Chapter 453: Chapter 26, Turbulence in South Africa
 

By the winter of 1869, the world, once ravaged by the flames of war, suddenly quieted down. The colonial empires had ended their aggressive wars launched to shift domestic economic crises during this season.

The gap in strength between the warring parties was stark, and in the face of modern weaponry, raw courage was utterly insignificant.

If it weren’t for the fact that everyone was holding each other back, the wars would have ended even sooner. The post-war geopolitical landscape of the African Continent became even more pronounced.

France occupied Egypt, resolved the situation in Algeria, and, together with the British, divided Tunisia; Austria also achieved its predetermined goals, occupying areas such as Botswana, Kenya, and Tanzania.

Without a doubt, the British were at a disadvantage in this round of competition. Even though John Bull defeated Ethiopia and also killed Ordo II, it still did not change their disadvantage in the scramble for Africa.

Killing a native emperor did not mean that the British had occupied Ethiopia, let alone establish nominal rule.

Without a central government, Ethiopia became fragmented. Faced with various warlords, the British also had a headache.

There were fearless internationalist champions who were secretly supporting Ethiopia in their fight, and the British paid a heavy price for this war that lasted two years.

In total, they deployed a force of 136,000, with personnel losses exceeding five thousand, nearly three thousand of whom remained permanently in the African Continent, and military expenditures were astronomical.

These casualty figures only account for the losses of white soldiers. The lives of servant soldiers were seen as cheap, and naturally, their casualties were not included in the statistics.

Regardless, they had won the war, and the pride of the Great Britain Empire was not lost this time.

The absolute difference in strength was not so easy to compensate for. Even with the help of France and Austria, Ethiopia only caused some troubles for the British.

With Emperor Ordo II gone, Franz had no expectations for the remaining warlords. With the methods of the British, it wouldn’t take long before they probably started a civil war.

This was not entirely bad, as at least in the short term, the British could not plunder massive wealth from Ethiopia.

Strategically, the British had increased their influence in the Gulf of Aden, but unfortunately, the cost was a bit too high. The anti-war faction of the London Government must have grown stronger.

According to the current landscape of the African Continent, Austria’s influence had been solidified, commanding an absolute leading position. With colonial territories exceeding thirteen million square kilometers, it already comprised nearly half of the African Continent.

If it was just about occupying land, others could look for opportunities to seize it. The problem was that these lands were home to over eight million white immigrants.

The colonists of various countries shared one characteristic: everyone was armed, and anyone who could carry a weapon could become a fighter.

If a conflict broke out, it was really uncertain who would end up seizing whom. Unless England and France could deploy over a million troops to the African Continent, they would have a chance at victory.

Clearly, this was impossible. The French simply dared not send their main forces to the African Continent, for doing so would endanger their homeland.

As for the British, let alone deploying a million men, just expanding their army by three to five hundred thousand, the Royal Navy and Army would start clashing first.

The Royal Navy would not allow the Army to snatch resources; such a disaster would be more dreadful than facing a combined threat from France and Austria.

The main reason Austria did not continue to expand in the African Continent was that they were already overstuffed and needed to digest the fruits of war.

There were still many dangers lurking in these vast lands, threatening Austrian rule; quelling local unrest was the urgent priority.

If the colonial society couldn’t be stabilized, how could wealth be created? A colony that didn’t generate wealth was a burden.

In this round of division, the French also performed well, closely following Austria.

If the French could achieve their predetermined goals, their colonial territories would also surpass ten million square kilometers.

Obviously, European strategy had tied up a lot of French effort, leaving them somewhat overstretched in their colonial expansion in Africa, otherwise, Tunisia would not have been split with the British.

Their actual control area was still less than half of what was planned. Not to mention the interior, Austria also didn’t have actual control over many areas.

For instance, Morocco had become a convergence of influence for England, France, and Spain; expelling England and Spain from it posed a challenge.

Nevertheless, nominally, the French sphere of influence was still considerable, including Sudan, which Napoleon III had declared a protectorate.

Of course, this was simply a unilateral declaration by the Paris Government and had not gained international recognition. The British similarly claimed to have signed a treaty with Sudan, directly assuming the position of suzerain.

These documents were basically signed under the duress of colonists or might even be forgeries. One should not consider the integrity of the great powers; colonization has always depended on force, and treaties were inconsequential.

This kind of fanciful trickery was merely for self-decoration, to make their grabbing look more presentable, and had little legal force in itself.

Clearly, the Sudan area had become the focal point of the contest between England and France.

The French aimed to connect Sudan with Egypt and ideally occupy Ethiopia and Somalia, gaining dominion over the colonization of East Africa.

The British, striving for Sudan, also had designs on Egypt, and the Suez Canal was particularly appealing to them.

In summary, the Sudan area was of great importance to England and France. Falling into French hands could likely squeeze the British out of the East African region, leaving them confined to South Africa alone.

If it fell into British hands, then with control over the southeast corners, not only could the British reverse their unfavorable strategic position on the African Continent, but they might also go further in seizing the Suez Canal, regaining dominance over the Mediterranean.

This was a conspiracy in plain sight, as long as Austria didn’t meddle, it was only a matter of time before England and France clashed over the Sudan area.

