Chapter Summaries

Mori and Walz discussed Dar es Salaam City State Cable Factory No. 1’s role in producing a submarine cable connecting the Southern Ryukyu Islands to Fuzhou. The chapter then compared the advantages of East Africa’s major cities and railways, leaving New Hamburg City’s future standing uncertain.

• Walz told Mori that the factory would help produce a submarine cable for the distant Southern Ryukyu Islands, with more than a dozen factories and European companies involved.
• Mori recalled that East Africa’s early cable factories had relied on imported raw materials and had struggled to operate their machinery.
• The chapter described how geography and rail access shaped the rubber and copper supply advantages of Dar es Salaam city and Mombasa city.
• The Central Railway’s route through key cities and mineral regions was presented as a major driver of East Africa’s development.
• The chapter contrasted New Hamburg City’s potential with Dar es Salaam city and Mombasa city, whose established advantages made them difficult to overtake.

The chapter described East Africa’s geographical divisions and the uneven distribution of its mineral and other resources. It focused on Hesse Province’s valuable rubber and mineral industries, whose growth depended on improving the province’s difficult roads.

• Vehicles carried small loads in and out of Dar es Salaam’s First State-Owned Cable Factory, which sourced copper and rubber from inland provinces.
• The account identified Hesse Province as a major source of rubber, minerals, and timber, but noted its remote location and lack of railway access.
• East Africa’s regions were divided both by geographical features such as the highlands and Zambezi River, and by economic development into east, interior, west, south, and north.
• Hesse Province’s heavy rainfall and rugged terrain repeatedly damaged its roads, requiring frequent, labor-intensive repairs.
• The province’s cement shortage delayed plans to pave roads, even as rising demand for rubber made better transport increasingly necessary.

At Qiuweit Palace, Ernst discussed Sigmaringen’s African colony with Prince Karl and advised him to recruit immigrants from Romania and Austria-Hungary rather than Germany. The conversation ended with Sigmaringen expanding its settlement efforts in Chad under East African support.

• Ernst asked Prince Karl about Sigmaringen’s colony, and Prince Karl said more than forty thousand people had settled in Chad.
• Prince Karl said Sigmaringen had secured key regions within its planned two-million-square-kilometer territory, and Ernst urged him to expand westward toward the coast.
• Ernst compared East Africa’s climate and agricultural potential with Brazil and Australia, arguing that East Africa had superior conditions and more land.
• Prince Karl said East Africa had sent Sigmaringen more than thirty thousand immigrants that year, while Sigmaringen had recruited just over three thousand in Europe.
• Ernst advised Prince Karl to seek immigrants in Romania and the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and Prince Karl agreed that recruiting in Germany had become difficult.
• Ernst reflected that East African assistance had enabled Sigmaringen’s large-scale colonization, while Italy had also relocated more than three hundred thousand people to Ethiopia.

Prince Karl urged Ernst to extend the Northern Railway westward to improve transport to the colonies, but Ernst argued that a northern extension was not yet justified. He proposed instead building the Hesse Railway as a northern branch of the Central Railway to move rubber and minerals and connect East Africa’s interior to the middle Congo River.

• Prince Karl asked Ernst when he planned to extend the Northern Railway beyond the Great Lakes Region, citing the difficulties of transporting immigrants and supplies to Chad.
• Ernst explained that lake transport currently served the Great Lakes Region and that sparse populations and limited cargo made a western Northern Railway extension unprofitable for now.
• Ernst proposed addressing Hesse Province’s poor transport by building a railway along its north-south length to carry rubber and minerals.
• Prince Karl suggested extending the Northern Railway and linking it to the Central Railway, but Ernst said that would double costs without near-term need.
• Ernst proposed extending the Central Railway north through Hesse Province to the navigable middle Congo River, creating a cross-shaped network and easing transport and military access.

Ernst and Prince Karl discussed the costly, difficult Hesse Province railway and the possibility of extending the Northern Railway, which Sigmaringen needed for its Chad colony. After seeing East Africa’s development firsthand, Karl became more hopeful about Chad’s future as East Africa entered an age of transformation.

