Chapter Summaries

The Kingdom of East Africa released Wiggins with a declaration of war hidden in the letter he was carrying, while Ernst inspected forces in Bulawayo and prepared to invade the Republic of the Transvaal. The chapter ended with Ernst ordering the army to march.

• East African soldiers released Wiggins across the Limpopo River and gave him a letter declaring war on the Republic of the Transvaal.
• Wiggins headed toward Pretoria, unaware that the letter in his pocket announced East Africa's state of war with the Transvaal.
• Ernst inspected East Africa's mountain troops, artillery, cavalry, and infantry in Bulawayo.
• Ernst ordered the East African Army to march against the Republic of the Transvaal.

Ernst directed the East African Army’s covert crossing of the Limpopo River and assigned divisions to encircle Pretoria and block Boer reinforcements. The army began advancing into the Republic of the Transvaal, while East Africa planned to isolate Boer settlements and bring some farms under its control.

• The East African Army crossed the Limpopo River at unguarded stretches using temporary pontoon bridges while Ernst and Svit assessed the Boer defenses.
• Ernst ordered the militia to seize the established river crossings at daylight and open the supply route.
• Ernst assigned the 123rd Division to secure farms along the route, the 111th Division to advance on Pretoria, and the 511th and 513th Divisions to block the Orange Free State at the Vaal River.
• Ernst ordered the 514th Division south to join Felix’s forces and prevent the Boer main force from returning to reinforce the Transvaal.
• East Africa planned to separate Boer farm workers and willing settlers from large farm owners, using local administrators to take control of farms.

Minister of Agriculture Wiggins presented Constantin with tea varieties and processing workers he had brought back from the Far East to strengthen East Africa’s tea industry. East Africa planned to use green tea to break into European markets while also diversifying its black tea, but the chapter ended before the new varieties’ results were known.

• Wiggins presented Constantin with twenty-three tea varieties, mostly green tea, and a group of tea-processing workers from the Far East.
• Wiggins explained that he had selected varieties in Anhui, Jiangsu, and Fujian after inspecting several major tea-producing regions.
• Wiggins described how East African tea struggled against Indian black tea and had been sold in Germany at steep discounts.
• East Africa planned to promote Far Eastern green tea in Europe and target high-end consumers, while planting new black tea varieties to broaden its offerings.

After East African forces captured Petersburg and advanced toward Pretoria, Little Pretoria decided to seek reinforcements from the Orange Free State and leave someone to resist the invasion. Wiggins volunteered to remain in Pretoria and fight, accepting responsibility for the war’s outbreak.

• Little Pretoria slapped Wiggins and blamed him for delaying the Transvaal’s response to East Africa’s invasion.
• A messenger reported that East African forces had captured Petersburg three days earlier and were less than a hundred li from Pretoria, while the Transvaal’s army remained tied down by the Zulu people.
• Little Pretoria’s officials admitted they lacked the troops or time to defend the Transvaal, so he decided to seek aid from the Orange Free State and hold Pretoria against the East Africans.
• Little Pretoria asked which official would remain in Pretoria, and Wiggins volunteered to resist the East African forces.
• Little Pretoria gave Wiggins the task, telling him to inflict a severe blow on the East Africans, while Wiggins vowed to live and die with Pretoria.

Little Pretoria appointed Wiggins to defend Pretoria against the East African invasion, and Wiggins rallied citizens by warning them that East African rule would resemble brutal Prussian despotism. He assembled an army of more than two thousand and prepared to defend the city, convinced that Pretoria’s terrain and the Boers’ experience could overcome the East African Army.

• Little Pretoria appointed Wiggins Pretoria’s city defense commander and gave him one unit of men to begin recruiting.
• Little Pretoria left for the Orange Free State while Wiggins took control of Pretoria’s military and civil affairs.
• Wiggins spread rumors about East African rule and invoked Hared’s account of harsh Prussian rule to stir opposition among Pretoria’s citizens.
• Pretoria’s citizens enlisted in response to Wiggins’s speech, allowing him to assemble an army of more than two thousand men.
• Wiggins told his officers and soldiers that the East African Army was weak and planned to use Pretoria’s defenses to defeat it.

