Chapter Summaries

East African Ambassador Charsson visited Darjeeling to restore relations with Nepal, Sikkim, and Bhutan and upgrade the shared diplomatic office into an embassy. He explained that East Africa planned to build an airport in Sikkim, which could enable future air links and help contain India; the chapter left those plans still under consideration.

• Oda endorsed Nan'un Chūichi's argument that Japan should expand south into the resource-rich Nanyang region, while noting East Africa and the United States would stand in its way.
• In Darjeeling, Charsson praised the local tea as Thrain welcomed him and discussed East African diplomacy with the Himalayan states.
• Charsson told Thrain that East Africa planned to restore diplomatic relations with Nepal, Sikkim, and Bhutan and establish a shared embassy in Sikkim.
• Charsson explained that he had been tasked with pursuing an airport in Sikkim, which could connect the landlocked states to East African bases by air.
• Charsson speculated that airfields in the three states could help East Africa encircle India and restrict its future military and economic development.

Charsson met King Namgyal in Gangtok and revealed East Africa’s plans for Sikkim and the future of South Asia. He urged Sikkim to rely on East Africa after Britain withdrew, while proposing covert investments in the kingdom.

• East Africa established the Bechani Australian Tea Company office in Gangtok as a cover for its secret diplomatic work.
• Charsson told King Namgyal that he was East African and presented his credentials and a letter proposing relations between East Africa and Sikkim.
• Namgyal doubted that Sikkim could benefit from cooperation and said his kingdom could not defy Britain.
• Charsson predicted that British India would eventually become independent and warned that a powerful India might threaten Sikkim.
• Charsson proposed that Sikkim align with East Africa after Britain left South Asia and said East Africa would invest in Sikkim while seeking its support and cover.

Charsson persuaded King Namgyal to let East Africa use Sikkim as a base for its operations, under the cover of a tea company. The chapter then described East Africa’s global network of proxies and the limits on the Soviet Union’s ability to challenge its influence.

• Charsson told Namgyal that East Africa needed Sikkim’s help with land, workers, and supplies while concealing its plans behind Bechani Tea Company.
• Charsson assured Namgyal that East Africa would avoid British scrutiny and argued that cooperation could improve Sikkim’s future as British influence declined.
• Namgyal agreed to make a gamble with East Africa and offered help with its strategic objectives.
• East Africa expanded its overseas influence by supporting local proxies across colonies and pursuing both neo-colonial and traditional colonial goals.
• The chapter explained that East Africa’s power, other imperial powers’ opposition, and nationalist elements within the Soviet Union limited the Soviet Union’s ideological reach.

In 1928, Kemal prepared sweeping secular reforms for the Ottoman Empire, beginning with moving the capital from Istanbul to Ankara and abolishing the Caliphate. Mehmed VII agreed to Kemal’s demands, while Kemal prepared to confront religious opponents with force.

• Kemal told Mehmed VII that the government would move the capital from Istanbul to Ankara to improve security and strengthen control over the Fertile Crescent.
• Kemal warned Mehmed VII against rumors about Mehmed VI’s death and promised to protect the royal family if the Sultan cooperated.
• Kemal proposed abolishing the Caliphate while preserving Mehmed VII’s secular title of Sultan, and Mehmed VII agreed to relinquish the Caliph title.
• Kemal argued that religion had obstructed the Ottoman Empire’s development and outlined plans for sweeping secular reforms.
• Kemal prepared to suppress resistance as his reforms expanded to religious law, property, education, customs, and public dress.

The Ottoman Empire’s Kemalist government prepared a Five-Year Plan influenced by East Africa, laying out agricultural and industrial reforms alongside the relocation of the capital to Ankara. The chapter left the Soviet Union and Ottoman Empire beginning their plans in 1928, joining East Africa as major powers pursuing planned economic development.

• The chapter described East Africa, the Soviet Union, and the Ottoman Empire as three major powers pursuing Five-Year Plans despite their different climates, economies, and political systems.
• Kemal outlined plans to redistribute land, reclaim religious institutions’ land for the state, ease taxes on farmers, and establish state farms and cooperatives.
• Kemal proposed state-led industrialization, nationalizing key industries, prioritizing light industry, raising tariffs, and improving transport links.
• Kemal connected the capital’s move to Ankara with implementing reforms and strengthening government control over distant and separatist regions.
• The Soviet Union and the Ottoman Empire advanced their Five-Year Plans in 1928, joining East Africa in a development model that later influenced countries after the 1929 economic crisis.

In 1928, Americans celebrated the United States surpassing East Africa in reported industrial output and trusted the booming stock market to keep bringing prosperity. Their confidence contrasted with East Africa’s slower, more controlled development, which the chapter presented as steadier in the face of hidden economic risks.

