African Entrepreneurship Records 2

Chapter 1607 The French's Vigilance
The fact that the Habsburg Monarchy and the new Austrian Kingdom could not absorb the immigrants does not mean that East Africa should reduce its immigration scale. There are still many colonies in East Africa that are in dire need of immigration, including Togoland, which is adjacent to the two countries.

The year 1935 was also quite special. After all, based on the experience of the previous life, Japan's invasion of the Far East would have expanded significantly in two years. At that time, East Africa would be at a disadvantage if it wanted to recruit immigrants from the Far East again, and this would become increasingly true as time went on.

Therefore, Ernst said to Emperor Rudolf, "The Habsburg Monarchy and the new Austria should absorb as much population as possible. It is already the 1930s. By the 1940s, it may become difficult for you to find a stable source of immigrants."

"If the current window of opportunity is missed, the two countries supported by the Habsburg family will very likely become like, or even worse than, Latin American countries."

"Lamerme has a history of immigration for hundreds of years, and its conditions in all aspects were far superior to those of the current Habsburg Monarchy and the Kingdom of New Austria."

Emperor Rudolf himself had some doubts about Ernst's advice, saying, "Ernst, aren't you worrying a little too much?"

Hearing his question, Ernst was not angry, but asked, "Rudolf, do you know which regions in the world have experienced the largest outflow of people in the last hundred years?"

Emperor Rudolf thought for a moment and said, "Europe, Russia and the Far East, India..."

Ernst smiled and said, "All the places you mentioned can be put together into one big collection, which is Eurasia."

"We can also refer to Eurasia as the Old World. Since the Age of Exploration, the flow of the world's population has been from the Old World to the New World."

“Africa is a rather special case because it had extensive exchanges with Eurasia in ancient times. Moreover, while Africa experienced population outflow, it also saw a large inflow of people, so the two were roughly equal.”

The outflow of people from Africa is more tragic, as it was mainly achieved through the bloody slave trade. However, even though the methods were bloody, it is an objective fact that black people migrated to South America and formed a large ethnic group there.

Ernst also said: "Secondly, the outflow from Africa is mainly black people, which means that the Habsburg Monarchy and the new Austrian Kingdom certainly cannot recruit black people as their base population."

"Therefore, for the Habsburg Monarchy and the New Austrian Kingdom, the only source of immigrants they could choose was the Old World, or rather, Eurasia."

“The main areas of population outflow in Eurasia can be divided into three categories. The first is Europe, which also includes the Soviet Union. However, even in the Soviet Union, population mobility is far less than in Tsarist Russia, let alone in other European countries.”

"When there is no large-scale war, the outflow of people from Europe has basically stopped. After all, Europe is now one of the regions with the highest quality of life and the most developed industry in the world, and the willingness of Europeans to emigrate overseas has dropped to a historical low."

"This is also why the Habsburgs are now recruiting immigrants but not choosing Europe."

Emperor Rudolf nodded deeply and said, "That's true. It's extremely difficult to attract immigrants from Europe now. Maybe there would have been a chance two years ago."

Two years ago, during the Great Depression, it was indeed a good opportunity to attract immigrants to Europe, but unfortunately the Habsburg family missed the last train.

Now, they have fled to Africa, and as European countries gradually emerge from the effects of the Great Depression and enjoy a temporarily peaceful international order, Europeans do indeed lack the motivation to move to other "backward" places.

Ernst pointed out: "In Europe, you are unlikely to make much progress for the time being unless a new war breaks out in Europe, which may take several years."

"However, you do have an opportunity right now, which is that Spain could break out into civil war at any time. If you take the initiative, you might be able to get some Spaniards to help balance the immigrant population."

That being said, even if Spain were to fall into turmoil, the Habsburg family could not possibly obtain too many immigrant resources from Spain.

On the one hand, Spain has a small population, at least compared to other large countries. For a so-called "large country," the population should be at least 20 million, while Spain barely meets that figure. The Ottoman Empire is a similar example.

