Chapter Summaries

After the Balkan Wars began, Constantin died in 1913 at the age of 113, plunging East Africa into mourning. His funeral drew worldwide attention, and Ernst prepared to govern as emperor while European powers watched for changes in East Africa’s policies.

• Ernst anticipated that the Austro-Hungarian Empire’s conflict with Serbia could trigger a European war and had arranged for East Africa to support a friendly regime in Bosnia if the empire disintegrated.
• On February 3, 1913, Emperor Constantin died, devastating Ernst and East Africa.
• East Africa held seven days of mourning and a grand state funeral for Constantin, whose body was laid to rest in Rhine Cathedral.
• Representatives from major nations attended Constantin’s funeral, and more than two hundred thousand people joined the procession in Rhine City.
• After Constantin’s death, Ernst began handling state affairs as emperor, prompting European countries—especially France—to worry about East Africa’s future policies.

After Constantin’s death, France probed Ernst about East Africa’s support for Bulgaria and whether it had coordinated with Germany. Ernst denied any alliance or wider ambitions, and Thomson left reassured enough to negotiate French purchases of East African raw materials that could otherwise supply German industry.

• The Second Balkan War began after disputes over the division of Ottoman territory, with East Africa, Germany, and the Austro-Hungarian Empire backing Bulgaria while other powers supported Bulgaria’s opponents.
• At Rhine Palace, Ambassador Thomson asked Ernst whether East Africa had coordinated with Germany and what it intended in the Balkan conflict.
• Ernst said East Africa supported Bulgaria because of their existing military relationship and denied that East Africa and the Austro-Hungarian Empire’s actions showed a broader alliance with Germany.
• Ernst pointed to East Africa’s economic priorities and relatively small navy as evidence that it did not intend to expand its influence or join a conflict between Germany and France.
• Thomson negotiated major French orders for East African materials, aiming to raise the cost of Germany’s access to strategic raw materials.

East Africa welcomed French efforts to win its favor but remained wary of Germany’s offer of an alliance. The East African government chose to support Germany without entering a war, preferring to preserve Britain’s Indian Ocean order until East Africa could gradually expand its influence.

• Ernst welcomed France’s attempt to draw East Africa closer, believing competition between France and Germany would bring East Africa greater benefits.
• Kamon urged East Africa to ally with Germany, promising British colonies and Indian Ocean hegemony.
• Friel told Kamon that East Africa would support Germany in every way except by joining a war.
• East Africa’s government weighed the risks of antagonizing Britain, Russia, the United States, and Japan, as Britain controlled key trade routes and strategic positions.
• East Africa decided that Germany was unlikely to defeat its European rivals and that neutrality offered greater security and opportunity.

Ernst refused Kamon’s request for military support against France but arranged preferential trade treatment for Germany as East Africa maintained neutrality. He then reviewed East Africa’s military assets, which made it strong enough to protect its neutral status but poorly suited to overseas warfare.

• Ernst warned Kamon that Germany risked being worn down by France, Russia, and Britain, but Kamon insisted Germany could defeat France and contain Russia with Austro-Hungarian support.
• Ernst declined to support Germany militarily, citing East Africa’s distance from Europe, while offering help in other areas; Kamon thanked him for the support.
• After Kamon left, Ernst approved preferential trade treatment for Germany, and East Africa’s diplomatic stance settled on neutrality alongside the United States.
• Merke reported that East Africa had 460,000 troops, the world’s fourth-largest force by numbers, and substantial mobilization potential.
• Merke described East Africa’s army as well equipped, with particular advantages in military vehicles, armored units, and aviation; its air force had become independent from the army.
• Ernst’s review showed that East Africa’s distance from likely conflicts and limited overseas military capacity constrained its ability to fight beyond the continent.

Merke described East Africa’s army modernization, artillery strength, communications network, and growing navy. East Africa had reached 680,000 tons of naval tonnage, using Japan’s continued expansion to justify breaching the limits of its treaty with Britain.

• Merke said East Africa retained traditional infantry and cavalry alongside armored and motorized units to limit military costs.
• Merke outlined the army’s artillery strength and doctrine, emphasizing its combination of mobile 75-millimeter guns, heavy artillery, and infantry firepower.
• Merke described East Africa’s expanding use of radio, telephones, and wired telegraphs for military communications.
• Merke reported that the East African Navy had grown to 680,000 tons, exceeding the treaty’s original 650,000-ton minimum.
• Japan continued expanding its navy despite British pressure, giving East Africa grounds under the treaty to expand its own fleet.
• Ernst’s treaty provision let East Africa use Japan’s naval ambitions to evade Britain’s restrictions, leaving Britain unable to stop East African expansion.

