Chapter Summaries

Ernst outlined East Africa’s postwar disarmament plan, reducing the army while maintaining the navy’s overall size and replacing older warships. The chapter left East Africa preparing to retain a roughly 200,000-strong army and strengthen naval coverage with more multipurpose vessels.

• Ernst judged that East Africa’s period of danger had passed and decided to sell outdated and captured military equipment while it could still fetch a good price.
• East Africa retained captured British warships and studied their technology as part of a naval renewal that balanced British, Austro-Hungarian, and German designs.
• Ernst ordered the navy to maintain its overall size for ten years, replace older main warships gradually, and add small and medium-sized multipurpose vessels to cover its expanded coastline.
• Ernst called for the army to return to its prewar level, citing the reduced border and diminished threat after the acquisition of Angola and Mozambique.
• Ernst set the army’s final strength at around two hundred thousand, allowing wartime cavalry units to remain while military districts merged or abolished secondary units.

East Africa planned to rebuild Cabinda into a port and strategic link with the Belgian colony, despite the dense rainforest and weak transport connections. Barco and designer Dierca assessed the work required, leaving Cabinda’s development dependent on clearing the jungle and restoring sea transport before roads and river crossings could be established.

• Dierca told Barco that demolishing Cabinda’s small Portuguese fortress would be easy, but clearing the surrounding rainforest would require a large workforce.
• The chapter described how the 4th Regiment of the 2nd Brigade under the 331st Division relied on long-distance sea shipments because land routes to Cabinda had vanished and river crossings were dangerous.
• Barco emphasized Cabinda’s strategic position near Belgian Congo and French Gabon and said East Africa wanted it to become a center of exchange with the Belgian colony.
• Barco proposed restoring sea transport first and eventually connecting Cabinda by road to Kinshasa via Brazzaville, while acknowledging the need to solve the Congo River crossing.
• The chapter concluded that dense rainforest and undeveloped transportation would make Cabinda’s transformation a long-term challenge.

East Africa established Cabinda City’s government and began expanding the port and clearing the surrounding rainforest, while development accelerated across its West Coast territories. A severe labor shortage led East Africa to force Angolan Black people into harsher slave labor as it pursued the Central Railway and regional expansion.

• Dierca and Barco discussed Cabinda’s shortages, rainforest clearance, and the difficulty of developing the isolated settlement.
• In May, government personnel and slaves arrived, the Cabinda City government was established, and workers began repairing the port and felling nearby rainforest.
• Cabinda expanded rapidly, traded resources and Cabinda bark with Belgian merchants, and shipped timber south to supply Southwest Africa.
• East Africa advanced construction in Luanda and Benguela while the Central Railway’s western line entered geological surveying.
• East Africa conscripted large numbers of Angolan Black people into slave labor and imposed harsher treatment as the West Coast’s labor shortage worsened.

East African officials discussed how to develop Angola and Mozambique despite low immigration and weak infrastructure, with a focus on restoring plantations and concentrating investment in key areas. Ernst proposed mechanized large farms in southern Mozambique to develop its farmland and expand East Africa’s agricultural machinery and automobile industries.

• Ernst said Angola and Mozambique required a coordinated national development plan because East Africa faced population shortages and security and infrastructure problems.
• Von der Leyen proposed focusing on northern Angola and southern Mozambique, restoring plantations, and gradually connecting the territories to East Africa’s central and eastern regions.
• Svit warned that immigration had fallen sharply, while Von der Leyen argued that native laborers and Portuguese assets could support development in the short term.
• Ernst urged officials to use modern agricultural machinery and establish large farms on southern Mozambique’s fertile plains.
• The officials agreed that development would take time, and Ernst used the meeting to advance East African agricultural mechanization and large-scale farming.

At Maputo Port, Fernandes chose to remain in East Africa while Eusebio decided to return to Portugal, leaving the two friends on different paths. More than forty thousand Portuguese stayed in Mozambique, where East Africa accepted them and planned to assimilate them into its population.

• Fernandes explained to Eusebio that he saw little prospect in returning to Portugal and preferred East Africa’s stability and future.
• Eusebio argued that East Africa might distrust Portuguese settlers and suggested returning to Portugal before seeking work elsewhere in Europe.
• Eusebio chose to return to the Portuguese mainland to be with his family, and he and Fernandes said farewell at the port.
• More than forty thousand Portuguese remained in Mozambique, and East Africa accepted them to help develop the southern Mozambique Region.
• East Africa’s government expected the Portuguese settlers to be gradually assimilated into the Germanic population.

