African Entrepreneurship Records 2

Chapter 1206 "Brotherly Love"

1915 12 Month 5 Day.

Port of Benguela.

With the development of the economy and the stimulation of the European War, the economy of the entire west coast region of East Africa took advantage of this historical opportunity to move to a higher level.

In the new district of Falta in Benguela, trains and cars are loading and unloading goods and containers from inland or local areas.

At 8 p.m., dock worker Anton and his coworkers finally finished loading the last container. After wiping the sweat off his face with a towel, Anton sat on the cement floor and said to Mars, "This year's work is much more than last year. I don't know how long the war in Europe will last."

Mars took a sip of herbal tea from his thick cup and said, "The longer the fight, the better. Although it's not fair to say this, without the European war, there wouldn't be so many trade orders now."

"I don't care how Europeans are doing now. It's good enough for us to live a good life. After all, the European powers are not good people. If they decline, it will be a good thing for the whole world."

People all over the world have suffered from Europe for a long time. Of course, it is definitely not the turn of East Africans to say such things. After all, East Africa is just one of the world's great powers and is also one of the persecutors.

Looking at the history of East Africa, it is entirely a path to the rise of an imperialist country. It is a country built on the blood, sweat, and corpses of tens of millions of blacks, brown people, and some yellow and white people.

The only countries in Europe and East Africa that have had dirty dealings are Britain and Portugal. But if we really discuss who is the victim and who is the beneficiary in the end, it is obvious that East Africa is definitely not the one.

Most European countries may look down on East Africa in their hearts, but the relationship between them and East Africa at the government level is good. Even Britain and Portugal have "put aside their past grudges" and "reconciled" with East Africa in recent years.

Needless to say, as for the UK, after the reconciliation between Britain and East Africa, the two countries have reached a temporary compromise at the official level. As for the relationship between Portugal and East Africa, the Portuguese government has been forced to make new choices as East Africa's national strength has increased.

Obviously, the Portuguese's disgust and hatred for East Africa could not be obvious, but the Portuguese government had to be "pragmatic". In 1902, the new Portuguese government had begun to change its tone.

No longer promoting "East African hatred theory", "East African threat theory" and other remarks that are not conducive to the "friendly" relations between the two countries. After all, the new Portuguese government is very clear about its own positioning.

The previous Portuguese government came to power by taking advantage of the people's anti-East African sentiment after the defeat in the South African War. However, after a long period of accumulation of social contradictions, the East African hatred theory can no longer satisfy the people's emotional catharsis.

The East African card obviously can no longer be an excuse for the government to divert conflicts, and the Portuguese government is well aware that continuing to touch upon East Africa will not only fail to solve the problem, but will further offend East Africa.

After entering the 20th century, East Africa has firmly established its position as a member of world imperialism, while Portugal has experienced a comprehensive and complete decline.

The Portuguese government will not further offend East Africa because of public sentiment. After all, with the rise of the East African Atlantic Fleet, it is really possible that East African warships will enter Lisbon.

Therefore, after the new Portuguese government came to power, it naturally chose to "reconcile" with East Africa. When East Africa was initially colonizing Africa and had no direct contact with Portugal, the relationship between the two sides was actually quite good, so it was justified for the two countries to "reconcile".

Even a country like Portugal, which had an "irreconcilable" feud with East Africa, was able to "reconcile". The relations between other European countries and East Africa are generally very good, and there are even countries with "deep brotherly love" such as Germany and the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

So Anton said, "You are a little extreme, Mars. Although the European war has indeed brought huge benefits to East Africa, the war among European countries cannot continue forever, so this period of economic development dividends will eventually end with the end of the European war." "In my opinion, East Africa's development ultimately depends on its own efforts and progress, not the implementation of other countries. As long as we surpass Europe in industry and economy, even if they really recover, it will not have much impact on us."

Mars said, "You are right. Self-development is the hard truth. But what I said is also correct. The industrial countries in Europe and America are our competitors. If our competitors fall, it will definitely not be a bad thing for us. So if the war in Europe continues, it will definitely be more beneficial than harmful to us. However, this is indeed just an ideal state."

"Look at our city of Benguela. Its development over the years has been different every year. This is closely related to the government's grasp of opportunities."

"The development of the west coast is one thing, and trade with South America and Europe and the United States has stimulated the rapid rise of west coast cities such as Benguela. The outbreak of the European war is a huge historical opportunity for Benguela today."

"Our workload this year alone is probably greater than the previous two or three years combined. A large number of orders have been sent in from Europe and the United States. Factories are working day and night, and railways are running day and night, and we are able to get more wages."

The outbreak of the European war brought visible changes to the city of Benguela, which was also the main reason why Mars supported the continuation of the European war.

After all, the entire East Africa is too far away from Mars, but the development of Benguela City is closely related to Mars.

He went on to say: “Back then, our Falta New District really developed from nothing to its current size.”

"People who haven't experienced it would be hard to imagine that six years ago this was just a large construction site, but now it has developed into a new district that is on par with the old city. The port, dock, roads and buildings are all in good condition. Except for the relatively monotonous environment, there is almost no disadvantage to the new district compared with the old city."

Anton also agreed with this. He said, "That's true. Back then, you and I were just two young people from the countryside of Salzburg, but now we have become serious city dwellers."

"I still remember that when we first arrived in Benguela, we were quite excited. After all, Benguela was one of the more famous cities in the empire at that time."

Benguela is still well-known in East Africa. Although Anton and Mars were born in rural areas in the interior of East Africa, Benguela is well-known in Angola because it was once an important stronghold of the Portuguese in Angola.

Of course, the most famous one is the Benguela Current, which has the same name as the city of Benguela. The Benguela Current is an important content in the East African geography textbooks, so many East Africans can remember the term Benguela Current if they pay attention in class or read the books more often.

There is no doubt that the Benguela Current is an important ocean current. Because it is located on the west coast of East Africa, it will naturally be mentioned by East African teachers and is often compared with the Peru Current.

Add to that the geographical term Benguela Railway, which is the main railway artery of East Africa and an important western branch of the Central Railway, and the frequency of the word Benguela appearing in East Africa cannot be too low.

The city of Benguela has always occupied an important position in the history of East Africa. It is also one of the provinces of East Africa and its capital. Therefore, the economic foundation of Benguela cannot be too poor, and its popularity cannot be too low.

This was also the main reason why Anton was so excited when his job was assigned to Benguela. It was a well-known city and its economic situation was obviously not bad.

Although the conditions in Salzburg Province, the hometown of Anton and Mars, are much better than those in Benguela Province, and Mbeya, the capital of Salzburg Province, is one of the ten most famous cities in East Africa, these have little to do with Anton and Mars in the rural area of ​​Salzburg.

(End of this chapter)