Chapter Summaries

Wang Hailong explained East Africa’s extensive electrification and power system to Chief Zhang and the Far East Empire delegation, who were astonished by the gap between the countries. He credited East Africa’s coordinated economic system for its advances while noting that its low urbanization rate still kept it from meeting its own definition of an industrialized country.

• Wang Hailong described East Africa’s hydropower resources, its reliance on thermal power, and its nationwide grid and high electricity coverage.
• Chief Zhang and the Far East Empire delegation reacted to East Africa’s electrified cities and households with surprise at how far ahead it was.
• Wang Hailong said government coordination and concentrated investment had helped East Africa overtake Germany in electric power and internal combustion technology.
• Chief Zhang praised East Africa’s ability to concentrate resources on major undertakings.
• Wang Hailong explained that East Africa still considered itself semi-industrialized because its 33.6 percent urbanization rate remained below that of leading industrial powers.

At the East Africa World Expo, Paraguayan merchant Morgan explored East African kitchen appliances and traditional kitchenware. He found electric rice cookers promising but worried about Paraguay’s limited electricity and repair services, while the company’s affordable cookware and West Coast branches offered a practical trade opportunity.

• Karls opened the East Africa World Expo with a brief speech at Sweat Palace, which had been converted into the central exhibition hall.
• Morgan visited the East Africa Jia Chu Company booth and learned that its electric rice cooker could prepare rice, porridge, soup, and other foods.
• Morgan considered the cooker’s price and potential appeal in Paraguay, where rice consumption was growing but wheat remained the main staple.
• Morgan examined other kitchen appliances but hesitated to order them in bulk because Paraguay lacked reliable electricity and appliance repair workers.
• Morgan asked about West Coast sales offices, and the salesperson explained that the company had branches and factories in Cabinda City and Lobito City and gave him a business card.

At the East Africa World Expo, Prince Karls toured the automobile exhibition and learned why East African companies displayed varied car models rather than production lines. The exhibition sold more than four hundred cars on its first day, with Indian merchants making the largest purchases.

• Karl explained to Prince Karls that East Africa’s extensive automobile production was already visible throughout its cities, so its companies had no need to display production lines.
• Karls and Karl watched visitors admire the exhibition’s cars, including a father and his son Claisen joking about the price of a Zebra Automobile.
• Wealthy foreign buyers purchased many of the newly displayed models, and more than four hundred automobiles sold on the first day.
• Indian merchant groups bought more cars than buyers from any other participating region, surprising the East African government with their purchasing power.

At the East Africa World Expo, East African visitors compared tea from the Far East Empire, East Africa, and India, while the chapter described the strengths and limits of each tea industry. East African tea had become an established export, but the country still imported Far Eastern varieties to satisfy local tastes.

• A Bagamoyo visitor sampled Far Eastern tea and praised its sweet aftertaste while noting its weaker aroma compared with East African tea.
• Adras explained that the Far East Empire’s long tea-growing history, varied geography, and nearly one hundred exhibited varieties gave it an advantage over East Africa.
• Adras said East African tea had surpassed Indian tea in variety and quality, and that modern cultivation and processing had strengthened its international competitiveness.
• East African tea exports expanded into Central and Eastern Europe, intensifying competition with India, while the Far East Empire’s large domestic market limited its overseas reach.
• East Africans regarded Far Eastern tea as high-end, East African tea as mid-range, and Indian tea as low-end, and they continued importing Far Eastern tea to meet demand for variety.
• East Africa diversified its beverage production and became the world’s second-largest beverage producer and consumer after the United States before World War I.

The East Africa World Expo attracted strong interest in Far Eastern tea and other goods while promoting East African products and industrial strength to southern markets. Ernst argued that East Africa needed to secure lasting overseas markets and raw-material sources to absorb wartime industrial growth and withstand a postwar economic crisis.

