Chapter 1289: East-France relations rely on Britain
Faced with Ambassador Thomson's pointed overture, Freer easily understood the other meaning of Ambassador Thomson's words.
That is, after the war, France and East Africa reached a tacit agreement to jointly respond to the pressure from the United Kingdom and the United States. After all, the United Kingdom and the United States are both Anglo-Saxon countries, and the two countries have broad space for cooperation.
Britain is still the world's hegemon, owning fertile and huge colonies such as India, Canada, and Australia. It also controls the world's financial hegemony and has accumulated hundreds of years of technology and experience. The United States has a strong industrial base and lacks Britain's raw materials and markets. and technology.
In this case, France naturally has to be wary of the British. After all, Britain and France have been feuding since hundreds of years ago, but it was only in these years that the Germans diverted their attention.
Looking at the great powers other than the Allies, Russia's current future is unclear, Spain's role is limited, and the United States and Japan are relatively close to the United Kingdom.
France is also worried about being isolated in the future, so France needs to find suitable partners to stabilize France's international status and voice after the war.
Of course, the premise of all this is based on France being the victorious country. If France failed in World War I, these issues would not need to be considered by Thomson and other French senior officials.
Following Thomson's words, Freer also began to think about the possibility of cooperation between East Africa and the French.
In fact, apart from the fact that East Africa is a German country, East Africa and France do have a very good basis for cooperation.
Although France has always been outnumbered by the British, it is second only to the United Kingdom in all aspects. For example, in the financial field, apart from the United Kingdom, France is the strongest.
Before World War I, France was known as "usury imperialism". The French, who held a large amount of wealth, invested heavily around the world, second only to the United Kingdom in scale.
France's largest investors are Russia and East Africa. Before the war broke out, East Africa received far more loans from France than other countries.
This situation is mainly caused by the national conditions of France and East Africa.
French industrial capital was relatively backward among the great powers, especially after the northeastern Lorraine and Alsace industrial zones were taken away by Germany, which further promoted the development of French financial capital.
After all, the cost of investing in local industry is too high, and France’s fertility rate has remained at a low level. In addition, the living standards of the French people are relatively high compared to other countries. At this time, the number of French workers has long lagged behind other powerful countries.
Since modern times, France has been the most powerful country in Europe after the United Kingdom and has accumulated a large amount of social wealth. When the investment situation in the country is not good, investing overseas has naturally become the first choice for French capital.
And unlike the United Kingdom, which is keen on productive investment, France is keen on issuing public debt to other countries, many of which are usury. Most of the loans issued by France to Russia are from such banks.
Although this kind of loan is difficult to repay, Russia, a weak link in imperialism, obviously has no better choice. Therefore, the two countries can be regarded as Zhou Yu's yellow cover, one is willing to fight, and the other is willing to suffer.
In addition to Russia, there are many countries that borrowed such loans from France, which is also the source of the name "usury imperialism".
Relatively speaking, the interest rates of French loans to East Africa are far lower than those of French loans to Russia and other countries.
Because when East Africa borrowed money on a large scale, East Africa's industrial scale was already considerable and the economy had been on an upward trend, so East Africa had the right to bargain.
Although the benefits of lending to East Africa are not as good as those of other countries, the pie the East African government drew was too big, with a debt market worth billions of rhine guilders, and it was impossible for any country not to be tempted.
Although most of East Africa's debt to France has now been repaid, this does not mean that the transaction between the two countries has ended. After all, by exporting industrial products and war materials, the French businessmen who invested in East Africa and the French government have also Huge gains were made. If France wins the war in the future, France will definitely be able to reap a large amount of benefits, and countries like East Africa that have already had cooperation experience will definitely become a hot spot for French financial industry investment again.
This is similar to the British's enthusiasm for investing in American industry in the past.
Furthermore, France, as the second largest empire in European history after Britain for a long time, has a strong influence in the world after Britain.
France and its colonies are also one of the world's largest suppliers and markets of raw materials, both of which East Africa currently lacks.
Although the development of French industry in recent years has been unsatisfactory, they have international contacts and channels second only to the United Kingdom, such as luxury jewelry, a typical industry.
France has long been a benchmark for luxury goods in the world. Through cultural export and packaging, France has a profound influence in the fields of high-end commodities and artworks.
This is obviously something East Africa lacks. Even though East Africa plays an important role in the second industrial revolution, East African industrial products, especially consumer goods, lack historical heritage and cultural blessing.
If East Africa wants to get involved in high-end consumer goods or cultural goods, using French channels is a good choice.
In addition, although France has not made much industrial progress among the great powers, it has profound advantages in technology and academic fields, and has always been one of the academic exchange centers in Europe.
For example, the Curies, one of the pioneers in the research of radioactive substances, show that France still has forward-looking and profound accumulation in academic fields and scientific research.
In addition, France has technological advantages in traditional fields, and East Africa also has urgent needs. East Africa basically missed the first industrial revolution era, so it has deficiencies in many aspects such as machine tools, basic physics, chemistry, steam engine technology, mathematics, etc.
These, in turn, are exactly the advantages of first-mover countries like France. It is impossible for East Africa to surpass these countries with a century of accumulation and experience in all aspects through decades of hard work.
After thinking about it this way, Freer became more interested in the cooperation Thomson mentioned. He didn't mind selling the Frenchman a favor.
Freer said: "We in East Africa are of course willing to cooperate more with France in international affairs in the future and work together for world peace. We also hope to further strengthen cooperation between the two countries in the fields of economy, culture, scientific research and technology, and colonies."
"As Ambassador Thomson said, there is a lot of room for cooperation between the two countries, especially in the face of Anglo-Saxon hegemony. We in East Africa respect your country's interests."
The friendly relations between East Africa and France depend entirely on the British. After all, the two countries have similar emotions and historical origins when facing the British.
The French used to have feuds with Britain, but now they have to stand together to deal with the German threat. East Africa also used to fight with Britain over southern Africa, and the relationship has only eased in recent years.
But in the final analysis, East Africa and France are still more disgusted and wary of the British, so suppressing the British is the catalyst for the rapid closer relations between East Africa and France.
Although Ambassador Thomson did not obtain a commitment from the East African government, hearing these words from Freer was a good gain. This at least shows that there is still room for cooperation between East Africa and France.
After all, if even high-level officials in East Africa like Freer show indifference or disgust towards their attitude, then France will be really in danger.
Now Freer can communicate with him in a pleasant manner, which to a certain extent shows that East Africa is unlikely to join the war for the time being, and will naturally not join the Allied camp.
Therefore, in order to continue to win over East Africa and let it stand aside during the war, Ambassador Thomson decided to first give East Africa some actual "sweeteners".
(End of chapter)