Chapter 522: The Gatekeeper of the Great Powers
Late 1879.
The expected light rainy season had yet to arrive, triggering a drought in East Africa's eastern region. This drought affected two of the country's most important agricultural zones: the coastal plains and the East African Highlands dryland farming region.
The Great Lakes area, however, remained largely unaffected. Thanks to its geographical position, it still benefited from residual moisture drifting in from the Congo Basin. Combined with its already rich freshwater resources, the drought had little impact there.
"This year's rainy season has been delayed due to unusual conditions. We need to manage water allocation carefully and begin controlled reservoir releases to ensure agricultural stability."
"According to regional reports, five eastern provinces will be affected: Central Province, Eastern Province, New Württemberg, the Highlands, and Southern Salzburg. This drought covers a vast area. Even some western and southern regions may feel the effects, though less severely due to later development and lower population density."
Despite the scale of the drought, East Africa was able to handle it calmly. The national apparatus continued to function smoothly. Still, the widespread nature of the drought drew serious attention from the central government.
After more than a decade of development, East Africa's eastern population—excluding Black Africans—had reached levels comparable to normal nations. It was now clearly different from other sparsely populated countries like Australia, Canada, and Argentina.
Brazil, though often considered sparsely populated, had over 10 million people—so it was within reason. East Africa, just counting immigrants in the Tanganyika region, already exceeded 10 million, not even including natural population growth.
East Africa's sheer size meant it could no longer be lumped into the same category as the others. Still, due to rapid territorial expansion, its population and land remained unevenly distributed.
But in global terms, East Africa was already a population heavyweight—especially compared to most other nations.
As 1880 approached, workloads for all levels of East African government increased. In Ernst's mind, 1880 marked a key historical milestone. To assess the state of the nation, the long-suspended population census resumed in September.
As a dual giant in both territory and population, Ernst believed East Africa should at least outperform countries like Japan and Spain.
Japan wasn't yet a great power, but its Meiji Restoration had triggered rapid development—and it had the head start. Its population was already large, while East Africa had to import its people at great expense and effort.
Without people, no value could be created. East Africa and the Meiji reforms began around the same time, but back then, East Africa hadn't even secured full control of Tanganyika.
At that time, Japan was already surging ahead, while East Africa had barely left the starting line. Aside from land area, Japan was stronger in every aspect.
But a decade later, East Africa had caught up in most areas—and surpassed Japan in several.
Take railways: by 1879, East Africa's network neared 10,000 kilometers, while Japan's was only around 1,500 kilometers.
As for steel, coal, and other resources—Ernst didn't even bother comparing. Japan couldn't pull minerals out of thin air.
That resource scarcity was a major reason for Japan's lagging railway development. To build even 1,500 kilometers of track, Ernst could already imagine the country's austerity measures.
In 1879, Japan was still an agrarian state. Over 80% of its fiscal revenue came from agriculture. East Africa was slightly better off, thanks to the overseas exploits of the Hechingen Consortium—though it wasn't a purely East African asset.
Beyond agriculture, Japan's biggest bet was on textiles—especially silk, its main export. The other pillar was overseas labor. Japanese workers toiled abroad, fueling national development. As for mining? Negligible.
In short, Japan focused on hard labor—and Ernst respected that. Honestly, the average Japanese life might've been worse than that of East African Blacks.
East Africa focused on agriculture, industry, mining, and emerging sectors like electricity. Unlike Japan, East Africa treated agriculture as a central industry and invested heavily in it.
Japan, by contrast, squeezed every bit of value out of its land and farmers, using minimal agricultural income to fund industrial growth. The input-output ratio was completely skewed.
East Africa, with its rich land and resources, had every reason to treat agriculture as a pillar. Ernst also had long-term ambitions of agricultural dominance. It might not show now—but East Africa would eventually claim its share.
Electricity and other emerging industries were still in their infancy. Ernst was laying the groundwork by emphasizing education and talent acquisition. The payoff would come later.
In industry and mining, East Africa followed Germany's model—heavily promoting heavy industry. Steel production had already surpassed one million tons.
But the biggest difference between the two countries lay in military strength. East Africa's defense capabilities had reached great-power levels. Since defeating Portugal, no one dared underestimate its armed forces.
Japan, though highly militarized, couldn't match East Africa's military. The East African Navy alone was something Japan could only look up to.
In fact, East Africa surpassed Japan in almost every area except population—and even there, it held an edge. Black lives counted too, and East Africa's 20 million Blacks had made enormous contributions to national development.
Ernst compared East Africa to Japan only because there were so few other emerging nations worth benchmarking.
The U.S. and Germany were still a tier above. Italy, thanks to Ernst's actions, had splintered and was no longer a viable reference. Countries like Belgium and Romania were too small.
In truth, the countries closest in national strength to East Africa were the Ottoman Empire and Spain. Ernst believed the Ottomans had stronger military capabilities—especially after their impressive showing in the Tenth Russo-Turkish War.
Spain hadn't made much of an impression by the century's end. Still, the Ottoman Empire faced far more difficult geopolitical challenges than Spain, which didn't detract from its status as a major power.
Spain's strength lay in its navy and colonies. Its homeland was decent—mid-tier in Europe.
Aside from these nations, the only real heavyweights were Britain, France, Russia, Germany, Austria-Hungary, the U.S., and the Far Eastern Empire. Ernst wasn't praising the Far East just because of his past life—it truly was a global power in this era.
It just didn't know how to wield that power. The Qing government feared change and prioritized its own survival. It supported military industry but hesitated to actually use its army. The Banner system was useless, and Han Chinese were heavily restricted. That led to indecision and defeat.
In fact, many wars started well for the Qing. But whenever a competent general emerged, he was quickly suppressed.
Comparing nations, Ernst concluded that East Africa's national power sat right between the great powers and everyone else.
With Italy gone, Spain now guarded the "gates" of the great powers—and East Africa was next in line.
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