Chapter Summaries

As the Berlin Conference prepared to divide West African interests, East Africa and Sigmaringen discussed their goals and the risks posed by the gathering. The chapter left Sigmaringen seeking German support for a future outlet to the sea, while East Africa expected to secure economic terms rather than territorial gains.

• Constantin and his advisers discussed Germany’s invitation to East Africa and concluded that the conference would chiefly settle colonial disputes in West Africa.
• Prince Karl asked whether Sigmaringen’s absence from the conference would undermine its plans to obtain an Atlantic outlet.
• Constantin explained that Sigmaringen’s presence in Chad was little known and that other powers had mistaken the region for East African territory.
• Ernst said East Africa would seek economic rights and protect Sigmaringen’s interests, but was unlikely to gain territory at the conference.
• Constantin advised Prince Karl to have Leopold negotiate with the Prussian Royal Family for German support, even if Sigmaringen would owe Germany a favor.

Ernst and Constantin discussed East Africa’s delegates and position at the Berlin Conference, choosing Svit to represent the country. Ernst advised supporting Germany while staying aligned with the Austro-Hungarian Empire, leaving East Africa’s precise stance open.

• Prince Karl thanked Constantin, who accepted his gratitude in the name of Hohenzollern.
• Ernst told Constantin that no member of the royal family should attend the Berlin Conference and that a capable minister should be selected instead.
• Constantin agreed the delegates needed diplomatic skill and familiarity with European aristocratic etiquette.
• Constantin proposed Svit as East Africa’s delegate because he was young, capable, and experienced in travel.
• Ernst said East Africa should generally support Germany but avoid stating its position too clearly and should coordinate with the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

East Africa’s delegation attended the early Berlin Conference as Germany and France joined forces to curb Britain’s ambitions in West Africa. Svit told his subordinates to protect East African interests and seek additional gains while the powers argued over the region.

• East Africa arranged for Svit to attend the Berlin Conference, and Prince Leopold of Sigmaringen joined the gathering on Sigmaringen’s behalf.
• Germany and France coordinated against Britain as the powers disputed claims in a West Africa divided among many kingdoms, vassal states, and tribes.
• Svit explained to the East African delegation that Britain’s effort to dominate West Africa had provoked the other powers, partly because East Africa’s rise had blocked Britain’s Cape-to-Cairo ambitions.
• Svit instructed his subordinates to safeguard East Africa’s interests and pursue further benefits while the other countries competed.
• Svit considered West Africa’s abundant resources and reflected that Ernst had chosen East Africa, whose resource shortages had driven its expansion and made Angola a future target.

The chapter explained why East Africa’s development as an overseas nation was essential to the Hechingen Royal Family’s power and independence. It left East Africa facing a long internal struggle to stabilize its political system and preserve its national resolve.

• France and Germany pursued limited colonial ambitions in Africa, while East Africa’s nation-building project differed from conventional colonialism.
• Ernst had promoted building a nation overseas because the Hechingen Royal Family had lost its European fief and could not rise above its subordinate position in Prussia.
• German industrial and commercial groups advocated a Greater Germany economic sphere that could bring East Africa under German influence.
• East Africa relied on its large Far Eastern immigrant population to support the Hechingen Royal Family and resist being hollowed out by Germany.
• Ernst recognized that East Africa’s greatest danger was internal instability and aimed to repair its immature state system over the coming decades.

After the Orange Free State resistance collapsed, Ernst and East African officials debated the fate of the Orange fighters who had fled across the border and assessed the growing threat from Britain and its allies. Ernst concluded that a war between East Africa and Britain was inevitable, though East Africa still needed time to strengthen itself.

• Felix explained that the Orange Free State resistance army had been doomed by its limited strength and lack of strategic depth despite East Africa's aid.
• Merke asked how East Africa should handle more than two thousand Orange fighters who had crossed the border.
• Ernst said Orange fighters could settle in East Africa if they accepted its government’s terms, return to the Orange Free State to resist Britain, or go to the Netherlands.
• Felix warned that the Transvaal Restoration Army had grown to more than sixty thousand men and that Britain had over twenty thousand troops near Cape Town.
• Ernst argued that East Africa lacked time and experience fighting a world power, and predicted that Britain and East Africa would eventually go to war over their conflicting interests in southern Africa.

