Chapter 1094: Make the circle bigger

Islands are naturally defensive and can isolate the risks brought by land forces. The British mainland uses this to stir up the entire European continent, and the British mainland can ensure the safety of the mainland as long as it ensures its naval advantage.

This is also reflected in the Persian Gulf region. The UK occupies several of the most important islands in the Persian Gulf, such as the largest Qeshm Island, the Greater Tunb Island, the Lesser Tunb Island and the Abu Musa Island that contain the Strait of Hormuz, and the Bahrain Island in the Persian Gulf.

Britain basically uses these islands as bases to control the political situation of the entire Persian Gulf, so Britain will definitely not cede these islands to East Africa.

The Pirate Coast, that is, the UAE, and Qatar belong to the secondary forces controlled by the UK in the Persian Gulf region. Qatar is a peninsula terrain, and it is next to Bahrain, so the UK will not let it go easily.

As for other places, although the UK has a great influence, it is not under the direct control of the UK. Even the Pirate Coast or Qatar are actually to a certain extent because of their low value and are easily grasped by the UK.

The only valuable industry in the area is pearl fishing. Qatar and Bahrain used to belong to the same country. Later, the royal family of Bahrain moved to Bahrain to collect pearls. As a result, the housekeeper who stayed in Qatar became the king.

This kind of bloody plot reflects the poverty of the Persian Gulf coast from the 19th century to the early 20th century to a certain extent.

This is also the main reason why the negotiating officials of the East African government were dissatisfied with the conditions offered by the British government.

Freer said to Russell bluntly: "Not only does this place have no economic output, but the area you have drawn is too small. There are only a few tribes in the entire Pirate Coast, which is not even a country, so your country is too insincere."

The Pirate Coast is the United Arab Emirates in the previous life. The full name of the United Arab Emirates is the United Arab Emirates. The characteristics of the country can be seen from the name of the country. In essence, it is a country composed of several tribes united together.

After all, East Africa has seen many rulers like chiefs. In the process of conquering the natives, East Africa has killed thousands of chiefs.

The top political forces on the Pirate Coast are actually no different from those on the African continent. They are all based on the most basic tribal civilization.

Freer went on to say: "And the name of the Pirate Coast shows that the specialty of the region is pirates. The locals need to rely on pirates to make a living. If we get it in East Africa, it is basically a losing business."

The Pirate Coast is actually the former territory of the Oman Empire. In the 18th century, Oman had repeated civil unrest, and the local leaders in the UAE region called themselves Emirs and became independent regimes. At that time, both Arab merchant ships and European merchant ships were repeatedly looted by small countries in the region, so the place was called the "Pirate Coast".

In the 19th century, the British East India Company sent a fleet to destroy coastal fortresses in Ras Al Khaimah, Sharjah, Dubai and other places to ensure the smooth flow of routes from India to Egypt.

This also shows that the British designated the region as a colony not because it was so important, but to curb the breeding of pirates, and most importantly, to maintain the safety of British trade routes.

So, the Pirate Coast was also a burden for the British at the beginning. Britain did not actually have much interest here every year, and had to pay additional governance costs.

Now Britain actually wants to dump this burden on East Africa and exchange it for political benefits at the same time, which can be said to be "killing two birds with one stone".

Russell naturally knew this, so he had to whitewash the Pirate Coast to a certain extent to increase its "price".

Russell said: "Mr. Freer is wrong. The Pirate Coast is still relatively important. East Africa itself is a major grain producer, and you don't need the Pirate Coast as a grain production base, so the climate problem of the Pirate Coast is actually not too important for your country. By obtaining this place, East Africa will have a stable base, thus forming a certain political influence on the Persian Gulf."

"After all, overseas territories can never be judged by economic accounts, but also by political gains and losses. There is no doubt that if you obtain the sovereignty here, it will be of great benefit to your country's political influence in the Persian Gulf."

Russell's words still make sense, but colonial activities themselves are driven by economic interests. There are many examples in history where Western colonial countries voluntarily gave up some colonies because they could not make ends meet. The most typical example is Alaska sold by Russia to the Rhine Royal Family. In essence, Russia underestimated the economic value of Alaska.

From the current perspective, the economic value of the Pirate Coast is even less than that of Alaska. Alaska under the governance of East Africa still produces fur, wood, minerals and other products, while the only thing the Pirate Coast can offer is the pearl industry mentioned earlier.

However, the pearl industry is not enough to drive the development of the Pirate Coast. The entire Pirate Coast can be said to be one of the poorest areas in the world.

Moreover, the climate here is too harsh. Alaska under the governance of East Africa at least has a temperate marine climate distribution, which is more suitable for human habitation and has certain agricultural basic conditions, at least potatoes, barley and vegetable planting conditions.

On the other hand, the Pirate Coast has extremely scarce fresh water resources, and nomadic industry can only be achieved by raising a small number of camels, and the output of crops is almost negligible.

This can also be reflected from the population of the Pirate Coast. Although there is no accurate number, according to the assessment of the East African government, the population of the entire Pirate Coast is probably only tens of thousands.

You should know that the area of ​​the entire Pirate Coast is as high as more than 100,000 square kilometers, and such a small population is already the limit of the Pirate Coast at this time.

In the past, when the UAE gained independence from Britain, the population was only more than 300,000, and that was decades later. At that time, the UAE's oil industry had been developed for many years, so at this time, East Africa called the Pirate Coast a barren land, which was not a derogatory statement at all, but the real situation of the Pirate Coast.

This is also the fundamental problem that East African government officials look down on the Pirate Coast. If the Pirate Coast itself is relied on for its own output, even if the local natives are cleared, East Africa can only accommodate more than 10,000 people at most.

After all, although East Africa is not rich, the living standards of the people are much higher than those of the Pirate Coast, a real poor and remote place. The resources that could originally supply the lives of the local natives are not enough to support the survival of the same size of East African residents.

So Freer said to Russell: "The value of the Pirate Coast is too low, so if you want to use this as a negotiation condition, Britain should make greater concessions, for example, this circle is too small, it should be larger, and the entire Pirate Coast should be included."

"In fact, the only thing we can see is the Al Ain Oasis, which at least has some fresh water resources. As for other areas, there is not much value at all."

The Al Ain Oasis is the largest oasis on the Pirate Coast, and it also occupies more than 90% of the fresh water resources of the UAE in the previous life.

Of course, even the best land on the Pirate Coast is not of much value to East African government officials, because although the Al Ain Oasis is not a desert, it is not much different.

The only thing worth seeing here is the fresh water resources. The most powerful Abu Dhabi tribe in the UAE in the previous life developed based on this oasis, and the Al Ain Oasis was also the earliest capital of Abu Dhabi. Later, the capital was moved to the coast because of the development of the oil industry.

Freer took a red pencil and circled the entire Pirate Coast under Russell's gaze, which was almost the scope of the UAE in the previous life.

In fact, if it weren't for Ernst's previous advice, Freer would never have bought into the British plan. After all, enclosing such a large piece of desert would have almost no value to East Africa. At least in the eyes of most East African officials, this was not a good deal.