Recaps

Rhodes and Paul watched the East African Navy conduct a live-fire exercise in the Río de la Plata, and Rhodes initially feared East Africa had come to attack Argentina. Paul explained that the fleet was visiting the Americas, while the exercise displayed East Africa’s strength to Argentina, Uruguay, and Paraguay amid Europe’s war.

• Cannon fire from the Río de la Plata interrupted Rhodes and Paul as they discussed business, and Paul identified the fleet offshore as East African.
• Rhodes feared East Africa might be exploiting the European war to invade Argentina until Paul reminded him that the navy was visiting countries across the Americas.
• Rhodes watched the East African Navy carry out live-fire exercises near Buenos Aires, and Paul said the display aimed to increase East Africa’s influence in South America.
• East Africa’s choice of the Río de la Plata projected its power toward Argentina, Uruguay, and Paraguay, with the navy expected to visit Paraguay next.
• Paraguay remained closely aligned with East Africa as it faced stronger neighbors and territorial disputes with Bolivia.

East African Oil Company manager Dehr asked Consul Will for help after the La Dani Gang disrupted construction of East Africa’s first Venezuelan refinery near Lake Maracaibo. Will reported the trouble to East African officials while gang leader Carmen gathered with his associates, setting up a confrontation.

• Dehr told Will that the La Dani Gang had repeatedly obstructed the refinery project despite an earlier protection-money agreement, while Maracaibo officials refused to intervene.
• Will assured Dehr that East Africa would handle the gang and instructed him to avoid further clashes while awaiting word from the consulate.
• After Dehr left, Will contacted senior Foreign Ministry officials through the consulate’s communications room.
• Carmen, leader of the powerful La Dani Gang, held a gathering in southwestern Maracaibo City as the gang sought to challenge East African business interests.

The La Dani Gang under Carmen obstructed the East African Oil Company’s construction site and seized its supplies, dismissing East Africa as too distant to retaliate. After a mysterious man arrived to investigate the gang, a brief gun battle and fire destroyed its stronghold, leaving the La Dani Gang wiped out.

• Rod warned Carmen that provoking East Africa was dangerous, but Carmen refused to take the threat seriously.
• Carmen ordered the La Dani Gang to disrupt construction and steal supplies until the East African Oil Company paid more.
• The gang kept the construction site idle for half a month until a man carrying a letter from Consul Will arrived and questioned Dehr about the gang.
• Two days after the man left, gunfire erupted in Maracaibo City and a fire consumed the gang’s stronghold.
• At dawn, a resident found gang members’ bodies scattered outside the burned building and the La Dani Gang destroyed.

Police Chief Chavez investigated the overnight destruction of the La Dani Gang and struggled to identify a force powerful enough to kill its leaders and core members. He ordered his subordinates to trace the gang’s recent enemies, hoping to uncover the killers.

• Chavez learned that 180 La Dani Gang members, including Carmen and Rod, had been killed, and examined Carmen’s burned body.
• Chavez questioned whether Maracaibo City’s upper-class families or its city defense force could have destroyed the gang, but ruled them out.
• Chavez acknowledged that his Police Department had cooperated with the La Dani Gang and that he had once helped its founder, La Dani.
• Chavez directed his subordinates to investigate whom the La Dani Gang had offended recently, focusing on forces from outside Maracaibo City.
• Chavez noted that surviving core and peripheral gang members could provide information about the gang’s recent activities.

Chavez questioned Chris about the destruction of the La Dani Gang and suspected the East African Oil Company had hired the attackers. When Chavez confronted Dehr, Dehr denied involvement and warned that the Rhine Empire stood behind his company, leaving Chavez intimidated and unwilling to pursue the matter.

• Chavez questioned Chris, the surviving La Dani Gang leader, who described hiding near the gang’s massacre and seeing dozens of armed Men in Black.
• Chavez questioned other gang survivors and learned that the La Dani Gang had recently targeted an East African Oil Company construction site.
• Chavez concluded the East African Oil Company was a likely suspect and visited its branch to confront Dehr.
• Dehr denied knowing about the gang’s destruction, then warned Chavez that the Rhine Empire would defend the company’s honor and interests.
• Chavez was frightened by Dehr’s threat and recognized that pursuing the East African Oil Company could put him in danger.