Karl Peters promoted the expansion of Germany’s West African colony from Idenau, while the chapter explained the strategic arguments for and against German colonialism. With East Africa already claimed by Ernst, Peters pursued his colonial ambitions in Cameroon instead.

• Karl Peters told Idenau’s administrators that the Berlin Conference would make the region Germany’s first West African colony and a starting point for maritime power.
• Karl Peters criticized Bismarck for resisting overseas expansion, while the chapter explained Bismarck’s focus on France and the dangers of colonies vulnerable to British and French blockades.
• German industrialists and colonialists supported overseas expansion, and the German Colonial Association backed Peters’s efforts.
• The chapter described how Karl Peters founded the German West Africa Company and established a colony around Idenau after Ernst’s East Africa had foreclosed Peters’s earlier colonial plans there.

East Africa placed its southern provinces on military alert and resumed militia training amid concerns about a possible war. Ernst decided to expand the standing army by fifty thousand troops, recruiting mainly from the eastern countryside to avoid disrupting Matabele Province’s industry.

• Hechingen Province officials announced that veterans had to register and adult men would receive paramilitary training as all five southern provinces resumed militia drills.
• Residents debated the prospect of war and compared life and security in East Africa with Germany and the United States.
• Felix told Ernst that recruiting in industrial Matabele Province could hinder production and asked how many troops the army should add.
• Ernst ordered an expansion of fifty thousand troops, saying East Africa needed to maintain its advantage over Britain, Portugal, and the Republic of the Transvaal.

Ernst and Felix discussed preparing for a future war to seize Portugal’s Mozambique and Angola, while avoiding disruption to East Africa’s development. Ernst set 1890 as the target, after major infrastructure projects were expected to finish, and ordered preparations to monitor Portuguese defenses and British troop movements.

• Ernst said East Africa should disturb Matabele Province as little as possible while preparing for a war against Portugal’s colonies.
• Ernst explained that East Africa’s limited experience, talent, and infrastructure made it important to avoid a war that would disrupt its industrial transition.
• Ernst identified the Hesse Railway and nationwide water conservancy project as major works that would take several more years to complete.
• Ernst set 1890 as the target for attacking Mozambique and Angola, when East Africa could free up resources after the projects finished.
• Ernst ordered officials to investigate Portuguese defenses in the colonies and watch for British troop transfers to Cape Town as a sign of impending action.

Ernst urged East African officials to coordinate agriculture and industry, raise agricultural productivity, diversify crops, and process farm products domestically. He concluded that agriculture could supply food, raw materials, labor, and capital for industrial development, and called for stronger cooperation between government departments.

• Ernst told a government work conference that East Africa should prioritize agricultural productivity and diversified farming while coordinating agriculture with industry.
• Ernst explained how crops such as cotton, hemp, and silk supplied industrial raw materials and described East Africa’s agricultural advantages and limitations.
• Ernst urged the Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministry of Industry to cooperate in processing agricultural goods, citing canned fruit and sisal products as examples.
• Ernst emphasized expanding animal husbandry because livestock supplied food and raw materials while providing power for farming, industry, and transport.
• Ernst traced East Africa’s early agricultural priorities from feeding immigrants to developing cash crops and livestock, then concluded that agricultural advantages should support industrial growth.

Mbeya students discussed their prospects after graduation as East Africa expanded factory work and military recruitment. The government also pushed workers from the east to the west, and Mbeya City First Steelworks urged employees to transfer to Harare before assigning them by force.

• Hagens asked Rod about his plans after graduation, and they discussed factory work, farming, government jobs, and military service.
• The chapter described how East Africa’s industrial growth was drawing graduates into factories and the government was transferring workers westward.
• The director of Mbeya City First Steelworks urged workers to move to Harare, citing its industrial prospects and the decline of Mbeya’s share of steel production.
• Several workers resisted the transfer, and the director explained that western development was a national policy affecting offices, schools, factories, and villages.
• The director invited workers to register voluntarily by the next day and warned that he would assign transfers if the factory lacked enough volunteers after three days.

