Chapter 225 Kingdom of East Africa
May 13, 1870.
Witt Palace, under the bright lights, after King Constantine performed a simple coronation ceremony, under the witness of Ferdinand, the commander-in-chief of the navy of the only two nobles, officers of the East African Army and Navy, and officials of the Central Government of East Africa, he officially declared the East African The establishment of the kingdom.
The procedure of this ceremony is very simple. The coronation ceremony of European monarchs has a strong religious and cultural influence, which is not found in East Africa. As an African country, East Africa does not need to follow the European way to conduct this ceremony.
No clergy participated in the coronation ceremony, which means that East Africa has been a secular country from the moment it was founded.
As for the church, the Italian Savoy Dynasty will let the Pope know the importance of several divisions in two months.
Religion is no longer useful in this era, especially in East Africa, where various beliefs and even atheists gather together. When believers see it, Nima, pagans and atheists are all living well, why do they believe in it? Maybe there are still believers, and the degree of piety is about to be questioned.
The props for the coronation ceremony are the crown, cane and king's robe of the original Hechingen Kingdom.
King Constantine personally put on the crown for himself, and the music for the coronation ceremony used German traditional folk music.
The crown and cane have been modified in some details, using a lot of jewelry and gold, East African sapphire (tanzanite), diamonds and other East African characteristic jewelry.
The flag of the Kingdom of East Africa has also been designed. If it weren't for the coat of arms of the royal family of Hexingen (pictured), it would look like a replica of the flag of the North German Confederation.
(picture)
The flag of the Kingdom of East Africa did not adopt the original flag of the Principality of Hechingen. The eagle flag mainly collided with the Principality of Saxony-Meiningen, and the two flags were exactly the same.
(picture)
The flag of the Kingdom of East Africa has no special meaning. The black, white and red stripes are derived from the family coat of arms. At the same time, the deer element is removed from the family coat of arms on the flag, making it look more simple and domineering. The Lun-Hechingen family thought of the unity of the family and the country.
Finally, the ceremony ended with a review of the East African Royal Guards. It's not that I don't want to make it grand, but the conditions in East Africa don't allow it. Even if we hold a celebration ceremony, we can't gather many people together. We can only give the people a few days off, and various places organize activities spontaneously.
…
On May 20, the diplomatic mission of the Kingdom of East Africa was directly separated from the Hexingen Consortium and went to various countries to start working.
May 25th, this day.
In Europe, major newspapers began to publish the establishment of the East African Kingdom.
According to the previous plan, the Austro-Hungarian government was the first to announce the recognition of the Kingdom of East Africa, and then the governments of Prussia, Sweden, Romania, and Tsarist Russia issued statements.
Immediately after Bavaria and other states in the German region, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Belgium, Greece and other countries also issued statements recognizing the legitimacy of the East African Kingdom.
Finally, Alfonso XII, who was still in France, also announced the recognition of the Kingdom of East Africa on behalf of Spain, so that the current Spanish government was very embarrassed!
…
France, Elysee Palace.
The French diplomatic department sent the credentials submitted by the Kingdom of East Africa today to Napoleon III.
"What's this?"
"Your Majesty, this is the credential of a new country."
"New country? Why didn't I know that Europe had such a change recently?"
"Your Majesty, this country is not Europe, but an African country."
"African countries! Aren't there all indigenous people there? Is your Ministry of Foreign Affairs already idle?"
"Uh, Your Majesty, this African country still has some connections with Europe."
"Did something happen in Egypt?"
Napoleon III immediately thought of the Suez Canal and the British.
"It's not such a majesty. It is the Hohenzollern family who established a new country in East Africa. They call themselves the Kingdom of East Africa."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
"I knew it, the Kingdom of East Africa, it's really interesting!"
"Your Majesty, what shall we do next?"
"Have they sent a mission!"
"At the hotel."
"Let them meet me!"
…
U.K.
