Chapter Summaries

East Africa redirected immigration and tightened its control over Zimbabwe, using a system that let Shona tribes elect people into slavery while settling newcomers in the region. The chapter left the kingdom exporting thousands of enslaved people every three months to support construction across East Africa.

• The Hohenzollern Conglomerate reduced its investment in East Africa, while East Africa sought Hungarian commoners to fill eastern settlements and free German immigrants for development elsewhere.
• East Africa ordered the Shona people to seize Ndebele people who had enslaved them and exile them to Central Province to dig canals.
• East Africa divided the Shona into more than 150 large tribes and stationed a company of soldiers in each to prevent resistance and maintain direct rule.
• East Africa required each Shona tribe to offer 100 slaves as tribute and let the tribes choose who would be enslaved, shifting conflicts among them onto one another.
• East Africa transferred 15,000 slaves from Zimbabwe every three months and brought new immigrants into the region to strengthen its control.

Mbeya Ceramics Factory produced its first batch of coarse porcelain, but most pieces were defective and the factory focused on improving its process. The chapter shifted to East Africa’s plans for glass manufacturing, which had greater domestic demand and could support future scientific research and automobile production.

• Workers opened the kiln at Mbeya Ceramics Factory and found that only fifteen percent of the porcelain had passed inspection, with poor quality overall.
• The mayor of Mbeya city encouraged the workers to keep improving, while the chapter explained that Far Eastern immigrants, especially people from Qicun Village, supplied much of the factory’s expertise.
• Ernst’s government treated porcelain as a limited industry because East Africa could import higher-end wares and had little incentive to compete with established producers.
• East Africa concentrated on glass manufacturing in Dar es Salaam, Nairobi, and Songea, while the Hohenzollern Daily Necessities Company pursued flat-glass technology with German universities.
• The Hohenzollern Conglomerate planned to develop automobiles in East Africa, but Benz was still improving the engine and several years of work remained before a practical car could be launched.

East Africa prioritized Zimbabwe’s wartime preparations by planning communications, roads, defenses, and military farms to support its troops and open up farmland. The Shona were compelled to farm under harsh restrictions, while the chapter left future immigrants to improve the reclaimed fields.

• The East African government prioritized Zimbabwe over Zambia and planned a telegraph line, a north-south road, and defensive fortifications, with Bulawayo serving as a military fortress and grain-route center.
• East Africa declared Zimbabwe’s animals government property and banned Shona hunting without permission, threatening offenders with enslavement.
• East Africa planned military farms to feed at least seventy thousand soldiers, since transporting all their food from the rear would overwhelm the supply network.
• Ernst reflected on differences among African regions and on East Africa’s historical ties with Germany, Portugal, and the Far East.
• East Africa intended the Shona to open up farmland across Zimbabwe, leaving later immigrants to improve the fields.

The chapter described how Hechingen Overseas Trading Company supported East Africa’s growth and connected German and Austrian commerce with the Far East. It portrayed Dar es Salaam as the Indian Ocean coast’s leading commercial city, sustained by trade, services, infrastructure, and foreign spending.

• Hechingen Overseas Trading Company expanded its shipping fleet and businesses, helping establish East Africa’s commercial reach in the Far East.
• Austrian and German merchants relied on the Hohenzollern Conglomerate and East African Embassy for support in the Far East, while investors from the three countries funded the Huaihai Economic Zone.
• Dar es Salaam attracted sailors and merchants with casinos, entertainment, barbershops, shopping, hotels, taverns, and telegraph services.
• Foreign visitors littered the city and increased policing and sanitation work, but Dar es Salaam’s drainage, paved roads, and greenery kept it clean and pleasant.
• Dar es Salaam’s position near Zanzibar and southern European colonies helped it become the Indian Ocean coast’s leading commercial, financial, trade, shipping, and communications center.

Far Eastern aid envoys Li Ge and Ande arrived in Dar es Salaam expecting a plague-stricken, impoverished country, but found a prosperous city instead. Aryan explained what he could, and the group learned that foreigners were barred from the Western District as they continued exploring.

• Ande and Li Ge questioned whether East Africa had been misrepresented after seeing Dar es Salaam's orderly, busy harbor and streets.
• Li Ge asked Aryan about the city's prosperity and learned that Aryan was German by origin, held East African nationality, and had never visited the East African mainland.
• Aryan guided the delegation around the Foreign Commercial Zone and explained that the white-robed people they saw were Arabs dressed for life in hot, sunny regions.
• The delegation reached a barrier and learned from a police officer that foreigners could not enter Dar es Salaam's Western District.
• Aryan asked the officer where the city's government offices were so he could contact the Kingdom of East Africa.

