Chapter Summaries

Japanese officials Kuroshita Anji and Fujino discussed how Alaska and East Africa’s Pacific colonies obstructed Japan’s expansion, and Kuroshita welcomed intelligence that Anchorage Airport would be civilian. Ernst revealed that he had deliberately made the airport bait, intending to use Japan’s attack on Alaska to drive a wedge between Japan and the United States.

• Kuroshita Anji and Fujino discussed Japan’s grievances against East Africa and argued over whether Japan should confront East Africa before the United States.
• Kuroshita learned Anchorage planned to build a civilian airport and concluded Japan could seize it intact for future operations against America.
• The Japanese Government welcomed the intelligence and regarded Anchorage Airport as an asset Japan could easily capture.
• In Rhine City, Ernst told Crown Prince Friedrich that Alaska was an expendable strategic bargaining chip and Anchorage Airport was bait for Japan.
• Ernst explained that Japan would use Anchorage Airport against the United States, helping East Africa set the two powers against each other.

Crown Prince Friedrich warned that Alaska could not be securely defended or supplied if its links to East Africa were cut, prompting Ernst to order contingency plans for food security. Governor Delauhorsl's officials proposed expanding agriculture and stockpiling food, and the governor decided to combine both approaches.

• Crown Prince Friedrich explained that Alaska's isolation, harsh climate, and reliance on imports made it difficult to defend and feed during a crisis.
• Ernst ordered the Alaska government to draft practical plans to protect food security and prevent a humanitarian disaster.
• Governor Delauhorsl convened officials and agricultural experts to consider how Alaska could maintain food supplies if its connection to the homeland were severed.
• Dobler proposed reclaiming farmland around Anchorage and expanding greenhouse cultivation, with government-organized labor and machinery.
• Ludwig proposed government grain depots and household food reserves as affordable ways to prepare for emergencies.
• Governor Delauhorsl decided that Alaska should combine long-term agricultural development with food stockpiling.

Ernst and Crown Prince Friedrich planned to use grain imports for Alaska to support Uruguay and Paraguay and extend East Africa’s influence in South America. In Asuncion, Uruguayan merchants discussed Paraguay’s rapid growth and the city’s emergence as an East African-backed model city.

• Ernst approved the grain-stockpiling plan for Alaska, accepting that Japan might seize some depots if it helped protect Alaska’s population.
• Crown Prince Friedrich proposed buying grain from friendly South American countries, especially Uruguay and Paraguay, and using the trade to test other nations’ attitudes toward East Africa.
• Ernst agreed that East Africa should not supply all of Alaska’s grain, since large mainland exports could disrupt its agricultural plans, and backed using the Asuncion-Lima Railway to transport South American grain to Alaska.
• In Asuncion, Baltasar and Bloom praised Paraguay’s rapid development and considered whether the city could eventually surpass Montevideo.
• Baltasar attributed Asuncion’s growth to East African support, which intensified after World War I and made the city a model of South American-East African cooperation.

Baltasar explained to Blum why Asuncion was poised to become South America’s leading transport and economic hub, while Montevideo’s advantages were limited. He argued that Uruguay should stay close to East Africa as its influence grew, leaving Argentina and Brazil increasingly unable to resist it.

• Blum argued that Uruguay and Montevideo could prosper through trade with East Africa and their seaport advantage, but Baltasar said Asuncion had greater potential than Montevideo.
• Baltasar described how the Asuncion-Lima Railway and planned connections would make Asuncion a major rail hub linking countries across South America.
• Baltasar explained that Asuncion’s position on the Paraná and Río de la Plata, combined with its railways and roads, would make it the region’s central transport hub.
• Blum and Baltasar discussed Uruguay’s past hesitation to align with East Africa and the decline of British influence and South American powers during the economic crisis.
• Baltasar concluded that Uruguay should keep close to East Africa, while Argentina and Brazil faced greater risks from East Africa’s expanding influence.

