Chapter Summaries

The East African colony developed Omorate Town as a strategic agricultural frontier on the Omo River, using it to extend control toward Lake Turkana and block access from Ethiopia. The chapter outlined plans to settle the region and clear wildlife and indigenous people from Northern Kenya, while Ernst sought to prevent black populations from entering the colony.

• By February 11, 1868, Omorate Town had more than eight hundred immigrants, transported there with support from the Nairobi government.
• The colony chose Omorate for its fertile, flat land and used the settlement to cut off Ethiopian forces from territory farther south.
• East Africa planned to occupy the lands around Lake Turkana from Omorate in the north and Nairobi in the south.
• The colony designated much of Northern Kenya for ranching and planned to arm herders to kill wildlife and capture natives who entered pastoral districts.
• Ernst considered clearing black populations from regions near the colony to prevent them from fleeing into East Africa.

Ernst visited Empress Dowager Sophie at Schönbrunn Palace and reassured her that Ferdinand and Maximilian I were safe in East Africa. He persuaded her to let Rudolf travel with him to Prussia to broaden his horizons, though she still needed Franz’s approval.

• Ernst told Empress Dowager Sophie that telegrams from East Africa carried daily news of Ferdinand and Maximilian I, and promised to have updates delivered to Schönbrunn Palace.
• Ernst spent time with Karina and Rudolf and considered how he might help Rudolf avoid the tragic fate he remembered from his previous life.
• Ernst asked Empress Dowager Sophie to let Rudolf visit Prussia, arguing that he should experience industrial development and meet Prussian royal heirs.
• Empress Dowager Sophie reluctantly agreed that Rudolf could travel with Ernst, but said she would discuss it with Franz first.

Ernst took Rudolf to Berlin for an intensive education meant to expose him to competition and life beyond the court. Meanwhile, East Africa ordered villages to dig wells for safer drinking water, and Fata Village struck its first well.

• Rudolf said goodbye to his sisters and grandmother as Ernst took him away for three months of education.
• Ernst brought Rudolf to Berlin by hard-seat train and planned lessons, visits with the Prussian Royal Family, and a month at Hechingen Military Academy.
• On February 10, 1868, the East African Central Government ordered local authorities to dig wells because river and lake water was unsafe to drink.
• In Fata Village, Jola Molmon guided villagers in digging a well and found water at nearly eleven meters.
• The villagers pulled Jola Molmon from the well and celebrated Fata Village's first well.

Ernst’s demanding school routine helped Rudolf grow more confident and happy, while Ernst kept him in Prussia and persuaded the Austrian court that he was thriving. Empress Dowager Sophie approved of Rudolf’s progress and agreed that he should continue studying there until the end of the year.

• Ernst arranged rigorous classes and endless homework for Rudolf alongside students of varied abilities, and Rudolf initially led the class before his classmates began closing the gap.
• Rudolf made friends, received praise and criticism from teachers, and grew more confident as he learned to be himself at school while maintaining his courtly manner at royal events.
• Ernst teased Rudolf about his school behavior, then took him to a photography studio and posed him in a military uniform on a small black horse.
• Ernst sent Rudolf’s photograph and regular reports to Schönbrunn Palace, presenting him as healthy, spirited, and successful in his studies.
• Empress Dowager Sophie praised Rudolf’s improvement and supported Ernst’s plan to keep him studying in Prussia until the end of the year, while Franz worried that the separation was too long.

The East African colony sent a camel-mounted patrol to the sparsely populated Kenya-Somalia border to keep Somali tribes from crossing into Northern Kenya as the colony prepared to clear local inhabitants. Hans Bach’s patrol rested near Divu, with Somalia left untouched for now because of the risks of confronting its established forces.

• An East African camel patrol rode through the Kenya-Somalia borderlands, where no formal boundary or strong government existed.
• The colony used patrols to separate Somali nomads from Kenya and prevent outside tribes from entering territory it intended to clear.
• The East African government relied on a camel cavalry of more than two hundred men for desert operations in Northern Kenya.
• Hans Bach led the patrol, whose captaincy reflected the colony’s preference for German and Austro-Hungarian immigrants over Orthodox Serbian settlers.
• Hans Bach asked Heinz how far they remained from Divu, then ordered the patrol to rest for ten minutes before continuing.

