Recaps

Ernst conducted a strict inspection of the Port of Pemba naval base, checking its barracks, soldiers, facilities, equipment, and meals, and found the base met his standards. He then prepared to continue a surprise inspection of East Africa’s military, with Port of Nacala as his next destination.

• Ernst inspected the Port of Pemba barracks and praised Rembrandt for maintaining clean and orderly living quarters.
• Ernst watched the soldiers train and judged their fitness, appearance, and morale to be satisfactory.
• Ernst checked the toilets, warehouses, ammunition depots, and garages, finding the facilities and equipment properly maintained.
• Ernst ate lunch with Rembrandt and the soldiers, then concluded that the Port of Pemba base had performed well.
• Ernst planned to travel to Port of Nacala and continue his surprise inspection of military bases across East Africa.

Scheer led the Red Front Alliance in an attack on the Stormtroopers’ Neukölln headquarters, triggering a bloody battle that spread across Berlin. Adolf used the resulting chaos to declare war on the Labor Party, beginning the nationwide conflict later known as the Two-Party War.

• Scheer rallied the Red Front Alliance and ordered an attack on the Stormtroopers’ Neukölln stronghold.
• More than a thousand Red Front Alliance members attacked the headquarters, and the clash escalated into a gunfight after the Stormtroopers’ leader opened fire.
• Herbert kept the Neukölln police from intervening, and the fighting spread through the streets as thousands joined in.
• Berlin’s 24th Infantry Regiment arrived at four in the morning, ending the battle after hundreds were arrested and dozens killed.
• Adolf declared the Labor Party a terrorist group and ordered a manhunt, while the National Party and Stormtroopers launched a broader campaign against their opponents.
• Clashes and staged crimes spread across Germany, beginning the Two-Party War as the German government, police, and military stood aside.

Goebbels persuaded Adolf to halt the National Party’s campaign against the Labor Party so its continued threat would help the National Party win support from Germany’s ruling class and secure power in the coming election. Adolf agreed to preserve the Labor Party for now, leaving Germany temporarily calm as the election approached.

• Goebbels urged Adolf to stop the National Party from trying to eliminate the Labor Party before the election.
• Goebbels argued that Germany’s aristocracy and bourgeoisie controlled the state and would use the National Party against the Labor Party, then discard it once the threat was gone.
• Goebbels proposed letting the Labor Party remain powerful enough to frighten the ruling class while the National Party won over the public and sought to become Parliament’s largest party.
• Adolf accepted Goebbels’s strategy and agreed to spare the Labor Party until after the election.
• The National Party ordered the Stormtroopers to halt their offensive, though small clashes continued as the party maintained its appearance of usefulness to the ruling class.

East African Consul Crus criticized the Nanjing government for leaving Shen City and the Nineteenth Army poorly defended, then offered the army artillery and other weapons. He warned Commander Cai that Japan was likely to attack Shen City soon, leaving the Nineteenth Army to decide how to use the aid.

• Crus inspected the under-equipped Nineteenth Army in Shen City and told Commander Cai that the city’s defenses were inadequate.
• Crus condemned the Nanjing government for neglecting the army and surrendering the Northeast to Japan, and Commander Cai admitted that some government leaders were shortsighted.
• Crus offered the Nineteenth Army more than thirty obsolete seventy-five-millimeter infantry guns, ammunition, Maxim machine guns, and other supplies.
• Commander Cai worried that accepting the weapons might cause trouble with Nanjing, but Crus said East Africa would address the issue.
• Crus warned Commander Cai that East African intelligence indicated Japan would likely attack Shen City soon.

Commander Cai accepted East African military aid after Consul Crus shared intelligence about Japan's ambitions toward Shen City. At a military exercise, Ernst ordered the army to prepare for high-latitude warfare and proposed seeking a training ground in southern South America, leaving plans to approach Argentina and Chile.