After East African agents Anthony and Rice discussed the covert destruction of the La Dani Gang, Ernst ordered East African officials to strengthen overseas asset protection and unite local forces in Venezuela. The chapter left East Africa preparing to expand its influence over the Lake Maracaibo oil region through a mix of force and subtler methods.

• At Lagengreen Tavern, Anthony and Rice discussed their role as East African National Security Bureau agents and the operation that wiped out the La Dani Gang.
• Rice warned Anthony that East African agents could not keep acting as the oil company's hired thugs whenever disputes arose.
• In Rhine City, Ernst said the La Dani Gang incident showed that East African overseas assets needed stronger protection.
• Ning Xiabo explained that inexperienced management and divided local companies had contributed to the trouble in Maracaibo.
• Ernst ordered officials to unite East African forces in Venezuela and secure access to Lake Maracaibo's oil and gas resources.
• Ernst rejected direct invasion as too costly and planned to address Venezuela's problems with a combination of softer and harder measures.

Ernst tasked Sharen and the Immigration Office with expanding East Africa’s Mixed-blood German Plan by establishing a settlement in Venezuela’s Lake Maracaibo region. The plan aimed to secure East African influence over the region’s oil, and Sharen was told to model it on the Neretva settlement.

• Ernst summoned Sharen after discussing plans with commerce officials and executives of state-owned enterprises.
• Sharen reported that immigration to Gabon and Cameroon was progressing smoothly, with European War refugees providing an unexpected source of settlers.
• Ernst assigned the Immigration Office to plan a mixed German settlement in Venezuela’s Lake Maracaibo region according to File No. 0.
• Ernst intended the settlement to strengthen East Africa’s control of local oil and deter the United States and Venezuela from challenging its interests.

Ernst reviewed the Immigration Office’s proposal to expand Document No. 0 into Venezuela by settling German-speaking mixed-race immigrants and establishing German education in Zulia State. He warned that the plan, part of East Africa’s Centennial Plan, had to proceed cautiously.

• Sharen told Ernst that Venezuela’s sparse population and immigrant history made it a more promising location than the Neretva region.
• Sharen described how East Africa could buy inexpensive land around Lake Maracaibo and establish farms, plantations, and German village communities across Zulia State.
• Sharen proposed using petroleum development zones as immigrant centers, absorbing Indigenous residents, and expanding German-language education through local schools.
• Ernst cautioned Sharen that Document No. 0 was a crucial national policy and that its implementation in Venezuela required care.

East African envoy Treller offered to resettle Belgian refugees in East Africa while negotiating with Queen Wilhelmina for the Netherlands to sell Borneo. He left the Dutch queen facing East Africa’s implied threat to seize the territory by force if negotiations failed.

• Germany and the Anglo-French forces began the Battle of the Marne after German delays at Liège weakened the Schlieffen Plan’s momentum.
• Treller offered Queen Wilhelmina and Dutch officials transport and refuge in East Africa for Belgian refugees, and Wilhelmina agreed to facilitate voluntary migration.
• Treller revived East Africa’s interest in Borneo, prompting Wilhelmina to fear that East Africa might target the Dutch East Indies during Europe’s war.
• Wilhelmina rejected selling the East Indies, but Treller argued that the Netherlands should sell Borneo and focus on Java, implying East Africa might otherwise use force and encourage colonial unrest.

Treller pressed the Netherlands to sell East Kalimantan to East Africa, arguing that the deal would bring security and economic benefits. Prime Minister Kaper recognized some advantages but remained wary and undecided.

• Treller demanded East Kalimantan, and Wilhelmina hesitated as Kaper prepared to answer.
• Kaper objected that East Kalimantan was an inseparable part of the Netherlands despite its limited influence there.
• Treller argued that Dutch control was weak, Britain threatened the region, and East Africa could serve as a buffer between the Netherlands and Britain.
• Treller offered the Netherlands a fair price, citizen privileges, and a share in East Kalimantan's development while insisting that sovereignty pass to East Africa.
• Kaper found some of Treller's arguments persuasive but doubted East Africa would honor its promises and could not yet decide.

The Dutch parliament approved the sale of East Kalimantan to East Africa, and the two governments finalized the transfer. Ernst treated the new territory as poisoned bait, ordering a violent campaign to consolidate control while planning to use its oil to draw a rival power into the Nanyang region.

