Mittelafrika

[Deleted member 1487]

What would the German colonial empire be like if it comprised Kamerun, German East Africa, French Congo, and Belgian Congo? This would qualify as Mittleafrika, though not to the extent they would have wanted.
Nevertheless the economic resources of such an Empire would have been enormous:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belgian_Congo

After WWI, priority was given to mining (copper and cobalt in Katanga, diamond in Kasai, gold in Ituri) as well as to the transport infrastructure (rail lines Matadi-Léopoldville and Elisabethville-Port Francqui). To obtain the necessary capital, the colonial state gave the private companies, to a large extent, a free hand. This allowed, in particular, the Belgian Société Générale to build up an economic empire in the colony. Huge profits were generated and for a large part siphoned off to Europe in the form of dividends.[19] The necessary work force was recruited in the interior of the vast colony with the active support of the territorial administration. In many cases, this amounted to forced labour, as in many villages minimum quotas of “able-bodied workers” to be recruited were enforced. In this way, tens of thousands of workers were transferred from the interior to the sparsely populated copper belt in the south (Katanga) to work in the mines. In agriculture, too, the colonial state forced a drastic rationalisation of production. The so-called “vacant lands”—i.e., the land that was not directly used by the local tribes—fell to the state, which redistributed it to European companies, individual white landowners (colons) or the missions. This way an extensive plantation economy developed. Palm oil production in the Congo increased from 2,500 tons in 1914 to 9,000 tons in 1921 and 230,000 tons in 1957. Cotton production increased from 23,000 tons in 1932 to 127,000 in 1939.[20] After WWI the system of mandatory cultivation was introduced: Congolese peasants were forced to grow certain cash crops (cotton, coffee, groundnuts) destined for the European market.

The economic boom of the 1920s turned the Belgian Congo into one of the leading copper ore producers worldwide. In 1926 alone, the Union Miniére du Haut Katanga exported more than 80,000 tons of copper ore, a large part of which was processed in Hoboken in Belgium.

During WWII, industrial production increased drastically. After Malaysia fell to the Japanese, the Belgian Congo became a strategic supplier of rubber to the Allies. The Belgian Congo was one of the major exporters of uranium to the US during WWII (and the Cold War), particularly from the Shinkolobwe mine.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_Congo

The plan to develop the colony was to grant massive concessions to some thirty French companies. These were granted huge swaths of land on the promise they would be developed. This development was limited and amounted mostly to the extraction of ivory, rubber, and timber.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_East_Africa#Economic_development

Commerce and growth started in earnest under German direction. Early on it was realized that economic development would depend on reliable transportation. Over 100,000 acres (40,000 ha) were under sisal cultivation – the biggest cash crop. Two million coffee trees were planted and rubber trees grew on 200,000 acres (81,000 ha), along with large cotton plantations. To bring these agricultural products to market, beginning in 1888, the Usambara Railway, or Northern Railroad, was built from Tanga to Moshi. The longest line, the Central Railroad covered 775 miles (1,247 km) from Dar es Salaam to Morogoro, Tabora and Kigoma. The final link to the eastern shore of Lake Tanganyika had been completed in July 1914 and was cause for a huge and festive celebration in the capital with an agricultural fair and trade exhibition. Harbor facilities were built or improved with electrical cranes, with rail access and warehouses. Wharves were remodeled at Tanga, Bagamoyo and Lindi. In 1912 Dar es Salaam and Tanga received 356 freighters and passenger steamers and over 1,000 coastal ships and local trading vessels.[4] By 1914 Dar es Salaam and the surrounding province had a population of 166,000, among them 10,490(1,050 Europeans, 1,000 of them Germans. In all of the east African protectorate were 3,579 Germans.[5] In its own right, Dar es Salaam became the showcase city of all of tropical Africa.[6]

Gold mining in Tanzania in modern times dates back to the German colonial period, beginning with gold discoveries near Lake Victoria in 1894. The first gold mine in the colony was the Sekenke Gold Mine, which began operation in 1909 after gold was found there in 1907.[7]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kamerun

Both of these West Africa houses expanded into shipping with their own sailing ships and steamers and inaugurated scheduled passenger and freight service between Hamburg, Germany and Duala.[1] These companies and others purchased extensive acreage from local chiefs and began systematic plantation operations, including bananas.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cameroon#Economy_and_infrastructure

