African Entrepreneurship Records 2

Chapter 1348 Second Peace Conference
There is an old saying: If things are too prosperous, they will decline. On the surface, the current East African economy is in this state.

If countries around the world want to avoid this outcome, they can only open up new paths to break the cycle. Britain and all previous maritime hegemons broke the limitations of their own development by constantly conquering other regions.

This is also the reason why world colonialism continued to rise and reached its peak in the late 19th century and early this century. However, when World War I broke out, it was obvious that colonialism could no longer solve the original problem. After all, the world had been divided up and new markets could not be opened up.

This is also the reason why Britain and France, the two defenders of the old order, have shown a downward trend in recent years. However, judging from the economic and social development of the two countries, Britain and France are actually not developing slowly, but they are not as good as emerging industrial countries such as the United States, East Africa, and Germany.

However, it is not easy for these late-developing countries in East Africa to break through the world order established by Britain and France. Germany is the first challenger, but Germany is ultimately unable to break through the shackles set by Britain and France due to its size.

However, Germany's geopolitical disadvantages forced it to take the risk. Even if it did not start a war, it would eventually be strangled in the cradle by the surrounding powers.

East Africa and the United States, because they are far away from Europe, a place of trouble, and because they are large in size, have become amulets on the road to the rise of the two countries.

In fact, the process of East Africa's rise on the African continent is not much different from the difficulty of the United States' rise on the North American continent.

When the United States was founded, the enemies it faced were mainly the Indians on the North American continent, while in East Africa they faced the Bantu people of Africa. Although there was a time difference of hundreds of years, there was almost no difference in the level of civilization between the Indians two hundred years ago and the Bantu people during the colonial period of East Africa.

The former was good at stone tools and created a relatively prosperous Stone Age civilization. Although the latter was able to make crude iron tools, its civilization was relatively poor. Although its place of origin, West Africa, had several ancient civilizations, it was also a secondary civilization of Arabism.

But no matter how developed the two are, as long as they have not developed to the relatively mature feudal society stage, they will be vulnerable to Americans and East Africans armed with hot weapons.

Feudal society still has a certain resistance to colonialism, such as the Far Eastern Empire in the 19th century. If Ernst had been able to reach the level of civilization of the Bantu people when he faced them, the Rhine royal family would never have been able to establish a foundation in Africa.

Not to mention feudal society, most of the Bantu people did not enter the slave society, but were in the transition period between primitive society and slave society. Only the Bantu regimes near North Africa, such as the Buganda kingdom that was destroyed in East Africa, were relatively primitive feudal kingdoms, which were still influenced by the Arabs.

The Bantu civilization is not even easy to identify using traditional methods of judging civilizations. Even in feudal kingdoms like the Buganda Kingdom, slavery may have been widespread.

This is like East Africa in the 19th century and the United States before the Civil War. There is no doubt that the United States was a typical capitalist country at the time, but slavery existed. East Africa was even more complicated. East Africa in the 19th century was a complete hodgepodge, with traces of slavery, serfdom, feudal monarchy, capitalism and even public ownership.

This has made East Africa stand out on the world stage. It is no wonder that East Africa practiced a policy of isolation before the 19th century. If it had not practiced isolation, its social system would probably have triggered collective criticism from the international community, and would have been a country with all five evils.

It was not until the 20th century that East Africa gradually began to align its systems with the so-called "international community", which is now Europe.

Europe holds the world's voice and hegemony, so once European countries reach a unified consensus, they can naturally "define" any other place or country in the world.

The reason why the United States and East Africa escaped the disaster was that European countries could not reach a unified consensus on these two countries, just as Germany and the Austro-Hungarian Empire never interfered in East Africa's decision on issues such as social systems.

Although Germany and Austria-Hungary looked down on East Africa, the African upstart, from the bottom of their hearts, East Africa was still a "poor relative" and half of their own people, which was one of the main reasons why East Africa sided with the Allies in World War I.

……

1919 October.

European countries held a second round of peace conference in The Hague, Netherlands, four months after the end of the first peace conference.

At the first peace conference, although countries such as France and Austria-Hungary were already moving towards ending the war, the conflict between Britain and Germany was the main obstacle to peace in Europe.

As the actual leaders of the Allied Powers and the Central Powers, Britain and Germany were unwilling to see the war end so easily. After all, neither of them achieved the desired results.

Britain participated in World War I mainly to suppress Germany, while Germany participated in World War I to overthrow Britain's hegemony. The overall goal was not achieved, so both countries were naturally very unwilling.

