African Entrepreneurship Records 2

Chapter 1586 The Goalkeeper of the New Great Powers
A powerful Germany was a formidable force, that's an objective fact, so countries like Britain and France couldn't help but try to contain it. But in the 20th century, the Soviet Union was a country that terrified the capitalist world even more than Germany.

As a result, Britain and France had no choice but to allow and acquiesce to the growing power of Germany.

In Adolf's worldview, France was a "degenerate people," a mixed-race nation similar to East Africa and Italy, and the French were even considered to be above the latter two, given France's rich history of honor in Europe and its long-standing rival to Germany.

Therefore, Adolf held France in high regard, mainly criticizing France's "internationalization," "liberalism," and "ethnic mixing." For example, he believed that France's attempt to integrate with North Africa weakened France's "ethnic purity."

Therefore, as long as France doesn't sink deeper into the "wrong path," it can still "clean up" its image, while East African countries, which are completely ethnically integrated, are seen as utterly hopeless.

If East Africa hadn't been so powerful, Adolf would have wanted to publicly expel it from the "German race."

As for Britain, it was entirely Adolf's Germanic brother who repeatedly expressed admiration for the British Empire in his writings and private conversations, seeing it as proof of Aryan superiority and dominance. He viewed the British Empire as a colonial model that he hoped Germany could emulate or even surpass.

Even if Britain and France had been defeated by Germany, their ruling classes could have easily switched sides. However, under Soviet control, they clearly wouldn't have had that opportunity.

It was the existence of the Soviet Union that led to a lack of proper understanding of the German threat throughout Europe, including many people in East Africa. This was entirely wishful thinking, since Adolf and Germany looked down on East Africa.

As the rulers of East Africa, the Rhine royal family and the East African leadership were well aware of this.

Crown Prince Frederick said, "Now that Germany has access to the Mediterranean Sea, we have more opportunities to deal directly with them, especially after the opening of the North African railway, which will further increase our trade and exchanges with Germany."

"However, Germany may also take this opportunity to extend its reach into East Africa, inciting some less intelligent extreme democrats and fanatical converts to German culture. We should be vigilant against such behavior."

The influence of extreme nationalist ideology on the world is no less than that of the Labour Party, and it has cultivated a large number of German supporters in South America and the Middle East.

As a German-speaking country, East Africa, even if not a purely German-speaking one, could not escape the influence of this ideology.

In East Africa, a distorted form of extreme nationalism has even emerged, supported by what Friedrich called cultural converts.

Ernst said, "This should certainly raise the alarm for the government. While it is impossible to completely eradicate it, we should at least make the supporters of this dangerous ideology public enemies."

"Of course, some people are just blindly following the trend. They don't have the ability to distinguish right from wrong, so this kind of political movement is not suitable for expansion. Otherwise, we would really become a totalitarian country like Germany and the Soviet Union."

The early Soviet Union was indeed a purely democratic country, but as time went on, it inevitably moved towards authoritarianism. Just like now, Joseph has in fact become the Red Tsar of the Soviet Union. Even if this was not his original intention, he could not avoid this trend.

The Soviet Labour Party was not fundamentally flawed in its institutional design, but the Soviet people were completely unable to adapt to this idealized political system, which involved many issues such as human nature and social norms.

As for a completely ideal political system, only countries that have actually achieved it can truly understand it, and the early Soviet Union possessed such a prototype because the Soviet Labour Party had not yet degenerated at that time.

Compared to the Soviet Union, Germany was a completely undisguised tyranny, openly oppressing non-German peoples and dissidents within its borders.

Of course, both the Soviet Union and Germany are now targets that East Africa must guard against at all costs, and the father and son did not continue to discuss this issue.

After steer the conversation back on track, Friedrich continued, "Now, Germany has acquired almost the entire shipbuilding industry system of Austria-Hungary, and this system still has great potential for development, because Austria-Hungary did not pay much attention to the development of its navy in the past."

"Germany may undergo some changes. Under their leadership, the shipbuilding industry of the Austro-Hungarian Empire may be transformed. Germany has ample funds, talent, and technological reserves to digest and upgrade the shipbuilding industry of the former Austro-Hungarian Empire."

