African Entrepreneurship Records

 Chapter 1022 The Kingdom of South Germany

To be honest, it is not easy for East Africa to not forget to provide some soup to Lanfang's overseas provinces during the First Five-Year Plan. After all, the local development level is not high yet, and being able to help overseas territories to a certain extent is considered to be a belt-tightening. .

Not to mention Lanfang Overseas Province, it is the two provinces on the island of Madagascar closest to East Africa. Mahajanga and Toliara Provinces are currently relatively low-developed, and their population is even less than that of Lanfang Overseas Province, which is the closest province to the East African mainland. It's relatively close, otherwise it would have become a French dish.

…

Rhine Palace.

"Your Highness, the Kingdom of South Germany seeks help from our country. This is a letter from King Leopold to you!"

After the Kingdom of South Germany, the original Chadian colony of Sigmaringen, informally established the Rhine Empire in the East, the royal family of Sigmaringen believed that the Chadian colony also had the basis to be upgraded to an independent country, so in 1901, with the Shari River Basin and Lake Chad The Chadian colony of Sigmaringen, with the river basin as its core, was officially upgraded to the Kingdom of South Germany.

As for the name of the Kingdom of South Germany, it is quite appropriate. After East Africa has chosen the Rhine Empire as the name of the country, one of the alternatives for the new East African citizens at this level was chosen by the Sigmaringen royal family. The Chad region is located in the southern hemisphere. In the Sigmaringen royal family It seems that the Kingdom of South Germany is a perfect choice as its second kingdom (the first is Romania).

The monarch of the Kingdom of South Germany was formerly Prince Leopold of Sigmaringen, now Leopold I.

As of 1900, the population of the entire Kingdom of South Germany had exceeded 1.3 million, and most of the residents were Chinese immigrants. They occupied an area of ​​approximately 1.4 million square kilometers with Lake Chad as the core.

It's just that most of the land is the desert area of ​​Chad and western Sudan in the previous life, and currently has little practical value.

According to climate classification, the territory of the Kingdom of South Germany can currently be divided into three parts: the desert zone in the north, the Sahel zone in the middle, and the Sudan grassland zone in the south. Lake Chad is located in the Sahel zone. Overall, they are relatively arid. .

Ernst opened the letter and took a quick look. It turned out that Leopold was preparing to use force in the west to expand the territory of the Kingdom of South Germany, so he was now seeking help from East Africa to provide a batch of weapons and ammunition support.

"The South German Kingdom seeks support from us in terms of war supplies such as rifles and ammunition as they plan to expand westward along the Yobe River basin in Komadugou."

The Yobe River in Komadugou is the second largest river flowing into Lake Chad. The largest river is the Shari River originating in East Africa in the south.

The Shari River can be called the mother river of the Kingdom of South Germany. More than 70% of the water in Lake Chad comes from the Shari River.

The Shari River Basin and the surrounding area of ​​Lake Chad are also the areas with the most concentrated population in the Kingdom of South Germany, mainly growing cotton and cereals.

Although the Shari River is good, it is not completely controlled by the South German Kingdom because the upper reaches are East African territory.

According to the brotherly relationship between East Africa and the South German Kingdom, it is naturally impossible for East Africa to cut off the Shali River. However, as a European, Leopold naturally understood the fragility of his country's ecology, so for the future development of the South German Kingdom, he expanded to the west. This is the current national policy of the Kingdom of South Germany, so expansion along the Yobe River Basin in Komadugu became the first step in Leopold's ambition.

"Leopold probably not only wanted to obtain more land and water sources, we all know that the Kingdom of South Germany is very eager to get out to the sea, so finally reaching the sea is Leopold's real purpose." Ernst told his subordinates .

Sweet: "Then this road is probably not easy to walk. There are a lot of indigenous kingdoms in the west of the Kingdom of South Germany, and the level of civilization is not low. The coast is basically the sphere of influence of Germany and the British. If you want to achieve this goal, unless We or Germany are fully supportive.”

