African Entrepreneurship Record-Chapter 826 - 130: Madagascar Island

Speaking of Madagascar Island, Ernst has always had thoughts about this largest island in Africa; it is an excellent strategic foothold.

Conversely, it is also a place where external forces can easily threaten East Africa. A typical example is the United States and Cuba. Cuba's location can be said to make the United States very uncomfortable, especially during the Cold War, it was the only strategic foothold where the Soviet Union could form a threat to the United States in North America.

Madagascar Island is even more significant, with an area much larger than Cuba, nearly 600,000 square kilometers, and a large amount of arable land.

The strongest country on the island, the Imerina Kingdom, is a typical feudal agrarian power. Its historical development is relatively late, otherwise, it would not lose to traditional African powers like Abyssinia.

However, due to East Africa's continued expansion on the continent, there was no energy for a two-front battle, especially during the South African war, the East African Navy wished they could split into two to use, and took into account the attitude of the French, so until now, East Africa still hasn't won anything on Madagascar Island.

Nevertheless, Ernst is determined to acquire the tropical savanna areas of Madagascar Island, primarily the western and southern plains of Madagascar. These two regions consist of tropical savannas and tropical arid grasslands, similar to the East African climate.

Of course, the truly livable area of Madagascar Island, like East Africa, is the eastern highland region, which is the core area of Madagascar Island and also the sphere of influence of the Imerina Kingdom.

Currently, the Imerina Kingdom is still an independent country, mainly friendly with the United Kingdom. However, France has already established a colony in the northern part of the Imerina Kingdom, and according to original historical development, France would occupy Madagascar Island in 1895.

However, due to the reason of East Africa, the second Boer War as in history is naturally impossible to happen, and during the South African war, while Britain was at war with East Africa, they couldn't take care of the Imerina Kingdom, and the French had already launched a new round of attacks on the Imerina Kingdom, this greatly advanced the time for France to occupy Madagascar Island.

Therefore, if East Africa wants to get a share on Madagascar Island, it must hurry; if it drags on for two or three years, Madagascar Island might shape like the French.

...

First Town.

"Currently, we have received intelligence that during the South African war, France indeed launched a new round of attacks on the Imerina Kingdom, with several cities in the northern and western parts of the Imerina Kingdom occupied by the French." The intelligence department reported to Ernst.

"So how is the Imerina Kingdom's situation now?" Ernst inquired.

"The Imerina Kingdom can still resist the French offensive. In recent years, the Imerina Kingdom has been actively learning from Europe, especially gaining many benefits from the United Kingdom, including the Imerina Kingdom's army being trained by the British, so their core area has not been affected significantly."

The Imerina Kingdom definitely counts as a relatively "modern" country in Africa, of course, since the residents of Madagascar Island are mainly of the yellow race, aside from the geographical location, they have little to do with those indigenous African groups.

Of course, the main ethnic group of the Imerina Kingdom is the South Island people, who were the strongest maritime nation of early human civilization, widely distributed in the Pacific Ocean and Indian Ocean, with extremely simple sea-crossing tools.

Nowadays, the South Island people living on isolated islands in the Pacific are all excellent swimmers, some even perforate their eardrums for hardcore diving purposes. They truly live off the sea, unlike the so-called maritime civilization of ancient Greece, which conducted trade and plunder along the Mediterranean, an environment unlike the turbulent Indian and Pacific Oceans.

Of course, the South Island people's civilization is very backward and has not developed much, resulting in the entire population of Madagascar Island being less than three million, just a little over two hundred thousand, concentrated in the northeastern highland region, within the territory of the Imerina Kingdom.

Archduke Ferdinand: "Now that the South African war is over, the pressure previously faced by our navy has dissipated, and we can completely make time to expand in Madagascar Island. Ernst, what are your thoughts at present?"

Ernst replied to his father-in-law: "We cannot touch the Imerina Kingdom, after all, we just ended a war with the UK, we cannot go back on our word, otherwise, the British might become desperate."

Currently, the Imerina Kingdom still belongs to the sphere of influence of the United Kingdom. Of course, it cannot be considered a colony of the UK, the Imerina Kingdom's close relationship with the UK is entirely spontaneous and not forced, so it remains an independent sovereign state.

Of course, the French do not think so, France has had ambitions for the Imerina Kingdom for a long time, which is one of the important reasons the Imerina Kingdom has actively drawn close to the United Kingdom.

Ernst continued: "The Imerina Kingdom is now being watched by England and France, so it is not something we can covet. We've already offended the UK, offending France would bring no benefits, and the Imerina Kingdom's level of civilization is quite high, not suitable for expansion."

The Imerina Kingdom has much stronger insight than the indigenous African tribes; its national identity has formed and does not meet the colonial standards of East Africa.

Ernst has always favored sparsely populated areas, and the tropical savanna areas in the western part of Madagascar Island fall into this category, similar to most of the areas of East Africa, so Ernst is determined to obtain them.

He said: "The western and southern regions, these two areas are our targets, this way we won't overlap with the forces of England and France, and it is relatively easy."

Of all climates, the tropical rainforest is one of the most unsuitable areas for military operations, and Madagascar Island is no exception. The strongholds of countries like France and the UK are concentrated in the tropical rainforest region of the east coast.

This is because the main population of Madagascar Island is concentrated in the eastern highland of the Imerina Kingdom, and colonies without a population usually have poor economic benefits and are difficult to develop.

When the UK and France colonized, what they considered was not the cost, but how much they could profit. Otherwise, by the logic of the 21st century, no piece of land in the world is redundant; maybe one day, resources like minerals could be discovered, propelling it to fame.

In the 19th century, there was no such concept, so many "ownerless" islands existed worldwide, such as Nauru, incidentally acquired by Germany.

After all, each nation has limited energy, even colonial empires like England and France wouldn't randomly designate a place as their colony, as opening a colony requires dispatching armies and government agencies, all involving expenses. In areas without population, economic benefits are low, and the costs of garrisoning troops or establishing ruling orders are very high.

Of course, if it's colonialists with a development purpose, the situation is different, a typical example being East Africa, which completely rose relying on the rich immigration resources of the German and Far East Empires, once there are people, economic benefits arise naturally.

Other colonialists prefer plundering from colonies over building, as they have a homeland. Even if they gain substantial benefits from the colonies, they'd naturally prioritize homeland construction.

The most typical is Portugal, which almost made no investments in its colonies, which is the fundamental reason why East Africa could occupy Angola and Mozambique. Even if Ernst only played the most basic human-wave tactics, he could squeeze Portugal out of southern Africa.