Chapter 918

The French government made a very rational choice, and East Africa was no less so. Lieutenant Marsels reported the news to his superiors. East Africa was close to Madagascar, so the East African government received news of the border friction between the two countries earlier than the French government.

"We had foreseen this day a long time ago. After all, the issue of Madagascar was foreshadowed as early as the last century, but no one thought that East Africa and France would eventually have differences in the region." East African Foreign Minister Hermann said.

This is nonsense. East Africa only appeared on the historical stage in the mid-to-late 19th century, and France had colonial activities on Madagascar as early as the end of the 18th century. There was no role for East Africa, but the sudden emergence of East Africa disrupted the original British-French game. Now the British pay less attention to Madagascar than in the previous life.

This is also easy to understand. The South African War actually replaced the Boer War in the previous life, representing the beginning of the decline of Britain's global hegemony, so Britain did not want to do it again on Madagascar at this time.

Of course, France had never fought with East Africa, so East Africa had no idea. This did not mean that East Africa had no confidence in defeating France on its own. In the eyes of East Africa, the East African territory on Madagascar was also part of its own territory.

"If we can talk, we will talk. If we can't talk, we will fight. There is no fundamental conflict of interest between us and France, so we should start with negotiations on this matter and show goodwill to the French government appropriately." Ernst said.

Ernst was not very interested in the Kingdom of Imerina, just like the Abyssinian Empire. After all, these two countries were the few countries in Africa with their own independent ideologies, and France would not be able to occupy this place in the future.

Therefore, both the French government and the East African government tended to negotiate to resolve the issue of territorial sovereignty on Madagascar Island, which laid the foundation for the two countries to divide Madagascar Island.

In June 1896, the East African government took the initiative to propose, and the French government responded positively. The governments of East Africa and France negotiated in Paris. After some discussion, the two countries finally decided to formulate the border between the two countries based on the actual occupied areas.

After all, the historical and geographical boundaries of the border areas between the two countries were originally vague. After all, how the territories and colonies came from was a messy account, and it was impossible to really follow the standards of the original indigenous people.

Therefore, it is most in the common interests of both parties to directly use the actual occupied areas of the two countries as a reference. Of course, in some details, the two governments have shown a certain "tolerance" attitude.

So in harmony, in August 1896, the governments of East Africa and France formally signed the "East Africa-France Territory Confirmation Agreement", which clarified the fixed borders between the bordering areas of the two countries, namely Madagascar Island, Gabon, and French Somaliland and East Africa, and peacefully resolved the territorial disputes between the two countries. Everyone believed that this agreement was public and equal.

This also disappointed some extraterritorial countries that hoped that East Africa and France would have a conflict, including Britain, Portugal and Germany.

Britain and Portugal suffered a great loss last time, while Germany did not want France to have a smooth life, and at the same time did not want East Africa and France to get too close.

Of course, East Africa and France will not be disturbed by the attitude of third countries. Both countries are big countries. Although France is a level stronger than East Africa, its influence in East Africa is unparalleled, and France also has a lot of interests in Africa, so the two countries respect each other and have a basis for cooperation.

The signing of the "East-France Territorial Confirmation Agreement" is also a historical event of great significance to East Africa.

"After the signing of the agreement, the borders between East Africa and neighboring countries, regions, and forces, including the Abyssinian Empire, Egypt, Sigmaringen, Germany (Cameroon Colony), and Belgium have been basically confirmed and implemented."

In fact, there is also Britain, but Britain is the only one that has confirmed its sphere of influence with East Africa through war, and the two countries have no relevant formal agreements or treaties.

This is actually a little trick played by Britain. Britain likes to make some historical issues to ensure the conflicts between regions.

Fortunately, East Africa signed relevant treaties with the Egyptian government long before Britain completely colonized Egypt, otherwise Egypt might have a reason to bring up the "South Sudan" issue in the future.

Moreover, according to the size of East Africa, unless Egypt is the "Wakanda" hidden in Africa, it dares to provoke a hegemonic country like East Africa.

"Before the adoption of this agreement, the scope of our land in East Africa was basically determined and implemented, and we can already conduct a census of the national area for this incident." said Gers, director of the National Bureau of Statistics.

In the past, the specific value of the land area of ​​East Africa was unstable. After all, East Africa has been expanding continuously. After the South African War, the land area of ​​East Africa was estimated to be about 13 million square kilometers in 1890. This time, it is just right to re-measure the national area more accurately.

"In addition, my country's administrative divisions should also be readjusted. With the stabilization of the land area and the industrial transformation and population migration activities carried out by the construction of the "three departments" in East Africa, Angola, Mozambique and Orange have accelerated their development. In order to facilitate the governance of the region, administrative divisions should also be adjusted for these areas that have not set up clear administrative regions."

Prior to this, East Africa's rule over Mozambique and Angola had reached five years. Through the construction of the three departments, the three places should be able to reach the national average by 1900.

Ernst also agreed with this. He said to everyone: "In this case, let's start a new round of compilation of the national divisions. My requirement is to implement this division adjustment based on comprehensive factors such as the local economy, population, environmental carrying capacity, geographical location, terrain, climate, etc."

"Of course, it is not limited to the current population and economic levels of various places, but also to look to the future. For example, the West, Southwest Africa and Angola are definitely different. As an important external channel on the west coast of East Africa, Angola's potential is not inferior to that of the eastern coast. As time goes by, it can even surpass the east. Some coastal areas, so in this round of regional adjustments, we should look further ahead. "

"Secondly, some of the original unreasonable regional divisions should also be adjusted according to local conditions. For example, Bujumbura, the capital of Western Great Lakes Province, is too remote, and due to the terrain, it is inconvenient to communicate with other areas in the province. This should also be taken seriously. "

Bujumbura City is in the southeast corner of Western Great Lakes Province, and Western Great Lakes Province as a whole tends to the Great Lakes (Lake Victoria) Basin, while Bujumbura, the capital, belongs to the Solon Lake (Lake Tanganyika) Basin, and is the most developed city in the Solon Lake Basin. This is indeed a bit awkward.

So according to Ernst's idea, Bujumbura will no longer be the capital of Western Great Lakes Province in this regional adjustment, and the new capital will be directly selected from the eastern cities of Western Great Lakes Province.

Bujumbura became the capital of the new province. As we all know, among the three major lakes in East Africa, the Great Lake (Lake Victoria) and Lake Malawi are too favored, while Lake Solon (Lake Tanganyika) has been neglected for a long time. Therefore, in order to effectively manage and develop Lake Tanganyika, Ernst intends to set up a new province around the lake area.

And this new province also has another purpose, which is to weaken the Plateau Province. After all, the area of ​​the Plateau Province is relatively large in the eastern region.

As the East African government decided to remeasure the land area and East Africa wanted to make a new round of administrative division adjustments, from 1896 to 1897, the East African government conducted a new round of surveys and investigations across the country.

The focus is on border areas, as well as Angola, Mozambique, Madagascar Island, Orange and other areas that have not been incorporated into East Africa for a long time and have not set up relevant administrative divisions.