• Consul Crus shared intelligence about Japan's ambitions toward Shen City, and Commander Cai accepted East African military aid.
• Ernst watched the Seventh Army Corps and Sixth Armored Division conduct an exercise and asked officers about the army's readiness for high-latitude warfare.
• Monte explained that East Africa lacked experience and convenient training grounds for frigid regions, while Ernst argued that a global power needed to prepare for combat across climates.
• Blaney suggested Alaska as a training ground, but Monte noted that Argentina and Chile controlled the southern tip of South America.
• Ernst proposed approaching Argentina and Chile to seek permission to train in southern South America and said East Africa could address their security concerns.

East African Ambassador Hugg negotiated with Chilean President Montero to lease land in Tierra del Fuego for high-latitude military training, offering safeguards and economic benefits to ease Chile’s security concerns. Montero remained cautious and had not yet agreed.

• Argentina rejected East Africa’s proposal, so the East African government turned to Chile for negotiations.
• Ambassador Hugg met President Montero in Santiago and reassured him that Chile’s economic crisis was not his personal fault.
• Hugg proposed leasing land in southern Chile for East African troops to train in high-latitude conditions, and Montero questioned the security risks.
• Hugg suggested unarmed troops, Chilean supervision, and inspections near the Strait of Magellan as safeguards.
• Hugg offered regional spending and favorable copper-export terms as economic incentives, but Montero had not accepted the proposal.

East African diplomat Luowen persuaded Zhang Yuanji to move some of Commercial Press and the Eastern Library’s cultural treasures into the Shanghai consulate before an expected Japanese attack. The Japanese invasion devastated both institutions, while the chapter ended with the Nanjing government’s limited resistance and the Nineteenth Army’s postwar purge.

• Ambassador Hugg warned President Montero that East Africa could pursue Alaska instead if Chile delayed its decision on the copper mines.
• Luowen told Zhang Yuanji that Japan might attack Shanghai and urged him to shelter the most important books and relics at the East African consulate.
• Zhang Yuanji agreed to move part of Commercial Press and the Eastern Library’s collections to the consulate, while placing other assets in foreign concessions.
• The Japanese fleet and marines began the Shanghai-Wusong Battle on January 28, 1932, and Japanese aircraft bombed Commercial Press’s main plant the next day.
• Japanese forces prevented firefighting and later set the Eastern Library alight, destroying much of its collection as East African consulate staff documented the fires.
• The Nanjing government delayed aid and favored limited resistance before a ceasefire in March, and it later purged the Nineteenth Army.

Ernst outlined a strategy to steer Japan toward the Nanyang region while East African researchers assessed soybean cultivation in Swabia Province. The chapter left Swabia pursuing a more diversified economy, with soybeans supporting agricultural growth alongside industry and hydropower.

• Ernst and Friedrich criticized the Nanjing government's response to Japan and discussed using limited aid and intelligence to encourage Japan to expand southward.
• Chai De and Abel measured Chai 29's yield at about 1.294 tons per hectare, and Chai De judged the result a promising improvement for East African soybeans.
• Chai De explained that East Africa's climate, soil, and pest conditions limited soybean yields, but said breeding and improved cultivation could eventually help the Empire surpass the Far East Empire.
• Chai De linked soybean cultivation to Swabia Province's efforts to raise its agricultural output and reduce dependence on copper mining.
• East Africa coordinated provincial crop production to prevent blind expansion, while Swabia focused on soybeans, processing, hydropower, and other locally suited industries.

In May 1932, Central Province’s cities met in Rhine City to divide aircraft-industry work and discuss the site of Imperial Central Airport. The cities agreed on a regional manufacturing base, while Kabwe proposed placing the airport between Kabwe, Rhine City, and New Frankfurt City.

