Chapter Summaries

The Austrian Commercial Inspection Delegation arrived in Mombasa, where Finance Minister Von der Leyen introduced East Africa’s urban development, population, agriculture, and health conditions. Wolfgang grew interested in East Africa’s investment potential, though questions about its medical safety remained central to the delegation’s assessment.

• Von der Leyen welcomed Wolfgang and the Austrian Commercial Inspection Delegation to Mombasa and explained the city’s spacious, orderly design.
• Wolfgang questioned whether Mombasa’s broad roads and widely spaced buildings wasted resources, and Von der Leyen described East Africa’s plans for future growth and urban infrastructure.
• Von der Leyen cited Mombasa’s population of sixty thousand and described the Northern Industrial Belt’s population, agricultural production, and expected growth as workers migrated from Venice.
• Wolfgang praised East Africa’s resources but asked about local medical conditions, and Von der Leyen assured him that sanitation and medical measures had reduced disease risks.

Von der Leyen explained why Mombasa offered better investment prospects than Dar es Salaam, then led Wolfgang’s delegation on a tour of the city. The chapter ended with her explaining that East Africa limited its use of Black slaves to avoid a backlash and the emergence of a large Black population.

• Von der Leyen told Wolfgang that Mombasa’s location and commercial hinterland gave it advantages over Dar es Salaam, while sisal processing was centered in Tanga City.
• Wolfgang agreed that ports and transportation mattered and joined Von der Leyen’s tour of Mombasa.
• Von der Leyen showed the delegation the busy free-port district and the quieter residential and administrative districts, explaining the city’s police presence.
• The delegation saw Black laborers clearing sewers, and Von der Leyen said investors could use enslaved workers to supplement East African labor and reduce building costs.
• Von der Leyen said East Africa avoided relying entirely on Black slaves because excessive dependence could provoke a backlash and create a Black population like that in the United States.

Ernst established the East African United Steel Company to develop the Lake Malawi region as an inland heavy-industry base, despite Austrian investors’ lack of interest. He and Constantin discussed the region’s strategic role and East Africa’s stalled railway experiments, leaving the railway gauge undecided.

• Austrian investors favored Mombasa and showed little interest in developing the remote Lake Malawi region, so the Hohenzollern Conglomerate took responsibility for its industrial development.
• Ernst acquired a steel enterprise in the Saar region and a steelworks in Kapfenberg, combined them as the East African United Steel Company, and brought more than a hundred workers to East Africa.
• Ernst told Constantin that Lake Malawi’s heavy industry would build technical capacity, support inland development, reduce reliance on vulnerable coastal cities, and eventually help shift industry to the Matabele Plateau.
• Constantin raised concerns about slow railway construction, and Ernst said East Africa’s experimental broad-gauge locomotive project had stalled and might be replaced by an established railway standard.
• Ernst considered 760 mm gauge for mining railways but left East Africa’s main railway gauge under consideration among existing standards.

After Austro-Hungarian forces overran much of Italy, diplomats met in Birmingham to negotiate a ceasefire. Italy and Austria-Hungary disputed blame and demands, while British mediator Earl Granville set aside their disagreements over territory and the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies.

• By January 3, 1871, representatives of Italy and Austria-Hungary met in Birmingham after Britain and other powers intervened to mediate.
• Gamour accused Austria-Hungary of aggression and demanded that it withdraw from Italy and pay compensation, while Friedrich blamed Sardinia for invading the Papal States.
• Earl Granville stopped their argument and asked both sides to state their desired ceasefire terms.
• Gamour demanded an unconditional Austro-Hungarian withdrawal, while Friedrich demanded that Italy revert to the Kingdom of Sardinia, recognize the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, and surrender Venetia and Lombardy.
• Earl Granville rejected Friedrich's demands as too harsh and postponed discussion of Venetia and Lombardy and the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies.

Friedrich, Gamour, and Earl Granville negotiated the end of the Italo-Austrian War as Britain and Russia weighed the fate of Italy. The Birmingham Peace Agreement left the Kingdom of Italy weakened but intact, while the Austro-Hungarian Empire gained territory and the Kingdom of Naples gained independence.

• Friedrich proposed restoring the Papal States and making them permanently neutral, while Gamour rejected their legitimacy.
• Earl Granville asked Gorchakov to weigh in, and Gorchakov supported Italian unity and the independence of the Kingdom of Naples without committing Russia to intervene.
• Friedrich demanded Venice and Lombardy, while Earl Granville sought to limit Austro-Hungarian gains and Gamour refused to concede Italian territory.
• Earl Granville agreed that Venice would go to the Austro-Hungarian Empire and that its eastern third of Lombardy would also come under Austro-Hungarian rule.
• The Birmingham Peace Agreement gave the Papal States its eastern Adriatic territories, recognized the Kingdom of Naples as independent, and forced the Kingdom of Italy to accept the settlement.

