Recaps

Wang Defeng escorted his younger brother Wang Desen’s family from Dar es Salaam to their new home in Mozambique after they received East African identity documents. He settled them near Bella City and, reassured by the local conditions, began his return journey to Harare.

• Wang Defeng learned that Wang Desen’s family could obtain East African nationality and received their identity documents and household registration two days later.
• Wang Defeng sent his wife a telegram, took a family portrait with his relatives, and explained how they could write to him.
• Wang Defeng accompanied Wang Desen’s family by ship to the Port of Beira, where he saw construction of the Habe Railway.
• Wang Defeng and the immigrants traveled inland by carriage, and he spoke with escorting soldiers about his family’s destination and the local conditions.
• After reaching the settlement a little over a hundred kilometers from Bella City, Wang Defeng settled Wang Desen’s family, befriended the garrison, and set out for Harare.

East Africa secured Kirkov’s farm in Eleele, giving it control of the region and advancing its covert plan to establish a foothold on Kauai. John Crane and Rogge discussed bringing in retired soldiers and relying on naval support to turn their growing presence into de facto control of the island.

• Rogge negotiated with Kirkov and bought his farm for 450 pounds plus a case of red wine.
• East Africa’s acquisition of the farm completed its control of Eleele and much of Kauai’s southern and western coast.
• Rogge told John Crane that East Africa’s Governor of Hawaii title now had a territorial foothold, though the Kingdom of Hawaii still governed the island.
• John Crane said retired Defense Force soldiers would arrive in Eleele the following month to support East Africa’s claim.
• Rogge and John Crane discussed the need for military and naval coordination as East Africa prepared to challenge the United States’ likely move to annex Hawaii.

East African officers and agents prepared to seize Kauai, calculating their forces and organizing the island’s East African residents. The plan depended on watching for political upheaval in Lahaina, where Rogge expected American moves toward annexation to create an opportunity.

• Two Austro-Hungarian merchant ships brought Battalion Commander Gladstone and more than six hundred East African troops to Eleele Bay, where John Crane welcomed them.
• Gladstone asked to combine his battalion with Crane’s more than three hundred armed personnel, then discussed Kauai’s population and the American presence with Crane.
• Gladstone proposed organizing East African residents into armed groups, using firearms and other weapons to take control of the island before the Americans could respond.
• The National Security Bureau began organizing East Africans in eastern Kauai to support the planned operation.
• In Lihue, Rogge told agent and sandalwood factory director Eudlian to stay vigilant and prepare for an uprising, explaining that East Africa would act when upheaval in Lahaina signaled an American move to annex Hawaii.

In December 1892, Enders met with Log and praised his growing business influence in Hawaii. Their conversation revealed East Africa’s covert effort to expand its control over Kauai and its plans to use an American move in Hawaii as an opening to divide the islands.

• Enders welcomed Log to his home and asked his servant Moore to bring coffee.
• Enders and Log discussed their businesses, including the decline of Hawaii’s sandalwood trade.
• The chapter explained that East Africa relied on Hawaii as a strategic link between its Southern Ryukyu Islands colony and Alaska.
• Enders praised Log’s widespread Kauai businesses and hinted that he might seek Log’s help as sandalwood resources ran out.
• East Africa continued secretly building influence in Kauai, intending to respond when the United States acted in Hawaii and divide control of the islands.

Rog learned that American merchants planned to overthrow the Kingdom of Hawaii and establish a republic, then returned to Kauai to coordinate East Africa’s response. John Klan prepared to defend the island and arrange its separation from Hawaii during the coup.

• Enders recruited Rog to support American merchants’ plan to overthrow the Kingdom of Hawaii and establish a republic.
• Rog attended a Honolulu dinner where the merchants set the coup for March of the following year, with National Guard support.
• Rog returned to Kauai and told John Klan to alert East Africa’s consulate and navy while monitoring American movements.
• John Klan said Kauai had raised its armed forces to two thousand men and would be ready to resist the Americans.
• Rog proposed that Kauai’s governor declare independence from the Kingdom of Hawaii once the coup began, allowing East Africa to establish a puppet government.

