Chapter 224: Dignity
April 13, 1870
Weather: Clear, mild temperature
The surging Zambezi River water crashes over the cliffs like thousands of galloping horses, plunging into the bottomless gorge. A vast mist, shimmering in the sunlight, forms a brilliant rainbow bridge. The roar of the falls, like thunder, can be heard for kilometers around, and standing on the shore one can't help but be awed by this masterpiece of nature.
From a giant boulder overlooking the waterfall, for the first time I feel how small I am. Even though I've lived more than twenty years in the military, facing life-or-death decisions too many times to count, I've never felt this way. War only brought me numbness—work, really, my only means of making a living. But the wonder of nature shakes my dull heart, washing away the gunpowder that once clouded my soul.
– Excerpt from The Diary of Felix, East African Kingdom Army Commander
Felix's diary is one of the few rare, detailed historical texts from the later East African era. Through Felix's perspective, it reveals how East Africa expanded into African regions and ruled them. It also serves as a unique piece of written evidence of colonial crimes. In later times, East Africa's official position doesn't deny its content, but Ernst kept a low profile regarding it.
Anyone researching East African history can't avoid Felix's diary. But since the East African Royal House owns its copyright and sells it at a high price, ordinary people only get their info from summary accounts. Indeed, besides Felix's diary, there's no better source—East Africa's government was enthusiastic about destroying evidence from the start, including Arab cultural heritage and historic cities. So it's challenging to find any direct colonial proof in East Africa. Moreover, the literacy level of that era was low; hardly anyone could do what Felix did, writing a diary every day. You needed reading and writing skills, plus paper and pens, which mostly only government personnel had, and even they struggled to write official documents, let alone diaries.
Felix's position was high, and he had a "famous general" aura, so his diary was a bestseller. Ernst didn't try to hide East Africa's colonial crimes—he acknowledged them but rarely mentioned it. In an age of triple power struggles, numerous so-called "enlightened" double-standard critics attacked East Africa for it. Still, East Africa went its own way. Whenever a descendant of a victim tried to sue, East Africa's government rejected the claim. It no longer recognized those people's identity. Some "black" individuals, suspecting it might help them somehow, pretended their ancestors were once East Africans who fled, but they usually got nothing. East Africa acknowledged it once sold out 200,000 tribespeople, mostly from the Sultanate of Zanzibar. And since Zanzibar remained a "brotherly state" under East Africa's shadow, living quite well, it wasn't about to stir up trouble.
In the 21st century, many countries hit development bottlenecks. Especially in the U.S., various "reverse discrimination" movements appeared, seeking moral condemnation worldwide, ironically helping East Africa's old colonial empire to somewhat "clean up its image." At least compared to the U.S., East Africa looked better, since no black population existed within it and thus no so-called "racial discrimination." Yes, Ernst colonized Africa, forcing Africans to labor, but he never passed laws as strange as America's. By the standards of that era, East Africa was even considered "humane." There was no official policy of genocide; any mass killing was done among the African tribes themselves. So by the 21st century, West Africa was still riddled with violent tribal conflict, while East Africa faced less blame.
As time moved on, the once-controversial figure of Ernst gained more acceptance outside East Africa. Especially as the U.S. and France faced internal issues driven by their "blackening," the German peoples further rallied under East Africa's banner. History is cyclical. Great rulers like Ernst, who left a deep mark on the world, are always celebrated. Under the "heroic narrative," an empire's ruler, whatever their sins, gets romanticized by posterity.
…
Constantine King Falls
Felix, Commander of the East African Army, both the one who proposed and carried out the "Pocket" Plan, now sits atop a black stallion, watching some East African soldiers plant the East African flag on the north side of Constantine King Falls. Having reached the north bank of the Zambezi, the "Pocket" Plan is complete. Lasting over five and a half months, it occupied what later became all of Zambia and parts of the Republic of Congo.
East Africa gained more than 800,000 square kilometers, with numerous native states and tribes turned into East African vassals, forced at gunpoint to sign land transfer treaties they didn't even understand. Under the East African Army's intimidation, they muddledly pressed their black fingerprints.
The so-called Constantine King Falls is in fact Africa's famed Victoria Falls, or Mosi-oa-Tunya to the tribes. Historically, David Livingstone discovered it in 1855 and named it for Queen Victoria of Britain. But as with the Great Lakes, once under East Africa, everything got a Germanic name. "Constantine King Falls" first originated barely an hour earlier.
…
Once the "Pocket" Plan wrapped up, Felix traveled from the north down to the Zambezi area, beginning in the Yeke Kingdom and ending at Mosi-oa-Tunya Falls.
"Commander!" Some East African soldier saluted Felix. Felix, eyeing the waterfall, asked those around him, "What's this waterfall called?"
"Sir, we aren't sure either, but the locals call it Mosi-oa-Tunya."
"Mosi-oa-Tunya? That won't do. This place is East African territory now, so it needs a Germanic name."
"But sir, what name should we choose?"
"Well, it's East African land, so let's name it for His Majesty. Call it Constantine Prince Falls."
But an instant later, Felix hesitated, remembering East Africa would soon become a kingdom, so "Prince Falls" might not fit.
"No—better to call it Constantine King Falls. That suits the future East African Kingdom's status."
"Yes, Commander!"
So that's the origin of Constantine King Falls. In a few words, Felix himself set the name, simply "King Falls" for short.
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