• The chapter described East Africa as one of the world’s most influential powers, with a reputation for intervening in conflicts across many regions.
• Outside the New York stock exchange, Andre and Wilson claimed that America had regained its place as the world’s leading industrial power and blamed East Africa’s government intervention for its supposed decline.
• The narrator explained that America’s reported industrial lead partly reflected inflated output and stock speculation, while East Africa still had the larger industrial scale.
• Andre, Wilson, and Karol praised the booming stock market as Americans embraced stock trading and luxury consumption.
• Wilson predicted that America would widen its lead over other countries and replace Britain as the world’s economic model.
• The chapter concluded that East Africa’s pragmatic, controlled approach could limit its losses when an economic crisis came.

In 1928, East African officials and the Royal Family accelerated the sale of overseas assets and the accumulation of gold to prepare for a looming economic crisis. Ernst and Friedrich also worked to expand trade with the Soviet Union and Ottoman Empire, hoping East Africa could gain markets and influence during the downturn.

• In Chicago, Kuinleir and Antonio discussed the city’s size, East Africa’s urban development, and the gangs and black market fueled by American Prohibition.
• Kuinleir told Antonio to speed up the discreet sale of Hechingen Bank’s Chicago assets and convert the proceeds into gold and other hard currency.
• Kuinleir proposed buying gold and silver jewelry from private citizens because direct large-scale purchases risked attracting government attention.
• Ernst ordered Friedrich to clear out overseas nonperforming assets by the end of the year to avoid losses from a possible economic crisis.
• Friedrich reported that most Royal Family assets had been sold and said East Africa was expanding trade with the Soviet Union and Ottoman Empire to secure future markets and make their industries reliant on East African products.

Ernst planned East Africa’s overseas infrastructure deals and set cautious terms for cooperation with the Soviet Union. In Bolivia, Smith and Reyes considered how to stop President Hernando’s support for the Asuncion-Lima Railway, but Reyes said opposition could succeed only by overthrowing the elected government.

• Ernst told Friedrich that East Africa should pursue long-term overseas construction contracts and use breach penalties to protect its enterprises during a future economic crisis.
• Ernst said East Africa should negotiate with the Soviet Union from a position of strength, seek full payment or barter, and avoid excessive concessions.
• Smith urged Reyes to help the Mining Alliance block Hernando’s proposed cooperation with East Africa on the A-Li Railway.
• Reyes explained that many Bolivians and Mining Alliance members supported the railway because it would benefit trade and mineral exports.
• Reyes said that stopping the railway would require overthrowing Bolivia’s elected government.

Smith and Reyes used claims of oil in the disputed North Chaco region to push Bolivia toward war with Paraguay and obstruct the Asuncion-Lima Railway. Bolivia invaded Paraguayan-held territory, and Paraguay appealed to East Africa for weapons and supplies.

• Reyes suggested that provoking a Bolivian-Paraguayan war would derail the Asuncion-Lima Railway, and Smith proposed exploiting their dispute over the North Chaco region.
• Smith falsely told Reyes that Mobil Oil Company had confirmed abundant oil in the region, and Reyes agreed to press Bolivia to claim it.
• Reyes persuaded President Hernando and most Bolivian officials to occupy the North Chaco region, arguing that Bolivia could defeat Paraguay and secure postwar railway concessions.
• Smith secured American support for Bolivian arms purchases and military training, while Mobil Oil Company spread claims of Chaco oil, especially to Paraguay.
• At the end of 1928, Bolivian troops captured Paraguayan border outposts in the North Chaco region, prompting Paraguay to seek weapons and supplies from East Africa.

After Bolivia invaded the North Chaco region, Paraguay’s President Gualtieri decided to fight for the territory and its suspected oil reserves, seeking East African backing to counter Bolivia’s United States support. Paraguay mobilized its forces as East Africa approved military assistance and sent supplies across the Atlantic.

• President Gualtieri and his ministers resolved to defend North Chaco, citing its territory and the oil Mobil Oil Company had reportedly discovered there.
• Paraguay’s foreign minister urged Gualtieri to seek East African support, linking the war effort to the Asuncion-Lima Railway and future oil development.
• Defense Minister Jose recommended mobilizing at least 10,000 troops, and Gualtieri decided to request a war loan from East Africa.
• Paraguay transferred military forces westward as East Africa approved support for its counterattack against Bolivia.
• East African troops stationed in Asuncion joined the effort, while ships carrying military supplies sailed from East Africa toward South America.

East African Battalion Commander Gosell sent more than three hundred soldiers to support Paraguay against Bolivia, then led them into their first battle in the North Chaco region. The Garrison Battalion captured a Bolivian outpost with three casualties, leaving the rest of its force ready to continue the war.