"Of course, if Germany were to vigorously develop its navy, it wouldn't just be the Soviets who would be nervous, since the Soviet navy is not worth the full effort of the German navy at present."

Previously, the Russian Navy was a force to be reckoned with in Europe, and even after the Russo-Japanese War, its resources remained considerable.

With the change of regime in Tsarist Russia, the original Russian Navy suffered a severe blow, mainly due to personnel loss, mismanagement, and strategic shifts.

At that time, the Soviet Navy's strategic thinking was based on the theory of small-scale warfare, which meant that it operated entirely in the waters near the Soviet Union. To put it bluntly, even the Austro-Hungarian Navy was stronger than the Soviet Navy.

If Germany prioritizes the Soviet Union strategically, it wouldn't need to invest heavily in its navy. However, if Germany were to develop its navy aggressively, then the question of which enemy it would first need to confront becomes worth considering.

In any case, East Africa is always eager to see more drama. No matter how much the German navy develops, it will be difficult to pose a threat to East Africa. If German warships want to reach East African waters, they must pass through the Red Sea Passage or detour through West Africa.

The Red Sea passage is simply impossible to achieve because it is too narrow and has too many joints. Take the Suez Canal, for example; it is tactically easy to cut off, especially after the development of air power.

Beyond the Suez Canal, the Red Sea region is also unsafe, as it falls within the range of the East African Air Force. Further along are the Bab el-Mandeb Strait and the Gulf of Aden, and finally, one must bypass the Somali waters to reach the core area of ​​East African maritime security.

As for taking the route from the Atlantic Ocean around the West African coast, it is not easy either. Although the difficulty is much less than that of the Red Sea route, Germany lacks military bases along the way. If it undertakes a military adventure, it may repeat the old story of the Russo-Japanese naval war.

East Africa's geographical and strategic advantages over Germany were actually effective for all other powers, and even the United States could not achieve this.

Both East Africa and the United States are countries whose landmasses face two oceans directly. East Africa has no powerful nations to its east or west, while the United States is different. Its eastern side could also be attacked by the navy of a powerful European nation, although the possibility of this is extremely low.

For example, if the British Navy had been determined to go to war with the United States, it would have been difficult to predict who would have won. On the other hand, in the Pacific Ocean to the west of the United States, there was also a powerful navy, Japan. The attack on Pearl Harbor in my previous life was the masterpiece of the Japanese Navy.

Crown Prince Frederick said, "No matter how much the German navy expands, East Africa can sit back and watch. The threat to East Africa is not even as great as that to countries like Britain and the United States."

The main threat posed by the British Navy to East Africa came from its colonies and overseas military bases. With these strategic strongholds, Britain was capable of striking the East African coast if it were to launch a surprise attack on the region.

The coastal waters of East Africa lack island chains for defense, which also facilitates proactive attacks by the East African navy. Furthermore, due to the dual-oceanic nature of East Africa, it is impossible for Britain to simultaneously launch a major offensive against the main fleets of both East Africa's two oceans.

Especially in the South Atlantic, the Indian Ocean, and other key locations including the UK, the Middle East, India, the Seychelles, and the Maldives.

However, in the South Atlantic, Britain's colonies could not play a role. In the South Atlantic, Britain's two most important colonies were Nigeria and South Africa.

To strike the west coast of East Africa via South Africa, one must pass through the long coast of Namibia. By the time British warships enter the core Angolan waters, East Africa will already be prepared through Namibia's early warning system.

The same applies to Nigeria. It must first avoid the coastal areas of Cameroon and Gabon in northwestern East Africa. Most of Cameroon and Gabon are tropical rainforests with sparse populations and industries, and therefore do not have high value.

Therefore, Britain could not tactically destroy the East African navy directly, and once East Africa reacted, it would face an even fiercer counterattack.

The situation between the navies of East Africa and the United States is quite unique. Neither side can overpower the other. It would be difficult for the US Navy to attack East Africa, and vice versa.

Crown Prince Friedrich said, "Now, the most terrifying thing is the boost that Germany has given to Austria-Hungary's military-industrial capacity and mobilization capabilities after its annexation."

