Chapter Summaries

On November 14, 1934, the United Government army captured Budapest after a costly assault, and East African agents spirited the unconscious Emperor Rudolf away. Germany and Italy then continued their offensives across the Austro-Hungarian Empire, while Britain and France intervened to push for negotiations.

• Emperor Rudolf rejected Krajato’s hope that German troops would rescue Budapest and insisted the city had to hold to strengthen the Empire’s position.
• Csasobur ordered the United Government army to attack Budapest before winter and launched a mass assault on November 14.
• United Government troops breached Budapest’s defenses, routed the garrison, and drove Krajato to escort the unconscious Rudolf toward the palace.
• Krajato refused East African agents’ offer to escape, while the agents disguised Rudolf and flew him out of Budapest.
• Germany captured Budapest within five days, occupied Vienna on December 12, and established a puppet government as Italy fought to take Venice.
• Britain and France called for negotiations among Germany, Italy, and Yugoslavia, and Adolf had to consider their demands.

Dalmatia’s parliament voted to declare independence and considered choosing a Habsburg monarch to secure its legitimacy, prompting it to seek help from East Africa. There, the rescued Emperor Rudolf learned that the Austro-Hungarian Empire was nearing collapse and lamented his failure as emperor.

• Karen argued that Dalmatia should declare independence, while Will warned that separation would expose it to Italy and Yugoslavia.
• Most representatives backed independence, and Kollath announced that the motion had passed with more than 130 votes in favor and only three against.
• Taher argued that Dalmatia should retain a monarchy and choose a Habsburg, then proposed contacting East Africa about Archduke Ferdinand and other possible heirs.
• Dalmatia’s government began contacting East Africa for assistance as the empire’s war neared its final stages.
• Ernst visited the recovering Rudolf in Bangui and described the Austro-Hungarian Empire’s military collapse and the rise of Germany, Italy, and Yugoslavia.
• Rudolf said that even if the empire survived, it would be a German puppet, and called himself a failure as emperor.

Rudolf declined to take the Dalmatian throne and authorized another Habsburg to rule the newly independent kingdom. Archduke Charles became Karl I, and Dalmatia established its capital in Split while securing recognition and agreements with East Africa.

• Ernst offered Rudolf the chance to rule Dalmatia, but Rudolf declined and authorized a Habsburg family member to take the throne.
• Archduke Ferdinand of East Africa convened the Habsburg family, where Archduke Ferdinand of the Austro-Hungarian Empire withdrew and supported Archduke Charles as the candidate.
• Archduke Ferdinand of East Africa advised Charles to rule cautiously, remain neutral where possible, and prepare for disputes with Yugoslavia.
• At the end of 1934, Archduke Charles traveled to Dalmatia, where the government welcomed him and planned his coronation for the following year.
• Dalmatia chose Split as its capital, and Rudolf issued an edict appointing Charles, who became Karl I.
• Britain, France, and East Africa recognized Dalmatia, and Karl I signed agreements with East Africa, including the Dubrovnik Port Lease Treaty.

Adolf and Benito negotiated over Italy’s territorial claims after Germany took control of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, eventually setting the Tagliamento River as their border. Germany and Italy then pressed Yugoslavia to surrender territory, while Dalmatia secured recognition of its independence; Germany prepared to annex the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

• Benito demanded that Italy receive East Lombardy, Venice, Trieste, and the Istrian Peninsula, while Goebbels rejected most of Italy’s claims.
• Adolf proposed using the prewar border and military occupations as a basis for a compromise, and Benito agreed to keep negotiating while insisting on East Lombardy and Venice.
• After two weeks of talks, Germany and Italy agreed that territory west of the Tagliamento River would go to Italy and territory east of it would remain with the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
• Benito accepted Germany’s demand for Italian cooperation on Yugoslavia and resistance to British and French pressure.
• Dalmatia secured tacit recognition of its independence by selling some non-core interests to Germany and Italy, while Yugoslavia surrendered most of Slovenia in exchange for recognition of its remaining territories.
• Germany and Italy turned their attention to Yugoslavia and Dalmatia, and Germany began preparing to annex the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

Crown Prince Friedrich and Ernst assessed how Germany’s annexation of the Austro-Hungarian Empire would increase its population, resources, industry, and military power. They concluded that Germany would gain major strategic advantages, including new Mediterranean and Black Sea routes, while Britain and the Soviet Union remained potential rivals.

