African Entrepreneurship Records 2

Chapter 1236 Odessa

In other words, East Africa and the United States are being held back by each other. With the addition of East Africa as a potential rival, the United States cannot perfectly replicate the process and outcome of the previous life where the fisherman benefits from the conflict between the two. However, both East Africa and the United States have reaped the benefits.

Of course, other non-belligerent countries also gained a lot, such as the Far Eastern Empire and Japan, as well as the Ottoman Empire which had not yet participated in the war, and the neutral country the Netherlands.

……

1916 October.

Port of Odessa.

A merchant ship flying the Greek flag slowly entered Russia's main port on the Black Sea.

Since the end of the 19th century, with the completion of railways to Kiev and Lviv, the throughput of the Port of Odessa has expanded, and Odessa has become the second largest port in Russia after St. Petersburg.

At the same time, Odessa's economic strength has long been ranked among the top four Russian cities, on par with St. Petersburg, Moscow and Warsaw.

With the entry of Austria-Hungary and Bulgaria into the Moldova region, Russia's pressure in the south suddenly increased, so starting last month, Russia increased its orders to East Africa.

Odessa and Moldova are closely connected. In the past, Odessa was one of the three states bordering Ukraine and Moldova, and the area bordering Odessa and Moldova is the largest.

"It seems that the Austro-Hungarian and Bulgarian coalition forces have put tremendous pressure on Russia, otherwise the Russians would not be so eager to place additional orders." The captain of the Rolingen sighed as he looked at the busy port of Odessa.

During the war, the entire Odessa became an important hub for trade between East Africa and Russia, so starting in 1914, thousands of ships competed in the port of Odessa.

By July 1916, the total number of merchant ships in the Port of Odessa had once again reached a new high. The last time Rollingen came to Odessa was in May, but the density of ships in the Port of Odessa was now estimated to be more than double that of May.

Long queues began to form on the waterways, and Russian port managers were busy and panic-stricken. Every day, the ports could be blocked due to some mistakes in details.

"Captain, Russia has suffered a great loss this time. Germany cannot make any breakthroughs on the Western Front, so the pressure is put on the Eastern Front. The combat effectiveness of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and Bulgaria is also considerable. I heard that Russia is losing territory every day. The situation is not optimistic." said the first mate Carola.

However, Rolingen expressed a different view. He said: "The Russian army is indeed at a disadvantage now, but these are just minor fights for Russia. After all, Russia's territory is so large. Let's wait and see when the Allied forces enter Russia. Now the Allied forces have only touched the edge of Ukraine. It is still a long way to go to defeat Russia!"

Carola: "That's true. I really envy the Russians. If our Greek territory was as large as this, we wouldn't be so timid in the Balkan Peninsula."

Rolingen: "Apart from the Ottoman Empire, I can hardly think of a direction for Greece to expand. However, the Ottoman Empire is also a powerful country. Although the Ottoman Empire is now corrupt, a lean camel is bigger than a horse. Unless the countries on the Balkan Peninsula unite as they once did, there is no hope at all."

"But this is just wishful thinking. Last time, we and Serbia offended Bulgaria badly. Now Serbia has been destroyed. It is impossible for the countries in the Balkan Peninsula to unite again."

Carola shook his head and said, "It's good this way. After all, Serbia and Bulgaria are not on the same page with us. They both want to dominate the Balkan Peninsula. They can only be a threat to the kingdom. If Greece wants to rise, it still has to rely on itself."

"Greece's economy has improved noticeably in the past two years, and its industry has also developed rapidly. All of this is the result of the war. When other European countries are defeated, our chance will come."

The Greeks also have their own dreams of becoming a great power, especially the Eastern Roman Empire. After Greece gained independence in the 19th century, it considered itself the successor of the Eastern Roman Empire and tried many times to turn Constantinople into its capital again, even resorting to force. It can be said that Greece is an active participant in at least the disputes on the Balkan Peninsula. Of course, Ernst agrees with the Greeks. Among the successors of the Eastern Roman Empire, only Greece has the most legitimate roots. After all, the Eastern Roman Empire was basically Hellenized in the late period. Relatively speaking, the crown obtained by Russia through marriage always seems unconvincing, and the Ottoman Empire and later Turkey's self-identification as the successor of the Eastern Roman Empire is even more ridiculous.

If the Eastern Roman ancestors were to be resurrected, they would probably prefer to choose the Greeks as their descendants, after all, they are closer in race, religion, culture and customs.

In fact, the Greeks were descendants of Eastern Romans who did not change their traditions after being ruled by the Ottomans. As for the Ottomans, they are descendants of enemies, and as for the Russians, they are descendants of barbarians. Don't think that you can become the emperor of the Eastern Roman Empire by marrying an Eastern Roman princess, unless the Russians can really occupy Constantinople and restore the Eastern Roman territory.

But even so, the Russian Tsar becoming the Eastern Roman Emperor and the Russians becoming Romans are two different concepts. After all, there were cases of barbarians becoming emperors in the Roman era, and there were even black emperors. Of course, the black emperor of Rome was probably an emperor with black blood like Pushkin, and not a real black person.

This is similar to Obama in his previous life. Apart from being a little darker, he only has some blood connection with the black people in his hometown in Kenya. After all, Obama is essentially a mixed-race person.

To get back to the point, the Greek dream of becoming a great power is nothing but a fantasy. After all, they cannot even escape the control of the great powers economically.

Take the current Greek economy for example. The more important reason for its recovery is that it is standing at the forefront of the trend. Greece's current status as a neutral country enables it to play the role of a middleman like the Netherlands.

Currently, many ships in East Africa are registered under the name of Greece and thus run European trade routes. Of course, this is not the case with the Loringen. It is a real Greek merchant ship.

However, the Rolingen does serve as a middleman in the current trade between East Africa and Russia, responsible for transporting goods from East Africa to Russia and thus earning some freight.

East Africa is very welcoming to such ships from third countries. After all, domestic ships also have to bear huge risks when engaging in European trade.

Currently, several large state-owned trading companies in East Africa are actively exploring trade routes between Asia, Africa and Latin America in order to transform East Africa's past dependence on European trade. The reason for this result lies in the mutual restraint between the Allied Powers and the Central Powers.

The good news is that there are many countries willing to act as middlemen, such as the Netherlands, Italy, Portugal, Greece, the Ottoman Empire, etc., and even some merchant ships from France and Britain.

Amid the mixed bag of companies, trade between East Africa and Europe was not greatly affected. After all, industrial products and some strategic materials produced in East Africa were indispensable to both major camps.

In contrast, East Africa began to focus on trade with South America, West Africa, the Indian Ocean coast, and the Far East.

Although the European market is attractive, it is not something that East Africa can grasp now. Only neutral markets such as Asia, Africa and Latin America can support the survival of East African industry after the war.

After all, in Europe alone, more than half of the countries are powerful, including Britain, France, Germany, Russia, Austria and Spain, which account for six of the world's nine powerful countries. There are too many wolves and too little meat, which is also the root cause of why World War I broke out in Europe.

The three powers outside the "center of civilization" such as the United States, East Africa, and Japan have much more room to maneuver. In addition to the colonies in the surrounding areas, there is also considerable room for expansion.

If you want to be like Germany and Austria-Hungary, you can only gamble on your national destiny. Russia has good conditions, but its internal social structure prevents it from fully realizing its potential.

In addition, there are many small countries in Europe with good economic and industrial strength, but their comprehensive national strength does not meet the standards of great powers, such as the Netherlands, Belgium, the Kingdom of Italy, etc.

(End of this chapter)