Archduke Ferdinand and Colonel Bromel arrived at Mayotte Island to complete France’s transfer of the colony to Prussia. After the ceremony, the island passed from Prussia to East Africa under a separate agreement.

• Archduke Ferdinand and Bromel discussed the prospects and limitations of the East African and Prussian navies as their fleet sailed toward Mayotte Island.
• Ferdinand ordered the fleet into Mayotte’s harbor, where the French mistook its Principality of Hechingen Black Eagle flag for Prussia’s flag.
• Bromel met French official Artil and accepted the island’s transfer, promising to safeguard French personnel and property during their evacuation.
• The French officials completed the transfer and departed, taking the island’s Black residents and other movable assets with them.
• Mayotte Island passed to East Africa through the agreement between the Prussian and Hechingen royal families.

East Africa secured the Comoros as a protectorate while Germany unified under Wilhelm I, prompting East Africa to end its expansion and focus on development. Ernst began preparing to move Hohenzollern Conglomerate industries to East Africa, where building heavy industry remained the foremost goal.

• East Africa's navy secured a treaty with the Sultan of Anjouan, making the Comoros an East African protectorate and giving East Africa grounds to assert control over Grande Comore and Mohéli.
• Wilhelm I proclaimed the German Empire at Versailles after the southern German states joined the German Federation.
• Austria lost its influence over the German territories, while Hungary welcomed Germany's unification.
• East Africa congratulated Germany but avoided attending the proclamation, and Ernst shifted East Africa's policy away from expansion toward development and trade.
• Ernst began preparing to transfer Hohenzollern Conglomerate industries to East Africa, which lacked the heavy industry needed to unite its economy with the conglomerate.

Richard and his East African operatives gathered intelligence on British government priorities and planned to conceal the Kingdom of East Africa by shaping British public opinion. Richard ordered them to keep monitoring Britain and spread stories portraying Africa as deadly, leaving East Africa focused on protecting its development from British attention.

• A disguised Richard visited Indian Flavors Snack Shop and received a note from its waiter.
• The shop owner gave Richard a summary of British Parliament and government discussions, including colonial priorities and Ireland.
• Richard questioned the reliability and security of their intelligence network, and the owner described how they used an embittered French informant without revealing their identities.
• Richard burned the documents and told his operatives to monitor British government activity, newspapers, and public opinion.
• Richard ordered the network to keep the Kingdom of East Africa out of public awareness and spread rumors about Africa’s dangers and diseases.

Ernst’s privately commanded Hohenzollern intelligence network operated abroad to monitor potential threats to East Africa, while East Africa remained wary of American merchants and relied on Zanzibar for trade. In Dar es Salaam, a shipment of arms-production machinery arrived for transport to Mbeya, bringing East Africa closer to producing its own weapons.

• The chapter explained that Ernst’s covert intelligence network gathered information abroad and monitored East Africa, with Britain, the United States, Portugal, and France as priorities.
• East Africa rejected American merchants’ efforts to establish a trading post in Zanzibar, while maintaining close trade ties with the Sultanate of Zanzibar.
• Three Hechingen ocean ships unloaded arms-production machinery in Dar es Salaam, where Vincent instructed Bryce to protect it during transport to Mbeya.
• Bryce assured Vincent that workers and carts would move the machinery safely along the maintained road to Mbeya.
• Ernst’s purchases of machinery from German arms workshops gave East Africa equipment to assemble a largely self-sufficient weapons production chain in Mbeya.

Ernst planned coordinated development for the Lake Malawi Industrial Zone rather than concentrating its industries and population in Mbeya. In the Far East, the Qing court approved East Africa’s request for medical aid and study opportunities, and the East African Embassy began recruiting physicians.

• Ernst arranged for Mbeya to serve as a transportation hub while promoting coordinated growth among small and medium-sized cities in the Lake Malawi Industrial Zone.
• Ambassador Richard asked the Qing government to send physicians to East Africa and allow East African students to study medicine in China.
• Yixin described East Africa as a struggling country that admired Qing culture, and Tongzhi welcomed its request for assistance.
• Tongzhi authorized East African students to study at the Imperial Medical Academy and ordered the recruitment of one hundred physicians to aid East Africa.
• The East African Embassy recruited civilian medical talent and asked Qing officials to screen the doctors before they traveled.