East Africa planned to use the Northern Railway to connect its central and northern regions, develop Bangui and Kabo as strategic hubs, and open the northwest to settlement and industry. The railway was underway, with officials targeting a population of one million across the three northwestern provinces by around 1890.

• Officials reported that thirty percent of the Northern Railway’s western section was complete and expected the line from Mombasa to Bangui and Kabo to open before 1887.
• The chapter described Bangui’s river access, commercial prospects, and strategic role in controlling the upper Ubangi and connecting East Africa with West Africa.
• Officials explained that linking the Northern Railway with the Hesse Railway at Kisangani would create a transport network for moving resources and grain across the central and northern regions.
• Officials proposed replanning roads, villages, and farms along the railway while using assistance from the Northern Industrial Belt and Great Lakes Region to develop the three northwestern provinces.
• The Immigration Office planned to settle at least 300,000 people in the three northwestern provinces within three years of railway operations, with the region projected to reach one million residents around 1890.

Ernst and Ferdinand discussed the French setback at Keelung and East Africa’s naval deployments in the Far East and Nanyang. Ernst ordered the navy to retire aging warships and suggested selling them to the Far East Empire, while warning that East Africa needed to strengthen its army and prepare for future threats.

• Ferdinand told Ernst that French forces had failed again at Keelung, while East African trade routes remained open under Pacific Fleet protection.
• Ferdinand proposed assigning two ironclads to the Pacific Fleet, and Ernst suggested stationing another at Pontianak Port to protect Lanfang and regional shipping.
• Ernst instructed Ferdinand to sell aging warships to reduce maintenance costs and make room for new vessels.
• Ernst argued that East Africa should shift military spending toward the army because other powers might eventually test its strength.
• Ernst suggested offering the retired ironclads to the Far East Empire, which faced growing threats and lacked ironclads of its own.

Ernst reviewed East Africa’s ivory trade and ordered a plan to preserve its long-term supply while increasing exports from West Africa. He left his officials tasked with expanding the stockpile and helping drive West African ivory trade, despite the likely damage to its elephant herds.

• Von der Leyen reported that East Africa had stored over two million tusks and sold more than forty thousand the previous year.
• Ernst ordered a survey of East Africa’s elephant herds so the government could manage hunting and preserve future ivory supplies.
• Ernst directed officials to raise the stockpile to three million tusks, keep annual exports near forty thousand, and import the rest from West Africa.
• Ernst explained that importing and reselling West African ivory would undercut a rival market and speed its trade, while East Africa conserved its own herds.

Constantin toured Kagera city and learned how water conservancy projects had transformed its wetlands into productive rice fields and improved river transport. Kagera’s officials asked for grain-processing factories, and Constantin urged the agricultural port to support East Africa’s food security and grain exports.

• Constantin traveled from First Town through Dodoma and Mwanza to Kagera city, where local officials received him.
• Kagera officials described how drainage works, waterways, and windmills had converted marshes into rice paddies and raised farmland utilization.
• They explained that river improvements extended Kagera River navigation and made the waterway a key route for shipping grain across East Africa.
• Constantin praised Kagera’s farmland and said the city should use its agricultural strengths to protect food supplies and support grain exports.
• Kagera officials told Constantin that the city lacked processing machinery and factories, forcing it to send most harvested grain to Mwanza city and Kisumu city for processing.

Constantin heard Kagera city’s request for agricultural machinery and learned that its finances could soon support industrial development. In Bujumbura, officials explained how water-rail intermodal transport could connect the Great Lake and Soren Lake, but the route still needed a southern-shore hub to link with the Central Three Provinces.

• Kagera city’s mayor asked whether the city could order agricultural-processing equipment from overseas, and Constantin’s aide promised to report the request to the Crown Prince.
• The mayor explained that Kagera city’s water-conservancy projects were nearing completion, freeing funds for other development as expanded farmland boosted agricultural output.
• Constantin traveled from Kagera city to Bujumbura City, the provincial capital of Western Great Lakes Province.
• Bujumbura officials described how the Mbu Railway and Kagera River shipping connected Bujumbura’s goods to Kisumu city in half an hour.
• Bujumbura officials said a similar city on Soren Lake’s southern shore was needed to connect the lake transport route with the Central Three Provinces.