• Germany’s merger with the Austro-Hungarian Empire was expected to create a Greater German Empire of more than one hundred million people, with Germans making up over 70 percent of its population.
• Adolf and Frauenfeld announced that the Austrian National Party would merge with the German National Party, preparing politically for the countries’ unification.
• France strengthened the Maginot Line while the Soviet Union viewed German-Austrian unification as a growing threat.
• Crown Prince Friedrich told Ernst that the annexation would greatly expand Germany’s steel output, resource access, food supply, and industrial capacity.
• Friedrich explained that Germany would gain new trade and transport links through Trieste, the Danube and Black Sea, and its ties with the Ottoman Empire and Italy.
• Friedrich said Germany would inherit Austro-Hungarian shipyards, Mediterranean ports, and a navy that would bring its fleet tonnage close to Japan’s.

Crown Prince Friedrich and Ernst assessed the threats Germany posed to East Africa after annexing the Austro-Hungarian Empire, including its naval and industrial growth. They also considered Europe’s changing balance of power, with Italy replacing Spain among the great powers.

• Crown Prince Friedrich warned that Germany might spread extreme nationalist ideas in East Africa, and Ernst called for vigilance against its supporters.
• Friedrich explained that Germany could upgrade the Austro-Hungarian shipbuilding industry, while East Africa’s geography made a German naval attack difficult.
• Friedrich compared Germany’s enlarged industrial and military capacity with that of other powers and noted that unified Italy had become a great power.
• Friedrich argued that Spain had fallen below regional-power status and that Italy had replaced it as the Great Power Gatekeeper.
• Friedrich described Italy’s gains in East Lombardy, Venice, and the Po River Plain as boosts to its industry, food supply, and war potential.

Ernst and Crown Prince Friedrich discussed how German-Austrian unification and closer ties with Italy, Spain, and the Ottoman Empire could create a powerful bloc and threaten Europe’s balance. They judged that Spain’s Nationalists were likely to win, while the Ottoman Empire was recovering under Kemal, leaving East Africa wary of religious influence spreading across the region.

• Ernst warned that German-Austrian unification and Germany’s growing ties with Italy and Japan could bring the world closer to a dangerous conflict.
• Crown Prince Friedrich and Ernst assessed Spain’s rival factions and concluded that Franco’s Nationalists were more likely to win because they were more united and had German and Italian backing.
• Ernst predicted that a Nationalist victory would bring Franco to power and align Spain with Germany and Italy against the Soviet Union, though Franco’s loyalty to Germany remained uncertain.
• Ernst compared Spain with the Ottoman Empire and said Spain’s decline contrasted with the Ottoman Empire’s recovery under Kemal’s economic and modernization policies.
• Ernst noted that East Africa wanted the Ottoman Empire to continue secularizing and accepted progressive and Soviet influence in the Middle East to contain the expansion of Arab religious influence.

Major General Cheng An inspected Jiaofu Town and explained why East Africa would pivot from Central and Eastern Europe toward the Mediterranean market as upheavals and industrial competition weakened its former trade hubs. He left the officers with orders to protect the North African Railway, a military-backed route for expanding East African influence across North Africa.

• Major General Cheng An inspected Jiaofu Town’s facilities and garrison, praised their work, and ordered Lieutenant Karls to address lax discipline and maintain the outposts.
• Major General Cheng An warned that upheaval in the Austro-Hungarian Empire and German influence would further damage East African trade in Central and Eastern Europe.
• Major General Cheng An argued that Italy and the wider Mediterranean market could replace some lost trade, since East Africa had more influence and military reach there.
• Major General Cheng An identified Jiaofu Town and the North African Railway as key parts of East Africa’s military presence and ordered the officers to secure the railway corridor and maintain its equipment.

