Chapter Summaries

East Africa established three new administrative districts after acquiring territory around the Great Lakes and west of Lake Turkana, and renamed the original Great Lakes Region. The chapter ended with the Northern District, North Great Lakes District, and West Great Lakes District established, while the old Great Lakes Region became the East Great Lakes District.

• Ernst grouped Northern Kenya and the Omo River basin into the Northern District, with its capital at Omorate Town.
• East Africa expanded into the Omo River basin while the Abyssinian Empire was occupied by Britain and then embroiled in a political crisis.
• East Africa established the West Great Lakes District, with Bujumbura as its capital, and the North Great Lakes District, with Kampala as its capital.
• East Africa renamed the original Great Lakes Region the East Great Lakes District.

The East African colony relied on thousands of enslaved natives for coal mining, construction, and other strenuous work, while immigrants handled skilled tasks and military duties. Mbeya’s low-cost coal was stored for East Africa’s future needs, and the chapter left the colony continuing to use slaves on major projects while assigning settled farmland and other responsibilities to immigrants.

• East African overseers set native laborers fixed quotas and punished those who failed to meet them with whippings and reduced rations.
• More than three thousand enslaved natives worked in Mbeya’s coal mine, carrying coal and performing other rough labor while immigrants maintained the mine supports.
• The East African colony stored Mbeya’s coal across the region because local demand was limited and exporting it to Europe was not worthwhile.
• East Africa used enslaved natives for strenuous work on major projects, then left immigrants to manage developed farmland, serve in the military, and help expand the colony.

Abrag bought a group of enslaved natives at Dar es Salaam Port and prepared to ship them overseas with other cargo. The chapter explained how Zanzibar merchants adapted their slave-trading routes and methods as European abolitionist pressure increased, while relying on East African goods and impoverished colonial populations for profit.

• Abrag took delivery of a batch of slaves and ordered his men to chain them and lead them toward the docks.
• Zanzibar enforcers used beatings and curses to distract the slaves from their fear of leaving Africa and keep them obedient.
• Abrag instructed his men to separate the slaves from his goods and protect the cargo from damage and damp.
• As European powers seized slave ships, Zanzibar and Arab merchants repackaged slave voyages as labor-import trips and reduced the number of people carried aboard.
• Zanzibar merchants used their trade networks and bribes to obtain people from impoverished colonial regions, exchanging goods for women and other captives.

The Hohenzollern Conglomerate established a cigarette factory in Mbeya to process East African tobacco locally, reducing costs and opening markets around the Indian Ocean. The factory was nearing completion, while the company continued importing tobacco from other countries and avoided antagonizing foreign maritime powers.

• The Hohenzollern Conglomerate used East African timber and agricultural goods as raw materials and exports, though timber sales brought little profit.
• On August 11, 1868, immigrant workers and German engineers built a European-style factory workshop in Mbeya.
• Ernst's plans made Mbeya the site of East Africa's first industrial cigarette factory because nearby tobacco farms and coal could supply it.
• The Hohenzollern Conglomerate planned to sell locally made cigarettes to immigrants, Zanzibar merchants, Arab merchants, and markets around the Indian Ocean.
• The Hohenzollern Conglomerate continued buying tobacco from foreign merchants because East Africa could not yet meet Europe's demand and German ships could not challenge the naval powers.

Ernst secured German support for the East African Agricultural Research Institute and recruited Professor Anton Perutz to lead its tropical crop research. Perutz set off for East Africa, where Daniel Zhang explained the colony’s German-centered assimilation policy and its claimed population of nearly two million Germans.

• Ernst and Professor Anton Perutz celebrated the agreement establishing the East African Agricultural Research Institute, which the Hohenzollern Conglomerate funded with eight experimental sites.
• Ernst promised to support Perutz’s team and families and framed their work as preparation for Germany’s future overseas expansion.
• Several days later, Daniel Zhang met Perutz at the Port of Hamburg and escorted him aboard the Mary for the voyage to East Africa.
• Perutz questioned Daniel about the Germans traveling to the colony, and Daniel said East Africa had nearly two million Germans because residents who embraced German culture were classified as German.
• Daniel told Perutz that he was German and had graduated from Hechingen Military Academy, leaving Perutz uneasy but accepting the colony’s German-centered assimilation policy.