A motorcycle imported from East Africa drew a crowd at Jiaozhou Port’s commodity exhibition, where people discussed its technology, cost, and place among new automobiles. The five motorcycles had already been ordered by wealthy buyers, while Wang Er told his coworkers that reading newspapers had earned him the chance to become an East African administrator.

• An operator demonstrated an East African motorcycle on Jiaozhou’s streets and explained that it used an internal combustion engine.
• The chapter traced the motorcycle’s development to Lin Leighton, who completed the project under Benz’s supervision.
• Onlookers debated whether the motorcycle was merely a bicycle fitted with a steam engine, and Wang Er explained the difference between motorcycles and automobiles.
• Wang Er said the Jiaozhou Daily had featured the vehicles and claimed that Mr. Herrer had recommended him for an administrative post in East Africa.
• Wang Er and his coworkers discussed the motorcycles’ fifty-thousand-Rheinland-Shield price, noting that wealthy merchants and officials had bought all five.

East Africa’s bicycle industry had gained a strong foothold through large-scale production, unified standards, and local rubber supplies. Ernst then approved a cautious nationwide civil service examination for the following year, aimed at bringing more educated administrators into government.

• East Africa expanded motorcycle exports to Europe and America while continuing to prioritize its bicycle market and production capacity.
• East African bicycle factories benefited from local rubber, assembly-line production, standardized parts, and coordinated after-sales service.
• Officials told the Crown Prince that East Africa would formally implement civil service examinations nationwide the next year.
• Ernst called for the examinations to proceed gradually and draw on British and Far Eastern experience as East Africa modernized its administration.
• East Africa set secondary school graduation as the minimum qualification and limited the first round to a little over one hundred places.

Ernst considered East Africa’s centralized government, gradual democratization, and long-term political reforms while warning that southern security threats would soon have to be resolved. He planned to remove Portugal’s Mozambique colony as a threat to the central region, clearing the way to consider moving the capital.

• Ernst argued that East Africa’s centralized, semi-planned system suited its circumstances and that democratization should proceed gradually.
• Ernst believed the Hechingen Royal Family represented East Africans’ basic needs, while recognizing that industrialization would eventually require political reforms and a transfer of power.
• Ernst identified Britain, Portugal, the Transvaalers, and East Africa as powers preparing for a southern conflict in the early 1890s.
• Ernst said East Africa needed to address southern security after 1885, especially the threats to its eastern and central economic centers.
• Ernst prioritized removing Portugal’s Mozambique colony, whose position divided East Africa’s eastern territory, before considering moving the capital.

Kailos explained Belgian Congo’s position as a buffer between East Africa, Portugal, and France, and described the colony’s population, administration, and treatment of different groups. The chapter ended with him telling Val that East Africa’s consul protected the interests of East African citizens in Belgian Congo, regardless of their ethnicity.

• The narrator described Belgian Congo’s borders, its role as a buffer, and its small Belgian troop presence.
• The narrator identified Black Point as Belgian Congo’s capital and noted that Chinese immigrants made up more than half its population.
• Kailos told Val that Belgian Congo’s Black population had fallen sharply under Belgian rule and that many Black people in Black Point had lost limbs.
• Kailos explained that East African troops near Bangui gave Chinese immigrants in Belgian Congo a measure of status.
• Kailos told Val that East Africa recognized nationality rather than skin color and represented East African citizens and companies in Belgian Congo.

Kailos explained to Val why the Belgian Congo mattered to East Africa as a strategic buffer and warned him to prioritize national interests over condemning Belgian abuses. The chapter left East Africa publicly committed to peace while its military quietly prepared for the possibility of war with Portugal.

• Kailos described the Belgian Congo’s strategic importance and told Val to pass intelligence favorable to East Africa back home.
• Kailos warned Val not to intervene in the Belgian Congo’s brutal treatment of black people, and Val said he would put East African interests first.
• Val recalled East Africa’s history of slavery and the role black labor had played in its early development.
• Val asked whether East Africa intended to target Belgium, and Kailos explained that the Belgian Congo mattered because it could affect a future conflict with Portugal.
• Kailos said East Africa would not easily violate the Belgian Congo’s neutral status, though the military considered it as a possible route to attack Angola if the war turned against East Africa.