Kuyaqi and Val discussed Suárez Port’s rapid growth and its advantages over Brazil’s nearby Corumbá Port. They explained that East African investment, river improvements, and military protection had made the port a key route into Bolivia and inland South America, while its future growth depended on developing Santa Cruz Province.

• Kuyaqi observed that Suárez Port had become a prosperous commercial center and might surpass Santa Cruz Province’s capital within several years.
• Val explained that East African design and management had helped Suárez Port outperform Corumbá Port and attract merchants from Brazil and nearby countries.
• Kuyaqi and Val noted that Suárez Port’s current trade relied mainly on iron ore and other raw materials, while its small surrounding market limited container shipping.
• Kuyaqi said that expanding Bolivia’s eastern population and economy and improving transport links would be necessary to unlock Suárez Port’s potential.
• Val stated that East African military protection and transit rights gave companies confidence to invest in Santa Cruz Province and strengthened East Africa’s economic influence in Bolivia.

Ernst and Crown Prince Friedrich discussed East Africa’s economic expansion in South America, its plans for the looming Spanish Civil War, and fierce competition in the international arms market. The chapter left them viewing the crowded arms trade as part of a multipolar order that would eventually be reshaped by a new struggle among the strongest powers.

• Kuyaqi explained that East Africa aimed to bind South American countries to the Empire through economic integration, while Val praised the strategy.
• Ernst told Crown Prince Friedrich that economic influence offered a more sustainable form of expansion than military force, and they compared East Africa’s approach with Japan’s.
• Crown Prince Friedrich reported that Spain’s factions were nearly ready for war, and Ernst ordered East Africa to prepare assistance for Franco’s faction through non-sensitive supplies and possible arms sales to Spanish buyers.
• Crown Prince Friedrich described the competition among East Africa, Germany, the United States, Britain, and France, along with the advantages of other arms-producing countries.
• Crown Prince Friedrich concluded that the crowded international arms market would require a new division of power, and Ernst anticipated that East Africa, the United States, Germany, or Soviet Union would shape the next order.

In Melilla, Colonel Valdez and Lieutenant Colonel Lara prepared to seize control of the city’s forces if war broke out against Spain’s Republican Government. They traced Italy’s new supply route through Benghazi to East African trade enabled by the North African Railway, while debating how much the railway threatened Spain’s trade.

• Lieutenant Colonel Lara reported that Melilla’s troops had been re-equipped and that most of the 1st Infantry Regiment had been won over, allowing them to take control if war began.
• Colonel Valdez and Lieutenant Colonel Lara condemned the Republican Government and expected support from Germany and Italy for a conservative uprising.
• Valdez asked why Italian supplies had shifted from Italian ports to Benghazi, and Lara explained that the North African Railway had opened earlier that year.
• Valdez concluded that Italy was buying supplies from East Africa and forwarding them from Benghazi, while Lara noted that East African goods were cheaper and better suited to their needs.
• Valdez worried that the railway would divert trade from Spain, but Lara argued that its main competition was the Suez Canal route and that sea transport through Gibraltar remained advantageous for western East African goods.

Lieutenant Colonel Lara and Colonel Valdez discussed Spain’s need to overthrow the Republican Government and build a strong, unified state, while lamenting its decline relative to Italy and other powers. Lara remained resentful toward Britain and the United States for helping Spain lose its colonies, and the chapter ended with Spain’s prospects for reclaiming leadership of the Spanish-speaking world still uncertain.