The African Continent was temporarily stable, and the Mexican Civil War had entered a period of underestimated calm. After contracting the task of quelling the rebellion, the French Army swiftly defeated the rebel army.

A motley crew was just that, a motley crew. Without the Mexican government army causing trouble, the French Army unleashed its true strength, which was simply incomparable to that of the rebel army.

The French had shown the world through their actions that their defeat in the last Mexican War was just an exception, and they remained the strongest army in the whole world.

Naturally, the rebel army hadn’t been completely annihilated, and Mexico was not a small place. If the rebels simply found a place to hide, the French would be powerless.

The rule of Maximilian I was not stabilized by the severe blow to the rebels, but rather, it became shaky due to continuous social reforms.

Had it not been for fear of the reaction from France and Austria, the power factions in Mexico would have probably launched a coup by now and turned the Crown Prince into a rubber stamp.

On the surface, it seemed to have stabilized, but undercurrents were constantly surging. Now, it only needed a spark to ignite.

…

No sooner had one wave settled than another arose.

In 1860, several African chieftaincies to the east of the Transvaal Republic discovered a large amount of gold. In 1867, the first diamond was found on the banks of the Orange River near Hopetown.

For the British, who controlled the South African region, the two Boer Republics of Transvaal and Orange were no longer paupers but rather a piece of fat meat.

What mattered even more was that the Austrians had also stretched out their tentacles.

The Boer people were originally a mixed race of Dutch, German, and a portion of French, and they naturally did not reject Austria, which was of the same lineage and origin.

Small countries need to cling to powerful allies, and it wasn’t long before they became good friends. The Zulu people served as the bridge of friendship between the two sides, having jointly dealt with this threat in the recent African turmoil.

For the British, the Boers leaning toward Austria meant an impending crisis. Given Austria’s advantage on the African Continent, assimilating the ethnically kindred Boers seemed to pose little difficulty.

If it weren’t for the New Roman Empire being incompatible with a Republic, perhaps the two sides would have already merged. Even so, there was no shortage of Boers who supported joining the Shinra colonial system.

This was unbearable to the British, fraught with a sense of crisis—they had not forgotten how they were pushed out of the European Continent and naturally did not want to see the same scenario replayed in South Africa.

Even though the Suez Canal was operational, reducing Cape Town’s strategic value, this place was still a battlefield crucial for military strategists.

This gave Governor Delf a real headache. Since he took control of the South African region, not to mention outward expansion, even his sphere of influence was continually being squeezed.

Facing the aggressive Austrians, they could only maintain their current sphere of influence thanks to the backing of the Great Britain Empire.

As for expansion? The exploratory expeditions sent out vanished without trace, and on the rare occasions when a few returned, they pointed to the Native Tribes.

Which Native Tribe had the power to stop their advance? This situation had persisted for many years, and a few years ago, they had even organized an expeditionary force of three thousand in an attempt to break this stalemate.

Then, this much-anticipated force was barely on its way when it was ambushed by a large number of Native Tribes.

They smashed all divine and demonic obstacles in their path, sending the Native Tribes screaming for their fathers. They carelessly ventured too far in their fervor and had their retreat cut off.

They had not been wiped out entirely, but they were not far from it. Over the next year, more than one and a half million Native Tribes migrated to their colonies.

While it’s true that many hands make light work, people need to be fed. The first thing these driven Black Tribes did when they arrived was to fight for territory.

Apart from the cities still under British control, the countryside was in chaos. British tax officials dared not leave the city, and many immigrants fled South Africa with their families.

The deteriorating situation forced the previous Governor to take responsibility and retire early. Governor Delf was only able to resolve the issue of overpopulation by introducing slave traders.

The main reason for these incidents was the cooperation of the Boer Republic with Austria’s actions, which directly resulted in the migration of these Native Tribes; otherwise, Austria wouldn’t have been able to achieve this.

Delf had repeatedly proposed to the government to intervene in Austria’s expansion, but to no avail. It wasn’t that the London Government did not want to intervene, the problem was that they lacked the strength to do so.

In recent years, the dominance of the Royal Navy had been challenged by France and Austria. The number of Ironclad ships France possessed was already approaching three-fourths of theirs, and Austria’s number of main ships was as high as sixty-five percent of the British.

The two-power standard had long been discarded in some corner collecting dust. Reality told the British that if you’re broke, don’t pretend to be something you’re not.

Of course, in terms of total tonnage, the British just managed to maintain the two-power standard, after all, no one was competing with them in the number of Sailing Warships.

Looking at the intelligence gathered, Governor Delf felt he should do something; otherwise, the future of Great Britain Empire’s rule in South Africa would be difficult.

If anyone were to discover the content above, they wouldn’t think that Delf was making a mountain out of a molehill. It was definitely the immigration data of the two Boer Republics over the past decade or so.

Among these, the German Region immigrants were particularly important, totaling eighty thousand, which was more than eighty percent of the total number of immigrants.

How many people did the Boer Republics have? At this rate, it was only a matter of time before becoming a German Descendant nation. It was no surprise that the two Boer Republics leaned toward Austria, as votes forced the government to be pro-Austria.