African Entrepreneurship Record

Finally, the French colonies were basically concentrated in the Indian Ocean region, including Djibouti, Madagascar, India, Mauritius, and other islands.

Indeed, the French also had a colonial presence in India, but these colonies were not large, not even as significant as the Portuguese colonies in India. Though Portugal only had three colonies in India, France had five.

However, the area of just one Portuguese Goa was much larger than the combined area of those five French colonial points in India.

Kao’Er said, "Among these colonies, we should first consider the Pacific islands. It is no longer the era when France was at its peak."

"Those islands in the Pacific are quite redundant for our country; they are far from the mainland, and the area and population scale are not promising."

"There aren’t any decent resources there. Frankly speaking, if a country along the Pacific coast really occupied these places, we wouldn’t have a good solution. As for sending an expeditionary force, it would just be a waste of military funds, and the risk is high."

"Therefore, it’s better to seize this opportunity to hand over these Pacific islands to the East Africans. For us, these colonies are actually a heavy burden."

The French colonies in the Pacific mainly consisted of New Caledonia, the New Hebrides Islands, and Polynesia.

From a global perspective, this could truly be considered a godforsaken place, deep in the South Pacific, far from Australia, Asia, America, and Africa, and even more distant from Europe.

Ambassador Thomson said, "If it is territory in the Pacific, it might have some value for East Africa, but it is not attractive enough. After all, these islands have almost no value to us and the same applies to East Africa, especially after East Africa took over the German colonies in the Pacific."

There are many islands in the South Pacific, and this is not a strategic area. Apart from potentially threatening Australia, it only has some impact on trade with South America and Asia.

But trade between Asia and South America can almost be ignored. In this era, the three major centers of global trade are Europe, the United States, and East Africa. Raw materials from all over the world flow into these three regions and then are processed into industrial goods before being distributed worldwide.

You can also see Europe, the United States, and East Africa as the three major industrial hubs in the world today.

Asia and South America play more of the roles of raw materials suppliers and colonial markets, with their direct trade being almost negligible compared to trade with the three major industrial centers.

Hence, Thomson believes that East Africa would not be tempted by the Pacific islands, except for strategically crucial islands like Hawaii, and clearly, France does not have such places in its possession.

Advisor Kao’Er said, "Then consider Guyana; although Guyana does have a considerable area, it mainly consists of tropical rainforest, and developing such a place would be very difficult, even for a tropical country like East Africa."

Thomson replied, "But Guyana is also an important stronghold for our France in South America. At least, I think France still has a chance of returning to South America in the future. It’s not as distant as those Pacific colonies."

According to Thomson’s view, post-war France will inevitably start overseas expansion anew, and the Indian Ocean and the Pacific can essentially be abandoned.

This means that South America is the only place where France can expand, primarily because there is no strong power in South America. Although the United States, East Africa, and even France’s dubious ally, the United Kingdom, all have strong influence in South America, this also means that the future situation in South America will be turbulent, providing a chance for France to fish in troubled waters.

Thus, Thomson said, "Currently, France faces a very passive situation. Even if we can defeat the Germans in the future, we still have to compete with the United Kingdom, the United States, and East Africa."

"Therefore, we need to leave more avenues for France; Africa is one, Southeast Asia is another, and South America is the last option."

"Whether it’s North Africa or West Africa, it is the foundation for France to return as a world power in the future. The biggest difference between us and the emerging powers like the United States and East Africa is the size of our territory."

"If we can complete the integration of North Africa and West Africa, France will remain a top world power."

"In Southeast Asia, we have invested a lot in Indochina, and this serves as a base for exerting significant influence on Siam and the Far East Empire, making this region second only to Africa in importance to us."

"Finally, there is South America. Although it appears that developing colonies in South America is unlikely, I don’t believe the United Kingdom, United States, and East Africa can single-handedly monopolize the South American market."

"Moreover, the post-war disputes among these three countries, along with the ambitions of the South American nations themselves, give us a potential opportunity to achieve something in South America."

Advisor Kao’Er and others were in agreement with Thomson. Over the years, France has been increasingly out of its depth in the struggle for world hegemony.

Previously, the French considered Germany as their mortal enemy, which was indeed true; however, even if they managed to deal with Germany, France would still be in decline, especially in competition with other countries.

Besides Germany, the nation posing the greatest threat to France is France’s current ally, the British. The conflict between France and Germany is nothing more than a struggle for European dominance, but as long as the British exist, France can never fully control the whole of Europe.

And lacking control over European dominance means being unable to compete with extraterritorial emerging powers like the United States and East Africa.

For the French, the most reliable way is to digest the colonies in North Africa and West Africa. If they can integrate the African colonies, France’s territory could reach millions of square kilometers, which would not be as significant a difference compared to Russia, East Africa, and the United States.

Furthermore, the African colonies are only separated from mainland France by the Mediterranean, and this distance is not far at all for France, which is one reason why France wanted to incorporate Algeria as part of its mainland in its previous endeavors.

Thomson said, "So, our scope of consideration further narrows. Madagascar in the Indian Ocean, Mauritius, or some islands in the Caribbean, and even colonies in India can be negotiated with East Africa."

"India, although a lucrative piece, if we bring East Africa into it, the ones who will have a headache will be the British. After all, our interests in India are negligible."

It must be said that France and the United Kingdom, two adversaries, spare no effort in luring each other into traps. France’s colonies in India are little more than a few commercial strongholds.

But giving these strongholds to East Africa is akin to putting mice in a rice jar, as there isn’t a country in the world that wouldn’t find India’s juicy colonies tempting.

And, seemingly thinking of this, Thomson said, "Let’s use India as bait to lure East Africa. Our interests in India are minimal, so even if we relinquish it, it won’t cause much trouble and can serve to antagonize the British."

"Heh heh, back then, the British were exceedingly greedy in overseas colonization; now they naturally have to bear the consequences, especially in the Indian Ocean region. It’s safe to say the British interests are the greatest there, and just as conveniently, this is also where East Africa is fixated, ensuring conflicts will inevitably break out between the two nations."

"Therefore, we are not averse to adding fuel to the fire in the Indian Ocean."

In past years, France did make efforts in the Indian Ocean, but essentially could not compete with the British, something evident from France’s colonies in the Indian Ocean.

Egypt, originally a French colony, fell under British control along with the Suez Canal. France had only Djibouti in hand, but it was next to the larger British Somaliland, and opposite it was the British colony in Aden Bay.

In the Persian Gulf, the British also had uncontested control, much like in India, leaving France only with the southwest corner of the Indian Ocean, like Madagascar and a few other islands. Even in the southeastern corner of the Indian Ocean, the British still had the South African colonies.