African Entrepreneurship Records 2

Chapter 1548 Libyan Localization
The number of Soviet citizens fleeing abroad each year was around several hundred to several thousand, but recently it has increased to around ten thousand. They cross the border and escape to the Far East, Europe, and even various countries in the Middle East.

However, compared to Germany and Austria-Hungary, the Soviet Union's outflow of people was relatively small. At present, Germany and Austria-Hungary have relatively relaxed entry and exit controls.

For citizens of both countries, leaving was simple; they just needed to find a place to stay. However, the Soviet Union had to consider the possibility of being caught by border control authorities.

Of course, the East African government is not interested in the current situation of Soviet population outflow. Ernst said: "The people who are fleeing the Soviet Union now are nothing more than dissidents or groups that are being treated differently."

Of course, Ernst didn't mention one more thing: the Soviet exiles at the time were mostly "inferior" resources, either social commentators, scholars, and cultural creators with high aspirations but low abilities, or ordinary people without skills or higher education.

Ernst said, "Now we should focus on Germany and Austria, especially Germany. However, we should also carefully screen German STEM talents, especially the Jews, and find out their backgrounds and connections."

"East Africa can accept STEM talents and scientists from among the Jews, but it is necessary to ensure that they do not band together and be exploited by Jewish capital groups after coming to East Africa."

"Of course, restrictions can be relaxed for German scientists and STEM talents who are not Jews."

East Africa's desire to poach talent from Germany and Austria this time is very strong. After all, the scientists who fled Germany in the previous life were all very influential, such as Einstein, Pern, Schrödinger, and so on.

Of course, the current exodus of German talent is certainly different from that of the past. For example, Schrödinger is now an Austro-Hungarian citizen, not a German (due to the Austro-German Union). Although the Austro-Hungarian Empire is currently facing difficulties, these highly skilled individuals do not have a strong desire to leave the country.

East Africa is willing to give the green light to these cutting-edge talents. After all, if they were to go to countries like the United States and the United Kingdom, it would be an act of “aiding the enemy” for East Africa. Even if these people just loaf around in East Africa, it would be better than strengthening the national power of other countries.

Therefore, Ernst said, "We should deceive as many people as we can. Even if they cannot be used by us, we cannot allow these talents to easily flow into countries such as the United States."

Although Germany's science is very strong, East Africa is not far behind. East Africa itself has a large reserve of high-end talents, such as in nuclear physics research, aerospace engineering, and missile development. Currently, the core teams are mainly composed of East Africans. If there are no talents in these fields, then East Africa's title as the world's leading industrial power would be undeserved.

This is precisely why East Africa has the confidence to "keep" some German talents in its borders.

Friedrich took notes of Ernst’s words, and then asked, “Father, should we intervene in the current situation of the Austro-Hungarian Empire? Emperor Rudolf has already sent us a signal for help.”

Ernst was somewhat hesitant about the current situation of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, or rather the Habsburg family. After all, the Austro-Hungarian Empire was a mess. Although Ernst hoped that the Austro-Hungarian Empire would continue to exist, even with the full support of East Africa, it might not be of much use.

After a moment of contemplation, Ernst said, "The Austro-Hungarian Empire still needs to be saved, but we cannot have too high hopes. The fundamental problem of the Austro-Hungarian Empire is its internal ethnic conflicts."

"This requires the Habsburg family to have extremely sophisticated methods in order to maintain their rule. We can give them some economic support, such as weapons, food and trade support."

The Austro-Hungarian Empire is now highly likely to erupt into civil war. Therefore, if the Habsburg family wants to continue ruling the empire, the only way is to suppress other forces through war.

This requires that its core base, namely Austria and Hungary, remain intact. Hungary is relatively safe, but the real concern is that the Austrians might oppose the Habsburg family. If Austria collapses, the Austro-Hungarian Empire will be virtually beyond saving.

In conclusion, Ernst was pessimistic about the current situation of the Habsburg family.

He told Friedrich, "We must also consider the possibility of the disintegration of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and prepare for both possibilities. Starting today, we will strengthen our ties with the Kingdom of Dalmatia."

The Kingdom of Dalmatia was the only bulwark of East Africa in the Mediterranean and Europe, and therefore could not be lost. If the Austro-Hungarian Empire disintegrated, the Kingdom of Dalmatia would become the only strategic foothold that East Africa could rely on in Europe.

……

Italian Libya.

After 1933, the Italian Benito government strengthened its control over Libya and began to promote a policy of colonial settlement, attempting to fully localize the region.

In the Italian Governor's Palace in Benghazi, Governor Badoglio and other government officials were discussing the matter.

Governor Badoglio said solemnly, "News has come from within the country that in Libya, the Kingdom will fully implement localization measures, making final preparations for incorporating it into the Empire."

"The Kingdom faces a severe overpopulation problem, with limited arable land and immense pressure on food supply. Therefore, Prime Minister Benito has instructed that, for the sake of the Italian nation's destiny and development, the localization of the Libyan region must be carried out with iron-fisted force to expand the Italian nation's living space."

"Besides turning Libya into the empire's new granary, it is also an important channel for our future trade with East Africa, further strengthening the empire's food security through trade."

Since the late 19th century, East Africa has been an important food supplier to Italy. However, previously, East Africa's exports of food and agricultural products to Italy relied entirely on the Suez Canal.

The Suez Canal was in British control, so Benito considered this passage unsafe.

If the Libyan railway is completed, trade between Italy and East Africa will no longer need to go through the Suez Canal, and the two countries can conduct trade activities directly.

Of course, compared to relying on imports to ensure domestic food security, Benito clearly prefers self-sufficiency.

