Chapter Summaries

Malinkov organized the Labor Party’s uprising in Sicheslav City, sending workers to seize the armories and Police Department. The Police Department fell easily, but fighting at the eastern armory alerted the city, and Labor Party supporters turned their guns on the 37th Division Headquarters as troops prepared to intervene.

• Malinkov set the uprising for three in the morning and divided the workers into teams to seize the armories and Police Department.
• Milinlovich and other police officers discussed the war and Ukraine’s military prospects while gambling during their night shift.
• Osipovich led Tomazhevka’s First Workers’ Squad to the Police Department and helped them enter and capture it.
• The Labor Party seized more than fifty firearms at the Police Department, while fierce fighting broke out at the eastern armory.
• The city government sought help from the 37th Division after the Police Department stopped responding and gunfire awakened the city.
• As the 37th Division prepared to enter the city, Labor Party supporters inside the division raised their guns at its headquarters.

The Labor Party seized Sicheslav City while Mayor Filatov fled and Petrov’s forces captured the 37th Division headquarters. Maleyle agreed to halt the division’s military actions and cooperate with Petrov.

• Maleyle sent two battalions toward Sicheslav City and told Filatov that the enemy was attacking the arsenals.
• Filatov decided the city government was in danger, fled with Leonid, and left his staff behind; Labor Party troops then surrounded the building and raised their flag.
• Petrov and his soldiers subdued the headquarters sentries, entered the 37th Division headquarters, and trapped Maleyle and his senior officers.
• Petrov told Maleyle that the Labor Party had thousands of troops and workers and demanded that the division stop its military actions.
• Maleyle accepted that the Labor Party had won and agreed to cooperate and hand over command.

After the Labor Party captured Yekaterinoslav, it brought the 37th Division under control and organized forces to support uprisings and the Red Army. The Red Army and Labor Party forces broke the Ukrainian defenses in Donbas, leaving the Ukrainian government collapsing and officials fleeing abroad.

• After Malalai surrendered, Labor Party forces occupied Sicheslav City, restored its name to Yekaterinoslav, and used Malalai's authority to redirect the 37th Division.
• Renlovsky obeyed division headquarters' order to return, while Cherkaskoye and Vyazov suspected a takeover and were detained by Morinkuzov, who revealed that he had joined the Labor Party.
• Malinkov proposed forming a Yekaterinoslav City Defense Force and a New Ukrainian Army, with Tomazhevka defending the city and Malinkov leading troops north toward Kyiv.
• In August and September 1921, Labor Party uprisings spread across Ukraine as Petrov and Malinkov's forces advanced north and disrupted Ukrainian supply lines.
• As October approached, the Red Army broke the depleted Ukrainian defenses in Donbas, advanced west with Labor Party support, and triggered a rapid collapse that sent Ukrainian officials fleeing abroad.

Rudolf persuaded Wilhelm II to send German and Austro-Hungarian troops into Eastern Europe to shore up Ukraine and Poland against Russia. As the intervention revived resistance in the region, East African officials debated Russia’s military performance and the threat posed by the Russian Labor Party’s influence.

• Rudolf urged Wilhelm II to intervene in Ukraine and Poland before their governments collapsed and Russia reclaimed territory.
• Wilhelm II agreed to help stabilize Eastern Europe, and German and Austro-Hungarian armies entered Ukraine, Poland, and other regions in early October 1921.
• The intervention restored confidence among Eastern European governments as Russian forces held positions along the Dnieper and occupied eastern Belarus.
• East African officials discussed why Russia’s weakened army was defeating Ukraine and Poland, citing their poor governance, weak forces, and Ukraine’s internal unrest.
• East African officials warned that Russia’s ideological influence could threaten their own sphere, particularly in Northern Persia and the Middle East.

At the end of 1921, Ernst and East African officials discussed the threat of Russian ideological influence in Persia and the country’s prolonged economic slowdown. Ernst urged patience and stronger economic foundations as he explained that East Africa’s rapid growth had given way to a more realistic pace of development.

• Pripriate warned that East Africa’s Persian sphere of influence made conflict with Russia unavoidable and urged vigilance against Russian-backed Labor Party infiltration.
• Ernst called for East African personnel in Persia to resist Russian ideology, the Persian government to suppress Labor Party organizations, and propaganda to expose Russian social problems.
• As East Africa’s economy remained depressed through 1921, Ernst addressed the year-end economic conference and said the slowdown followed nearly fifty years of unusually rapid growth.
• Ernst urged the government to build confidence, consolidate the national economy, and improve domestic market institutions during the next five to ten years.
• East African steel output fell to thirty-seven million tons in 1921, while comparisons with other industrial powers showed that East Africa still had room to develop.