After resting on the Moriteler River, Ernst’s East African forces advanced to Pretoria, where he ordered a probing attack to begin. Along the way, he heard an East African performer sing German-language opera from The Story of the Three Kingdoms and asked Svit to investigate him.

• The East African troops rested and regrouped by the Moriteler River after their march and the brief fight at Petersburg.
• Ernst listened to the soldiers’ songs and ordered Svit to collect and compile East Africa’s military songs after the war.
• A performer sang Three Heroes Battle Lu Bu in German, and Ernst told Svit to find out everything about him.
• Two days later, Ernst surveyed Pretoria and judged that the 514th Division could test its defenses with a probing attack.
• Ernst’s forces prepared to attack Pretoria as other East African divisions advanced into Transvaal from the west and east.

Wiggins fortified Pretoria and formed a mixed Boer and black slave force to defend it against the East African 514th Division. The attack exposed the division’s weaknesses, prompting Ernst to demand broader study and training to improve East Africa’s army.

• Wiggins reinforced Pretoria with walls and trenches, recruited more than ten thousand black slaves into the Youth Patriotic Army, and placed Boer officers in command.
• Wiggins ordered his troops to hold fire until the East African 514th Division approached the trenches, then the defenders opened fire from the trenches and walls.
• The 514th Division struggled to advance under Boer fire, though it maintained its offensive posture despite disordered formations and rigid command.
• Ernst criticized the division’s poor performance, and Svit explained its lack of siege experience, professional leadership, and heavy weapons.
• Ernst told Svit that East Africa’s army needed to study conflicts around the world and actively improve even during peacetime.

After the 514th Division struggled to advance against Pretoria, Ernst withdrew it and sent the better-trained 111th Division to test the city’s defenses. As its engineers dug forward trenches, Wiggins ordered the Transvaal Army to attack them.

• The 514th Division made little progress, and Wiggins and the Boer defenders grew confident as they watched it falter.
• Ernst judged the 514th Division unsuited to siege warfare and ordered it to withdraw so the Newly Formed 111th Division could take its place.
• Chris deployed the 111th Division in an orderly fashion and sent engineers to dig trenches about four hundred and fifty meters from Pretoria.
• Wiggins ordered the Third Battalion of the Transvaal Army to leave its trenches and attack the East African positions.
• Boer officers forced hesitant Black soldiers to charge toward the East African trenches under threat of their machine guns.

The East African Army overwhelmed Wiggins’s forces at Pretoria with artillery, tunneling, and grenades, breaking the Boer defense. After the East African flag was raised over the city wall, Wiggins sent his men away and shot himself.

• The 111th Division repelled the Negroes’ charge, then exchanged artillery fire with Wiggins’s forces at Pretoria.
• East African artillery destroyed a Boer cannon position, while Wiggins discovered his forces had exhausted their shells.
• East African engineers dug tunnels close to the Boer trenches, and Chris ordered grenades thrown into them under artillery cover.
• The grenades drove the Negroes from the trenches, allowing the East African vanguard to advance and climb Pretoria’s walls.
• Wiggins told the remaining young soldiers to escape, then shot himself.

After East Africa occupied Pretoria, Ernst announced the end of the Republic of the Transvaal and offered the Boers a choice between accepting East African rule and leaving with their property. Nearly all chose to depart, while a small number of landless Germans stayed.

• East African officials gathered Pretoria’s citizens at the parliament and Svit announced East Africa’s policies, including abolishing slavery and nationalizing land.
• Ernst challenged the Boers to resist openly, declared the Republic of the Transvaal dissolved, and blamed President Little Pretoria for provoking the war by supporting the Ndebele rebellion.
• Ernst told dissatisfied Boers they could leave with their families and property, but warned that East Africa’s army of more than fifty thousand troops would crush any resistance.
• The Boers recognized that they could not resist East Africa, and nearly all chose to leave for Orange while a few landless Germans remained.

Felix oversaw East Africa’s takeover of the Kingdom of Eswatini when a Boer force entered the territory. The East African Mountain Division defeated and captured the Boers, whose commander explained that they had been trying to return to the Republic of the Transvaal.