As the United States prepared to overthrow Hawaii’s monarchy, East Africa secretly moved to protect its interests and prepare for action on Kauai. The chapter ended with East African warships racing toward Hawaii as their commanders worried about arriving in time.

• Ernst recognized the Netherlands’ East Indies as a valuable colony and considered how East Africa’s overseas holdings complemented Germany and Austria.
• On March 14, 1893, American businessmen celebrated the planned overthrow of Hawaii’s kingdom, while Rog preserved his cover as Kauai’s prominent landowner.
• After the banquet, Rog told his disguised butler to send Kauai word that the Americans would act at eight the next morning.
• The butler sent the warning toward Kauai by ship, while East Africa counted on the island’s distance from Oahu to buy time for its plans.
• Commander Melhus’s three gunboats and two supply ships raced toward Hawaii, and Hermes judged that Kauai’s forces could resist an American attack.

East African forces seized control of Kauai while the United States surrounded Kalakaua’s palace on Oahu. The Kingdom of Hawaii was split into an American-backed Republic of Hawaii and an East African-backed Northern Kingdom of Hawaii.

• John Klan and Lieutenant Gladstone planned a coup on Kauai, assigning troops to seize Lihue and hold key towns.
• Kalakaua learned that American forces had surrounded Iolani Palace in Honolulu.
• Gladstone captured Governor Kumali in Lihue and ordered him to form a puppet government declaring Kauai’s separation from Hawaii.
• On March 13, 1892, the United States and East Africa carried out coups in the Hawaiian Islands, ending the unified Kingdom of Hawaii.
• British, French, Japanese, and other powers watched as the United States and East Africa established rival puppet regimes.

East Africa consolidated its coup on Kauai while a force of 108 Americans sailed toward the island, unaware it was already under East African control. John Crane defended the new Northern Kingdom of Hawaii to British merchant Robert, who chose to leave the Americans to challenge East Africa.

• Rogge prepared to lead 108 Americans to Kauai, expecting the local American merchants to help force its governor to surrender.
• East African forces took control of Kauai’s government offices, police, military, and American merchants, meeting little resistance from local forces.
• Robert accused John Crane of unlawfully backing Kumali and establishing a puppet government, while Crane insisted Kauai had the right to break away from Hawaii.
• Robert realized East Africa’s occupation could provoke a conflict with the United States and decided Britain should stay out of the dispute.
• John Crane assured Robert that East Africa would protect British property, and Robert left to stir up the Americans on the island.

East African forces captured the American militia and merchants who sailed to Kauai, then repatriated them to Honolulu. Charles told Sanford that East Africa had established the Northern Kingdom of Hawaii, and Sanford sought help from the American government.

• Charles grew suspicious when he and Rogge saw no ships or fishing boats near Kauai, but he ordered their vessel to continue to Lihue Harbor.
• East African troops surrounded Charles and his men at the dock and forced the American militia to surrender their weapons.
• The next day, East Africa repatriated more than nine hundred Americans, including Rogge, to Honolulu.
• Charles told Sanford that East Africa had invaded Kauai and established the Northern Kingdom of Hawaii, and estimated that over a thousand troops were on the island.
• Rogge and the expelled merchants pleaded with Sanford to recover their property, but Sanford urged them to seek help from the American government.

President Cleveland rejected the Republic of Hawaii’s request for American troops and annexation, but he also refused to let East Africa take control of the islands. He ordered contact with the East African Embassy to learn whether the crisis could be settled without war.

• Cleveland learned that American merchants had overthrown Hawaii’s monarchy and that the Republic of Hawaii was asking the United States for help.
• Cleveland refused to send troops to retake Kauai or support annexing Hawaii, citing American honor and the risk of conflict with East Africa.
• Cleveland’s secretary warned that East Africa might annex the islands, raising concerns about American security and influence.
• Cleveland ordered his secretary to contact the East African Embassy and begin negotiations over Hawaii.