Cameroon's natural resources are very well suited to agriculture and arboriculture. An estimated 70% of the population farms, and agriculture comprised an estimated 19.8% of GDP in 2009.[26] Most agriculture is done at the subsistence scale by local farmers using simple tools. They sell their surplus produce, and some maintain separate fields for commercial use. Urban centres are particularly reliant on peasant agriculture for their foodstuffs. Soils and climate on the coast encourage extensive commercial cultivation of bananas, cocoa, oil palms, rubber, and tea. Inland on the South Cameroon Plateau, cash crops include coffee, sugar, and tobacco. Coffee is a major cash crop in the western highlands, and in the north, natural conditions favour crops such as cotton, groundnuts, and rice. Reliance on agricultural exports makes Cameroon vulnerable to shifts in their prices.[26]

Livestock are raised throughout the country. Fishing employs some 5,000 people and provides 20,000 tons of seafood each year. Bushmeat, long a staple food for rural Cameroonians, is today a delicacy in the country's urban centres. The commercial bushmeat trade has now surpassed deforestation as the main threat to wildlife in Cameroon.[citation needed]

The southern rainforest has vast timber reserves, estimated to cover 37% of Cameroon's total land area. However, large areas of the forest are difficult to reach. Logging, largely handled by foreign-owned firms, provides the government US$60 million a year, and laws mandate the safe and sustainable exploitation of timber.

This would mean vast areas for German economic exploitation that should satisfy their imperial desires and provide whatever their industries needed.

What would this mean for the region developmentally and Germany economically?

 

[BlondieBC]

What would the German colonial empire be like if it comprised Kamerun, German East Africa, French Congo, and Belgian Congo? This would qualify as Mittleafrika, though not to the extent they would have wanted.
Nevertheless the economic resources of such an Empire would have been enormous:


This would mean vast areas for German economic exploitation that should satisfy their imperial desires and provide whatever their industries needed.

What would this mean for the region developmentally and Germany economically?

Assuming after a win in WW1 not a prewar trade/purchase, we are looking at it being added to the German economic zone. There will be rising tariffs, so you should see something like the British Empire, German trade zone, USA trade zone (Western Hemisphere, roughly). I would assume the French would form a zone too, probably with modest tariffs for British Empire trade. What this gives the Germans is access to many raw materials(mines and tropical plants), plus the long open borders in Africa would be great for smuggling anything the UK embargo. Especially if light like Platinum.

Now how much they get depends is based on how much they spend. It will be breath takingly cheap compared to the annual military budget (2000 million marks), but hugely expensive compared to OTL budget in SWA (15 million marks). I have things listed in my TL, but they prices are grossly exaggerated to account for wartime cost rises and smuggling/bribes to neutral powers. When you look at prices of things such as dams and roads, they are fairly cheap compared to German economy. It is really a political not technical decision. I see Germany developing everything from OTL plus whatever they can that has been embargoed. So for example say Germany has no access to platinum mines, they will then prospect and find the mines if you have indication they are currently there. You really just have to go item by item and figure out if it makes sense.

Now you are missing things such as coal in any large amounts, unless i missed a field. You need energy, but you don't have any great on shore, shallow fields that jump to mind. If you want power, you have to build dams. Unlimited damming sites, just a mater of how much the Germans want to payfor. And issue of easier to do in Congo basin or Kamerun than East Africa. You need some power source to power the mines, so it is hydro or exporting coal from Germany to Africa.

The gold mines in East Africa are quality, but small deposits by African standards.

Dar Es Salaam needs a major port dredging badly. Also needs defenses too. You also need to connect the various waterways and short line RR to form a trade path from the Atlantic coast to Indian coast. A good bit of it will already be there.

The Cameroon quote you have is right for today, but not for back then. Back then the population density was too low for large areas of subsistance farming. A lot of it was still ranch land or open land. You do have areas that can become white settlement areas or large plantation areas. I see small scale farming as least likely outcome in these areas, as they don't generate income for the crown.

So in short, they likely grow enough to meet German demand for everything that can be mine or grown. It means these areas are more developed than OTL. Whiter. Lower population densities (Whites of European life style use more resources per person than native villages)

 

[Deleted member 1487]

Thanks for the response. Do you think that would satiate German appetites for colonies? The Ottomans would provide the oil and a very nice return on investment, better than what A-H had to offer, while Mittelafrika would be the captive market Germany was looking for and potentially a place for settlers once the economy of the area developed enough to attract some of the German emigres.

 

[BlondieBC]

Thanks for the response. Do you think that would satiate German appetites for colonies? The Ottomans would provide the oil and a very nice return on investment, better than what A-H had to offer, while Mittelafrika would be the captive market Germany was looking for and potentially a place for settlers once the economy of the area developed enough to attract some of the German emigres.

