When the German parliament is in session, nothing can be hidden, at least Britain, France and other countries already know that there is a force in Germany that thinks about their overseas colonies.

As Bismarck said, the current German government cannot waste any effort on those rotten lands, which are nothing more than islands in Africa and the Pacific, including India, Indochina, the Caribbean coast, the Middle East, North Africa, and Australia, all under the control of Britain and France.

Latin America is a special region, which is now an independent continent, not anyone's colony, at most a semi-economic colony of Britain, France, Spain, Portugal and the United States.

Most of Latin America was formerly colonized by Spain and Portugal, and after the Spanish and Portuguese colonial powers were expelled from Latin America, there was a power vacuum in Latin America. European colonial powers such as Britain, France, and the Netherlands tried to fill this gap, but they met with resolute opposition from the United States and their former overlords, Spain and Portugal.

In 1823, the United States issued the Monroe Declaration, declaring that the Americas were the Americas of the Americans, and opposing the colonization and interference of European countries in the affairs of the Americas. Britain and France did not forcibly divide the three countries because they were afraid of the power of the three countries, and after the rapid growth of the United States in the 19th century, the European powers did not have the strength to carve up.

Now Bismarck can suppress the colonialists in Germany, but Bismarck is only a prime minister in the end, and can only represent this government.

Hohenzollernburg.

"Congressman Klein is very grateful for your news, and I would like to accept it." Tom skillfully pulled out a red envelope and stuffed it to Callein.

"Haha, this matter is polite, it was originally a small favor, but Mr. Thomas, don't worry, I will pay attention to any useful information!" Klein happily stuffed the red envelope into his pocket, and then said, "Say hello to His Majesty the King on my behalf!" ”

"No problem!"

Sending Klein away, Tom carefully sorted out the contents of this meeting, and then sent it to East Africa by telegram.

As part of the Hohenzollern province of the Kingdom of Prussia, the local parliamentarians naturally had contact with the royal family.

In fact, it was not Konstantin who went to East Africa, and the upper house of the Imperial Diet this time was indispensable for a seat in the Heshingen Princely Kingdom.

But it doesn't matter, there is Sigmaringen next door in the Imperial Parliament, and if there is any trouble, the Hexingen royal family can also get the news, and in the same way, the Heixingen royal family can get the news, so basically the content of this meeting will also be known by other countries.

This can also be reflected in the decade-long obscurity of East Africa, which has no parliament at all, so there is little risk of leakage.

Moreover, European exploration of Africa was very slow, and before Ernst colonized East Africa, European exploration of sub-Saharan Africa was almost limited to coastal areas and rivers such as the Nile.

(Figure: Map of explored areas in Africa in 1901, red is a familiar area, only North Africa and Egypt along the Nile, blue area is coastal and some rivers, more familiar, gray area is a completely unexplored area)

East Africa soon received a message from Tom.

Konstantin asked: "It seems that after the reunification of Germany, it also began to try to exert its influence in the world, and at least some of the people are no longer satisfied with the current reality, what should we do?" ”

Ernst said: "Taking advantage of this warship deal with Austria-Hungary, the relationship between the two countries should be settled, and now we should also take sides!" ”

Konstantin: "Austro-Khaku?" ”

Ernst: "Yes, East Africa needs allies, and there is no better fit than Austria-Hungary. ”

Ferdinand: "I'm afraid there are people in the Austro-Hungarian Empire who don't think that East Africa qualifies as an ally.

After all, the status of African countries in the eyes of Europe is indeed too low, and it is almost tied with Antarctica.

Ernst smiled and said: "We don't care what some people in the Austro-Hungarian Empire think, but in the name of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, we can avoid a lot of trouble." ”

Rather than an ally, Ernst wanted to give East Africa the status of an Austro-Hungarian protectorate, not the original Zanzibar protectorate.

However, this matter is not easy, it is impossible to just think of benefits, so Ernst also intends to give Austria-Hungary some benefits, and those benefits depend on the bargaining chips in East Africa.