• Meisai argued that Central Province should develop aviation through cooperation among its cities, with Rhine City leading research and aircraft design.
• Henry said New Frankfurt City could contribute engines, airframes, avionics, landing gear, and skilled workers.
• Kitwe City offered its expertise in metal processing, materials, precision instruments, and avionics, and Lusaka and Kabwe also sought production roles.
• The conference divided the aviation industry’s work among Central Province’s cities, with Rhine City and New Frankfurt City leading and Kitwe, Lusaka, and Kabwe receiving smaller shares.
• Kabwe’s mayor proposed building Imperial Central Airport and an aviation industrial zone roughly thirty kilometers from Kabwe, Rhine City, and New Frankfurt City.

Adolf became Germany’s chancellor and began planning to consolidate the National Party’s power and promote German-Austrian unification. The Austro-Hungarian Empire faced mounting pressure from five rival political forces, leaving Emperor Rudolf with little ability to prevent a crisis.

• East Africa’s government encouraged civil aviation while restraining unchecked growth to preserve balanced development across transport systems.
• After the German National Party won the largest share of parliamentary seats, Adolf ordered it to infiltrate the military, expand the Stormtroopers, and suppress rival parties.
• Adolf directed Goebbels to strengthen cooperation and propaganda with the Austrian National Party in support of German-Austrian unification.
• On August 4, Wilhelm II appointed Adolf chancellor, while Germany’s ruling bloc believed it could control him as a political puppet.
• Emperor Rudolf recognized that the Austro-Hungarian Empire had become a powder keg as the Habsburgs, Labor Party, nationalists, Austrian National Party, and radical bourgeois forces competed for power.

Artuzov planned to weaken and dismember the Austro-Hungarian Empire by fomenting worker and ethnic unrest in Bohemia while stirring up conflicts with neighboring countries. He resolved to coordinate with Soviet comrades abroad and focus on Italy and Poland, unaware that Germany's National Party intended to exploit a crisis to build a Greater German Empire.

• Artuzov judged Bohemia's industrial workers and Czech population better suited than Austria's middle class to spark unrest across the empire.
• Artuzov and Sergei agreed that the Soviet Union's goal was to weaken the Austro-Hungarian Empire rather than establish a unified workers' regime there.
• Sergei proposed exploiting the empire's disputes with Poland, Serbia, Italy, Romania, Bulgaria, and West Ukraine to intensify pressure from outside.
• Artuzov decided to contact comrades in neighboring countries and target Italy, using propaganda and Benito's ambitions to provoke conflict over East Lombardy and Venice.
• Artuzov also considered Poland's extremist nationalists useful against Germany and the empire, and called for simultaneous internal and external upheaval to overwhelm the House of Habsburg.
• The narration revealed that Germany's National Party secretly hoped to absorb Austria, Czech lands, and Hungary into a Greater German Empire by exploiting a Labour Party uprising.

Ernst and Friedrich reviewed the Soviet Union’s claims that it had completed the First Five-Year Plan ahead of schedule and discussed the scale and strategic significance of its industrial growth. The chapter left them viewing the Soviet Union as a likely future world power, with its stronger-than-historical results partly driven by expanded trade with the United States.

• Ernst examined Soviet reports and judged that their claims exaggerated achievements while reflecting genuine rapid industrial development.
• Ernst told Friedrich that centralized planning could mobilize resources effectively but would become less powerful as industrialization advanced and domestic markets saturated.
• Friedrich cited the Soviet Union’s growth in steel, energy, transport, machinery, aviation, and other industries, including the expansion of industrial regions far from its western borders.
• Ernst and Friedrich discussed how Soviet geography and dispersed industries would make the country difficult to defeat in war, though they considered conflict with East Africa unlikely unless the Soviet Union pursued world revolution.
• Ernst attributed the Soviet Union’s stronger First Five-Year Plan results in this timeline partly to greater American trade and imports of machinery.

Friedrich and Ernst discussed East Africa’s industrial dominance and the Soviet Union’s rapid industrial growth, driven largely by Western technology and its inherited industrial base. They concluded that the Soviet Union was becoming a major industrial and military power that other countries would have to reckon with.