East Africa acquired Spain’s outpost at Dahla in Western Sahara to establish a foothold on the Northwest African coast, despite its remote, barren conditions. Lieutenant Leipzig and his men took possession of the site and faced the challenge of surviving there while East Africa planned a military port and supply base.

• East Africa and Spain finalized a deal in late 1934, selling Villa Cisneros, or Dahla, to East Africa for a nominal price.
• Lieutenant Leipzig arrived at Dakhla Castle with a little over a hundred East African officers and soldiers and found the peninsula barren and isolated.
• Kerlen explained that Dahla gave East Africa its first military foothold on the Northwest African coast, where other colonial powers had blocked access to ports.
• Leipzig and Kerlen discussed the lack of shelter, supplies, and a developed port, and Leipzig’s group planned to stay aboard their ships while guarding the outpost.
• East Africa planned to build a port, barracks, power system, and airfield at Dahla, which could serve military forces and merchant ships traveling to Europe.

Ernst and Crown Prince Friedrich discussed East Africa’s plans to expand along Northwest Africa, using Port of Dakhla and economic influence to strengthen its position while avoiding a premature clash with European powers. They concluded that the United States was East Africa’s main obstacle in the Atlantic and that their rivalry would likely spread toward the North Atlantic.

• Ernst explained that Port of Dakhla would strengthen the Imperial Navy’s control of the South Atlantic and help East Africa monitor European shipping.
• Crown Prince Friedrich regretted that East Africa could not secure Cape Verde, which could link its Atlantic bases and raise the cost of American support for Liberia.
• Ernst urged patience in Northwest Africa, arguing that East Africa should expand economically and culturally without pushing Britain and France toward the United States.
• Ernst described the United States as East Africa’s leading competitor, citing their disputes over trade, Liberia, and influence in the Atlantic.
• Ernst said East Africa intended to use Northwest Africa as a springboard toward Europe and to benefit from European conflicts.
• Crown Prince Friedrich warned that East African-American disputes would expand from South America to the Caribbean and Northwest Africa, and could eventually reach the North Atlantic.

After East Africa occupied Dahla, the United States accelerated construction in Liberia to strengthen its position in the North Atlantic. At Monrovia’s port, American contractor Magna pressed foreman Begel to speed work, while their exchange exposed the exploitative labor system and Liberia’s role as an American outpost against East Africa.

• East Africa announced its occupation of Dahla and began transporting construction materials, supplies, and workers there under naval escort as American activity increased in Liberia.
• At Monrovia’s port, Begel whipped native laborers to make them work, and Magna told him not to beat them so severely that they died.
• Begel defended his abuse of the workers and praised American culture, while Magna mocked his eagerness to please white Americans.
• Magna ordered Begel to find more workers and complete the port before April of the following year, explaining that East Africa’s expansion into Dahla had alarmed the United States.
• Begel promised Liberia would support America against East Africa, and Magna dismissed Liberia’s people while valuing the country chiefly for its strategic location.

Magna warned Begel that East African expansion threatened Liberia and urged him to keep the country aligned with the United States. Meanwhile, East African officers assessed the new American port at Monrovia and the strategic value of their newly acquired territory at Dahla, leaving the contest for influence in Northwest Africa unresolved.

• Magna told Begel that East Africa had driven Black populations from regions under its influence and warned that Liberia might face the same threat.
• Magna urged Begel’s government to follow the United States and rely on American troops in Monrovia for protection.
• Thälmann observed the rapid construction of the American naval port at Monrovia, while Christine contrasted its favorable conditions with Dahla’s harsh environment.
• Thälmann argued that East Africa’s purchase of Dahla gave it secure overseas territory and a foothold in the valuable Northwest African Fishery.
• Christine noted that building a usable harbor at Dahla would be costly, and Thälmann insisted investment was necessary to compete with the United States for influence in Northwest Africa.