• Far East tea merchants received orders and learned that East African consumers offered a promising market for tea, porcelain, silk, and handicrafts.
• Svit reported that the Expo was spreading information about East Africa’s goods and development and could help secure overseas markets for its industries.
• Ernst warned that Europe’s postwar recovery could intensify international competition and leave East Africa vulnerable to overproduction.
• Ernst said East Africa needed to make southern countries dependent on its industry by linking them to its markets and raw-material supply system.
• Ernst emphasized that the Expo used economic benefits to build stable overseas influence, unlike military threats.

Dockworkers Anton and Mars discussed how the European War had boosted Benguela’s trade and transformed its new district. They reflected on their move from rural Salzburg Province to city life as they finished their shift.

• Anton and Mars finished loading the last container at Benguela’s port and talked about the rise in work caused by the European War.
• Mars said the war’s continuation benefited East Africa and Benguela, while Anton argued that lasting prosperity depended on East Africa’s own development.
• Mars described how government investment, foreign trade, and wartime orders had helped Benguela and Falta New District grow rapidly.
• Anton and Mars recalled arriving in Benguela six years earlier as young men from rural Salzburg Province and becoming city residents.

Anton and Mars recalled arriving in barren Falta New District and described how it grew into Benguela City’s fastest-developing area around Farta Port. They expected the district and Benguela’s old center to keep expanding toward one another, perhaps eventually merging.

• Mars recalled that he and Anton had arrived in Falta New District when it was little more than sand, dirt, and construction materials.
• Anton observed that Falta New District had grown dramatically and could help Benguela regain its place as the West Coast’s second city.
• The chapter explained that East Africa developed Falta New District around Farta Port to expand Atlantic trade while respecting Benguela’s environmental limits.
• Anton explained that Falta New District relied on Benguela’s old district for water and other supplies during its growth.
• Anton predicted that Falta New District and Benguela’s old district might eventually merge as construction spread between them.

Anton and Mars watched trucks carrying elderly Black people through Falta New District and discussed East Africa’s policy of removing its Black population. They concluded the government was likely sending the former laborers to West Africa, leaving their fate beyond East Africa’s concern.

• Mars pointed out trucks carrying Black people, and Anton noted that Black people had become rare in East Africa.
• Mars observed that the passengers were old and guessed they were being transported overseas.
• Mars and Anton defended the government’s policy of expelling Black people, citing fears about social conflict and the example of the United States.
• Anton concluded that the elderly passengers could not be sold as slaves and would likely be released in West Africa.

East Africa transported eighteen hundred aging Black slaves from Farta to ships bound for its Togoland colony, intending to exile them in West Africa. The chapter left the convoy preparing to depart as officials discussed the dwindling Black population and East Africa’s rise to the world’s fourth-largest navy.

• Anton and Mars watched a military-escorted convoy carrying at least a thousand Black slaves pass through Farta.
• Battalion Commander Robert received confirmation that all eighteen hundred people assigned to the mission had arrived at Farta Port.
• Robert ordered the soldiers to coordinate with naval commander Brandt and load the Black slaves aboard the ships.
• Robert and Brandt discussed the falling Black population, the National Canal Plan, and the government’s decision to send the remaining slaves to Togoland.
• The chapter described East Africa’s navy reaching 970,000 tons and ranking fourth in the world.

Colonel Brandt and Tara arrived at Lomé City with a slave transport convoy and assessed Lomé Port’s growing role as the Atlantic Fleet’s strategic base. The port remained under expansion, but its importance to East Africa’s influence in West Africa was already clear.

• Colonel Brandt’s convoy arrived at Lomé City after sailing from Benguela City along the West African coast.
• Brandt and Tara surveyed Lomé Port, where East African warships and the battleship Pelican were docked.
• Brandt compared Lomé’s strategic importance with Pontianak Port and discussed the relative strength of East Africa’s Three Great Fleets and Alaska Fleet.
• Brandt noted that Lomé gave the Atlantic Fleet a strong foothold in the Gulf of Guinea, while Britain continued to constrain the Indian Ocean Fleet.
• Tara remarked on the speed of Lomé Port’s expansion, and the chapter described how East Africa had converted the former German colonial harbor into a major naval base.

