Chapter 1105: Chapter 114: The Marketplace
In the early 20th century, the British government was still quite efficient, considering that the entire nation was in a "thriving" state, despite the increasing power of other nations posing a certain threat to the Empire’s hegemony.
However, at this time, the British could not imagine the rapid corruption of their descendants in the 21st century. At this moment, Britain was much like the later United States, with a significant majority having strong confidence in the country. Without such confidence, Britain could not have persisted through the two world wars.
Soon, Asquith’s cabinet drafted a preliminary version of the national plan and presented it to Asquith.
Asquith reviewed the plan for a long time, and after confirming no issues, he said to George, "Send this manuscript to the Embassy in East Africa! Conduct negotiations with the East Africans according to this standard."
"Yes, Prime Minister!" George replied, then took the manuscript and turned to leave.
...
Rhein City.
The negotiations between East Africa and Britain were underway in the National Assembly Hall, which at that moment resembled a chaotic marketplace.
The tussle between the East African government and the British delegates was quite exaggerated, as the expectation differences between the two sides were indeed vast.
Foreign Minister Frier questioned British Ambassador Russell in an exaggerated accent, "Fifty thousand tons, this standard is simply unachievable. The navy of major powers today standardize at over eighty thousand tons. Even the little puppet you support, Japan, has a total navy tonnage very close to fifty thousand tons, and it’s only a matter of a year or two before they break fifty thousand tons, so we absolutely cannot accept Britain’s plan."
"If this plan goes through, then we in East Africa will effectively fall behind Japan, which we cannot accept, considering Japan is just a small island nation in Northeast Asia."
Russell had every reason to suspect Frier of subtly insulting Britain. What does he mean by a small island nation? In fact, Britain’s homeland isn’t even larger than Japan’s. Doesn’t that mean Britain is inferior to that small island nation of Japan?
And on what basis do you East Africans look down on Japan? Granted, Japan’s geographic location and ethnicity are indeed prone to discrimination by European society, but you East Africans fare no better!
As everyone knows, East Africa is an African nation, and traditionally, except for North Africa, Africa has always been seen by Europe as a wild land, a desert of civilization.
Prior to the rise of this independent state of East Africa, sub-Saharan Africa was considered the least civilized place encountered by colonizers. Even if West Africa and East Africa had some "civilized" ancient countries, these countries with initial civilized traits were actually secondary civilizations of the Arabian Sect.
Take Zanzibar, annexed by East Africa; it emerged after the expansion of the Oman Empire, and the Kingdom of Uganda, eliminated by East Africa, also belonged to this category.
The indigenous countries of West Africa were the same, many were remnants from the glorious era of the Ottoman Empire in Africa, such as the Emir states in the British-colonized Nigeria region, akin to the myriad princely states in British India.
As for the indigenous civilizations south of the Sahara, only the Great Zimbabwe ruins, whose traces East Africa has wiped out entirely, remain. Due to a lack of archaeological evidence and textual materials, no one can determine how this civilization came about. And even the Great Zimbabwe ruins likely have little to do with traditional Black people, Bantu people, and are probably the work of the San people.
In short, before East Africa’s rise, sub-Saharan Africa was a low-point of civilization, scorned by all regions worldwide. Thus, to Russell, theoretically, East Africa isn’t even on par with Japan!
So Russell said to Frier, "Your Excellency Frier, you East Africans needn’t be anxious. Japan has long proven its strength; they did defeat one of the world’s most powerful countries, Russia, after all. Hence, Japan naturally belongs to the civilized world, and the strength of the current Japanese Navy ranks among the top few in the world, so Japan is certainly not a so-called weak naval power. The naval share we grant East Africa suffices to uphold its status as a Great Power."
Frier wasn’t buying it and said to Russell, "Japan cannot be compared with our East Africa, even if they did defeat Russia through despicable sneak attacks. According to our East African definition, Japan is merely a puppet state with somewhat good luck and external backing. Though East Africa’s comprehensive strength may not place it in the top tier among the world’s great powers, it certainly isn’t something Japan can arrogate to."
Russell essentially agreed with Frier’s words, despite their harshness. With East Africa considering itself a part of the "civilized world," which naturally meant Europe, their presence was more extreme than that of the Americans, who at least acknowledged and proudly claimed to be an American nation, even creating the Monroe Doctrine in a bid to control the entire American hegemony.
Of course, the arrogance of the East African government isn’t entirely unfounded. Apart from East Africa and the Southern German Kingdom, the entire African continent consists of either indigenous peoples or colonies of other countries, or North African infidel states. You couldn’t find three normal nations across the entire African continent.
America, however, is different. Although Canada is a British colony, it has substantial autonomy, and as a British colony, Canada differs from a typical colony. At least from the Canadian perspective, their status is no different from that of the homeland, unlike India, which was oppressed by Britain, or Australia, a penal colony.
And the other American countries aside from Canada have, by and large, achieved de facto independence, even Haiti, a Black nation with a tumultuous economy. This is much stronger than the collection of Black powers on the African continent.
Frier continued, "Our East African expectations are at least one million tons. The United States Navy is already close to this level, and Germany and France are not far from one million tons. In the next few years, these three countries will undoubtedly surpass one million tons in naval tonnage, possibly even exceeding your Royal Navy. For Germany and the United States, this isn’t very difficult."
"And East Africa must ensure that its navy can balance against any naval forces besides your Royal Navy to effectively safeguard our national interests globally."
What Frier said wasn’t groundless. From East Africa’s perspective, the United States’s national power alone, even against Britain and all its colonies combined, might not necessarily secure an advantage over the United States. As for Germany, without British interference, exceeding Britain’s naval scale wasn’t an impossible feat.
Russell of course couldn’t agree to Frier’s nonsense now. The Royal Navy’s total tonnage was just about two million tons. If East Africa’s total naval tonnage reached one million tons, that would directly comply with Britain’s definition of a naval superpower.
Add the United States, Germany, and France, and you’d have four nations besides Britain exceeding one million tons in total naval tonnage. Britain’s superpower standard wouldn’t suffice to suppress the other nations. And this not even considering the Russian behemoth, who could recover at any moment.
Before the Russo-Japanese War, Russian naval strength had surpassed eighty thousand tons, ranking just behind the British Royal Navy at the time, firmly in the top three in global power. Despite the Russo-Japanese War dealing a heavy blow to the Russian navy, most nations, including Britain, wouldn’t believe this would crush the Russian navy’s backbone.
After all, past centuries have demonstrated Russia’s formidable recuperative capabilities. The Russo-Japanese War, while severely impacting Russia militarily, could only delay the resurgence of the Russian navy.
