African Entrepreneurship Records 2

Chapter 1507: Great Flood

The North African Railway is an important example of East African railway projects in 1931. It is also a representative work of East African overseas railway standard exports, and an overseas railway project of equal status with the South American Railway (Asuncion-Lima Railway) of the same period.

This actually also reflects East Africa's active and open policy in dealing with the economic crisis. As the world's most important industrial powers, the performance of the United States and East Africa in this regard is in sharp contrast.

In June 1930, the United States passed the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act. By 6, the United States had fully implemented the Act and imposed high tariffs of nearly 1931 percent on more than imported goods.

Americans hope to use this to protect the development of their own industry and agriculture and avoid foreign competition. As for the effectiveness of this bill, it is hard to say.

The United States also implemented this kind of trade protectionism policy in the past, but not only did it fail to alleviate the domestic economic crisis in the United States, but it had the opposite effect.

After all, in its previous life, the United States was undoubtedly the most powerful industrial country in the world at the end of World War I. Germany, the only country that could pose a threat to American industry, was basically offline because of its defeat in World War I.

Therefore, at this period in the previous life, the United States was actually in an advantageous position in global trade. No country could compete with the United States in the industrial field. Actively giving up free trade was in itself a great weakening of the U.S. economy.

In this time and space, the United States is only the world's second largest industrial country, and at the same time, it faces fierce competition from countries such as East Africa and Germany in high-end industries.

Not to mention Germany, even traditional industrial powers such as Britain and France are enough to give the United States a hard time in some high-end industrial fields.

The reason why East Africa can become one of the leaders in high-end industries is that it has opened up more new tracks, such as internal combustion engines, automobiles, aerospace, aviation, electricity, etc.

In comparison, the United States has a hard time competing with Europe in traditional industries, and is inferior to East Africa and Germany in emerging industries. This makes the United States' positioning in the world market very awkward, somewhat similar to the Far East empire's industrial transformation period in the 21st century.

Therefore, the promotion and implementation of the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act may have very different effects on the United States in two different times and spaces.

In a sense, East Africa has now replaced the United States' position and role in the world's industrial division of labor during this period.

However, when facing the world economic crisis, East Africa did not escape, but adopted a foreign economic policy similar to that of the United States during the Roosevelt era.

During the Roosevelt era, the Reciprocal Trade Agreements Act was implemented to prevent the United States from making enemies in the trade field.

The North African Railway and the South American Railway in East Africa are the embodiment of this so-called "reciprocal" bilateral trade. By carrying out economic cooperation with other countries, while promoting the development of the cooperating countries, they establish East Africa's dominant position in the economic and trade activities of both sides.

For example, after the completion of the construction of the South American railway, transportation in Paraguay, Bolivia and Peru will be improved, commodity exports will be more convenient, and the development of industries along the line will be driven. This will also help East African capital to enter these regions, obtain local cheap minerals, labor, agricultural products and other resources, open up new markets, and so on.

The North African Railway will strengthen trade ties between East Africa and North Africa, Italy, and other parts of Europe. As an industrial country, East Africa is destined to occupy an advantageous position in trade with these countries and regions.

At the same time, the North African Railway can also boost the economy of the northern region of East Africa and promote the development of the northern inland areas.

……

In 1931, with the official launch of the Seventh Five-Year Plan in East Africa and the massive construction projects in response to the adverse economic environment of the world economic crisis, the Far Eastern Empire thousands of miles away was experiencing another disastrous year.

Last year, a war among warlords of unprecedented scale broke out in the Far Eastern Empire, namely the Central Plains War. This war even affected the economic and trade cooperation zones between East Africa and the Far Eastern Empire.

However, East Africa was not concerned about the war because since 1912, there had been a major change in the foreign policy of the East African Empire in the Far East.

With the collapse of the Qing government, this also meant the bankruptcy of the cooperation model between East Africa and the former Far Eastern imperial government. Before 1912, although the East African government claimed that the Huaihai Economic Zone was a fair and mutually beneficial economic and trade cooperation zone.

But in fact, East African officials often interfered in local political affairs and pressured the former monarchical government of the Far East Empire. For example, on specific issues such as taxation, regional conflicts, and even engineering construction, they had to obtain the consent of the East African government before they could be implemented.

Even in some special periods, the East African government would send troops to carry out armed deterrence against the Far Eastern Imperial Government.