The Kingdom of East Africa’s grain surplus offered relief to Italy after its defeat left the country unable to feed hundreds of thousands of refugees. Victor Emmanuel II ordered grain imports from East Africa and postponed plans for Italian colonies until the kingdom recovered.

• East Africa’s medical system remained severely understaffed, with 108 clinics, 285 registered doctors, and one Snake Venom Research Institute.
• Austria and Hungary drove Italians from Venice and Lombardy, creating large refugee populations in the Kingdom of Sardinia, the Papal States, and Naples.
• Victor Emmanuel II asked his ministers how Italy could address its grain shortage and feed the refugees.
• The Foreign Minister reported that Spain could offer little aid, but the Kingdom of East Africa was willing to sell Italy rice and corn at low prices.
• Victor Emmanuel II considered founding an African colony but accepted that Italy lacked the funds and experience to do so immediately.
• Victor Emmanuel II ordered Italy to import affordable grain from East Africa and defer colonization plans until the country recovered.

After Italy’s unification drive collapsed and the kingdom lost territory, Victor Emmanuel II chose to pursue colonization to address its food shortage and economic pressures. He approved preparations to invade Abyssinia, which his advisers described as fertile and politically weakened.

• Victor Emmanuel II received a report on European powers’ African holdings and asked his advisers where Italy could expand.
• An adviser recommended the Abyssinian Empire, citing its Red Sea location, abundant farmland, and access to the Suez Canal.
• The adviser argued that Italy should avoid North Africa because it could not risk conflict with the Ottoman Empire while facing Austria.
• The adviser described Abyssinia as fragmented after the British captured its capital and its emperor died, while Egypt was also fighting it in Sudan.
• Victor Emmanuel II approved preparations for an invasion and colonization of Abyssinia, and Italy’s colonial department began to take shape.

Ernst returned to Hechingen and planned to turn the school district into universities that would train East African students and attract German teachers. He left the site’s future institutions named Stuttgart Normal University and Stuttgart Institute of Technology, while Hechingen Military Academy was set to relocate to East Africa.

• Ernst announced that Hechingen Military Academy’s campus would become a university for East African students.
• Tom suggested consolidating Hechingen’s schools into a teachers’ college and using Stuttgart’s better-known name to attract teachers.
• Ernst decided to establish Stuttgart Normal University and Stuttgart Institute of Technology in Hechingen.
• Ernst’s conversation with Tom revealed that Hechingen Military Academy would move to East Africa and its former campus would become a managed base for training East African talent.

At Borderdale Town, rival Abyssinian merchants fought over a shipment of muskets until East African police restored order, and Oudley Kevin won the firearms. The chapter then outlined the competing powers around the Red Sea and explained why East Africa and the Abyssinian Empire had no direct territorial conflict.

• Bubuyaweisi and Oudley Kevin competed to buy 150 muskets, trading insults as they raised their bids.
• Bubuyaweisi attacked Oudley Kevin, and their supporters joined the brawl until East African mounted police intervened.
• Crus lectured the merchants and restored order, after which Oudley Kevin won the muskets with a bid of thirty horses and eleven “lame Zagwe” camels.
• Bubuyaweisi threatened Oudley Kevin as the caravans left Borderdale, but Oudley Kevin said he was ready for revenge.
• The chapter described Italy’s ambitions around Assab Port and the crowded rivalry among powers near the Strait of Mandeb.
• The chapter explained that East Africa and the Abyssinian Empire had no territorial dispute, while Johannes IV ruled the empire and Menelik II governed tributary Shewa.

Yaan Reed arrived in Borderdale Town seeking weapons for Negmurt, whose southern forces were backed by East Africa and were supporting Nat Hog as a contender for the Abyssinian throne. After inspecting and testing a batch of refurbished Prussian rifles, Yaan Reed bought them and exchanged his remaining Ottoman silver coins for more useful currency.

• Lawens welcomed Yaan Reed and explained that East Africa was supporting Negmurt against the northern merchants dominating the Abyssinian arms trade.
• The chapter described how southern forces backed Nat Hog, a Solomon family member and former imperial general, as a candidate for the throne with East Africa's support.
• Lawens guided Yaan Reed to a rear courtyard and showed him refurbished M1809 Prussian muzzle-loading rifles.
• Yaan Reed inspected several crates, tested the rifles at a shooting range, and agreed to buy the batch after finding their quality satisfactory.
• Yaan Reed exchanged his remaining Ottoman silver coins at Hechingen Bank, while East Africa prepared to sell its obsolete flintlocks as it shifted to Dreyse rifle production.

