Chapter Summaries

East African officials met Austria’s foreign minister in Venice to discuss the South African War and a possible settlement. East Africa sought to annex Angola and Mozambique while recognizing that Britain would likely insist on keeping Cape Town.

• Count Allen Tal welcomed Hermann and Von der Leyen at the Doge's Palace, where they discussed East Africa’s growing standing after the war.
• Von der Leyen said East African forces had entered southern Cape Town and might end the war within two or three months if Britain sent no more troops.
• Hermann said East Africa intended to incorporate Angola and Mozambique and might allow Britain to continue mining diamonds in Kimberley.
• Hermann and Allen Tal agreed that Britain would be unlikely to surrender Cape Town because of its strategic value to the Royal Navy.
• East Africa’s officials indicated they did not want to seize Cape Town by force and risk a full conflict with Britain.

At the Venice Conference, Britain and East Africa blamed each other for the South African War as Count Hermann challenged Salisbury’s accusations and defended East Africa’s actions. The negotiations remained hostile, with neither side conceding responsibility.

• Count Aerenthal opened the Venice Conference and invited Britain to speak first.
• Salisbury accused East Africa of causing a humanitarian disaster and violating property rights in Southern Africa.
• Hermann interrupted Salisbury and rejected his accusations, while Salisbury cited East Africa’s occupation of Angola, Mozambique, Orange, and Cape Town.
• Hermann accused British and Portuguese forces of poor discipline, and Salisbury praised Britain’s army while dismissing East Africa’s military.
• Hermann declared the Allied forces had started an unjust war and blamed Britain and Portugal for their defeat.

At the peace conference, Hermann and other delegates challenged Salisbury’s accusations and demands, while Salisbury insisted Britain could still defeat East Africa. Hermann left the negotiations with a warning that East Africa held more than sixty thousand British prisoners and controlled key territories, placing Britain under pressure.

• Salisbury blamed East Africa for destabilizing Africa and called it aggressive, prompting Chernyshevsky to object when he compared its expansion to Russia’s.
• Hermann accused Britain of hypocrisy by citing its extensive colonial empire, and Salisbury responded with insults before Count Aerenthal ordered him to behave civilly.
• Count Aerenthal refocused the meeting on ending the war, and Salisbury demanded East Africa withdraw, restore the prewar border, and pay compensation.
• Von der Leyen said Britain had started the war and warned that East African forces were less than four hundred kilometers from Cape Town.
• Hermann declared that East Africa held more than sixty thousand British prisoners and cited its control of Angola, Mozambique, Orange, North Cape Town, and East Cape Town as proof of its strength.

At East Africa’s negotiations, Hermann demanded enormous war compensation from Britain and Portugal, citing prisoners, expenses, and wartime destruction. Britain and Portugal recoiled at the sums, and the chapter ended with Portugal facing a demand it could not realistically afford.

• Hermann demanded 82 million pounds from Britain, citing more than 270,000 British and Indian prisoners and East Africa’s losses.
• The assembled powers erupted at the demand, which approached half the French indemnity after the Franco-Prussian War and nearly Britain’s annual revenue.
• Hermann demanded 48 million pounds from Portugal and said the amount already reflected concessions for Portugal’s finances and its soldiers’ combat ability.
• The Portuguese representative Gels objected, arguing that Angola and Mozambique were worth less than the demand.
• Hermann justified the figure by citing captured Portuguese soldiers and auxiliary troops, damage to East African provinces, and compensation for Hechingen’s losses.
• The narrative explained that much of Hermann’s accounting was fabricated and that Portugal could barely afford even the six million pounds attributable to its captured homeland soldiers.

At negotiations over war reparations, Hermann demanded that Portugal and Britain compensate East Africa, while their representatives disputed the claims and threatened retaliation. The talks ended in a tense adjournment, with the dispute unresolved and the Kingdom of Hechingen warning that the war could continue.

• Hermann argued that Portugal was responsible for the war and insisted it pay for East Africa’s losses, including damage caused by Portuguese-armed Black troops.
• Gers rejected East Africa’s demands as extortion, but Hermann challenged Portugal’s attempt to disown the troops and cited evidence held among its prisoners.
• Salisbury defended Portugal and denied East Africa’s claims against Britain, dismissing the prisoner count and the demand for more than eighty million pounds.
• Salisbury threatened East Africa with the Royal Navy, and Count Aerenthal stepped in to calm the confrontation.
• Salisbury refused to pay, and Von der Leyen warned that the Kingdom of Hechingen would continue the war until its losses were compensated.
• Allen Tal called for the negotiations to adjourn, and Count Aerenthal signaled Hermann and Von der Leyen to stop escalating the dispute.

