African Entrepreneurship Records 2

Chapter 1033 The End of the First Five-Year Plan

To be precise, the current world situation is dominated by the top seven countries, namely Britain, France, the United States, Germany, Austria-Hungary, Russia and East Africa. As for Japan and Spain, although they are also among the great powers, Japan only has a greater influence on North Korea. Before the end of the Russo-Japanese War, it could not be said to have complete control over North Korea.

After the Spanish-American War, Spain had basically no presence. Although many countries in America were originally Spanish colonies, they are now basically integrated with Britain, the United States, and France.

In this diversified world pattern, the North Korean model in East Africa can naturally work. Moreover, there is an essential difference between East Africa and previous North Korea. That is, East Africa is large in size, so even if it does not participate in international cooperation, it will not be much worse. What's more, East Africa is also an important part of world trade.

……

On October 1905, 10, the year-long Russo-Japanese War finally came to an end, and the world pattern also underwent major changes.

Through this war, Russia became the biggest loser. Russia's sphere of influence in the Far East shrank significantly. Compared with the pre-war period, the Russian Navy lost almost half of its assets. The Baltic Fleet and the Far Eastern Fleet were basically wiped out, which means that at that time, the Russian Navy only had the Black Sea Fleet. As for rebuilding the Russian Navy, it is very difficult for Russia at present. At the same time, Russia has become the object of ridicule by other countries in the world. The humiliation caused to Russia by the Japan-Russia War is even stronger than that caused by the Crimean War. The internal contradictions of Russian society have intensified again...

In short, the Russo-Japanese War had such an impact on Russia that it can be said to have shaken the foundation of the Tsarist government's rule.

On the other hand, although Japan won the war, it was not easy, especially because its military expenditure was too huge and the Tsarist Russian government refused to pay compensation to the Japanese government, which would have a serious negative impact on Japan's economy in the next few years.

Of course, the good thing is that through this war, Japan formally clarified its status as a great power and became one of the leaders of the world order, especially its political influence in the Far East increased.

The Russo-Japanese War also had a great impact on East Africa, because before the war, most people in East Africa were optimistic about Russia.

"The end of the Russo-Japanese War led to the reconstruction of order in the Far East. Japan gained enormous political benefits, but we also expected that Russia would achieve such a result. This is the consequence of disregarding intelligence work and having an arrogant attitude. We must also take this as a warning and not underestimate other countries just because of the rapid economic and industrial development during the First Five-Year Plan." said Merke, Chief of Staff of the Wehrmacht.

Influenced by Ernst, the East African senior officials had a relatively objective analysis of the development of the Russo-Japanese War. In addition, they monitored the entire process of the Russo-Japanese War, so the Russians' disastrous defeat was completely understandable to the East African senior government.

Ernst also said at the right time: "During the First Five-Year Plan, our achievements are far from enough to make us too complacent. Although our strength is definitely in the upper-middle level among the great powers, if we want to truly reshape the world order, our industrialization level must at least reach the average level of Western European countries."

"In the Russo-Japanese War, Russia's defeat can actually be seen as the success of Japanese industry. Although Japan's industrial growth rate is not as fast as ours, it is second to none in the entire Pacific region. Russia underestimated Japan's development speed and was not well prepared before the war, so it fell flat on its face."

"But Japan's development also tells us that all regions of the world are developing now, not just Europe, America and East Africa. Some countries in South America, Argentina, Chile, Brazil, the Ottoman Empire in the Middle East, and many countries in the Far East are all accelerating their development."

"So during the Second Five-Year Plan, in order to cope with the more complex international situation, the defense industry will be the focus of our country's development. At the same time, our country's industrial structure problems are also very serious, and the development of light industry is seriously unbalanced. Therefore, during the Second Five-Year Plan, the defense industry and light industry will be the focus of our country's development."

With the end of the Russo-Japanese War, the East Africa First Five-Year Plan is also coming to an end. Currently, the industrial development plan formulated in the East Africa First Five-Year Plan has been completed.

During the First Five-Year Plan, by the end of the Russo-Japanese War, East Africa's steel production was over 5 million tons, close to 6 million tons, exceeding the target. The railway mileage reached 150,300 kilometers, and the national railway basically covered the main areas, successfully completing the expected task.

In 1904, the annual production of automobiles reached an astonishing one million units, and the country ranked first in the world in terms of automobile ownership. At the same time, the production scale of tractors, trucks, etc. was also ranked first in the world, and was far ahead of other countries.

At the same time, the United States, the world's second largest automobile producer, produced only more than 1905 vehicles a year in , and Europe could not even compare with the United States.

The main reason why East Africa's automobile production is so terrifying is its first-mover advantage and assembly line production. Of course, in order not to disrupt the normal development of the international automobile industry, most of East Africa's automobiles are consumed by the military and the country itself, and only coastal automobile factories compete with their European and American counterparts.

In fact, judging from the automobile production alone, East Africa and the rest of the world are no longer in the same world. This is the main reason why East Africa has to hide its own business. When the American automobile industry develops, it will be time for East Africa to launch a comprehensive bloodbath on the global automobile market.

During the First Five-Year Plan, East Africa consolidated its position as the world's largest electricity producer, and its exports of power equipment continued to rank first in the world. This is also East Africa's most profitable industry in the international market, creating a large amount of tax revenue for the East African government.

Similarly, due to the development of the automobile industry, East Africa's oil industry has naturally risen to the top in the world. In the early 1990s, East Africa was still below the United States, but in the mid-to-late 1990s, East Africa surpassed the United States. By the time the First Five-Year Plan was completed, East Africa had completely secured its position as the world's number one, and the amount of imported oil alone far exceeded the total of other countries.

In addition to these key industries, East Africa's heavy industry sector has developed rapidly during the First Five-Year Plan. Various heavy industrial sectors are not the best in the world, but they are at the forefront or not lagging behind other countries.

Of course, East Africa is basically at the forefront of the world in emerging industrial sectors, except for the chemical industry. Therefore, as time goes by, East Africa's industrial advantages will become greater and greater in the future. When many traditional industries are completely replaced by emerging industries, even without a five-year plan, East Africa is confident that it will become the world's number one industrial power in the next four or five decades.

In comparison, East Africa's light industrial production has not achieved much, and it can even be said that it is far behind European and American countries. Except for the cotton textile industry and food processing industry, the per capita share of most light industrial products is far below the average level of the great powers.

Under such circumstances, the Second Five-Year Plan for East Africa must give priority to the development of light industry and realize the industrialized production of most light industrial products.

It is not difficult for East African governments to develop light industry. After all, the technical threshold of light industry is not as high as that of heavy industry. After the heavy industry system in East Africa matures, the development of light industry will be a natural thing.

At the same time, the reason why East Africa's heavy industry has a huge advantage over light industry is not due to the First Five-Year Plan. In the more than 30 years before the First Five-Year Plan, East Africa followed Germany's development path, driving its own industrial development by giving priority to the development of heavy industry.

After the heavy industry took shape, East Africa set its sights on emerging industries such as electricity, internal combustion engines, and oil. This has prevented East Africa's industrial investment from tilting towards light industry.

So in a sense, the development of light industry in East Africa can be said to be nearly thirty years behind that of heavy industry, which is also the main reason why light industry in East Africa has not developed yet.

(End of this chapter)