Chapter 1160 Prime Minister Kuyper

This is extortion! Wilhelmina looked at the shameless man in front of her with a complicated expression. Sure enough, the British Empire and France are now inseparable. Can East Africa be so unscrupulous?

When Wilhelmina was extremely entangled, the Dutch Prime Minister Kuyper could not stand it anymore.

Kuyper was actually a pro-Allied person, which made the Netherlands neutral in World War I in the past, but in fact biased towards Germany.

And this also made the Netherlands neutral, but also suffered from the war.

On the one hand, almost all the materials in the world poured into Europe because of the war, which made the prices of materials such as tea, sugar and rubber in Europe extremely low.

And these items are almost the main output of the Dutch colonies. The Dutch colonies are the East Indies and the Antilles in the Caribbean Sea. As tropical regions, they can only produce a limited number of tropical agricultural products.

The reality is that the British and French colonies and the American countries can almost produce the same type of products, and this time and space has added East Africa, a major tropical agricultural product exporter in the world. Not to mention the Netherlands, even tropical countries such as Brazil have felt the deep malice of East Africa, which has almost caused a sharp decline in the income of the Dutch colonial trade.

On the other hand, in order to win the war, the Allies in the previous life began to ban the import of goods that could be transferred to Germany in the middle and late stages of the war, and the Netherlands became the key. After all, the Netherlands can be said to be the fastest sea route in the Ruhr area of ​​Germany, and a large number of goods are extremely dependent on the Netherlands for transshipment.

In the late stage of the war, the United States also joined the blockade of the Netherlands, and the United States stopped supplying oil, coal, iron and other materials to the Netherlands.

Hundreds of ships carrying food were arrested in English ports, and all of this led to the "Potato Riot" in 1918 in the previous life.

The "Potato Riot" was actually a riot launched by Belgian refugees who fled to the Netherlands because they could not keep up with the relief.

In the late stage of the war, nearly 900,000 Belgians fled to the Netherlands, and among them there were more than 100,000 Belgian soldiers. Nearly one million war refugees were obviously too much for the Dutch, whose population was only more than 6 million.

This was also the fundamental reason why Tiller proposed to help the Netherlands solve the refugee problem and Wilhelmina agreed. Of course, it was only the early stage of the war, and the Netherlands' carrying capacity was obviously not at that level, but hundreds of thousands of refugees were enough to give the Dutch government a headache.

Of course, the final result of the war was still good for the Netherlands as a whole. Although there were some twists and turns in the middle, the Netherlands received a lot of real money from Germany.

The existence of Prime Minister Kuyper was also good news for East Africa. The existence of a pro-German prime minister opened the door for trade between East Africa and Germany.

Kuyper was very clear about the value of the Netherlands to East Africa, so he was completely fearless of Tiller's extortion.

Kuyper said, "Sir Traill, your request is really excessive. You should know that any issue concerning territory touches the core interests of a country. Although we have little power in Kalimantan, Kalimantan is also an inseparable part of the Netherlands."

The so-called little power is only for the two countries of Britain and East Africa on Kalimantan. Britain occupies the north of Kalimantan, while East Africa occupies the west, and the Netherlands holds East Kalimantan.

The Netherlands is a small country, and its colonial core is mainly Java Island. The power that can be distributed to other islands is very limited.

On the other hand, West Kalimantan controlled by East Africa is indeed the core interest of East Africa in the South Seas. Its population, military, etc. are much larger than those of Britain and the Netherlands. After all, West Kalimantan has become one of the provinces of East Africa, and it is the only overseas province far away from the mainland. This is different from the two provinces on Madagascar Island. The two provinces on Madagascar Island are close to East Africa and are completely planned as the mainland.

Terrell said: "Prime Minister Kuyper, please don't rush to refuse. Even in Europe, territorial transactions are very common, so we in East Africa are definitely trading with the Netherlands in a friendly manner."

"Although Kalimantan is large in area, it has limited development. East Kalimantan controlled by the Netherlands has almost no economic output, and the Sultanate of Burungan and the Sultanate of Kutai under your country have also had disputes with Britain. So from a security perspective, even if our country has no intentions on East Kalimantan, the British will not give up these areas. It is better to sell East Kalimantan to East Africa, so that our East Africa can still serve as a buffer zone between Britain and your country."

The Sultanate of Burungan and the Sultanate of Kutai are both regimes in East Kalimantan and the sphere of influence of the Netherlands. The British did have fierce conflicts with the Netherlands during the expansion of Kalimantan in the last century.

The reason for this result is naturally inseparable from the interference of East Africa. The establishment of East Africa is based on the loss of a large number of African colonies in the previous life, so the expansion of Britain in other regions is also more fierce.

Kuyper laughed angrily: "Oh, according to what you said, we should be grateful for East Africa's contribution? And how come Kalimantan became a buffer zone after it was handed over to your country!"

Trel explained: "This is easy to understand. In fact, the Nanyang region can be divided into five major areas, ranked by strength, namely Britain, France, East Africa, the Netherlands and the United States."

"The British colonies of India and Burma are originally close to the Nanyang region and control the Strait of Malacca. There are also many colonies in the south such as New Guinea and Australia. Most of your colonies are bordering the British, and in general the British controls the Nanyang. The north, and your country’s colonies are mainly distributed in the south. If we in East Africa are sandwiched in the middle, we can cut off the direct connection between your country and the United Kingdom, which is beneficial to both of us.”

As for France and the United States, there is no need to say more. Although the colonies they occupy are relatively rich compared to many areas in Southeast Asia, they are basically unable to be as dispersed as the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and East Africa, and their influence cannot spread.

"Right now, we in East Africa lack East Kalimantan as a strategic fulcrum. If your country trades East Kalimantan to our country, then our East African colonies can move from west to east, isolating the forces such as the United Kingdom and the United States from moving south."

If East Africa occupies Kalimantan, it can cooperate with Mindanao, Balabac Island, New Guinea and the Pacific Islands to form the second largest power radiation area in the region after the United Kingdom, further increasing East Africa's influence in the South Ocean. rising.

Trail continued: "Of course, your country values ​​actual interests more. We can guarantee some of the privileges of your citizens in East Kalimantan, and the two countries can jointly develop the East Kalimantan region, and the subsequent benefits can also be shared. , of course, the territorial sovereignty belongs to East Africa is unshakable.”

"And we are willing to give you a fair price to buy the East Kalimantan area, so that your country can get two benefits. As for whether East Kalimantan is still a colony of your country, does that matter?"

"You know, it is difficult for your country to hold East Kalimantan alone, and colonial activities have become more difficult in recent years, and the cost of colonial rule is rising day by day. With your country's national strength, it is somewhat powerful to control Java Island. If not, we might as well enjoy the future benefits under the protection of East Africa. We in East Africa already have a plan to develop East Kalimantan, and your country can definitely join in. "

As a world power, East Africa's ability to develop East Kalimantan is unquestionable. But if it is the Netherlands, it will be very difficult. Without development and the risk of independence, the Netherlands naturally has no ability to further expand the economic value of East Kalimantan. , even treasure mountains are difficult to develop.

Kuyper also agreed with Trailer's subsequent explanation, but he couldn't make up his mind for a while. After all, Trailer's words sounded good, and it was up to two people to decide what East Africa would do in the end. In this case...