African Entrepreneurship Records 2

Chapter 1640 Manipulating Public Opinion
Since the British want to further complicate the situation, it means they have the capability to do so. As a "world hegemon," the British still possess many formidable "weapons" and bargaining chips.

Militarily, Britain has fallen behind, but it still holds global financial and media hegemony and possesses a wealth of assets accumulated over a century.

The current world system was established under British leadership, and they have cultivated a large number of "comprador" classes and interest representatives around the world, all of which are forces that Britain can directly manipulate.

For example, these groups whose interests are tied to Britain could serve Britain's strategy in their own countries, lobby their governments, and guide public opinion through the news media they control.

Britain in the 20s was very similar to the United States in its previous life, which was in decline.

Britain has lost its absolute military advantage, even though it still possesses the world's most powerful navy. The United States also lost its absolute military advantage in the 21s due to the emergence of a new competitor.

However, it is undeniable that the United States' military, like that of Britain today, is still a formidable force, and both navies maintain a significant advantage in size.

The technological advantage no longer exists, and Britain is in a worse situation than the United States because, in this timeline, there are far more countries that are no less technologically advanced than Britain than the United States faced in its previous life.

In its previous life, the United States only lost its technological advantage over the Far Eastern empires' navies, while the British Navy had no technological advantage over East Africa, Germany, or the United States, and the gap between Italy, Japan, and France and Britain was not significant.

This resulted in Britain possessing the world's largest navy, yet being unable to effectively utilize it. Its influence in the Atlantic, Mediterranean, Indian, and Pacific Oceans shrank rapidly. For example, in the Pacific region, Japan was eroding Britain's interests in the Far East, but Britain had no way to deal with Japan.

In several other regions, the British Navy appears even more powerless. In the Indian Ocean, no country can challenge the East African Navy, and in the Atlantic, the United States, East Africa, and other countries are all formidable competitors to Britain.

Finally, there is the Mediterranean. Britain's main competitor in the Mediterranean is Italy. Italy is indeed difficult to challenge Britain now, but Germany has also started its naval construction project in the Adriatic Sea.

In conclusion, the Royal Navy has now essentially become a "mascot," and any targeting by a major naval power could completely tear away its facade.

Therefore, the British government is hesitant to allow the Royal Navy to easily participate in uncontrollable regional conflicts.

This is similar to the United States' timid attitude towards war in the 2020s. Even if we go back 20 years, the United States would still dare to go to Afghanistan and fight a war. The military-industrial complex and the US military are happy to fight.

The same goes for Britain. Twenty years ago, Britain was not afraid of any country militarily. Before the 20th century, Britain could basically deal with whichever country it wanted.

The British were more cunning than the Americans in that they were better at instigating conflict. For example, in the late 19th century, they supported Japan to attack the Far Eastern empires and Tsarist Russia, and they also supported Portugal in dealing with East Africa. However, in the South African war, Portugal proved to be ineffective, and Britain eventually intervened.

As for Britain today, it has completely lost its former arrogance and is now afraid of being dragged into war.

Therefore, Britain had only one option: to further develop its ancestral skill of "stirring up trouble" and incite other powers to fight amongst themselves, thus preventing them from uniting to deal with Britain.

With the British government reaching a consensus, this added fuel to the fire of the chaotic world situation at the end of 1936. Those who pay attention can see that a large number of negative news and reports that could easily incite conflict suddenly emerged in countries around the world.

For example, negative news about the Soviet Union and East Africa rose sharply in German newspapers, and correspondingly, some negative news about Germany also appeared in East Africa.

The trade dispute between Germany and East Africa has been deliberately amplified, and there has been an increasing amount of mutual criticism between the people of East Africa and Germany, including a lot of fabricated fake news.

For example, an East African may face discrimination in Germany, or a German company may be maliciously harassed by an East African government...

This phenomenon is not limited to Germany and East Africa; it is also observed in the United States, Italy, Japan, and other countries and regions that Britain can influence.

Besides malicious attacks and the creation of antagonism through news and public opinion, the "compradors" they support in various countries, under the manipulation of the British government, will also cooperate with Britain to deliberately create trouble and provoke conflicts between countries, provided there are certain conditions.