• The Dutch parliament approved the territorial transaction, judging that it would preserve Dutch economic interests and avoid a dangerous conflict with East Africa.
• On September 30, 1914, the Dutch and East African governments finalized the transfer of East Kalimantan for sixty million Rheinland Shields, with guarantees for Dutch interests and shared development revenue.
• The East African government celebrated acquiring East Kalimantan, while Ernst warned that local states and tribes still had to be subdued.
• Ernst ordered East African forces to eliminate local regimes, encourage migration, and impose Germanization on the native population.
• Ernst planned to develop East Kalimantan's oil resources to lure an East Asian island nation into the Nanyang region and disrupt rival powers' deployments.

Friedrich Franz IV visited Rhine City and praised East Africa’s urban development and prosperity while speaking with Crown Prince Friedrich. His visit served as a German lobbying effort as the Central Powers sought support amid the war.

• Rhine City welcomed a delegation from the Ottoman Empire, Germany, and the Austro-Hungarian Empire as East Africa’s role as a supplier to the Central Powers grew.
• Friedrich Franz IV admired Rhine City’s architecture and urban planning during his first visit to East Africa.
• Crown Prince Friedrich received Franz IV and modestly described East Africa’s development as built on foundations laid by Germany and other early-starting nations.
• Franz IV praised East Africa’s development and contrasted its wartime prosperity with Europe’s ongoing conflict.
• The chapter identified Franz IV’s visit as another German effort to lobby for support, while noting Germany’s limited prospects for a breakthrough in the United States.

Friedrich met a delegation led by Franz IV, who asked East Africa to support restarting the Basra Railway so the Central Powers could keep trade moving despite the Allied blockade. The delegation’s proposal revealed that the Ottoman Empire was ready to join Germany and Austria-Hungary, while Friedrich considered how East Africa had strengthened its allies.

• Friedrich explained that East Africa’s rise had depended on its population and many other factors, then asked Franz IV why the three countries had come together.
• Franz IV said Germany, Austria-Hungary, and the Ottoman Empire wanted to restart construction of the Basra Railway to secure trade routes during the war.
• An Ottoman official argued that a railway from Baghdad to Basra was essential for large-scale transport and would improve the Triple Alliance’s chances of victory.
• Friedrich inferred that the Ottoman Empire had reached an agreement with Germany and Austria-Hungary and was preparing to join them.
• Friedrich reflected that East African immigrants, supplies, and investment had strengthened Austria-Hungary and helped it hold its ground against Russia.

Friedrich and East Africa’s leaders debated whether to build the Basra Railway, a strategic link proposed by Germany, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and the Ottoman Empire. Friedrich ultimately supported construction under East African standards, leaving the final decision in his hands after Ernst delegated it to him.

• Friedrich received the three nations’ proposal to construct the Basra Railway and sent it to Rhine Palace for discussion.
• Caso argued that the railway would be straightforward to build and would extend East African influence and railway standards into the Middle East.
• Merke warned that Britain and Russia’s influence in the Persian Gulf could hinder construction, while Svit argued that East Africa should build the line to its own standards and preserve a transfer at Baghdad.
• Most East African officials favored building the railway, and Ernst asked Friedrich to give his opinion.
• Friedrich supported construction under East African standards, arguing that East Africa was justified in proceeding and that no other Indian Ocean power could interfere.

Ernst negotiated East Africa’s role in building the Basra Railway and demanded Ottoman territory as collateral for the loans and supplies. He proposed taking a stretch of the Persian Gulf coast, and Ailerud agreed to seek approval from his government.

• The chapter described Russia’s dependence on East African supplies and its severe wartime shortages of food, weapons, and industrial goods.
• Ernst met Franz IV and the Ottoman delegation at Rhine Palace to negotiate East Africa’s support for the Basra Railway.
• Ernst rejected Franz IV’s proposal that the Ottoman Empire repay its debt after the war and insisted on collateral.
• Ernst proposed Ottoman territory on the northwestern Persian Gulf coast as collateral, and Ailerud said he would seek instructions from his government.
• Ernst offered to treat the coastal territory as payment for East Africa’s contribution to the railway.

