Chapter 233
A state is a tool for class rule; every country follows that principle. Immigrants who "escape" to East Africa are merely changing who rules them.
In Germany or the Far East, most people have no land. Land is in the hands of Junkers or landlords. Just like those who went to America—if they weren't nobles or wealthy, they had to start out as laborers for a few years.
The difference in East Africa is that under the populace, there's also slavery. Life may not be great, but if someone is worse off than me, I feel I'm living fairly well. Originally, Ernst did think of distributing land to immigrants, but now it seems unnecessary because they don't ask for it. They've been used to being tenants under nobles and landlords. Here, East Africa covers their food, clothing, shelter, even arranges marriages. They consider that very satisfactory, since they can't imagine any better life.
Ernst once planned a "land grant for military service," but the local tribes' combat ability wasn't worth that price, so the land kept piling up in the Hohenzollern family's hands. Add that East Africa is basically "the family owns everything," so politics becomes a "mishmash."
The reality of East African agriculture, however you look at it, feels like a Soviet-style collective farm. The difference is that collective farms legally belong to the collective, while here it's private property. But almost all industries are the personal property of the Hohenzollern royal family.
Unlike American big landowners, who focus on efficiency and profit, East Africa runs more by planning and seldom worries about efficiency. As a result, per capita productivity isn't fully tapped. Even though East Africa has farmland yielding five harvests in two years, and such a vast scale, it still can't surpass Italy in practice. The immigrants, having grown "comfortably lazy," could have made the system collapse—yet it hasn't, because of slavery.
As for selling grain at a loss, no worries: there's always some part of the world short on food. Take Japan, for instance, where land–people conflict is extremely tense, with many displaced farmers. They now import East African rice, not because East Africa has any special trick, but simply because Japan is too poor and must buy cheap rice. Meanwhile, East Africa barters that grain for Japan's "female labor" and cultural relics—both sides benefit.
Likewise Italy. Trieste's factory processes East African flour, famously low-quality, with Italy being the biggest buyer. In turn, East Africa gets a chance to bring over family immigrants from southern Italy.
Only Ireland, that huge source of emigrants, has so far escaped Ernst's gaze. Not that Ireland's worthless, but because the British treat them harshly. Britain won't even let Germans enter Ireland, claiming the place is unsettled and not wanting foreign troublemakers—perhaps French spies, for all they know. Another factor is Ireland's migration wave peaked long ago, around 1850. About 1.8 million left, plus a famine killed a quarter of the population. Now Ireland is simply poor and resentful of Britain, but not enough to flee abroad.
So no profit from them, and Ernst's now comfortable with the current immigration scale. Because in the first five months of this year alone, East Africa recorded a shocking 380,000 newborns. Likely in 1870, births alone will add over 600,000. Add immigrants, and it easily breaks the million mark. Those new immigrants soon join the childbearing crowd. If we assume a cycle of three years, in ten years East Africa might pass ten million in population. Right now, we get 400,000 newcomers annually. Over ten years, that's four million more. And it won't always remain that stable; a global economic slump will come. Then East African immigration could surge dramatically.
Ernst is relaxed about population, so he's focusing on East Africa's other matters. Land ownership is a headache: he knows the royal family won't always see eye to eye with the commoners. Over time, land has to be ceded. But how and when must be carefully planned, to avoid chaos.
For now, he might release some mines for Austrian investors—part of the original design before the kingdom's founding. Using East African mineral resources to power Austrian industry binds East Africa to Austria's economy. If East Africa ever clashes with Britain or France, Austria will care first.
Though the Suez Canal is under Britain and France, Austria likely gains the most from it. A four-million-square-kilometer East Africa can solve Austria's food and raw material problems. The only flaw is East Africa's markets aren't really open to Austria, and tropical grain is low-grade, not clashing with Hungary. Even raw materials for Ernst's Vienna factory come from Hungary, so it positions itself at mid-to-high-level markets.
Within East Africa, local consumers barely exist, as wages paid are basically the Hechingen Bank's notes, unrecognized outside. Austria's best bet is government procurement: big cannons, gunboats, etc. The monarchy's own investments alone aren't enough to boost East Africa fast. So it must redirect some immigrants toward industrial work, build up an army for policing over four million square kilometers—at least surpassing one hundred thousand men to suppress slaves.
As agricultural slave labor expands, fewer regular farmers are needed. Once they save enough capital, the Hechingen Energy & Power Company's tractor might be ready. The slaves can continue their forced labor; in the end, they won't remain forever.
Ultimately, alignment with Austria is East Africa's policy. They need Austrian help for education, research, and military industries. Right now that's impossible in East Africa. As for education—hoping East Africa's schooling thrives, we must wait at least two years until that first group of children enters second grade. Even the ones studying abroad are mostly older children who must keep going through elementary, secondary, and later higher education. With no advanced schooling, we can't have real research or advanced military industry. Skilled labor for mid-level tech is also short.
But Ernst isn't worried. East Africa has developed for only three years. No point dreaming too big. At least it already has universal basic education, sure to grow as the second generation matures. Right now, many countries have none. So East Africa isn't actually behind schedule.
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