Yes

filler.

 

[Deleted member 1487]

Yes

filler.

http://www.1911encyclopedia.org/German_East_Africa
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mchuchuma
It seems German East Africa had coal, which could provide the fuel the colonies need to develop.

Also postwar coal could probably be cheaply purchased from the US or Russia if need be.

 

[BlondieBC]

http://www.1911encyclopedia.org/German_East_Africa
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mchuchuma
It seems German East Africa had coal, which could provide the fuel the colonies need to develop.

Also postwar coal could probably be cheaply purchased from the US or Russia if need be.

Sure they have some coal. But how much? When I looked at Africa, I was looking for an industrial base potential to support 1-2 armies for a sustained campaign. This biases me to how much I consider "much". I suspect if you look at the German coal consumption per 1 million people, you will find that East Africa has less than enough to support 1 million "European German equivalents". But this is true of almost all metal and resources. Each nation has enough for small uses, the problem is a larger industrial capacity. I simply used a map of the major coal fields in the world. It had about 50-100, and I don't recall one in East Africa. The nearest is either in Zambia or the other small African nation next door whose name escapes me.

And I guess a lot is cost of importing versus what building dams cost. You are using very low African wage rates for the dams. Now lets look at what you use coal for. Heating is less of a need in Africa, and electricity can be used. Aluminium makes a good subsitute for steel for many applications. You just need to use the abundant water and bauxite in Kamerun. Steel can be made with limited coal. You likely try to import steel and use the process the Japanese used. You can also make with electricity from iron with very, very limited coal and using natural gas for carbon. Or you may import the steel.

A lot of this comes from the political decisions. Once you decide what the Reichstag funds, then you can figure out resource abundance. In my TL, I am building major naval bases and army bases that expect to have to fight a war for years without resupply from the outside world. This drove how I looked at resources. In your TL, you might be looking at some "model German cities" in Africa of 10K to 30K in four or five locations. Much, much lower resource needs.

And a lot of this comes from the focus of the TL. My TL, the German navy is seen as heroes and can at least argue that the UK broke first. National Heroes. Same for the military success where bizarrely enough, Africa has the heroes. You TL seems to be leading towards a potentially still discredited navy with only very limited colonial land success in East Africa. Different war, different lessons. Quite Frankly, If the TL goes where I suspect, and I was the Kaiser, I would try to build a Libya to MittelAfrika RR. Go for slightly different land concessions. I would haggle for all of French Equitorial Africa. And yes the RR is possible. The French had one from Dakar to Timbuktu. The one from the coast to half way across Algeria. Then I don't have to rely on the navy, or more specifically, I can pay Italy to ship stuff from the exposed part from say Tripoli to the Venice area. Or Tripoli to a Bulgarian port.

And I had already built the dams in Kamerun by the time the war ended. And then the budget plummet. I spent ungodly amounts of money on a crash industrial program. So I have a case of sunk cost driving settlement not the optimal area. Much like say St. Petersburg is a swamp, that is not the best land for a city to be built on.

And the Germans in OTL were right. Greater SWA that is SWA and Angola is where you want the settler colony. If you can swing at the end.

 

[lukedalton]

Thanks for the response. Do you think that would satiate German appetites for colonies? The Ottomans would provide the oil and a very nice return on investment, better than what A-H had to offer, while Mittelafrika would be the captive market Germany was looking for and potentially a place for settlers once the economy of the area developed enough to attract some of the German emigres.

From a logical and economic PoW? Sure but from an emotional one, much depends on how the war end and how much is the final death toll; people at home will need to be show that the war has been for something and the goverment will try to appease at this (so to avoid a 'mutilated victory' feeling) trying to grab anything he can...even if with is more trouble than is worth.

 

[Monty Burns]

From a logical and economic PoW? Sure but from an emotional one, much depends on how the war end and how much is the final death toll; people at home will need to be show that the war has been for something and the goverment will try to appease at this (so to avoid a 'mutilated victory' feeling) trying to grab anything he can...even if with is more trouble than is worth.

Probably it cures the Germans from more colonial adventures. Sure, they can get the raw materials and foodstuff they want, but the colonies will still be a net drain. And if they do not start a massive and extremely expensive uplift pogram such as BlondieBC or rast have in their timelines that won't change.

 

[Deleted member 1487]

Probably it cures the Germans from more colonial adventures. Sure, they can get the raw materials and foodstuff they want, but the colonies will still be a net drain. And if they do not start a massive and extremely expensive uplift pogram such as BlondieBC or rast have in their timelines that won't change.

