African Entrepreneurship Records 2

Chapter 1559 Germanization of South America
December 4, 1933, Argentina.

If we were to name the South American country that caused the colonizers the most headaches, Argentina would undoubtedly be at the top of the list. In South America, Britain, the United States, and East Africa were all rejected by Argentina. Of course, there was one exception: Germany.

Argentine Liaison Office of the Organization of German-speaking Countries (East Africa).

Since its inception, the Organization of German-speaking Countries (OGD) has had two centers: one in Germany and the other in East Africa. Although both Germany and East Africa are German-speaking countries, their interests differ, so the OGD can actually be seen as two separate agencies.

This situation became even more pronounced after Adolf came to power. The Organization of German-speaking Countries (Germany), originally established in East Africa to promote the German language, gradually became a propaganda and infiltration machine for Adolf and the German National Party.

This led to East Africa further severing ties with Germany, and in an instant, the two German-speaking countries became complete strangers.

Javier, head of the Argentine liaison office of the Organization of German-speaking Countries (East Africa), is listening to this year's work report.

Stade, an investigator, reported: "More than 40 new German-language schools have been established in Argentina this year, bringing the total number of schools offering German-language courses in Argentina to over 300. However, the German side has been very supportive, funding more than 30 new schools this year alone, while we have only funded eight."

"Throughout Argentina, there are over one hundred schools with German funding. Following current trends, Germany may dominate the development of German language education in Argentina in the future..."

Javier said with some concern, "Since the new German prime minister took office, Germany has paid unprecedented attention to Argentina, while Argentina is quite resistant to us. Perhaps in a few years, Germany's influence in Argentina may actually surpass ours."

His secretary, Rijer, said, “Director, this is not a bad thing, especially for an organization like ours that aims to promote the German language. The German side is willing to put in more effort, which makes things easier for us.”

Havel snorted and said, "I'm not worried about that, but I'm afraid that Germany will get involved in East Africa in the future. To put it bluntly, the current German Chancellor, Adolf, is a madman."

"His increased cultural penetration into Argentina has indeed promoted the spread of German, but his true motives are not pure, especially now that Germany also has the motivation to incite Argentine politics, which is very dangerous."

"Germany's infiltration of Argentina is extremely dangerous, especially now, as many of Argentina's extremist ethnic groups have the shadow of Germany and Italy behind them."

Stadler said, "Director, the situation in Argentina shouldn't be that bad, after all, Germany is clearly paying more attention to Brazil."

Stade's statement is also based on evidence. In 1933, the number of extreme nationalists in Argentina was smaller than that in Brazil. Brazil had extreme nationalist political parties with nearly 40,000 members, making it the region outside of Europe with the highest concentration of extreme nationalist forces.

Of course, Argentina also has a large number of extreme nationalists, with party members and organizational members no less than those in Brazil. However, the extreme nationalist organizations in Argentina are more dispersed, with more than a hundred organizations in total.

Moreover, the number of supporters of extreme nationalism in Brazil is far greater than that in Argentina. Among the German immigrant community in Brazil alone, the number of supporters of extreme nationalism is conservatively estimated to exceed 100,000.

In addition, Brazil has more than 2,000 German-language schools and more than 3,000 German-language organizations, while Argentina has just over 300 German-language schools.

Stade said, "If Germany really has designs on South American countries, it's clear that Brazil, not Argentina, will be the first to run into problems."

However, things are clearly not that simple. Javier bluntly stated: "Brazil's extreme nationalism, though seemingly large in scale, is nothing more than a rabble."

"The reason why Germany can achieve what appears to be a greater influence in Brazil is due to Brazil's community system, which has many German-speaking communities, unlike Argentina."

"Those communities ultimately have limited influence at the grassroots level, while at the Argentine government level, Germany's influence is more significant, and the Argentine government's top officials also tend to cooperate with Germany."

Although both Brazil and Argentina are immigrant countries, the main body of their governments is clearly not something that Germans can easily control. The main high-ranking officials in the Brazilian government are of Portuguese descent, while those in Argentina are of Spanish descent, just like the US government is ostensibly dominated by Anglo-Saxons.