Hans Bach stopped Akaram’s caravan from entering territory controlled by the Hechingen East African Royal Territory and redirected it to the new Laskampoli Trading Market. Akaram found the market stocked with useful goods and bought burlap, while the market opened a new trade route in southern Somalia.

• Hans Bach and his patrol encountered Akaram’s Arab caravan crossing toward Kenya and questioned its purpose.
• After learning that Akaram sought to trade with southern tribes, Hans Bach told him the area was under Hechingen control and directed him to the Lascampore trading market.
• Akaram agreed to travel east to Lascampore, and Hans Bach warned him to stay north of the desert to avoid other patrols.
• Four days later, Akaram arrived at the Laskampoli Trading Market and found Arab merchants and Hechingen guards there.
• Akaram inspected the market’s goods, bought a large quantity of Tanga burlap, and prepared to take it back to sell.

East Africa pursued new trade routes and dispatched its Inland Lake Force to scout Lake Victoria’s western shore. Werner Jori’s men discovered an abandoned village bearing signs of a massacre, burned it, and returned toward their boats.

• East Africa considered Laskampoli Trading Market and possible overland routes to Egypt as ways to broaden trade and guard against a blockade.
• Werner Jori led all five boats and the Inland Lake Force on a long-range reconnaissance mission to Lake Victoria’s western shore.
• Werner Jori landed in Buganda territory, led his men through the forest, and found a hard-packed path leading west.
• Werner Jori and his men reached an abandoned village, where they found a damaged totem, scattered belongings, and human bones.
• Werner Jori ordered his men to burn the village, then led them back along their route.

After Werner Jori’s survey confirmed that much of the Northwest Region had been weakened by war and disease, Ernst ordered East Africa to seize the southern kingdoms first and defer an attack on Buganda. The colonial government and military planned the first phase and began mobilizing troops, supplies, and immigrants, leaving the colony poised for a campaign advancing north.

• Werner Jori and his party surveyed the shores of Lake Victoria and the lands east of Kampala, finding ruined settlements in the south but less war damage in eastern Buganda and farther north.
• After receiving the survey, Ernst ordered East Africa to attack the southern kingdoms first, drive their inhabitants north, and leave Buganda and the other northern countries for a later campaign.
• At a government meeting on April 5, Yalman outlined a first phase targeting Rwanda, Igara, Karagwe, and Burundi with at least ten thousand troops.
• Von der Leyen and other officials prioritized immigrants for the Northwest Region and Western Kenya District, while the General Staff planned military training and the use of lake transport for supplies.
• Troops and militia began assembling in the Lake Tanganyika District and Great Lakes Region, immigration to Western Kenya District accelerated, and Werner Jori’s Inland Lake Force mapped the western shore of Lake Victoria.

Yalman launched an invasion of Burundi and Karagwe, where the East African Army advanced rapidly through sparsely populated territory with little resistance. Oruchi Reis’s force rested in Bujumbura and prepared to continue toward Rwanda as the campaign pressed north.

• Yalman divided the East African Army between Burundi and Karagwe, ordering the forces to converge near the border of Igara and Rwanda.
• On May 3, 1868, East African troops crossed into both kingdoms without declaring war and encountered almost no organized resistance.
• East African soldiers burned abandoned villages as they advanced, while Burundi’s inhabitants fled north after facing the army’s firearms.
• Haisheng Li and John Zhang discussed their easy march and their status as German soldiers in East Africa.
• Oruchi Reis’s force reached Bujumbura after advancing along Lake Tanganyika and rested there before its expected march toward Rwanda.

Yalman’s East African Army attacked Kayanza, Burundi’s temporary capital, with a cannon and shattered its gate. The Burundian army, king, nobles, and residents fled north toward Rwanda as the city collapsed into panic.

• Yalman studied Kayanza’s defenses and ordered Larry Antonio to bring six hundred additional soldiers from nearby forces.
• Uru and Mopu watched the East African Army prepare a cannon and speculated about the strangers and their weapons.
• Raulde fired the cannon, blasting a large hole through Kayanza’s gate and burying soldiers beneath the rubble.
• Yalman’s troops advanced on the breach and fired their rifles, driving Burundian soldiers from the walls.
• The people of Kayanza panicked and fled north, while the king and nobles abandoned the temporary royal palace.

Yalman’s army captured Kayanza without suffering casualties, pushing East African forces to the Burundi-Rwanda border as the campaign entered its final phase. On the Karagwe front, Ga Ocherbart discussed the fleeing population and looked ahead to competing with Felix in an advance on Buganda.