Apparently the Congo generated huge profits for Belgium and helped they rebuild after both world wars and stay solvent during the wars.

 

[Monty Burns]

Apparently the Congo generated huge profits for Belgium and helped they rebuild after both world wars and stay solvent during the wars.

Granted, I've been to quick with my response here. You're right that one can earn money from the Congo.

On the other side my impression was that this was more or less loot. And then the Congo is only a part of Mittelafrika, with other parts being less profitable. And the question is how much Belgium invested into its colonies, particularly in terms of defenses. Did Belgium ever really plan to defend the Congo against the dedicated attack of a Great Power? Germany will, particularly after WWI showed their inability to defend their colonies and at the same time gained them a sizeable Mittelafrikan Empire to defend.

 

[Deleted member 1487]

Granted, I've been to quick with my response here. You're right that one can earn money from the Congo.

On the other side my impression was that this was more or less loot. And then the Congo is only a part of Mittelafrika, with other parts being less profitable. And the question is how much Belgium invested into its colonies, particularly in terms of defenses. Did Belgium ever really plan to defend the Congo against the dedicated attack of a Great Power? Germany will, particularly after WWI showed their inability to defend their colonies and at the same time gained them a sizeable Mittelafrikan Empire to defend.

That's assuming thee is a threat of war after WW1; with France no longer a great power, Russia hobbled, and Britain without major allies and having bankrupted the Empire with India becoming restive and Ireland in revolt in the 1920's, I doubt anyone would start another war. Germany would have no need and the Entente less ability or desire to.

 

[Wolfpaw]

If their behavior in the Congo is at all similar to their behavior in Kamerun or Namibia, then things won't be much better, if at all.

Nor do I think that this will undo the popularity of Pan-Germanism. An empire in Africa doesn't mean that the Germans are going to stop lusting after Eastern Europe

 

[BlondieBC]

Probably it cures the Germans from more colonial adventures. Sure, they can get the raw materials and foodstuff they want, but the colonies will still be a net drain. And if they do not start a massive and extremely expensive uplift pogram such as BlondieBC or rast have in their timelines that won't change.

And it is also important to note that the positive return is only because I ignore an absolutely huge amount initial investment. If I had to pay interest on the 500 million marks or so invested, it is probably negative. I am busy IRL, so I have not gotten there, but I plan to create job issues in Germany. Just wait until high paid white Germans are being laid off for low paid black "Germans" in shipyards. Then there will be the issue of what can be called corruption. Various parties in Africa and Germany diverting resources for things that the Reichstag will not see as a public good. Then there is the issue which I have not gotten to. Would a self-sufficient German colony still think of itself as German? Or do they get the USA to UK treatment? UK wins expensive war with France. Pays for huge navy to allow it to happen. Then we leave and cost them another war.

Germany had the best situation prewar. Ability to trade with colonies without paying for upkeep. The main down side is all the Germans who went to other places and became new nationalities. Now in almost all wins, the Kaiser and Reichstag will be desperately looking for "gains" to justify the war. Colonies are a good bet. Otherwise you are likely looking at either Germanizing parts of France/Poland with associated resettlement issues or public having very dim view of war 20 years later. I am not saying any particular plan works, but it would be extraordinarily hard not to try some grand program to show it was better after the war.

 

[BlondieBC]

Probably it cures the Germans from more colonial adventures. Sure, they can get the raw materials and foodstuff they want, but the colonies will still be a net drain. And if they do not start a massive and extremely expensive uplift pogram such as BlondieBC or rast have in their timelines that won't change.

I have looked at more British and French than Belgium, so the Congo may be an exception. I suspect the Belgiums were freeloading- rely on UK to protect Belgium lines of communication to Congo.

Here is the issue. A lot of the money made does not go back to the German government. It goes to the connected German business leaders. And the government pays for it. It is really a welfare program where we grant money to businessmen via the military budget. Reason people do it.

Lets take SWA. How much do you think it will make? I mentioned earlier 15 million marks for improvement of RR and ports. But here is real cost. 600 million for a war with the Heoreo tribe. Take 5% interest on the notes which is about right for then. We need 30 million marks just to pay the bills. I am pretty sure SWA never made a profit in any decade even ignoring the war costs. It seems like Togo land had small profit. Do you have the OTL government profit claims for the Congo? I strongly suspect one trivial little war eats a century of cash profits. And I mean some war involving 200K natives. Using the cost accounting methods of colonial powers, Iraq under Bush was profitable.

I am not saying it would not happen. I think the Kaiser likely does do big colonies. He claims big profits. I dispute whether the government ever sees any profits.