• Lieutenant Colonel Lara argued that the North African Railway would not significantly affect Spain’s trade and said Spain needed immediate East African support against the Republican Government.
• Lieutenant Colonel Lara praised East African goods over Italian products as the conversation contrasted Italy’s weak industrial reputation with East Africa’s and Germany’s stronger brands.
• Colonel Valdez blamed Spain’s liberals, the Labor Party, and republicans for Italy’s rise and called for a strong government to unite Spain and reduce internal division.
• Colonel Valdez said Spain’s limited population, arid land, and lost colonies made economic competition difficult, but argued that its resources and industrial base could help it regain influence among Spanish-speaking countries.
• Lieutenant Colonel Lara dismissed Argentina and Mexico as potential leaders of the Spanish-speaking world and resented the Americans and British for contributing to Spain’s loss of its American colonies.

East African envoy Tagian met with Franco in the Canary Islands to offer cooperation ahead of Spain’s expected war. Franco verified Tagian’s credentials and learned that East Africa believed he could lead the Nationalists and eventually rule Spain.

• Tagian and William arrived in Tenerife aboard the East African merchant ship Cortileir to contact Franco, whom Spain had exiled to the Canary Islands.
• Tagian and William met Franco at his residence, where Franco recognized that they were not ordinary merchants and demanded to know their purpose.
• Tagian revealed that he represented the East African government and had been sent by Crown Prince Friedrich to negotiate with Franco.
• Franco examined Tagian’s identification documents and Friedrich’s letter, then burned the letter as instructed.
• Tagian explained that East Africa wanted to invest in Franco because it trusted the Nationalists and believed Franco’s military influence gave him a strong chance of winning the coming war and leading Spain.
• Franco realized East Africa valued his military talent and influence within the Nationalist faction.

Franco secured East Africa's support for the Nationalist cause and flew from the Canary Islands to Tétouan to take command of the Army of Africa. After the officers accepted his authority, he claimed leadership of the wider rebellion against the Madrid government.

• Franco agreed to East Africa's terms for cooperation, including protecting its interests in Spain and coordinating on regional security.
• After Solot was kidnapped and killed, the Spanish conflict escalated, and on July 11 the rebels received the signal to begin their uprising.
• Franco left the Canary Islands by plane with trusted companions, choosing the risky night flight to avoid interference from Madrid.
• After a difficult journey, Bebby landed safely in Tétouan, where Army of Africa officers and administrators awaited Franco.
• Franco denounced the Madrid government and declared himself the overall leader of the effort to overthrow it.

As the Spanish rebellion stalled, political turmoil in the Republican Government led to the rapid replacement of three prime ministers. In Morocco, Franco consolidated the Army of Africa and arranged German and Italian air support to transport his troops across the Strait of Gibraltar.

• Franco unified the rebel forces in Spanish Morocco, while the mainland conflict bogged down without either side securing a decisive advantage.
• Quiroga resigned as prime minister, and after Barrio briefly took office and resigned, Hilar became prime minister and armed workers to fight the rebels.
• Franco learned that his forces had abundant supplies in Morocco but could not cross the Republican naval blockade by sea.
• Franco proposed flying the Army of Africa to Spain and sought transport aircraft from Adolf and Benito.
• Adolf and Benito agreed to deploy their air forces, and Germany sent more than twenty Ju52 transport aircraft to Morocco.

Adolf inspected Berlin’s Olympic Stadium and discussed Germany’s plans for the Olympics, Spain, and eventual expansion across Europe. He identified East Africa as Germany’s most serious long-term rival, warning that conflict between them would become unavoidable after Germany unified Europe.

• Adolf praised Albert Spee’s completed Olympic Stadium and promised him the task of remaking Berlin after the Games.
• Adolf received a report that German aircraft had helped transport part of Franco’s forces from Morocco to southern Spain, and ordered Göring to reward the airmen and prepare further support.
• Adolf said Germany would avoid intervening in Spain during the Olympics but might later send its air force or troops to help Franco defeat the Republican government.
• Adolf outlined plans to defeat France and then the Soviet Union, while relying on the Olympics to improve Germany’s image and distract other European countries.
• Adolf warned that East Africa’s economic reach, military strength, and influence across trade routes made it Germany’s greatest future threat, and predicted the two powers would clash after Germany consolidated Europe.