President Cleveland summoned Ambassador Russell to discuss East Africa’s intervention in Hawaii, and Russell learned of the occupation of Kauai only during their meeting. After East Africa confirmed it would keep Kauai but seek no other islands, Cleveland decided to pursue U.S. control over the rest of Hawaii.

• A White House staff member invited Russell to meet President Cleveland.
• Cleveland asked Russell about Hawaii, and Russell said he knew nothing of the events there.
• Cleveland explained the Hawaiian crisis, and Russell returned to East Africa for instructions.
• Russell told Cleveland that East Africa would retain Kauai and claimed it had acted at King Kumali’s invitation.
• Cleveland decided to bring the remaining Hawaiian Islands into the United States’ territory, leaving Kauai out.

Britain and France pressured the United States over the division of the Hawaiian Islands, while East Africa negotiated compensation for American property on Kauai. After securing the settlement, East African spy Rogge departed under a false identity and headed for Florida.

• Wilson and Cabuseel accused East Africa and the United States of coordinating their coups and pushed for negotiations over Hawaii.
• Britain and France negotiated with the United States, which soon placated their governments, while East Africa watched from the sidelines.
• American Minister Steven arrived in Kauai to negotiate the return or compensation of American property with East Africa.
• East Africa bought some American assets at slightly above market price and returned others, whose owners had to keep operating them on Kauai.
• Rogge pretended to mourn his losses as he said goodbye to the American merchants, then revealed to his agents that they were going to Florida.

East Africa’s Ministry of Railways laid out a plan to build three north-south and three east-west railways, creating a national network linking the country’s regions. The plans also strengthened Ernst’s idea of moving the capital inland to promote central development and improve its security.

• The Ministry of Railways proposed completing three north-south railways by 1900, including the Eastern Coastal Railway and Western Coastal Railway alongside the Central Railway.
• The Ministry outlined three east-west routes, the Northern Railway, Central Railway, and Southern Railway, to connect regions including Southwest Africa and Somalia.
• The plan called for branch lines, especially in central and eastern East Africa and Mozambique, and set a goal of at least 100,000 kilometers of railway by 1900.
• Ernst considered how railways through Mozambique could join East Africa’s central and eastern economic regions into a stronger economic core.
• The railway plan reinforced Ernst’s idea of placing East Africa’s capital inland to encourage central development and protect the ruling government from coastal threats.

In August 1893, Ernst inspected Central Province to assess the region as a possible site for East Africa’s new capital. He arrived in Morogoro City, whose transport links, agricultural processing, natural resources, and hydropower potential made it a major inland center.

• Ernst began his inspection journey by train, traveling west from First Town through increasingly developed farmland and villages.
• Ernst arrived in Morogoro City, where John Leer explained that canals, railways, and highways connected it to the eastern urban cluster.
• John Leer described Morogoro’s role as a transport hub and center for processing sisal, timber, and rubber.
• Ernst noted that Morogoro gathered resources from western Central Province and supplied raw materials to eastern cities, especially Dar es Salaam.
• Ernst learned that Morogoro had East Africa’s first experimental hydroelectric power station and substantial potential for future hydropower.

Ernst stopped briefly in Dodoma, where he considered the rapid growth of Plateau Province and the possibility of dividing it into several provinces. He continued toward Iringa and Mbeya, heading for the central region that was the focus of his inspection as a potential future capital site.

• Ernst's train passed Morogoro without stopping and followed the Northern Front railway route toward Dodoma.
• Ernst got off at Dodoma, a growing railway hub and the capital of Plateau Province.
• Ernst considered how Plateau Province's size, population, and economic growth could eventually justify dividing it into two or three provinces.
• Ernst reflected on East Africa's future provincial system and the possibility of making remote overseas territories duchies or dependent states.
• Ernst left Dodoma and continued toward Iringa and Mbeya before heading to the region being considered for the future capital.

Bella City hosted a BASF delegation inspecting East African cities as possible sites for a chemical factory. Mayor Burleyland tried to win the investment, while delegation leader Shalier'an made clear that Bella City would face strict scrutiny.