Brandt delivered a shipload of imprisoned black slaves to Ander’s garrison at Lomé Port, where they were temporarily held before being marched to the border. The East African government planned to exile more than eight hundred thousand people to French Upper Volta, and Brandt departed to transport the next batch.

• Brandt and Tara handed 1,789 surviving black slaves to Ander after explaining the miserable conditions of the voyage.
• Ander complained about the burden of receiving more than eight hundred thousand slaves, while Brandt said the Empire planned to exile them to West Africa rather than exterminate them.
• Brandt described the hardships of sailing in old, wind-powered warships, persuading Ander that naval service was also difficult.
• Ander ordered his troops to take the prisoners to the Lomé Port concentration camp until enough people had gathered to move them to the northern border.
• Brandt left to make another transport trip, while the prisoners faced a march of more than five hundred kilometers to French Upper Volta.

East Africa began sending its black slaves from Togoland toward the neighboring British and French colonies, claiming it was freeing them after years of forced labor. The first group crossed the border and celebrated its freedom, while Britain and France remained unaware of East Africa’s plan to send eight hundred thousand people into their territories.

• Ander found the black people in the Lomé concentration camp awake and let them wash before eating when they explained their routine.
• Ander received a unit escorting one thousand black people from Lomé toward the Togoland interior, where East Africa had prepared supply stations along the route.
• On January 13, 1916, the first group reached Hall Border Station, and East African officers gave them dry rations and declared them free.
• East African soldiers drove the black people toward the British and French colonies, where they fled and celebrated their freedom.
• East Africa continued its plan to send eight hundred thousand former slaves into British and French colonial territories without their governments yet noticing.

East Africa completed its Third Five-Year Plan in 1915, clearing its debts to Germany and Austria while expanding industrial production, transport, and military forces. The government looked ahead to its Fourth Five-Year Plan as the mass release of East African slaves threatened to destabilize British and French colonies in West Africa.

• East Africa sent more than 800,000 black slaves into Upper Volta and the Gold Coast, where colonial authorities struggled to cope with their arrival.
• East Africa finished 1915 having repaid its debts to Germany and Austria, then became their creditor after fulfilling a large wartime order.
• East Africa exported record amounts of steel and other industrial goods as its economy flourished during the Third Five-Year Plan.
• East Africa expanded its railway and road networks, completed most of its National Canal Plan, modernized ports, and established its first civil air routes and airports.
• East Africa's standing army grew to 630,000 as it deployed troops across its new colonies and suppressed local resistance.

East Africa launched its Fourth Five-Year Program in 1916, shifting the government's economic role toward coordinating planning and the market while guiding and supporting development. Ernst designated the Great Lakes Region and the southern region as priorities, and the chapter detailed plans to turn the Great Lakes into an agricultural, transport, and industrial hub.

• East Africa formulated the Fourth Five-Year Program to address problems exposed by the New Economic Policy and expand the government's role in economic guidance and service.
• Ernst announced that the Great Lakes Region and the south would anchor regional development, complementing the established central economic belt.
• Ernst called for a Great Lakes economic belt centered on Kampala, Kisumu, and Mwanza, using lake transport to connect resources and goods with the wider country.
• The government planned to complete the Imperial Dam and port renovations, relocate residents from inundation zones, and develop shipping, metal smelting, fisheries, and energy industries around the lakes.
• Ernst's government planned hydropower stations to supply cheap electricity to the Great Lakes Region and eastern and northern East Africa.

Ernst outlined plans to accelerate development in East Africa’s southern region, focusing on inland cities, energy and mineral industries, and modern agriculture. He left the region’s growth centered on selected locations, constrained by scarce water but supported by strong coastal cities and abundant resources.

• Ernst said reduced pressure from Britain allowed East Africa to prioritize developing the southern region’s industrial and agricultural resources.
• Ernst called for inland development centered on Otto City, Bloemfontein City, Gaborone City, Kimberley City, and Upington City.
• Ernst proposed building thermal and hydropower facilities, modern agricultural bases, and energy, mining, and technology enterprises.
• The chapter explained that scarce water would limit industry and urban growth in the southern interior, so investment would concentrate in selected areas.
• Ernst’s plans emphasized the south’s strong coastal cities and resource prospects, while the north remained East Africa’s most economically disadvantaged region.

