Moving the capital to Rhine City was not without drawbacks. Ever since the Age of Discovery began, the seas had become a key direction of expansion for every major power. The most typical example was Tsarist Russia. Its original capital had been Moscow, but later rulers such as Peter I, in order to seize an outlet to the sea, pursued a maritime strategy, learned from the West across the board, and moved the capital to what was now Saint Petersburg.
The policy of setting the capital in Saint Petersburg had undoubtedly brought enormous benefits to Tsarist Russia. Relying on the advantages of sea transport, it could more conveniently receive technology and capital from Europe, while Saint Petersburg transformed from a backwater under the former Swedish Empire into Tsarist Russia's most prosperous economic region.
Then, rapidly Westernized Saint Petersburg radiated that technology and capital into Tsarist Russia's inland regions, allowing its Eastern European homeland to develop at breakneck speed.
East Africa's move of its capital from First Town to Rhine City was arguably the opposite case. At the very least, it was no longer so convenient for Ernst to inspect the naval base at Port Bagamoyo.
Back in First Town, whenever Ernst wanted to see how the navy was developing, he could go at any time. First Town was less than seventy kilometers from the coast, a journey that could be completed within an hour. That was no longer possible now.
Of course, although Rhine City lay deep inland, it also had beneficial effects on East Africa's maritime strategy. After all, East Africa was different from Tsarist Russia. Tsarist Russia's important ports were concentrated in the east, whereas East Africa was a nation of two oceans.
Thus, Rhine City stood at the center of the East and West Coasts, allowing the