Chapter Summaries

Governor Staveren fled Batavia as Japanese forces advanced and sought East Africa’s protection, offering sovereignty over the Sunda Strait in exchange for intervention. East African Brigadier General Traliening said he needed orders from the homeland, leaving the Dutch envoy’s proposal awaiting a decision.

• Governor Staveren argued that East Africa’s interests in the Dutch East Indies might lead it to resist Japan, while Advisor Hulst doubted East Africa would risk war for the Netherlands.
• On May 29, 1939, Governor Staveren and key officials fled Batavia, abandoning its troops, and the Japanese occupied the city with little resistance.
• Governor Staveren established the Dutch East Indies Colonial Government’s provisional seat at Merak and sent Sapiat to Port of Nanning to request East African intervention and protection.
• Brigadier General Traliening told Sapiat that he could make no promises until East Africa’s homeland decided how to respond.
• Sapiat offered East Africa sovereignty over the Sunda Strait and land fifty kilometers inland from both shores in exchange for intervention and the provisional government’s safety.

East Africa's leaders debated Governor Staveren's request to trade Dutch East Indies territory for protection during Japan's invasion. Crown Prince Friedrich approved a treaty to bring the Sunda Strait more firmly under East African influence while limiting East Africa's involvement in the war.

• Brigadier General Traliening reported Sapiat's request through East Africa's submarine cable network to Rhine City.
• Minister Schwaiger urged East Africa to accept the Dutch offer and secure control of the Sunda Strait, while Foreign Minister Alfred warned that Japan might retaliate against East African holdings in Nanyang.
• Schwaiger argued that Japan would avoid confronting East Africa before dealing with Britain and France, and his reasoning persuaded most of the government.
• Crown Prince Friedrich ordered Traliening and Governor Staveren to establish the territorial arrangement in a treaty.
• Friedrich agreed to mediate the war and shelter Dutch colonial officials, provided they stopped openly resisting Japan once inside East African territory.

East Africa secured the Sunda Strait from the Dutch East Indies and deployed troops to Merak, provoking Japan. Japan withdrew rather than risk a conflict, while negotiations with Governor Staveren stalled and left the Dutch colonial government stranded under East African protection.

• Crown Prince Friedrich instructed Foreign Minister Alfred to negotiate with Japan over the Netherlands while avoiding an irreparable break in relations.
• Governor Staveren accepted East Africa’s plan and signed a treaty transferring the land on both sides of the Sunda Strait, including Port of Nanning and Merak, to East Africa.
• Brigadier General Traliening sent troops to Merak, where Major Koizumi Taichiro protested the transfer but could not challenge East African forces.
• Japan’s leaders ordered their troops to withdraw from the Sunda Strait area after weighing East Africa’s strength and Japan’s losses at Nomonhan.
• Governor Staveren and the Japanese envoy failed to reach an agreement, leaving the Dutch colonial government confined to East Africa’s controlled zone.

East Africa's Ambassador Mahe joined Dutch Ambassador Pabst in negotiations with Japan, but Foreign Minister Arita Hachiro rejected the Dutch proposal to preserve the Dutch East Indies. Mahe then demanded that Japan respect East Africa's newly acquired Sunda Strait territory and sign a non-aggression treaty, leaving that issue unresolved as he raised other demands.

• Mahe visited Pabst and offered to mediate between the Netherlands and Japan on behalf of Governor Staveren.
• Mahe and Pabst met with Arita Hachiro, who defended Japan's war against the Netherlands as an obligation to Germany.
• Mahe proposed that the Netherlands compensate Japan in exchange for Japan refraining from fully occupying the Dutch East Indies, but Arita rejected the proposal.
• After Pabst left, Mahe told Arita that East Africa expected Japan to respect its territory in the Sunda Strait and sign a non-aggression treaty.
• Arita said Japan would consider the treaty, while Mahe remained dissatisfied and raised several other issues with Japan.

Hiranuma Kiichirō and Arita Hachiro decided Japan would temporarily accept East Africa’s control of the Sunda Strait in exchange for tacit acceptance of Japanese rule over the Dutch East Indies. Hiranuma rejected East Africa’s trade demands but agreed to let its immigration recruitment from the Far East Empire resume.

• Ambassador Mahe asked Japan to decide on East Africa’s requests, and Arita Hachiro went to report them to Hiranuma Kiichirō.
• Arita Hachiro and Hiranuma Kiichirō concluded that Japan should recognize East Africa’s deal with the Dutch over the Sunda Strait for now, while seeking East Africa’s tacit acceptance of Japanese rule over the Dutch East Indies.
• Hiranuma Kiichirō said Japan needed to consolidate its new East Indies holdings and develop their oil and rubber resources before taking on Britain, France, or East Africa.
• Arita Hachiro reported East Africa’s requests to ease restrictions on its merchant ships and trade, and to resume immigration recruitment from the Far East Empire.
• Hiranuma Kiichirō refused to lift trade restrictions unless East Africa ended its military aid to anti-Japanese forces, but he allowed immigration recruitment to resume as a minor concession.