Bob assembled a working radio from factory components and planned to sell handmade radios with Li Laite, hoping to start a business instead of taking his assigned factory job. Li Laite urged caution, and Bob remained unhappy with his placement at a hemp textile mill.

• Bob brought electronic components to Anthony Park and told Li Laite he had obtained them through his second uncle.
• Bob assembled a working radio, and Li Laite suggested pricing the handmade radios below factory-made ones.
• Bob asked Li Laite to join his small business, but Li Laite advised them to keep stable jobs while testing radio sales.
• Bob explained that he disliked his assigned hemp textile mill and hoped to earn startup capital by selling radios.

Bob persuaded Li Laite to test a radio-selling business, and their strong sales convinced them to pursue entrepreneurship. Their success reflected how East Africa’s New Economic Policy boosted private enterprise and industrial growth while also bringing unemployment and other manageable social problems.

• Bob persuaded Li Laite to try selling radios with him, agreeing to review the results after three days.
• Bob assembled radios overnight, and Li Laite sold them in Dar es Salaam city for prices well below those of market radios.
• The pair sold eight radios in three days and earned far more than they would have from factory wages.
• Bob and Li Laite resolved to grow their business, which would later become an electrical-appliance company.
• Private businesses and foreign capital helped East Africa’s economy and industry grow, while market competition caused some state-owned enterprises to struggle and unemployment to emerge.
• Ernst accepted the New Economic Policy’s side effects as manageable and valued its contribution to growth ahead of a future world war.

In 1914, East Africa’s New Economic Policy took hold as Europe moved closer to war, with its leaders and people confident that any conflict would be brief. As East African merchants entered European markets to sell goods amid domestic overproduction, Europeans began encountering East Africans just before the continent plunged into war.

• East Africa’s government established a New Economic Policy that combined planned economic guidance with market freedom.
• An East African journalist warned that European leaders were steering the continent toward war, while Europeans broadly expected a quick victory.
• Britain, France, and Germany remained confident in their strength and treated war as a route to national glory.
• East African industry expanded rapidly, creating overproduction and prompting private merchants to seek overseas markets.
• In 1914, East African merchants traveled to Europe, especially Germany and Slavic regions, to sell industrial goods.
• European customers encountered East Africans in large numbers and learned more about East Africa as war drew near.

As Europe’s economic crisis and Serbian-Austro-Hungarian tensions worsened, Black Hand member Graves urged Gavrilo to retaliate against Austria-Hungary. The chapter left Gavrilo ready to attempt an assassination in Sarajevo during Archduke Ferdinand’s visit.

• Economic hardship and Serbian nationalist agitation heightened tensions with Austria-Hungary over Bosnia and Herzegovina.
• At the Karamon Beer Hall, Graves and other Black Hand members discussed Austria-Hungary’s military exercises with Gavrilo.
• Gavrilo said Serbia could not accept the perceived humiliation, while Graves encouraged him to strike back.
• Graves revealed that Archduke Ferdinand was visiting Sarajevo and proposed making him pay in blood.
• Gavrilo agreed that the attack would demonstrate Serbian resolve.

East African agents Roger Li and Hulot watched Archduke Ferdinand’s visit to Sarajevo and discussed the threat posed by the Black Hand. As Ferdinand’s motorcade reached a bend, assassin Gavrilo prepared to shoot, leaving the attack imminent.

• Roger Li taught Hulot how to gather intelligence from newspapers, merchants, and public meeting places in Sarajevo.
• Roger Li warned Hulot not to underestimate the Black Hand and told him to observe what happened as part of his internship.
• Archduke Ferdinand rode through Sarajevo with his wife and Austro-Hungarian officials while armed Black Hand members watched from the crowd.
• Gavrilo moved ahead to a bend where Ferdinand’s motorcade would slow down and positioned his hand on the gun’s trigger.

Gavrilo and another Black Hand member attacked Archduke Ferdinand’s car in Sarajevo, but Ferdinand survived thanks to quick medical care and the car’s bulletproof protection. Juno captured Gavrilo, and Potiorek learned that Ferdinand’s life had been saved.

