A Shift in Priorities

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While the level of anti-colonialism in Middle Africa is unclear. Does the fact that there is a sell by date for MA independance puts a damper on that? The fact that Middle Africa is part of a larger empire was up until now largely an abstraction, how will a visit by the German Kaiser change that?
 
Man can hardly even recognise the devils of his own creation.
(Albert Schweitzer)

But the woman wouldn’t relent. She was a tall and beefy Bantu from southern Cameroon working for the Jaunder General-Anzeiger, a newspaper well known for its anti-US stance.
“If no distinction was ever made between black and white, how is it possible that Middle Africans were explicitly excluded from voluntary service in Mexico, Your Majesty?”

The audience became totally quiet now as everybody was waiting for the Emperor’s reply. This exclusion had deeply hurt many Middle Africans – and was widely seen as an affront. Not only the Middle African military had been keen to get back at the ‘Amis’; there was a widespread desire for revenge – fuelled by the stories about the sterilised and neutered internees, the fate of the MAU 31 crew, and the recent ignominious defeat of the Middle African submarine mission.

“It is known in Germany that many of your fellow citizens crave for revenge – and that is just the reason why they were not admitted for voluntary service in Mexico. The mission requires unemotional soldiers ready to heed the rules of international law. People who want to avenge real or imagined tort are not suited for it. In their obstinate desire to inflict damage on the enemy, they might jeopardise life and health of their comrades. – It is as I already pointed out: The pure desire for revenge is not an acceptable motivation.”

This answer was met by a general murmur of disapproval. Although Wilhelm had correctly summarised the reasons why the German government had excluded Middle Africans from service in Mexico, one felt discriminated and patronised.

“So, the Amis may neuter and degrade our men; keep prisoners of war in miserable isolation long after a treaty of peace has been signed; and are allowed to merrily kill our submarine crews – but we are considered emotionally unstable by our white masters and not allowed to give back as we were given?” asked the female reporter in a high-pitched voice.

“Your vindictive mindset only serves to demonstrate how appropriate the decision of our government really is, dear lady. I can only say that witnessing your attitude emphasises this for me.”

Thus, the interview ended in disharmony, because most Middle Africans present obviously rather agreed with the aggressive stance of the female reporter than with Wilhelm’s moderation.
On the next day, headlines all over Middle Africa ran like: “Are we all little children?” – “No trust in us?” – “Daddy says: No! Bad Middle Africans not good for Mexico.”

When the Imperial Family arrived in Duala, a huge crowd had gathered in front of the railway station, wielding banners demanding admission of Middle Africans to the military mission in Mexico. Plenipotentiary von Schnee was grief-stricken that ‘his’ Middle Africans should not hail the Kaiser’s visit but use it to voice their displeasure.
But Wilhelm appeared unperturbed; he was consistently appraising what he saw, heard and experienced.

Touring the huge naval base, Wilhelm took the opportunity to interview Korvettenkapitän David Kalumbe, the only submarine captain to have returned from the ill-fated Mexican mission. Quite unsurprisingly, Kalumbe also was eager to get back at the US Americans, but he was much more careful than his fellow citizens.
“They are very good, Your Majesty. – At least their navy is, I can’t judge their army; but the navy is downright well trained, attentive and aggressive. My boat was very lucky to escape doom. – We thought, because we had beaten them in our home waters, we could repeat this in their home waters. But that was a faulty belief, they are immensely strong – especially in destroyers; and their means for detecting submarines are at least as good as ours – if not superior. – Only the new generation of German submarines may stand a chance opposite them, our old boats are just coffins…”

Discussing the day with Giovanna at night, Wilhelm wondered what had gone wrong in emancipating the Middle Africans.
“They are like spoiled brats.” said Giovanna. “They have received so many benefits and steadily were praised as model pupils that they now think they always can get their way. In my view, they are as racist and aggressive as the Americans, although under different auspices. – Germany should not expect that eternal gratitude will always make them obey orders from Berlin. These people have a special sense of mission – and they are harbouring a deep grudge against the US, which easily can mutate into a grudge against all whites…”
 
“They are like spoiled brats.” said Giovanna. “They have received so many benefits and steadily were praised as model pupils that they now think they always can get their way. In my view, they are as racist and aggressive as the Americans, although under different auspices. – Germany should not expect that eternal gratitude will always make them obey orders from Berlin. These people have a special sense of mission – and they are harbouring a deep grudge against the US, which easily can mutate into a grudge against all whites…”

His Imperial Majesty and His Government would be VERY wise to heed Her Imperial Majesty's words.
 
