African Entrepreneurship Records 2

Chapter 1098 Shipbuilding Industry Impact

1911 4 Month 14 Day.

Rhine City.

Because of the agreement reached with the United Kingdom, the industrial development plan originally formulated by the East African government was greatly affected, especially the shipbuilding industry and related industries were the most affected.

The proportion of naval ships in the total ships of each country in the world is not small. Take the UK for example. The total tonnage of British civilian ships is close to 20 million tons, while the total tonnage of the navy is as high as 2 million tons. The total tonnage of naval ships is about one-tenth of that of civilian ships.

This is even more true for other countries. For example, the total tonnage of German civilian ships is only a few million tons, while the total tonnage of the German navy is close to one million tons. The ratio is higher than that of the United Kingdom. The ratios of other powerful countries, such as the United States, France, East Africa and Japan are similar.

It can be said that the United Kingdom has monopolized most of the world's shipping market. The total tonnage of civilian ships in the United Kingdom alone is greater than that of all other countries combined, accounting for more than 50% of world shipping.

Therefore, based on the most advanced civilian shipbuilding, the British Navy's total tonnage accounts for such a high proportion, which is only higher than that of other major military powers.

Take East Africa for example. In 1910, the total tonnage of East African civilian ships was close to million tons, but the actual tonnage was around million tons. The total tonnage of the navy was tons. Among the world powers, the ratio of military and civilian ships was close to that of Britain, reaching almost one-ninth.

The main reason for this result is not that East Africa's civilian shipbuilding industry is strong, but that the size of East Africa's navy is relatively weak compared to other military powers.

Ernst said: "Now our navy's original development plan is restricted by the Treaty of East-British Reconciliation, and military orders have been greatly reduced. In addition, due to the impact of the treaty just signed, some naval shipyards have temporarily stopped working. Our shipbuilding industry has also been greatly affected. In order to offset the negative impact on the shipbuilding industry, it is necessary to adjust policies and construction plans in a timely manner to promote the healthy development of our shipbuilding industry."

Influenced by the recent signing of the East-Anglo Settlement Treaty, East Africa must do something to show off. After all, the British government is not stupid. East Africa can be said to have taken a big advantage in the East-Anglo Settlement Treaty. If the East African navy does not stop the arms race as required by the UK, wouldn’t that be bullying the honest people? Although the UK is not an “honest person”.

Krishn, director of the East African Shipbuilding Industry Bureau, said: "Affected by the treaty, my country's shipbuilding industry has been greatly affected. According to the original order requirements, my country's military shipbuilding industry should have accounted for at least 18% of all annual ship orders. According to the current construction speed and orders, it can only be close to 10%, and a gap of 7% to 8% has appeared out of thin air. According to the original long-term construction plan of the Chinese Navy, the total construction volume has been reduced by more than 100,000 tons."

The original initial long-term plan of the East African Navy was directly targeted at the United States, Germany and France, that is, the total tonnage of naval ships reached at least 800,000 tons. Now it has directly become 650,000 tons, a decrease of nearly 150,000 tons.

Moreover, 800,000 tons was just a floating target at the beginning. After all, the total naval capacity of the United States, Germany and France was surging. According to the East African Navy, the size of the East African Navy should reach at least one million tons before the end of the Third Five-Year Plan.

Therefore, the impact of the East African-British Reconciliation Treaty on the East African naval ship construction plan is not only in the present but also in the future.

Naval orders have always occupied an important position in the East African shipbuilding industry. It can be said that the entire East African shipbuilding industry has been greatly affected by the content of the treaty.

Ernst said: "Now that the overall situation has been determined, we must now abide by the contents of the Treaty of East and England. However, the impact on the shipbuilding industry may not be as great as we imagined. After all, our original naval development plan was not radical, and it can be avoided by extending the construction period and rescheduling the construction time."