East African immigrants began planting Brazilian rubber saplings around the Great Lakes under the guidance of Albert Verga, while the colony planned a large plantation for future strategic use. Albert explained how rubber was grown and tapped, and preparations continued for compulsory education in the new districts.

• The East African Agricultural Research Institute began operating after Professor Anton Perutz's team arrived, and immigrants started planting rubber saplings in the North Great Lakes District.
• Albert Verga instructed the workers on spacing, drainage, and the warm, rainy conditions rubber trees needed.
• Albert explained that rubber was collected by cutting the trees and gathering their sap, and said the saplings would take six or seven years to mature.
• East Africa planned to establish a ten-thousand-mu rubber plantation and gradually expand it around the Great Lakes.
• The colony prepared German teachers and planned to begin adult education in the three newly established districts.

New immigrants attended German language lessons and common-knowledge classes in East Africa, where Lovos Ryan taught them practical phrases and rules for adapting to the colony. The lesson ended with the government’s strict expectations for hygiene, conduct, and religious belief.

• The immigrants arrived at the temporary school and practiced basic German phrases under Lovos Ryan’s instruction.
• The school assigned language classes by background, using some Austro-Hungarian immigrants as teachers and focusing adult lessons on spoken German.
• Lovos Ryan explained East Africa’s climate and warned the immigrants about disease, mosquitoes, sanitation, and unsafe food and water.
• Lovos Ryan defended the rules after a student questioned their necessity, explaining that cleanliness and precautions helped keep the colony safe.
• The lesson outlined the East African government’s goal of reshaping immigrants’ habits and limiting superstition and other practices that could disrupt its policies.

Ernst and Prince Constantin discussed Spain’s vacant throne and decided that Hechingen should avoid the risks of becoming involved. The Spanish offer passed to Prince Leopold of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen, who remained uncertain as France loomed over the decision.

• The East African Colonial Government continued building roads and drainage canals to improve transport and manage rainwater.
• Prince Constantin asked Ernst about the news of Elizabeth II of Spain fleeing to France and the vacant Spanish throne.
• Ernst argued that Spain’s political instability and French influence made its throne a dangerous prospect, while East Africa offered better prospects.
• Constantin and Ernst agreed that Hechingen had no interest in Spain and cited Maximilian I’s experience in East Africa as a warning.
• The Spanish government chose the House of Hohenzollern, and the matter passed to Prince Leopold of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen, who remained torn.

Tom visited Isabella II and Alfonso XII in Paris on behalf of the Hechingen Royal Family, offering sympathy, gifts, and support for their eventual return to Spain. He blamed the United States for Spain’s troubles and linked it to the Cuban uprising, leaving the former queen and her son convinced that America had helped their enemies.

• Tom offered Isabella II and Alfonso XII the Hechingen Royal Family’s condolences and a gift, and Isabella urged Alfonso to remember their friends.
• Tom claimed Spain’s decline stemmed from the loss of overseas interests and blamed the United States for weakening Spain.
• Tom told Isabella II and Alfonso XII that the Cuban uprising had begun days after the Spanish rebellion and suggested the two were connected.
• Isabella II and Alfonso XII accepted Tom’s suspicions and accused the United States of colluding with Spain’s rebels.

Ernst inspected the Hohenzollern Conglomerate’s French branch in Marseille and reviewed its business practices and expansion. Meanwhile, Tom traveled to Paris to approach Alfonso XII, and Ernst planned to continue his own French trip there after reconnecting with the Hechingen family’s old friends.

• Tom traveled to Paris after preparing to speak with Alfonso XII, whom Isabella II had brought from Spain.
• Ernst arrived in Marseille with a large security detail and went to the Hohenzollern Conglomerate’s French branch instead of resting.
• Ernst’s specialists examined the branch’s accounts and performance, found no major problems, and satisfied him with the results.
• Ernst praised Carlyle and reminded the staff that customer service and product quality were important to the company’s success.
• The chapter explained how the Hohenzollern Conglomerate used certified retail outlets, anti-counterfeiting measures, and locally named supermarkets to build its European business.