Adolf ordered German athletes to defeat East Africa at the Berlin Olympics, while Director Watt urged East African competitors to answer Germany’s racial insults with victories. After a tense opening ceremony and fierce competition, East Africa finished first in the medal table, ahead of Germany and the United States.

• Adolf told German athletes to show East Africa no mercy at the Berlin Olympics and prove Aryan superiority.
• Director Watt rallied East African athletes to defeat Germany and warned them that Germany and the United States were formidable rivals.
• The Berlin Olympic competitions began on July 31, with East African, American, and German athletes battling in the men’s decathlon.
• At the opening ceremony, German-aligned delegations received cheers for saluting the stands, while East Africa and other delegations faced a cold reception.
• East Africa won the Games with 102 medals and 31 golds, while Germany placed second and the United States third.

The 1936 Berlin Olympics provoked European dismay and embarrassed Germany as East Africa and the United States excelled, while underground Labor Party newspapers mocked Adolf’s racial ideology. Heinrich persuaded Adolf to reinterpret the results as proof of Aryan superiority, and Adolf ordered propaganda to promote that explanation and a renewed crackdown on the Labor Party.

• European newspapers highlighted the strong results of East Africa and the United States and Britain’s declining Olympic performance.
• An underground Labor Party newspaper used Owens’s victories to ridicule Adolf’s racial theories, despite the danger of circulating banned materials in Germany.
• Adolf angrily condemned the underground press and Germany’s athletes, especially Owens, before Heinrich defended the Empire’s Olympic results.
• Heinrich argued that East Africa’s population and supposedly mixed ancestry explained its medal count, and Adolf accepted the argument and extended it to other countries and territories.
• Heinrich pointed to events Germany had won that East Africa and the United States had not entered, while noting East Africa had won the football championship.
• Adolf ordered the propaganda department to present the Olympics as proof of Aryan superiority and told Heinrich to crush the Labor Party; Heinrich promised a crackdown.

Ernst and Crown Prince Friedrich reviewed East Africa’s gains from the Berlin Olympics before discussing how to supply water to Gwadar Port. Friedrich proposed exchanging territory with the Kalat Khanate to secure the mountain water sources Gwadar needed.

• Ernst explained that East Africa had used Germany’s Olympic propaganda stage to boost its international image with an unexpected sporting success.
• Friedrich reported that Gwadar’s scarce rainfall and groundwater threatened the port’s redevelopment and ability to support stationed personnel.
• Friedrich outlined a plan to build reservoirs in the Makran Mountains and divert seasonal rivers, but said several water sources lay within the Kalat Khanate.
• Ernst favored negotiating with the Kalat Khanate first and said Gwadar’s strategic importance mattered more than expanding its population or city.
• Friedrich proposed exchanging territory with the Kalat Khanate to obtain the areas containing the water sources Gwadar needed.

Ernst and Crown Prince Friedrich agreed to seek northern mountain land from the Kalat Khanate in exchange for parts of Gwadar’s coast, while planning Gwadar Port as a military and aviation hub for aid to the Far East Empire. In Gwadar, Watson surveyed reservoir sites and concluded that Reservoir Area No. 2 could meet local needs, while Sivag pointed out the port’s potential role in transporting urgently needed supplies.

• Crown Prince Friedrich proposed trading Gwadar’s less useful coastal land for mountain territory from the Kalat Khanate, and Ernst agreed.
• Ernst described plans for Gwadar Port to serve as an aerial logistics hub for military aid to the Far East Empire.
• Watson reported that Reservoir Area No. 2 could collect seasonal rainfall and provide minimum drinking water for twenty thousand people, and Sivag asked him to prepare a construction plan.
• Watson said Reservoir Area No. 3 had better conditions but lay in Kalat Khanate territory, while Sivag suggested joint development with Turbat.
• Watson argued that Gwadar did not need to become a major aviation hub, but Sivag reminded him that the Far East Empire urgently needed medicine and weapons, changing his view of the port’s potential.