This was particularly evident in Britain's colonies and overseas territories, where the scenario of "two peaches killing three warriors" played out repeatedly.

For example, if a high-quality mineral resource is owned by British capital, Britain might deliberately put it up for tender to companies from two or more countries with complex relationships, thus creating conflict between them.

For example, in Australia, Britain relaxed entry barriers for Japanese capital, allowing them to compete with East African capital, which triggered further fierce confrontation between the United States and East Africa in South America, and deliberately instigated commercial conflicts between Germany and East Africa in the Mediterranean and Europe.

Britain's strategy of sowing discord among nations through market manipulation is a clever and transparent maneuver.

For the world's major powers today, overseas markets are an important "battleground." Since the Great Depression of 1929, the world market has become increasingly fragmented, with tariff barriers between countries rising higher and higher, and even situations like the Soviet Union and the United States creating "closed" markets have emerged.

Britain, relying on its vast colonies and sphere of influence, possessed a huge market that was coveted by other countries in the world, and naturally did not want other countries to enter it in the past.

Now Britain is deliberately opening the door, thereby triggering competition among these countries. Britain's actions have made the whole world more chaotic.

Just like the internet in the 21st century, people around the world have become more hostile, which in turn affects the decision-making of governments in various countries.

Of course, the effects of what the British did are not obvious now, especially in less democratic governments, which are less likely to be affected. Typical examples are the Soviet Union, Japan and Germany, and East Africa and the United States are not much better off.

Even the United States, which has always touted itself as "free," is now under the rule of a political strongman like Roosevelt, so the British's little tricks have a relatively limited impact on governments around the world.

However, given the current global situation, there is no need for their instigation; various countries already dislike each other, and Britain is merely adding fuel to the fire.

……

1936 12 Month 7 Day.

East Africa, Rhine City.

The East African government quickly became aware of the various shifts in public opinion and news in East Africa since the end of the year. Crown Prince Frederick said, "Someone is deliberately guiding public opinion in our country, stirring up conflicts between the Empire and countries such as the United States and Germany. Combined with the recent frequent disputes over overseas interests, Britain is highly suspected."

"Because some of the messages coming back from the British colonies were very unusual. They were engaging in more frequent diplomatic activities with some countries, and it seemed as if they were deliberately targeting the normal business activities of East African companies overseas."

"This is particularly evident in South America and the Southeast Asia region, where Britain sold some industries to the United States, and in regions such as Australia, Britain relaxed restrictions on Japan."

"The former is easier to understand, but some changes in Britain's attitude toward Japan are quite intriguing. With Japan's expansion in the Far East, the British are undoubtedly the main victims, especially the Far Eastern Empire, which has lost a lot of interests. Yet now they are actually relaxing investment restrictions on Japan in Southeast Asia."

In reality, Britain did not intentionally target East Africa, but rather set a trap for almost all countries. However, many of Britain's colonies and interests happened to be located close to East Africa's sphere of influence, which made Britain's combined actions appear to be aimed at East Africa, leading to Crown Prince Frederick's misjudgment.

Ernst was also unsure of the British people's actual thoughts, and he could not rule out that possibility.

“Friedrich, you have a point. If the British are deliberately targeting us, it’s not without reason. Our expansion of sphere of influence does indeed create a significant sense of crisis for Britain.”

"Putting everything else aside, the fact that India is right under our noses is enough to make the British uneasy right now."

“With the exception of Canada, almost all of Britain’s other colonies were located in East Africa, which the British viewed as a major security threat.”

"Just like how we view Alaska, in the eyes of East Africa, Alaska is not much different from a hostage in the Pacific Ocean. If Japan, the United States, or even the Soviet Union and Canada were to take action against Alaska, we would not have a good solution."

With the exception of Canada in North America, most of Britain's colonies were located in East Africa, within the area where its military could exert influence.

Colonies like Egypt, South Africa, and Nigeria would have no chance of struggling if targeted by East Africa. Places like India and Persia would also be isolated and helpless. Countries like Australia and New Zealand would be at the mercy of East Africa unless they sided with the United States.

