African Entrepreneurship Records 2

Chapter 1341 It’s not a big deal
1919 2 Month 12 Day.

It was a fairly ordinary morning, but in European capitals such as London, Paris and Berlin, a newspaper article from overseas was beginning to spread across Europe and beyond.

Although the fighting on the front lines was still fierce with tens of millions of troops fighting on the front lines, many areas of the belligerent countries, especially the capitals of the countries in the rear, were relatively safe overall. Except for Paris which was closer to the front lines, London, Berlin and Vienna were hardly affected by the war.

London.

"Green, what's the news today?" London citizen Belton came to the London newsstand as usual to order the new day's newspaper.

The newsstand owner, Green, held up a newspaper and said, "Mr. Belton, would you like a copy of today's Rhine Newspaper? It should contain some of the most important news today."

"Rheinische Presse?" Belton asked, somewhat puzzled. "Is this a German newspaper?"

It is no wonder that Belton thought so. The word Rhine is generally associated with Germany. Although a Rhine Empire was born in Africa at the beginning of this century, Germany also has the Rhine River and the Rhine region.

Green shook his head and said in denial: "Of course not. If it was a German newspaper, I'm afraid the police would have trouble with me. After all, Germany is our enemy now. I dare not be involved in the crime of illegal propaganda."

"As for the Rhine News Agency, you should actually know that it is the official newspaper of East Africa. However, it has a small circulation in Europe and has little influence, so it's normal that you haven't heard of it before."

After finding out that the newspaper came from East Africa, Belton seemed to have thought of something. His breathing became a little rapid and he said, "Is East Africa planning to join the Allies?"

It is no wonder that Belton thought so. Today's wars in Europe can almost be judged by German and non-German. The Allies are either German countries or countries where Germans have a profound influence, and East Africa is the real world's largest German country.

Now that the war has reached this point and even the United States has been involved in the war for a long time, East Africa's current fate is understandable. As the war in Europe has developed to this day, basically all countries have played all their cards, and it is now East Africa's turn to take action.

Green was shocked by Belton's idea. He said to Belton, "That's not the case, Mr. Belton. Although your idea is understandable, today's news is determined to overturn your past cognition. We should not think too badly of East Africa."

Because of the British government's long-term negative propaganda, East Africa has never been seen as a good person in the eyes of the British, so there are many people in the UK who are hostile to East Africa.

Green pointed to the headline of the Rheinische Herald newspaper and said: "East African officials have released the latest news. They call for an end to this damn war. This is the first good news we have heard this year."

Belton said with some disdain: "East Africans are calling for an end to the war! This is simply an April Fool's joke. It has been five years since the war broke out, and the East African government has been playing deaf and dumb before."

"Today, we have become sworn enemies with the Allies. Even if they publish a piece of news now, it won't have any effect."

"If East Africa or the United States had called for an end to the war in 1914, or even before 1916, it might have been feasible. If we stop the war now, will the hundreds of thousands of lives lost on the front line be in vain?"

Among the countries involved in the war, Britain suffered the least losses. Relying on the English Channel, the war could not spread to the British mainland. Although Britain sent nearly 10 million troops to the Eurasian continent to participate in the war, many of them were colonial troops, and the number of British soldiers killed was less than 1 million.

Of course, this loss is only relatively small compared to other belligerent countries. In order to support the war, a large number of French areas became wastelands, Germany fought on two fronts and suffered heavy casualties, and the Austro-Hungarian Empire also suffered heavy losses in the early stages, especially the eastern part of Hungary which even became a war zone at the beginning. Russia suffered the worst, and after paying the sacrifice of tens of millions of soldiers and civilians, its regime collapsed, and it had to cede territory and pay reparations and face civil war.

Green said, "Mr. Belton, you don't have to be so pessimistic. In fact, after reading the newspapers of the East Africans, I think what they said makes some sense. In the current war in Europe, each country is actually facing various problems, especially whether it is necessary to continue to invest resources and lives in this war with an uncertain future."

"Now, nearly one-tenth of our population has been thrown into the war. This is not the worst. The worst situation is that the war is not going in the direction the Empire wants. Last month, the Empire suffered a series of defeats on the southern front, and the Allied forces' combat effectiveness has shown no signs of decline."

For the British people today, or the people of all the countries involved in the war, the war has worn away their previous fighting spirit.

Before the war broke out, people of various countries, under the influence of capital and public opinion, supported the war against other countries and became accomplices of the war, but the backlash came quickly.