• Yalman’s troops secured Kayanza, where fleeing crowds had caused deaths, and captured forty-seven wounded people and children while suffering no casualties.
• East African forces drove Karagwe’s surviving population toward Buganda and Igara, adding tens of thousands of refugees to the burden facing the northern kingdoms.
• John Joe remarked that Ga Ocherbart had found no worthy opposition on the Karagwe battlefield and teased him about surpassing Felix.
• Ga Ocherbart said he expected to compete with Felix during a future advance on Buganda, hoping to test whether Felix’s past success had come from luck or skill.

Rwanda and Igara fled north after refugees from Burundi and Karagwe warned them about the East African army, while East Africa moved immigrants and supplies toward its advancing front. By June, more than 50,000 immigrants had been settled in Burundi and Karagwe as the army neared Rwanda and Igara.

• Refugees from Burundi and Karagwe spread terrifying stories about the East African army, prompting Rwanda and Igara to abandon their kingdoms and flee north toward the Congo and Central Africa.
• Werner Jori confirmed that his vessel was ready to carry immigrants and supplies, then ordered the East African Inland Lake Force to depart.
• The East African colony expanded water and overland transport routes, using ships, livestock, vehicles, and service stations to move immigrants and supplies northwest.
• The East African colony settled more than 50,000 immigrants in Burundi and Karagwe within nearly a month, while its army advanced toward Igara and Rwanda.

The East African Army completed the first phase of its campaign as Rwanda and Igara abandoned their lands and migrated north with their nobles and forces. East Africa settled the captured territory and prepared for a more difficult second phase against the four northern states.

• Rwanda and Igara sent envoys to arrange their withdrawal, and the East African Colonial Government accepted as their nobles gathered their property and followed the kingdoms toward Central and West Africa.
• On June 27, the East African Army reached Ruhengeri, and by June 30 the Kingdom of Igara had fallen and the army had advanced to the borders of Nkole and Buganda.
• On July 1, East Africa declared the first phase essentially complete, having taken all four southern states and incorporated roughly 83,000 square kilometers.
• The East African Colonial Government moved 80,000 settlers into the new territory and escorted natives who had not fled toward Rwanda and Igara.
• Nkole and Buganda strengthened their border forces as East Africa weighed the second phase, including a possible attack on Buganda's capital, Mengo, across Lake Victoria.

East Africa rested its army and put 170,000 new immigrants to work as its population rose to 1.2 million, strengthening its position among Africa’s local powers. Ernst relied on carefully selected immigrants and military growth to protect the colony while it expanded before foreign powers turned their attention to Africa.

• East Africa paused military operations, reorganized its army, and put new immigrants to work reclaiming land.
• The colony received 170,000 immigrants over two months and more than 500,000 in the first half of 1868, bringing its population to 1.2 million.
• Ernst expected East Africa to absorb Uganda and potentially reach 1.7 million people by year’s end.
• Ernst assessed Egypt, the Abyssinian Empire, and European colonial powers, recognizing that East Africa could not safely challenge Britain or France.
• Ernst concluded that East Africa had no dependable foreign ally and needed to rely on carefully selected immigrants and its own army.

During the lull in the war, the East African colony expanded its road network with native captives and immigrant specialists, strengthening supply routes for future campaigns. East Africa concealed its growing military and population from other powers while Ernst kept its mineral wealth undeveloped to avoid attracting attention.

• The East African Colonial Government put more than a hundred thousand native captives to work building roads, feeding them well enough to preserve their strength before selling retired laborers to Zanzibar slave merchants.
• Immigrants with construction experience handled skilled work, and together they connected towns and settlements while improving key routes such as Mbeya to Dar es Salaam.
• During the truce, East Africa reinforced roads from the coast to Mwanza and built a dirt road from the Great Lakes Region into newly occupied territories to prepare for further fighting.
• Ernst prepared East Africa carefully for war, confident it could raise a large force while foreign powers remained unaware of the colony’s true strength.
• East Africa stayed inconspicuous because outsiders knew little of its interior, and Ernst avoided developing its mineral resources on a large scale.

Ernst kept his attention on Europe because East Africa still depended on the Hohenzollern Conglomerate and was not ready to support industrial development or replace the family’s European base. The chapter left East Africa as a carefully controlled agricultural colony, with Ernst waiting for its infrastructure and industry to mature before shifting the conglomerate’s center of gravity there.