Javier's assertion that the German supporters of extreme nationalism in Brazil were a mob stemmed from Brazil's more rigid class system, making it difficult for German immigrants to rise to high-ranking positions in the government. However, Brazil's community system is more extensive than Argentina's, resulting in a large German-speaking community in the country.

This makes it seem like the Brazilian lower class has more support for Germany, but it's useless. After all, they can't influence the Brazilian government, and Brazil also has immigrants from other countries, so there's no need to worry about German immigrants causing a huge uproar.

The situation in Argentina is quite different. Many German immigrants in Argentina have infiltrated the Argentine government and organizations, especially the military, and have a great deal of influence.

It is no secret that the Argentine military is pro-German. As early as the 19th century, the Argentine military greatly admired the German military system, and a large number of officers went to Germany to study.

Now, with the outbreak of the Great Depression of 1929, the process of cooperation between Argentina and Germany has been accelerated.

Argentina and Germany have always had close ties. The immigrant population in Argentina is mainly composed of Spanish, Italian and German immigrants, which forms the basis of Germany's influence in Argentina.

After all, Italy and Germany are now governed entirely by extreme nationalist parties, and the influence of extreme nationalists in Spain is also considerable. In the previous life, after the Spanish Civil War, Franco, the leader of extreme nationalism, came to power directly.

Therefore, it is not surprising that Argentina has turned to extreme nationalism. Its former colonial power and two important countries of immigrants have all become extreme nation-states, and it is only natural that Argentina has been influenced by them.

Furthermore, Germany's military and industrial strength has made it a primary model for Argentina to learn from. Coupled with the current economic crisis and the extreme hardship faced by the Argentine people, this has created fertile ground for the growth of extreme nationalism in Argentina.

Ultimately, the economic problem stems from the distribution of wealth, and the people naturally hope for a strong political leader to stand up for them and secure their interests.

In the current international environment, there are only two choices: the German model or the Soviet model. For the Argentine leadership, this is a very simple option: they can only choose the German model.

However, choosing the German model means embarking on a path of expansion, otherwise, there will be a long period of debt repayment. This may be the reason why the economies of Spain and Argentina did not improve in their previous lives. However, Spain and Argentina were fortunate in their previous lives because after World War II, the Cold War broke out, and the two countries became coveted by the United States and the Soviet Union. Therefore, the two countries were not purged after the war and were able to develop slowly.

Finally, the economic complementarity between Argentina and Germany is a key reason why the Argentine government prefers Germany. Argentina is a typical country with over-production in agriculture but extremely weak industry, while Germany is the opposite, with a very strong industry but a relatively fragile agriculture. Among the world's major powers, Germany and Japan are two countries that cannot be completely self-sufficient in agriculture.

The Soviet Union was a special case. Its food shortage was mainly due to the need to obtain funds for industrial development and problems with the organization of agriculture. If Joseph had made any adjustments and shifted the focus of industrial development, especially heavy industry, towards agriculture, the Soviet Union would not have had a food problem at all.

After all, the Soviet Union had a vast amount of land, and many areas had not been effectively developed, with their agricultural potential never being realized.

Currently, Argentina's agricultural exports to Germany are increasing rapidly. Although East Africa also imports food from Argentina, the scale is very limited, after all, East Africa itself is a major agricultural country.

Javier said, "The relationship between Argentina and Germany is complicated, but one thing we must admit is that Argentina is clearly more at ease with Germany than with East Africa."

"Germany poses no threat to Argentina's security, something that neither Britain, the United States, nor East Africa can provide to Argentina."

"At the same time, Argentinians have a biased view of Germany, and there is a certain degree of blind worship and fanaticism towards Germany."

In Europe, Germany certainly inspires fear in its neighboring countries, and there are many historical grievances. However, on a global scale, Germany's reputation is by no means bad.

Many countries wish they could become "Germany," especially their own armies, which could be transformed into "German troops." This is evident in East Asia and South America.

The Japanese army learned from Germany, and the Nanjing government in the Far East was also keen to form "German-equipped divisions." Many more countries in South America learned from the German military, including Brazil, Argentina, Peru, Chile, and others.