Aryan brought Li Ge and the Far Eastern medical delegation to Dar es Salaam, where immigration officials arranged their temporary stay at a transit camp. Li Ge and Ande found East Africa far more orderly and prosperous than they had been led to expect, though they remained unaware that their government had sent them as expendable envoys.

• Aryan explained the delegation’s unexpected arrival to Dar es Salaam officials, who ordered the group to remain in the city until the Central Government received them in three days.
• Aryan told Li Ge that a delayed message and the embassy’s lack of contingency plans had caused the confusion, easing Li Ge’s resentment.
• Immigration Office staff arranged carriages to take the delegation to a transit point outside Dar es Salaam.
• Li Ge and the others passed a guarded checkpoint and arrived at a large camp, where staff assigned them clean dormitory rooms and arranged meals and supplies.
• Li Ge and Ande observed that East Africa appeared prosperous and orderly, while privately reflecting that the Far Eastern government had hastily made them envoys despite their limited status.

The Far Eastern physicians discussed East Africa’s Chinese immigrants and the hardships driving people overseas before Zhou Mo escorted them to dinner. The delegation was impressed by the cafeteria’s abundant food and learned more about East African hospitals and the kingdom’s treatment of immigrants.

• Li Ji, Yuan Ye, and their companions debated whether Chinese people lived in East Africa and whether poverty in the Far East pushed them to emigrate.
• Zhou Mo told Li Ji that he had emigrated from Shandong, become German in East Africa, and found no discrimination there.
• Zhou Mo explained that East Africa had few doctors, described the large Dar es Salaam city hospital, and mentioned possible Western physicians at the royal palace.
• Zhou Mo led the physicians to the cafeteria, where Aryan demonstrated how to choose food from the available dishes.
• Li Ge, An De, and Li Ji remarked on the plentiful meals, and Li Ji noted that even well-paid doctors in the Far East could rarely afford such food.

Immigrants at the transit point in Dar es Salaam were awakened for breakfast and subjected to a strict hygiene inspection, while the chapter explained East Africa’s comparatively high urbanization rate and agricultural advantages. Li Ge and Ande visited the residential area, where they saw the new immigrants living in orderly, crowded dormitories.

• East African Immigration Office staff woke Yuan Ye, Li Ji, and the other immigrants at six in the morning and ordered them to wash up for breakfast.
• The chapter described East Africa’s urbanization rate, explaining that concentrated settlement, cooperative agriculture, industry, and the exclusion of the Black population from official counts contributed to its high figure.
• Immigration Office staff inspected the immigrants’ rooms and clothing, ordering residents to clean up or risk losing dinner.
• Ande wondered whether East Africa was mistreating the immigrants, so Li Ge asked their guide about the commotion.
• The guide told Li Ge that the new arrivals were being taught East African routines and allowed him and Ande to visit the residential area.
• Li Ge and Ande saw immigrants cleaning and washing in crowded but orderly dormitories, and noted their uniform clothing and thin appearance.

Ande and Li Ge discussed Prussia’s militarism and concluded that East Africa’s large army served its ambitions to seize land and guard against European rivals. They remained unsure of East Africa’s population, territory, and military strength, leaving their suspicions based on what they had seen in Dar es Salaam.

• Ande warned Li Ge that East Africa’s King Constantin was Prussian royalty and cautioned him against criticizing Prussia.
• Li Ge argued that East Africa had no need for a large army, while Ande suggested its troops were used to seize land from local peoples.
• Ande pointed to East Africa’s immigrant recruitment and grain supply as evidence that Constantin had acquired land by conquest.
• Li Ge and Ande speculated that Britain and France might also seek territory in Africa, prompting East Africa to expand its military.
• Ande and Li Ge wondered about East Africa’s army and neighboring regimes, unaware that they had mistaken immigrants for soldiers.

The Kingdom of Italy began its colonial campaign by seizing Assab from Egypt with help from the Rubattino Company. General Samuel warned that conquering Abyssinia would be far harder than Britain’s intervention because Italy sought land and would provoke unified resistance.

