Chapter Summaries

Ernst exercised to lose weight before Prince Constantin asked his advice about East Africa’s rapidly growing population. Ernst rejected birth control and proposed relying on women to raise children while black slaves took over agricultural labor, leaving East Africa’s population policy unchanged.

• Ernst completed three hundred push-ups and explained to Tom that he wanted to lose weight for his own satisfaction.
• Prince Constantin told Ernst that East Africa’s newborn population might exceed five hundred thousand in 1870 and asked whether the government should limit births.
• Ernst firmly opposed administrative birth control and argued that East Africa would benefit from the growing population.
• Ernst proposed that women stop working in agriculture to care for children and that black slaves replace them as farm laborers.

After Mogadishu fell, East African forces began securing its residents and advancing through the Geleidi Sultanate and nearby Cushitic lands. Meanwhile, Portuguese envoys assessed East Africa’s defenses in Dar es Salaam while negotiating the partition of the Kingdom of Malawi.

• After the Battle of Mogadishu, Svit ordered Lavis to keep residents from leaving, prepare to hand them over as laborers, and separately imprison the royal family and nobles.
• Svit advanced upstream along the Shebelle River, aiming to eliminate the Geleidi Sultanate’s remaining forces and expand East Africa’s territory westward.
• Svit’s troops destroyed a small village of Geleidi camel herders, and he ordered them to continue toward the Shebelle’s source.
• Portuguese delegates negotiating over the Kingdom of Malawi assessed East Africa from the restricted port district of Dar es Salaam.
• Platini and Everton discussed East Africa’s coastal defenses and mocked its limited navy as they considered the declining strength of Portugal’s own fleet.

Ernst traveled to Sweden to seek recognition for East Africa’s planned independence, and secured Charles XV’s promise to support it. He continued his diplomatic tour, winning Russia’s agreement and Spain’s backing through Alfonso XII.

• Martin concluded negotiations with the Portuguese over dividing the Kingdom of Malawi along Kampamba on Lake Malawi.
• Ernst visited his great-aunt Josephina in Sweden and explained East Africa’s plan to establish a kingdom.
• Charles XV agreed to have Sweden recognize the Kingdom of East Africa when it was announced and offered to help with Britain and France.
• Alexander II agreed to recognize East Africa’s independence during Ernst’s visit to Saint Petersburg.
• Ernst contacted Alfonso XII in France, and Alfonso agreed to issue a statement for Spain supporting East Africa’s establishment.

Felix completed East Africa’s five-and-a-half-month “Pocket” Plan, claiming more than eight hundred thousand square kilometers and reaching the Zambezi’s northern bank. He named the falls King Constantin Falls, and the chapter also described how his later-published diary became a key record of East African history and colonial rule.

• Felix reflected on the power of the Zambezi waterfall in an excerpt from his diary, which later became an important and expensive historical record.
• The account described East Africa’s destruction of historical evidence and its later government’s rejection of claims from descendants of displaced natives.
• Felix completed the “Pocket” Plan, expanding East African control across later Zambia and part of the Republic of the Congo.
• Felix reached the waterfall known locally as Mosi-oa-Tunya and decided it should bear a German name.
• Felix first proposed Prince Constantin Falls, then renamed it King Constantin Falls because East Africa would become a kingdom.

Constantin crowned himself king and established the Kingdom of East Africa, whose diplomatic mission then sought recognition across Europe. By May 25, most European countries had recognized the new kingdom, while the Pope remained outraged at being excluded.

• On May 13, Constantin crowned himself at Qiuweit Palace and proclaimed the Kingdom of East Africa, then inspected the Royal Guard.
• On May 20, the Kingdom of East Africa Diplomatic Mission separated from the Hohenzollern Conglomerate and began operating abroad.
• Austria-Hungary, Prussia, Sweden, Romania, Russia, and other European states recognized the kingdom, while Napoleon III invited its envoys to meet him.
• William Ewart Gladstone learned of the kingdom’s founding and ordered Britain to recognize it before leaving to address riots in Ireland.
• By May 25, Britain and France had joined the countries recognizing East Africa, while the Pope protested that no envoy had visited Rome.

Richard represented the newly founded Kingdom of East Africa in negotiations to establish diplomatic relations with the Qing government. The Treaty of Liangdong was signed, opening the way for East African envoys, trade, and recruitment of Chinese laborers in the Far East.