Thälmann and Christine assessed Germany as East Africa’s most dangerous potential European rival, especially over North Africa, the Middle East, and the Indian Ocean. At Dahla, they watched East Africa’s modernized port construction and concluded that it would become a model for future overseas bases, while the Sunset patrolled nearby waters.

• Thälmann warned that Germany could exert greater influence in Northwest Africa than East Africa and that a German-led Europe would threaten the Empire.
• Christine argued that Germany’s colonial grievances, racial policies, and ambitions in North Africa and the Middle East could turn it into East Africa’s potential enemy.
• Thälmann and Christine observed the busy construction of Port of Dahla, where East African warships, dredgers, engineering vessels, and machinery supported the project.
• Thälmann contrasted Dahla’s mechanized construction with the United States’ reliance on exploited Liberian labor at Monrovia and predicted Dahla would be completed first.
• Christine and Thälmann said Dahla’s equipment-intensive construction would serve as a model for East Africa’s future overseas bases in harsh, sparsely populated regions.

On May 7, 1935, Germany annexed the Austro-Hungarian Empire and proclaimed the Greater German Empire, using the legacy of the Holy Roman Empire to justify the union. The new superpower drew cautious or friendly reactions from most nations, while the Soviet Union and France worried about its growing strength.

• Adolf addressed German and Austro-Hungarian representatives in Berlin, presenting their merger as the return of two nations to the Holy Roman Empire’s embrace.
• Representatives acclaimed the founding of the Greater German Empire, and newspapers worldwide reported the creation of a state with more than 120 million people.
• East African coverage welcomed Germany’s rise, while Pravda condemned the annexation and warned that it threatened the Soviet Union.
• The chapter compared the six world superpowers and described Japan and Italy as falling short of their industrial and strategic strength.
• French voices split between opposing Germany, seeking reconciliation, and urging cooperation against the Soviet Union; British media called on Germany to preserve peace, especially at sea.
• After Germany completed the annexation with little opposition, neighboring European states and countries farther abroad adjusted their diplomacy toward the stronger empire.

East African naval officers discussed their control of the Sunda Strait from Port of Nanning and the Empire’s ambitions in the Nanyang region. East Africa had secured the strait’s northern shore, but still needed to protect its position while competing with other powers for regional influence.

• Japan’s expansion in the Far East was described as a useful way for East Africa to draw it into conflict with other powers.
• East Africa strengthened its military presence at Billiton Island and leased land from the Netherlands along the northern shore of the Sunda Strait.
• Colonel Hyde and Lieutenant Colonel Winst reviewed how Port of Nanning, Sangiang Island, Panaitan Island, and nearby land gave East Africa control of the strait.
• Hyde and Winst discussed keeping the Dutch East Indies divided and preventing Java, India, or other regional territories from becoming major powers.
• Hyde said East Africa could not yet dictate affairs across the Nanyang region, despite controlling the Sunda Strait, and noted that the Strait of Malacca remained the preferred route for most ships.

East Africa reinforced its defenses around the Sunda Strait and used Australian resource development and Japanese media influence to encourage Japan to favor southern expansion. A July 1935 Yomiuri Shimbun debate promoted the navy’s Nanyang strategy, but Japan still hesitated to act while Britain and France remained at peace.

• Colonel Hyde and Lieutenant Colonel Winst explained how East Africa’s defenses at Kittibang, Sangiang Island, Port of Nanning, and Billiton Island could protect the Sunda Strait.
• East Africa developed Australian mines and exported resources to Japan to make Australia seem like a tempting source of supplies for Japanese expansion.
• East Africa increased its influence in Japanese media and cultural circles, supporting militarist arguments for expansion into Nanyang.
• On July 5, 1935, the Yomiuri Shimbun argued that Japan should prioritize naval strength and seize Nanyang’s resources before making further plans in the Far East.
• Japan’s leaders remained wary of confronting East Africa, the United States, Britain, and France, and waited for Germany to distract Britain and France.