• On May 13, 1871, an Italian infantry division landed at Assab as Italy began colonizing to relieve its debts and domestic unrest.
• The Rubattino Company rebelled and captured key facilities, helping the Italian Army drive the Egyptian garrison out of Assab City.
• Giuseppe Sapeto welcomed General Samuel and praised his record in the Italo-Austrian War.
• Samuel cautioned Sapeto against underestimating Abyssinia and explained that Italy’s goal of taking land would unite the empire against the invasion.
• Samuel resolved that Italy must carefully keep Abyssinia divided and defeat its forces one by one.

Samuel warned Sapeto not to underestimate the Abyssinian Empire, explaining how surprise attacks and close combat had helped him survive the poorly equipped Italian army’s war against Austria-Hungary. After learning about the surrounding powers, Samuel decided Italy needed to gather more intelligence before planning its operations.

• Samuel recounted how shortages, a collapsed command system, and Austro-Hungarian firepower had forced him to use night attacks, captured rifles, and close combat.
• Samuel explained that his experience taught him not to dismiss the possibility that Abyssinians could use similar tactics against Italian troops.
• Sapeto respected Samuel’s military experience and promised to support his orders in Eritrea.
• Sapeto described the powers near Abyssinia, including Britain, France, Egypt, the Ottoman Empire, and the Kingdom of East Africa.
• Samuel concluded that Italy knew too little about Abyssinia and ordered intelligence gathering before making a plan.

Samuel addressed lodging and supply problems for the Italian expeditionary force in Assab, where the barren climate made local food production impossible. Sapeto explained that Zanzibar merchants could supply cheap East African rice, and Samuel agreed to buy it, though the troops would have to adjust.

• Samuel considered how to house his three thousand troops in Assab and asked Sapeto how the company had managed its supplies.
• Sapeto explained that Assab depended on imported grain because its arid surroundings could not support agriculture.
• Sapeto recommended ordering grain from the Sultanate of Zanzibar, whose merchants could deliver cheap East African rice.
• Samuel questioned the cost and suitability of rice, but Sapeto said it was cheaper than flour and had already supplied markets across the Indian Ocean.
• Samuel chose rice for the troops and learned that Zanzibar merchants handled the trade because East Africa lacked enough ships.

Young Sayyid reflected on Zanzibar’s reliance on East African trade, while Italian General Samuel asked Sapeto to secure grain from Zanzibar for Italy’s campaign in Abyssinia. In Dar es Salaam, Li Ge and the newly arrived East African officials prepared to travel to First Town City, whose character differed from the coastal commercial hub.

• Young Sayyid accepted Zanzibar’s dependence on East Africa, believing Constantin’s rule and the current arrangement kept the Sultanate secure.
• Samuel agreed to buy grain from Zanzibar and asked Sapeto to seek concessions and confirm that the merchant could supply enough.
• Sapeto accepted Samuel’s request as a service to Italy.
• Egypt allowed Italy to use Assab as a base against Abyssinia, judging the region of limited importance to its own interests.
• East African Central Government representatives arrived in Dar es Salaam, allowing Li Ge and the others to leave the immigrant transit point for First Town City.
• Aryan asked Li Ge whether First Town City would surpass Dar es Salaam, and Li Ge explained that the capital was more developed while Dar es Salaam was more prosperous.

During the journey to First Town, Aryan explained telegraphs and electricity to Li Ge and described telegraph projects connecting East Africa with the Far East. The chapter left the proposed Xuzhou-centered network awaiting decisions by German Far East business interests, while plans for a Shanghai–Jiaozhou line advanced.

• Li Ge asked Willex about the roadside wires, and Aryan explained that they connected Dar es Salaam with First Town.
• Aryan described how telegraphs transmitted messages using electricity, leaving Li Ge struggling to understand the scientific principles.
• Aryan told Li Ge that telegraph lines linking Hong Kong, Shanghai, and Nagasaki were nearing completion and that Hechingen Electric Company planned a Shanghai–Jiaozhou route.
• The chapter explained that the Hohenzollern Conglomerate was promoting a Xuzhou-centered telegraph network, with the German Far East Chamber of Commerce Alliance yet to decide how to proceed.
• The Shanghai–Jiaozhou line was being laid to connect the Huaihai Economic Zone through Jiaozhou, its principal port.

The aid delegation stayed in Anka Village, where village chief Robert showed them the orderly settlement and described plans to improve residents’ homes. Robert explained why he had chosen to remain in East Africa and trusted Ernst’s promises, leaving the delegation with a picture of the kingdom’s rural life and his confidence in its future.

