Chapter Summaries

As the American economic crisis spread to Britain, Deliman discussed the collapse of his London business with Tambor and decided to sell his British assets and return to Gabon Province. The crisis then reached Vienna, which became the first European city after London to be swept up in financial turmoil.

• Deliman told Tambor that Britain's worsening economy had ruined orders and left his Libreville London Chamber of Commerce poorly positioned to find new business.
• Tambor advised Deliman to leave London before the crisis worsened and explained that wealthy British customers and political connections were the few remaining sources of opportunity.
• Deliman admitted that he had lost money in the London stock market and resolved to sell his British assets and focus on business back home.
• Deliman and Tambor wished each other well as Deliman prepared to leave Britain, and Deliman mocked British cooking.
• On October 27, 1929, Vienna became the next European financial crisis center after the New York and London stock markets collapsed.

Rudolf I laid out reforms to control finance, suspend the gold standard, integrate Hungary into the Empire, and strengthen the Imperial Army as the Austro-Hungarian economic crisis deepened. The crisis spread to Germany, while Europe’s economic collapse fueled protectionism and radical political movements, threatening the fragile peace.

• Rudolf I identified weak financial oversight and market fragmentation as causes of the Austro-Hungarian crisis, and ordered a crackdown on speculation and reform of financial institutions.
• Rudolf I suspended gold convertibility and private gold trading to protect the Empire’s reserves, accepting that the currency would depreciate.
• Rudolf I called for Hungary’s market to be integrated with Austria’s and proposed expanding and reforming the Imperial Army to break internal barriers and ease industrial problems.
• The Vienna collapse triggered crashes in the Frankfurt and Berlin stock markets, while East Africa, France, and Japan temporarily avoided the worst effects.
• European Labor Parties and Extreme Nationalist Parties gained support as economic crises drove workers toward radical politics and governments abandoned liberal economic policies.

East African railway experts Belit and Yeril assessed Benghazi and Tobruk as possible termini for the North African Railway, weighing its huge costs against its strategic value. The project gained a path forward through Italian-controlled Libya, where Italy welcomed East African investment for the economic opportunities it might bring.

• Belit surveyed Benghazi and Tobruk with his team and explained that only those two ports could serve as the North African Railway’s terminus.
• Yeril asked whether the railway could repay its investment within twenty years, and Belit said its economic prospects depended on trade and possible mineral discoveries.
• Belit and Yeril discussed the railway’s logistical difficulties across the Sahara and its strategic role in preserving East Africa’s connection to Europe if maritime trade were cut off.
• Belit argued that the railway could extend East African influence into North Africa, a region Britain and France had previously kept beyond its reach.
• Italy supported the railway’s proposed route through East Libya because it expected construction work, trade, and tax revenue despite the territory’s limited current returns.

Belit and Yeril argued for Benghazi as the North African Railway’s terminus, while Ernst and Friedrich planned to grow Darfur’s population and keep the region dependent on East Africa. After hearing that Paraguay had nearly defeated Bolivia, Ernst decided East Africa should mediate and bring Bolivia under its influence.

• Belit explained why Benghazi was the best terminus for the North African Railway, and Yeril added that it would complement trade through the Suez Canal.
• Ernst told Friedrich that Darfur needed Far Eastern immigrants and a population of about five million to support the railway, resource development, and a dependable market for East Africa.
• Ernst said East Africa should use the railway to expand its influence into southern Libya while keeping Darfur a subordinate force rather than annexing it.
• Friedrich reported that Paraguay had taken the North Chaco region and pushed into Bolivia, whose main forces had collapsed.
• Ernst decided East Africa should mediate the war and seek control over Bolivia’s economy, infrastructure, garrisons, and mineral resources.

East Africa used its dominance at the Montevideo peace conference to award the North Chaco region to Paraguay and force Bolivia to accept a crushing settlement. The treaties made Bolivia an East African semi-colony, opening its economy and territory to East African trade, railways, and troops.

• Feregrino declared the North Chaco region terra nullius before 1929 and awarded it to Paraguay, requiring the territory’s Indians to have their rights protected.
• Del Estero objected to the decision, but Pizarro defended Paraguay’s claim and threatened to continue the war if Bolivia rejected the conference’s outcome.
• With its forces defeated and its government under pressure, Bolivia accepted the Montevideo Protocol, ceded the entire North Chaco region, and signed treaties that benefited Paraguay and East Africa.
• East Africa received war reparations through Paraguay’s loans, access to Bolivia’s market, rights to build railways and other transport routes, and the right to station and move troops through Bolivia.
• The settlement shifted Bolivia’s economic links eastward and placed it under East African influence, extending East Africa’s military and political reach across South America.