However, as time went on, no matter how reluctant the two countries were, they had to make concessions to each other due to the prolongation of the war. In addition to the rise of anti-warism in their own countries and the activities of the Labour Party in Europe, the changes in the war situation also forced the two countries to refocus their attention on the negotiating table.

In order to promote peace between the two countries, East African Foreign Minister Freel once again traveled across the ocean to The Hague, the de facto political center of the Netherlands.

The last time Freer went to the Netherlands was to reach an agreement with the Dutch government on the redivision of power in the South Seas, but this time he became an important participant in mediating the European war.

This made Freer feel very emotional: "I am visiting the old place again, but this time I am shouldering the fate of the whole world. I hope that with our persuasion, we can usher in true peace for Europe and the Middle East."

Kuyper, the Dutch Prime Minister who came to greet Freer, agreed with his words: "Your Excellency is right. Peace is the general trend. I hope that this time Germany and Britain can put aside their grudges and completely end this damn war."

Prime Minister Kuyper can now be said to be one of the people who most hopes that the war in Europe will end. Although he is a pro-German prime minister, he must consider the interests of the Netherlands.

In the early and middle stages of the war, the Netherlands, as a transportation hub in Europe, made a lot of money as a middleman by relying on the Port of Rotterdam, the Rhine River, railways, roads, etc.

However, in the later stages of the war, the situation changed completely. On the one hand, the Allies officially decided to impose a blockade on Germany, and the Netherlands was naturally harassed by the Allies and under tremendous pressure. On the other hand, after five years of war, the treasury of Germany, the main source of income for the Netherlands, was basically empty.

To sum up, if the war continues, not only will the Netherlands not benefit, but it may also be turned into a new battlefield by the two major camps.

This is obviously not what the Dutch government wants to see. After all, the tragic situation in Belgium is still fresh in people's minds, and the Netherlands cannot afford to be tossed around. For a small country like the Netherlands, any war could make its wealth accumulated over a hundred years vanish overnight.

However, the situation in the Netherlands today is much better than in the past. In the past, the Netherlands was truly sanctioned by the Allied Powers, and the Belgian refugee problem triggered a food and social crisis.

However, because of the existence of East Africa, the situation of the Netherlands in this life is much better than in the previous life. Even after East Africa stopped transporting materials to Germany through the Atlantic Ocean, the trade between East Africa and the Netherlands was not interrupted, which allowed the Netherlands to still obtain external materials. East Africa and the Netherlands do business, naturally, no reason is needed, after all, both countries are so-called "neutral" countries, but in the later period, the scale of trade can be reduced to a range acceptable to the Allies.

That is, it was enough for the Netherlands to use itself, but it was unable to be exported to Germany, thereby expanding the scale of material exports to increase Germany's war potential.

At the same time, East Africa took in a large number of Belgian refugees from the Netherlands, allowing the Netherlands to avoid the refugee crisis.

There is a reason why East Africa was willing to give the Netherlands such special treatment, even to the extent of offending the Allies.

Just based on the colonies that the Netherlands sold to East Africa in recent years, it is destined that East Africa's attitude towards the Netherlands will be much better. This is real benefit.

Moreover, as mentioned before, the Netherlands is the most important transportation hub in Europe. It has the Port of Rotterdam, the largest port in Europe in terms of throughput, convenient land transportation, and a developed economy and industry. These basic conditions also make it worth East Africa's efforts to win over the Netherlands.

So Minister Freer said to Prime Minister Kuyper in a friendly manner: "We in East Africa have seen your country's efforts for peace in Europe and the world. I believe that after peace is achieved in Europe, our two countries will be able to further deepen cooperation in the fields of economy, diplomacy, culture, etc., and play a greater role in international affairs."

The Netherlands itself is a European country that cannot be ignored, and its Southeast Asian colonies also have exchanges and cooperation with East Africa, so Freer does not mind continuing to strengthen relations between the two countries.

Faced with Freer's goodwill, although Kuyper was the prime minister of a country, he did not dare to be negligent. It can be said that since he took office, the exchanges between the Dutch government and the East African government have been more than ever before.

Prime Minister Kuyper said: "I believe your country can play a more important role in this conference and bring peace to the whole of Europe. The Dutch government also hopes to assist East Africa in making more contributions to peace."

After a brief exchange, the two of them rushed to the venue with their staff.

The countries participating in the conference, except for the Netherlands and East Africa, are still the other four European powers, and it is still a secret meeting.

Even the United States, a major member of the Allied Powers, and the Ottoman Empire, a major member of the Central Powers, did not accept the invitation. The reason was simple: the United States itself supported the war, so dragging the United States into the meeting would most likely delay the progress of the meeting. As for the Ottoman Empire, it simply could not get a seat at the table.