• Ernst compared East Africa’s strength in automobiles and petroleum with America’s and described the competition over oil and industrial markets.
• Friedrich and Ernst discussed how Britain and France supported Soviet development to counter Germany, while American companies supplied the greatest share of technology and equipment.
• Ernst explained that Soviet industry had gained the foundations to continue developing independently and could rank among the world’s top industrial powers after its Second Five-Year Plan.
• Friedrich warned that the Soviet Union’s ability to mobilize its people and resources for industrial growth could also make its military potential formidable.
• Friedrich concluded that countries would need to prepare for the Soviet Union’s long-term rise, since only internal problems might stop it.

At the end of 1932, East Africa revised its policy in Persia after years of intrusive rule had stirred local opposition and obstructed its projects. Ambassador Wirtz announced a shift toward economic colonization and reduced military involvement while keeping the Soviet Union and the Labor Party in check.

• East African officials assessed the Soviet Union’s strength and noted that steel output, urbanization, and per-capita industry offered different measures of national power.
• East Africa’s government sent Ambassador Wirtz new instructions to protect its Persian interests through economic cooperation rather than deep involvement in local politics.
• Wirtz described how East Africa’s railway plans and control of resources had alienated Persian ethnic and local forces and hampered development.
• Wirtz said East Africa would loosen its hold on mining, buy resources from Persian developers, and rely on trade, technology, and equipment sales.
• Wirtz stated that East Africa would reduce its northern garrison and expect the Persian Kingdom Government to strengthen its own military and public welfare against Soviet influence.

East African designer Moyor attended the completion ceremony for Dizful’s railway bridge and warned Persian mayor Ferdowsi that sabotage along the Persian Gulf-Caspian Sea Railway threatened its progress. The chapter left Persia responsible for securing the route as East Africa focused on protecting its economic interests rather than becoming Persia’s military protector.

• Moyor presented the Dizful Railway Bridge, a double-deck structure beside the ancient bridge, as a new link for the city’s transport network and economy.
• Ferdowsi praised the bridge as a sign of Persian-East African friendship and said it would help modernize Persia and connect Dizful to roads, railways, and water transport.
• Moyor told Ferdowsi that saboteurs had attacked a railway construction site north of Dizful and warned that continued insecurity could delay construction and hinder future operations.
• Ferdowsi blamed likely Bakhtiari saboteurs and suspected that the Soviet Union or Britain had encouraged them to obstruct the railway.
• Moyor said identifying the instigator mattered less than preventing further attacks, and stressed that Persia would be responsible for railway security and maintenance once construction ended.
• East Africa continued shifting toward a less interventionist relationship with Persia, prioritizing economic gains and avoiding the costs of acting as its military protector.

East African engineer Thrain discussed Persia’s history and the benefits and drawbacks of the Persian Gulf-Caspian Sea Railway with Persian foreman Ismail. The railway promised to link Persia’s main economic regions, but its East African gauge could isolate it from other rail networks as East Africa expanded its standards abroad.

• Thrain and Ismail discussed how Persian culture and institutions had helped Persia remain unified despite its difficult terrain and diverse population.
• Thrain explained that East Africa had abandoned efforts to divide Persia partly because a unified Persia could hinder Soviet influence in the Middle East.
• Thrain noted that the East African-gauge railway could boost Persian trade while making future integration with Persia’s other railways and Eurasian networks more difficult.
• Ismail argued that the railway would connect Tehran and the Caspian Sea region to world trade through the Persian Gulf and link Persia’s two wealthiest regions.
• The chapter described East Africa’s overseas railway projects and its rise to the world’s second-largest railway-standard network after Britain.

In 1933, the Austrian Labor Party organized Liberec’s unemployed and textile workers into an uprising against the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The workers seized key city institutions, turning the textile center into a red city and spreading the movement’s influence across the nearby borders.

