Chapter 158 Closed East Africa
November 5, 1868.
The first town.
On the banks of the Little Rhine in the northwest of the first town, this was originally the land of the second town, but with the upgrading of the East African colony, the status of the first town has also risen. As the seat of the East African colonial government and the capital of the Central District, it will naturally expand, so The second town next to the first town was annexed.
More than a month ago, the residents of the former second town saw a group of strangers coming here after a long absence. For the residents of the second town who haven't seen new faces for nearly half a year, this is really strange.
Since the expansion of East Africa, all areas need immigrants. In order to fill the newly occupied land, many areas in the east have been developed earlier and have a relatively large population, so there are few new immigrants. The second town is in this list.
Except for the few port cities in East Africa and the first town where the East African colonial government is located, the plains near the coast basically have no new immigrants, and most of the new immigrants tend to inland areas.
If they were just ordinary immigrants, then the residents of Second Town would not be curious, but the residents of Second Town could tell at a glance that these people were different from ordinary immigrants. After all, the residents of Second Town were immigrants.
So they are very clear about what it was like when they immigrated to East Africa. When they first came to East Africa, they were in a mess, and many of them didn't even have decent clothes.
It was the uniform issued by the East African colonies when they first landed. Until now, the vast majority of people in East Africa still wear the improved clothes of the Prussian military uniform.
Even the immigrants from Europe didn't dress well, but their clothes were not confiscated by the East African colonies.
Instead, after a simple disinfection, it was returned to them, and a set of Prussian military uniforms with East African characteristics was issued by the way.
After all, European immigrants live a more decent life than Chinese immigrants, and their clothes are so exquisite.
If you talk about the clothes of European immigrants, at least you can still see that they are clothes, but the size may not fit well.
The suits worn by Chinese immigrants in East Africa can be said to be a large collection of all kinds of tatters, and none of them are complete. Among the Chinese immigrants in East Africa, some wore single clothes and some wore cotton jackets.
In order to facilitate the elimination of bacteria and dust that the immigrants might carry, as well as to facilitate subsequent management, Ernst simply prepared new clothes for the immigrants, and the rags of the Chinese immigrants were directly confiscated by the East African colonies.
Of course, the confiscation of the suits worn by the Chinese from the Far East in East Africa also has the consideration of assimilation. Since it is going to be Germanized, it should be thorough. The braids are all cut off, and there is no need to keep clothes with oriental colors.
Immigrants from Europe don’t need to confiscate their clothes, they return them after simple cleaning, and some European immigrants also bring a few pieces of ancestral clothing to replace.
However, since East Africa has issued a new set of clothes, although it is a military uniform, it is not for nothing for the poor in this era.
European immigrants like to change their original clothes and Prussian military uniforms.
If people from European countries visit East Africa, they will see a strange scene.
The whole of East Africa is full of Prussian military uniforms at first glance. If you don’t understand it carefully, you may think you are in a Prussian military camp.
Anton Perutz was one of the victims. Anton Perutz was the professor hired by Ernst at the East African Institute of Tropical Agriculture.
It is impossible for Ernst to close the two traditional ports along the Indian Ocean, Dar es Salaam and Mombasa. Merchant ships from various countries have to stop at these two ports and replenish their supplies.
If the port is blocked, the Anglo-Portuguese, French and Dutch allied forces will come to the door the next day. Ernst's success in opening up the East African colony is also thanks to Prussia's unification of Germany.
Especially Britain, the maritime overlord, currently has a pretty good relationship with Prussia, and East Africa is not a good place. Turning a blind eye, the East African colony was created by Ernst.
East Africa is not a good place is relative to the current cognition of European countries. Not to mention East Africa, there are not many places in Africa that can be targeted by countries.
West Africa is the Gold Coast, the Ivory Coast, the Slave Coast, the Pepper Coast... so countries loot.
Cape Town, British Somaliland, Gibraltar and the future Suez Canal respectively curb Africa's most important maritime traffic artery
The coast of North Africa has been an area that Europe has valued since ancient Roman times.
Only the Portuguese managed a few stable colonies in Africa, but the Portuguese came to Africa hundreds of years ago. At that time, it was the era when the slave trade was prevalent, and they had already paid back their capital. However, such a long investment clearly shows that Portugal has no energy now. continue.
The reason why Europeans swarmed into Africa around 1880 was completely forced by the economic crisis in 1873.
Every economic crisis is fatal to a capitalist country, and it also means that the economic development has reached a bottleneck, and a new outlet needs to be found.
The direct consequence of the 1873 economic crisis was that capitalist countries transitioned from commodity output to capital output. For the sake of raw material production areas and the world market, the great powers set off a frenzy to divide the world.
Now this time is obviously not yet. For the British, the years are quiet and good, and the United Kingdom is making troubles in South America, and there are successive wars on the European continent. Due to the mess and the development of the western region, Puxihe has not improved much in recent years, and it has not made any big moves overseas.
As long as Ernst can bear it and does not expose East Africa's resources in advance, basically no one will focus on East Africa.
Speaking back to Dar es Salaam and Mombasa, these two ports are the only windows for foreign exchanges in East Africa. In addition to their own use, they also have to take care of the colonists from various countries drifting in the Indian Ocean.
After all, it is an important node on the traditional waterway. If you really take yourself seriously, there will be no good fruit for shutting down the country.
Of course, Ernst was originally eating alone in East Africa, so he just continued to maintain the status quo of these two ports and continued to give convenience to countries.
Tanga, Bagamoyo and Mtwara do not need to be shared with other countries. These are all ports created by East Africa themselves, and they are only used by the Hexingen consortium.
But to be on the safe side, Ernst still forced all immigrants except the regular army to wear ordinary clothes in all ports, so that East Africa looked a little normal in the eyes of ships from various countries.
If other countries see a large number of Prussian military uniforms in East Africa, I am afraid that anyone will think too much.
There is no need for inland areas. Except for immigrants and members of the Hexingen Consortium, no one from other countries can go deep into the interior of East Africa to investigate the situation.
The Arab merchants and slave traders who used to be active in the interior of East Africa are now waiting for the East African colonies to deliver goods directly to the door at the border market.
East Africa itself was separated from other countries and colonies connected with the world by terrain and indigenous tribes.
(end of this chapter)