Chapter 73: Absorption
The East African colony currently spans approximately 1.2 million square kilometers, including the entirety of Tanzania and most of Kenya (with the northern part still under the influence of Arab and native forces). This territory is already larger than the former German East Africa of Ernst's past life. Due to the dense population and number of indigenous states in the western Great Lakes region, that area has not yet been annexed by the East African colony.
Within this vast area, the immigrant population is around 200,000, including nearly 50,000 new immigrants from the Austrian Empire in recent months. The rest are Chinese. The East African colony benefited from the internal instability caused by Austria's transition into the Austro-Hungarian Empire. In the first month alone, it absorbed about 30,000 Austrian immigrants. The numbers have since stabilized at around 3,000 per month. Meanwhile, due to labor shortages in Alaska, Chinese immigration has been redirected there, with around 10,000 Chinese immigrants arriving in East Africa monthly.
However, Alaska doesn't require a large population. Once it reaches about 30,000 people, Ernst won't support further migration there. At that point, Chinese immigration to East Africa is expected to stabilize at around 15,000 people per month.
Most immigrants in East Africa are farmers, and their birth rate is among the highest of the time. Births nearly double each year. Thanks to adequate food and attention to hygiene, infant mortality is low. Even the new immigrants from Austria have joined this "baby boom."
Still, compared to the 2–3 million native inhabitants of East Africa, these immigrant numbers are small. The grasslands are vast, the wildlife abundant, and the climate ideal. Many natives can survive just by eating wild fruits. Even after losing large tracts of prime land, they still have space to live.
Ernst sees all of this as a potential threat. Only by fully clearing out the native population from East Africa will he feel halfway at ease.
But after a year of exhausting slave-hunting operations, Zanzibar slave traders have only managed to absorb about 200,000 natives—a drop in the bucket. This was despite taking over much of the Middle Eastern slave market. The influx of cheap slaves even gave the Ottoman Empire a small boost in labor supply, easing their ethnic conflicts and allowing harsher repression of minority groups.
Currently, the East African colony faces three problems:
First is the gender imbalance. Unlike the Austrian immigrants, who arrived with their families, many early Chinese immigrants were single men. This could create instability in the future.
Second is the ethnic imbalance. The proportion of Chinese is too high. While Austrian immigrants help somewhat, Ernst believes a proper solution requires maintaining at least a 20–80 ratio between white and yellow populations. After all, in modern America, African Americans make up just over 10% of the population but still pushed for civil rights—so a more balanced mix in East Africa is essential.
Once Austria fully transforms into the Austro-Hungarian Empire and passes its current chaos, immigration numbers may decline. Though East Africa has recently absorbed a large number of Austrians, this has forced many Chinese settlers to start learning German in daily life.
Currently, the white-to-yellow ratio is about 1:3, which seems healthy on the surface. But over half of the Austrian immigrants don't speak German. From the colonial government's perspective, which wants to implement German education, that's a problem. Many Austrians who only know a few German phrases are still counted as "German speakers."
Third is the issue of the native African population. The colonial government only has complete control over about 20% of the land—these are fertile and well-connected areas. The remaining 80% is still occupied by native tribes, spread evenly across the region.
To tackle these three issues, Ernst outlined three major strategies:
Create a marriage agency that, under the guise of international marriages, buys slaves from the Zanzibar Sultanate—especially targeting the Middle East, and in particular the Ottoman Empire. The focus is on acquiring Armenian women. If Zanzibar can also provide women from other Arab regions, all the better. Ernst is willing to pay—even exchanging Black slaves at a 5:1 or 20:1 ratio.
He believes the Ottoman Empire, with its questionable ethics, will agree. It's a win-win: they can reduce the population of rebellious ethnic groups without outright massacres, and they get paid. In time, not just Armenians, but Kurds, Greeks, and Christians could be sent over—because the Ottomans lack any moral restraint.
Officially, this won't be called slave trade, but "marriage introductions." Western countries won't be able to criticize it if everyone says it's "true love." This policy isn't limited to the Middle East. Ernst plans to ask his old Dutch friends—with their many colonies in the Far East—for help. After all, why not make money with friends?
Increase recruitment from Europe. Right now, Europe is entering a brief peaceful period, so opportunities are limited. The best approach is to enhance the colony's promotional efforts and try to pick up leftovers from people who planned to go to America.Deal with the native Africans. The key goal for the next year is to gather all native populations within the colony and deport them west of the Great Lakes—to Burundi, Rwanda, and Uganda.
Since Zanzibar can't absorb so many slaves, Ernst will send them westward to strain the native kingdoms there. Those lands are also limited in size but already densely populated. Once large numbers of East African natives are forced in, violent conflicts will almost certainly erupt due to cultural and systemic differences.
Ernst expects this will eliminate at least one-third of the native population. Anyone who flees further west will enter the Congo Rainforest—an area so harsh that even modern humans find it hard to survive. Once inside, survival becomes a gamble.
This third plan is a classic "let the wolves eat the sheep" tactic. He's sacrificing one problem population to another. Native states in the Great Lakes region are not to be taken lightly. Compared to the East African tribes still stuck in primitive conditions, these were relatively advanced slave states.
Such societies, when dealing with overpopulation, usually resort to physical elimination—much like ancient China's Shang Dynasty. For them, killing off excess people was standard practice.
To the slave states west of the Great Lakes, East Africa's natives are like Romans seeing Germanic barbarians.
In short, the East African colonial government's main task is no longer expansion. Instead, it must secure the land it already controls.
That means pushing out the natives, stabilizing the population structure, and filling the vast territory with immigrants.
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