• Crown Prince Friedrich urged the Ministry of Commerce to support strong enterprises, prevent reckless expansion, and pursue overseas economic cooperation amid the global crisis.
• Neumann told more than three thousand Liberec workers to unite, reclaim the fruits of their labor, and prepare to establish a workers’ nation.
• Neumann assigned tasks to the workers gathered at Pöltzl Textile Factory and made Liberec the starting point for a broader movement.
• On January 7, 1933, Liberec workers occupied the Police Department, factories, and municipal government offices under Labor Party leadership.
• The uprising turned Liberec into a red city and became known as the Bohemian Textile Workers’ Movement.

After textile workers rebelled in Silesia following the Liberec uprising, Adolf ordered Himmler to suppress the unrest and accused the German Labor Party despite Himmler's assessment that economic hardship had sparked it. Adolf then used the crisis to launch a nationwide campaign against the Labor Party and Jews.

• Adolf summoned Himmler after Silesian textile workers rebelled and demanded to know whether the German Labor Party had organized the unrest.
• Himmler argued that unemployment and the Liberec uprising had sparked the revolt, citing intelligence reports and the absence of other industrial workers from the protests.
• Adolf ordered the Stormtroopers to suppress the rebellion, directed that the Labor Party and Soviets be blamed, and placed Saxony under martial law.
• Adolf announced that he would use the unrest as an opportunity to purge the German Labor Party now that he had consolidated control over the government and military.
• On January 10, National Party newspapers accused the German Labor Party, Soviet spies, and Jews of plotting the Silesian unrest, beginning a nationwide campaign of political persecution.

Benito considered exploiting the Austro-Hungarian Empire’s Bohemia uprising to reclaim East Lombardy and Venice, but Balbo urged him to wait, prepare secretly, and let unrest weaken Austrian defenses first. By the chapter’s end, Italian National Party activity in the disputed regions had grown, while the Austrians struggled to identify the saboteurs.

• After the Bohemia rebellion began, Benito asked Balbo whether Italy should intervene and reclaim East Lombardy and Venice, but Balbo warned that Italy was too weak for a direct war.
• Balbo proposed secretly encouraging unrest in the disputed regions while waiting for the Bohemia crisis to force the Austro-Hungarian Empire to redeploy its troops.
• Benito approved Balbo’s plan and gave him authority to prepare troops and acquire weapons while keeping preparations away from the border.
• The Italian National Party expanded its activity in East Lombardy and Venice as economic hardship weakened Austro-Hungarian control.
• The Soviet Union coordinated Labor Party groups across the empire, while the Italian National Party kept its own operations more covert and drew less attention from the Austrians.

In Venice, Italian workers Lerto and Valer complained about Austrian rule and discussed rebellion, while Lever argued that Italians lacked the population, allies, and military strength to break free. The chapter left Venice classed as a low-risk region by the Austro-Hungarian Empire, whose government faced greater threats in Austria, East Lombardy, and Croatia.

• Lerto blamed the Austro-Hungarian Empire for Venice’s decline and called for the city to break away.
• Valer agreed with Lerto, while Lever warned them to keep their complaints quiet and argued that the empire’s economic troubles reflected a wider crisis.
• Lerto and Valer called for rebellion or autonomy, but Lever pointed out that Italians were a minority in Venice and could not defeat Austria’s army alone.
• Lerto argued that Italy might support Venice, but Lever doubted the Kingdom of Italy would intervene.
• The chapter described unrest in Bohemia and identified Austria, East Lombardy, and Croatia as the empire’s likeliest sources of further crises, leaving Venice a low-risk area.

Stojadinović brought Croatia’s rival parties and representatives from across Yugoslavia together in an alliance to oppose Habsburg rule and pursue independence. As unrest spread throughout the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Emperor Rudolf imposed martial law and ordered the army to suppress the uprisings, leaving the Empire’s survival dependent on military force.