• The King of Eswatini surrendered and described the kingdom’s position to Felix, who said he would report its fate and seek favorable terms.
• A messenger told Felix that an unknown white force of three to four thousand men was approaching Eswatini.
• Felix ordered his troops to stop the force and fight if it proved to be Boer; the Boers recognized the East African uniforms and tried to withdraw.
• Division Commander Belke led the Mountain Division’s Second Brigade in an attack that routed the Boers and captured their main force.
• Felix questioned the Boer commander, who said the Zulu had blocked their return to the Republic of the Transvaal and forced them to pass through Eswatini.

After East Africa occupied Winburg, Klee Rhodes set out orders to hold the Fett River’s northern bank and avoid crossing into the Orange Free State. Ernst’s plans focused on controlling the Transvaal’s gold regions, preserving the Orange Free State as a buffer against Britain, and strengthening East Africa’s strategic position in Africa.

• Klee Rhodes told his subordinates that the 513th Division would use Winburg to control the northern bank of the Fett River and would not cross it unless the Orange Free State provoked East Africa.
• East Africa’s occupation of Winburg brought nearly all of the Transvaal’s gold-mining regions under its control, allowing Ernst to plan an ecological reserve that would prevent their development.
• Ernst favored keeping the Orange Free State independent as a buffer between East Africa and Britain’s Cape Colony, despite expecting Boer hostility after East Africa’s invasion of the Transvaal.
• Boer migration from the Transvaal was strengthening the Orange Free State, which Ernst hoped would remain powerful enough to resist British annexation.
• Ernst concluded that control of the Transvaal would deny Britain and France a foothold in South Africa and leave West Africa as a major arena for future colonial competition.

East African forces advanced into the Zulu Kingdom and across territory south of the Kalahari, while Ernst planned to use Port Richards Bay to support South Africa’s supply and industrial development. Near the Orange River, the 411th Division’s advance was stopped by Griqualand militiamen backed by Britain’s Cape Colony.

• The 123rd Cavalry Division and 514th Infantry Division marched east from Pretoria to join Felix's forces against the Zulu Kingdom.
• Ernst planned to develop grazing ranches and industry in East African South Africa, import its food from the north, and build up Port Richards Bay.
• Merke's troops advanced south of the Kalahari Desert toward the Orange River with little resistance.
• Naldovich's 7th Regiment was blocked by Boer militiamen claiming the territory belonged to the Griqualand Republic.
• Naldovich claimed the land north of the Orange River was German territory and demanded that the militiamen surrender to East Africa.
• The militiamen refused, asserting their claim to Griqualand and relying on the Cape Colony's backing.

Griffin took command when East African troops confronted Boer militia claiming to represent the Griqualand Republic, and compelled them to surrender their weapons. He ordered the army to continue toward the Orange River, leaving the militia to return home and the dispute with Cape Colony unresolved.

• A Boer militia captain told Naldovich that Griqualand was part of Britain's Cape Colony, and Naldovich called Griffin over for help.
• Griffin demanded that the Boer militia surrender, and the captain ordered his men to hand over their weapons in exchange for personal safety.
• Griffin released the disarmed militiamen and ordered Naldovich's troops to advance to the Orange River, using force against anyone who obstructed them.
• After the East African army departed, the militia discussed returning home and left responsibility for the situation to their leaders.
• The chapter described Griqualand as a small, drought-stricken territory that Cape Colony had taken over despite its debts and limited value.

Merke annexed Griqualand for East Africa and refused Johnson’s demand to withdraw, while planning to remove the territory’s residents through administrative pressure. Johnson began to grasp the scale of East Africa’s power and decided he needed to report it and escape Griqualand.

• Merke incorporated Griqualand into the Kingdom of East Africa before British officials could respond.
• Johnson confronted Merke and demanded that East African troops withdraw, but Merke said only the Central Government could decide.
• Merke planned to abolish slavery and impose heavy taxes to drive Griqualand’s people toward the Orange Free State.
• Merke relied on East Africa’s self-sufficiency and military strength to resist British pressure over Griqualand.
• Johnson realized East Africa’s presence in Southern Africa revealed a larger threat and resolved to report it to Cape Town and London while getting himself out of Griqualand.