• Richard told Wang Enke that he had been promoted from the Hechingen commercial office to become East Africa’s ambassador to the Far East.
• Richard gave Li Fus a letter from Prince Constantin, and Li Fus agreed to introduce him to the Qing government in his private capacity.
• Li Fus introduced Richard to Chonghou, who learned that Prince Constantin ruled the new German-founded Kingdom of East Africa.
• Emperor Tongzhi received Richard on May 13, 1870, and Richard and Chonghou signed the Treaty of Liangdong on May 15.
• East Africa established an embassy in the capital and consulates in Jiaozhou, Shanghai, Xiangshan County, Xuzhou, and Kaifeng, including locations used for immigration work.

The Kingdom of East Africa used textile factories, grain purchases, and staged maritime disasters to bring Japanese women to East Africa while concealing the scheme behind European shell companies. Sebastian left Japanese officials grateful after posing as a mediator in a dispute with fake Russian merchants.

• The Kingdom of East Africa established diplomatic relations with Japan and sent Sebastian as its envoy.
• East Africa recruited Japanese women through factories and bought girls from struggling farming families, paying in grain.
• East African agents staged maritime disasters and used shell companies to hide the loss of hundreds or thousands of women at a time.
• East Africa kept some women working in Japanese factories, where their comparatively good wages and local connections helped officials overlook the scheme.
• Sebastian mediated a dispute between Japanese officials and merchants impersonating Tsarist Russians, who paid a symbolic pension.
• Japanese officials praised Sebastian as a gentleman and celebrated the Emperor.

On May 23, 1870, the East African government prepared to send 243 high-achieving children to study in Prussia and Austria, promising to provide for them and keep in contact with their families. The students departed from Dar es Salaam, beginning what was expected to be a difficult adjustment to life and schooling in Europe.

• The King ordered officials to care for the students’ education and daily needs, honoring the trust their families had placed in the government.
• On May 30, the Kingdom of East Africa sent 243 students to Europe, selecting them from a population whose first primary-school pupils had not yet graduated.
• Maklov rejected his wife’s doubts about keeping their son in East Africa, while Karl and Hans supported sending their young sons to Europe for further education.
• The students departed from Dar es Salaam, with 108 bound for Austria and the rest for Prussia and other German states, where they would attend secondary schools before seeking university admission.
• East African staff instructed the children to keep their identification tags, remember their home addresses, identify themselves as East African students and Germans, and contact their supervisors if they needed help.
• The government arranged free living expenses and a telegraph service for families to receive messages every three months, while the students faced the challenges of discrimination and adapting to unfamiliar customs.

Ernst expanded production across Trieste and Hechingen to prepare the Hohenzollern Conglomerate to supply the coming Franco-Prussian War. After inspecting new rations, canned foods, vodka, and lime soda, he considered creating a French shell company to sell supplies to both sides.

• Trieste's grain shipments and factories increased production, while factories in Hechingen stockpiled military uniforms, food, and other goods.
• Ernst planned to use the Prussian mobilization and resulting supply shortages to sell the conglomerate's stockpiled goods at ordinary market prices.
• Ernst tasted compressed biscuits and approved their portability, shelf life, and flavor, while discussing packaging and salt levels.
• Factory representatives showed Ernst canned beef stew and green bean ham, and he inspected plans for cheap high-proof Wrangler Vodka and increased Lime Soda production.
• Ernst urged the company to improve its products and advertising, especially by persuading housewives of industrial food's nutritional value.
• Ernst considered setting up a French shell company and warehouses so family-connected French nobles could sell supplies to France during mobilization.

Constantin, Felix, and Von der Leyen reviewed East Africa’s territory and discussed the transport obstacles facing expansion into the southwestern highlands. Ernst chose Zimbabwe as East Africa’s next target for its coal and iron resources, while recognizing that taking it would bring the kingdom into conflict with the Boers or the Portuguese.

• Von der Leyen presented Constantin with a revised map of the Kingdom of East Africa, whose territory Felix described as centered on a vast, defensible highland region.
• Felix explained that rivers and the Zambezi obstructed development and expansion in the southwest, and proposed bridges and cooperation with inland boat forces.
• Ernst identified Southern Sudan, the Luba and Lunda kingdoms, and Zimbabwe as the kingdom’s remaining directions for expansion, then chose Zimbabwe.
• Ernst judged Zimbabwe’s coal and iron deposits essential to making East Africa an industrial nation and noted the region’s limited water supply.
• Ernst concluded that taking Zimbabwe would block Boer expansion northward and Portuguese expansion westward, eventually forcing East Africa to confront one of them.

Constantin proposed reforming East Africa’s administrative divisions to free officials for governing its newly occupied territories and improve regional defense. The discussion ended with officials agreeing that East Africa should secure a few northern positions and halt expansion toward the Abyssinian Empire.