• Gosell told the Garrison Battalion that East Africa would fight alongside Paraguay and assigned more than three hundred soldiers to the campaign.
• A scout reported that a Bolivian force of two or three hundred men occupied a lightly fortified outpost about one kilometer away.
• Gosell deployed the Garrison Battalion’s artillery and machine guns after Bolivian cavalry tried to probe their position.
• Hans fired a shell near the Bolivian machine-gun position, and Gosell ordered First Company to charge under machine-gun cover.
• East African soldiers stormed the outpost with grenades and captured the surviving Bolivians, suffering three casualties while killing twenty-nine and wounding forty-seven.

East Africa’s army advanced through the North Chaco, while Friedrich ordered a hardline response to the United States’ influence in South America. Ernst traveled from Mogadishu to Vienna for Franz’s funeral and Rudolf’s coronation, arriving in Europe as emperor of the Rhine Empire.

• Gosell ordered the security battalion to disarm 177 Bolivian prisoners, leave them for the Paraguayans, and continue toward the next military outpost.
• Friedrich declared that East Africa would not let the United States disrupt the Asuncion-Lima Railway and proposed encouraging Panamanian claims over the Panama Canal.
• Friedrich said East Africa should station troops in Bolivia after the war to protect its interests and expand its influence in southern South America.
• Ernst visited Mogadishu, decided that East Africa should build a North African Railway, and sailed for the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
• Ernst arrived in Trieste on January 13, 1929, traveled by rail to Vienna, and drew the attention of the European dignitaries gathered there.

Ernst attended Emperor Franz’s funeral in Vienna and warned Crown Prince Rudolf that a severe global economic crisis could threaten the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Meanwhile, Friedrich oversaw East Africa’s 1929 census, which was expected to show the empire’s population approaching or exceeding two hundred million.

• Ernst arrived in Vienna and offered Rudolf condolences on Emperor Franz’s death, explaining that Archduke Ferdinand could not make the journey.
• Friedrich directed East Africa’s 1929 census to include its colonies, while Dong Yu estimated the empire’s population could surpass two hundred million.
• Friedrich described a mainland population target of three hundred million and proposed moving more people into the colonies to strengthen imperial control.
• Ernst warned Rudolf that an economic crisis was likely within the next few years and could endanger Habsburg rule.
• Ernst advised Rudolf to use state intervention to keep Austro-Hungarian industry from collapsing, while cautioning that Soviet-style policies could provoke unrest or dissolution.

Ernst advised Rudolf to use an economic crisis to expand the Austro-Hungarian central government’s authority and stabilize the population. East Africa’s 1929 census revealed rapid growth across its mainland and colonies, prompting officials to assess the Empire’s population, urbanization, and industrial standing.

• Ernst urged Rudolf to prepare for economic crisis by strengthening military control, public confidence, and central administration, and suggested Hungary as a pilot region.
• East Kalimantan Governor Klein learned the colony had 3,215,043 residents, including hundreds of thousands of undocumented immigrants, and ordered eligible newcomers naturalized while suspected religious infiltrators and foreign spies were expelled.
• Klein sent East Kalimantan’s census figures to the mainland after its population surpassed Alaska’s, making it the Empire’s most populous colony.
• Director Dong Yu reported that East Africa’s colonies had 6.94 million people, led by East Kalimantan, Alaska, and Mindanao, while the mainland population stood at roughly 197 million.
• Dong Yu reported that East Africa’s urbanization rate had reached about 45 percent, and Crown Prince Friedrich predicted that continued growth could make the Empire the world’s strongest country within two or three decades.

East African officials reviewed rapid urban growth and the steel industry, while Friedrich considered the American and German economies and the great powers’ shifting attitudes toward the Soviet Union. The chapter left East Africa positioned to exploit the Soviet Union’s isolation and instability while viewing it as both a threat and a strategic advantage.

• Dong Yu explained that Rhine City, New Frankfurt City, and Kabwe had grown into a major urban cluster, while Maputo City, Kampala City, and Tete City reflected regional development policies and industrial advantages.
• Friedrich discussed the distribution of industry across East African cities and the narrowing economic gap between the eastern, central, and western regions.
• The Ministry of Industry reported that East African steel output reached sixty-two million tons in 1928, while Friedrich noted that American and German production had also surged.
• Friedrich assessed Germany’s industrial strength and the efforts of other powers to use the Soviet Union to contain German influence.
• Friedrich considered East Africa’s ambiguous approach to the Soviet Union, including using anti-Soviet policy to expand its influence and exploiting Soviet internal dissent.

Ernst met King Albrecht in Stuttgart and suggested Württemberg seek colonial opportunities in West Africa before ending his European journey. As Ernst sailed home, the 1929 Wall Street crash prompted Crown Prince Friedrich to order East Africa’s government and businesses to prepare for a global economic crisis.