• Bella City welcomed a BASF inspection delegation on August 17, 1893, as the company assessed locations for a branch factory in East Africa.
• Mayor Kuri Burleyland greeted the visitors and promised to make their stay comfortable, hoping to secure the factory for Bella City.
• Shalier'an introduced himself as the delegation leader and warned that his East African background would make him stricter, not more lenient, in the inspections.
• Burleyland questioned Shalier'an about his background and learned that his German father and Chinese mother, European education, and family connections had helped him join BASF and remain in Germany.

Burleyland explained how German companies recruited East African chemistry graduates and why East Africa still benefited from sending students abroad. He then promoted Bella City to the inspection delegation as the ideal location for BASF’s branch factory, emphasizing its railway link to Matabele Province and its growing textile market.

• Burleyland learned that Shalier'an had stayed in Germany after being recruited by a German company and remarked that Germany had gained a bargain from East Africa’s investment in education.
• Burleyland considered East Africa’s overseas-student strategy worthwhile because most students returned home and helped develop local industries, despite low return rates in chemistry.
• Burleyland told the German-speaking inspection delegation that East Africa needed sustained investment and time to catch up with European and American chemical industries.
• Burleyland promoted Bella City’s planned railway connection to Harare and its access to Matabele Province’s industries as advantages for BASF.
• Burleyland argued that Bella City would serve the expanding textile industries of Bulawayo and offer BASF better opportunities than established ports such as Mombasa and Dar es Salaam.

Burleyland guided BASF inspector Shalier'an and his team around Bella City, presenting its railway, river, and rubber resources as reasons to build a factory there. After the inspectors left without revealing their views, East Africa approved a BASF branch in Bella City, while BASF also chose Mombasa for another factory.

• Burleyland showed Shalier'an's inspection team Bella City's vacant factory buildings, railway access, river, and plans for rubber production.
• Shalier'an thanked Burleyland and said the team would report Bella City's conditions to BASF headquarters, leaving the final decision to the company.
• After three days, the inspection team departed by ocean liner without telling Burleyland what it had concluded.
• A month later, the East African Central Government ordered Bella City to cooperate with BASF in establishing a factory.
• BASF decided to open branch factories in both Bella City and Mombasa, choosing Bella City in part for its proximity to central East Africa's textile industry.

Ernst visited New Frankfurt City, East Africa’s rapidly growing railway hub, and discussed how it could expand its manufacturing base. He encouraged the city to develop electrical and automobile industries while emphasizing research, development, and electrical safety.

• Ernst arrived in New Frankfurt City and learned that its population had exceeded eighty thousand, supported by railway traffic and equipment manufacturing, transportation, and food processing.
• Ernst inspected local factories, where the city processed materials such as copper and iron into products and components.
• New Frankfurt City officials said they hoped to attract the electrical industry and become an important regional center.
• Ernst endorsed that plan and proposed that the city also assemble automobiles using components produced in nearby regions.
• Ernst urged the city to prioritize research and development, improve automobile comfort and practicality, and teach people how to use electricity safely.

Ernst outlined the requirements for a future East African capital and directed experts to survey suitable sites near New Frankfurt City, especially in Hohenzollern Province. He said relocation would not happen within the century, leaving time for careful planning while the central region developed.

• Ernst inspected New Frankfurt City for three days and judged it a promising base for locating the future capital nearby.
• Ernst returned to First Town and assigned experts from government bureaus and ministries to investigate potential capital sites.
• Ernst prioritized transportation, climate, water access, terrain, geological stability, and economic conditions in the site selection.
• Ernst favored Hohenzollern Province over Matabele Province for its stronger transportation links and described the province's generally reliable geological conditions.
• Ernst told the experts to take their time because he had no intention of relocating the capital within the century.

Ernst rejected First Town as East Africa’s capital name and settled on Rhine, though the capital’s location had not yet been chosen. The site survey continued around New Frankfurt City, leaving Rhine City as a distant project awaiting infrastructure and construction.

