Chapter Summaries

The East African National Security Bureau evacuated the Kazan Treasury and prepared to withdraw its operatives from Russia. On January 4, 1918, Berezovka fled Kazan with several hundred followers, leaving Chubalov to lead the Kazan Army.

• The East African National Security Bureau transported the Kazan Treasury’s riches toward the Caspian Sea using disguised escorts and routes secured with bribed Russian officials.
• After Kazan fell, Berezovka told the Kazan Army’s commanders that they had to remain until the beginning of the next year while they cleaned up evidence of the Bureau’s operations.
• Ernst ordered the National Security Bureau to withdraw from Russia because the Russian Labor Party threatened its intelligence network and the old Russian connections it relied on were collapsing.
• On January 4, 1918, Berezovka and several hundred followers left Kazan by steamship, shocking Chubalov and the other Kazan Army generals.
• Chubalov remained behind and became the new leader of the Kazan Army, which the Russian Labor Party later called the Chubbarov Gang.

East Africa sold its Baku refinery to the Nobel Family before Russian policy could change. Billy Nobel believed he had secured a bargain and planned to use the refinery to expand the family’s oil business during the war.

• The chapter described Baku’s oil-fueled prosperity and the fierce demand for its oil during the First World War.
• Arterhoven prepared to sell Beira Chemical Oil Refinery, an East African state-owned investment in Baku, after rumors of poor management circulated.
• Billy Nobel met with Arterhoven to discuss buying the refinery and accepted his claims that state ownership had hindered its operation.
• Arterhoven sold the refinery to the Nobel Family for far below its market value, after East Africa had already recouped its investment and profited from the war.
• Billy planned to increase refined oil output and supply Germany, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and other countries through the Nobel Family’s channels.

East Africa sold its Baku holdings to the Nobel Family as it withdrew from Russia, while Billy dismissed the Russian Labor Party as an unthreatening force. The chapter left East African capital and the Hohenzollern Conglomerate continuing their orderly retreat from other Russian cities.

• Arterhoven offered Billy East Africa’s other Baku businesses, including the Caspian Heart Hotel, for sale.
• Billy argued that the Ottoman Empire could not reach Baku and said Russia’s new government would soon make peace with the Central Powers.
• Billy claimed the Russian Labor Party would fail or would still need wealthy industrialists like the Nobel Family to govern.
• Arterhoven sold East Africa’s Baku assets, including a refinery, a hotel, and an office building, to the Nobel Family in a package deal.
• East African state-owned capital and the Hohenzollern Conglomerate continued withdrawing from Saint Petersburg, Moscow, Odessa, and other Russian cities.

Kampala's growth as a Great Lakes and Northern Railway hub accompanied East Africa's industrial and port expansion. Yevl and his wife discussed their prosperous shipping business and planned to buy a new vessel for their son Elva.

• East Africa profited from withdrawing its assets from Russia before the Russian Labor Party fully took power.
• Kampala developed around petroleum, chemicals, textiles, and nonferrous metals, benefiting from its resources and transport links.
• Yevl steered his freighter, the Yevl, toward Kampala Port and remarked on the city's rapid growth.
• Yevl's wife noted that Kampala and Entebbe were nearly joined and that renovated ports had improved shipping.
• Yevl and his wife planned to buy a new cargo ship and help their eldest son, Elva, become a captain.

Yevl and his wife ate at a Kampala restaurant after unloading their ship, while the chapter also described East Africa’s growing food scene. In Rhine City, Ernst honored Brühl for securing the Kazan Treasury gold while concealing his identity as General Berezovka.

• Yevl and his wife went ashore in Kampala and chose a restaurant on Senhel Street for a meal.
• Yevl ordered stir-fried sausage, beef with onions, and spicy tofu skin at Li Family Farmhouse Cuisine.
• The National Security Bureau brought the Kazan Treasury gold safely to East Africa after a dangerous journey through Persia.
• Ernst awarded Brühl an Iron Cross, the title of Imperial Viscount, and one million Rheinland Shields.
• Ernst concealed Brühl’s identity as General Berezovka to keep East Africa’s role in taking the Russian gold secret.

East Africa's Minister of Finance, Logens, explained why America's financial ties to Europe and dependence on the Entente Powers had driven it to enter World War I. The discussion left East Africa positioned to remain outside the conflict, with its weaker ties to European elites and distinct economic interests.