• Ernst met King Albrecht at Stuttgart Palace and encouraged him to consider establishing a foothold in West Africa.
• Ernst reminisced about Stuttgart and, after visiting Hohenzollern Castle in Hechingen, began his journey home.
• The New York stock market crashed on August 15, 1929, and an encrypted telegram alerted East Africa’s government.
• Crown Prince Friedrich warned that the crisis would spread worldwide and threaten East African industry and trade.
• Crown Prince Friedrich ordered state-owned foreign-trade enterprises to dispose of overseas orders and warned private businesses to prepare.

After the American economic crisis began, Emperor Ernst ordered East Africa to overhaul its financial sector and prepare its next Five-Year Plan for the coming crisis. The crackdown swept through banks, stock markets, businesses, officials, and criminal groups, drawing protests from foreign governments while Ernst also prepared to secure the Guard Division’s loyalty.

• Ernst returned to Rhine Palace after receiving news of the American economic crisis and ordered Crown Prince Friedrich to begin a thorough financial overhaul and plan for the Seventh Five-Year Plan.
• Ernst directed officials to target speculation, corrupt institutions, criminal networks, and disloyal elements in the Guard Division, while keeping the East African Labor Party ready to implement future policies.
• On September 30, 1929, the East African government launched its financial crackdown, strengthening the East African Securities Commission and investigating listed companies and banks.
• During October, East African officials and police investigated financial institutions, arrested alleged offenders and corrupt officials, and carried out nationwide anti-crime operations.
• Financial organizations and news media from several European countries condemned East Africa’s crackdown, while President Hoover denounced it and the Soviet Union criticized the government as well.

Ernst and Friedrich discussed East Africa’s complicated trade with the Soviet Union after Pravda criticized East African affairs. In Garissa, Yang Fan’s investigation team ordered changes to overgrazing and land use, while the government’s environmental campaign also served to reduce excess agricultural production ahead of the economic crisis.

• Ernst and Friedrich considered the Soviet Union’s criticism of East Africa despite East African support for Soviet industrial construction and raw-material imports.
• Ernst explained that East Africa’s trade in cotton, rubber, and other resources aimed to make Soviet industry dependent on East Africa while preserving East Africa’s standing among capitalist countries.
• Yang Fan’s investigation team reported that overgrazing and expanding pastures had damaged the Tana River basin and warned Garissa officials that its ecology could collapse within little more than a decade.
• Mayor Cole questioned how Garissa could replace livestock raising, and Yang Fan urged ecological restoration, sustainable agriculture, tourism, and service industries.
• Garissa’s officials accepted that the Central Government would force changes to the city’s livestock industry, while the government’s campaign also aimed to destroy excess agricultural output before the economic crisis.

Fingel and Crown Prince Friedrich assessed how British colonies had intensified the agricultural crisis and threatened East Africa’s food and cash-crop exports. Friedrich outlined plans to limit mainland production and shift agriculture to colonies and other regions, while Fingel proposed investing in the French colony of the Kingdom of Imerina.

• Fingel told Friedrich that British colonies and territories under British influence had made Britain the leading force behind global agricultural overproduction.
• Fingel explained that British plantations in South Asia and Southeast Asia had become major producers of cash crops, putting East Africa at a cost and quality disadvantage.
• Fingel urged East Africa to reduce food and cash-crop production on the mainland and move cultivation to other regions.
• Friedrich proposed expanding agriculture in East African colonies and areas within its sphere of influence while cutting unprofitable mainland operations.
• Friedrich called for transferring cash-crop production to the Nanyang region, West Africa, and South America to protect supplies across both oceans.
• Fingel recommended the Kingdom of Imerina as a nearby, low-cost plantation region, and Friedrich considered its potential for East African investment.

Fingel and Friedrich described Madagascar’s agricultural potential and East Africa’s plans to make Mahajanga and Toliara a protected livestock and food-producing region. The chapter also explained how East Africa was expanding its influence over the French-ruled Kingdom of Imerina through immigration and investment, leaving it an economic colony in all but name.

• Fingel reported that Mahajanga and Toliara supported commercial farming, ranching, and rapidly expanding pig production.
• Fingel explained that East Africa was isolating Madagascar’s livestock from the mainland to protect it from African Swine Fever and other animal epidemics.
• Friedrich said Mahajanga and Toliara could become the Empire’s granary and meat storehouse, while Imerina’s larger population could spur regional growth.
• Friedrich urged East Africa to accelerate immigration into the Kingdom of Imerina to increase its population and strengthen East African influence there.
• East Africa’s investment, trade, and immigration had made the French-ruled Kingdom of Imerina an economic colony in all but name, while France largely tolerated the arrangement.