After negotiations with the Ottoman Empire, Ernst left East Africa’s oil security largely assured by its domestic production and Venezuelan development. Grand Duke Franz IV toured East Africa and was astonished by New Frankfurt City’s immense railway hub, which led him to judge East Africa’s railway network and management superior to Russia’s and comparable to Germany’s.

• Ernst concluded negotiations with the Ottoman Empire and relied on East Africa’s domestic petroleum and Venezuelan oil development to protect its energy security.
• Franz IV remained in East Africa after negotiations and began touring the country with government guide Kobol.
• Kobol brought Franz IV to New Frankfurt City and explained its role as a major industrial center and the core of East Africa’s railway network.
• Franz IV observed New Frankfurt City’s dense tracks and freight traffic and compared its railway scale with Rhine City and other cities he had visited.
• Franz IV assessed East Africa’s extensive, efficiently managed railways as superior to Russia’s and on par with Germany’s, and noticed construction of new electrified lines.

Franz IV toured New Frankfurt City and learned about East Africa’s enormous infrastructure projects, especially the East African Grand Canal. After Copol confirmed its scale, Franz acknowledged that East Africa’s capabilities surpassed his expectations and rivaled Europe’s.

• Franz IV told Copol he wanted to spend several days exploring New Frankfurt City, and Copol arranged the delegation’s reception.
• Vice Mayor Rasles asked Franz which sights he wanted to visit, and Franz asked about the East African Grand Canal.
• Rasles explained that the canal connected East Africa’s inland water network to both coasts and had been completed four years earlier, with over a thousand kilometers of artificial channels.
• Franz doubted the canal could have been built so quickly, but Copol confirmed it was real and said its engineering volume equaled six or seven Suez Canals.
• Franz accepted the account and praised East Africa’s infrastructure capacity as comparable to or greater than Europe’s.

In 1915, East African military observers witnessed the grinding conflict on the Western Front and discussed the mounting casualties and East Africa’s lucrative pharmaceutical exports to both sides. After German artillery forced them to retreat, Major General Kuinman urged the young officers to learn from the battlefield rather than panic.

• Roerwald and Colonel Kabriel assessed the Marne fighting and warned that the war would become an exhausting contest with immense casualties.
• The chapter explained that East African medicines supplied both military blocs, while the country had expanded pharmaceutical production in anticipation of a major war.
• German artillery struck near the East African Military Observation Group, and Kabriel led the group into a rear bunker with help from the French soldier Bruno.
• Major General Kuinman rebuked the shaken observers and urged them to study German and French tactics while they had the opportunity.

Major General Kuinman questioned Kabriel about how the European War could inform East Africa’s military development. Kabriel identified aircraft reconnaissance, motorized logistics, and trench warfare as lessons for the army, especially the need to give heavy artillery greater importance.

• Kuinman asked Kabriel to compare the European War with East Africa’s military development.
• Kabriel said France’s use of aircraft for reconnaissance validated East Africa’s military aviation program and urged the army to track advances in aircraft technology.
• Kabriel argued that the battlefield use of automobiles supported East Africa’s emphasis on mobility, while noting that Germany and France lacked enough vehicles, fuel, and trained drivers.
• Kabriel observed that trench warfare had slowed Germany’s advance at the Marne and said East Africa should take heavy artillery more seriously.

Kabriel and Kuinman discussed how the European war had changed artillery and transport, and Kuinman ordered East African observers to record what they learned. The chapter then described the stalemate and strain on the Austro-Hungarian and Russian armies along the Eastern Front.

• Kabriel explained that the war had made heavy artillery and railway guns more important, while Kuinman noted that East Africa's rail network and strategic needs made copying European tactics impractical.
• Kabriel and Kuinman discussed tractors as artillery haulers and East African companies' growing sales to European powers.
• Kuinman instructed the observers to study both military blocs and record their battlefield lessons before returning home.
• East African observers judged the Eastern Front less advanced than the Western Front and noted that Russian and Austro-Hungarian soldiers were becoming war-weary.
• Russia prioritized supplies for its northern front, while the Austro-Hungarian Empire devoted troops and resources to Serbia and made little progress against Russia.

The Austro-Hungarian Empire formed the New Kingdom of Dalmatia around Mostar to reward and strengthen the mixed-blood Germans, while demanding that the kingdom recruit fifty thousand soldiers for the war against Serbia. Hiepel and Lab debated how to meet the quota and use recruitment to secure German control despite Croat opposition.