• Logens said America's loans and business interests were bound to the Entente Powers, making their defeat a threat to the American economy.
• Logens contrasted America's deep financial and industrial ties to Europe with East Africa's cautious lending, government oversight, and growing focus on southern markets.
• Logens explained that Britain's and France's control of key sea routes and Russia's collapse pushed America toward war on the Entente side.
• The East African government concluded that American interest groups had helped draw the country into the war, while East Africa's limited ties to European elites allowed it to avoid the same pressure.

Minister of Defense Pripriate explained how East Africa’s influence in the Americas and Asia had obstructed American expansion and pushed the United States toward Europe. He argued that America joined the war to contain the Central Powers and seize influence in Europe, where Britain and France had invited it in.

• Pripriate described America’s competing expansion goals and said East Africa had gained greater influence than the United States in South America.
• He explained that East Africa backed Colombia as a counterweight to America, whose control of the Caribbean and Panama Canal threatened East African interests.
• Pripriate said East Africa’s advantages in Asia and the Pacific had also hindered American expansion, leaving Europe as America’s clearest opportunity.
• He explained that Britain and France controlled Europe’s external routes and had invited America to help contain the Central Powers.
• Pripriate argued that America entered the war both to gain influence in Europe and to prevent Germany and Austria-Hungary from achieving European hegemony alongside East Africa.

East Africa’s officials assessed how the United States joining the Entente Powers and Britain’s campaigns against the Ottoman Empire would reshape the war. Ernst agreed that East Africa should use its strategic position to press Britain for concessions, especially a revised division of influence in the Indian Ocean.

• Pripriate warned that the United States’ entry strengthened the Entente Powers and would make the war a contest of reserves, while the Eastern Front shifted south toward the Balkans and Persian Gulf.
• Cristiano outlined Britain’s aims of isolating the Central Powers, relieving pressure on the Western Front, and restoring confidence among the Entente Powers.
• Ernst asked his senior officials how East Africa should respond to the international changes.
• Cristiano urged East Africa to accelerate negotiations with Britain and use its military strength to demand compensation for disrupted trade and other harmed interests.
• Cristiano proposed seeking control of strategic Indian Ocean locations such as the Seychelles, and Ernst supported a tougher diplomatic stance toward Britain.

East Africa pressed Britain to honor its earlier promises about dividing power in the Indian Ocean, raising fears that it might side with the Central Powers. Prime Minister David and Foreign Minister Belfort decided to propose a territorial exchange framed as a way to protect India, though they knew it was mainly a public-relations measure.

• East African Foreign Minister Freer questioned Belfort more harshly about the redivision of power in the Indian Ocean and Britain's unfulfilled promises.
• Belfort warned David that East Africa's growing naval activity in the Persian Gulf and Red Sea signaled its dissatisfaction.
• David asked Belfort how Britain could meet East Africa's demands without damaging British interests or driving it toward the Central Powers.
• Belfort proposed exchanging British Indian Ocean colonies for French colonial footholds in India that East Africa had acquired.
• David approved the idea of presenting the exchange as necessary to safeguard India's security.

Prime Minister David and Belfort weighed Britain’s concessions to East Africa as Britain faced Germany and the Central Powers. They planned to keep East Africa out of the war and proposed drawing it into the Middle East to put pressure on the Russian Labor Party, though David worried this could endanger British India.

• Prime Minister David argued that Britain had to defeat Germany to preserve its position as a world power.
• Belfort agreed that Germany was the immediate threat and urged Britain to compromise with East Africa to keep it from joining the Central Powers.
• Belfort proposed keeping East Africa occupied by encouraging it to shoulder responsibility for confronting the Russian Labor Party regime.
• Prime Minister David agreed to raise the proposal in negotiations and suggested using British influence in the Middle East to drive a wedge between East Africa and Russia.
• Prime Minister David worried that giving East Africa a foothold in Persia or Afghanistan could threaten British India if the plan failed to provoke Russia.

British Prime Minister David’s government sought to use East Africa to contain the Russian Labor Party, and Parliament approved a proposal to redistribute influence in the Indian Ocean. In a secret meeting in Rhine City, Britain asked East Africa to intervene in Russia, while Ernst publicly agreed and concealed his plan to withdraw most East African agents.