Ernst outlined how the postwar shifts in global finance created an opportunity to internationalize the Rheinland Shield and strengthen East Africa’s financial system. He proposed new financial centers at Cabinda and Dar es Salaam city while leaving Rhine City as a domestic hub.

• Ernst explained that the war and Russia’s default had weakened the franc and sterling’s position, creating an opening for the Rheinland Shield.
• Ernst called for international payment, clearing, and reserve systems to increase the Rheinland Shield’s visibility and liquidity.
• Ernst proposed establishing Cabinda as a West Coast international financial center and Dar es Salaam city as an East Coast financial center alongside Mombasa.
• Ernst said Rhine City should be strengthened as East Africa’s domestic financial center, though its inland location and limited foreign connections prevented it from becoming an international hub.
• Ernst noted that East Africa’s dominance of the African economy and the weakness of nearby economies left the continent unable to support Rhine City as an international financial center.

At Kitwe City’s year-end economic conference, Mayor Debern argued that the city should develop a film and television industry as a new path beyond its struggling copper economy. He left the city poised to pursue a film base that could use restored natural landscapes and preserved industrial sites as locations.

• Debern presented the film and television industry as a promising tertiary-sector project that could raise Kitwe City’s profile and support its wider development.
• A city official warned that environmental restoration and economic reforms had strained Kitwe City’s finances and reduced government revenue.
• Debern argued that copper mining had little room to grow and that Kitwe City needed to accept short-term sacrifices to transform its economy.
• Debern proposed making Kitwe City the nation’s fourth film and television center, drawing on talent and expertise from Rhine City’s universities and academies.
• Debern suggested turning restored abandoned mines, old industrial infrastructure, and Kitwe City’s natural landscapes into filming locations, with professionals from Rhine City advising on reconstruction.

Debern pursued Kitwe City’s economic transformation by building a film and television industry and recruiting talent from Rhine City. His pitch drew more than a dozen National University of Media students to consider trying their careers in Kitwe City.

• Kitwe City continued its shift away from heavily polluting factories as Debern planned to establish a film and television industry.
• Debern led a recruitment campaign to Rhine City, visiting media and arts institutions to attract students and industry workers.
• At the National University of Media, Debern personally promoted Kitwe City’s location, economic prospects, and plans for the new industry.
• Debern told students that Kitwe City would support film, television, and related projects, and invited them to visit the city.
• More than a dozen students decided to try developing their careers in Kitwe City, though they were not among the university’s top academic performers.

The chapter described Belgian Congo’s rapid wartime growth and the lives of Belgians who had settled there. In Black Point City, Treiden explained why he had abandoned plans to return to Belgium, and Dist agreed that the Congo offered a safer, more comfortable future.

• Belgian Congo attracted Belgian immigrants and businesses during the First World War, and Black Point City grew to more than 700,000 people.
• After the war, the epidemic and economic depression affected Belgian Congo as returning travelers carried the disease from Europe.
• Dist met Treiden in Black Point City and asked whether his family still intended to return to Belgium.
• Treiden said his family had settled into life in the Congo and would not spend money returning to a homeland he considered less safe and full of fewer opportunities.
• Dist agreed that, despite its smaller population, Belgian Congo offered ordinary Belgians a life comparable to the homeland.

Belgium debated the Congo’s growing autonomy as Hamberger demanded equal treatment, and Albert I brokered a settlement that made the Congo an overseas autonomous territory within Belgium. In April 1922, East Africa opened talks with Belgium and the Congo to establish a free-trade zone and expand use of the Rheinland Shield.

• Representative Rocas called for Belgium to restore control over the Congo, while Hamberger defended the Congo’s contributions and demanded equal rights for its people.
• King Albert I calmed the parliamentary dispute and affirmed that the Congo would remain part of Belgium while also receiving fair treatment.
• Belgium and Congo representatives negotiated an agreement granting the Congo overseas autonomous territory status and expanded local powers.
• In April 1922, East Africa brought Belgium and the Congo autonomous government together to discuss economic cooperation and a free-trade zone.
• East Africa proposed making the Rheinland Shield legal tender alongside the Belgian franc in the Congo and sought broader economic ties with Belgium.

Crown Prince Friedrich welcomed Ludwig I to Rhine City for an East Africa-led international conference, where the king sought aid for the Kingdom of Southern Germany’s expansion toward Nigeria. Friedrich deferred discussion of support until after the conference, leaving Ludwig determined to deepen economic ties with East Africa.

