Chapter 307: The Birth of Germany
While East Africa was taking over Mayotte Island, its ambitions extended to the neighboring islands in the Comoros: Grande Comore, Anjouan, and Mohéli. Among them, the Sultan of Anjouan was the nominal ruler of the Comoros archipelago. The East African Kingdom planned to "have a talk" with the Sultan—namely, to relocate some of his people to the Sultanate of Zanzibar. In the future, the Comoros would become the East African Comoros.
But that would have to wait—migration had not yet caught up. For now, the East African Navy would focus on keeping the Sultan of Anjouan calm.
Once Mayotte Island was secure, the East African Navy promptly set sail for Anjouan. Under the warm and "friendly" visit of Archduke Ferdinand and his navy, the Sultan of Anjouan signed a treaty making the Comoros Islands an East African protectorate.
In reality, Anjouan had already lost control over the other three islands, but East Africa only needed his signature to give its actions the appearance of legitimacy. With that, the Kingdom could proceed to suppress local resistance on Grande Comore and Mohéli under the pretense of acting in the Sultan's name.
Power on the Comoros was fragmented. Apart from Mayotte, which East Africa now fully controlled, the other islands were populated by a mix of Africans, Arabs, and Malays—with Arabs holding political dominance and Arab culture flourishing on the islands. Fortunately, due to their tropical rainforest climate, the Comoros islands had relatively low populations, making East Africa's job of asserting control more manageable.
...
On January 18, 1871, Wilhelm I proclaimed himself Emperor of the German Empire in the Hall of Mirrors at Versailles.
The previous year, leveraging momentum from the Franco-Prussian War, the four South German states officially joined the German Confederation, completing the unification of the German lands.
Southern Germany had always been one of the most economically developed regions in the German-speaking world. Incorporating it into a unified German Empire created an effect far greater than the sum of its parts. Bavaria alone was already more powerful than many European nations.
With Wilhelm I's announcement, the German Empire appeared on the world stage for the first time in history.
The newly formed German Empire now had over 41 million people and 610,000 square kilometers of territory—immediately surpassing France to become the most powerful nation on the European continent.
Germany possessed the strongest army in Europe and vast land holdings, far outstripping the former capabilities of either Prussia or Austria.
Emperor Franz of the Austro-Hungarian Empire received the news of Germany's birth with mixed emotions. It signaled that Austria had lost all influence in German affairs, and the Empire would have to redirect its focus elsewhere. Meanwhile, Hungary was delighted—Germany's unification meant Austria could no longer use its ties to German-speaking lands to suppress Hungarian ambitions.
The East African Kingdom congratulated the formation of the German Empire but did not go beyond polite formalities. Had Germany declared its founding in Berlin, Ernst might have attended, but since it was done in Paris, he avoided it to prevent East Africa from attracting unnecessary hostility.
By the time Germany unified, East Africa's population had reached 4.7 million. Of these, over 1.8 million were ethnic Germans from Germany and Austria-Hungary, including those born locally. When adding Germanized Slavs (mainly Croats and Slovenes) and mixed-heritage families (e.g., Germans married to Chinese or Paraguayans), the German-identified population exceeded 4.45 million. The remaining 200,000 or so immigrants included Italians, Russians, and Chinese.
East Africa was indisputably a German state—ranking as the third-largest German-speaking nation after Germany and Austria-Hungary. Smaller states like Luxembourg and Liechtenstein were negligible by comparison.
In terms of land area (including the Alaskan royal territory), the East African Kingdom was the fifth-largest country in the world, behind only the British Empire (including its colonies), Russia, the Far East, and the United States.
East Africa never publicly revealed the exact size of its territory. Although it had come into contact with other colonial powers, the distinction between land and colony was blurred in this era. Most countries still assumed East Africa was confined to the former mainland territory of the Sultanate of Zanzibar. The exceptions were Mozambique and parts of Austria, which knew better.
Mozambique had directly felt the pressure of East African expansion. Austrians, at the very least, knew East Africa had fully conquered Kenya and Tanganyika—otherwise, they wouldn't be investing there so boldly.
Sitting on vast lands and commanding millions of people, the East African Kingdom now needed to focus on low-key development. Only after fully consolidating Zimbabwe and Zambia could it reveal its true weight to the world.
Starting in 1871, East Africa shifted from aggressive expansion to consolidation. Apart from taking Mayotte Island, no new expansion plans were made.
Along its borders, the Kingdom worked to build peaceful trade relations with the Boers and Portuguese, avoiding military conflict.
Meanwhile, Ernst began preparations to shift parts of the Hechingen Consortium's industries to East Africa. The Consortium had grown into one of the world's top business empires, with East Africa as its back garden, and substantial influence in Germany and Austria-Hungary. It even had assets across Europe. By now, the Hechingen Consortium was wealthy enough to rival small countries, and even a trickle of its investments could keep East Africa busy for years.
At its core was the Hechingen Bank, which, under Ernst's leadership, had acquired stakes in many new German and Austrian companies—especially in electricity, arms manufacturing, food, and machinery.
A prime example was the Škoda factory, founded in 1869 by Count Škoda in Bohemia. At the time, it was merely a machine workshop, but Hechingen Bank took a 17% stake. Count Škoda himself was baffled by this investment.
The Hechingen Consortium also funded many up-and-coming European electric companies. In the food sector, it relied on monopolistic control. East African tropical crops—like coffee, tea, and rubber—were mainly exported to Central and Eastern Europe. As these industries matured, they squeezed out competitors from Southeast Asia and the Americas.
The bank also invested in the oil industry in Eastern Austria-Hungary and Romania. King Carol I of Romania gave Hechingen Bank nearly full access, making it dominant in the Romanian oil sector.
East Africa and the Hechingen Consortium—both royal assets—were booming. The Kingdom exported agricultural goods on a low-margin, high-volume model, while the Consortium specialized in finance, light industry, and high-tech—high-profit and large-scale sectors.
The one thing East Africa lacked was a heavy industry base. Neither the state nor the Consortium had much experience in this area. Yet without heavy industry, there could be no reliable supply of industrial materials. Until that changed, the Consortium would remain dependent on Europe. Only by developing heavy industry could East Africa and the Consortium merge into a true political-economic superpower.
That made heavy industry the top development priority for the East African Kingdom.
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