African Entrepreneurship Records

   Chapter 280 The Bagamoyo Shipyard and the Culture Wars

   Bagamoyo.

  In the south of the East African Naval Base, that is, on the south bank of the Little Rhine River, it is becoming a new construction site, and the Bagamoyo Shipyard is under construction planning.

  The construction of the factory area has been completed. According to the Venetian shipyard model and the geographical conditions of Bagamoyo Port, an East African shipyard of the same scale will be built.

  Bagamoyo Shipyard is currently the largest project actively introduced in East Africa, which aims to enhance the independent shipbuilding capacity in East Africa.

  Best, a technician from the Venice Shipyard, is introducing the project to Constantine.

  “The main reason why the Venetian shipyard should be relocated to Bagamoyo is to avoid occupying the operating space of the port of Dar es Salaam. Although the conditions and various infrastructures of Dar es Salaam are stronger than those of Bagamoyo, Dar es Salaam, as an open port, occupies an important position in the East African economy, and the import and export capacity of East Africa is mainly concentrated in Dar es Salaam and Mombasa. From the current point of view, it is not impossible to build ships in Dar es Salaam and Mombasa. , but considering the future development of various ports in East Africa, His Royal Highness, the Crown Prince, specifically explained that the location of the shipyard will be located in a non-free port area. Among the non-free ports, only Bagamoyo and Mogadishu have the best conditions, but Mogadishu is located in the north, and the climate of Somalia makes the local lack of relevant raw materials. "

  The current shipbuilding industry is still relatively dependent on wood, and Mogadishu, as an oasis city, happens to be at a disadvantage in terms of raw materials.

  "Bagamoyo itself has excellent conditions, good water depth, Zanzibar Island on the opposite side to offset most of the sea wind, and at the same time, like Dar es Salaam, it is located in the leeward bay of the mainland. All these conditions make the Port of Bagamoyo have the potential not to lose to Venice." Best said eloquently.

  Berster is an Austrian, a technician at the Trieste shipyard, who previously studied at the Venice shipyard, and was appointed as the director by the Hechingen consortium after the Trieste branch was opened at the Venice shipyard.

  The shipbuilding industry in East Africa is roughly divided into two systems. One is the inland shipbuilding industry relying on lakes and rivers. Typical examples are the Mwanza shipyard along the Great Lakes, the Kigoma shipyard on Lake Soren and the Karonga shipyard on the shore of Lake Malawi.

   There is also the just-started coastal shipbuilding industry. After listening to the suggestion of the Navy Commander-in-Chief Ferdinand, East Africa established two small ship repair factories in Dar es Salaam and Mombasa respectively. Their main business is not only providing maintenance for ships along the route, but also producing small wooden fishing boats.

  The two small ship repair yards were actually rebuilt on the basis of the original shipyard in the Sultanate of Zanzibar. The technical system came from Arabia, but the shipbuilding center of Zanzibar is actually located on Zanzibar Island, mainly because Zanzibar has too little control over the coast.

  Another city in East Africa with shipbuilding capabilities is Mogadishu. As a port with a long history on the coast of the Indian Ocean, Mogadishu has certain shipbuilding capabilities, but it is completely backward in technology.

  Taking advantage of the outbreak of the war between the Austro-Hungarian Empire and Italy, Ernst planned to copy the Hechingen shipyard in Venice to East Africa. The panic caused by the war helped the shipyard workers actively choose to develop in East Africa.

   "The completion of the Bagamoyo Shipyard means that East Africa can develop independently in the shipbuilding industry?" Constantine asked.

   "It depends on how you understand it. For example, now, the design, planning, and construction of the shipyard are completely done by ourselves. This is not independent! But in terms of hardware, the East African shipbuilding industry cannot meet the conditions of independence at all." Belst said, "For example, the steam power system and important parts must be imported. Even if the Bagamoyo Shipyard is built, it can only complete the construction of the hull alone, so it is still a large ship assembly plant in essence."

  Berster went on to say: "Currently, the completion of the Bagamoyo Shipyard is still a milestone for the East African shipbuilding industry. First solve the problem of availability, and then gradually fill in the missing industrial chain. Bagamoyo is a big place. In the future, it will rely on the Bagamoyo Shipyard as the center to form a shipbuilding-related industry."