• Constantin argued that East Africa should merge and reorganize several eastern regions to reduce administrative costs and reassign officials to the newly occupied northeast and southwest.
• Constantin identified the Ruvuma River basin regions, Middle Coastal Region, Great Plains Region, and Upper Lake Malawi Region as areas whose boundaries or status needed reconsideration.
• An official argued that lands north of the Shebelle River should be integrated under one administration to address Somali groups and nearby British and French interests.
• Felix called the Abyssinian Empire a potential threat, but Von der Leyen argued that it lacked both the strength and motive to challenge East Africa.
• Svit agreed that East Africa should secure a few defensible positions and then stop expanding northward, since Britain, France, and Egypt posed greater threats to Abyssinia.

The Kingdom of East Africa redrew its administrative divisions into provinces, choosing borders, capitals, and military centers based on geography, resources, and defense. The chapter ended with plans to establish government institutions in newly occupied territories and forcibly remove or enslave indigenous people.

• Felix and other officials discussed provincial borders and capitals, selecting locations such as Beledweyne, Diredawa, Baydhabo, and Karonga for strategic and logistical reasons.
• On May 23, 1870, the East African government approved a new administrative map comprising 24 provinces, 26 provincial-level regions, and the vassal Sultanate of Zanzibar.
• The government divided the Great Plains Region among neighboring provinces and established special defense provinces, including Northern Province, Sea-Lake Province, and South Salzburg Province.
• The government planned to establish institutions in newly occupied territories, expel indigenous people considered old or infirm, suppress resistance, and enslave able-bodied young people as laborers.

Ernst assessed East Africa’s land system, population growth, economy, and dependence on Austria as he considered how to develop the country. He left land ownership unresolved while planning to expand the military and industrial investment, and the chapter ended with the author noting a lack of inspiration.

• Ernst concluded that immigrants were satisfied with East Africa’s provisions and had little interest in owning land, while the slave economy sustained the country’s inefficient system.
• He noted that births and immigration could add over a million people in 1870 and potentially push East Africa’s population past ten million within a decade.
• Ernst worried that the Hechingen Royal Family could not retain all East African land indefinitely and considered when and how to change ownership.
• He planned to attract Austrian investment into East African mines and deepen economic ties with Austria, which he expected to support East Africa in a future conflict with Britain and France.
• Ernst judged that East Africa needed an army of more than 100,000 men and would depend on Austria for education, research, and military industry as its young population matured.

Ferdinand visited Franz in Vienna and presented East Africa’s proposals for cooperation with Austria. Franz approved the prospect of developing southern Kenya’s mineral resources, while East Africa kept its most valuable deposits secret and sought Austrian help building railways.

• Ferdinand and Franz traded barbs about East Africa’s navy before Ferdinand explained that Ernst had sent him to discuss cooperation.
• Ferdinand handed Franz East Africa’s cooperation proposals, and Franz spent two hours reviewing them.
• Franz praised East Africa’s disclosed resources, while Ferdinand noted that its overall resource endowment remained below the Austro-Hungarian Empire’s.
• East Africa’s proposal focused on developing southern Kenya’s coal, iron, and other minerals, with Austria supplying railway construction, equipment, and locomotives in exchange for resources.
• Ernst’s resource list concealed the Great Lakes gold mines and Katanga Plateau copper deposits, reserving them for East Africa.
• Ernst continued seeking to strengthen German influence in Trieste, where the Hohenzollern Conglomerate had attracted German workers to the grain-processing industrial district.

Ernst met Ferdinand, his future father-in-law, at Schönbrunn Palace and warned Franz and Ferdinand that Prussia and France might soon go to war. He urged them to focus on Italy’s ambitions to take the Papal States and possibly claim Austrian territory, leaving Franz and Ferdinand to consider the threat.

• Franz admitted Ernst to Schönbrunn Palace while Ferdinand waited to meet his future son-in-law.
• Ernst recognized Ferdinand, addressed him as his father-in-law, and awkwardly answered his questions as Franz watched with amusement.
• Ferdinand advised Ernst to establish a shipyard in East Africa to build fishing boats and train future naval manpower, and Ernst agreed.
• Ernst claimed that reports from his German enterprises suggested Prussia was preparing for war with France, though he had invented the intelligence.
• Ernst argued that Italy, not Prussia, was the Austro-Hungarian Empire’s true enemy because it might use the Franco-Prussian War to annex the Papal States and later pursue southern Austria.