• Gavrilo shot Ferdinand in the chest and fired two more shots at the car as another Black Hand member opened fire.
• Juno struck Gavrilo with his rifle, disarmed him, and helped subdue him before he lost consciousness.
• Potiorek sent Ferdinand and Sophie to a nearby hospital while he stayed behind to oversee the arrests.
• Potiorek learned that Juno, an ethnic Chinese soldier from the Neretva River downstream valley region, had captured Gavrilo.
• Doctors saved Ferdinand, whose bullet had missed his heart, and the car’s bulletproof protection prevented the other shots from injuring its passengers.

Ernst and his family discussed the survival of Archduke Franz Ferdinand after the Sarajevo assassination attempt and the likely fallout between Austria-Hungary and Serbia. Ernst warned that Austria-Hungary was poorly prepared for war, while his father-in-law doubted Serbia could withstand the empire’s superior resources.

• Ernst read an East African intelligence report on the assassination attempt and kept quiet about the information East Africa had gathered beforehand.
• Karina grieved for her cousin Franz, and Ernst and Archduke Ferdinand, Maximilian I, reassured her that the wounded archduke was expected to survive.
• Archduke Ferdinand, Maximilian I, asked Ernst whether the attempt would worsen tensions between Austria-Hungary and Serbia.
• Ernst predicted that tensions would be difficult to ease but argued that Austria-Hungary was unprepared for war and that Serbia’s battle-tested army could inflict serious losses.
• Archduke Ferdinand, Maximilian I, countered that Serbia’s small population and weak economy would leave it unable to withstand Austria-Hungary’s greater national strength.

Ernst explained to Archduke Ferdinand why Russia would likely support Serbia if war broke out, then reviewed East Africa’s preparations to supply Europe with strategic goods. East Africa had stockpiled medical supplies, gas masks, and controlled drugs while taking on heavy debt, leaving its businesses dependent on a European war to repay their loans.

• Ernst told Archduke Ferdinand that Russia’s ties to Serbia and ambitions in the Balkans made Russian intervention likely if Serbia fought the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
• Ernst argued that conquering Serbia would burden the Austro-Hungarian Empire unless it resolved its ethnic problems.
• Svit reported that East Africa had spent three years stockpiling war supplies at its ports for rapid shipment to Europe.
• Svit described East Africa’s reserves of battlefield medical supplies and gas masks, along with its capacity to produce more for the warring European powers.
• Ernst’s government had financed expanded production of controlled drugs, leaving East African firms and the state heavily indebted and reliant on war-driven exports to repay their loans.

Franz consulted his ministers and Crown Prince Rudolf on how to respond to Archduke Ferdinand’s assassination, while Conrad urged a forceful war against Serbia. Rudolf warned that the Empire was unprepared for a conflict that could draw in Russia and other powers, leaving Franz’s decision unresolved.

• Franz asked his ministers what stance the Empire should take in negotiations with Serbia after Ferdinand’s assassination.
• Conrad urged severe punishment for Serbia, arguing that it had funded the Black Hand and that war would defend the Empire’s dignity.
• Rudolf argued that war might be necessary but required thorough preparation, citing Serbia’s experienced troops, Slavic support in Bosnia and Croatia, and the risk of international intervention.
• Conrad said Germany’s guarantee would protect the Empire if Russia entered the war, but Rudolf warned that France would constrain Germany and that Russia could withstand both powers.
• Rudolf stressed that the Empire’s limited military spending, weak reserves, ethnic divisions, and multiple potential fronts made a prolonged war with Russia especially dangerous.

Rudolf and Franz pushed the Austro-Hungarian Empire toward confronting Serbia, and the July Crisis escalated into a European war after Serbia refused the empire’s demands and Russia mobilized. As the great powers went to war, East Africa restarted its naval expansion and began negotiating with Germany to take over its overseas territories.

• Rudolf argued that the empire should increase military spending and declare war on Serbia, while Franz chose to pressure Serbia first and leave war as a last resort.
• Serbia’s military government rejected the Austro-Hungarian Empire’s demands, and Rudolf won concessions from Hungary by lobbying its government.
• The Austro-Hungarian Empire delivered an ultimatum to Serbia, declared war on July 28, and was followed by Russia, Germany, France, and Britain entering the conflict.
• East Africa restarted its Naval Expansion Plan and began looking toward German overseas territories as Germany’s ability to defend them diminished.
• The East African Embassy in Germany opened discussions with the German government about taking over German Central Africa and the German Pacific Islands.