East Africa prioritized developing the Great Lakes Region and the south before spreading growth to less accessible northern regions. At Tete Steel, Corishon and Hansdon discussed adapting to market competition, expanding steel exports, and securing overseas sources of raw materials.

• Ernst concluded that East Africa should focus first on the Great Lakes Region and the south, then pursue more balanced national development.
• The chapter described East Africa’s steel output and the government’s shift toward market-oriented production under the Fourth Five-Year Plan.
• Corishon told Tete Steel’s staff to maintain state-owned steel production above thirty-seven million tons and aim to exceed forty million during the plan.
• Hansdon urged steel enterprises to diversify exports beyond Europe and account for downstream goods across the industrial chain.
• Corishon proposed securing overseas raw-material sources, citing coal in East Kalimantan and iron ore in Australia.

East African commanders Farsheng and Hela prepared to invade Darfur, aiming to secure a route toward Libya and the Mediterranean while avoiding the costs of direct annexation. East African troops invaded on February 3, 1916, and quickly occupied southwestern Darfur with almost no resistance.

• Farsheng and Hela assessed Darfur's weakened forces and discussed the risks and strategic benefits of an invasion.
• Hela explained that controlling Darfur would provide a useful route for a future North African railway to Libya and the Mediterranean.
• Farsheng and Hela planned to occupy Darfur's key oases and establish a puppet regime rather than annex the region.
• East Africa began its invasion of Darfur on February 3, 1916.
• East African troops occupied several areas of southwestern Darfur, including the Darfur Plateau, while local forces were occupied fighting the British in the east.

The East African Seventh Infantry Regiment occupied Zalingei and learned that Darfur’s allied army was fighting the British at Fashir. Farsheng and Hela left Claisen’s battalion to secure Zalingei and set out with the main force to Fashir.

• Farsheng led the Seventh Infantry Regiment into Zalingei, where its vehicles and weapons cowed the residents.
• East African soldiers captured Zalingei’s security officer, who reported that Alidinar’s forces were fighting the British at Fashir and that Darfur’s heartland was undefended.
• Hela assigned Claisen’s battalion to control Zalingei and its surroundings.
• Farsheng and Hela prepared to lead the regiment’s main force toward Fashir to end the fighting.

The Seventh Infantry Regiment reached Fashir and demanded Sultan Alidinar surrender after shelling the city walls. When Fashir failed to respond within an hour, Colonel Farsheng prepared to attack.

• The Seventh Infantry Regiment rested in Zalingei overnight, then followed a local guide toward Fashir the next morning.
• Colonel Farsheng ordered his nearly two thousand soldiers to prepare for battle outside Fashir after learning Sultan Alidinar and his forces were inside.
• Alidinar identified the unfamiliar army as East African and realized it had invaded Darfur from behind his lines.
• The East African artillery blasted holes in Fashir's western wall, and Farsheng sent the guide to demand surrender within an hour.
• After Fashir failed to send a response or negotiator, Farsheng told Staff Officer Hela that the regiment would show the city its firepower.

East African forces bombarded Fashir City, broke through its defenses, and captured Sultan Alidinar after Darfurian resistance collapsed. Farsheng questioned Alidinar about Darfur’s rebellion against Britain, while Alidinar remained convinced that the British might still intervene.

• Alidinar felt betrayed by the East Africans and Darfur’s leaders debated whether to resist while Farsheng waited for their reply.
• East African artillery devastated Fashir City, causing soldiers and civilians to flee and shattering the defenders’ morale.
• Farsheng ordered an advance, and East African troops entered Fashir without resistance before surrounding Alidinar and his companions.
• Alidinar surrendered and demanded to speak with Farsheng, then argued that Britain would eventually come to Darfur’s aid.
• Farsheng questioned why Alidinar had defied Britain, and Alidinar explained that he had acted because Britain was fighting Germany in Europe.
• The account explained why foreigners called East Africans either Rhine people or East Africans, and how the latter term could carry a derogatory meaning among Germans.