Ernst traveled from Marseille to Paris to reconnect the Hechingen Royal Family with its old French allies and meet influential nobles. After three days of visits, the family’s French network had been reestablished, leaving it better positioned to exchange support and information.

• Ernst praised the Marseille branch’s work, rewarded strong employees, addressed shortcomings, and departed for Paris via Lyon.
• On October 18, 1868, Ernst arrived in Paris and visited Count Jacob Medina, an old comrade of his grandfather, and Baron Jaime Medina.
• Ernst told Count Jacob Medina that he had come at his father’s instruction to visit old friends, and the count asked him to convey greetings to Constantin.
• Ernst spent three days visiting the Hechingen Royal Family’s former French partners, many of whom had died, and renewed ties with those who remained.
• Ernst also visited nobles from different factions, including the Bonaparte family, to rebuild connections and improve the family’s access to information.

Giovanni persuaded Mikhail to accept a bottle of Romantic Paris wine and promoted its supposed history, quality, and prestige while negotiating a labor deal. Mikhail believed the pitch and considered buying the wine, unaware that Romantic Paris and Wrangler vodka were both Hohenzollern Conglomerate brands built on fabricated stories and clever marketing.

• Mikhail bargained with Giovanni over payment for fifty-seven workers, and Giovanni offered a bottle of Romantic Paris wine and two bottles of Wrangler vodka while keeping their agreed price.
• Mikhail tasted the wine and said he preferred the stronger Wrangler vodka, so Giovanni described Romantic Paris as a prestigious wine with an ancient origin and a European gold medal.
• Giovanni claimed the wine was sold in Moscow and cost six rubles for a mid-range bottle, with pricier and rare editions also available.
• Mikhail believed Giovanni's claims and decided he might buy Romantic Paris for himself, though he still considered Wrangler sufficient for guests.
• The narration revealed that Romantic Paris's history and award were fabricated, its production was based in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and Wrangler vodka was also a Hohenzollern Conglomerate product marketed to Russians.

Mikhail and Giovanni arranged the transport of bankrupt peasants from Tsarist Russia to East Africa, where the Hohenzollern Conglomerate sought cheap labor. In Saint Petersburg, Giovanni taught Maxim how to recruit more people from the countryside through local nobles and landlords.

• Mikhail sent Giovanni away with peasants impoverished by Russia’s land system, debt, and taxes.
• The Hohenzollern Conglomerate bought Russian laborers in planned batches, paying more for men than women and limiting the number brought to East Africa.
• Giovanni brought his recruits to Saint Petersburg and Maxim asked how he had found so many people.
• Giovanni demanded three meals in exchange for his advice, and Maxim reluctantly agreed.
• Giovanni told Maxim to build ties with rural nobles and landlords, who could direct indebted villagers and surplus sons toward recruitment.

The Tsarist Russian immigrants sailed from Saint Petersburg toward East Africa while instructor Akhtman ordered them to abandon their Russian identity, language, and Orthodox faith. The immigrants accepted the demands, leaving their future in the colony uncertain but prepared to adapt.

• Maxim agreed to share a meal with his companion after they finished their work at the docks.
• The ship carrying the Tsarist Russian immigrants departed Saint Petersburg with immigration instructors aboard.
• Akhtman told the immigrants to forget Russia and adopt the colony’s identity, warning that they would not receive fair treatment otherwise.
• Akhtman praised Alexander II and argued that the immigrants had been treated as property in Russia, then demanded they abandon Russian customs and the Orthodox Church.
• The immigrants did not resist Akhtman; most accepted that they would have to change, including those who had private reservations about religion.

East African immigrants burned grasslands and killed local wildlife to clear settlements and reduce the threat of animal diseases and parasites. The chapter ended with the carcasses burned and the scorched plains awaiting the rainy season, when East African livestock would graze there instead.

