African Entrepreneurship Records 2

Chapter 1602 New Austria
The Habsburg dynasty wanted to establish a state in Africa, which would inevitably offend either Britain or France. At present, it seems that the latter is weaker. Of course, this also depends on the geographical location.

Although France and Britain had the most colonies in West Africa, France focused more on the western and northern parts of West Africa, while the British colonial focus was on the Gulf of Guinea coast.

East Africa, on the other hand, offered the Habsburgs a place to establish their power base closer to the coast of the Gulf of Guinea.

After listening to Emperor Rudolf's words, Crown Prince Karl said, "In that case, we can only choose to conquer the French colony of Dahomey first. I just don't know what the basic conditions are like in this region."

Crown Prince Frederick was quite familiar with some data about the Kingdom of Dahomey. After all, East Africa had been in Togolan for so many years, it was impossible for the surrounding colonial powers to be completely unaware of any information.

He said, “Under normal circumstances, the French in the Kingdom of Dahomey are not very strong. Their military strength is generally maintained at around a few hundred to a thousand men. The Kingdom of Dahomey itself does not have a large population. According to our estimates, the entire population of the Kingdom of Dahomey may only reach a little over one million, or even less than one million.”

"However, judging from the troop strength data of the French colony of the Kingdom of Dahomey, it can be seen that not many troops were needed to control the Kingdom of Dahomey."

The Kingdom of Dahomey was the predecessor of Benin in the previous life. It was originally a powerful local country in West Africa. Especially in the 18th century, the Kingdom of Dahomey made a lot of money by expanding abroad and trading slaves, and was called the Slave Coast by European colonists.

The Kingdom of Dahomey did not begin to decline until the mid-19th century. Later, at the end of the 19th century, France invaded the Kingdom of Dahomey, turning it into French Dahomey and incorporating it into France's West African colonies.

In other words, the Kingdom of Dahomey was actually a beneficiary of the triangular trade. They had previously helped European slave traders capture black slaves, which made the Kingdom of Dahomey one of the most powerful black nations in West Africa at the time.

However, by the 19th century, the slave trade had declined, and the predatory economy of the Kingdom of Dahomey could no longer be sustained, which was an important reason for its decline.

Friedrich continued, "Of course, I was referring to the normal situation. To be honest, given the French troop deployment in the Kingdom of Dahomey, you could easily organize a mercenary force to take over the Kingdom of Dahomey."

"However, the Kingdom of Dahomey was an integral part of French West Africa. In order to conquer the Kingdom of Dahomey, the French had more than 10,000 troops."

"And this is only because the Kingdom of Dahomey is not worth France's full effort; their civilization is too backward."

At the end of the last century, the main force of the French invasion of the Kingdom of Dahomey consisted of the French Foreign Legion and marines, numbering about two to three thousand. At the same time, there was also a colonial army of about two thousand men, composed of African soldiers from various French colonies and commanded by French officers.

This part consists of combat troops, while the non-combat troops may also number around 10,000, responsible for supporting tasks such as transporting supplies and constructing engineering projects for the French army.

Therefore, conservatively estimated, France's actual combat strength at that time was around five thousand men.

Crown Prince Frederick said, "If you want to deal with a large country like France in the future, you should have an army of no less than 10,000 to occupy and hold Dahomey."

It is not easy to support and maintain an army of more than 10,000 men. It would require dozens of times the population to support the military expenditure. Of course, with sufficient financial resources, it is also possible to reduce the demand for combat power or adopt extreme militaristic policies.

The colonial activities in East Africa were funded by the Heisingen Consortium, which adopted an extremely militarized colonial management model.

Now, the only resources the Habsburg royal family controls are their vast family assets.

The wealth accumulated by the Habsburg royal family is quite astonishing, given their profound heritage. Moreover, in this timeline, the Habsburg royal family had time to transfer their assets. Therefore, describing the current wealth of the Habsburg royal family as "rich enough to rival a country" is not an exaggeration at all, but an objective fact.

The Habsburg royal family now controls a vast amount of funds, art, jewelry, precious metals, and more. In addition, the Habsburgs also have substantial assets in East Africa and Europe.

Therefore, as long as the Habsburg royal family was willing, they had no shortage of the financial support needed for colonization.

