Faced with Ambassador Thomson's pointed overture of goodwill, Freer easily understood the deeper meaning behind his words.
That was, after the war, France and East Africa should reach a tacit understanding to jointly withstand pressure from Britain and the United States. After all, Britain and the United States were both Anglo-Saxon nations, and the two countries had vast room for cooperation.
Britain was still the world's hegemon, possessing vast and fertile colonies such as India, Canada, and Australia. It also held global financial supremacy and possessed a century of accumulated technology and experience, while the United States had a powerful industrial foundation and happened to lack Britain's raw materials, markets, and technology.
Under such circumstances, France naturally had to guard against the British. After all, Britain and France had been hereditary enemies for centuries, only in recent years having their attention diverted by the Germans.
Looking across the great powers apart from the Central Powers, Russia's future was currently uncertain, Spain had limited influence, and the United States and Japan both stood relatively close to Britain.
France also feared being isolated in the future, so it needed to find suitable partners to stabilize its international standing and voice after the war.
Of course, all this rested on the premise that France emerged as a victor. If France lost the First World War, such matters would no longer need consideration from Thomson and the rest of France's upper ranks.
Following Thomson's words, Freer also began considering the possibility of cooperation between East Africa and the French.
In truth, apart from East Africa being a German state, East Africa and France did indeed possess a solid foundation for cooperation.
Although France had always been held a head below Britain, it ranked second only to Britain in every field. In finance, for instance,