• The Austro-Hungarian Empire promised to incorporate the Neretva region into a New Kingdom of Dalmatia centered on Mostar.
• Hiepel reported that the Neretva region had recruited more than thirty thousand men, while Lab said the kingdom still needed twenty thousand more.
• Hiepel and Lab planned to recruit Croats as well as Germans, aiming to keep Germans dominant in the kingdom's armed forces.
• Hiepel worried that recruitment could provoke Croat resistance to the new kingdom.
• Lab proposed using recruitment to expose and crush opponents among the Croats, relying on the German-controlled armed forces.

As the Austro-Hungarian Army prepared to attack Belgrade, Commander Clyde of the depleted 54th Division refused to lead another assault without reinforcements and supplies. General Von Frank was left stunned by Clyde’s defiance, as he depended on the division as one of his strongest units.

• The 54th Division received General Von Frank’s order to cooperate in an assault on Position 523 despite having barely rested after months of fighting.
• Clyde told his staff that the division had lost over four thousand men and lacked weapons, ammunition, and supplies.
• Carrington and other officers complained that neighboring divisions received replacements while the 54th Division was repeatedly sent on costly assaults.
• Clyde rejected Von Frank’s order, citing the unequal treatment of Neretva soldiers and threatening to withdraw the division to Mostar.
• Von Frank was stunned by Clyde’s refusal because he considered the 54th Division a trump-card force for the Belgrade campaign.

After Clyde reported the 54th Division’s shortages, General Frank uncovered a supply scheme led by Abutir, a supporter of Greater Serbia, and secured punishment for those involved. Replenished and furious, the 54th Division became the first force to break into Belgrade, while Serbia and Croatia grew hostile toward the New Kingdom of Dalmatia.

• Clyde told Frank that the 54th Division had suffered heavy losses and lacked replacements, ammunition, food, and other supplies.
• Frank summoned the quartermaster, who revealed that Abutir had diverted the 54th Division’s supplies to other Bosnian units.
• An investigation found that Abutir supported Greater Serbia and had worked with other officers to deprive the 54th Division of supplies; Rudolf stripped Abutir’s family of its title and property, and the cooperating officers were punished.
• After receiving fresh troops and supplies, the 54th Division joined the siege of Belgrade and directed its anger at the city’s defenders.
• On March 4, 1915, the 54th Division became the first force to breach Belgrade’s urban defenses during the Second Battle of Belgrade.
• Resistance to the New Kingdom of Dalmatia’s conscription bill angered Croats, while the division’s advance deepened Serbia’s hostility, leaving both peoples resentful of Dalmatia.

East African officials reported record 1914 steel production and strong wartime exports, while Ernst urged the country to expand mineral investments and steel markets beyond Europe. The chapter left East Africa poised to pursue overseas resources before European powers recovered from the war.

• Svit reported that East Africa produced thirty-seven million tons of steel in 1914 and exported about four million tons to Europe, led by sales to France, Russia, and the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
• Svit explained that wartime shortages and growing demand for specialty steel had made East Africa a major supplier to European arms industries.
• Officials noted that East Africa had increased iron ore and coal imports from the Middle East, South America, and Tsarist Russia.
• Ernst told officials to prioritize steel markets outside Europe because European wartime profits would be temporary.
• Ernst urged East African capital to invest overseas in mineral-rich regions such as Australia, Brazil, and Peru before the United States and European powers claimed the advantage.

In April 1915, East Africa landed the Seventh Infantry Regiment at Samarinda to begin occupying and developing East Kalimantan. Clavier and Ariel planned to gather local people and supplies there, while Clavier ordered Anton to seize a nearby tribe.

• The Seventh Infantry Regiment landed at the undeveloped bay of Samarinda, where Clavier complained about the desolate surroundings and Ariel urged him to focus on transforming the region.
• Clavier had the thirty-seven residents of a nearby fishing village brought before him and learned that a larger tribe lived twenty kilometers northwest.
• Ariel proposed gathering local people, concentrating regional resources in Samarinda, and establishing the beginnings of a city.
• Clavier ordered Anton to take a company to the nearby tribe, bring its people and supplies to Samarinda, and kill anyone who resisted.