Crown Prince Karl said, "It is indeed not difficult for us to build a colonial army, but at present, it is not worthwhile to blindly build an army. It is a bottomless pit."

"Therefore, it is best to first acquire a piece of land to operate and recruit immigrants. After the colony has a certain economic foundation, then seize the opportunity to expand the army and carry out colonial expansion, so as to minimize costs."

Although the Habsburg royal family was wealthy, they did not squander their money. Maintaining an army, if small, was fine, but if it was even slightly larger, it would be very uneconomical.

According to the standards of the Far Eastern Empire's army, the annual cost of a soldier's salary and food is at least one thousand Rhine guilders. Ten thousand soldiers would require ten million Rhine guilders a year, not to mention the expenses for weapons, equipment, and ammunition.

For example, the cost of every 10,000 troops in the Far Eastern Empire could reach one million silver dollars, which is roughly sixteen million Rhine guilders.

Of course, many of the high costs of the Far Eastern Empire's military expenditures were due to its low level of industrialization, especially in weaponry, which was heavily reliant on imports.

Crown Prince Frederick said, "We can provide you with a batch of obsolete army equipment free of charge. Although these weapons and equipment have been phased out in East Africa, they are sufficient to deal with the various forces in West Africa."

"Of course, you will have to pay to buy the land because of special reasons. After all, Togoland is our colony and we can't just give it to you for free. Back then, the acquisition of land by the Kingdom of South Germany was a special case because the colonization of West Africa had not yet been fully developed, so they were able to easily acquire so much land."

The Kingdom of South Germany originated from East Africa, which was then ceded to the Sigmaringen royal family through military expulsion. However, at that time, the Chari River and Lake Chad were not part of the East African colonies, so they cannot be compared with the territory in northern Togoland.

Togoland is de facto East African territory, so even if a portion were to be ceded to the Habsburgs for their management, the Habsburgs would at least have to buy it. Of course, given the friendship between the two royal families, the price would certainly not be too high.

Crown Prince Frederick continued, "Some of the original military facilities on the land being sold to you can also be given away directly, such as some border outposts and military camps, which you can use directly."

"Economically, East Africa can initially provide you with some conveniences, such as the procurement of weapons and equipment, support for agricultural management techniques, and subsequent cooperation in mineral development between the two countries." Clearly, if the Habsburg dynasty wanted to establish a state in West Africa, it could only start by developing agriculture. However, agricultural management in Africa was obviously not something that the Habsburgs, who came from Europe and had a higher level of civilization, could achieve overnight.

The crops cultivated differ greatly between Africa and Europe, and the Habsburg royal family could only obtain superior varieties of tropical cash crops and food crops from East Africa, otherwise the yield would be far from ideal.

Take corn, for example. This very common crop, has the highest yield per unit area in tropical regions, particularly in East Africa, where it has reached the same level as that in temperate regions.

This is thanks to decades of investment and cultivation in agriculture in East Africa, which has led to the development of many excellent maize varieties suitable for tropical regions.

If the Habsburg royal family wanted to develop agriculture independently, it would require too much time, which was clearly not worthwhile, and the Habsburg royal family could not wait that long.

As for the cooperative development of mineral resources, this is one of the fastest ways for the colonies to generate revenue. However, the Habsburgs obviously do not have this condition now. On the land that East Africa sold to them, the mines will certainly still be controlled by East Africa.

If they wanted to acquire their own mines, they would have to seize them from French or British colonies through subsequent colonial expansion.

Crown Prince Frederick continued, "Finally, and most importantly, is immigration. The possibility of recruiting immigrants in Europe is now virtually zero, and the cost does not support you doing so."

"Therefore, if you want to obtain sufficient immigrants, choosing the Far Eastern Empire is the best option. Currently, due to Japan's continuous expansion, as well as internal wars and natural disasters, the Far Eastern Empire does not lack immigrants. Of course, if you can recruit immigrants from East Africa, we will not stop you, but it is too difficult."

Currently, given East Africa's population size, the issue of population loss is not a major concern. However, it's important to understand that even East African colonies face significant challenges in recruiting native immigrants, let alone the Habsburg colonies, which are currently impoverished and exist only in name.