Fernandes and other Portuguese plantation workers in Mozambique became German citizens under East African rule and were assigned to farms near Maputo. As they began compulsory German lessons, Fernandes and his colleagues wondered whether they had made the right choice, though East Africa’s rapid development gave them some hope.

• Prust questioned Fernandes about his work and family before stamping his name and declaring him a German.
• The newly naturalized Portuguese workers were assigned to plantations and farms around former Maputo and required to attend daily German lessons.
• An East African instructor told the workers to abandon their Portuguese identity and learn German as the language of their new country.
• Fernandes and his colleagues complained that German was difficult but acknowledged they could not leave and had been treated fairly by the East African government.
• Fernandes hoped their choice would prove right as he and his colleagues recalled East Africa’s fast-growing cities.

Fernandes’s officials assessed Maputo’s plantations, fertile land, and shortages as East Africa began reorganizing Mozambique’s economy after the Portuguese withdrawal. The city remained stagnant and understaffed, and its government planned to seek outside assistance while awaiting livestock, machinery, and railway links.

• Maputo officials reported that they had consolidated hundreds of former plantations into seventy-one large plantations worked mainly by Black slaves left behind by the Portuguese.
• The officials said southern Mozambique’s fertile plains, rivers, and rainfall made grain farming a better goal than labor-intensive cash crops.
• They explained that tractors from Dar es Salaam and livestock from the Northern Pastures would arrive slowly, while New Hamburg City could provide limited interim support.
• The officials noted that Portuguese rule had left Mozambique with little industry and that the departure of Portuguese civilians had crippled Maputo’s administration and commerce.
• The Maputo government decided to include plans to restore the city and request assistance from other cities in its government report.

Yulta and Helvishin discussed Orange’s severe labor shortage and Kimberley’s stalled economy. They agreed that Kimberley’s mines and British-built infrastructure had to be preserved, and Helvishin offered to seek workers from other provinces.

• Yulta complained that Kimberley’s mines and construction had stopped because Orange lacked people.
• Helvishin explained that Bloemfontein was also nearly empty and depended on a small population borrowed from New Baden Province.
• Yulta argued that restarting Kimberley’s diamond industry was the best way to make the central government recognize Orange’s value.
• Helvishin proposed requesting black workers from other provinces and offered a few dozen additional workers to help maintain Kimberley’s mines.
• Yulta insisted that several hundred workers were needed to protect and operate the machinery left behind in Kimberley.
• Helvishin agreed that Kimberley’s machinery and railway were vital and told Yulta to prioritize safeguarding them.

Ernst and Von der Leyen discussed East Africa’s growing labor shortages and how to repopulate newly incorporated regions. Ernst approved restoring Kimberley’s diamond industry and ordered a plan to recruit immigrants from underdeveloped parts of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, leaving local citizens free to move west and south.

• Von der Leyen told Ernst that Orange needed at least thirty thousand Black people and skilled workers to restore Kimberley, whose population and infrastructure had been depleted.
• Ernst designated Kimberley a priority development area and ordered diamond-mining regions in eastern East Africa to send experienced workers to restart its diamond production.
• Von der Leyen proposed loosening immigration restrictions because East Africa’s German cultural identity was established, and suggested recruiting from underdeveloped Austro-Hungarian regions, especially Hungary.
• Ernst ordered the Immigration Office and other departments to plan for Austro-Hungarian immigrants, who would fill jobs in established areas while local residents moved west and south.

Ernst discussed the Sigmaringen Royal Territory’s rapid growth and its shortages of German immigrants and access to the sea with Prince Karl. He advised Karl to pursue a connection through German Cameroon, while Ernst viewed Sigmaringen as a population buffer protecting East Africa.

• Prince Karl complained that Sigmaringen could attract few German migrants and had to rely on Chinese immigrants and East African support.
• Ernst said Sigmaringen had grown substantially through the Northern Railway and East Africa’s backing, though it had entered colonial development too late to rival East Africa.
• Prince Karl identified Chad’s inland location, desert terrain, and weak transportation as major problems for the territory.
• Ernst urged Sigmaringen to establish contact with Germany’s Cameroon colony to seek access to the sea.
• Ernst reflected that Sigmaringen and other colonies north of East Africa could serve as population buffers, limiting direct contact between East Africa and other regions.