• Stojadinović convened a secret meeting in Zagreb and urged Croatian and Yugoslav parties to set aside their differences against the Habsburgs.
• Milko of the Ustaše and Tito of the Croatian Workers’ Party clashed until Stojadinović intervened and focused the meeting on opposing Habsburg rule.
• Pavelic, Milko, Tito, and representatives from other regions agreed to join Stojadinović’s Yugoslav Alliance and work toward independence from the Empire.
• The chapter described uprisings and separatist unrest spreading through East Lombardy, Galicia, Croatia, Bosnia, and other parts of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
• Emperor Rudolf declared martial law and ordered the army and nobles to suppress rebellions as the Empire’s political order broke down.

At East Africa’s consulate in Stuttgart, Czech welder Schuster asked Brien about immigrating to escape rising persecution and instability in Europe. Schuster chose to apply for the East African mainland, and the chapter ended with Friedrich telling Ernst that people across Central and Eastern Europe were fleeing abroad.

• Brien explained East Africa’s immigration requirements and urged Schuster, an experienced welder at a Daimler supplier, to apply as senior technical personnel.
• Schuster said he was Czech and feared Germany’s new government would persecute Slavs, while returning to Bohemia also seemed unsafe.
• Brien assured Schuster that East Africa welcomed immigrants who adopted its values, but warned that mainland jobs were competitive and suggested work in the colonies.
• Schuster rejected the colonial option, received an application form from Brien, and was told to submit documents and await a decision.
• In Rhine City, Friedrich told Ernst that people fleeing Germany, Austria-Hungary, and the Soviet Union were seeking refuge overseas.

Ernst discussed recruiting German and Austrian scientists while preparing for the possible collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. In Italian Libya, Badoglio and officials planned to settle Italians and eliminate the native population to turn the colony into an Italian province.

• Ernst ordered East Africa to attract German and Austrian scientific talent, carefully screening Jewish applicants and preventing them from strengthening rival powers.
• Ernst agreed to support the Austro-Hungarian Empire with supplies and trade while preparing for its possible breakup and strengthening ties with the Kingdom of Dalmatia.
• Badoglio told Italian officials that Benito’s government intended to localize Libya, develop it as a breadbasket, and expand Italian settlement.
• Badoglio argued that Libya’s native population had to be eliminated to make way for Italian settlers and called on government departments to support military operations against local resistance.

Berber resistance leader Abyad’s battered force fled south across the desert after failing to capture Jalu Town, then followed caravan tracks to Kalanshu Outpost in East African territory. They discovered the outpost had a well, leaving them with a possible source of water and shelter.

• Abyad and Zaigut discussed their exhausted force’s lack of food, water, and ammunition and decided they could not safely turn back toward Jalu Town.
• Abyad ordered his men to search for a marked location, and a scouting party found camel tracks that appeared to lead south.
• Abyad’s force followed the caravan trail and found signs of a nearby foothold before continuing toward the map’s marked location.
• Abyad sent men disguised as traders to investigate the fortress-like structure, and they reported that it was East Africa’s Kalanshu Outpost with a well.
• Abyad recognized East Africa as a powerful country and considered the outpost a chance to replenish his men’s drinking water.

Abyad and Zaigut decided to attack Kalanshu Outpost to seize its supplies, believing they could escape before East Africa or Italy caught them. Treni’s soldiers spotted the threat and defended the outpost, leaving the battle unresolved as both sides struggled to hurt the other.

• Zaigut persuaded Abyad that capturing Kalanshu Outpost would provide supplies for their return to Cyrenaica, and Abyad ordered his force to advance.
• A soldier warned Treni that the supposed Arab caravan was suspicious, so Treni ordered his men into the bunkers and told Borma’s men to leave.
• Borma returned to Abyad without gaining access to the outpost, and Abyad ordered a frontal assault.
• Treni’s soldiers opened fire on Abyad’s charging cavalry and sent a call for reinforcements to Jiaofu Town.
• Abyad’s force struggled under machine-gun fire while Treni’s soldiers fired from protected bunkers, and neither side gained the upper hand.