Wilhelm II brooded over how his assurances had helped Austria-Hungary drag Germany into a war against Russia, France, and Britain, while East Africa refused to join Germany and proposed taking over its colonies. The German government weighed the proposal despite its anger, knowing the crisis left it little choice but to accept East Africa’s demands.

• Wilhelm II blamed his careless assurances to Conrad for giving Austria-Hungary a blank check and binding Germany to war against three great powers.
• Wilhelm II hoped Austria-Hungary would hold Russia back while Germany defeated France first.
• Wilhelm II resented East Africa’s refusal to join Germany’s camp, though Germany depended on its resources and petroleum.
• Wilhelm II was angered by East Africa’s proposal to take over German colonies, including German Central Africa, but recognized Germany might have to accept.
• Wilhelm II asked the German government for its view of East Africa’s proposal, and Foreign Minister Artur condemned it as extortion.

Germany agreed to transfer its overseas colonies to East Africa in exchange for war supplies, deciding that securing East African support mattered more than retaining costly territories. Ambassador Burs offered fifty million Rheinland Shields for all the colonies, and the two sides moved toward signing the agreement.

• Moltke persuaded German officials that trading overseas colonies for East African support was worthwhile, and Wilhelm II called Ambassador Burs to sign an agreement.
• Burs affirmed East Africa’s friendly stance toward Germany and praised the Germanic ties between the two countries.
• Wilhelm II told Burs that East Africa had to offer fair value for the colonies, and Burs proposed fifty million Rheinland Shields for all German overseas territories.
• Burs argued that the colonies were difficult and unprofitable to develop, while Germany wanted payment in war materials.
• Germany accepted East Africa’s proposal and required the purchase price to be supplied entirely as war materials.

East Africa took over Germany's overseas colonies and planned how to govern German Central Africa and Togoland. Ernst left the officials with plans for rail expansion, strategic ports, and mass immigration to the new territories.

• Germany's focus on the war left its overseas colonies vulnerable, and East Africa gained control of them.
• Ernst ordered German Central Africa divided, with the former Gabon Colony incorporated into the homeland and Cameroon retained as a colony.
• Ernst proposed developing the southern region first and extending the Northern Railway to connect East Africa's inland territories with the coast.
• Ernst instructed officials to build Lomé into a military outpost and port serving East Africa's interests in the Gulf of Guinea.
• Ernst set a goal of relocating one million people to Togoland, drawing immigrants from East Africa, Europe, and the Far East Empire.

Ernst and the East African government discussed taking over Germany’s African and Pacific colonies, setting aside immigration plans while prioritizing local administration and strategic island garrisons. In Libreville, German rule ended as Governor Xavier and the colonial troops departed for the European war, leaving the territory to East Africa.

• Hermann warned that wartime shipping demands made relocating a million immigrants to Togoland impractical, so Ernst postponed the immigration plan and called for establishing local rule.
• Ernst and Svit discussed using Germany’s Pacific islands as footholds near Australia, and Ernst ordered a small troop presence on Nauru to protect its phosphate deposits.
• The East African government considered German New Guinea and other Pacific possessions but lacked the resources to develop them.
• In Libreville, the German flag was lowered and the Rhine Empire’s flag was raised as East Africa took control of German Central Africa.
• Xavier asked Ander to treat the territory well, and then led more than sixteen hundred colonial troops aboard ships bound for Germany.

East African officials debated how their modernizing army compared with the world’s military powers, while an East African observation group arrived at Austro-Hungarian headquarters to study the Serbian campaign. The group was left to observe command operations from behind the battlefield under Potiorek’s strict rules.

• Ander asked Hlaid to compare East Africa’s army with the German and French armies, and Hlaid said he could not judge its current strength without modern combat experience.
• Hlaid argued that East Africa’s military was developing in a positive direction and likely stood above other countries’ forces.
• Wang Lade introduced the East African Military Observation Group to General Potiorek at the Austro-Hungarian camp.
• Potiorek warned the young observers to remain at headquarters, obey orders, and avoid criticizing his command.
• Potiorek confined the group to studying how he and his staff directed forces in the Serbian campaign.