The then British Prime Minister William Ewart Gladstone called himself fooled after receiving the news from Europe.
"Asshole, we have all been deceived. This so-called East African colony is not a colony established by Prussia at all, but supported by the Austro-Hungarian Empire."
"Mr. Prime Minister, this is not a deception. After all, the East African colony has never said that it is a subordinate force of Prussia. We were only misled by the surname Hohenzollern."
"Does this mean that the Austro-Hungarian Empire has unrealistic illusions about overseas colonies?"
"That's not enough, Mr. Prime Minister. It can only be said that this so-called East African kingdom deliberately moved closer to the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Our intelligence shows that the two royal families have been married early. This may be the main reason, and the Fiji of the Austro-Hungarian Empire The Grand Duke of Dinant, the father-in-law of Crown Prince Ernst of the East African Kingdom, is in East Africa."
"That's fine, as long as it's not a kingdom inspired by the Austro-Hungarian Empire, it's still acceptable."
"Mr. Prime Minister, in fact, the establishment of the East African kingdom is similar to the East India Company's occupation of India. It was also initiated by the German Hexingen consortium. As far as we know, the owner behind it is the Hexingen royal family, so this kind of thing This is something that the royal family of Hexingen has planned for a long time, and it has little relationship with other countries."
"That is to say, Constantine planned this incident himself? Just to go to Africa to become a chief?"
"Uh, Mr. Prime Minister, I think this is likely to be the case. Our intelligence personnel analyzed it this way. After the Prince of Hechingen was annexed by Prussia, this Prince Constantine has been dissatisfied. After all, he has been reduced from a sovereign country to a puppet. Naturally unwilling, especially the same fate of being annexed, Prince Karl next door has been the prime minister in Prussia, which exacerbated the imbalance in Prince Constantine's heart. In order to get rid of the Kingdom of Prussia, Constantine decided to leave overseas, so he planned For more than ten years, at the same time, in order to avenge Prussia, he chose the not-so-close Austro-Hungarian Empire as an ally. The previous marriage with the Habsburg family was also within his calculations. At the same time, saving Maximilian I made him Closer relationship with the Austrian royal family..."
It is indeed the intelligence department of Great Britain. With the sparse information, it forced a **** plot.
"Well, I'm not..." William Ewart Gladstone was about to say something.
Suddenly an official ran over in a panic and whispered something to William Ewart Gladstone.
"What? Is the message confirmed?"
"Yes, Prime Minister, there have been riots in Ireland."
"Okay, I see, I'll go over and deal with this right away."
Seeing that the Prime Minister was about to leave, the Foreign Secretary hurriedly asked, "Mr. Prime Minister, what happened?"
"Irish."
The Foreign Secretary understood immediately.
"Then what about the East African Kingdom?"
"It's too late to deal with him now, just copy a copy of the statement of other countries and send it out!"
After speaking, the Prime Minister left.
On May 25, 1870, the European powers Austria, Russia, Britain and France successively recognized the legitimacy of the establishment of the Kingdom of East Africa, and then other European countries followed suit. Overnight, most Europeans knew about the birth of a new nation.
And Ernst chose the day of May 25th to announce the establishment of the Kingdom of East Africa in Europe. Talk to the new French government.
At the same time, on May 25, the Irish Autonomy Movement broke out in the United Kingdom on this day, which can divert the attention of the British.
However, the result was good. Britain and France did not embarrass the new country of the Kingdom of East Africa. Now, except for a few small countries in Europe, most of them recognize the existence of the Kingdom of East Africa.
In some small countries, only the Vatican has a little influence. The Pope is very dissatisfied with Constantine's behavior. He made such a big noise in Europe, and the church didn't know anything. How did his coronation ceremony be completed? Southern Germany, where the Princely Kingdom of Hexingen is located, is a Catholic area.
The most hateful thing is that this East African kingdom has sent envoys to many countries, including Italy, but none of them came to Rome (Papal State).
(end of this chapter)