Chapter 1128 The Beginning

With the arrival of 1914, the New Economic Policy of East Africa was initially compatible with the planned economic system. According to the East African government, this is an economic path with East African characteristics that requires both planned economic guidance and market freedom. The New Economic Policy was safely implemented amid criticism and rebuttal.

While East Africa was undergoing major reforms in its national economic system, new waves were brewing on the European continent, ready to bring Europeans into the abyss.

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"In Greek mythology, the Siren used her singing to attract sailors. Any ship that could not resist the temptation after hearing her singing would hit the reefs on the coast. Now, the leaders of European countries, like hearing the Siren's singing, have unanimously pulled Europe to the brink of war." In the "Rheinische Volkszeitung" in February 1914, an East African journalist wrote.

Europe will go to war, which has become a consensus in most countries in the world, but no one can imagine the huge destructiveness of this war.

In fact, war is not a strange word for Europe. There are often group fights in European history, such as the Thirty Years' War, the Seven Years' War, the Napoleonic Wars, etc., which are wars involving many countries and lasting for a long time.

However, when these wars occurred, the lethality of weapons was still very limited. After enjoying nearly fifty years of peace, Europeans have forgotten the pain of the past wars and ignored the terribleness of the increased lethality of weapons today.

The last most eye-catching war in Europe was the Franco-Prussian War. Although it was large in scale, it lasted for a short time. Germany was in an advantageous position from the beginning, so it did not cause too much loss to the two countries.

In the Balkan War, the mutual attacks between the Balkan countries were also completed in a short time. For example, the Balkan League against the Ottoman Empire, or the war between Bulgaria and the Anti-Bulgarian League, were completed within a few months. The two Balkan Wars combined took less than a year.

Nowadays, European politicians probably have the "quick victory theory" and "decisive battle theory" thinking. Many people only think that once the war is launched, it will end in a short time.

Before the First World War in the previous life, almost all the participating countries were full of confidence in the war. The great confidence accumulated from the colonial wars believed that war was the best way to gain military merit.

Especially those old nobles who were becoming increasingly lonely during the two industrial revolutions hoped to restore the glory of their families through war. These people became the most radical promoters of war, using the power and status in their hands to promote the beauty of war through public opinion.

For example, in Britain, optimism was prevalent, and people believed that the war would be over in a few weeks. After all, the British, who had been at peace for a long time, had long forgotten the cruelty of war. Since the Napoleonic Wars, the British had not experienced a large-scale war. Even in the American War of Independence, they beat the other side and did not suffer much.

And because of East Africa, Britain missed the lessons of the two Boer Wars and did not become a laughing stock of European countries. Although losing to East Africa was also embarrassing, it was much better than being educated by the Boers in the previous life.

Although France suffered heavy losses in the Franco-Prussian War, its strong national pride made the entire nation fall into a state of crazy revenge, wanting a bloody war to wash away the past shame, without realizing how much harm the war would bring.

Germany, led by Prussia, has almost never lost in recent years, and has won several battles of national destiny. In addition, the domestic economy has developed rapidly, and its industrial strength has grown by leaps and bounds, which has expanded beyond all limits.

Before World War I, in the minds of Europeans, Europe was the master of the world. Whether it was the old Britain, France, or the emerging Germany, they all achieved unprecedented success.

European armies were invincible in the colonies, crushing all the foreign natives who dared to resist them like bulldozers, and accompanied by European capital all over the world, dominating the economic lifeline of most regions of the world from Ivory Coast to Moluccas.

Today, European civilization has shown an amazing ability to penetrate. It seems that the civilizations of the world can be classified as follows: European and barbaric. This is the golden age of Europe.

In this context, Europeans generally have a very strong sense of national superiority and pride, which is not entirely the result of propaganda - they have indeed achieved extraordinary success.

Their views on war are also different from those of today's people. They regard war as a common way for national development. Compared with today's people, they are more inclined to use force.

In other words, from top to bottom in Europe, whether politicians or ordinary people, there is a general extreme desire for war. They regard war as an important way to change the fate of the country and individuals.

In summary, Europeans in the early 20th century were actually a group of war maniacs disguised as civilization.

With the extreme thinking of European countries, the increasingly fierce competition for interests, and the irreconcilable contradictions, the pace of war is getting closer and closer, and foreign powers and powerful countries are ready to stay out of it, which are nothing more than the Far East Empire, East Africa, the United States, and Japan.

As for the fact that Europeans are not worried about internal strife, which will allow these foreign powers or powerful countries to snatch the throne of the so-called center of civilization from Europe, Europe in this era has such a proud and complacent capital.

Of course, East Africans don’t have time to understand the mentality of Europeans. Today, the East African economy is also booming, and most people don’t have the time to care about what is happening on the European continent.

But there are also a few people who see business opportunities through the exaggeration of East African news. As long as they can get in touch with the European battlefield, they can make a lot of money!

With the implementation of the new economic policy, a group of relatively powerful private businessmen have emerged in East Africa in the past three years. In order to open up sales in the European market, they dare to adopt new technologies, new processes and new concepts.

Nowadays, although the European war has not yet started, many people have realized that this is an opportunity not to be missed. Therefore, in 1914, many East African businessmen went to Europe to open up the market.

This is actually related to the overheating of the domestic economy in East Africa. Today, the hot market in East Africa makes people superstitious that investment can make profits. A large number of companies have emerged in East Africa, engaging in various types of production activities.

This will inevitably lead to a result, that is, East Africa's industrial production is oversupplied on a large scale, so East Africa naturally needs to find a way out to sell goods, especially those private enterprises. Among the overseas markets, Europe has the highest consumption level and is relatively close to East Africa, so many private enterprises in East Africa have begun to go abroad.

As an immigrant country, East Africa has deep cultural roots with Europe, so it is relatively convenient to go abroad, especially in Germany and the Slavic region.

In this case, a large number of East African businessmen appeared in European countries, trying to sell East African industrial products to all parts of Europe. This is the first time that Europe has come into contact with so many East Africans so far.

Before that, East Africa implemented a closed-door policy. Except for international students and public officials, it was almost difficult to see East Africans in Europe. Now, many East African faces have appeared in European countries. As a mixed race, East Africans are relatively easy to identify.

This also easily aroused Europeans' curiosity about East African countries. Through these cultural communicators who brought their own dry food, Europeans also had a relatively correct understanding of the situation of East African countries for the first time, but it was too late at this time. After all, Europe was only one step away from the quagmire of war, and Europe would be unable to take care of itself.