• David and Belfort organized a cabinet meeting and developed a strategy to enlist East Africa against the Russian Labor Party.
• David submitted a proposal on redistributing influence in the Indian Ocean, and Parliament approved it.
• Ambassador Thomson arrived in Rhine City and met secretly with Ernst, Crown Prince Friedrich, and senior East African officials.
• Thomson asked East Africa to support Russian forces and drive the Labor Party from power, and Ernst agreed in public.
• Ernst claimed East Africa had been preparing to intervene in Russia, while privately planning to withdraw most National Security Bureau personnel there.

Thomson offered East Africa the Horn of Africa east of Berbera in exchange for cooperation against Hassan’s forces. Ernst accepted, leaving East Africa poised to expand toward the Gulf of Aden while Britain retained Berbera.

• Thomson proposed that Britain and East Africa jointly suppress Hassan’s forces and that Britain transfer the territory east of Berbera to East Africa.
• The chapter explained how Hassan’s resistance force had challenged British rule in Somaliland and attracted Somalis fleeing East African territory.
• Britain planned to retain Berbera for its deep-water harbor while handing over the largely harborless region to its east.
• Ernst agreed to help strike Hassan, whose forces threatened East African security and gave East Africa a pretext to claim nearly 150,000 square kilometers of territory.

East Africa and Britain negotiated a territorial exchange involving the Horn of Africa, East Africa’s Indian colonies, and British islands in the Indian Ocean. They reached a deal for East Africa to trade Pondicherry and Yanan for Socotra and the Chagos Islands, while Britain arranged to hand over Gwadar.

• Ernst stated East Africa’s position on eliminating the remaining Somali forces in the Horn of Africa.
• Thomson offered Socotra Island, the Chagos Islands, and Gwadar in exchange for East Africa’s three Indian colonies.
• Pripriate and Ernst argued that the Indian colonies were more valuable than Britain’s proposed territories, and Ernst proposed replacing the Chagos Islands with Seychelles.
• Thomson refused to exchange Seychelles, and Ernst said East Africa would trade only two Indian colonies, excluding Gwadar from the bargain.
• After consulting London, Thomson accepted that Britain could recover two Indian colonies, and East Africa chose to retain Karikal while trading Pondicherry and Yanan.
• Britain agreed to negotiate with Oman over Gwadar and then transfer it to East Africa.

East Africa prepared to reorganize its Indian Ocean military presence and begin a costly campaign to take the Horn of Africa. On June 4, 1918, East Africa designated Hassan for elimination and launched the War in the Horn of Africa, which officials expected could take about two years.

• East Africa planned new naval and air installations on Socotra Island and Rodrigues Island and began rebuilding military facilities on the Chagos Islands.
• The East African government decided to deploy more than 50,000 troops to conquer the Horn of Africa and suppress armed resistance.
• On June 4, 1918, East Africa officially designated Hassan for elimination, citing threats to navigation in the Gulf of Aden and East African border security.
• East African Northwestern Theater border forces advanced from Diredawa, Afar Town, Dalol Town, and Buhodle Village, opening the War in the Horn of Africa.
• The East African Indian Ocean Fleet entered the Gulf of Aden and took over the area east of Berbera as Britain withdrew its troops westward toward French-controlled Djibouti.

On May 27, 1918, Heimert led an East African fleet to Diego Garcia to take over the island from Britain. The British garrison departed for India, leaving East Africa in possession of the strategically useful but isolated island.

• Heimert sighted the Chagos Islands and ordered the fleet southeast toward Diego Garcia.
• The East African fleet reached Diego Garcia and found the British garrison waiting to hand over the island.
• A British officer explained that the island's thirty-one men had spent more than half a month awaiting transfer and were eager to leave.
• The British boarded ships bound for India, warmly waving goodbye to Heimert and the East African troops.
• The British left the harbor, warehouses, lighthouse, and barracks for East Africa to use.

Heimert inspected Diego Garcia and left a small naval contingent behind as East Africa prepared to develop the island into a major Indian Ocean base. In Rhine City, Ernst persuaded Crown Prince Alexei to organize a Russian government in exile and lead resistance to the Russian Labor Party while Nicholas II remained missing.