East Africa's purpose in doing so is also very clear. There are two main aspects: on the one hand, it is to safeguard the country's interests in the Far East Empire economic zone; on the other hand, it is to prevent the former Far East Empire government from colluding with other powers to erode the economic sphere of influence designated by East Africa.

This series of practices in East Africa had both advantages and disadvantages for the Far Eastern Empire. The advantage was that within the East African economic zone, taxation was relatively smooth, levies and levies were relatively reduced, social security was relatively stable, and large-scale conflicts and wars were almost non-existent.

As for the disadvantages, it undermined the authority of the former Far Eastern Empire monarchy central government and reduced some of its tax revenue. However, in terms of its reputation, even without the existence of East Africa, it was basically hopeless. As for the revenue, the former government basically could not spend it effectively.

This situation continued until the fall of the original monarchy.

After 1912, East African official forces withdrew significantly from the Far Eastern Empire. As for the economy, after the withdrawal of official capital from East Africa, private capital in East Africa was not replenished in sequence.

The reason is very simple. The free market was officially opened up in East Africa in 1910, and the private economy had just started. At that time, private capital in East Africa had no ability to expand overseas.

In recent years, after the development of private capital in East Africa, it began to enter the Huaihai and Pearl River regions, promoting a new round of economic investment and trade activities from East Africa to the Far East Empire.

As for the original official East African industries and investments in the Far Eastern Empire, they were sold by the East African government to local pro-East African national capital in the Far Eastern Empire as early as twenty years ago. Of course, if it sounds blunt, there is no problem in calling them "compradors" supported by East Africa.

The contraction of East Africa in the Far Eastern Empire also led to turmoil in the Huaihai region. For example, the Central Plains War in 1930. Twenty years ago, it would have been basically impossible for various forces to fight each other in their "sphere of influence" in East Africa.

The war in 1930 was also the biggest "man-made disaster" in the Huaihai region in recent decades. This year, the Huaihai region suffered the biggest "natural disaster" in recent decades.

Kaifeng. Imperial Consulate of East Africa in the Far East.

The East African officials of this consulate have not had an easy time in the past year. Last year, due to the conflict between the Northwest Army and the Jiangling government, Kaifeng became a focal area that was repeatedly fought over. Fortunately, the war was basically controlled in the counties below.

Although the urban area did not suffer direct damage from artillery fire, the influx of a large number of war refugees made this ancient city extremely crowded, the city became more chaotic, and public security problems became serious.

This year, with the arrival of the rainy season in the Far Eastern Empire, the pressure on the consulate staff has become even greater.

Ye Zhen, Consul General Rendel's secretary, asked worriedly as he filled his teacup with water: "Consul General, the rainfall in the Far East Empire this year is obviously more extreme and abnormal. I don't know if it will pose a threat to the safety of the consulate."

"Natural disasters are more terrible than man-made disasters. Even last year's war could not have affected us diplomats. But if the water level of the Yellow River continues to rise and breaks through the Yellow River embankment, Kaifeng City will be in danger."

Ye Zhen's worries are not unfounded. Kaifeng, a Far Eastern imperial city, has always been threatened by the Yellow River and has been flooded many times in history.

Consul General Rendel was able to sit still. He said to his secretary, "I have communicated with the provincial government officials in Kaifeng. The most dangerous period has passed. Thanks to the efforts of the people, it is now safe here."

"There is a proverb in the Far East that goes, 'Long illness makes a doctor.' Cities like Kaifeng, which are most vulnerable to floods, are actually more prepared for flood control."

"On the contrary, the situation in other parts of the Far Eastern Empire is not optimistic. This time, except for the northeast and northwest, almost all parts of the Far Eastern Empire have been flooded. The Yellow River, Huai River, Yangtze River, Pearl River, etc., from North China to South China, even the Sichuan Basin is an affected area."

In 1931, the Far Eastern Empire experienced the largest rainfall in recent decades, affecting most of the country. It was definitely the natural disaster that caused the most deaths in the 20th century, affecting eight provinces. The direct death toll may have exceeded , and the number of people affected was at least more than million.

You have to know that at that time the total population of the Far Eastern Empire was only over 400 million, which means that at least one-eighth of the people were affected.

Not to mention, this nationwide flood has submerged a large amount of farmland, and more than 100 million acres of farmland may have been destroyed. At the same time, there are also subsequent disasters such as plague and famine that need to be prevented.