After Bolivia became an East African semi-colony, East African officials planned to expand their influence in South America by exporting imperial railway standards and integrating Bolivia and neighboring countries into the Empire’s economy. Crown Prince Friedrich endorsed the plans and called for faster railway construction and military deployment while warning that the United States and Britain might retaliate.

• Hans Leighton proposed expanding economic cooperation with Bolivia and other South American countries and exporting East African technical standards.
• Will urged the government to promote East African railway standards in South America, where rail networks were sparse and inconsistent.
• Will described plans for railways linking Paraguay, Bolivia, Peru, and Chile and for shifting Bolivia’s economic connections eastward toward the Empire.
• Crown Prince Friedrich supported the proposals and called for Bolivia’s economic, transport, and military dependence on East Africa to be strengthened.
• Friedrich warned that the United States and Britain might counter East Africa’s gains and ordered the government to prioritize railway construction and military deployment.

East Africa began drafting its Seventh Five-Year Plan as the global economic crisis threatened trade and employment. Ernst ended a heated National Assembly debate by setting a course for stronger state intervention, and the Planning Commission and state-owned enterprises regained influence in economic policy.

• Roer urged East Africa to restore a comprehensive planned economy, citing Soviet industrial growth and the failures of free-market economies.
• Andrew supported Roer, arguing that East Africa’s free-market policies had slowed growth and worsened inequality.
• Ernst called for practical measures to limit the crisis, including financial regulation, unemployment relief, public works, and infrastructure investment.
• The National Assembly accepted a stronger role for state intervention without restoring the pre-1910 economic system.
• The Seventh Five-Year Plan gained momentum as the Planning Commission regained authority and East African Labor Party members were set to join it.
• Ernst’s proposed military expansion gained economic and strategic importance as East Africa sought to protect overseas interests and markets.

In Moscow, Videnoye showed East African scholar Yakov how rapidly the Soviet capital and its industries were growing, while Yakov compared the Soviet Union’s prospects with those of other powers. They parted convinced that the Soviet Union could become a major industrial nation, though its future would depend on sustaining its development.

• Yakov told Videnoye that Moscow seemed prosperous compared with crisis-stricken European and American cities, and said East Africa had weathered the downturn relatively well.
• Videnoye described the Soviet Union’s vast territory, growing cities, and rapid urbanization, emphasizing Moscow’s population growth and industrial expansion.
• Videnoye pointed out Moscow’s factories, including plants inherited from Imperial Russia, expanded during the First Five-Year Plan, and newly established factories such as the Moscow Bearing Plant and Caprolactam Chemical Plant.
• Videnoye predicted that the Soviet Union would become a powerful industrial nation and Moscow the world’s largest city, while Yakov said it might surpass Germany and possibly the United States.
• Yakov privately judged that the Soviet Union would struggle to surpass East Africa, and the chapter noted that a future war with Germany could interrupt Soviet development.

Yakov toured Moscow with Videnoye and visited the under-construction Moscow Automobile Plant, where Likhachev explained the Soviet automobile industry’s limitations and expansion plans. Yakov argued that the global economic crisis offered the Soviet Union a chance to grow, though it would remain far behind the leading industrial powers for years.

• Videnoye showed Yakov around Moscow and explained Soviet citizens’ confidence and warmth toward foreigners.
• Yakov asked to visit Soviet factories, and the government arranged a tour of the Moscow Automobile Plant.
• Likhachev explained that the plant was still under construction, would begin with limited trial production, and aimed to reach annual output of fifty to sixty thousand vehicles.
• Yakov compared the Soviet automobile industry with those of other countries and noted its very low production and large technological gap.
• Yakov told Likhachev that the economic crisis created an opportunity for Soviet automobile production to overtake some European countries, although catching the leading powers would remain difficult.

East Africa and Germany invited Venezuela to join the German-Speaking Countries Organization, using the country’s growing German-speaking population and shared economic interests to deepen their influence. President Eleyaza welcomed the invitation and promised support for German-language programs and German investment, including oil development.

• The chapter described Soviet efforts to expand oil production and noted that East Africa relied on overseas sources that could become vulnerable during wartime.
• Harry and Wang Qin met President Eleyaza in Caracas and invited Venezuela to become a member of the German-Speaking Countries Organization.
• Eleyaza welcomed the invitation and emphasized Venezuela’s ties with East Africa and Germany, while Wang Qin stressed the political and economic benefits of membership.
• The chapter recounted how East Africa had removed Gomez after he pursued ties with the United States and had installed Eleyaza, leaving Venezuela under strong East African influence.
• Harry proposed German investment in the Orinoco oilfield and increased imports of Venezuelan agricultural products, and Eleyaza promised favorable treatment for German businesses.
• Harry pledged that the organization would fund German-language education and cultural programs in Venezuela.

East Africa used its military and economic influence over Venezuela to expand its cultural control, especially through education. Venezuela’s Ministry of Education introduced compulsory German classes and unified exams, leaving the country’s education system increasingly shaped by East Africa.