On the other hand, the Spanish had more choices. Most of the Americas had been Spanish colonies, and these regions were obviously far more attractive to Spanish refugees than the so-called Habsburg Monarchy and the Kingdom of New Austria.

In many parts of South America, in particular, Spaniards can communicate, live, and work without any barriers, and the environment in South America is also very comfortable, which is very attractive to the Spanish people.

Aside from the former Spanish colonies in the Americas, the second option for the Spanish people was other developed or wealthy countries.

The countries represented include the United States, France, the United Kingdom, and even East Africa...

Europeans have a complete pathway to immigrate to the United States, so the United States has a strong attraction for the whole of Europe, including the Spanish.

France's second-place ranking is understandable, as it is Spain's neighbor and surpasses Spain in many metrics. As a result, many Spaniards immigrate to France.

The UK is also close to Spain and is one of the most developed countries in the world.

As for why East Africa ranks fourth, there are various reasons. The most basic reason is that East Africa itself has a high level of development, social stability, and an economy that is quite remarkable compared to most parts of the world.

Secondly, East Africa is attractive to Spain because of the friendly relations between the two countries. Since the 19th century, the two governments have established a friendship, and after decades of development, Spain has been profoundly influenced by East Africa economically.

Apart from these few countries, other European countries are more attractive than the two so-called "states" established by the Habsburg family.

Therefore, Ernst had no hope that the Habsburgs could bring in a large number of immigrants from Spain, even though the Habsburgs had once ruled Spain, that relationship had long since ended.

Not to mention that the current Habsburg family is very different from the Habsburg family that once ruled Spain. The current Habsburg family should more accurately be called the Habsburg Lorraine family, because the paternal lineage changed to the Lorraine family after Empress Theresa.

From the perspective of pure bloodlines and dynastic families, this was a clear break. After 1740, the family that ruled Central Europe was no longer a "pure" Habsburg in paternal lineage, but a completely new family—the Habsburg-Lorraine.

Ernst continued, "Then there is South Asia, which is also a densely populated region of Eurasia, but the majority of the South Asian population migrated to Britain and its colonies."

"At the same time, South Asians are not good immigrants. They are lazy, perfunctory, have poor discipline and organization, and their combat effectiveness is also very low."

"At the same time, religion in South Asia is also a significant issue, which makes assimilation too costly. Neither Arabs nor Hindus can easily submit to our European culture." "In fact, to put it bluntly, South Asian immigrants are entirely inferior products."

After Ernst's elimination process, the only place on the Old World that could support the Habsburg family's population needs was the Far East.

Although there were other places in the Old World, such as the Middle East, Central Asia, and Southeast Asia, religious influence was stronger in these places, and the population was relatively smaller.

Ernst analyzed, "Arab immigrants certainly cannot be absorbed, so your best option is left only the Far East."

"However, the Far Eastern Empire is now a major country of overseas immigrants, but that doesn't mean it always has been. Although the Far Eastern Empire has been in chaos for many years, I can tell you definitively that it will be no more than twenty years before the Far Eastern Empire reaches a consensus and unification."

"Once that day comes, the internal strife and external wars of the Far Eastern Empire will basically stop, and the country's focus will shift to economic and social development. Moreover, the Far Eastern Empire's government will be as efficient as the Soviet Union is today, restricting the outflow of population."

Ernst's words were not an exaggeration at all. Even the current Nanjing government is far more efficient than most governments in the world because the Far Eastern Empire's bureaucratic system is too mature and had already reached its peak in the feudal era.

This is also an important reason why the Far Eastern Empire was able to suppress capitalist forces during the feudal era. Conversely, looking at Europe, it was precisely because of too many divisions and loopholes that Jewish and other capitalist forces were able to successfully turn the tables and make a comeback the fastest.

Europe's methods of managing capital were crude, relying mainly on "killing" rather than other mature means. This allowed capital to continuously erode all aspects of Europe except for the military, and became a powerful foundation for modern European capitalist reforms.