The Habsburgs were not particularly concerned with recruiting immigrants from the Far East, after all, they had ruled over various non-German peoples during their time in the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

Crown Prince Frederick suddenly thought of something and said, "There is one more thing. Some of our people who were originally in Togolan can also be transferred to you. However, the number is not large, maybe only ten or twenty thousand."

It is understandable that East Africa "abandoned" its own people. As an East African colony, Togoland's population is mostly comprised of immigrants from the Far East who have migrated there in recent years.

Therefore, these people have not developed a sense of national identity, and are significantly different from native East Africans. In Togolan, there are only a few thousand people who truly identify with an "East African identity" from the heart.

These people actually belonged to the ruling class of East Africa in Togoland, such as colonial officials, public servants, soldiers, and so on.

Crown Prince Karl was delighted by the last point mentioned by Crown Prince Frederick, as it meant that after buying the land from East Africa, they would not be short of people to use. This was especially important for the Habsburgs, who wanted to rebuild their power. Of course, recruiting more immigrants in the future would also be essential.

The purpose of East Africa supporting the Habsburg dynasty to establish a state was to squeeze the living space of black people in West Africa, not to turn them into a true black nation. Therefore, the Habsburg dynasty's colonial activities could only rely on immigration. As for black people, they could serve as laborers or even slaves in the short term, but ultimately these black people had to be eliminated.

Back then, East Africa guided the Kingdom of South Germany in the same way. Now, there are basically no black people in the eastern part of the Kingdom of South Germany, only in the newly occupied western territories, where a large number of black people are being exploited.

Crown Prince Frederick emphasized: "The future Habsburg monarchy will inevitably be a German state. This is the bottom line for East Africa. At the same time, you will also have to undertake the task of resisting the infiltration of Arab religion into West Africa."

This is essentially the feudal system that East Africa implemented in West Africa, thereby changing the customs and etiquette of West Africa and ultimately expanding East Africa's influence.

Although East Africa participates in international affairs under the name of Germany, everyone knows that Germany is the true German nation. Therefore, East Africa is eager to build more "East Africanized German countries" or "mixed-race German communities" in the world.

East Africa already has many successful experiences with this plan, so it should be promoted on a large scale, such as the Kingdom of South Germany, Dalmatia, a number of East African overseas colonies after independence, the Habsburg monarchy currently being planned, and some special forces supported by East Africa, such as the German community in northwestern Venezuela.

This country and its surrounding areas are highly integrated with East Africa in terms of language, culture, and economy, thus forming a "New Germans" or "Rhine" ethnic group dominated by East Africans.

Indeed, the Habsburg Monarchy will be a powerful advocate for East Africa's overseas interests and a strong supporter of boosting East Africa's international standing in the future.

The Habsburgs clearly didn't care about being used by East Africa, since they did gain real benefits and were able to re-establish a state in West Africa, continuing the Habsburg legacy.

While the Habsburg royal family was envisioning the future, Emperor Rudolf made a peculiar suggestion to the Habsburg monarchy.

He said to Crown Prince Frederick, "Since East Africa intends to support the Habsburgs in establishing a state in West Africa, why not sell us the entire north at the same time?"

“I believe the Habsburgs were fully capable of supporting expansion in two directions at the same time, establishing two states in West Africa, instead of just focusing on the French colony of Dahomey.”

"Of these two countries, one focuses on the French Dahomey colony, and the other can expand eastward to conquer Ghana or the north."

Clearly, Emperor Rudolf thought the previous plan was somewhat conservative, and the Habsburgs could hedge their bets; there was no need to put all their eggs in one basket.

Crown Prince Frederick did not directly reject Emperor Rudolf's idea, but said: "If you really want to do this, it is not impossible, but then the Habsburgs will have to invest more resources, and if two countries are established, then the Habsburg royal family will be divided in two."

Emperor Rudolf said, "For the Habsburg family now, we can definitely afford to gamble. If either of these two new countries succeeds, we will have gained something. If both succeed, that would be even better. Perhaps the Habsburg royal family will be able to make a comeback in the world in the future."

"Therefore, we might as well establish two countries at once: the Habsburg Monarchy in the east and the New Austria in the west. As for the monarchs, Karl and Ferdinand are perfectly capable of fulfilling their duties."

(End of this chapter)