• East Africa required German to become a compulsory subject in Venezuela’s schools as part of the country’s entry into the German-Speaking Countries Organization.
• Minister of Education Mollerman ordered schools receiving government support to offer at least five German classes each week and introduced a course on world geography and history.
• Mollerman announced unified entrance examinations, with German made an important part of the college entrance exam.
• East Africa’s Ministry of Education network covered more than 80 percent of enrolled students, while Maracaibo University became Venezuela’s only other university alongside the Central University of Venezuela.
• East African investment spread German-language education and influence through Venezuelan media, commerce, and other industries, as local critics lacked the power to reverse it.

Crown Prince Friedrich and Minister Bach presented East Africa’s plans to transform the Zambezi River into a major shipping route linking inland industrial regions to the coast. The project’s immediate focus was the Kabrasabasa Reservoir, while longer-term plans would connect the Zambezi’s tributaries and leave East Africa preparing for an ambitious, decades-long national undertaking.

• Crown Prince Friedrich told Ministry of Water Conservancy officials that the Zambezi River was vital to East Africa’s economy and called for reservoirs and ship locks to regulate its flow and improve navigation.
• Friedrich outlined a goal of allowing ten-thousand-ton vessels to travel from Xindai toward Hohenzollern Province and connecting inland cities and industrial zones through the river and its tributaries.
• Minister Bach explained that Cahora Bassa Gorge blocked navigation between the Zambezi’s lower and middle reaches, despite existing improvements that had made the lower river navigable to large vessels.
• Bach proposed three major water-conservancy projects, including the Kabrasabasa Reservoir, to connect the river’s reaches and enable large ships to travel between Xindai and Lusaka.
• Bach described plans to develop navigation on the Kafue, Hunyani, and Shire Rivers, creating a main route with three branches that would link inland regions to the sea.

Adolf was released from Stadelheim Prison and rallied the German National Party as Germany’s economic crisis intensified political unrest. He planned to expand the party’s influence and enter the cabinet, leaving Germany’s future increasingly unstable.

• Adolf left Stadelheim Prison to cheers from German National Party members, and Hermann welcomed him back.
• Adolf declared that he would continue leading the Germanic people’s struggle, while Warden Wilhelm criticized his prison speech and warned that his movement threatened Germany.
• Wilhelm and a sentry discussed how Adolf’s influence prevented the Munich government from acting more harshly against him, despite the Brownshirts’ recent violence.
• The chapter described how the economic crisis strengthened the German National Party, the Labor Party, and other groups opposed to the German government.
• Adolf told his followers to expand the party in northern Germany and prepare to enter the cabinet, aiming to become Imperial Chancellor rather than overthrow the monarchy.

Wilhelm II and Hindenburg debated how to address Germany’s economic crisis, with Hindenburg proposing support for the German National Party as a weapon against the Labor Party. Wilhelm II reluctantly accepted the plan, fearing that the Junker group had outgrown his control and that Adolf might bring disaster to Germany.

• Wilhelm II asked Hindenburg how the Empire should respond to mass bank failures, business collapses, unemployment, and rising Labor Party activity.
• Hindenburg recommended supporting landowners, large businesses, and banks while intensifying repression of the Labor Party and workers.
• Hindenburg urged Wilhelm II to back Adolf and the German National Party, arguing that they could draw working-class support away from the Labor Party.
• Wilhelm II warned that Adolf was radical and unreliable, while Hindenburg dismissed him as a useful tool against the Labor Party.
• Wilhelm II recognized that the Junker group controlled Germany’s military and could sideline both him and Adolf, but he reluctantly agreed to Hindenburg’s plan.

Brauns and East Africa’s Water Conservancy Expert Group selected Plan B for the Cahora Bassa Dam so it could support a massive ship lock and improve navigation on the Zambezi River. They planned a reservoir holding more than seventy billion cubic meters and emphasized careful, high-quality construction to protect downstream communities, especially Tete City.

• Brauns explained that Plan A was cheaper and easier, but Plan B near the gorge’s eastern exit was needed to improve Zambezi River navigation.
• Brauns described plans to build the Empire’s largest ship lock on stable ground beside the gorge, drawing on East Africa’s engineering experience and the Panama Canal locks.
• Brauns warned that the reservoir’s immense capacity and the dam’s navigation requirements made construction exceptionally difficult and demanded rigorous safety standards.
• Brauns noted that Tete City and the lower Zambezi plains faced risks from a dam failure, while the completed project would provide power, water, flood control, and new transport links.
• Brauns said the project should prioritize safety over speed and could take at least ten years to complete.

Crown Prince Friedrich reported on the Cahora Bassa Hydroelectric Power Station, and Ernst outlined how it would support Tete City and a future Zambezi River economic corridor. Ernst then described East Africa’s Seventh Five-Year Plan for transportation, emphasizing river shipping, railway electrification, expressways, and aviation, with the sparsely populated southwest as an aviation testing ground.