Ferdinand volunteered: "I'll take care of this matter!" ”

"No problem!" Ernst said that there was really no better candidate than Archduke Ferdinand.

……

In May, Archduke Ferdinand traveled to Austria under the pretext of inspecting the ironclad ship Friedrich, stopping by Schönbrunn Palace.

"What? Ally? Even Franz himself, who is usually more serious, was shocked by his brother's remarks, "Do you know what you're talking about?" ”

"What's all the fuss about! The alliance between the Kingdom of Hehingen and the Austro-Hungarian Empire seemed to me to be a match made in heaven. ”

"When did you change your name? Isn't it called the Kingdom of East Africa? ”

"The name East Africa is out of place, and now that the number of Germans in the kingdom has reached the level of tens of millions, it is not surprising that we changed to a German name."

"You count blacks in the population?" Franz asked rhetorically.

"Negroes are not qualified to be our nationals, and if you add blacks, the population of East Africa is more than 30 million."

However, Franz remained skeptical: "It's okay to deceive others, don't deceive yourself, my dear brother, there are only more than 10 million Germans in the Reich, and you say that there are more than 10 million Germans in one region of Africa?" ”

Ferdinand said: "It depends on how to define the Germans, without counting the number of new births, the real meaning of East Africa is about 4 million people, of which South Germany contributed more than 1.5 million, Austria-Hungary, North Germany and the United States contributed about 2.5 million." ”

"Is this data reliable?"

"In 1870 the population of Germany was about 40 million, and the German region has always had the largest outflow from Europe, especially after the economic crisis."

"Are you sure you didn't include the Slavs and other peoples?"

"If you add the Slavs and other Europeans, it's about forty to fifty percent, and more than half of the Slavs are Slovenes and Croats and Serbs."

Franz's eyelids jumped, this is poaching people in the Austro-Hungarian Empire! If you count these Austro-Khalinarian Slavs from Austria-Hungary, East Africa poached at least two million people from Austria-Hungary. But that's fine, no wonder Slovenian and Croatian nationalists have been inactive in recent years.

"Even if you add the Slavs, the population should not be more than 10 million."

"Isn't there still nearly half of the Far Eastern immigrants! The two sides add up to exactly 10 million. ”

"Aren't you afraid that such a country will collapse?" Franz raised his own doubts.

"It's better to worry more about Austria-Hungary, brother! Compared to the population problem of East Africa, the problem of Austria-Hungary is really serious, the Germans make up just over 20 percent, and these peoples have their own historical identity, and the crisis of division hangs over your empire at all times! ”

The problem of Austria-Hungary is a perennial problem, and the Habsburgs' way of loyalty to the emperor is clearly not capable of coping with the rise of nationalism, unless Austria-Hungary can create a new nation that can encompass all peoples.

"The problems of the empire are indeed incapable of being solved, so you also choose to take this path?"

Archduke Ferdinand shook his head and said: "National integration, East Africa is a country of pure immigrants, and the royal family of Hexingen, as the ruler of this country, has more power than any monarch in European history, so an extremely tough assimilation policy has been carried out in East Africa, and it is only necessary to wait until the next generation grows up, and there is no longer a problem of cognition." ”

"And that's still Germany?"

"Who knows! If Austria-Hungary can do the same, I'm sure you will choose it too, the question of the origin of the people does not matter to us Habsburgs, because this is how we established the Austrian Empire in the past, but now some of them, especially the Slavs, in Napoleon's conspiracy ideas, are identified with the nation and cut off the relationship with the Empire, but there is no benefit for them except to establish their own state. ”

No matter how many Slavic states were built, it was not as good as an Austria-Hungary, and later history proved this, Austria-Hungary could become a major power in Europe and even in the world, with both the dignity of a great power and the freedom of small people, while the later sparse bunch of Balkan countries could not even get the freedom of small people.

It may be that under Austria-Hungary it is true that it is not satisfactory now, but it is definitely much happier than other countries.

(End of chapter)