After East Africa secured Japan’s agreement to reopen immigration from the Far East Empire, Karl I learned that the Habsburg Monarchy urgently needed settlers to govern Dahomey and prepare for expansion toward Nigeria. The news reached Porto-Novo just as he and Prime Minister Bright were discussing the kingdom’s population shortage, and Karl I called for joint talks with the New Austria Kingdom.

• Arita Hachiro told Ambassador Mahe that Japan had agreed to recognize the Sunda Strait as East Africa’s sphere of influence and meet other demands, and Mahe signed the treaty.
• In Rhine City, Crown Prince Friedrich told Ernst that negotiations with Japan had achieved their goals, including restarting Far Eastern immigration for the Habsburg kingdoms.
• In Porto-Novo, Prime Minister Bright reported Dahomey’s estimated 1.2 million Black residents and explained how the Habsburg Monarchy’s small population made governing and developing the territory difficult.
• Karl I and Bright discussed the scarcity of European and Asian immigrants, while Karl I blamed Japan’s war and blockade for disrupting recruitment from the Far East Empire.
• The Foreign Minister brought Karl I a telegram from Rhine City announcing that immigration channels from the Far East Empire had reopened, and Karl I ordered the New Austria Kingdom to be contacted about joint recruitment.

Yosef blamed the Soviet Army’s heavy losses in the Nomonhan War on poor frontline command and appointed Zhukov to lead the Far Eastern forces. Fearing Germany would attack before the Soviet Union was ready, he decided to enter the war and strike Germany early to help Britain and France keep fighting.

• Yosef questioned Shaposhnikov and other officials about how the Soviet Army had suffered losses comparable to Japan despite its superiority in troops and equipment.
• Shaposhnikov recommended Lieutenant General Georgy Konstantinovich Zhukov to take command in the Far East, and Yosef approved the appointment.
• Yosef and his officials feared Japan would reveal the Soviet Army’s performance to Germany and encourage an attack, potentially aided by the Axis powers’ Eastern European allies and the Ottoman Empire.
• Shaposhnikov reported that Britain and France were struggling against Germany, with the Netherlands near defeat and France’s resolve weakened.
• Yosef concluded that the Soviet Union could not wait for Germany to dominate Europe and decided to enter the war and strike Germany to bolster Britain and France.

East Africa arranged aid deliveries to the Far East Empire through the newly opened Central Asia Highway and discussed securing the route with a Shancheng Government commissioner. Consul General Eborn also explained East Africa’s plan to recruit Far East Empire immigrants for West Africa, while the commissioner accepted that the migration could help the war-stricken country.

• Soviet diplomats held further talks with Britain and France as Yosef sought agreements on wartime responsibilities and postwar interests.
• East African aid supplies reached the Far East Empire’s border near Shule County, where Consul General Eborn warned Commissioner Short about securing transport beyond Western Regions Province.
• Short assured Eborn that the Shancheng Government would assign personnel to protect and manage the aid route.
• Eborn said East Africa also planned to use the Central Asia Highway to recruit immigrants for West Africa, and explained that its allies there needed workers and population.
• Short concluded that East Africa was expanding its influence in West Africa and accepted that taking in refugees could benefit the Far East Empire.

East Africa used the Central Asia Highway to support the Far East Empire with supplies and refugee immigration, while the first convoy reached Baoji. On June 19, 1939, the Soviet Union declared war on Germany and attacked its European neighbors, leaving the Eastern Front in a stalemate as Germany prepared to accelerate its Western European campaign.

• Consul General Eborn told Commissioner Short that East Africa’s refugee immigration would ease the Far East Empire’s burden, and Short promised his government’s cooperation.
• The first Central Asia Highway convoy entered the Far East Empire and continued toward Baoji, a major hub serving its northwestern and southwestern rear areas.
• Yosef announced that the Soviet Union had declared war on Germany, citing Axis hostility and the Nomonhan War as reasons for the conflict.
• The Soviet Army crossed the border and attacked Germany, Poland, and West Ukraine, while the Ottoman Empire and other southern states waited to see how the war unfolded.
• German and allied forces resisted the Soviet advance, producing a border stalemate, and Adolf ordered preparations for war against the Soviet Union while accelerating the offensive against Britain and France.