Count Allen Tal brought East African and British representatives together privately to negotiate an end to the South African War. East Africa insisted on acquiring Angola and Mozambique while offering to reduce Portugal’s reparations, leaving the dispute unresolved.

• Allen Tal invited Hermann, Von der Leyen, and Salisbury to his estate for a private discussion, while Portugal’s representative Gels worried that his country would be excluded.
• Allen Tal urged the representatives to state their positions openly, and Salisbury said Britain wanted Portugal to cede some territory, the Boer Republic preserved, and East African troops withdrawn from Cape Town and Natal.
• Von der Leyen rejected Britain’s proposal and said Hechingen would not allow Portugal’s colonies in southern Africa to remain.
• Allen Tal agreed that Portugal was a destabilizing factor but argued that East Africa should reduce its demands for reparations because Portugal could not afford both them and territorial losses.
• Von der Leyen offered to waive eight million pounds in war losses but said East Africa would not give up its claim to Angola and Mozambique.

Allen Tal mediated between East Africa and Britain over the end of the South African War, as Von der Leyen pressed for Portuguese colonies and Salisbury defended British interests. Allen proposed that Britain advance Portugal’s reparations in exchange for Portugal’s debt, leaving East Africa with the land and Britain with greater economic control over Portugal.

• Allen Tal urged East Africa to make concessions to Britain over Cape Town, Natal, and the Boer Republic, and Von der Leyen signaled East Africa’s willingness to respect British interests.
• Salisbury declared that Britain would not favor Portugal, then insisted on preserving British territory and its interests in the Boer Republic.
• Von der Leyen offered to protect British property and mineral rights in Orange, argued that the Boer Republic had effectively vanished, and proposed the Orange River as the border.
• Salisbury rejected paying East Africa reparations and cited Britain’s war expenses and losses in South African cities.
• Allen Tal proposed that Britain advance Portugal’s forty million pounds in reparations, with East Africa taking Portuguese land and Britain acquiring Portugal’s debt.

The Venice Conference ended with East Africa and Britain settling their conflict while Portugal conceded its colonies and paid reparations. The Boer Republic was abolished and its territory incorporated into East Africa, leaving the ceasefire agreement to reshape southern Africa.

• Salisbury rejected Allen Tal's proposal to reduce Portugal's reparations, but Allen Tal argued that demanding more could force Portugal to default.
• Britain and East Africa privately agreed to preserve British interests in South Africa while shifting the burden of the settlement onto Portugal.
• East Africa halted military operations in Cape Town and began returning British prisoners, with the first 523 arriving in Britain on April 26, 1889.
• East Africa increased its claim against Portugal to more than fifty million pounds, pressuring the Portuguese Government to reach an agreement to protect its 120,000 prisoners.
• On June 28, the belligerents signed a ceasefire: Britain paid three million pounds for prisoner expenses, while Portugal ceded Angola and Mozambique and agreed to forty million pounds in reparations.
• The agreement abolished the Boer Republic and incorporated its territory into East Africa, with the Orange and Tugela Rivers marking the boundary with British territory.

After the peace talks, Von der Leyen and Hermann assessed East Africa’s gains from the South African War, including territory, compensation, farmland, industries, and captured weapons. The chapter ended with the leaders acknowledging the war’s heavy costs and the damage it had inflicted on civilians in Angola and Mozambique.

• Von der Leyen thanked Count Aerenthal for mediating the peace talks, which secured East Africa’s objectives and six million pounds in prisoner expenses.
• East Africa counted its captured weapons, industries, and more than six million mu of developed land in Angola and Mozambique among its gains.
• The annexation of Angola and Mozambique brought millions of Black residents into East Africa, creating new challenges for the Immigration Office’s efforts to export Black people.
• Count Aerenthal remarked on East Africa’s enormous territorial gains, while Hermann pointed to the war’s casualties and economic costs.
• The chapter described how armed Black soldiers had devastated civilians in Angola and Mozambique during the war.

Ernst examined East Africa’s short, relatively harbor-poor coastline and concluded that developing Angola’s ports and rail links was essential to securing the West Coast. He prioritized Cabinda and Luanda, leaving Angola’s inland regions for gradual consolidation.