The whole of Europe is now in the fifth year of war since 1914. From a historical perspective, five years is just a drop in the ocean, but five years is enough to change a person's life.

In fact, five years is enough to change the direction of a country. For example, a five-year plan in East Africa has fully proved that five years is enough to change a country's industrial and economic outlook. Two five-year plans, or ten years, can even turn a relatively backward agricultural country into a primary industrial power.

Of course, it was the Soviet Union in the past that achieved this in two five-year periods, while it took nearly twenty years for East Africa.

Green went on to say: "Looking back today, the war we have been fighting for nearly five years is nothing but a joke. We have paid a lot of lives and money, but what we can get in the end is very limited. Even if we really defeat Germany, we will still face competition from the United States and East Africa."

"So, if the war can be stopped in a short period of time, I support it. If East Africa can successfully persuade various countries, it would be great."

Belton sighed and said, "You are right. However, the cost of war is indeed too high. However, I don't think East Africa is the key to ending this war. Give me a newspaper from East Africa first."

Green handed Belton a copy of the Rheinische Presse newspaper.

As the external voice of the East African country, the Rhine Society published an unprecedented front-page article on the world situation, "The Rhine Empire's Peace Initiative in 1919."

The article lists the many events that occurred in the world war over the four years from 1914 to 1918, and for the first time called the ongoing multinational war a "world war."

Compared with the previous life, the scope of this war is smaller, but the destructive power is much greater than the previous life.

The article wrote: "The direct participants in this war are spread across four continents: Europe, Asia, America and Oceania, including more than 20 countries such as India and Australia. About one billion people around the world have been directly or indirectly involved in the war."

"This war that originated in Europe has evolved into a world war, and as time goes by, it still has a tendency to continue to expand. The death toll caused by this war has exceeded 10 million, and the number of casualties is impossible to count..."

"Large areas of Europe have been transformed from prosperous cities into devastated ruins, with tens of thousands of war refugees and a large number of civilians suffering from famine, disease and cold." "The collapse of order has also brought about the rise of terrorism and sabotage movements, such as Zionism and the Russian Civil War. Russia's original social order has collapsed, and there is evidence that Jews occupy a majority of the senior positions in the Russian Labor Party. Now, there are also Jewish shadows in the European war. European countries should take this as a warning... East Africa calls on the major belligerents of the Allies and the Central Powers to put aside hatred, abandon war, and stop this meaningless world war."

This was the first time that East Africa had made a public statement on its attitude towards the war since the outbreak of the war in 1914, which naturally attracted the attention of both warring countries and other countries in the world.

However, it is obviously just a fantasy that other countries will give East Africa face if East Africa makes a statement. If the United States in the 21st century said so in its previous life, it might have had some effect.

But now, there are about five to seven countries that have the same status as East Africa in the early 20th century. The status of Britain, France, Germany, Austria and the United States is relatively stable. The controversial ones are Russia and Japan. Russia is due to internal reasons, while Japan is not big enough, but Japan's military strength should not be underestimated. As for Spain, the goalkeeper of the great powers, it has almost no say in the international arena.

Belton read the article written by the East African with a frown and remained silent for a long time.

The main issue is what this newspaper said. If it is an objective fact, then it is a bit too terrifying!

Although the war in Europe has been going on for five years, the people of European countries have even become accustomed to the coexistence of war and life to a certain extent.

However, when East Africa evaluated the European war in detail from a third-party perspective, Belton first realized the horror of this world war through simple data.

What does a billion people mean? This is almost equivalent to half of the world's population, of which Britain and its colonies account for nearly half. There are nearly 400 million people in the whole of Europe, and this number is almost the same when the colonies of the United States and France are included. The battlefields are concentrated in the whole of Europe and the Middle East region of Asia.

The number of casualties exceeding 20 million is also chilling. In the early th century, there were not many countries with a population of over million. Even Russia before the war had a population of only over million.

This figure is already a relatively conservative estimate. The death toll in Russia alone is probably more than 10 million. Of course, the situation in Russia is complicated. In addition to World War I, the impact of the civil war must also be taken into account, as well as natural disasters, corruption, disease and other issues.

Looking at Belton who remained silent for a long time, Green said, "After reading this newspaper, do you feel cold sweats coming out?"

“We were always at war, so we didn’t have the time or the rationality to think about these issues, but East Africans watched this terrible war and made their own assessments.”