Methinks the wife is right. Wilhelm has his work cut out for him: Ensure that the Mittelafrikans don't go overboard in their sense of entitlement and mission any more than they have already done.
 
Methinks the wife is right. Wilhelm has his work cut out for him: Ensure that the Mittelafrikans don't go overboard in their sense of entitlement and mission any more than they have already done.

True.

The problem right now is that the Germans act very cold and rational, whereas the Mittelafrikans are emotionally involved. And the German politics so far did nothing to cope with these emotions - rather on the contrary. Politics often is about handling emotions, and the Germans utterly failed in the recent crisis. After all, it is valid to ask what the Germans had done if all these had happened to white Germans. I doubt that right now the German Kaiser would state that it's better for Germany not to help the Mexicans but let the other Europeans do it. There are double standards involved - not out of racism, but due to realpolitik.

The Germans therefore should involve the Mittelafrikans. They should enlarge the training mission in Venezuela. The Mittelafrikans should get better equipment for defense. And there should be additional training missions of Middle americans into Mittelafrika - particularly on the civil sector side. And a military training mission for Mexico can be prepared for the time a peace treaty between Mexico and the US is in place. Sometimes politicians have to give an irrational population something to calm down. This is the time for such steps.
 
The Kaiser should take over the job of addressing the emotional side of this conflict, much in the way this would IOTL be taken over by the German Federal President of post-WW2 Germany. The realpolitik aspect should be addressed by the "real" politicians and military commanders.

Somehow, the Mittelafrikans have to be made aware that they are NOT a chosen people and NOT superior to anybody, but that they were extremely lucky with the lenience and generosity that Germany showed toward them. Why not contrast their situation with those of other colonial powers' subjects? A very large majority of TTL's colonies is much worse off.

I agree that the Mittelafrikans should be (re)involved militarily in Central America and be given modern equipment. However, with a strong caveat that they would be cracked down upon hard if there are any war crimes involved against Americans...
 
i could imagine that under these circumstances Bauer could make a comeback, he is more or less making the protectorate separate from MA. And i could imagine he would get support for turning the protectorate into a counterweight to the MA colonies.
 
The Emperor should indeed find an outlet for the Mittle Africans their anger. Or the relations with MA will quickly sour. And then all the hard work Germany has put into MA will be in vain. I also think the Emperor needs a lesson in PR...
 
Mh. He is still quite young and certainly able to learn. I really hope that the Germans manage to save the situation before it is too late...
 
Mh. He is still quite young and certainly able to learn. I really hope that the Germans manage to save the situation before it is too late...

I think the Germans will keep the Mittelafrikans out of the Americas as far as possible until their independence. and then they'll be back in full force. As soon as there's some military action between the US and their southern neighbours in the future, Mittelafrika will be in. They'll get a bloody nose, maybe need to be saved by the Germans/Europeans, and only then I fear they'll become a reliable rational nation.
 
It looks like the Middle Africans are on the fast track to becoming a hyper-militaized nation, almost completely ostracized from most of its potential allies. It would be ironic if a Deutsches Afrika Korps had to be formed to invade Middle Africa. Perhaps led by Bauer?
 
The irony of the situation with Middle Africa is that the Germans are looking at actions and attitudes within Middle Africa and not liking what they see. Those same attributes could be used to describe Germany in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The victory in TTL in WW1 prevented yet another round of this sort of behavior that in OTL resulted in WW2.

The Emperor can still salvage this situation, it just depends on his ability to walk and chew gum at the same time. The Middle Africans want in on the Mexican war and think that they are being treated like children by the Kaiser and by extension the German government.