• Ernst warned Prince Karl that building the Hesse Province railway through steep, wet, forested terrain would be exceptionally difficult and dangerous.
• Ernst said the Northern Railway extension would not be considered for several years, though he envisioned it eventually linking with the Central Railway and possibly reaching the Azande Plateau.
• Prince Karl explained that Sigmaringen needed a railway route through East Africa to move people and supplies to Chad, and offered to contribute if East Africa built the extension.
• Prince Karl recalled his long train journey across East Africa, which showed him that its inland regions had developed to a level comparable with backward European regions.
• Ernst’s account concluded that East Africa could catch up with older powers by taking advantage of new developments in roads and industry.

Ernst proposed that Sigmaringen help fund an early extension of East Africa’s Northern Railway by issuing bonds through the Romanian royal family. He persuaded Prince Karl that railway access would let Sigmaringen develop its mineral resources and repay the debt, leaving Prince Karl considering the investment worthwhile.

• Ernst explained that East Africa could advance the Northern Railway extension if it solved the funding problem, while its own budget was committed to other projects.
• Prince Karl asked whether outside funding would allow construction to begin early, and Ernst said Sigmaringen could invest alongside East Africa.
• Prince Karl worried that Sigmaringen lacked the wealth to fund a railway stretching at least a thousand kilometers.
• Ernst suggested issuing bonds in the Romanian royal family’s name and obtaining support from Romania.
• Ernst argued that Sigmaringen could repay the debt with minerals from its nearly two million square kilometers of colonial land, which the railway would help transport.
• Prince Karl considered Ernst’s reasoning and recognized that the Northern Railway could help Sigmaringen profit from its mineral resources.

The chapter compared East Africa’s government-led, industry-focused westward development with the United States’ more chaotic, privately driven Westward Movement. East Africa had developed its interior rapidly, though agriculture still dominated its overall investment.

• East Africa expanded steel and railway production using low costs, state planning, and equipment acquired during the economic crisis.
• By 1880, East Africa was developing its mineral-rich central provinces, with Matabele Province, Hohenzollern Province, and Swabian Province expected to approach the eastern region’s development level by 1890.
• The Central and Northern Railways connected the eastern cities to the interior, shifting industrial investment toward central mining and metallurgical industries.
• East Africa’s government organized migration, security, and industrial development, unlike the United States’ more disorderly westward expansion.
• The chapter concluded that both regions had been developed, but East Africa’s process took less than ten years while the United States’ lasted over a century.

King Constantin visited Harare city and toured its Tobacco Factory, where officials described the city’s growing tobacco industry and export markets. The factory director explained its modern production system and expansion challenges as Constantin learned how the state factory worked with the Hohenzollern Tobacco Company.

• Constantin traveled by special train to Harare city to inspect the city and its industries.
• The Harare city Tobacco Factory director told Constantin that tobacco demand exceeded supply despite new fields and that Harare had become a major domestic distribution center.
• Constantin discussed Matabele tobacco’s popularity in German territories and East Africa’s major export markets.
• The director showed Constantin the factory’s orderly production line and described its European design and workforce of more than eight hundred people.
• The director explained that the factory’s cramped layout required new workshops and that advancing European technology could make its equipment outdated.
• The chapter explained that the state-owned Harare city Tobacco Factory handled processing while the private Hohenzollern Tobacco Company controlled research, development, and sales.

Constantin toured Harare, praised the Tobacco Factory director, and examined the city’s growth and industrial plans. Kade outlined the next factory visits as Constantin assessed Harare’s planned development.

• Constantin encouraged the Harare Tobacco Factory director to combine theory with practical production, and the director pledged to support the national economy.
• Constantin left the Tobacco Factory by carriage and observed Harare’s busy streets and urban construction.
• Kade told Constantin that the itinerary included the Harare Chromium Factory, steelworks, arms factory, and locomotive factory.
• Constantin considered Harare’s population, industries, and planned infrastructure, and was satisfied with the city’s development.

Constantin visited Harare City's chromium ore plant, learned about its resources and limited current uses, and spoke with workers about their lives and compulsory education. The visit ended with Constantin showing concern for the workers while official reporters recorded his conversations.

• Constantin asked Gleining why Harare City's Tobacco Factory was much larger than the chromium ore plant, and Gleining explained that tobacco demand and profits drove its scale.
• Director Hern explained chromium's discovery, its presence in East African chromite, and its uses in tanning and strengthening alloys.
• Gleining told Constantin that the chromium plant was on his itinerary because it was a provincial priority and had been mentioned by Ernst.
• Constantin toured the plant and asked workers about their wages, family expenses, and views on compulsory education.
• Constantin discussed the value of education and industry with the workers while official newspaper reporters recorded the exchanges.

