Chapter 436: Malicious Competition
While East Africa was managing the Little Rhine River, Vienna was also widening the Danube. However, unlike East Africa, which was doing so purely for management purposes, Vienna's motives were quite particular—it was preparing to host the 1873 World Expo, making the project more of a political showcase.
The expo began in May, but Ernst didn't join the festivities. On one hand, he had too many commitments; on the other hand, the Vienna Expo was simply too chaotic.
Although Ernst didn't participate directly, the expo, as a global showcase of goods, saw active involvement from the Hechingen Consortium.
The consortium's exhibits fell into three main categories: "European technology and industrial products, East African specialties, and goods involved in Hechingen's trade between the Far East and Europe."
The technological and industrial items were products from the consortium's various companies, mainly highlighting electricity, light industry, and medicine.
East African specialties focused on cash crops—East Africa's competitive edge—whereas grain and dairy agriculture remained strongholds of Europe and America.
Thus, amid the economic crisis, East Africa's export of staple grains to Europe had nearly come to a standstill, maintaining advantages only in regions like the Middle East and North Africa, where agricultural development was unfavorable.
Tropical cash crops, however, were a different story. While the U.S. wasn't lacking in strength in this area, most of its territory was temperate, with some subtropical zones but no tropical ones (at this time, Hawaii hadn't yet been annexed).
If possible, Ernst had considered Hawaii, but only as a thought. Unlike icy, remote Alaska, Hawaii sat in the heart of the North Pacific with too much strategic significance. Not just the U.S., but also Japan, Canada, the Far East Empire, Britain, and Russia would never let East Africa touch it.
East Africa might be able to block Alaska and delay its development, but such tactics wouldn't work with Hawaii. It's a key stopover for passing ships—impossible to avoid. Still, there's no harm in dreaming.
Aside from this, East Africa's main competitor in tropical crops was the Caribbean islands, which focused heavily on sugar production. For various reasons, Western colonizers clearly valued the Caribbean coasts more than South America, with Haiti and Cuba being prime examples.
South America, on the other hand, was less favored. Ernst believed this was due to its relatively weak colonial powers, and also because many South American nations, after gaining independence, became strong players themselves. Countries like Brazil and Argentina were large and populous, making them hard to control.
The Caribbean's advantages lay in fertile land, ample rainfall, and its strategic location between North and South America—not far from Europe.
Compared to the Caribbean, East Africa had the edge of proximity to Central and Eastern Europe and Central Asia, better organizational capacity and production efficiency, larger land area, and more planned agricultural operations that fully leveraged its strengths.
East Africa's geography was also far more diverse, encompassing tropical rainforest, tropical savanna, tropical desert, and mountainous highland climates. Even within the savanna climate, there were huge internal differences—ranging from plateau (East African Highlands) and coastal plains, to wet zones (Great Lakes), dry zones (Southern Africa), dual rainy seasons, single rainy seasons, long rainy seasons, and short rainy seasons.
So while East Africa was predominantly tropical savanna, its climate diversity by temperature and rainfall created vast differences within the same region—providing fertile ground for a wide range of crops.
At this Vienna World Expo, Hechingen's key East African products included sisal, cloves, Somali bananas, mosquito coils (pyrethrum), asparagus fern (a kind of fruit), East African gum (Arabic gum), tea, coffee, and East African rubber—237 types of large-scale cultivated tropical crops.
There were also more than 40 types of animal-based products such as horn specimens from East African longhorn cattle (Watusi), lion hides, ivory, crocodile leather goods, and 17 types of premium wood carvings made from African teak, neem, and red walnut.
Several interesting scenes unfolded at the expo:
"Why does your so-called East African rubber look exactly like our Brazilian samples?"
"Don't slander us," retorted a Hechingen employee. "This is a native rubber tree species discovered deep in East Africa."
Under suspicious glances from the Brazilian representatives, the employee continued, "Africa is an unexplored continent. It's not surprising to discover new things."
Others didn't care whether East Africa's rubber trees were stolen or not—they just asked for the price. Whoever sold cheaper, won. Despite a later start, East Africa's rubber plantations were larger than Brazil's, giving it a competitive edge.
At the banana exhibition area:
To engage in malicious competition, the Hechingen Consortium deliberately showcased American bananas side by side with East African bananas, allowing everyone to taste the difference. The origins of both were clearly marked.
"Thin skin, thick flesh, large and sweet—leading the industry!"
"Irrigated by the high-quality waters of the Shebelle River, originating from the Ethiopian Highlands. Bathed in twelve hours of sunshine, cared for by dedicated farmers with one-on-one cultivation—superior quality, sweeter taste, richer aroma!"
In the face of this aggressive competition from East African Somali bananas, companies from the Caribbean, especially the U.S.-based Boston Fruit Company, were indignant.
"You clearly picked the worst samples from the Caribbean and compared them to your best bananas. We protest!"
"Facts speak louder than words. Let everyone taste both and decide who the true king of bananas is!"
"Then you can't use your samples. Use bananas we brought directly from the source—we're confident we'll win."
With enthusiastic support from onlookers, a banana contest was set up on the spot.
"To the left are Somali bananas from East Africa, to the right are bananas from the Caribbean. Taste both and vote—everyone can participate."
A tasting session began. Hechingen staff even thoughtfully provided drinking water so participants could cleanse their palates and avoid flavor mixing.
"Hmm, both are quite tasty overall, but personally, I find the Somali bananas sweeter."
"Forget sweetness—just the color and freshness make Somali bananas more appealing."
Finally came a heavyweight verdict. After carefully tasting both, King Carol I of Romania declared: "With no bias at all, Somali bananas win by a landslide."
Indeed, it was without bias. This expo attracted many royals—Wilhelm I, Alexander II, Francesco II of Naples, and more. Carol I just happened to be there and joined the fun. Though he was related to Ernst, Ernst hadn't planted him there to promote bananas.
Thus, Somali bananas were crowned "World's Sweetest Banana" at this year's World Expo.
Out of sheer jealousy for America's development over the years, British newspapers snidely remarked: "American bananas, like their industrial goods, grew by copying others and cutting corners…" Fully displaying the tone of a disapproving father toward a rebellious son.
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