The German Army is widely recognized as the best in the world, and in this timeline, the German Navy also performs admirably. After all, the German Navy did not suffer the humiliation of scuttling itself like in the previous life. With a proven track record, it is more convincing than the armies of other countries.

Havel said, "In fact, Germany's influence in Latin America would have made it a likely target of the empire if we didn't have the United States as a competitor."

"However, the complex relationship between East Africa and Germany, and the overlapping interests of the two countries in the Americas, became a reason for the empire to be constrained."

It's really not a good idea to target Germany in East Africa, because Germany's penetration in Latin America is actually beneficial to East Africa. For example, if Germany wants to expand its influence in Latin America, it must promote the German language, and the spread of the German language is very beneficial to East Africa.

At the same time, Germany is unable to pose a threat to East Africa, which stems from Germany's geographical location, which determines that its influence in Latin America is unlikely to exceed that in East Africa.

To be honest, Germany's influence in South America was not as great as Britain's. After all, Britain could support the region from its homeland, while the German navy had difficulty even getting out of the Baltic Sea.

To give a similar example, the Far Eastern Empire in the past was geographically constrained by the United States. For instance, the Far Eastern Empire's investments and influence in Africa would be severely affected if the United States cut off the Strait of Malacca.

This is not to say that the Far Eastern empires could not resolve this geopolitical disadvantage, but the difficulty was too great, and Germany faced the same dilemma.

If East Africa wants to target Germany's power in South America, Germany will be powerless to do anything about it unless it breaks the British and French blockade of the German navy. The easiest thing for Germany to do is to occupy France and gain access to many Atlantic ports.

However, this requires a strong German navy; otherwise, even if Germany were to occupy France, it would be difficult to achieve anything in the early stages. This was the case with Germany in the previous life; after France surrendered, the German navy was still blocked by Britain in the Atlantic.

Building a navy takes time, and Britain could not simply stand by and watch the German navy rebuild and expand.

In this timeline, the German Navy is in a much better position than in the previous era, but achieving anything still faces numerous difficulties. Compared to Germany, the United States, Britain, and even France pose a greater threat to East Africa's interests in the Americas.

Meanwhile, judging from the current situation, East Africa's competition with the Americas and Germany is also staggered, for example, Germany focuses on supporting Brazil and Argentina.

These two major South American countries are wary of East Africa; otherwise, East Africa would not have been able to build its hegemonic system in South America through countries like Paraguay and Bolivia.

Furthermore, Germany's current investments and penetration in countries like Brazil and Argentina may benefit East Africa in the future. For example, Germany has built and funded a large number of German-language schools, invested in German-language media such as newspapers, and factories and industries in these countries.

The first two are easy to understand. The reason why factories and industries in East Africa have the potential to be inherited is that East Africa also considers itself a "German country". Naturally, East Africa also has the responsibility to protect the interests of Germans overseas.

Just like in the previous life, after World War II, the Brazilian government purged the extreme German nationalism in its own country. At that time, Germany had already been defeated, and these overseas Germans could only be slaughtered at will. Now, there is another country in East Africa, which is a world power.

East Africa could then use the pretext of protecting its citizens and German civilians to take over German overseas assets.

This is not without precedent. In fact, East Africa did something similar during World War I, for example, by buying off Germany's hard-earned colonies at a lower price. At that time, many overseas Germans also sought the protection of East African governments in order to deal with the Allied Powers.

In this respect, East Africa is just like the United States. When Britain declined, the United States was the most likely successor to its global hegemony and overseas assets. Similarly, when Germany declined, East Africa was the best successor to Germany's overseas interests, influence, and assets.

Therefore, Germany's expansion and infiltration in Latin America may not be a bad thing. As a result, East Africa turns a blind eye to Germany's actions rather than choosing to clash with or confront it.

However, the social order in South America has indeed become more chaotic due to Germany's meddling, and South America has accelerated its "Germanization" after Adolf came to power.

German extreme nationalism hopes to use the large number of German immigrants in South America to establish a "new Germany" in the Americas. However, this is not surprising at all. Adolf's ultimate goal was to lead Germany to conquer the world. Under this overall goal, Germany's deployment in South American countries naturally had to serve this goal and was part of its global strategy.

(End of this chapter)