• East African colonists set fires across Northern Kenya and shot animals to clear land for settlement and farming.
• Ernst regarded the destruction of wildlife as necessary to disrupt disease and parasite habitats before introducing livestock.
• Andre warned Porter Yang against eating wild game, citing the risks of tropical diseases and parasites.
• By evening, the immigrants doused collected animal carcasses with fuel oil and burned them.
• The grasslands lay blackened, awaiting new grass and livestock after the rainy season.

Technicians demonstrated East Africa’s first wind-powered gristmill in Karatu, showing residents how it ground wheat into flour and explaining the uses of windmills. The colony planned to expand windmill construction to reduce reliance on scarce labor and costly steam engines.

• Technicians started the windmill gristmill in Karatu and announced that it was ready to operate.
• A technician and two residents fed wheat into the mill, and the wind-driven millstones ground it into crude flour.
• A Bavarian immigrant described windmill flour-making, while a Dutch technician explained how windmills had powered industries and reclaimed land in the Netherlands.
• The chapter explained that East Africa’s villages had relied on hand-powered mills and native labor, and that windmills could free workers for other projects.
• The colony favored locally supplied windmills over expensive steam engines, while American windmills were described as using more metal parts.

Professor Anton Perutz arrived in East Africa and encountered its widespread use of Prussian military uniforms, while the colony kept its ports open to foreign shipping and guarded its inland regions from outside scrutiny. The chapter left East Africa maintaining its isolation as it expanded, with foreign traders confined to border markets and the ports of Dar es Salaam and Mombasa.

• First Town annexed neighboring Second Town as the colonial capital and Central District grew.
• Second Town residents saw new arrivals and recognized that they were unlike the immigrants who had first settled there.
• Professor Anton Perutz arrived in Dar es Salaam and later encountered East Africa’s uniformed residents inland.
• Ernst kept Dar es Salaam and Mombasa open to international shipping while reserving other ports for the Hohenzollern Conglomerate.
• Arab merchants and slave traders waited at border markets as East Africa’s terrain and indigenous tribes limited access to its interior.

Professor Anton Perutz oversaw the construction of an agricultural research base in Second Town and began teaching trainees about East Africa’s soil and agricultural potential. He left them with a theory that tropical rainfall carried away soil nutrients, which future experiments would need to test.

• Professor Anton Perutz inspected the rapidly growing experimental base built with Second Town’s land and labor.
• Professor Anton Perutz’s team established fields, water systems, laboratories, dormitories, and gardens across the site beside the Little Rhine River.
• Professor Anton Perutz taught trainees that East Africa’s agricultural potential was limited chiefly by soil fertility.
• Professor Anton Perutz theorized that water carried nutrients away from tropical soil and said experiments were needed to verify his explanation.

Ernst began reforming Hechingen Military Academy to turn it from a crash-course school into a professional military institution for East Africa. He planned to retain qualified students, strengthen the curriculum and teaching staff, and build proper training grounds.

• Professor Anton Perutz's team was assigned to pursue scientific research while also finding ways to improve East African crops and agricultural yields.
• Ernst decided to restore Hechingen Military Academy's three-year program, revise its textbooks, recruit experienced instructors, and establish specialized training grounds.
• Ernst prepared an examination to remove students who were too young or unqualified, sending younger failures back to Hechingen Cultural School and older ones to East Africa for work.
• Ernst planned to recruit instructors from smaller German states and have his father set aside land in western Hechingen for military drills and live-fire training.

On November 11, 1868, Prince Constantin and Ernst presided over a public review of Hechingen Military Academy’s first high-quality cadet class. The impressive parade marked the start of the academy’s shift toward better education and training, while its real capabilities remained unproven.

• Hechingen Military Academy’s instructors warned the cadets to avoid mistakes during the public review, and the students assembled in Hechingen army uniforms.
• Prince Constantin welcomed the guests and spoke about Hechingen’s history, while Ernst announced that the academy would prioritize quality over rapid expansion.
• The military band played the Prussian anthem and the academy’s school anthem as eleven formations marched past the review stand in goose-step with Dreyse rifles.
• The Prussian Military Commander praised the cadets’ appearance and training in public but later reported that they lacked experience and could not match the Kingdom’s army.
• Ernst regarded the review as only the beginning of the academy’s reforms, with the cadets’ abilities to be tested in two years.