• Friedrich told Ernst that the Cahora Bassa Hydroelectric Power Station had entered implementation, would employ over fifty thousand workers, and would boost Tete City’s economy.
• Ernst and Friedrich discussed how improved Zambezi and tributary navigation could connect Xindai city, Tete City, and Lusaka in a major economic belt.
• Ernst said East Africa would continue developing power grids and railway electrification while making expressway construction a focus of the Seventh Five-Year Plan.
• Ernst identified aviation as a new transportation priority and proposed using the sparsely populated southwest to test aircraft and build the aviation industry.
• Ernst told Friedrich that aviation would become a major transportation mode alongside railways, roads, and water transport, and that East Africa needed to preserve its advantage in the industry.

At the Bulawayo Flight Test Range, Director Heinoan demonstrated the FT01, East Africa’s first successful jet aircraft, to military officers and rival researchers. Its strong speed, maneuverability, and climbing performance won interest from the air force, army, and navy, while Rhine City’s institute remained eager to complete its own project.

• Heinoan introduced the FT01 experimental aircraft and explained its turbofan engine and the advantages of jet propulsion to military observers.
• Major General Tauplitz urged Heinoan to prove the aircraft’s claims with a flight demonstration before discussing cooperation.
• The FT01 took off successfully, and Tauplitz and the other military officers observed its speed, maneuverability, and climbing ability.
• Tauplitz praised the aircraft’s performance, and the army and navy representatives offered to cooperate with Heinoan’s institute and the Bulawayo Aircraft Manufacturing Plant.
• Kyodian congratulated Heinoan but said the Rhine City Aircraft Research Institute’s jet project was nearing completion, while Heinoan promised to visit and encouraged the institutes to advance together.

Heinoan presented the FT01 jet aircraft program as a foundation for East Africa’s future military aviation, while Friedrich and Ernst discussed how the economic crisis created an opportunity to recruit foreign talent and immigrants. Ernst directed East Africa to focus recruitment on Europe and support the Kingdom of Southern Germany’s efforts, and Friedrich said its government had already requested help.

• Heinoan told military representatives that the FT01 could guide the development of high-performance aircraft for the Army, Navy, and Air Force.
• Friedrich reported that the Soviet Union had sharply increased research spending and recruited foreign experts as the economic crisis left skilled workers unemployed.
• Ernst agreed that East Africa should recruit both skilled professionals and ordinary immigrants, especially to address population shortages in its overseas colonies.
• Friedrich agreed to focus immigration efforts on Germany and the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and Ernst asked him to offer assistance to the Kingdom of Southern Germany.
• Friedrich told Ernst that the Kingdom of Southern Germany had requested East Africa’s help recruiting European immigrants, including Italians.

East Africa sought to expand its influence in West Africa while keeping the Kingdom of Southern Germany dependent and contained. In Ubangi Province, a government crackdown on rainforest logging caught Frank after he ignored the new rules, and the campaign significantly curbed illegal logging.

• Ernst called for the Kingdom of Southern Germany to grow its population and for East Africa to strengthen its foothold in West Africa through Togoland.
• Walter explained the new logging restrictions to Frank and warned that aircraft could expose illegal forest clearing.
• Frank dismissed the warning, continued logging, and moved his workers between rainforest sites to evade patrols.
• After Frank boasted about escaping detection, a resentful peer reported him to the Forestry Resources Bureau.
• The bureau arrested Frank red-handed, fined him heavily, and used his case as a warning that helped reduce indiscriminate logging in Ubangi Province.

Hans Leighton reported that collapsing agricultural prices and Britain’s withdrawal of capital had pushed Argentina toward bankruptcy, while Crown Prince Friedrich pointed to East Africa’s more balanced agricultural policies as protection against the crisis. The chapter left Argentina facing economic and political turmoil, with industrialization presented as its lost chance to escape dependence on agriculture.

• Hans Leighton reported that international wheat prices had fallen by more than half since early 1929, with Argentina, Australia, and Canada suffering the heaviest losses.
• Hans Leighton said Argentina’s wheat, beef, and corn exports had collapsed as British capital fled, reserves dried up, the peso depreciated, and unemployment exceeded twenty-five percent.
• Crown Prince Friedrich said Argentina’s dependence on agriculture and international markets showed why East Africa’s ecological protections and diversified agricultural structure were sound policies.
• Hans Leighton argued that resolving the agricultural crisis required reducing supply and expanding demand, while Argentina lacked the industrial power to control either its export markets or its economy.
• The chapter contrasted Argentina’s failure to industrialize with the Soviet Union’s effort to build industry despite difficult conditions, identifying industrial development as the route out of agricultural dependence.