Ernst considered how East Africa could secure future population growth by developing compatible immigrant reservoirs, while discussing with Prince Karl a future land connection between East Africa, the Sigmaringen Royal Territory, and German Cameroon. He left the question of East Africa’s expansion toward Cameroon unresolved, citing the population and development needs of the newly occupied southern territories.

• Ernst reasoned that East Africa would need carefully chosen population reservoirs to limit future reliance on immigrants from North and West Africa.
• Ernst told Prince Karl that connecting East Africa, the Sigmaringen Royal Territory, and German Cameroon could give the royal territory access to the sea.
• Prince Karl said Leopold had discussed a shared outlet to the sea with Wilhelm II, who supported the idea.
• Prince Karl asked whether Ernst wanted to develop a route through Cameroon to the Atlantic coast.
• Ernst said East Africa was focused on developing its southern territories and lacked the population and resources to take on more projects.
• Prince Karl reflected that East Africa’s population exceeded seventy million, while Ernst doubted it would reach one hundred million by the end of the century.

East African soldiers escorted more than a thousand Black people in crowded, filthy train carriages from Angola toward Sigmaringen, where they would be transferred across the border for export to West Africa. After a stop in Kisangani, the train resumed its journey, leaving the captives with more than ten days of travel ahead.

• Squad leader Li Senluo De ordered El to inspect the rear carriages and warned him to fire a shot if anything happened.
• El counted the captives, ordered them to clean a filthy carriage, and left after the train staff disinfected and cleaned the cars.
• The train reached Kisangani city three days later, where its passengers briefly got to touch the ground while supplies were replenished.
• The train headed toward the border again, carrying people East Africa planned to force on West African tribes.

East Africa sent eight experimental internal-combustion-engine tractors from Maputo Port to the First State-Run Farm in Shaoqui Town to develop the Limpopo River plain. The tractors traveled under military escort, beginning a trial that could advance East African agricultural mechanization despite the machines’ technical shortcomings.

• The East African National Defense Army sealed off Maputo Port as Saul’s eight tractors were unloaded.
• Saul explained to Commander Kols that the tractors were bound for Shaoqui Town and needed transport by vehicle because they were valuable.
• Kols arranged for the army to haul the tractors on heavy vehicles, and Saul’s mechanics, engineers, and drivers helped load and cover them.
• The chapter described East Africa’s early tractor and track research, noting that the internal-combustion tractors remained immature and would likely suffer frequent minor problems.
• Saul and his party set out for Shaoqui Town under Defense Force escort, carrying the tractors to the newly established First State-Run Farm.

Minister of Transportation Liu Yideweil and Minister of Railways Andre proposed building the Habe Railway to connect Harare with Beira, and Ernst approved its importance while demanding broader railway planning for East Africa’s newly acquired territories. Andre compared East Africa’s 19,000 kilometers of railway with networks around the world, showing that its system was extensive but less dense than Argentina’s and modest beside the great powers’.

• Adelichi explained that Harare lagged behind Mbeya in research and education, and Liu Yideweil argued that better access to the coast would help develop the inland city.
• Liu Yideweil proposed constructing the roughly 450-kilometer Habe Railway from Harare to Beira, and Andre said it would make the journey possible in less than a day.
• Ernst endorsed the railway and directed the Ministry of Railways to plan future lines across Mozambique, Angola, and the Boer Republic, especially in East Africa’s underserved western and southern regions.
• Andre reported that East Africa had 19,000 kilometers of railway in 1889 and said construction had been slowed by the war, while more than seventy percent of railway production had become localized.
• Andre compared railway networks worldwide, noting that the United States, Russia, Germany, Britain, France, and Austria-Hungary had longer systems, while East Africa had twice Argentina’s mileage but far lower railway density.

Ernst and Andre discussed East Africa’s technological dependence and the need to expand its railway network, with Ernst setting an ambitious national construction agenda. The chapter ended with officials confident that East Africa could build a railway system on a scale comparable to the United States.

• Andre said East Africa’s railways were extensive but technologically weak, and estimated that catching up with international standards would take twenty to thirty years.
• Ernst urged the railway sector to build domestic expertise instead of relying on purchases, and said the country needed to construct at least forty thousand kilometers of railway over the next decade.
• Ernst argued that railway construction should increase each year and outlined trunk routes for Southwest Africa, the Central Railway, the Kalahari Basin, the Azande Plateau, the Great Lakes Region, and Somalia.
• Ernst called for a denser network in the central and eastern regions and a north-south railway along East Africa’s eastern coast.
• East African officials believed the country could achieve the railway expansion because its territory, population, and reliance on rail transport justified a network comparable to that of the United States.