Johnson ended his dispute with Merke over Griqualand and prepared to return to Cape Town, while Portuguese and British officials assessed East Africa’s expanding military presence in Southern Africa. Henry Barkley suspected East Africa had occupied vast inland territory and used river routes to move its troops.

• Johnson agreed to leave the question of Griqualand’s ownership to Cape Town and asked Merke to ensure his safe passage.
• Merke ordered an escort to guide Johnson and his party to the Orange River, beyond which they would travel under their own protection.
• The Portuguese Governor of Mozambique learned that East Africa’s occupation of Eswatini had brought it directly alongside Mozambique and chose not to provoke it.
• Henry Barkley heard reports that East Africa had deployed tens of thousands of troops against the Transvaal and Zulu Kingdom.
• Barkley studied a crude map of Africa and speculated that East Africa had used a north-south river to expand into Southern Africa and supply its armies.

Henry Barkley concluded that Prussia had secretly created the Kingdom of East Africa as part of a grand plan to expand German influence in Africa. After Johnson reported that East Africa had annexed Griqualand, Barkley decided to appeal directly to London.

• Henry Barkley rejected a subordinate’s suggestion to stop East Africa by force and argued that its army was modeled on Prussian forces.
• Barkley and his subordinate speculated that Wilhelm I and Bismarck had established East Africa as a proxy in Africa.
• Barkley decided to contact London and have it investigate Germany’s role in East Africa.
• Johnson crossed the Orange River and traveled to Cape Town to report Griqualand’s annexation by East Africa.
• After hearing Johnson’s report, Barkley called the annexation a provocation and planned to demand that Prussia withdraw and compensate Britain.

East Africa pursued its campaigns against the Zulu Kingdom and Basutoland while planning a southern defensive line against Cape Colony. The Zulu Kingdom was destroyed, Basutoland moved its capital and appealed to Britain, and the exiled Transvaal government arrived in Cape Town seeking restoration.

• East Africa sent the 514th Division toward Basutoland to seize its northern half and establish the Southern Defense Line.
• East African cavalry and mountain divisions pursued the Zulu army through the plains and Drakensberg Mountains.
• On June 8, 1872, East African forces drove the last Zulu resistance into Natal Colony, destroying the Zulu Kingdom.
• On June 12, 1872, East Africa attacked Maseru, forcing Basutoland to move its capital to Quthing and appeal to Britain for aid.
• On June 14, 1872, the exiled government of the Republic of the Transvaal arrived in Cape Town seeking to restore its country.

After learning that East Africa had conquered the Zulu Kingdom and seized much of Basutoland, Cape Colony’s parliament rejected self-government and debated the threat. Unable to agree on a defense, the legislators concluded they had to ask London for help.

• Angolssen announced the defeats of the Zulu Kingdom and Basutoland, and Cape Colony’s parliament unanimously rejected a responsible cabinet.
• Henry Barkley described East Africa’s rapid conquests and its origins, then estimated that 30,000 to 50,000 East African troops were in southern Africa.
• Legislators panicked over East Africa’s strength and questioned the government’s intelligence and military readiness.
• Henry Barkley warned that East Africa had not returned Griqualand and might threaten the Kimberley diamond mines, while admitting Cape Colony lacked an effective army.
• The legislators rejected paying for military expansion and decided Cape Town had to ask London for help.

Ernst sought to secure East Africa’s gains by negotiating with the Orange Free State and pressuring Cape Town over Griqualand. Svit persuaded President Brandt to sign a thirty-year Non-Aggression Pact, leaving the Orange Free State independent but committed to neutrality between East Africa and the Cape Colony.

• Ernst ordered negotiations with the Orange Free State and directed Merke to strengthen East Africa’s military presence opposite Kimberley to pressure Cape Town over Griqualand.
• The Orange Free State mobilized after East Africa defeated the Republic of the Transvaal, then received Svit as East Africa’s special envoy.
• Svit told Brandt that East Africa’s war had been driven by strategic security and British expansion, and that the Republic of the Transvaal would not be restored.
• Svit argued that East Africa had no ambitions toward the Orange Free State and required only its independence and neutrality between East Africa and the Cape Colony.
• Brandt agreed, and East Africa and the Orange Free State signed a thirty-year Non-Aggression Pact.