Therefore, the Italian government attempted to implement a localization strategy in Italian Libya, turning it into the imperial granary and alleviating Italy's food pressure.

Governor Badoglio explained: "According to the estimates of the Imperial agricultural and water conservancy experts, if a large number of water conservancy projects can be built along the Libyan coast to improve the efficiency of local land use, Libya may even be able to supply food for one million people in the future."

This is a rather optimistic expectation; in reality, achieving this goal is very difficult. In its previous history, Libya had a total population of about six or seven million, with a food self-sufficiency rate of less than 30%. Of course, during peacetime, specifically the Gaddafi era, Libya was able to achieve a food self-sufficiency rate of over 30% through measures such as water conservancy construction.

However, the part of Libya that Italy currently controls is incomplete; it only includes the eastern part of Libya in the past, namely Cyrenaica. Even if the local water resources are fully utilized, the maximum population that can be supported is only about one million.

However, Italy had no other choice. Even if the land was terrible, it was better than nothing. Italy's population pressure was too great, so it had to take measures to develop Libya.

Governor Badoglio said, "The total population of the Red Sea colonies has now exceeded three million, and Libya will have at least five hundred thousand in the future."

Italy's Red Sea colonies, which included Eritrea and eastern Ethiopia in the past, now have a population of over three million, an astonishing figure, as the population of these Red Sea colonies is almost entirely Italian.

In other words, in just a few decades, the Italian population in the Italian Red Sea colonies grew to the size of a small country.

At the same time, the East Kalimantan colony in East Africa was at a similar level, which illustrates Italy's predicament regarding land issues, and the immigration to the Red Sea colonies continued to increase rapidly.

This is understandable, though. The Italian government considers the Red Sea colonies to be "a second home for Italians." The Red Sea colonies are roughly the same size as mainland Italy, and their existence has greatly alleviated Italy's population pressure.

With this precedent, Italy became even more focused on developing Libya, attempting to transform the region into a new breadbasket.

Of course, Benito's ambitions went far beyond this. In his view, once the Red Sea colonies and the Libyan colonies were fully developed, Italy might also be able to acquire Egypt, which was sandwiched in between.

This would allow Italy's colonies in Africa to be connected into one contiguous area, and Egypt itself is one of the regions with the best agricultural conditions in North Africa, while also controlling the Red Sea and the Suez Canal.

Benito's confidence in targeting Egypt stemmed from his belief that Britain's decline was irreversible and that its influence would inevitably retreat to its homeland, the Atlantic, and withdraw from the Mediterranean.

Within the Mediterranean region, Benito believed that no one was more suitable to be the dominant power than Italy.

Of course, in order to achieve this goal, in addition to Britain, Italy also needs to deal with the two major threats, Austria-Hungary and France.

Benito's ultimate goal was to restore the territory of the ancient Roman Empire, and North Africa was key to this, but France's influence in North Africa was too great.

Benito was particularly interested in the three regions of Western Libya, Tunisia, and Algeria, with Tunisia being only a little over 100 kilometers away from Italy as the crow flies.

Of course, these are all Benito's long-term plans. His primary goal now is to promote the localization of Italian Libya and use it as a springboard for further expansion.

However, to achieve Libya's localization, a "minor problem" still needs to be solved.

Regarding this "minor trouble," Badoglio said, "Libya is Italian Libya, so there is no need for the local natives to continue to exist."

"Only by completely eliminating the local resistance forces can we annex the local land and serve Italy."

These words were quite menacing. In fact, Italy had been carrying out genocide against the local population for some time. Before Italy, the local population was about 600,000 to 700,000.

By 1932, the local population had declined to just over 300,000, while the Italian population was growing rapidly, with more than 100,000 Italian immigrants currently residing in the area.

Therefore, the Italian government believes that the time is ripe to completely exterminate the indigenous population, and that even if the indigenous people are wiped out, it will not have a significant impact on local production.

The so-called "localization" is actually similar to the US and East Africa, where the local population is completely replaced by Italians.

Governor Badoglio said, "Although this may bring us infamy, we have to do it for the future of Italy. A fully Italianized Libya is what we need, not just a colony."

"In the future, Italian Libya will become a province of the Kingdom, incorporated into the Empire's governance system, and will also be an important foothold for the Empire's North African strategy."

"Therefore, all departments must actively cooperate with the Kingdom's army to thoroughly eliminate all unstable factors in the area."

In fact, Italy did the same thing in Libya in its previous life. They plundered the land of the locals and then immigrated from Italy to cultivate the land.

However, this policy was not continued due to the defeat in World War II; otherwise, it might have been possible to completely turn Libya into part of Italy.

In this timeline, the Italian government has become more aggressive. In the previous life, because Italy was more powerful, they were able to keep an eye on Ethiopia and other more prosperous regions like the Balkans.

However, in Ethiopia, the Abyssinian Empire was able to continue because of the existence of East Africa, and Italy's expansion in the region had to stop. In the Balkans, the Austro-Hungarian Empire prevented its eastward expansion, and it also occupied Venice and the lands of Eastern Lombardy.

In this situation, Italy can only focus all its efforts on its existing colonies. However, this is not without its advantages. Resources that Italy used for the Ethiopian War or the Balkans in the previous life can now be concentrated on the development of the Red Sea colonies and the Libyan region.

This made Italian rule in the region more stable, at least without having to worry about local ethnic resistance, since Italians now held an absolute majority on the land.

Although the Italian population in Italian Libya is smaller than that of the local indigenous population, Italy's military strength, along with nearly 100,000 Italian immigrants and support from its homeland, means that it is only a matter of time before the local indigenous population is completely wiped out.

(End of this chapter)