• Heimert surveyed Diego Garcia, noted its narrow atoll terrain and harbor, and left thirty naval personnel behind when he returned to East Africa.
• East Africa planned to survey the Chagos Islands and expand Diego Garcia’s port, warehouses, and barracks into a core military base.
• Ernst told Alexei that East African agents had failed to locate Nicholas II and believed the Labor Party had imprisoned his family somewhere in Eastern Russia.
• Alexei reported that Russian nobles and former government figures had contacted him, and asked whether East Africa would support them.
• Ernst offered to help Alexei form a government in exile and unite Russian forces against the Labor Party, and Alexei agreed to restore order in Russia.

Ernst advised Alexei to establish the Russian government-in-exile in coastal Dar es Salaam, where it could communicate with Russia and receive supplies. The government was founded there ten days later, but its efforts to recruit Russian forces faced limits, and East Africa increased security measures against possible Labor Party agents.

• Ernst explained why Dar es Salaam and the Siberian Railway would best support the government-in-exile's communications and supply routes.
• Alexei chose Dar es Salaam, and Ernst offered the Russian exiles free office space there.
• Ten days later, Alexei established the Russian government-in-exile, appointed Baranov prime minister, and named Russian exiles to his cabinet.
• The government-in-exile sought support from Russian monarchists, nobles, and military figures, including Denikin, Kolchak, and Chubalov.
• The government-in-exile attracted Russian nobles and officials considering flight, while some forces loyal to the former Provisional Government remained uninterested.
• Ernst ordered increased surveillance in East Africa to guard against Labor Party agents targeting Alexei and the government-in-exile.

In 1918, Ernst convened a meeting at Rhine Palace to review East Africa’s military expansion as its markets, colonies, and domestic development continued to grow. Pripriate reported that East Africa had become a leading military power, while the Great War remained uncertain because the strengthened Central Powers could still absorb their gains from Russia.

• East Africa’s government focused on consolidating overseas markets and colonies, economic development, and military expansion.
• Ernst convened a meeting at Rhine Palace, where Pripriate reported that the Defense Force had grown to 850,000 personnel, with a 75 percent motorized army, a navy exceeding 1.4 million tons, and the world’s leading air force.
• Pripriate assessed Russia’s army as ineffective after the Tsarist collapse and the Russian Civil War, while the United States’ military remained inexperienced and comparatively small.
• The chapter described how East African supplies and the Central Powers’ territorial gains from Russia had strengthened Germany and Austria-Hungary, making the outcome of the Great War uncertain despite America joining the Entente.
• Italy and the Apennine Peninsula remained neutral because Italy feared Austria-Hungary, whose strength and Russian spoils had also persuaded Hungary to support the war more actively.

East African military leaders debated expanding the armed forces to protect the Empire’s homeland, overseas markets, and strategic interests after the European War. Pripriate and Cristiano urged a force of over one million men and a stronger navy, while the discussion left the proposal’s adoption unresolved.

• Pripriate warned that East Africa’s forces were stretched between colonial garrisons, homeland security, overseas missions, and the development of its air force.
• Svit questioned whether temporary colonial wars justified a major military expansion.
• Cristiano argued that larger forces were needed to develop advanced military branches and defend overseas markets that East Africa had taken from other great powers.
• Cristiano proposed expanding the Defense Force beyond one million men, increasing naval tonnage to 1.6 million, and keeping the homeland army above five hundred thousand.
• Cristiano described taking Egypt to the Mediterranean as a possible land route for breaking a blockade if the navy could not operate.
• Pripriate argued that a force of more than one million would be affordable and necessary for East Africa to protect its interests in a changing world order.

Ernst approved a major East African military expansion and modernization plan, aiming to raise the Defense Force above 1.2 million personnel while reorganizing its forces for modern warfare. The government prepared to strengthen its military while keeping its options open in the European war.

• Pripriate argued that East Africa needed to prepare its military for future risks, prioritize its navy, and improve its reserves and wartime production capacity.
• The East African government considered its possible alignment in the war, ruling out the Entente while waiting to see how the United States’ entry affected the conflict.
• Ernst approved expanding the army by four hundred thousand men within two years, forming three new carrier battle groups, and increasing the air force to more than fifty thousand personnel.
• Ernst ordered overseas governments to accelerate colonial pacification and return troops from settled territories for rest, reorganization, and modernization.
• Ernst directed East Africa to reorganize at least five hundred thousand troops into mechanized, modern combat formations and improve coordination among the army, navy, and air force.