"The navy's development plan is limited, which frees up a lot of funds and personnel. We should allocate these idle funds and personnel to the civilian shipbuilding industry or the research and development of special ships."

Although East Africa formulated a huge naval development plan before the Second Five-Year Plan, whether this plan is radical depends on the reference object. If compared with the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Spain, or Russia, East Africa’s naval development plan is certainly extraordinary, but compared with the five countries of Britain, the United States, Germany, France, and Japan, it can be said that East Africa’s original naval development plan is not radical.

After all, Ernst had no intention of participating in the naval competition from the beginning, or he had no intention of participating in the naval competition with all his strength. Because in Ernst's view, East Africa currently does not have the conditions to challenge superpowers such as Britain and the United States. Even if East Africa goes at full speed, it is impossible to win the naval competition.

Therefore, Ernst's goal when formulating the East African Naval Development Plan was to build a powerful regional navy with deterrence. East Africa has actually achieved this goal a long time ago. Even after the 1980s, East Africa has never fallen out of the top ten naval powers in the world.

Therefore, the so-called construction of a world-class navy when East Africa was negotiating with Britain was simply a non-existent thing. The so-called world-class navy has no reference value for East Africa, which is already a naval power.

For example, is East Africa considered a world-class naval power now? Of course it is. After all, the East African Navy is ranked sixth in the world, and it has military forces in the Indian Ocean, the Pacific Ocean and the South Atlantic.

Therefore, the "world-class naval power" mentioned during the East African negotiations was essentially a form of "blackmail" against Britain. Of course, the premise is that Britain believes that East Africa has such a development goal.

In fact, Britain did not dare to gamble. After all, since the Second Five-Year Plan, a dreadnought has been launched in East Africa almost every year, and a large number of related ships have been built at the same time. Any country that sees the East African Navy's posture can only choose to believe it.

Therefore, Britain's choice to reconcile with East Africa was a complete surprise for the East African government, or something that Ernst himself had not expected.

From the very beginning, East Africa used the "non-existent naval plan" to peacefully obtain the bargaining chips it wanted from Britain, which the British government could never have imagined.

Now, in compliance with the East-British Reconciliation Treaty, East Africa can spare the energy and funds that should have been used for military competition to develop the economy and technological research and development.

This includes the development of the future main naval ship, that is, the aircraft carrier, which Ernst had long been dreaming of.

At present, the conditions for East Africa to independently develop aircraft carriers are ripe. East Africa has made great progress in the field of aircraft manufacturing and has become the world's leading aircraft manufacturing country. The relevant accumulation of ship technology is also relatively sufficient.

The earliest aircraft carrier in the past was born during the First World War. In fact, people in Britain, France and other countries had proposed related concepts before that. In 1912, the British Navy converted cruisers and ferries to obtain warships that could carry aircraft. This ship, called a "seaplane carrier", was the prototype of an aircraft carrier.

Therefore, Ernst said: "Based on the aircraft manufacturing and shipbuilding industries, my country's original aircraft carrier research and development projects should also take advantage of this opportunity to speed up, and it is best to complete the construction plan of my country's first aircraft carrier before the Third Five-Year Plan, and invest the funds originally used to participate in the naval competition into improving naval technology and the quality of the shipbuilding industry."

"Except for some special national projects, my country's shipbuilding industry itself also has a lot of problems, especially the system construction is far behind that of top shipbuilding powers such as the United Kingdom, which makes the cost of my country's shipbuilding industry high. While all countries are frantically engaged in naval competition, it is also the time for my country to vigorously develop its shipbuilding industry system."

The fundamental reason why Britain can maintain its position as the world's leading shipbuilding country is its strong experience and technological accumulation, which makes Britain's shipbuilding costs much lower than those of other countries. Now that Britain is distracted by Germany and other countries, Ernst believes that this is a good time for the East African shipbuilding industry, especially the civilian shipbuilding industry, to develop vigorously.

(End of this chapter)