Whether there is a real alliance or not is not important for East Africa, because if it really encounters an enemy, it is not something that Austria-Hungary can settle, after all, the countries that can not look at the face of Austria-Hungary can only be the great powers.

"I think it's still a bit cheap Austria!" Ferdinand was not satisfied with the outcome of the negotiations.

"Don't worry, our goal has been achieved, even Austria has a deterrent effect on ordinary countries, although Austria-Hungary is partially cleared, but in the eyes of others Austria is Austria-Hungary." Ernst said to his father-in-law.

As Ernst said, the news of East Africa's "alliance" with Austria still provoked a certain reaction in the eyes of the rest of Europe.

British Prime Minister Benjamin paid special attention to Austria's behavior: "The Austrian government's alliance with East Africa shows that Austria-Hungary has ideas for Africa!" ”

"There may be reasons for this, after all, under the economic depression, there are not many ways to divert contradictions, and the importance of colonies is more prominent." said the Foreign Secretary.

"We can't sit idly by and watch Austria's actions, and what is going on with the intelligence of the Kingdom of East Africa? I didn't expect them to hug the thighs of Austria-Hungary first. ”

Benjamin was very different from his predecessor Gladstone, as the leader of the Conservative Party, he was an active advocate and defender of British colonial imperialism, vigorously pursuing a policy of foreign aggression and colonial expansion.

And it is worth noting that Benjamin himself is a Jew, so he has a very close relationship with the Jewish consortium, especially the Rothschilds in Britain.

In 1875, Egypt's Viceroy Ismail Pasha was in financial crisis and intended to sell his holdings of canal stocks. But the French were not greedy enough and planned to suppress the price again, and after hearing the news, Benjamin secretly borrowed money from the Rothschild family overnight, and bought all the shares of the Egyptian government (about 45% of all shares in the canal) at a low price of 4 million pounds, plus some small shares, and the British thus controlled the lifeblood of east-west sea transportation.

Therefore, the prime minister of the British Empire, who has a very good relationship with the Rothschild family, has no good feelings about the Heshingen royal family behind East Africa.

The good news, however, is that the British Prime Minister's focus is now on India, and in 1876 his foreign policy was focused on continuing to strengthen relations between India and the British mainland, and promoting Queen Victoria to become the Empress of India, thus transforming the British Empire from a verbal habit to a literal "empire".

Therefore, in recent years, for the security of the Indian colonies, the British government has strengthened its aggressive actions against its neighbors, including Southeast Asia, East Asia, Afghanistan, and Iran, with India as the core. The second direction of the Benjamin government's colonial empire was to use South Africa as a springboard to invade the whole of Africa.

The importance of India is self-evident, and the reason why the British government suddenly paid more attention to Africa was that the colonial strategy in other regions did not go well.

Britain was originally the world's first colonial country, but the greed of the British is endless, and after the unsatisfactory completion of the colonization activities in the Americas, only the African continent has a vast land in the whole world, which has not been divided.

Because of India, Britain does not have the energy to "take care" of Africa, but Benjamin's government has begun to investigate the forces in Africa to facilitate the next invasion process.

And East Africa is just ahead of Britain's most important colony in Africa (Egypt is a semi-colony).

"Last year, we sent 12 expeditions to try to explore deep into the interior of Africa, and in West Africa our operation was relatively smooth, but in southern Africa, the Kingdom of East Africa forbade any individuals and forces to enter the territory of the Kingdom of East Africa to engage in expeditionary activities, so five expeditions were expelled, and one is missing."

It is worth noting that the British exploration of the interior of Africa began with its own colonies, namely the British Gold Coast in West Africa and the Cape Town Colony in South Africa.

West Africa is going well, but South Africa has suffered a setback, and the kingdom of East Africa, which controls the north bank of the Orange River, has blocked its borders without giving the British any chance.

Benjamin scolded angrily: "Gladstone, this bastard, should not have sat back and watched the East African Kingdom annex the Transvaal Republic in the first place. ”

"Your Excellency, we know too little about East Africa, so let's not end up easily, although the Transvaal Republic has been annexed by the Germans, but the Orange Free State is still there, we should first find an opportunity to annex the Orange Free State to Cape Town, the diamond resources of the Orange Free State are also a valuable asset to the Empire."

Benjamin: "Of course I know that, so I'm going to get somebody to lobby the Orange Free State government and get the Orange Free State on board. In addition, in order to strengthen the intelligence work in East Africa, we must understand the population and land size of East Africa, and the abnormal behavior of Austria shows that the Kingdom of East Africa is by no means simple. ”

"Yes, Prime Minister."

……

Berlin.

Wilhelm I was also somewhat interested in the Austrian practice of eating alone.

Wilhelm I: "Austria still has the leisure to go to Africa to exert influence, is it really profitable to say that Africa!" ”

Bismarck: "This is impossible, Your Majesty, according to my speculation, the main reason for the signing of the agreement between Austria and East Africa is that the high-level relations between the two countries are relatively friendly, and the Heixingen royal family is nothing more than trying to find a meat shield to ensure the security of their own country, which is the survival of many small countries in the world." ”

William I: "But in that case, Prince Constantine should be looking for us, after all, the Hehinden prince is also part of the empire." ”

Bismarck: "Your Majesty, to put it mildly, the choice of the Heshingen royal family is the most suitable in my opinion, Africa is in the southern hemisphere, the closest world power to East Africa is Austria-Hungary, there is only a Suez Canal between them, and the Austro-Hungarian navy is also stronger than ours, so if I had to choose, I would definitely choose Austria-Hungary, after all, it is impossible for Prussia to go from the Baltic Sea to the North Atlantic and then to the Mediterranean, and then enter the Indian Ocean to take care of East Africa, and the citizens of East Africa are Germans, and they are of the same origin as Germany, Culturally more Catholic, the Hashingen royal family was historically closer to the Austro-Hungarian Empire, only briefly having a honeymoon with Prussia after the Revolution of 1848. ”

Wilhelm I: "You are right, the Imperial Navy is in an awkward position, and although the Austro-Hungarian Navy is not very good, the Mediterranean Sea is noticeably wider than the Baltic Sea. ”

Bismarck continued: "It doesn't matter if Austria-Hungary influences East Africa, we can influence Austria-Hungary, anyway, the current Austro-Hungarian Prime Minister is pro-German." ”

……

Compared with Britain and Germany, France is not interested in East Africa at all, and even believes that an alliance between East Africa and Austria is beneficial to its African strategy.

France's strategic focus is on North Africa and West Africa, so there is no conflict of interest with East Africa, and it is not bad that the Kingdom of East Africa can give the British eye medicine, and the British in the province are making small moves in West Africa, and the two sides are real competitors in West Africa.

As for East Africa's willingness to form an alliance with Austria, France does not mind, could it be that Austria still wants to build a triadic empire? As long as it did not cooperate with Prussia, the enemy, the French government did not have much of an opinion.

Russia: "East Africa? I haven't heard of it, it's not the Balkans. ”

Portugal: "......"

(End of chapter)