Chapter 941： "The Rhine Empire"

Chapter 941 "The Rhine Empire"

Constantine was not surprised by Ernst's statement. After all, his son's ideas had been very different from ordinary people since he was a child, otherwise he would not have been able to build a business.

“Ernst, although what you say makes sense, it is not recognized by the international community. The so-called throne in East Africa, like the Queen of England’s throne in India, may be easily talked about secretly by outsiders.”

Ernst smiled and joked to his father: "If Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom moved the capital to Bombay, wouldn't her throne be worthy of its name? And our East Africa is completely different from the United Kingdom. East Africa is now larger than most kingdoms. It needs to be strong, so the empire is more in line with the current development situation in East Africa.”

“As for the discussion in Europe, if we are fighting for a European emperor, it will naturally make people laugh. But this is East Africa, so the empire we established is a huge country unprecedented in African history, and it will naturally be called the East African Empire.”

After all, the Kingdom of Hechingen belongs to the European political system, so the Kingdom of Hechingen cannot be called an empire. After all, Hechingen was originally just a small state under the Holy Roman Empire.

Of course, Ernst also coveted the title Holy Roman Empire, but it was impossible for other German countries to agree, especially Germany. If East Africa called itself the Holy Roman Empire, what would Germany become?

Of course, Constantine was not satisfied with Ernst's attention: "The name East African Empire is not good. Although we are indeed in Africa, the name Africa has long been stigmatized. When I talk about Africa, I It can be associated with poverty, backwardness, and barbarism.”

 It is true what Constantine said. Although East Africa is developing rapidly, the stereotypes of Africa in European countries have not changed at all.

Mainly North Africa and West Africa are holding us back. These areas are colonies or spheres of influence of European countries, so they still use these areas as models in their descriptions of Africa.

“Father, what do you think?” Ernst asked. In fact, he felt that the name East African Empire was not bad.

“Think about it, although the main body of East Africa today is still the eastern part of the continent, after several expansions, our East Africa is actually on the map as a whole, and it is more consistent with the name South Africa.”

Constantine said this, of course, the name South Africa is even less likely to be used in East Africa. In addition to still being related to Africa, the main reason is that the British South African colony has already occupied this geographical name.

After the end of the South African War, Britain integrated the colonies in South Africa and completely integrated the Natal Colony and the Cape Town Colony. The government was collectively called the South African Colonial Government.

So now South Africa mainly refers to the British colonial area in the southernmost tip of Africa. It is naturally impossible for East Africa to reuse this name.

“In my opinion, it is better to select cultural elements from the German region and then use them as new country names in East Africa. Among them, my favorite ones are Rhine and Swabia.”

The Rhine naturally comes from the Rhine River, and Swabia is the birthplace of the Royal Family of Hechingen. The former Principality of Hechingen, which is now the Hohenzollern Province of Germany, is in the Swabia region.

Ernst suddenly realized: "That's right! Why didn't I think of using Rhine as the name of the country in East Africa? Isn't this ready-made!"

Ernst did not think of this when he first built the Rhine City. His father's idea was reliable.

As for the name Swabia, Ernst did not consider it at all. Although there is a province of Swabia in East Africa, Swabia was really a country in history, that is, the Principality of Swabia under the Holy Roman Empire. Today, Württemberg, Black All or part of areas such as Hingen, Sigmaringen, and Bavaria are within the scope of this country. The place where East African Standard German is collected is Swabia. However, although the name Swabia has a deep historical origin, it is completely incomparable with Rhine.

Ernst said directly: "At that time, our East Africa will be called the Rhine Empire, and my father will be the first emperor of the Rhine Empire."

Constantine shook his head and said: "I had planned to abdicate and let you officially take over, so you should do it! And I don't want to suffer in the coronation ceremony."

Generally speaking, kings serve for life, but Constantine is not willing to continue to be the king of East Africa. After all, he has long been idle and has no interest in political affairs, and since Ernst established an official retirement system in the East African government, Constantine Ding's thoughts became even stronger.

Ernst denied: "Father, you are the ballast of the country. Even if you really want to abdicate, it should be after the title of emperor is implemented."

Ernst was reluctant to Constantine's idea. He continued to persuade: "As for the coronation ceremony, I have said before that it will not be as bloated and complicated as in Europe. There will only be a few big scenes. You just go through the motions and the coronation ceremony is complete."

"Simplifying the ceremony is not difficult for us. In fact, we don't even need to invite foreign guests. After all, East Africa has become an empire. It is a natural thing when the strength has reached. It does not have to be recognized by other countries. It is more important to unite. people in the country.”

"We don't use horse-drawn carriages like those in Europe at all. Then you can just sit in the car and wave to the people. The roads we built in the Rhine City are completely asphalt roads, not bumpy at all. Other processes can also be omitted and simplified. ”

“This is the 19th century after all. Great changes have taken place in Europe, and relevant systems should also make corresponding changes.”

Like when the British royal family was crowned, there was a golden carriage and a big stone (the Stone of Destiny). In Ernst's view, it was both painful and funny. Of course, only Ernst sees it that way now.

Ernst continued: "The coronation ceremony must be as comfortable as you want, and I don't want red tape to restrict the successors."

"And to put it bluntly, the monarchy has shown a trend of decline in the world, so our Hechingen royal family must also find ways to integrate into the country, instead of being completely separated from the people, especially in terms of class, at least we should not be separated. Taiqing, with the development of technology and social thinking in the future, it is best for the royal family to keep a low profile in order to reduce trouble. "

Constantine also nodded. He quite agreed with his son's words. If it were in the past, as an old nobleman, Constantine would not think so. But with the development of the times, there are some things that he would not pretend to be invisible to. existing.

Even monarchs like William II and Nicholas II who vigorously safeguarded imperial power would find it difficult to change this situation. As for the Austro-Hungarian Empire, it was already a backwater. Although the economy of the Austro-Hungarian Empire is still not to be underestimated, the combat effectiveness of the army It is declining rapidly. This is the intuitive feeling in East Africa. In military cooperation with East Africa, the quality of the Austro-Hungarian army has declined sharply.

So the Austro-Hungarian Empire is now in a very dangerous situation. If the guns are not strong, the Austro-Hungarian Empire is at risk of disintegrating at any time. Now Franz has really been reduced to a wall-pamper, patching up the aging empire.

In fact, it is not that the Austrian government does not want to restore the glory of the Austrian Empire, but Hungary has a strong fighting capacity. Through parliamentary struggles, on the one hand it resolutely promotes Magyarism in Hungary, and on the other hand it continuously reduces military expenditures, which makes the Austro-Hungarian army unable to get fresh blood. supplement, so decline is inevitable.

(End of this chapter)