• The convoy stopped after traveling a little over twenty kilometers, and the village chief arranged lodging for the aid delegation in Anka Village.
• Aryan admired the sunset and countryside, while the delegation observed the village’s harvested rice fields and orderly layout.
• Aryan compared Anka Village’s earthen houses to those in the Far East, and Robert said residents would soon move into safer, more comfortable homes.
• Robert recounted his early service in East Africa and said he had stayed with his family because he trusted Ernst and believed the kingdom offered a better future than war-prone Europe.

As the group traveled through the savanna, Aryan explained how railways worked and why they were more efficient than roads. He learned that East Africa’s First Railway had been waiting for a locomotive, which had finished testing in Austria and was due to arrive the following month.

• The group spotted a railway running beside the road, and Aryan explained its rails, sleepers, and ballast.
• Aryan told the group that East Africa’s First Railway had remained idle while it awaited a locomotive.
• Aryan learned from Willex that the locomotive had completed its final tests in Austria and would be shipped to East Africa next month for trial operations.
• Aryan explained how steam engines powered locomotives and why railways could carry more than horse-drawn carriages.

The railway passed a branch line under construction toward Soga, Ernst’s new planned city southwest of Dar es Salaam. As designers Lawrence and Dres shaped Soga into a refined garden city, they debated what landmark could express its character.

• Aryan explained that the tracks visible from the train were a branch line, but he ignored the travelers’ questions about its destination.
• The branch line led toward Soga, where the workforce that had completed Dar es Salaam’s transformation was building Ernst’s new city.
• Lawrence instructed his assistant to build a large flowerbed at a Y-shaped intersection and oversaw work on Soga’s advanced sewers.
• Lawrence and Dres discussed a landmark for Soga, weighing a fountain square against a sculpture that could represent the city.

The Kingdom of East Africa prepared to seize the Republic of the Transvaal by training troops for rapid marches and anti-guerrilla warfare, while mapping Boer territory and planning to prevent foreign interference. The chapter leaves the Boers unaware of the impending invasion as East Africa readied a forceful annexation.

• East African instructors taught soldiers to encircle Boer fighters, cut off their supplies, and avoid ambushes while securing settlements.
• East Africa sent agents disguised as German merchants and explorers to map Transvaal terrain and routes, then compiled their findings at Hechingen Military Academy.
• East African leaders ordered the army to capture the Republic of the Transvaal within a little over a month, before Britain or the Orange Free State could intervene.
• The army upgraded rations and intensified training so soldiers could march more than forty kilometers per day.
• East Africa assessed the Transvaal's impoverished ranching economy and the Boers' land-based military system, shaped by their conflicts with the Zulu Kingdom.

Constantin received Qing China's aid delegation and tried to arrange for its envoys, Li Ge and Ande, to serve as East Africa’s resident diplomats. He reassured them that the Qing Emperor would decide, then ordered the Far East doctors assigned to East African hospitals, leaving their future in East Africa largely beyond their control.

• Constantin met the Far East delegation and learned that Li Ge and Ande were officials accompanying 103 doctors.
• Constantin proposed that Li Ge and Ande remain in East Africa as Qing China's resident envoys, frightening them because they feared being branded traitors.
• Li Ge refused to take office without his sovereign’s permission, and Constantin clarified that East Africa would first ask the Qing Emperor to approve the appointment.
• Constantin promised to praise Li Ge and Ande in a letter to their sovereign, while the two envoys privately worried about their careers and families.
• Constantin ordered the Ministry of Health to arrange work for the Far East doctors, and Berleide said they could become hospital directors.

Constantin and Berleide discussed how to integrate Far Eastern doctors and traditional Chinese medicine into East Africa’s medical system. They decided to divide the doctors between standard-setting and academy work, and clinics that would train apprentices across the kingdom.

• Berleide argued that East Africa should gather qualified Far Eastern doctors to create unified standards for traditional Chinese medicine.
• Berleide described the benefits of combining Far Eastern treatments with European medicine, including bone-setting and standardized medical equipment.
• Constantin proposed an exchange among Western, Far Eastern, and Arab doctors, but Berleide recommended waiting until the Far Eastern doctors learned German.
• Berleide proposed training doctors through both apprenticeships spread across East Africa and a medical academy, and Constantin approved both approaches.
• Constantin and Berleide decided to split the Far Eastern doctors between establishing medical standards and academies, and opening clinics that trained apprentices.