African Entrepreneurship Records 2

Chapter 1589 Western Sahara
Across the entire African continent, only Northwest Africa is easily influenced by East Africa from land. Firstly, it is too far from East Africa; secondly, the geographical environment in between is too harsh and transportation is extremely underdeveloped; and finally, Northwest Africa has the support of various European countries.

Northeast Africa is obviously different. For example, in the direction of Egypt, East Africa can be accessed along the Nile River or through Darfur.

Although Egypt also had British support, Britain was far away from Egypt. Their ability to control Egypt by sea and subdue other European countries that also had ambitions toward Egypt was already at its limit. If the enemy came from the land, or from East Africa, Britain could only watch helplessly.

Meanwhile, other parts of Northeast Africa also found it difficult to withstand the onslaught of troops from East Africa after the opening of the North African railway.

Clearly, Italy, which is cooperating with East Africa to develop the North African railway, also understands this principle. But why would Italy risk "inviting a wolf into the house" by cooperating with East Africa?

Ultimately, it all comes down to Italy having too few options and a lack of understanding of Libya.

The reason Italy chose Libya as its colony was essentially because Italy unified too late, lacked sufficient strength, and met an untimely end. If possible, Benito would obviously have preferred Tunisia, Algeria, or French Libya as his colonies.

Even if Italian Libya were developed to its fullest extent, it could only support a few hundred thousand people at most, which is a drop in the ocean for Italy, which has a population of over forty million.

Meanwhile, Libya's oil resources have not been fully explored, so Italy is unknowingly sitting on a gold mine.

In my previous life, Libya's oil resources were not developed until after the 20s, some time after World War II had ended.

Therefore, compared to the substantial practical benefits of cooperating with East Africa, Italy is not particularly concerned about the security of Libya itself, this "rotten land."

After the North African railway opens, Italy will be able to gain a share of the trade between East Africa and Europe, two major global markets. At the same time, Italy can also use this new trade route to strengthen its own security in food, energy, and resources.

Of course, the construction of the North African railway would also help strengthen Italy's control over Italian Libya. However, since the economy and population of Italian Libya are mainly concentrated along the coast, it is not very important to Italy.

Italy can profit from cooperating with East Africa, and it can also accept the strategic risks. Even if East Africa were to ambitiously annex Libya, Italy would not be affected. Therefore, Italy would naturally choose the former.

……

In Northeast Africa, East Africa is accelerating the construction of North African railways, diversifying trade routes to Europe, and strengthening its influence in North Africa and the Mediterranean. Meanwhile, in Northwest Africa, East Africa is also making moves this year.

1935 1 Month 11 Day.

In Northwest Africa, there is a place that is extremely easy to overlook: Western Sahara, which is currently a Spanish colony.

East Africa set its sights on Western Sahara, or more specifically, Dahra, the Spanish colonial stronghold in Western Sahara.

Dahra is a bay extending from Western Sahara. On the western side of the bay, the narrow Río de Oro peninsula forms, which acts as a huge natural breakwater, providing shelter for the Dahra Bay and protecting it from waves coming directly from the Atlantic Ocean.

Of course, the Spanish call it Velázquez.

In late 1934, the East African government and Spain made a deal for Vilacisneros, also known as Dahra, to establish an East African forward base in Northwest Africa.

In fact, negotiations between the two countries had already begun in 1931, but Spain’s asking price was too high and East Africa did not accept it. However, as the situation in Spain became increasingly chaotic, both the Republicans and the Nationalists hoped to gain the support of East Africa. Finally, at the end of 1934, Spain sold Dahra to East Africa for almost nothing, namely 20,000 Rhine guilders.

Dahera Castle, formerly the only Spanish stronghold on the peninsula, was actually a small military outpost established to express Spain's ownership of Western Sahara. It has now been taken over by Lieutenant Leipzig in East Africa.

Looking at the desolate land outside the castle and the vast sea, Lieutenant Leipzig found it hard to cheer up.

Lieutenant Leipzig told his subordinates, "Before we got here, I heard that we had bought a piece of land from Spain, but it was in Western Sahara. At the time, I didn't think much of it. But when I actually got here, I realized how bad our problems were!"

