Chapter 543： Southern Ryukyu Islands

Chapter 543 Southern Ryukyu Islands

“Father-in-law, the navy has recently deployed three ironclad ships, and I am planning to acquire a colony in the Far East.”

“Well, do you have an idea?”

The Far East was definitely the most attractive region during the colonial era. The Huaihai Economic Zone and Zhuhai Commercial Zone in East Africa were one of the important markets of the Hechingen Consortium. However, these two regions can only be regarded as economic colonization.

There is nothing to say about economic colonization. Even in the 21st century, it is the most common form. Just like aid to Africa, it is actually a kind of economic colonization.

Colonization, colonization, naturally allows the people in the region to create value for capital outside the region. East Africa is not a good person. There is no profit in the Far East, and it will not create regional economic zones such as the Huaihai Economic Zone and the Zhuhai Commercial Zone. development model.

The global trade system dominated by the United States in the previous life was the highest manifestation of economic colonization. After all, the definition of a colony is a country or region that has been deprived of independent political and economic power by a capitalist country and is controlled and plundered by it. The group of allies of the United States are all It's this type.

In fact, compared to this kind of economic colonization, East Africa is more like a traditional colonial country in the strict sense. It is just that East Africa does not have a sovereign state on its head. This is proved by the nearly 20 million black slaves in East Africa.

Ernst took out a map from the drawer and spread it out on the table. It was a map of the Far East.

“Father-in-law, you also went to the Far East last time, so you should be familiar with this place, right?” Ernst said, pointing to the location of the Ryukyu Kingdom.

“I have some impressions, but it’s not easy to get here?”

Archduke Ferdinand knew that the composition of this so-called Ryukyu Kingdom was very complex, and both the Far Eastern Empire and Japan had interests here.

“Yes, so my target is not the entire Ryukyu Islands, but the Southern Ryukyu Islands in the south.”

The Southern Ryukyu Islands, known as the Sakishima Islands in Japan, are also the southernmost island group of the Ryukyu Islands. They are composed of the Miyako Islands and the Yaeyama Islands.

These names are relatively unfamiliar, but the geographical term Miyako Strait should be familiar to those who paid attention to the news in previous lives. The Southern Ryukyu Islands are located on the south side of the Miyako Strait and are an important base for controlling the Miyako Strait.

“There must have been a dispute between the Far Eastern Empire and Japan over the Ryukyu Islands last year!” Archduke Ferdinand asked.

At the end of 1879, Japan decided to depose the King of Ryukyu and establish Okinawa Prefecture. Naturally, the Far Eastern Empire, as the nominal suzerainty of the Ryukyu Kingdom, was very opposed to this.

Therefore, Japan settled for the next best thing and proposed a dichotomy of the Ryukyu Islands. The southern Ryukyu Islands would be given to the Far Eastern Empire, and the central and northern Ryukyu Islands would be given to Japan. The condition was that the Far Eastern Empire added the terms of Japan's most-favored-nation status in the goodwill treaty. Naturally, the Qing government would not Agreed, the Far East was not polite to Japan at this time. It thought that if it wanted to leave Asia and join Europe, it would really become a Western devil. The two countries would be in a stalemate, so the area became a disputed area with undetermined sovereignty.

In fact, until the 21st century, the Southern Ryukyu Islands were the territory of the Far Eastern Empire. This was made clear in the Cairo Declaration and the Potsdam Proclamation, and Japan illegally occupied it.

Ernst thinks that this advantage is worse than letting East Africa take advantage of it. Now that the Far Eastern Empire and the Japanese navy are out of date, East Africa can take advantage of it.

So Ernst said to Archduke Ferdinand: "It doesn't matter, the snipe and the clam quarrel, and the fisherman will benefit. Let's go directly to the Far East government to get the economic privileges of the area first, and then wait until the end of the year to plan the area to become a colony."      This is also the case. A routine of East African colonization, this is how Lanfang Overseas Province became an East African territory. However, Ernst did not intend for the Southern Ryukyu Islands to directly become an East African territory, but to become an East African colony.