• East African departments began surveying potential capital sites around New Frankfurt City.
• Ernst judged First Town unsuitable because its name sounded boastful, implied a town rather than a capital, and evoked colonialism.
• Ernst chose Rhine as the planned capital’s name, linking it to Germany’s river and East Africa’s Little Rhine River.
• Ernst kept the name Rhine private until East Africa selected the new capital’s site.
• Ernst recognized that the capital’s construction and relocation would have to wait for years of infrastructure development.

Mtwara’s Provincial Government backed a major expansion of cotton production as German demand made East Africa a preferred cotton supplier. The chapter explained why Mtwara’s infrastructure, land, and experienced farming population made it a stronger investment than Germany’s failed cotton project in Togoland.

• Mtwara’s Provincial Government announced plans to increase cotton output more than threefold and reduce acreage devoted to food crops.
• The East African government encouraged cotton cultivation in response to growing German orders and Germany’s dependence on imported cotton.
• Germany’s attempt to develop Togoland as a cotton supply base had failed because of limited infrastructure, unfamiliar conditions, and a lack of experienced labor.
• German and East African agricultural experts judged Mtwara and its surrounding regions suitable for cotton production.
• German and Austro-Hungarian investors planned to support East African cotton exports with orders, cotton gins, improved varieties, and technical guidance.
• Mtwara’s existing port, railways, roads, land, and agricultural workforce made it an attractive base for German cotton investment.

Ernst and Agriculture Minister Gölweistein discussed East Africa’s agricultural restructuring, expanding food production in Mozambique and Angola while promoting cash crops and exports in established regions. Ernst supported considering east-west railways for Somalia’s agricultural provinces, leaving construction dependent on railway resources.

• Gölweistein presented plans to concentrate new agricultural development in central East Africa, Mozambique, and Angola, with Mozambique and Angola becoming food-producing regions.
• Ernst called for five major agricultural regions, greater cash crop production, and expanded mechanization and fertilizer use while safeguarding food supplies.
• The government planned to expand grain cultivation in southern Mozambique and develop underused farmland in the Central Plateau Region.
• Officials cited Somalia’s export success and proposed replicating it along eastern coastal areas, including Mozambique and New Württemberg Province.
• Gölweistein reported that Turkana, Juba, and Northern Provinces wanted two east-west railways to carry agricultural goods toward the coast.
• Ernst supported the railway proposals in principle and directed the provinces to consult the railway authorities, with construction subject to available resources.

In 1894, East Africa tightened immigration as Mozambique and Angola developed, leaving many Far Eastern migrants stranded at the Jiaozhou consulate. East African officials redirected them toward the Sigmaringen Royal Territory, which still needed settlers.

• East Africa reduced large-scale immigration after Mozambique and Angola reached an initial level of development, and sent some would-be immigrants to other territories.
• At the Jiaozhou consulate, stranded migrants protested after East Africa closed its immigration channels.
• Consulate staff explained that qualified applicants could take difficult examinations, while others could apply for visas to the Sigmaringen Royal Territory.
• The staff described Sigmaringen’s vast territory, Chinese population, and harsh environment, and urged migrants to go before it imposed quotas.
• Many migrants chose to board ships for Sigmaringen, while East Africa also noted other possible destinations, including German and Belgian colonies.

East African naval advisers trained the Far East Empire’s crews at Jiaozhou while Lieutenant Claire warned Liu Fulong that Japan could threaten Korea and urged greater vigilance. Liu remained confident in his navy, but the chapter left Jiaozhou’s demanding training program continuing under East African and German instructors.

• East Africa sent a military advisory group to Jiaozhou to train crews in drills and warship maintenance after selling the Far East Empire three ironclads and seven gunboats.
• Claire repeatedly used a hypothetical eastern island nation in exercises, prompting Liu Fulong to ask why he believed Japan was the enemy.
• Claire warned Liu that Japan’s military spending could drive it toward expansion in Korea and argued that the Far East Empire should prepare for war.
• Liu insisted the Far East navy was stronger than Japan’s, but Claire cited past naval battles and urged rigorous training and ship knowledge.
• The East African and German instructors continued intensive training at Jiaozhou as they competed to raise the Far East navy’s standards.