As a naval officer in the Atlantic Fleet, Lieutenant Leipzig had some knowledge of Western Sahara, as the Western Sahara coast was an important route for East Africa to travel to Europe.

This area falls within the operational range of the East African Navy, so the Atlantic Navy in East Africa would naturally have a basic understanding of the local environment.

However, once he arrived in Dahra, Lieutenant Leipzig realized that his previous understanding of Western Sahara was not very deep.

He said, “This is really not a place for human beings to live. Although there are many military bases in desert areas in East Africa, at least those places have rivers or oases. But Dahra is a completely barren land surrounded by the sea on three sides. The only place connecting it to the mainland is an endless desert with not a single blade of grass in sight.”

"I dare say that the conditions here are a hundred times worse than those in Siberia, the Soviet Union."

Being exiled is the true state of mind of the officers and soldiers in Dahla East Africa, and even the officers in Leipzig find it hard to bear.

East Africa is not without deserts, and it also has coastal military bases, such as the coast of Namibia. There are many military outposts in East Africa.

However, Dahra's conditions are far inferior to those of the Namibian coast. Although the Namibian coast is also a desert and ocean, at least the military outposts are located within the country's territory and are mostly situated on the mainland.

Although Dahra is located on a peninsula, it is not much different from an island. Many areas of the peninsula are less than two kilometers wide, but more than forty kilometers long. Dahra is located at the southern end of this long and narrow peninsula.

Currently, the entire peninsula is comprised of only a little over one hundred East African soldiers, who are almost unable to communicate with the outside world.

This is easy to understand. Even after Western Sahara gained independence in its previous life, up until the 21st century, its total population of over 200,000 square kilometers was only a few hundred thousand. Considering that Western Sahara is a region that adheres to the Arab faith, you can imagine how harsh the environment there is.

In 1935, the sparse population of Western Sahara was alarmingly large; even the most optimistic estimate would not have exceeded 50,000 people.

This explains why Spain ultimately sold Dahera and the entire Rio de Oro peninsula, nearly 50 square kilometers of land, to East Africa for the incredibly low price of only 40,000 Rhine guilders.

From a purely economic perspective, 40,000 Rhine guilders may seem like a small sum, but Spain still profited from it because the region produced absolutely nothing. East Africa, on the other hand, was forced into this "loss-making" deal entirely out of necessity.

Leipzig's second lieutenant, Kerlen, said, "Given the Empire's current conditions, it is indeed difficult to find a suitable foothold in Northwest Africa. It's already quite remarkable that Spain was willing to sell Dahra to us."

"With Dahra, the Empire had its first military base in Northwest Africa, ending the long-standing situation where the Empire lacked a foothold along the Northwest African coast."

East Africa’s obsession with acquiring ports in Northwest Africa is undeniable. On the eastern coast of the Atlantic Ocean, the northernmost military base in East Africa is the port of Lomé in Togoland.

The East African Navy previously had no base along the nearly 5,000-kilometer stretch of the west coast of Africa, from Lomé to the Iberian Peninsula in Europe. This was clearly a major drawback for protecting East Africa's maritime interests, especially its trade with Western Europe.

There are many reasons why East Africa has long struggled to access ports and military bases on the west coast of Africa, north of Togo's Lamlomé port.

The most crucial factor was the colonial power in West and North Africa, which was wary of East Africa. These countries included Britain and France, as well as Portugal and the United States.

Needless to say, Britain and France have the most colonies in West and Northwest Africa. However, Britain and France are now paying more attention to these colonies, and as powerful nations, they are unwilling to allow East Africa to enter the region.

Portugal's main colonies in the region were Guinea-Bissau and Cape Verde. Due to historical grievances with East Africa, Portugal was the least likely country in the region to sell or lease its ports to East Africa.

Even though East Africa and Portugal have now reconciled, Portugal is clearly unwilling to let the wolf into its house. Guinea-Bissau and Cape Verde are the few remaining important colonies of Portugal, and it does not want the old stories of Angola and Mozambique to repeat themselves.

Then there's the United States, which also has its own sphere of influence in West Africa, namely Liberia, the eldest son of Africa personally nurtured by the United States.

