Chapter 1081: Chapter 90: World Tremors
In reviewing the population data and urban development level of East Africa at the end of 1909, the East African Government’s achievements are quite impressive.
Without a doubt, in terms of population, East Africa has already become an "indispensable superpower" in today’s world. It wouldn’t be surprising in a previous life for a country with a population exceeding one hundred million, but now East Africa can be said to represent one-twentieth of humanity.
Regarding this population situation, the East African Government is no longer covering up. The fact that East Africa’s population has exceeded one hundred million is expected to soon spread worldwide.
In the past, due to considerations like national security and development strategy, East Africa was quite focused on keeping its population data confidential. Before the 1990s, this practice indeed brought beneficial impacts to East Africa at the time, even influencing the direction of the South African War to some extent.
However, after the 1990s, this approach no longer had as much effect, especially after the explosive increase in East Africa’s industrial and agricultural output and the rapid rise in foreign trade. Now, other countries have a psychological expectancy of whether East Africa is a great power in the world.
Of course, even the boldest countries remain relatively conservative in their speculation, simply because East Africa’s history is too short. Generally, they would use Brazil as a primary benchmark for East Africa’s population data.
In 1900, Brazil’s population was only a little over eighteen million, less than a quarter of East Africa’s population at the time, so it’s imaginable that most countries in the world would have a large deviation in estimating East Africa’s population.
Of course, it’s impossible to keep population information strictly confidential, but the East African government has never publicly commented, so external reports remain quite mixed.
The reason for the East African government’s change of attitude now, or rather Ernst’s change of attitude, is to align with the international environment. Given the increasingly tense international situation, with the world’s circumstances growing more turbulent, the whole world seems like a powder keg filled with explosives. Announcing East Africa’s population at this time is conducive to stabilizing public sentiment and allows East Africa to take a proactive stance in the international community.
...
December 3, 1909.
Metternich Street, also the diplomatic embassy district of East Africa, located in the southeast of Rhein City. As a country without a deep cultural heritage, East Africa naturally borrowed the names of many German celebrities.
In the field of diplomacy within the German country, the most famous are undoubtedly Metternich and Bismarck. The reason East Africa uses Metternich’s name is because he died early.
Metternich died in 1859, and a few years later, the East African Colony first appeared on the world stage, so the two have virtually no intersection.
As a diplomatic genius on par with Bismarck, Metternich’s character assessment is relatively neutral, unlike Bismarck, who left a deep "iron and blood" impression on the world. The German unification process he led was, in a sense, very much like a "gamble," especially the Franco-Prussian War. If an accident happened, it wouldn’t have resulted in the powerful Germany of today.
Moreover, Bismarck, for East Africa, was a very modern figure, living until 1898. It’s unlikely that the East African Government would use Bismarck’s name to designate its national foreign embassy area.
East Africa’s assessment of Metternich is highly positive, especially affirming his diplomatic abilities. This differs from the Austria-Hungary perspective, although Metternich was a key political figure of the Austrian Empire, a precursor to Austria-Hungary. His policies as Imperial Chancellor in later years were quite controversial within Austria-Hungary, and especially for Austria, Metternich was to some extent even considered the sinner who buried the Austrian Empire.
Nonetheless, for East Africa, Metternich is without much controversy. He could be said to be one of the main architects of the world’s order in the first half of the 19th century, using a balanced foreign policy to make the Austro-Hungarian Empire the main executor of European order at the time.
Despite possessing a diplomatic talent equal to Bismarck’s, Metternich’s deficiencies in other areas, especially state governance, were glaring. Encountering brutes like Napoleon and Prussia, who preferred to use fists to make arguments, he was prone to setbacks. Therefore, Metternich’s accomplishments as Minister of Foreign Affairs are undeniable, but he was unsuited to be a top leader.
Metternich Street, as the hub of East Africa’s foreign diplomatic missions, is also a nexus of information, especially for diplomats of various countries who obtain firsthand political information about East Africa here.
Today is already the third morning of the East African Government’s population conference. The German ambassador to East Africa, Bulls, arrived as usual at the newsstand on Metternich Street to purchase the latest Imperial Daily.
However, the content of today’s Rhein Empire Daily caught Bulls’s great attention.
The headline on the front page of the Imperial Daily boldly states: "Our country’s population has officially exceeded one hundred million. East Africa is advancing further towards becoming a world power..."
Bulls, holding the newspaper in his hand, fell into deep thought; this truly was a rather astonishing piece of news.
For diplomats like Bulls, who could gather a lot of real information through snippets available in East Africa, it has always been challenging to gather intelligence in East Africa, at least compared to most countries in the world. This is a common understanding among diplomats worldwide.
"This is the first time the East African Government has officially announced its population. One hundred million people—it’s unbelievable for an African country! Although I previously estimated East Africa’s population to be in the tens of millions, it seems I was too conservative!" Bulls thought to himself.
However, he quickly realized that such important information should be communicated back home quickly. Just from this population data alone, Germany’s political stance towards East Africa should undergo changes. With this in mind, Bulls tucked the newspaper into his pocket and hurried towards the German Embassy.
Soon, even the slower-responding diplomats from the United Kingdom, the United States, France, and other countries in East Africa understood the importance of this intelligence. As these diplomats reported East Africa’s population data back to their home countries, the news of East Africa’s population exceeding one hundred million quickly spread worldwide.
It’s no exaggeration to say that the news of East Africa’s population exceeding one hundred million had a massive shock on the world because previously, only three countries had populations surpassing one hundred million. Most people believed the fourth would probably be the United States, but no one expected the "unknown" East Africa to emerge unexpectedly.
After all, the United States already had a large population base and a "long" history that could be considered the "ancient civilization" compared to East Africa. Therefore, this country, with only half a century of history, becoming the fourth to reach a population of one hundred million, is simply unimaginable. In contrast, immigrant countries like Brazil or the United States should be embarrassed.
Now that accurate population data for East Africa is available, other governments are forced to reconsider their diplomatic relationships with East Africa.
After all, anything in large quantities can cause problems, not just people. One hundred million pigs would cause a significant impact on the ecosystem.
With East Africa’s population exceeding one hundred million, considering East Africa’s military strength, industrial capabilities, and national conditions, it’s no exaggeration to say that in the eyes of world governments, East Africa has already become the "second Tsarist Russia."
This assessment clearly doesn’t sufficiently understand East Africa, as its current national situation can’t be compared to the chaotic Tsarist Russia. If we strip away the factors of era development, East Africa’s current national strength could spar with the early Soviet Union.
As long as East Africa’s industrial prowess doesn’t decline, by the time the Soviet Union is established, East Africa’s industrial strength would certainly surpass that of the Soviet Union.
However, the international underestimation of East Africa aligns with Ernst’s expectations, as East Africa is not yet willing to be dragged into the chaotic international situation.
The official release of population data is meant to make other countries behave more cautiously. A larger population under certain conditions also means greater war potential. East Africa’s population alone is enough for most countries in the world to weigh their strengths and question whether they can afford to offend East Africa, this superpower.
