Chapter 146: Agricultural Research Institute
August 19, 1868.
In Berlin, the Hechingen consortium reached agreements with multiple German research or academic institutions:
the consortium would provide funding and experimental land to establish in East Africa a specialized institute to study local agriculture and tropical plants—the East African Agricultural Research Institute.
"Professor Anton Perutz, here's to a successful partnership!" Ernst raised his glass toward Anton Perutz.
Anton Perutz downed his drink in one go and said, "All for Germany!"
As a German expert on tropical agriculture, Perutz had not been doing well prior to accepting the Hechingen consortium's offer. While other nations' peers were traveling the world with their own testing sites and ample funds, Perutz could only carry on his research in a small German lab.
Because Germany fully depended on imports for tropical crops, the local nobility cared only about improving yields in their own fields. Germany itself had a temperate climate, so all research funding and talent were directed toward crops suited to the homeland. No German noble was interested in tropical agriculture, much less willing to invest in a likely unprofitable project.
Hence, compared to other fields in Germany, research on tropical crops was nearly nonexistent—Perutz's worst nightmare.
Then the East African colony changed that. Germans now had a vast tropical colony of their own. With farmland there too valuable to waste, local agricultural research had to be taken seriously. The East African Agricultural Research Institute would thus unlock the region's potential.
Though East Africa's climate is not uniquely special—Brazil's highlands at the same latitude share similar conditions—every region has its own features that must be gradually discovered.
Previously, East African agriculture was all about borrowing proven methods from around the world or hiring experts. The Institute's mission is to focus on breeding, disease prevention, raising per-hectare yields, etc.
To support Perutz and his colleagues, the Hechingen consortium has provided eight test sites, spanning over three hundred mu of land. From the coastal plains to inland highlands, from the arid northern desert edges to the humid south, and around three of East Africa's largest lakes—each region has an experimental site.
"Professor Perutz, please rest assured: do your research in East Africa, and we'll provide all the support your team needs. We'll look after your families back home, too," Ernst told him.
"Thank you, Your Highness, for your contribution to German agriculture." Perutz dared not act haughty before such a high patron—especially one with a top-tier noble title.
"No need for thanks. It's simply what I should do. Germany, hampered by its past fragmentation, lost countless interests worldwide while others built up their overseas empires. Now we're nearing unification, and one day we'll surely expand beyond our borders and claim our share abroad. You and I are just laying groundwork for the German people's future global ambitions, so once you publish your findings, Professor Perutz, your name will be celebrated," Ernst said, painting a grand vision.
Perutz believed him. For years, German nationalism had been rising, powered by Prussia's swift ascent and the region's industrial boom. Confidence was high among Germans; they just needed a trigger to soar, presumably the Franco-Prussian War. Like many Germans, Perutz firmly believed they were among the world's greatest peoples, so he took Ernst's talk of eventual overseas expansion at face value.
"Your Highness, the German people won't forget the great deeds of trailblazers. I'm merely a minor agriculture specialist, unworthy compared to your own achievements," Perutz flattered.
"Achievements know no rank; in my eyes, what you're doing benefits the entire world. Let us strive together!" Ernst praised without reserve, and they clinked glasses.
At that banquet, everyone was satisfied.
A few days later, in the Port of Hamburg:
"Mr. Perutz, hello!"
"And you are?"
"I'm Daniel Zhang, here to assist you on behalf of East Africa. I'll help ensure a smooth sea voyage. Anything you need, just let me know."
"Hello, Zhang. Many thanks for your company's support of our endeavors," Perutz said politely.
"It's our duty, sir. This way, please—we've reserved rooms on the ship for you," Daniel Zhang answered, taking up Perutz's luggage and leading the way.
Soon they reached the steamship Mary, a large ocean-going vessel built by the Hechingen shipyard in Hamburg.
"Daniel Zhang, I see many Germans aboard. Are they too heading for the East African colony?" asked Perutz.
"Yes, sir. They're immigrants going to settle in East Africa. Now many Germans choose East Africa, and that territory has nearly two million Germans," Daniel Zhang explained.
"Two million Germans in East Africa? That's impossible," Perutz objected. In Germany, only a few states had populations over a million, so the idea that a little-known colony held millions of Germans was unbelievable.
"Professor Perutz, it's like this: East Africa doesn't formally recognize other ethnicities. All local residents must learn German culture; anyone who sincerely embraces it is automatically deemed German," Daniel Zhang said.
"Ah, so that means you...?"
"Yes, I too am a German, having studied and graduated from the Hechingen Military Academy."
Perutz had never heard of that academy, but he did recognize "Hechingen." Observing a yellow-skinned "German," Perutz felt a bit unsettled but said nothing. It was assimilation, after all. Intellectuals like him—and many among the German upper class—were the main supporters of German nationalism. So if assimilation pivoted on German culture, it was acceptable.
Take Austria-Hungary, for example; integration wasn't impossible. The trouble was that both Austrians and Hungarians wanted to make others adopt their own culture. That was doomed. East Africa's approach was exclusively German from the start, with education and such done in German. Those being assimilated accepted it willingly, so the colony had none of Austria-Hungary's struggles.
A key factor was that the East African colony had few educated people like Perutz. If they recruited slightly literate migrants from the Far East, for instance, though they might appear docile, they'd secretly unify with each other. In Southeast Asia, certain families with cultural roots did just that. So the colony in East Africa admitted many illiterates to reduce assimilation costs. People taught in a non-German system already had ingrained mindsets that could be difficult to uproot.
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