Crown Prince Frederick said, "Geographically, we are the most restrained country in the British overseas colonial system."

"If that's the reason, it's not surprising that the British are deliberately targeting us. However, we can't just stand by and watch the British disgust us; we should take some countermeasures."

Ernst said, "I am not worried about Britain rallying other countries to confront us, but the United States is not in that category."

"We should be wary of collusion between the United States and Britain. If Britain were to hand over their colonies and overseas interests to the Americans, that would be our real problem."

In Ernst’s view, there were only two countries that truly posed a threat to the global strategy in East Africa: the United States and the Soviet Union.

Although Germany was also very powerful, East Africa was not afraid of German challenges, even in the event of war, because it was difficult for Germany to wage a desperate war against East Africa, even if Germany ruled the whole of Europe.

Germany's influence could not extend beyond the Mediterranean into North Africa. Although it had the Ottoman Empire as an ally in the Middle East, its military power in East Africa was unlikely to be challenged in the Indian Ocean. The Ottoman Empire would have had difficulty even getting out of the Persian Gulf.

Therefore, even though Germany became a major power in Europe, it was difficult for it to extend its reach into East Africa, unlike the United States and the Soviet Union.

Given the United States' geographical location, it is difficult for East Africa to restrict its activities, especially in terms of South American interests. If the United States gains the upper hand, it will be very difficult for East Africa to regain it. The same principle applies to the Far East and Oceania.

The main threat the Soviet Union posed to East African interests was the Middle East and Central Asia, followed by the Far East, since these regions bordered the Soviet Union directly. If the Soviet Union established an advantage in these regions, it could create a tug-of-war with East Africa over these areas. Of course, the British would never cooperate with the Soviet Union.

Based on this point, if Britain abandons its overseas interests, East Africa should be most wary of the United States reaping the benefits.

Crown Prince Frederick frowned and said, "If the British are determined to do this, it will be very difficult for us to get them to stop cooperating with the United States, after all, Britain and the United States are culturally similar."

"We can only ensure that the British sphere of influence around the Indian Ocean and East Africa does not fall into the hands of the Americans."

Ernst said, "At present, the possibility of collusion between Britain and the United States is relatively small. After all, Britain has not reached the point of desperation and is not about to sell off its overseas assets."

"However, it is inevitable that Britain will target East Africa and sow discord between us and countries such as the United States and Japan. Since the British are not doing this openly but secretly, we should be prepared."

"Strengthen surveillance over South America and the South Pacific to prevent Britain from doing anything that harms our interests behind our backs, and continue to consolidate our diplomatic and economic activities with the southern countries, ideally binding them all to the wheels of the empire."

"However, if some countries do indeed side with the United States, we should respond in economic and political terms to make it clear that aligning with the United States will come at a price."

"We also can't be too domineering, which could backfire. You have to find the right balance."

Crown Prince Frederick nodded. This was a last resort. Then he asked, "Father, what should we do about the public opinion problems caused by the news reports in our country?"

Ernst didn't seem to care much about public opinion. He said, "The negative news doesn't really affect us much right now. It's mainly about stirring up conflicts between East Africa and other countries. Although some of it is exaggerated or even malicious speculation, it's not entirely unfounded."

"Since the people behind this want to incite the emotions of East Africans, we can go with the flow and use this wave of public opinion to strengthen the construction of the defense field."

The British did indeed exploit the conflicts between East Africa and other countries, but it is undeniable that these conflicts existed in the first place. Therefore, Ernst did not intend to stop this from happening, and he could also use this sentiment to cover up his preparations for war in East Africa.

In any case, public opinion in East Africa cannot dictate the decisions of the East African government.

Ernst added, "However, we're not doing nothing. Now that these people have come forward, we can follow the trail and find the hidden mines buried in our country in advance, so that we can uproot them when needed."

East Africa certainly cannot ignore those independent news media outlets that are influenced by other countries and not controlled by the East African government. There is no need to take action against them now, but that does not preclude them from being documented.

(End of this chapter)