   "So that's the case!" Constantine said with emotion, "After the Bagamoyo shipyard is completed, what level will the ships it produce be in the world?"

   "Unfortunately, Your Majesty, the technology is estimated to be two generations behind. In fact, the Venetian shipyard itself is slightly behind its peers in technology because of the decline of Venice. Now the shipbuilding has been greatly improved in terms of technological progress due to the appearance of ironclad ships. Therefore, the shipbuilding technology introduced by Bagamoyo will definitely lag behind that of Europe."

  The Bagamoyo Shipyard said it copied the Venice Shipyard. In fact, it bought the machines from the Venice Shipyard and assembled them in Bagamoyo for re-production. The original Venice Shipyard would introduce new equipment and technology for industrial upgrading.

  With the opening of the Suez Canal, it is an inevitable trend that the Mediterranean economy will rise again, and Venice, the most brilliant port city on the Mediterranean coast in the past, will also have a second spring, so it becomes important to improve the shipbuilding level of the Venice Shipyard in Hechingen.

  This is also one of the reasons why Ernst built the Bagamoyo Shipyard. The backward technology and equipment of the Venice Shipyard were eliminated to East Africa. For East Africa, that is advanced technology, and the Venice Shipyard can also complete industrial upgrading, which is good for both.

  At the same time, by relocating most of the Italian workers in the Venice shipyard to East Africa, Ernst can recruit more Germans from Austria to work in Venice, which is equivalent to helping Austria control Venice in disguise.

  Combined with Ernst’s previous poisonous plan, the population of the countryside around the city of Venice was emptied, and then became Austrians outside the city of Venice, isolating the city of Venice from the Italian-dominated countryside.

  The Italian rural area separated from the city, the probability of being influenced by the city of Venice is greatly reduced, because the general culture will consciously concentrate in the city and then radiate out.

  Unable to accept the radiation of Italian culture in Venice, Austria can slowly assimilate the farmers in the Veneto region through education and other means. The premise is to break the interpretation rights of the local rural dignitaries, and then educate the old Italian farmers. Not to mention 100%, most Italians will slowly become Austrians.

  It is the general trend to supplement the urban population in the countryside. Slowly, the Italians in the city of Venice will be replaced by the surrounding Austrian countrymen due to fertility problems. In this way, from the top to the bottom, the Germans’ right to speak can be gradually strengthened. As the middle class, the mainstay of Italian culture, the Austro-Hungarian Empire will try to get them to leave Venice. After all, the Kingdom of Italy cannot but accept these true Italian patriots. It doesn't matter, if you go to East Africa and be a good person, you can still save it. If not, we will arrange a snowfield package in Alaska.

  Of course, this is just an idea. Whether it can be completed or not requires consideration of comprehensive factors. For example, if the Kingdom of Italy regains Venice in the future, this process will be interrupted, but the possibility is very low.

   Another purpose of doing this is to block the spread of Italian culture in the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The Italian culture on the coast of the Adriatic Sea is very strong, and these areas happen to be on the coast of Austria. Venice, the connection center, will be interrupted. Slowly, the Italian culture on the east coast of the Adriatic Sea will also decline. Next, we will start to solve the cultural imprint of the Slavs (mainly Croatia and Slovenia), at least the ethnic conflicts in the Austrian region can be greatly alleviated.

  This is essentially a culture war. Ernst, as a strategist, feels that if things are done, the future generations of Austrians must thank him. Of course, according to past life experience, the so-called Virgin Mary whores in the post-modern society will definitely criticize them if they know their "evil deeds", just like some people in the Saxons enjoy the blessings brought by their ancestors through exploitation and colonization, and then overthrow the sculpture of Victoria.

  If they really repented of the evil deeds of colonialism, in Ernst’s view, these people should first cut off their own food, clothing, housing and transportation, and live the life of the poor people in Africa. After all, everything they enjoy is the legacy left by the British colonial system. I really think that working less than eight hours a day and being able to live comfortably is the result of technological progress! That is just the result of domestic capital trying their best to plunder wealth from other countries, and the colonial era is far from over, it has only been replaced by a more concealed economic colonization.

  (end of this chapter)