Ernst discussed East Africa’s transportation priorities with Andre and Liu Yideweil, stressing that railways and roads had to serve defense, economic growth, and people’s livelihoods rather than profitability alone. He urged faster road construction as the automobile industry grew, while noting that East Africa’s lakes supported regional shipping but did not form an interconnected network.

• Ernst told Andre that railway planning had to account for national defense, economic development, livelihoods, and environmental effects, and recalled that the Central Railway had helped secure southern territories.
• Ernst instructed Liu Yideweil’s Ministry of Transportation to cooperate with railway departments and expand roads that connected cities, villages, and railway hubs.
• Liu Yideweil reported that Hesse Province had completed 20,000 kilometers of road surfacing and that East Africa’s hardened roads exceeded 200,000 kilometers nationwide.
• Ernst called for accelerating road construction, noting that future automobile growth could allow roads to replace some railway functions.
• Ernst described East Africa’s lake shipping and freshwater fisheries, while noting that Lake Malawi and Lake Tanganyika constrained overland routes and would require ferries between their shores.

A powerful typhoon struck Bella City, damaging its hastily built structures and causing casualties after a second wave caught rescuers off guard. The East African government later aided reconstruction, and construction of the Habe Railway began in April despite lingering effects from the storm.

• Mayor Burleyland learned that the harbor had suffered limited damage, while Bella City's buildings and trees had been badly battered by the typhoon.
• After the first lull, residents and officials began rescue work, but a second wave struck and raised the death toll in Bella City from four to twelve.
• Captain John Dehr explained that the storm's calm eye was followed by another dangerous wall of wind.
• Officials recorded forty-three dead, injured, or missing, more than two hundred destroyed houses, and economic losses exceeding thirteen thousand Rheinland Shield.
• The storm brought rain to the Matabele Plateau but disrupted railway surveys, and construction of the Habe Railway began in April as Bella City received aid for rebuilding.

East African tractors arrived in Shaoqui Town, startling residents who mistook them for monsters or trains. After officials calmed the crowd, the tractors plowed the fields, and Lunwell and Mars discussed mechanizing agriculture across the region.

• Andor and Hannah Montana heard tractors approaching and went outside to find frightened residents fleeing from the machines.
• Andor mistook the tractors for small trains, while Hannah Montana recognized them as the machines brought into town under cover a few days earlier.
• East African soldiers and government personnel restored order and explained that the machines were tractors.
• Tractor drivers attached mechanical plows and worked the fields for three hours, with a mechanic quickly repairing the one tractor that broke down.
• Lunwell praised the tractors’ efficiency, and Mars described plans for large mechanized farms across the southern Mozambique Plains.

The chapter described Shaoqui Town’s postwar labor and land-clearing needs, then showed East Africa’s early wired broadcasting and its growing dominance in the power industry. It left East Africa facing the challenge of expanding its industrial base beyond the sectors where it had already excelled.

• Shaoqui Town relied on twenty thousand Black residents and an East African regiment while clearing trenches, shell casings, and other obstacles to agricultural development.
• Ernst’s family listened to East Africa’s first wired radio broadcast, and Princess Lina asked Ernst what a broadcast was.
• Ernst explained the technology to Lina and reflected on how East Africa had introduced wired broadcasting ahead of its historical adoption in Europe.
• Hechingen Electric Company and East African state power enterprises dominated East Africa’s electricity market and held major influence abroad.
• The chapter noted that East Africa still lagged in many industrial fields and needed to expand production in areas such as chemicals, petroleum, textiles, and medicine.

Upington welcomed plans for the Bua Railway, which would connect the city to Bulawayo through Gaborone and Katu. The railway was intended to develop New Baden Province’s mineral resources and strengthen East Africa’s defenses, while Upington’s strategic importance remained central to the route.

• Upington residents heard that a railway would be built from Bulawayo through Gaborone and Katu to Upington.
• East Africa planned the Bua Railway to carry minerals from New Baden Province to industrial centers, especially iron ore for Matabele Province.
• The railway’s route through New Baden Province and part of Matabele Province was presented as a way to develop the Kalahari region.
• Upington’s location near the Orange River made it a valuable settlement and a potential military position on East Africa’s southern frontier.
• The railway was intended to move troops and supplies toward Upington and reduce the risk of Britain seizing the city in a future conflict.