• Ernst retained control of East Africa through Hechingen employees, military academy deputies, and resident directors who monitored officials and spending.
• Von der Leyen, Yalman, and Svit formed East Africa’s leading three-part leadership, and major decisions required their groups to report to Ernst.
• East Africa avoided provoking Britain, Portugal, and nearby powers, and delayed expansion into Zambia until more immigrants arrived.
• Ernst stayed in Europe to care for Prince Constantin and oversee the Hohenzollern Conglomerate, which supplied East Africa with funds, ships, food, weapons, and salaries.
• Ernst postponed moving the conglomerate to East Africa because the colony lacked railways, industrial facilities, and enough agricultural output to sustain development.

Mutesa I led a four-state alliance against the East African colony, but its army crushed the allied forces at Lake Nakivale. Mutesa I and the allied nobles disappeared, and East African troops spent days disposing of the dead.

• Mutesa I rallied Buganda, Turu, Kitara, and Nkole into a thirty-thousand-man alliance and divided its forces between the southern and eastern fronts.
• On July 4, the East African Army resumed its advance under Yalman in the south and Felix in the east, while Mutesa I led the allied main force.
• Mutesa I rejected the East African colony's warning and challenged it to a battle between warriors.
• On July 6, Mutesa I led the allied army in an attack on the southern shore of Lake Nakivale, where East African rifle fire devastated the advancing troops.
• By three in the afternoon, Mutesa I and the allied nobles had disappeared, leaving more than ten thousand dead; East African troops spent two or three days cremating and burying the bodies.

Felix captured Buganda’s abandoned capital after the allied forces collapsed, while Mutesa I fled northwest to rebuild his kingdom. The East African Army then swept north and west, taking the Great Lakes shoreline and linking the region’s major lakes under colonial control.

• Felix received orders to join the southern forces and pursue the retreating natives northwest.
• Mutesa I evacuated the palace and fled northwest with his remaining elite forces, while the Buganda Crown Prince headed toward Egyptian Sudan.
• The East African Army spent several weeks driving kingdoms and tribes westward across the Great Lakes region.
• Omorart helped block native forces from escaping east or continuing north toward Egypt and Abyssinia.
• East Africa seized more than three hundred thousand square kilometers of territory and gained control of the Great Lakes and their connecting lands.

On July 12, 1868, Berlin Electric Company unveiled its telephone and demonstrated that it could transmit speech between two pavilions. The launch attracted nobles, dignitaries, and reporters, while the company’s future rested on technology originally invented by Antonio Meucci, who chose to return to Italy.

• Berlin Electric Company introduced the telephone at a public launch in central Berlin, drawing a large crowd of dignitaries, nobles, and reporters.
• The host explained that the telephone transmitted voices over a line and invited Baron Akela to test it.
• Baron Akela spoke a string of numbers into the telephone, heard them repeated from the distant pavilion, and declared himself convinced.
• Berlin’s nobles and reporters took turns trying the telephone, while the chapter noted that the Prussian and Austrian courts had begun installing systems and Wilhelm I planned to use it in the Prussian Army.
• Ernst had sent people to the United States to find Antonio Meucci, and Hohenzollern Conglomerate employees bought his telephone patent.
• Antonio Meucci declined Berlin Electric Company’s invitation and planned to return to Italy with his wife and leave inventing behind.

As immigration slowed after the war, Ernst shifted East Africa's shipping toward cargo and began expanding local industry by acquiring a German cement plant. The chapter leaves Dar es Salaam's first cement factory under construction, with several smaller plants planned across the colony.

• The Hohenzollern Conglomerate found immigration from Germany and the Far East declining, while recruiting in Paraguay and the Middle East continued.
• Zanzibar merchants expanded their trade in women, and Russian officials in Central Asia spurred horse bandit raids to obtain Turkic women for goods.
• Ernst redirected ships to cargo transport and focused on reducing colonial construction costs by developing industries in East Africa.
• The Hohenzollern Conglomerate bought a struggling cement plant in Hamburg and shipped its machinery and workers to Dar es Salaam.
• Dar es Salaam began building East Africa's first cement plant, while Ernst planned smaller plants in Mombasa, Dodoma, Mbeya, Kisumu, and Songea.