African Entrepreneurship Records

Chapter 1055 East Africa heading north

 At this stage, there are only three powerful countries in the Indian Ocean region, namely the United Kingdom, East Africa and the half-dead Ottoman Empire. Although the United Kingdom occupies a dominant position in the Indian Ocean, the British mainland is very far away from the Indian Ocean after all.

Moreover, key points communicating with the Indian Ocean such as the British-controlled Suez Canal or the Cape of Good Hope are not very strong and are vulnerable to various threats.

If Tsarist Russia expands its territory to the coast of the Indian Ocean, it will be completely different. Tsarist Russia’s territorial expansion is different from that of the United Kingdom, because Tsarist Russia may really localize the newly occupied areas. Therefore, if Tsarist Russia becomes an Indian Ocean country, what harm will it do to East Africa? great.

East Africa does not want a country around the Indian Ocean that can compete with East Africa. Although Britain has a strong influence in the Indian Ocean, they are all colonies and semi-colonies, and colonies can be dismantled through various means.

Take India as an example. If East Africa wants to, it can completely support the anti-British forces in India and continue to torture Britain, but there is no need for East Africa to do this at this stage.

Russia is different. Russia's colonial methods are different from those of the United Kingdom. This is reflected in Russia's Far East. Russia has the ability to establish a stable political power there, rather than an area of ​​indirect rule like a colony.

Ernst continued: "Of course, our intervention in the Persian Gulf region will inevitably infringe on British interests, but this is unavoidable, so competition with the United Kingdom must be flexible."

If East Africa wants to intervene in the Middle East and Central Asia, it cannot avoid the United Kingdom. The main reason is that Britain looks too ugly. While East Africa is expanding its territory on the African continent, the United Kingdom is also weaving a huge and complex force in the Middle East and Central Asia. network.

This network is mainly distributed along the coast of the Indian Ocean, starting from Egypt in the east, including British Somaliland, Yemen, Oman, the Pirate Coast (UAE), Qatar, Bahrain, and finally reaching India (including Pakistan).

The United Kingdom also has great influence in the Ottoman Empire and Persia. As a result, almost the entire northern shore of the Indian Ocean is within the British radiation range. Therefore, if East Africa wants to break the situation, it is bound to steal food from the British.

"So we should start with Persia and the Ottoman Empire. At least give these two countries the courage to reject Britain and Tsarist Russia. Through military assistance to Persia and the Ottoman Empire, we should make these two countries the key to breaking the deadlock in the Middle East and Central Asia."

As long as Persia and the Ottoman Empire, the two traditional Arab religious powers, are not easily manipulated by Britain and Russia, the strategies of Britain and Russia will never be realized. As for whether supporting the two countries will have an adverse impact on East Africa, it is not impossible. .

For example, if the Ottoman Empire unexpectedly revives, it will indeed have a major impact on the world structure, but East Africa does not care about this at this stage, because East Africa is originally at a disadvantage in competition in the Middle East and Central Asia.

If the Ottoman Empire revives, it will not be entirely a bad thing for East Africa. What should be more worried is Tsarist Russia and European countries.

Moreover, the probability of the Ottoman Empire's revival is extremely low, mainly due to resource constraints. The development of industry requires water and population. Without oil, most of the Arab countries that have become rich are very poor, and the population cannot increase. Food alone is a big problem. In the past, those Arab countries could achieve rapid population growth through oil trade, imported food, and desalination, but this is unlikely at this stage.

Take Saudi Arabia in its previous life as an example. Without the support of oil resources, Saudi Arabia should not have a population of close to 40 million. In fact, when Saudi Arabia became independent in its previous life, its population was only more than 4 million. According to Ernst Come on, if there is no oil, this is already the limit of Saudi Arabia.

After all, by exchanging oil for advanced agricultural equipment, Saudi Arabia’s food self-sufficiency rate in developing desert agriculture has barely reached 20%. Without oil, it would be impossible for Saudi Arabia to bear the cost of desert agriculture. Saudi agriculture can be said to be achieved through real money. Smashed out.

…

December 1907. As East Africa decided to take action, the first thing to respond was East Africa's diplomatic department. East Africa has long established diplomatic relations with Arab countries, especially in the Middle East and Central Asia.

Among them, Persia, the Ottoman Empire, Oman, and Egypt all have relatively frequent diplomatic and trade exchanges with East Africa.

East Africa sent three diplomatic missions to the three opposing countries of Oman, Persia and the Ottoman Empire. Except for these three countries, other countries and regions basically obeyed the words of Tsarist Russia or the United Kingdom and did not dare to easily disobey the two countries.

The arrival of the East African diplomatic mission was warmly welcomed by Persia and the Ottoman Empire. As for Oman, it was somewhat hesitant. The Oman government was relatively divided and the internal situation was complicated, especially the British. Of course, as a once powerful country in the Indian Ocean, Oman had internal rebellion. British influence is also very strong, especially among traditional Arabs. In previous lives, this disagreement led to Oman splitting into two countries around 1913.

Therefore, some forces in Oman are worth winning over in East Africa, and with the return of the Zanzibar people, the Zanzibar people have also formed a relatively strong political group within Oman, and they are naturally allies of East Africa.

This is quite ironic. East Africa was the main culprit for the demise of the Zanzibar Sultanate, but the Zanzibaris reached reconciliation with East Africa, and through the support of East Africa, they regained a certain say in the Omani government.

In fact, the Zanzibar people can be understood as compradors supported by East Africa. Zanzibar was originally a territory of Oman. It is reasonable for the Zanzibar people to return to Oman. Through cooperation with East Africa, the Zanzibar people have accumulated a lot of wealth. , coupled with their connections in Oman, it is not surprising to return to the political center of Oman.

Compared to Oman, which is relatively divided, Persia and the Ottoman Empire are much more enthusiastic about East Africa. In one sentence, the two countries are bitter heroes and Russia has been together for a long time.

Of course, the Ottoman Empire has more troubles than Persia. Many European countries have not very friendly relations with the Ottoman Empire. The stronger ones include Britain, France, Russia, and the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Although the Ottoman Empire needs Britain and France to check and balance Russia, this is not It means that the Ottoman Empire likes Britain and France.

Some weak countries also have "blood feud" against the Ottoman Empire, especially the countries in the Balkan Peninsula. They are all ambitious and eager to replace it and restore the glory of the Eastern Roman Empire, such as Greece, Bulgaria, Serbia, etc.

At the same time, the Ottoman Empire also had some competitors with the same religion, such as Egypt, Persia, and other forces that were willing to split off at any time.

All in all, the Ottoman Empire is in a very difficult situation due to internal and external troubles. East Africa has shown a relatively friendly attitude to strengthen relations with the Ottoman Empire, which is naturally very rare for the current Ottoman Empire.

As for Persia, East Africa is almost the savior. Although the Ottoman Empire is in a bad situation, its national strength can at least barely cope with foreign enemies. Persia is a complete doormat, sandwiched between Britain and Russia. Two beatings are not too much, and I can't afford to offend him. Who can I ask to explain this?

In fact, Persia is quite interested in East Africa. As a country on the coast of the Indian Ocean, Persia has long been familiar with East Africa, a world power that singled out the British and Portuguese forces in the South African War.

Persia once sent personnel to East Africa to find the reason for East Africa's strength. Unfortunately, East Africa had little interest in Persia at that time.

Now the situation is completely different. East Africa's intervention in the Middle East and Central Asia is a very favorable opportunity for Arab countries. After all, only the more external forces there are, the more they can wait for the price and demonstrate the value worth being attracted.

(End of chapter)