As for why we had to wait until the end of 1880, it was because Japan happened to completely abolish the Ryukyu Kingdom at that time in history.

When East Africa establishes a satellite state in the Southern Ryukyu Islands at the same time, the Far Eastern Empire and Japan will find no reason to object. After all, the Ryukyu Kingdom has been destroyed. Even if they object, it will be ineffective. Who makes their navy weak? Before the East African Navy I also missed seeing him in the Far Eastern countries.

Of course, Ernst also gave the Far Eastern Empire enough face and obtained the rule of the region from them. After all, they could not hold on to it. This meant that it was still the territory of the Far Eastern Empire in name only, but in fact it was an East African colony.

As for whether this place can be returned to the hands of the Far Eastern Empire in the future, it depends on whether the Far Eastern Empire can be revived. As its strength becomes stronger, it will be impossible for future generations of East Africa to just stay on.

In fact, the Southern Ryukyu Islands are of great value to the Far Eastern Empire and Japan. Japan attaches great importance to sea power and has great ambitions. The location of the Southern Ryukyu Islands is very important to both countries.

East Africa’s acquisition of the Southern Ryukyu Islands is nothing more than providing material supplies, ship maintenance, and troop garrisoning for the East Africa-Lanfang-Alaska route or the Far East Empire route.

This can actually be done along the coast of the Far Eastern Empire, but Ernst does not want to station troops in the Far Eastern Empire, which would really turn the Far Eastern Empire into his own colony.

The Southern Ryukyu Islands are not small in area and are relatively rich in products. In later generations, they can support more than 100,000 people. In this era, they only have 10,000 people, so it is also convenient to occupy East Africa.

"Since you have a plan, I will naturally not object to it. However, it is not easy to gain a foothold here. You can only obtain nominal governance rights through diplomatic operations."

In fact, the right to govern is not correct. It should be said to be the power of escrow. East Africa mentions the Far East as escrow for the region. This is not important to East Africa, but it is very important to the Far East Empire. After all, it involves territorial issues. Even if it is still nominally owned by itself, It also looks better in appearance, so you don’t have to worry about having too many debts.

In fact, the reason why the Far Eastern Empire was quarreling with Japan was because it had been closed to the country for too long. It has only been 40 years since 1840. It can be said that the shipbuilding industry, ports, navy, and sailors of the Far Eastern Empire are all new. For example, the Jiaozhou Port is all black. The Xinggen Consortium helped build it, otherwise the Far East Empire would not have been kicked in the face by the Japanese.

The Far Eastern Empire's progress in maritime undertakings is not as advanced as that of East Africa. The establishment of East Africa was twenty or thirty years later than the opening of the Far Eastern Empire. Moreover, the Far Eastern Empire opened its doors step by step. Many bays were previously deserted. To put it bluntly, The British and French warships forced it out bit by bit, and this process did not happen overnight. Historically, it took until the Xinchou Treaty.

So now many later ports in the Far East have not even been developed. Only the treaty ports that foreign countries forced the Far Eastern Empire to open have modern ports.

Of course, this does not mean that many ports did not exist when the country was closed to the outside world, but that they could not develop without official endorsement. After all, so many Chinese who went to Nanyang could not have swam there.

Although East Africa started a little late, with the technical support from the German region, the support of the Austro-Hungarian Empire’s navy, the expansion of the Hechingen Consortium’s ocean trade, the expansion of East African immigrants and slave trade, overseas colonization, and the construction of East African ports, the land area of ​​East Africa has increased. The maritime industry of big countries has also developed relatively prosperously, at least it has not been held back.

East Africa is also closed to the country, but East Africa has always been engaged in maritime industry, but it does not allow foreign forces to directly participate in East Africa's maritime trade. The bunch of newly built ports in East Africa are used by its own commercial ships and navy, and it is a one-way valve structure. The country is closed to the outside world, rather than the Far East Empire's closed country to itself.

(End of this chapter)