly reached some deals, so what East Africa does will not have much impact on the politics of the Far Eastern Empire.
As for why Ernst wanted to ensure the stability of the Huaihai Economic Zone, the most important purpose was actually to preserve the Far Eastern Empire's industry and economy in the Huaihai region.
Ernst's purpose of doing this was also to dig a hole for Japan in the future. In Ernst's view, East Africa must voluntarily give up its interests in the Far East in the future. After all, East Africa's core power is in the Indian Ocean, South Ocean, and South Atlantic. rather than the Far East Sea.
It can be said that except for the United States, no country can curb Japan's surge in military strength in the Far East in recent years, so it is better to directly support the local forces of the Far East Empire to create obstacles for Japan in the future.
After all, in terms of naval strength alone, East Africa is not much stronger than Japan. East Africa also has to take care of the Indian Ocean and the South Atlantic at its doorstep, and it is even less likely to spare its troops to confront Japan.
The United States and the United Kingdom, two collaborating countries, both have a laissez-faire attitude towards Japan. It is even possible that the two countries may use Japan to settle East Africa's interests in the Far Eastern Empire in the future. Therefore, East Africa must always do a good job. Be prepared to give up the interests of the Far East. At this time, it is difficult for East Africa alone to suppress Japan, not to mention that behind Japan stands the United Kingdom and the United States, two top powers that are not inferior to East Africa.
(End of this chapter)