• Crown Prince Friedrich received Ludwig I at the Rhine City International Conference Center and discussed the Kingdom of Southern Germany’s need for better access to the sea.
• Ludwig I explained that Britain’s renewed attention to Nigeria had obstructed the kingdom’s northwestward expansion and asked East Africa for weapons and material aid.
• Friedrich said East Africa remained supportive of the Kingdom of Southern Germany’s expansion but postponed aid talks until after the conference.
• Ludwig I resolved to cooperate actively with East Africa’s planned Southeast African Common Market to secure stronger support.

Crown Prince Friedrich presented East Africa’s plan to create the Southeast African Common Market, promising regional cooperation while ensuring East Africa remained its leading power. The participating countries accepted proposals for freer trade, a development bank, and coordinated industries, including shifting some coffee production to the Abyssinian Empire.

• Crown Prince Friedrich opened the conference and proposed a common market linking East Africa with Italy, Belgium, Spain, the Kingdom of Southern Germany, Darfur, and the Abyssinian Empire.
• Friedrich argued that East African railways and roads would connect the region’s markets and stimulate trade through northern East Africa.
• The Italian representative questioned whether East Africa would interfere in the development of other countries and colonies, and Friedrich assured him that cooperation would be mutually beneficial.
• Friedrich proposed reducing regional tariffs, establishing the Southeast African Development Bank, and coordinating industrial development among members.
• Friedrich offered to support Abyssinian coffee production by ceding it market share, while East Africa retained control of technology, processing, and sales.

The Southeast African Common Market was established as East Africa’s first step toward broader African economic integration, while the world economy began recovering after the epidemic. Ernst discussed East Africa’s slower recovery and steel-industry reforms with Friedrich, who defended the long-term benefits of upgrading production despite short-term setbacks.

• East African officials debated the Southeast African Common Market’s framework and membership before formally establishing it with its headquarters in Rhine City.
• By mid-1922, the end of the epidemic and the resumption of postwar reconstruction had revived economic confidence, though East Africa recovered more slowly than Europe and North America.
• Ernst gave Friedrich a report comparing East Africa’s economy with international trends and asked him to assess the country’s slower growth.
• Friedrich explained that East Africa’s steel output had fallen as the government raised standards, shut down outdated mills, and shifted the industry toward higher-quality production.
• Friedrich warned that unchecked global steel expansion could drive prices down and cause firms to collapse, while arguing that East Africa’s reforms would improve its competitiveness over time.

Ernst explained to Friedrich how East Africa’s costly infrastructure and industrial development had overcome its geographic and resource disadvantages, and why the Empire still needed to address its shortcomings. He warned that a global economic crisis could follow an unprecedented boom and lead to another world war, urging Friedrich to prepare East Africa while conditions were favorable.

• Ernst compared East Africa’s industrial position and resource costs with those of the United States and Europe, noting that railways and decades of infrastructure investment had compensated for its disadvantages.
• Ernst told Friedrich that nearly ten million Black laborers had died during East Africa’s construction and that their sacrifice had helped build the Empire’s vast agricultural, power, transportation, and water systems.
• Ernst said he had slowed major infrastructure projects so Friedrich and his successors could complete them and gain achievements that would strengthen the imperial family’s prestige and rule.
• Ernst warned Friedrich that the coming global industrial boom could exceed the world market’s capacity, leading to an economic crisis and a second world war.
• Friedrich asked when another world war might occur, and Ernst replied that it would likely follow a global economic downturn as international contradictions reached their breaking point.
• Ernst urged Friedrich to use the current recovery to improve East Africa’s infrastructure and prepare for future crises and war.

Secretary Popov and Village Chief Rovtashenko planned to eliminate a Polish White grain-collection unit by drugging its food and seizing its weapons. The chapter ended with Rovtashenko secretly adding powder to the unit’s potato-and-grain dough.

• Village Chief Rovtashenko told Secretary Popov that the grain-collection unit had 128 men and described how its leader, Cherflad, and his men oppressed the villagers.
• Popov rejected Rovtashenko’s offer to take the blame and urged the village to resist rather than submit to the White bandits.
• Popov proposed obtaining the unit’s rifles by drugging its food, and Rovtashenko volunteered to carry out the plan in the kitchen.
• The next morning, Rovtashenko entered the unit’s requisitioned estate with potatoes and secretly mixed powder into the dough while preparing the soldiers’ staple food.

Popov’s guerrillas used poisoned food to seize a White grain requisition squad, then built a rural Labor Party base by defeating Radzivill’s forces and winning over peasants. The uprising spread across Belarus, forcing Polish and German troops to withdraw as the Red Army advanced.