In addition, some cities were also affected. For example, Jiangcheng, one of the major cities of the Far East Empire in the 20th century, was directly turned into a "water city". The water of the Yangtze River directly spread into the urban areas of the three towns. Some water depths exceeded five meters, and the deepest even reached ten meters. The direct death toll was as high as tens of thousands.

The first-tier cities along the Yangtze River are not having a good time, including the Jiangling government seat, where parts of the urban area have been submerged by floods. Small and medium-sized cities and rural areas have also been severely affected.

In this round of floods, Huaihai region was also one of the hardest-hit areas. For example, Xuzhou, the location of another consulate in East Africa, was also affected. Parts of the urban area were submerged, railways and highways were interrupted, farmland had no harvest, and the victims were displaced.

Xuzhou is not the worst-hit area. The situation in southern Shandong, eastern Henan, northern Anhui and northern Jiangsu is not much better than that in the Yangtze River Basin.

Consul General Rendel said: "Compared to other places, we are already lucky. However, this may not be the end of the disaster for the Far Eastern Empire. According to domestic news, Japan has also made unusual movements in the northeastern region of the Far Eastern Empire."

"As a result, there is almost no peaceful place in the entire Far East Empire from south to north."

Japan's unusual movements were completely unexpected by the East African government. After all, the Northeast is now empty, coupled with the disaster in the Far East Empire and the world economic crisis, it is impossible for the Japanese government to sit still and take action.

The issue of the emptiness of the Northeast is actually related to last year's war. In the end, the Jiangling government won the war because the Northeast Army sided with the Jiangling government and entered the pass, which became the last straw that broke the camel's back. Before that, the Far Eastern Empire's anti-Chiang alliance and the Jiangling government were actually equally powerful.

Ye Zhen said: "Alas, there is nothing we can do about it. It can be said that it is God's will. Almost all things are developing in a direction that is beneficial to Japan. However, even if the Japanese government wants to make a move in the Northeast, it should not be easy. After all, the Far Eastern Empire's military strength in the Northeast is still stronger than Japan's."

Consul General Rendel did not agree with Ye Zhen's statement. He said, "Although there are only more than 10,000 Japanese troops in the Northeast, don't forget that Korea is their colony. This means that the Japanese can use the peninsula as a springboard to enter the Northeast region of the Far East Empire at any time."

"Now, although the Northeast region has an advantage in terms of military strength, the main force is still inside the Great Wall."

There are about 100,000 Northeastern troops inside the Great Wall, and these 100,000 are basically its most elite troops. As for the hundreds of thousands of troops outside the Great Wall, to be honest, it is difficult to say how strong their combat effectiveness is, and they may even be inferior to the militia in East Africa.

Of course, Rendell and Ye Zhen could never have imagined the brainless operations of the Jiangling government and the Northeastern Army generals in the future, otherwise they would never have discussed this topic. Now their discussion is at least based on the premise that the Northeastern Army can go to war with Japan, even if the former does not have an advantage.

Rendel said: "Anyway, these things are not our turn to worry about. To be honest, looking at the Empire's foreign policy towards the Far East Empire in recent years, I have no doubt that it will suddenly abandon the Huaihai Economic Zone."

"I even heard rumors that the focus of the Empire's work in the Far East Empire may shift to other regions in the future."

In fact, the rumor that Rendell heard was true. Although the East African government will not completely abandon the Huaihai Economic Zone, the level of care it will provide in the future will only be further reduced.

As for the future diplomatic work with the Far East Empire, the focus will be shifted to the northwest and southwest regions. In fact, the East African government has been communicating with the Jiangling government to seek to add two consulates in Xi'an and Shancheng.

This is only an arrangement in the political field. As for the economy, East Africa had already transferred some industries from the Huaihai Economic Zone to the northwest and southwest a few years ago.

However, these arrangements were not something that Randall, at this level, could access. Even among the top officials of the East African government, not many people knew about this matter. After all, the overall attention of the East African government to the Far Eastern Empire had been declining in recent years.

On the contrary, East African private capital was just about to enter this market in a big way, but it was hit head-on by the economic crisis. In addition, the recent turbulent situation in the Far East Empire and frequent natural disasters have further delayed their pace.

Moreover, driven by the East African government, the South American market is now the region that East Africa pays the most attention to. With the construction of the South American railway, many East African companies are focusing more on the South American region.

In addition, there are the Southeast Asian, Middle Eastern, South Asian markets, West African and North African markets. In short, there are many options for East African capital.

(End of this chapter)