Constantin returned to First Town after his brief inspection of Matabele Province and discussed southern Africa’s cities, development, and livestock industries with Kade. Their special train crossed the Zambezi River Railway Bridge as Constantin reflected on East Africa’s vast territory and rivers.

• Constantin regretted that he had not had time to visit Bulawayo, and Kade said the southern cities could wait until next year.
• Constantin asked about Pretoria and Ernst’s plans for sheep raising; Kade explained that Pretoria had become a military stronghold and sheep farming was developing in Southern Frontier Province.
• Kade described plans for New Hamburg City, Nairobi city, and Bulawayo city to grow into textile hubs supported by regional livestock and agriculture.
• Constantin reflected on how East Africa’s immense scale had changed his perspective from his former life in Europe.
• Constantin and Kade’s special train crossed the Zambezi River Railway Bridge, and Constantin considered the river’s potential importance to East Africa.

Ernst visited Bagamoyo to inspect its naval base and shipbuilding industry while Constantin was away. He reviewed the navy’s progress and shipyard plans, then left the city’s shipbuilding development under continued state and conglomerate support.

• Ernst reassured pregnant Karina that he would take her to visit Empress Dowager Sophie and other European relations next year.
• Ernst traveled by Guard Division gunboat from First Town to Bagamoyo and learned that Archduke Ferdinand was away at Ferdinand Naval Academy on Pemba Island.
• Ernst inspected Bagamoyo’s naval base and heard that the shipyard had completed three gunboats, while its three-thousand-ton armored cruiser would take longer to finish.
• Ernst told naval personnel that East Africa needed time to build its technical expertise and talent while learning from other powers and advancing toward self-reliance.
• Ernst toured Bagamoyo’s thirteen shipbuilding enterprises, most of which were state-owned, with two belonging to Hechingen Overseas Trading Company.

Ernst visited Baltikum Shipyard and discussed the state of East Africa’s civilian shipbuilding industry and its need to develop technical skills. After touring several more shipyards, he decided to make submarine research a major East African Navy project, with Lake Tanganyika as a promising testing ground.

• The director of Baltikum Shipyard told Ernst that the yard built about forty small and medium fishing boats annually and described its limited technical staff and reliance on imitation.
• Ernst encouraged the shipyard to build on its existing skills, study imported equipment, and make gradual progress rather than rush into advanced research.
• Ernst visited other shipyards, including Bagamoyo’s military shipyard, where researchers were developing experimental submarines capable of diving five or six meters.
• Ernst planned to separate submarine research from the shipyard and make it a key East African Navy project, drawing additional talent from the German territories.
• Ernst identified Lake Tanganyika as a natural submarine testing ground, supported by nearby East African cities and industrial infrastructure.

Orange Free State Boers grew resentful as Britain raised their taxes and the Transvaal Restoration Army relied on them for support while its soldiers competed for local resources. The chapter left the Orange people expecting that the army’s planned expansion would burden them even more.

• Former Orange Free State Boers complained that Britain had broken its promises, raised taxes, and failed to share the profits from the diamond mines.
• Orange residents blamed Transvaal Boers for taking local resources and serving Britain instead of showing gratitude for the refuge they had received.
• Orange residents suspected the Transvaal Restoration Army’s calls to reclaim lost territory were being used to extract money and supplies from them.
• Britain shifted the cost of maintaining the Transvaal Restoration Army onto the Orange Free State while keeping its own funding and support limited.
• Orange residents anticipated that Britain would make them pay for the army’s planned recruitment and expansion, including its equipment and imported coffee.

Little Pretoria rallied former Transvaal officials in Bloemfontein to restore the republic, while British and Portuguese representatives promised support against East Africa. The British governor urged the Boers to discount East Africa’s strength and serve as the vanguard in a regional conflict.

• Little Pretoria gathered former Transvaal officials at a banquet and called on them to reclaim their homeland from East Africa.
• Little Pretoria told the gathering that Britain and Portugal would support the restoration effort and invited their representatives to speak.
• The British governor argued that East Africa’s vast territory dispersed its strength and that the conflict would be regional.
• The British governor promised to provide weapons to the Transvaal and Mozambique, encouraging the Boers and Portuguese to fight East Africa.