On the one hand, in West Africa, especially the Nigerian region in the west of the South German Kingdom, the black forces here are very different from the original East African natives. The level of civilization is more than one level higher. Because of its geographical location, it has been deeply influenced by the civilization of the Ottoman Empire. On the other hand, there was British intervention behind these indigenous countries, so the expansion of the South German Kingdom into the Yobe River Basin of Komadugu was bound to cause friction with the British.

Merk: "These are nothing to worry about. The population and level of civilization of the South German Kingdom are far beyond those of the tribes or kingdoms in Nigeria. As for the British, as long as they do not threaten the so-called British protectorate of Southern Nigeria, at this stage It was impossible for the British to directly intervene in the expansion of the South German Kingdom."

The Southern Nigeria Protectorate is the coastal area of ​​Nigeria controlled by the British. Correspondingly, there is the British Northern Nigeria Protectorate in Northern Nigeria. However, Northern Nigeria protects the puppet regime supported by the British, unlike the Southern Nigeria Protectorate. That way it was ruled directly by the British.

Ernst also agreed with this view: "When it does not touch the core interests of the British, the expansion activities of the South German Kingdom will hardly be forcibly blocked by the British, let alone the indigenous forces who are not the British protectorate."

Even though the British established the so-called Protectorate of Southern Nigeria and the Protectorate of Northern Nigeria, most of the areas bordering the Kingdom of South Germany were dominated by independent armed forces native to West Africa.

Therefore, in the view of the East African government, Leopold's Western Expedition is feasible. The only thing that can hinder the South German Kingdom is the local indigenous forces. Although these indigenous forces are much more developed than the East African indigenous forces, they are facing the South German Kingdom. The kingdom is also limited.

East Africa is not worried about the South German Kingdom becoming bigger. Taking the current territory of the South German Kingdom as an example, it looks like a big country with an area of ​​one million.

However, the quality of the land is too poor and the agricultural foundation is very weak. Even if the Shali River and Lake Chad basins are fully developed, the number of people that can be fed will ultimately be limited.

If you want to change this outcome, you will have to annex the entire Nigeria region, which will not only provide you with a large amount of high-quality farmland, mineral resources and access to the sea.

But this situation is basically impossible to happen. First of all, Nigeria has a very large population. As the most populous country in Africa in its previous life, even at the beginning of the 20th century, Nigeria’s population base could not be too small. According to estimates by the East African government, the entire population The population of Nigeria is at least more than 10 million, or even more than 20 million, which cannot be smaller than the Abyssinian Empire or Egypt.

After all, the level of civilization here is relatively high, there is a lot of arable land, and it is located near the Gulf of Guinea, so it has been in contact with Europeans for a relatively long time.

This also means that the Nigerian indigenous people have relatively frequent trade exchanges with Europe. They have hot weapons in their hands. Although they are not advanced, at least they are not like the East African indigenous people who use cold weapons to fight East African soldiers.

Therefore, the South German Kingdom's westward expedition was destined to not be too smooth, at least not as smooth as in East Africa in the past, especially after the British had insight into this emerging force that could threaten their Nigerian colony.

After all, at least the losses suffered by the British in East Africa will be difficult to repeat in West Africa. The British are likely to arm the indigenous forces in northwest Nigeria to consume the South German Kingdom and avoid the birth of a monster similar to East Africa in West Africa. .

Moreover, the religious power in Nigeria cannot be ignored. Although Nigeria is divided, these green religious countries are likely to unite to fight against the invader of the South German Kingdom.

The British only engaged in colonization and also won over the local sultans and emirs, while the South German Kingdom was purely for land and water sources, which was extremely threatening to their rule.

Due to various factors, the East African government believes that it is easy for the South German Kingdom to expand its territory, but it is almost impossible to annex the entire Nigeria.

(End of chapter)