• Ernst compared East Africa’s coastline with those of other major countries and recognized its shortage of natural deepwater harbors.
• Svit argued that East Africa’s seizure of Angola compensated for its maritime disadvantages and that future port infrastructure could connect its Indian and Atlantic coasts.
• Ernst ordered the immediate expansion of Luanda and Benguela and said securing key West Coast towns should come before consolidating Angola’s interior.
• Ernst prioritized Cabinda and Luanda as international ports and ordered railways from Mang'u City to Luanda and from Lubumbashi to Cabinda.
• Ernst valued Cabinda for its petroleum potential and considered East Africa’s access to Middle Eastern, North African, and West African oil resources.

At New Hamburg Port, Merke saw off Count Roberts and the departing British POWs as East Africa completed its postwar cleanup and the British and Portuguese arranged evacuations. The chapter ended with Portugal turning to Brazil to resettle its colonial civilians while East Africa prepared to disperse Boer settlers across Angola and Mozambique.

• Merke joked with Count Roberts as the defeated British commander prepared to return home, and Roberts acknowledged East Africa’s organizational strength while reflecting on Britain’s loss.
• Count Roberts boarded a ship with the departing British troops and bid farewell to Merke at New Hamburg Port.
• The British Government arranged transport for its troops and Indian soldiers, while East Africa pressured Portugal to evacuate Portuguese residents from its colonies.
• Portugal, burdened by debt, asked Brazil to take in Portuguese civilians from Angola, and Brazilian ships arrived near Luanda.
• East Africa planned to disperse Boer settlers through Angola and Mozambique, while Cape Town’s future remained uncertain and its mineral wealth lay largely under East African control.

After Portugal withdrew from East Africa, the East African government pushed Maputo’s remaining Portuguese residents to leave, while making their departure costly. The residents debated where to go as East Africa prepared to move those left behind to Portuguese Goa.

• Britain and Portugal withdrew their troops from East Africa, and many Portuguese civilians left for Brazil.
• Maputo’s new mayor, Hans Leighton, told Portuguese residents they could pay for a return to Europe, find passage themselves, or apply to stay under East African government arrangements.
• Ronald said his family planned to return to Portugal, but Graiffin urged him to consider Brazil because his local wife and children might struggle to fit in at home.
• Graiffin warned that Ronald’s Black wife could face harsh treatment if she remained in East Africa, reinforcing the Portuguese residents’ fear of the new regime.
• East Africa planned to charge residents for passage to Europe before transferring those unable to leave to Portuguese Goa, while other possible destinations included Madagascar.

Ernst planned to expand East Africa into Madagascar Island while avoiding conflict with Britain and France over the Kingdom of Imerina. He chose the island’s sparsely populated western and southern regions as targets as French forces advanced in the north and west.

• The Intelligence Department reported that France had occupied several northern and western cities of the Kingdom of Imerina, though the kingdom’s British-trained army still held its core regions.
• Archduke Ferdinand suggested that East Africa use the end of the South African War to expand on Madagascar Island.
• Ernst ruled out attacking the Kingdom of Imerina because it was under British influence and conflict with Britain and France would be too costly.
• Ernst selected western and southern Madagascar as East Africa’s targets because the regions were sparsely populated and lay apart from the main British and French strongholds.

Ernst and his officials planned to conquer Madagascar’s western and southern regions and garrison the island while keeping the Kingdom of Imerina in check. After East African forces landed, Britain protested, and East Africa agreed to demarcate spheres of influence while promising not to enter Imerina territory.

• Archduke Ferdinand praised the East African Navy’s experience in the South African War, while Svit urged a permanent garrison on Madagascar and measures to restrain the Kingdom of Imerina.
• Ernst ordered the western and southern parts of Madagascar conquered before the end of 1890, with brigades from the Southern and Northern Military Regions stationed there.
• On September 21, 1889, more than twelve thousand East African naval and army personnel landed on Madagascar Island, where East Africa began its campaign against the Malagasy peoples outside Imerina.
• Minister Bruce protested that East Africa’s moves threatened renewed war, and an East African embassy receptionist said the campaign would not target the Kingdom of Imerina.
• Bruce demanded that East Africa stay out of Imerina and that the two countries demarcate their spheres of influence on Madagascar; East Africa accepted the demand.

East Africa established a military control zone across western and southern Madagascar Island while the Kingdom of Imerina sought diplomatic ties to balance Britain, France, and its new neighbor. The chapter left East Africa in control of the occupied regions and Imerina facing continued pressure from the European powers.