Of course, the non-participation of these two countries is also in line with the ideas of the four major European powers. After all, this world war is essentially a European war. As long as Britain, France, Germany and Austria reach a consensus, the problem will naturally be solved.

The reason why East Africa was able to participate was that it was the main initiator of the peace talks, and the Netherlands was the host.

When Freer entered the meeting room, he saw this scene: there was a strong sense of anger between the representatives of the Allied Powers and the Central Powers, especially Germany and Britain, like two volcanoes about to erupt at any time.

The situation of the Austro-Hungarian representatives was relatively peaceful, while the attitude of France was a little uncomfortable. This situation is easy to understand. The Austro-Hungarian Empire had been active in the Eastern European battlefield before, and it was the Russians who caused the greatest losses to the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

However, things have changed in Russia now. If former Tsarist diplomats were present, they would probably not be as carefree as they are now.

France, on the other hand, may be feeling aggrieved. After all, France is well aware that it is no longer able to fight. However, the French people's hatred for Germany is deep-rooted, which makes the French representatives feel very complicated.

Freer chose to turn a blind eye to these situations. As long as the two sides did not quarrel or fight directly, the situation was not too bad. At the last meeting, the representatives of both sides were in very bad tempers and it took a lot of effort to stop the quarrel.

Freer came to the podium and said, "Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to The Hague again for the second peace conference. But before that, I hope you can adjust your personal emotions. After all, anger will only intensify conflicts instead of solving problems. Then our conference will be meaningless. So I hope everyone can understand each other and promote the advent of peace in Europe."

After setting the tone and diverting the attention of representatives from various countries, Freer waited for a moment, making sure that the emotions of both sides had temporarily stabilized, before continuing his speech.

"I still remember that it has been four months since the last meeting. In peacetime, it is just a blink of an eye, but in wartime, it can change a lot of situations."

"And I think these four months have once again deepened the impression that if the war continues, it will be difficult for the battlefield to change. The confrontation between countries will not only cause more killings, but also intensify the social contradictions in your countries."

"Therefore, it is totally unnecessary to continue the war. This will only create opportunities for the Labour Party or other ambitious people in your country."

"Let me briefly talk about the current predicament we are facing. The war in Europe has reached a stalemate. If this war is not stopped, it will continue for at least two years. I think many countries cannot wait that long."

"Two years from now, the most dangerous thing for everyone may not be the changes in the war situation on the front line, but rather domestic marches, demonstrations, even riots and revolutions..."

In 1919, the Central Powers and the Allied Powers each won and lost, but the two sides still failed to break the deadlock. As for the Allied Powers, although they had recently reopened the Persian Gulf shipping route and restored external sources of supplies, it was still difficult to break through the Allied blockade on the Western Front, and the pressure was increasing.

The situation of the Allies was just the opposite. Britain suffered a major defeat in the Persian Gulf. Among its million-strong army, there were too many colonial troops such as India. Facing the elite troops of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and Bulgaria who had been trained on the Eastern Front, it was simply unable to organize an effective counterattack.

A large number of Indian defeated soldiers fled to Persia, which also meant that the southern battlefield was torn open by the Allies, and the Allies only had the Red Sea coast left on the southern battlefield.

Once the Allied blockade of supplies was lifted, it would be difficult for the Allies to gain an advantage even with the United States joining. After all, American soldiers had to cross the Atlantic Ocean to reach Western Europe, not to mention that the U.S. Army's combat effectiveness was not strong, while the Allied forces' strength had already been initially relieved.

To be more precise, Germany's military strength has been relieved. In the past, Germany could be said to be unable to support the battlefield on the Western Front alone. Now that the Austro-Hungarian Empire has withdrawn from the Eastern Front, it can not only launch an offensive on the Southern Front, but also have enough strength to support the Western Front.

Of course, although the Allied troop gap on the Western Front was replenished, it was not easy. No matter how poor the combat effectiveness of the American soldiers was, they could still hold back some of the Allied forces, and with the subsequent replenishment of American troops, this further increased the pressure on the Allies.

In summary, the Central Powers and the Entente are still unable to break the deadlock. The final actions of both sides have offset each other's advantages to a certain extent, and the battlefield is still in a stalemate. This is why Freer emphasized the four months after the first peace conference.

After all, at the first peace conference, Britain, France, Germany and Austria might have still had illusions, what if the other side collapsed! However, the war that has taken place in the past four months has proved that there is no end in sight for the war, so peace talks are still needed to end this endless war.

(End of this chapter)