Kerlen said, "Throughout West and North Africa, there are either relatively independent countries like Britain and France, who are wary of East Africa and have little demand of the empire, or countries like Portugal and the United States, which have historical grievances with East Africa or currently have significant conflicts with it."

"Especially the United States. The United States is the least willing to expand in East Africa. After all, the two countries have significant conflicts in their Atlantic strategy. We were able to suppress the United States' expansion in South America before. If we have military outposts along the northwest African coast, wouldn't the United States be at an even greater disadvantage in the competition with the Empire?"

"So, Spain selling Dahera to the Empire was already a godsend. Although the environment here is indeed a bit harsh, something is better than nothing."

After being persuaded by Kerren, Lieutenant Leipzig calmed down a bit, but still complained, "But this environment is too harsh. If there were a ready-made port here, I wouldn't be so nitpicky."

Although Dahra was one of the few ports in Western Sahara in its previous life, in 1935, Dahra was extremely underdeveloped, or rather, it was an undeveloped area that had not been developed at all.

The Spanish only built one fort on the peninsula, where only a few people usually lived. The fort couldn't even accommodate Lieutenant Leipzig and his men, so for the time being, most of them would have to spend the night on the ship.

Since Dahra has no port, the warships are anchored in the bay, and landing requires launching small boats and rowing to the shore.

Kerren comforted us, saying, "Think of it this way: at least we have land here to rest, which is worse than drifting at sea. Besides, Dahra has a well that can solve our freshwater problem."

"As for the construction of Dahra, it certainly won't be something we can handle on our own. After all, there's no food here, and even construction materials are scarce. We'll definitely have to find a way to transport supplies over from the country."

It was clear that the Leipzig lieutenant and his group alone could not develop and construct Dahra, let alone the fact that East Africa's plan for the area was to build a comprehensive military base.

At the same time, Dahra is not only a military vessel; in the future, it will also be responsible for providing convenience for merchant ships sailing from East Africa to Europe, such as maintenance, resupply, and berthing.

This necessitates the construction of a modern port in Dahra, one that is not too small and can accommodate large warships.

"Throughout Dahra, the Empire will inevitably need to build supporting facilities such as ports, military camps, power supply systems, and even airports."

"Our role as the vanguard is primarily to assert the Empire's sovereignty over this area and to prevent other countries from interfering or Spain from going back on its word."

"The construction work must be completed by the Empire. Of course, before that, we must first build temporary residential areas to ensure our survival in the short term."

Lieutenant Leipzig said with a wry smile, "We need building materials too. Dahra is surrounded by sand and seawater. Although there are rocks, we didn't bring any cutting equipment."

"So, at least for the time being, living on the ship is our only option. Of course, we also need to send a few people to guard this place. Although this Spanish military outpost is small, it is small but complete."

As an almost isolated military outpost, the Spanish soldiers were able to hold this position for a long time in the past, mainly because Spain was close to the location and could drop the necessary supplies here by sea.

Although Western Sahara has harsh conditions, Spain has built towns there, and it is not far from Morocco, mainland Spain, and some Atlantic islands.

East Africa does not have these conditions. The closest port to Dahera, Lomé, is more than 3,700 kilometers away by sea, and it is even farther from the East African mainland.

Therefore, East Africa would have to pay a huge price to complete the occupation and development of Dahra, which the East African Navy considered very unprofitable.

Of course, in Ernst's eyes, that was another matter entirely. First of all, East Africa could gain a strategic foothold on the Northwest African coast, which was already a good deal.

Secondly, Ernst valued the potential benefits that Dahla could bring to East Africa in the future, such as the mineral resources of Western Sahara, especially important resources like phosphate and potassium. In his previous life, Western Sahara accounted for one-eighth of the world's phosphate.

Now that East Africa has taken over Dahra, it will be easier to control the phosphate production in Western Sahara in the future. As mentioned before, Dahra is one of the few areas in Western Sahara with the potential for port construction, which will make it an important transit point for Western Sahara's exports in the future.

Of course, compared to its potential economic value, acquiring Dahra is a crucial step in East Africa's global strategy, foreshadowing the initial stage of East Africa's future expansion of influence into West and North Africa.

(End of this chapter)