East Africa expanded trade and military cooperation with the Far East Empire’s Western Regions as Japanese aggression disrupted older trade routes. The chapter ended with East Africa declining large-scale military aid but offering economic support to stabilize the province and limit Soviet influence.

• Sivag explained that Japanese smuggling and military pressure had crippled East Africa’s former trade with the Far East Empire and made the Northwest Air Route and Western Regions trading ports more important.
• East Africa helped the Western Regions Provincial Government secure Shule, establish an airport and trading port, and equip motorized infantry units with East African weapons.
• Talshi urged Battalion Commander Zhang to eliminate hidden hostile forces in Shule before they could reconnect with foreign backers, while Zhang warned that his province could not afford another costly campaign.
• Battalion Commander Zhang telegraphed Dihua with Talshi’s proposal, but the Western Regions Provincial Government declined a new operation because of financial constraints.
• Consul General Blaney rejected a request for large-scale military aid and offered economic, financial, and technical cooperation instead.

Consul General Blaney proposed East African economic and agricultural support for Western Regions Province, focusing on industrializing textiles, food processing, and metalworking around Dihua and Shule. Representative Wang agreed to report the proposals to the provincial government, and East African investment later expanded across the region.

• Blaney explained that East Africa could not provide substantial military support or practical overland trade links, but could offer financial, technical, and personnel assistance.
• Blaney proposed modernizing textile production in Dihua and Shule with supervised low-interest loans, technical support, and East African managers and specialists.
• Blaney urged Representative Wang to develop cotton cultivation, repair waterworks, and build coal-fired power plants to supply electricity for textile and other industries.
• Blaney recommended adding metalworking and flour milling to create jobs, process local resources, and meet demand in Western Regions Province and nearby markets.
• Blaney and Representative Wang agreed that extremist nationalist and religious groups threatened regional stability, though Wang said the province could not easily control its vast, remote territory.
• East African investment and personnel later spread through the Western Regions, while the completion of Gwadar Airport helped East African trade and goods gain ground.

The chapter describes the limits of East Africa’s development efforts in Western Regions Province, then follows a British cabinet meeting on the threat East Africa posed to Britain’s global interests. Britain concluded it could not contain East Africa directly and planned to stir conflicts among rival powers to protect its empire and avoid war.

• East Africa’s investments brought short-lived prosperity to Western Regions Province but left industries dependent on East African technology and personnel.
• Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin convened the cabinet on October 21, 1936, and warned that East Africa’s expanding presence threatened British interests across Europe, Africa, and Asia.
• William Ormsby-Gore and the Marquess of Zetland described East Africa’s growth and its strategic encirclement of India, while cabinet members conceded Britain could not readily oppose it.
• Chamberlain urged Britain to avoid war and use diplomacy to divert threats, and Baldwin proposed provoking rivalries among East Africa, Germany, the Soviet Union, Japan, and the United States.
• Baldwin prioritized turning Germany and the Soviet Union against each other while keeping Japan from joining Germany against the Soviet Union, so Britain could preserve its position in Europe and overseas.

Britain stirred international hostility through news manipulation, commercial competition, and agents in other countries to keep the great powers divided. In Rhine City, Ernst and Crown Prince Friedrich suspected British interference and ordered measures to protect East African interests while monitoring foreign-influenced media.

• Britain encouraged hostile news coverage and trade disputes between countries, while opening markets to rival powers to provoke conflict.
• Crown Prince Friedrich told Ernst that suspicious public-opinion shifts and British activity overseas suggested Britain was targeting East Africa.
• Ernst warned that a British-American alliance would threaten East Africa most, and ordered closer monitoring of South America and the Nanyang region and stronger ties with southern countries.
• Ernst advised using public anger to support national-defense construction while tracing foreign-influenced media and recording its operators.