Ernst proposed exploiting a future Franco-Prussian war to prevent Italy from annexing the Papal States and give Austria-Hungary a chance to pressure Italy. Franz considered secretly sending troops into Rome but left the decision pending consultation with the Army.

• Franz asked Ernst for a solution to Austria-Hungary’s problems with Italy, and Ernst argued that a Prussian victory over France could force the French garrison to leave Rome.
• Ernst described Prussia’s growing military strength and warned that the North German Federation could mobilize a huge army against France.
• Ernst predicted that Italy would try to annex the Papal States if France withdrew its troops from Rome.
• Ernst proposed sending at least five thousand Austrian troops into the Papal States disguised as pilgrims, arranging weapons by merchant ship, and using a diplomatic agent to secure the Pope’s invitation.
• Franz acknowledged the plan might work but said he would consult the Army before deciding because the operation was risky.

Ernst explained that he wanted a strong Austro-Hungarian Empire to counter Italy, and Franz considered exploiting a Franco-Prussian War to intervene in the Papal States. The chapter ended with Franz ordering a covert plan that could also let the Empire reclaim Venice.

• Ernst told Ferdinand that East Africa needed a powerful Austro-Hungarian Empire rather than a powerful Italy, then advised him to buy Prussian government bonds if war broke out with France.
• Ernst argued that France was politically divided and would struggle against Prussia.
• Franz asked his generals whether a Franco-Prussian War might erupt soon and what the Empire should do.
• Franz explained Ernst's plan to intervene in the Papal States while France was occupied, and the generals agreed that keeping Italy divided would benefit the Empire.
• A general suggested using the opportunity to reclaim Venice, and the commanders embraced the idea.
• Franz ordered the generals to prepare a thorough covert operation to catch the Kingdom of Italy off guard.

East Africa advanced its preparations to expand beyond Zambia by building Zambezi bridges, roads, and telegraph lines while strengthening its army. Meanwhile, Austria-Hungary gathered forces in Italy and the Spanish succession dispute heightened tensions between Prussia and France, leaving Europe poised for a possible war.

• East African engineers planned at least five suspension bridges across the Zambezi River as the government prepared roads and a telegraph line from Mbeya to Lusaka.
• East Africa planned to expand its army to around two hundred thousand troops and reinforce river and lake forces.
• Austro-Hungarian soldiers disguised as believers assembled in Rome, where a messenger announced Major General Karl would lead their operation and promised weapons would be provided.
• Spain's cabinet sought a successor to its throne, and news emerged that Prince Leopold of the House of Hohenzollern might be a candidate.
• Duke of Gramont pressured Prussia to withdraw support for Leopold and guarantee it would not pursue the Spanish throne, but King Wilhelm I declined.

Bismarck and Moltke discussed how to isolate France diplomatically before war, then examined reports of Austria-Hungary moving elite troops out of Slovakia. The chapter left them puzzled by Franz’s intentions but reassured that Austria-Hungary did not appear focused on Germany.

• Moltke urged Bismarck to confront France, while Bismarck stressed securing other nations’ neutrality before war.
• Bismarck reviewed Prussia’s alliances and diplomatic arrangements with Russia, Britain, Italy, and the southern German states, identifying Austria-Hungary as the main uncertainty.
• An intelligence report told Bismarck and Moltke that Austria-Hungary had moved elite troops out of Slovakia and replaced them with troops from southern Austria.
• Bismarck and Moltke considered whether Austria-Hungary planned action in Italy or the Balkans, but found neither explanation convincing.
• Bismarck concluded that Austria-Hungary was unlikely to interfere with Prussia for now, and Moltke said Prussia could focus more attention on France.

Ernst met with King Wilhelm I in Berlin and agreed to provide Prussia with a large loan as it prepared for war with France. The agreement left Prussia with vital funds and Ernst positioned to profit from war bonds and future privileges.

• King Wilhelm I invited Ernst to Berlin, welcomed him as family, and asked him to help Prussia address its debts and raise money for war.
• Ernst initially offered to subscribe to 500,000 thalers in war bonds, but King Wilhelm I urged him to contribute more and offered 7% interest and army purchasing priority.
• Ernst pledged 15 million thalers, claiming Hechingen’s finances would be ruined if Prussia lost.
• King Wilhelm I was moved by Ernst’s commitment and believed the loan could ease Prussia’s financial pressure and support preparations for war.
• Ernst planned to buy another 10 million thalers in bonds and have Hechingen Bank help issue them, and the Prussian Government and Hohenzollern Conglomerate signed their agreement.