• Cherflad’s grain requisition squad ate food poisoned by Rovtashenko, who escaped to lead Popov and his guerrillas to the incapacitated men.
• Popov’s guerrillas disarmed the squad and expanded their influence into Liuban Village, Lunynich Village, and nearby settlements.
• Popov established a rural Labor Party government, distributed land and waived rent to win peasant support, then attacked Radzivill Manor.
• The guerrillas killed Radzivill’s guards and Radzivill, seized the manor’s wealth, and made it their fortified headquarters.
• Labor Party rural bases spread across Belarus, and in October 1923 the movement began attacking Polish and German roads, railways, and strongholds.
• In November, Poland and Germany planned to withdraw from Belarus as the Red Army advanced, and Russia recovered most of the region.

Wilhelm II and Chancellor Hermann debated how Germany should respond to Russia’s gains in Eastern Europe, with Hermann urging compromise and domestic recovery instead of war. They considered using economic sanctions and a British-backed League of Nations to contain Russia and address competition from the United States and East Africa.

• Wilhelm II condemned Russia’s advance in Belarus and worried that Germany’s setbacks were undermining public trust in his government.
• Hermann told Wilhelm II that Germany had to choose between fighting Russia and negotiating, then recommended compromise because the country was politically and economically fragile.
• Hermann argued that war could trigger a domestic crisis, while Germany should recover its strength and avoid being misled by loud but unrepresentative calls for war.
• Hermann proposed an international economic blockade and sanctions against Russia, arguing that the Russian Labor Party’s ideas threatened countries beyond Germany.
• Hermann suggested cooperating with Britain on the League of Nations so European powers could unite against Russia and compete with the United States and East Africa.

Wilhelm II and Hermann discussed Germany’s conflicts with East Africa and agreed that Russia remained the immediate threat, requiring a cautious military and diplomatic response. Germany then cooperated with Britain and other European powers to accelerate plans for a League of Nations aimed at containing Russia and the spread of the Russian Labor Party’s ideology.

• Hermann warned Wilhelm II that East Africa’s geography, colonies, and expanding influence made it a major threat to global trade and power.
• Wilhelm II and Hermann blamed East Africa for taking German colonies, wartime wealth, and overseas arms markets, while acknowledging Germany could not confront it now.
• Wilhelm II supported reaching an agreement with Britain and uniting Europe against Russia, while Hermann urged stabilizing the front, limiting military costs, and seeking peace after weakening Russia.
• Hermann called for propaganda and international cooperation to curb the Russian Labor Party’s ideology, which he feared could destabilize Germany and its neighboring territories.
• In 1923, Germany strengthened military support in Eastern Europe and worked with Britain and other countries to speed the creation of the League of Nations.

Ernst and East African officials debated whether to join the League of Nations as Britain and Germany moved toward establishing it. Ernst decided East Africa could join provisionally to build international ties and improve its influence, while retaining the option to withdraw.

• Ernst asked Morin whether Europeans would accept the League, and Morin said the war’s devastation had made the public receptive to cooperation.
• Crown Prince Friedrich and Logens argued that Britain and Germany were cooperating to counter outside rivals, but European rivalries and economic decline would limit the League’s effectiveness.
• Ernst described the League as a practical arrangement serving Britain’s and Germany’s separate interests rather than European unity.
• Pripriate and Cristiano opposed joining, warning the League could be used to constrain East Africa and other non-European powers.
• Freer supported joining to build ties with smaller countries and expand East Africa’s international influence, noting that the League lacked coercive power.
• Ernst decided East Africa could join and observe, using the League to strengthen its standing while remaining free to withdraw if it conflicted with national interests.

By the end of 1923, Russia’s offensive had stalled in Poland and Ukraine, while opposition to the Labor Party persisted at home. With Vladimir’s health failing and the army struggling, Yosef decided to seek peace with Germany, leaving Russia’s next political struggle unresolved.

• Russian forces failed to break through the defensive lines in Poland and Ukraine as local populations supported the defenders.
• Hayevich, Mikhail, and Stanislavsky complained about the Labor Party while clearing snow in Moscow and discussed their hopes for its fall and Alexei’s return.
• A Moscow woman scolded Hayevich, Mikhail, and Stanislavsky for shirking their snow-clearing work, and they resumed shoveling.
• Yosef worried about Vladimir’s failing health, corruption and political enemies within the Labor Party, and Russia’s military and economic troubles.
• Yosef decided to make peace with Germany, believing Russia had secured enough territory and needed time to recover.