"With the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Germany's industrial scale and size were greatly enhanced. In extreme cases, Germany could even bring its military production capacity to the same level as ours and the United States. Apart from the Soviet Union, no country in Europe could cope with the invasion of such a country alone."

While the Soviet Union was indeed no match for the combined strength of Germany and Austria-Hungary, it still possessed vast strategic depth, allowing it to maneuver against Germany.

However, apart from the Soviet Union, theoretically any other country would have had a hard time resisting Germany's first offensive. Of course, if Germany stubbornly charged into France's Maginot Line, that would be a different story.

"However, besides the unification of Germany and Austria, there is another important change in Europe that is easily overlooked: Italy has achieved complete unification after this war, and Italy has now become a new member of the great powers."

Italy has become a true European power, a fact that is easily overlooked now, as all eyes are on Germany.

Friedrich stated, "Because the Austro-Hungarian Empire was about to be annexed by Germany, the overall list of world powers remained essentially unchanged after Italy became a great power."

"However, there is indeed a lot of controversy surrounding Spain. Spain has completely fallen behind the development of the international situation. Whether in terms of economic or military strength, Spain is significantly behind Italy."

"At present, Spain's national strength and international influence are insufficient to support its status as a great power, and it does not even rank among the regional powers."

Although Spain had declined significantly in the past, it still had its past strengths to rely on, especially its significant influence in Latin America.

However, Spain's current strength is even weaker than that of Argentina and Mexico, two former Spanish colonies. Spanish-speaking countries generally have a rather indifferent, or even dismissive, attitude towards their former colonial power.

Let alone regional powers like Argentina and Mexico, which are Spanish-speaking countries, even Chile, Cuba, Bolivia, and others can disregard their relationship with Spain.

If Spain continues to maintain its status as a major power, then theoretically Argentina and Mexico could also be included. Argentina even surpasses Spain militarily and economically, and has a certain say in South American affairs.

Therefore, Crown Prince Frederick said: "Spain is not even a regional power now, let alone in Europe, where there are many powerful countries. And overseas, Spain can only influence its few remaining colonies."

"Of these colonies, only Morocco has any value; places like Guinea are completely negligible."

It is not surprising that Spain maintains its influence in Morocco, as Ceuta, opposite Gibraltar, is Spanish territory, while Ceuta remains on the other side of the port of Gibraltar.

Spain's control over this region is purely due to Morocco's proximity to Spain and its weaker position.

"It has become a reality that Italy has replaced Spain among the great powers. Of course, this makes Italy the new gatekeeper of the great powers."

"Excluding Spain, the world's major powers are East Africa, the United States, Germany (Austria-Hungary), the Soviet Union, Great Britain, France, Japan, and Italy, these eight countries."

"While Japan and Italy are roughly equal in terms of economy, Japan is definitely stronger in terms of war potential."

Although both countries are resource-poor, Japan has more colonies and a better geographical position than Italy. Therefore, Japan has more convenient and safer ways to obtain resources than Italy.

Italy's advantage over Japan lies in its location in Europe. As a result, Italy has advantages over Japan in many industries. Europe is now the hub for the diffusion of technology and industry in the world. Italy, with its cheap and abundant labor force and relatively convenient maritime transport, is easily favored by some international capital.

Moreover, Italy's accumulation of talent and technology is clearly more profound than Japan's, which makes Italy stronger than Japan in fields such as automobile industry, machine tool manufacturing, aviation industry, and chemical industry.

Crown Prince Frederick said, "Moreover, Italy has now taken over the former Austro-Hungarian-controlled regions of Eastern Lombardy and Venice."

“Eastern Lombardy has not developed much in recent years, while Venice is a key development area for Austria. The local industries have basically fallen into Italian hands, including oil refining, chemicals, equipment manufacturing and so on.”

"At the same time, Italy has gained most of the Po River Plain, which will greatly alleviate Italy's land and population tensions."

With the complete Po River Plain secured, Italy's policy of food self-sufficiency can be better implemented, providing Benito with confidence for his preparations.

Of course, the fact that the Austro-Hungarian Empire's investments in the aforementioned regions fell into Italian hands was also a great boost to Italy, since the Austro-Hungarian Empire had always been a traditional European power and had an advantage over Italy in terms of industry and manufacturing.

(End of this chapter)