To this end, Ernst detailed the differences between the Far Eastern Empire and European politics, and finally analyzed: "For a strong government like the Far Eastern Empire, its decline, even its withdrawal, requires a complete overthrow and the collapse of the entire system. However, once a new system is established, the country will quickly regain its revival and control."

"That's why I said this is your last window of opportunity to introduce immigrants from the Far East Empire. So, you can't hide anything when it comes to the attitude towards immigrants."

"The Habsburg Monarchy and the new Austrian Kingdom are indeed a bit small now, with great potential for expansion. If the gamble pays off, the Habsburg royal family's gains will be astonishing. Once the expansion is complete, you will find that population will be the biggest weakness of both countries."

……

At Ernst's urging, the Habsburg family, after internal discussions, finally decided to continue increasing their stakes in the Habsburg Monarchy and the new Austrian Kingdom.

They decided to increase the number of immigrants from both countries to 50,000 in 1936, bringing the total to 100,000.

In this way, the Habsburg Monarchy and the New Austrian Kingdom basically took on the appearance of a state. As this action unfolded, large numbers of immigrants and supplies began to arrive in Togoland on East African merchant ships.

This phenomenon quickly attracted the attention of the French.

Dahomey, Portonovo.

Louis, the French governor of Dahomey, quickly received this intelligence.

In the Porto Novo governor's palace, Louis asked his subordinates, "Recently, East African merchant ships have been frequently active in the Gulf of Guinea, heading towards Togoland. Do you know the specific reasons?"

Many people looked at each other blankly when Louis asked the question. At this moment, Helois, the French official from the port of Cotonou in Dahomey, stepped forward.

“Your Excellency, I do have some knowledge of recent activities in East Africa. Some merchant ships in Cotonou have reported that East Africa has been very active along the entire west coast of Africa recently.”

"From the Western Sahara in southern Morocco all the way to the Gulf of Guinea, including East Africa, warships, transport ships and merchant ships are more active than usual."

"Although I don't know what East Africa is up to, based on my deduction, East Africa must be strengthening its presence throughout West Africa."

"It's no secret that a military base is being built in Western Sahara and East Africa, but the fact that they're also increasing their investment in Togoland at this time is alarming."

“If East Africa is really targeting West Africa, or even wants to expand its influence in West Africa, then without a doubt, our situation is the most dangerous. After all, France has the greatest interests in West Africa, and Togoland in East Africa is right next to several of our colonies.”

"Therefore, we should act immediately to investigate what major activities East Africa is carrying out in Togoland, and bring the colonial governments of Upper Volta and Niger into the investigation, and finally report back to the mainland."

Elois's words immediately made Louis and other French officials in Dahomey nervous. In West Africa, only East Africa could put pressure on France.

As for Britain, they are unlikely to confront France in West Africa, or at least not threaten France's core interests there.

On the one hand, France has a greater advantage in West Africa. On the other hand, Britain needs France as an ally in Europe to contain Germany's development, and in the international community, it needs France and Britain to stand together to maintain their common interests in the international order.

Moreover, it was precisely because of East Africa's strength in Africa that Britain and France formed a community in West Africa similar to the one in Europe that jointly confronted the threat from Germany.

Louis frowned and said, "If that's the case, then we're in big trouble. Although Africa only has one colony, Togoland, it's very close to the East African mainland and can easily receive support from there."

"Let alone East Africa itself, even if we add up the governments of Volta, Niger, and our several colonies together, we probably wouldn't be enough to defeat the Togolan colony alone."

“The population structure of East Africa in Togolan is completely different from ours. Their colonies are basically populated by East Africans, while in our colonies there are very few French people, and the natives are not trustworthy.”

As the governor of French Dahomey, Louis knew very well that the three French colonies on the border of Togoland, though seemingly more numerous and larger in territory, were completely meaningless to these French colonies.

Because the total number of European whites in the three colonies was only a few thousand, and if we only count the French, it was less than two thousand. The remaining millions were all local natives.

According to their estimates, the population of Togoland in East Africa should be between tens of thousands and hundreds of thousands, but the colonies in East Africa are basically inhabited by East Africans themselves.

(End of this chapter)