Ernst led a Kingdom of East Africa delegation to inspect Sweden’s mint and study its banknote technology, especially anti-counterfeiting methods. The project for East Africa’s own gold-pegged paper currency, the Rheinland Shield, took shape with its denominations, designs, and exchange value established.

• On March 14, 1871, Ernst and the Kingdom of East Africa inspection delegation began examining the Swedish mint under Governor Wayne’s guidance.
• Ernst promoted East African sisal as a durable banknote material, and Wayne said Sweden might buy it and send staff to investigate.
• Wayne showed the delegation the Swedish mint’s British-made printing machine and explained that its molds and anti-counterfeiting features could be customized for each client.
• Ernst’s delegation focused on learning Sweden’s long-developed anti-counterfeiting expertise to supplement Hechingen Bank’s experience before East Africa’s currency entered international circulation.
• East Africa approved the paper Rheinland Shield in denominations from one to five hundred, featuring Constantin on the front and Hohenzollern Castle and state symbols on the reverse.
• The East African Rheinland Shield was pegged at 0.22 grams of gold, with one pound sterling exchanging for thirty shields.

East Africa and Egypt negotiated a border agreement after East African forces occupied the Upper Nile Basin and parts of Sudan. The agreement gave East Africa territory around the Nuba Mountains and southern Kordofan, Darfur, and Gezira, leaving it to conquer the Sultanate of Darfur and the Kingdom of Kordofan itself.

• East Africa expanded into the Upper Nile Basin during the Third Conquest War, reaching the Sudanese Gezira Plain and alarming Egypt.
• Egypt sent Rahman to negotiate with East Africa in Kosti, where he met the new envoy Miles.
• Rahman clarified that the Sultanate of Darfur was independent and the Kingdom of Kordofan was only partly under Egyptian control; he agreed to transfer Egypt's suzerain rights over both.
• Miles claimed a portion of the southwestern Gezira Plain for East Africa, and Rahman accepted the proposed boundary to avoid further conflict.
• Rahman signed the agreement, assigning East Africa the territory south of and including the Nuba Mountains, including parts of Kordofan, Darfur, and the Gezira Plain.

Andre and Levens discussed the heat and Juba Town’s slow development as East African soldiers forced local slaves to clear land for agriculture. With the rainy season approaching, Andre ordered another seven hundred mu of land cleared, while a worker collapsed from heatstroke.

• Andre complained to Levens that Juba Town’s heat was unbearable, and Levens said the rainy season would arrive in a little over a month.
• Levens told Andre that a small immigrant group nearby might eventually accept his leadership, and Andre noted how far away they were.
• East African soldiers guarded more than two thousand local slaves as they cleared vegetation and stones from fields around Juba Town.
• Andre ordered the town to clear another seven hundred mu of land before the rains arrived.
• A black worker collapsed from heatstroke after laboring in the sun, and East African soldiers dragged him to a puddle to cool him down.

After Hechingen Bank acquired banknote-printing equipment in Sweden, Ernst ordered its headquarters moved from Berlin to East Africa and addressed the employees’ concerns. The staff chose Nairobi as the new headquarters site.

• Hechingen Bank reached an agreement with the Swedish Bank to buy banknote-printing equipment and technology.
• Ernst told the senior staff in Berlin that Hechingen Bank’s headquarters would relocate to East Africa, with Berlin and Vienna serving as sub-centers.
• Davis, Mars, and other employees raised concerns about moving records, communications, families, schooling, health, climate, and travel to Europe.
• Ernst promised a year to prepare, a dedicated telegraph line, citizenship and housing, employee benefits, schools, medical services, and ships to Europe.
• The employees considered Mombasa, Nairobi, Dar es Salaam, First Town, Bagamoyo, and Mbeya, then selected Nairobi for its climate and infrastructure.

Ernst’s leadership approved moving Hechingen Bank’s headquarters to East Africa and creating a separate textile conglomerate under the bank. As the meeting turned to the textile industry’s growth and global position, Ernst considered the coming unrest in Paris and East Africa’s policy toward local rulers.

• Ernst’s group discussed moving Hechingen Bank’s headquarters to East Africa while leaving the conglomerate’s main operations elsewhere.
• Claisen reported that wartime military orders and low-cost production had made the textile industry highly profitable.
• Ernst proposed separating the conglomerate’s textile operations from the Hohenzollern Daily Necessities Company, and the attendees unanimously supported him.
• The chapter described the conglomerate’s textile operations as ranking fifth worldwide, with factories and investments across several countries.
• Ernst noted that the Paris uprising was imminent but dismissed its prospects, and he reflected on East Africa’s noninterference in native affairs so long as its interests were not threatened.