"So, I now fully agree with what the East Africans said. It is better to end the war as soon as possible. War really kills people. The current battlefield situation is very unfavorable to our country. I don't want to survive in this harsh environment anymore!"

Belton said, "You are right. The East Africans are not exaggerating. The death of tens of millions of people is almost equivalent to the direct extinction of the population of a large country. There are also countless injuries and disabilities. Those who did not die in the war may have an even darker future."

"But East Africans say the Jews are the driving force behind this war..."

Regarding Belton's hesitation, Green said: "This is also a terrifying thing to think about. After all, Jews have a huge say in the financial industry, and the governments of Britain and Germany are all influenced by them."

"The direct cause of the war was the economic crisis. It is well known that the economic crisis was led by the Jews, so this war might really have been led by the Jews."

In Europe in the early 20th century, Jews were the worst group of people, with a reputation even worse than that of Arab pagans. This is easy to understand. After all, Arab countries have been on the decline since the beginning of the Age of Discovery, and it is even less likely that they will pose a threat to Europe today.

Furthermore, Arabism is distributed in the Middle East and has little intersection with European people, but Jews really live in Europe and have infiltrated all walks of life in Europe, having a huge impact on ordinary people.

Of course, East Africa specifically reminded the Jews through the Rhine Society not to create conspiracy theories. Although Jewish capital dominated the world with the help of the United States in the past, the Jews obviously do not have this ability now, and their influence still cannot be limited to the European economic field.

European politics and culture were still firmly controlled by the old classes, especially the aristocracy, such as Britain, Germany and Austria-Hungary.

There are many benefits to making Jews a target in East Africa. It can give countries an excuse to end the war in a decent way.

Since the war was instigated by the Jews, if there is a ceasefire, everyone can calm down the public anger by liquidating the Jews. After all, Europe has been fighting for so long, and if there is no result, I am afraid that the angry people will really throw themselves into the arms of the Labour Party.

The First World War was intended to divert economic and social conflicts. If you want to stop the war, someone will also suffer. Moreover, the Jews are not clean either. They made a lot of money during the war. If their property was really confiscated, it would greatly help governments overcome the post-war financial crisis.

East Africa is obviously not afraid of offending Jewish capital. This is mainly because East African capital itself has fought its way out of the encirclement of Jewish capital. East Africa once closed its doors to the outside world for a long time, which itself was intended to prevent this group from reaping the benefits of East Africa through economic means.

When Ernst was in charge of the Hechingen Consortium in Europe, he encountered all kinds of pursuit and blockade from Jewish capital. Fortunately, Ernst belonged to the old aristocracy and was able to survive and grow through the protection of the aristocratic systems of Germany and Austria.

Therefore, Ernst's targeting of Jews was in itself a revengeful act, and at the same time, it was also intended to avoid the collapse of the old European aristocratic order as much as possible. After all, in essence, the Rhine royal family was also an extension of this old order in Africa.

All in all, East Africa’s statement in the initiative is very interesting. To sum it up, World War I was a Jewish conspiracy. They wanted to make countries fight each other. As long as the Jews were solved, the world would be peaceful.

Even East Africa linked the Jews to the Russian Labor Party, but East Africa's description was also true. There were indeed a large number of Jews in the top leadership of the Russian Labor Party. In his previous life, Comrade Iron Joseph had liquidated many Jews in the Labor Party through purges.

Of course, East Africa is not wrongly accusing the Jews. Since entering the capitalist era, the position of the Jews, especially their influence on the financial industry, has allowed them to rise rapidly.

To a certain extent, Jews even represent more advanced productive forces and production relations. After all, the rise of capitalism is a historical wave, and the rise of capitalism has directly helped Jews gain more political rights through capital.

To put it simply, the rise of the Jews did not rely on their own intelligence and talent, but on the opportunities bestowed upon them by the times. Under the former European aristocracy system, the Jews could only engage in "lowly" industries such as lending and commerce, and were the wallets of the European aristocracy. However, with the advent of the capitalist era, this wallet really devoured its owner.

This is not without precedent in history. For example, the Mamluks, the ruling class in Egypt, were once slaves of the Egyptians, but they turned things around through military means, while the Jews relied on financial resources.

Therefore, for the ruling group, military, financial power, and cultural ideas must never be delegated to others. The Far Eastern Empire did the best in this regard. The literati of the Far Eastern Empire once firmly suppressed the army and the merchant groups, and held the ideological discourse power. This is also one of the reasons why reforms in the Far Eastern Empire in modern times were very difficult.

(End of this chapter)