Yosef and Soviet leaders responded to Germany’s growing threat by proposing to move vulnerable industries east and establish wartime reserve capitals. They chose Gubyshev as the first reserve capital and Sverdlovsk as the final fallback, leaving plans for the Soviet strategic rear under discussion.

• Yosef warned that Germany and its allies threatened the Soviet Union across a vast western front and called for industries in eastern Ukraine, Moscow, and Leningrad to be relocated east.
• Yosef proposed selecting a wartime reserve capital to take over Moscow’s functions if the capital came under threat.
• Voroshilov recommended Kazan as the reserve capital because of its distance from Moscow, transportation links, and industrial base.
• Egorov argued that Gubyshev was safer than Kazan from future German air attacks and better placed to coordinate resources in the rear.
• A Soviet official proposed Sverdlovsk for its distance from Germany and strategic position, but Yosef said it was too far away to be the first reserve capital.
• Yosef selected Gubyshev as the first wartime reserve capital and designated Sverdlovsk as the backup if both Moscow and Gubyshev fell.

Yosef outlined Soviet plans to relocate key industries, prepare for war with Germany, and support forces opposing German expansion, including the Spanish Republicans. In Rhine City, Friedrich reported that the Spanish Civil War would become a proving ground for Soviet and German weapons, while Ernst said he still favored the more unified Nationalist faction.

• Yosef argued that the Soviet Union needed to build a strategic industrial rear in Gubyshev and complete its industrial relocation within five years.
• Yosef urged support for anti-German forces in the former Austro-Hungarian Empire, opposition to the governments of Poland, Lithuania, and West Ukraine, negotiations with Finland, and aid to the Spanish Republicans.
• Friedrich told the Rhine Palace that the Spanish Civil War was unavoidable and that Germany and the Soviet Union were sending weapons, equipment, and personnel to their respective sides.
• Ernst said the two sides had comparable strength but favored the Nationalist faction because it was more united than the Republicans.

Ernst assessed Spain’s factions and argued for pragmatic cooperation with Franco’s Nationalists and a neutral Iberian Peninsula. Later, Friedrich announced a northern administrative reshuffle that merged parts of the Azande provinces into a new Azande Province and Bavaria Province to develop trade and transportation around the coming North African Railway.

• Ernst argued that Soviet interference could weaken the Spanish Republicans and proposed making contact with Franco’s Nationalists while protecting East Africa’s interests.
• Friedrich agreed that Spain and Portugal’s neutrality would benefit East Africa, while Ernst explained how cooperation with Spain could support trade with Europe.
• On September 4, 1935, Friedrich chaired a conference and said the Azande Plateau’s administrative divisions needed adjustment to support northern economic development after the North African Railway opened.
• Friedrich announced that East Azande Province’s northwestern portion would join West Azande Province to form a new Azande Province, while most of its remaining territory would join Bavaria Province.
• Friedrich said the reorganization would connect the Great Lakes Region to European trade, strengthen commerce with neighboring regions, and simplify water-resource and environmental management.

King Wilhelm II asked Ambassador Klee about East Africa’s administrative reorganization and plans for the North African Railway, which could link Southern Germany’s economy with East Africa and Mediterranean markets. Klee welcomed a future Southern German railway connection and suggested that European turmoil might eventually give Southern Germany an opportunity to claim the Lower Niger River.

• Wilhelm II invited Ambassador Klee to explain East Africa’s reorganization, and Klee said the new Azande Province would improve coordination over the Ok and Chari River basins.
• Klee explained that East Africa had incorporated most of the former East Azande Province into Bavaria Province to connect the Great Lakes Region to the North African Railway and Mediterranean trade.
• Wilhelm II proposed linking Southern Germany’s planned Southern Railway to the North African Railway, and Klee welcomed the idea as beneficial to southeastern Southern Germany.
• Wilhelm II described Southern Germany’s population, economic potential, and lack of access to the Lower Niger River, while Klee said future European turmoil could reduce resistance to acquiring it.