Ernst’s account of East Africa’s economic and demographic strength contrasted it with Cape Colony and the Transvaal, while explaining Britain’s effort to use Transvaal exiles to weaken East Africa. The chapter left Britain seeking to push East African influence north of Lake Malawi.

• Ernst explained how East Africa’s trade networks and industrial and agricultural systems had made it far stronger than Zanzibar, the Orange Free State, or Cape Colony.
• The chapter described how Britain viewed the hostile Transvaal population as a useful weapon against East Africa and sought to attract them with promises of restored rights and security.
• The governor in Bloemfontein promised that a restored Republic of the Transvaal would regain its rights and receive British protection.
• Britain hoped a restored Transvaal would weaken East Africa and create a strategic buffer between it and Cape Colony.
• Britain set its minimum demand at the retreat of East African influence to north of Lake Malawi.

East Africa monitored the Transvaal Restoration Army as its poor discipline and British backing fueled resentment among the Orange people. The East African National Security Bureau had infiltrated the Orange Free State and learned most of the army’s and provisional government’s activities.

• East Africa built bunker defenses near Winburg along the Vaal River to guard the Southern Frontier Province.
• Ernst had allowed the Transvaal people to remain in the region, and divisions grew between them and the Orange people over land, political interests, and relations with Britain and East Africa.
• Britain backed the Transvaal Provisional Government and its Restoration Army, using the force to pressure the Orange Free State.
• The Transvaal Restoration Army alienated Bloemfontein residents through extortion and misconduct, while British officials encouraged tensions between the two groups.
• The East African National Security Bureau infiltrated the Orange Free State and tracked the Restoration Army and Transvaal Provisional Government, learning most of their affairs.

East Africa celebrated New Year with fireworks, family gatherings, and a lavish royal feast as the country’s prosperity and variety of goods continued to grow. The festivities ended with a reminder that Black people remained excluded from East Africa’s prosperity, though the holiday briefly eased their labor.

• Residents across East Africa watched New Year fireworks, with dozens of cities holding displays supplied by Mbeya city’s sole fireworks factory.
• East Africans celebrated the holiday with family meals and festivities shaped by regional climates and immigrant traditions.
• Ernst, his family, his in-laws, and Prince Karl gathered at the royal palace for a lavish meal featuring Chinese, German, and French dishes.
• Improved transport and expanding agriculture, industry, and handicrafts brought East Africans a wider range of food and other goods.
• Black laborers remained in dark shacks while East Africa celebrated, but the holiday pause in projects gave them a short respite from work.

Ernst and Constantin watched East Africa unveil its first automobile, while Ernst explained the vehicle’s fuel, the Hohenzollern Conglomerate’s plans, and the limits of East Africa’s industrial capacity. The chapter left Germany, Austria, and East Africa jointly promoting the automobile as their own invention and preparing to develop its market.

• At the New Year, East Africans returned to work as the country’s construction continued through the hot season.
• Constantin examined the automobile assembled outside Sveti Royal Palace, and Ernst explained that it ran on gasoline refined from petroleum.
• The driver started the automobile, which crossed the square and reached thirty kilometers per hour as spectators cheered.
• Ernst told Constantin that state-owned factories would serve East Africa’s limited domestic market while private firms pursued international sales.
• Ernst explained that East Africa needed German and Austrian industry and expertise because its manufacturing system could not yet compete internationally.

Constantin and the Ernst family test-drove Hechingen Energy Power Company's new automobiles, while Ernst explained to Karina how the company planned to build an industry around them. The chapter leaves the automobile positioned as a costly luxury for now, with the Hohenzollern Conglomerate aiming to dominate markets at every price level as production expands.

• Constantin rode in the royal automobile and experienced its speed, comfort, and stability.
• Archduke Ferdinand and Princess Charlotte eagerly tested the automobile at its top speed.
• Ernst had the driver slow down while he rode with pregnant Karina, then explained that automobiles would eventually replace carriages but remained too expensive for ordinary people.
• Ernst described plans to sell cheaper commercial models with fewer features while keeping the best technology for royal vehicles.
• Ernst explained that spreading the automobile industry across East Africa, Germany, and Austria would help the Hohenzollern Conglomerate secure its market position.
• Karina compared automobiles with Ernst's costly transoceanic telephone system, and Ernst said automobiles had far greater long-term prospects.