• Britain and France watched East Africa’s expansion on Madagascar Island, with both states increasingly focused on the Kingdom of Imerina.
• East Africa established its sphere of influence in three months and signed security agreements with Britain and France guaranteeing Imerina’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.
• On November 27, 1889, East Africa created the Madagascar Island Military Control Zone and stationed two brigades in Majunga and Toliara.
• Rainilaiarivony sent an Imerina diplomatic delegation to Dar es Salaam to seek relations with East Africa, hoping to strengthen the kingdom’s security.
• East African officials received the delegation as East Africa’s postwar diplomatic standing grew, while Japan remained cautious after the outcome of the South African War.

Ernst reviewed East Africa’s agricultural expansion and its shortcomings as the country shifted from military spending toward economic development. The report left East Africa aiming to expand farmland and improve productivity, while relying on animal power until mechanized farming became widespread.

• Ernst concluded that East Africa should focus on economic development and industrial upgrading after its costly war with Britain.
• Augustin reported that East Africa had opened sixty million hectares of farmland during the 1880s, bringing cultivated land to 120 million hectares.
• Augustin said East Africa lagged behind European and American powers in agricultural machinery, with just over 7,300 harvesters and 53 experimental internal-combustion tractors.
• Augustin described the expansion of livestock as a means of supplying draft animals until tractors and other tools could be widely adopted.
• The report noted that waterworks had enabled farmland expansion through immense labor and losses among East African Black people.
• Ernst approved the agricultural progress and looked toward developing East Africa’s remaining arable land.

Ernst emphasized agriculture's role in funding East Africa's economic and industrial development. In the Great Lakes Region, Constantin inspected waterworks and heard how irrigation had made the region East Africa's leading grain-producing area.

• Ernst said East Africa needed to increase agricultural production and exports to support economic development while keeping citizens productive.
• Constantin visited the Great Lakes Region and described basin-wide water conservancy construction as a long-term plan.
• Graeme reported that Western Great Lakes Province had expanded irrigation infrastructure and farmland during the 1880s, tripling grain output compared with the 1870s.
• Graeme said the West Great Lakes District had more than 205 million mu of cultivated land, second only to North Great Lakes Province.
• The chapter described the Great Lakes provinces as East Africa's granary, producing most of the country's grain, while coastal agriculture increasingly focused on cash crops.

East Africa began building a railway from New Hamburg City to Maputo, chiefly to connect Maputo with the rail network and support the navy’s plans for the harbor. Black railway workers laid track across the flat terrain as the chapter placed the project within East Africa’s broader industrial growth and geographic development.

• East Africa put a railway from New Hamburg City to Maputo on its agenda, while Matabele Province favored Beira and the East African Navy wanted to concentrate its forces near Maputo.
• New Hamburg City’s steelworks supplied rails for the line, and Black railway workers trained in railway construction laid track between New Hamburg Port and Maputo Port.
• East Africa used Black laborers extensively for temporary railway construction work, while its registered railway workforce and industrial population remained smaller than those of developed countries.
• The chapter described East Africa’s gradual industrialization and identified its dry plateau regions as the country’s most populous and economically developed areas.

East African officials reviewed the 1890 census, which counted more than 52 million citizens and an estimated 21 million black residents. Ernst reaffirmed the government's plan to eliminate the black population and considered expanding exports to West Africa, expecting younger workers and industrial growth to reduce East Africa's reliance on their labor.

• East African officials reported that the population had exceeded 52 million citizens, while the total including black residents was estimated at more than 70 million.
• Officials compared East Africa's population with other major powers and discussed how Italy's disintegration had redistributed people among them.
• Ernst stated that black people would not be treated as part of the East African nation and that the government intended to eliminate their population over the next thirty years.
• The chapter described how East Africa's trade had increased the black population in the United States and how Cecil's suppression of Ireland had prompted Irish emigration.
• Ernst considered increasing population exports to West Africa, anticipating that East Africa's younger generation and industrial development would eventually lessen the need for black labor.

Count Hermann negotiated with Vulcan Shipyard in Stettin over East Africa’s order for a new ironclad, while explaining the navy’s limited procurement plans and recent disarmament. The shipyard hoped to win more business, but East Africa’s main purpose was to study German technology alongside its own shipbuilding program.

• Vulcan Shipyard director Will promoted his shipyard’s technology and its past warship orders for the Far East Empire to Count Hermann.
• Hermann said East Africa needed only one ironclad from Vulcan Shipyard, as it planned to retire four older ships and replace them with three newer vessels.
• East Africa planned to build one replacement ironclad itself and order the other two from Germany and the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
• East Africa arranged to sell two retired ironclads to the Far East Empire for 600,000 taels of silver under a prewar agreement.
• Will lamented that Vulcan Shipyard would receive only a small order, and Hermann praised Germany’s shipbuilding industry while noting its lack of combat experience.