The German government thinks, quite rightly, that putting the MA Army into combat in Mexico could potentially result in more atrocities. With the Africans looking for revenge and the Americans retaliating in kind. Once this sort of cycle gets going its very difficult to stop.

What needs to happen is that the Middle Africans need to get the impression that what they are doing has value. Possibly some could be sent to work logistics, planning or training. Perhaps the mission in Venezuela could be expanded. Worse comes to worse, put in a call to Max Bauer, he was able to keep the lid on this for a long time.

Wilhelm has got a degree in international relations according to this TL, its time he put it to work.
 
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of course this can go 2 ways.

first the Germans take them more serious, and use them in a way that satisfies the MA desires but also the German ones, but at the same time restraining them.

On the other hand it is totally possible that the upcoming anti-white feelings make the Germans go very cautious, not giving them too much modern equipment (with the thought you don't arm a potential murderous madman), of course this will rather quickly sour the relations between Germany and MA.
After that a lot of things can happen, the MA's probably go after the yanquis and very likely get a bloody a nose. When their anti-colonialism mutates into sheer anti-white racism they may feel the importance of good economic relations as most likely most big companies from sever the economic ties at that point. And in the long run you might even get an unlikely alliance between the European countries and the us against MA (especially if they manage a non-european/non-north american ally). might become some serious multi-polar cold war..
 
¡ Hi ! ¡ WHOA !:eek::cool::eek:.

For start, Wilhelm is a wise intelligent young man. And with the pass of time he can grow as one of the best leaders of the 20 century, will see...:).

The good points for middle africa is that exist a free press, that the middleafrican womans are liberated and free, and they it be having now a strong sense of national unity:cool:.

The bad points that as for myself freaking scare are that the hate against the americans can grow with the pass of time, and maybe they wish another " 2 round " of the TAW:eek:, they it be having very smart, intelligent wise people, natural resources, the will of a young peoples country, the idea of a middleafrican greater destiny,etc... and if these efforts, energies are dedicated to war, well...:eek:, and finally, no ofense please, but i am worry that the middleafricans beggining to see the white as enemies:(:eek::(, in short, maybe Middleafrica can became some kind of Frankenstein´s monster, will see...

And finnally please Rast, why not some update about how american and Hearst press, diary, newspapers see and thinking about mexican southern nightmare;):D, and what are thinking the common ordinary american citizens about that disaster, you know;):D;).

Peace and good luck:).
 
For start, Wilhelm is a wise intelligent young man. And with the pass of time he can grow as one of the best leaders of the 20 century, will see...:).

He might be intelligent and rational, but that answer he gave to that reporter is as dumb and ignorant of the general feelings of Mittelafrikans as it can get without being openly offensive. He'll definitely have to learn to be more diplomatic and empathic to his audience - and the staff he has to prepare him needs some reform as well.
 
In great contests each party claims to act in accordance with the will of God. Both may be, and one must be wrong. God cannot be for, and against the same thing at the same time.
(Abraham Lincoln)

Because the McAdoo administration had vigorously rejected Kingston on Jamaica as venue, one had finally agreed on Willemstad on Curaçao as location for the peace talks to be held between the US and Mexico – despite the fact that the majority of the population on Curaçao was as black as that on Jamaica, and that socialists were holding office not only in London but in The Hague as well.
Unhesitantly agreeing to this request, Dutch Prime Minister Willem Vliegen from the Sociaal Democratische Arbeiders Partij had sent his Foreign Minister Kornelis ter Laan in order to moderate the talks, which started on Tuesday, August 1st, 1933.

The US delegation was led by Secretary of State Cordell Hull, while on the Mexican side President Lázaro Cárdenas had decided that his personal presence was required.
To complicate matters, US puppet president Octavio García Álvarez also had shown up.

It took President Cárdenas not very long to find out that the US were keen on Mexican oil. Obviously, the sudden appearance of EVEG representatives in Mexico had become known in Washington – and had amplified US readiness to enter peace talks.
On one side, this US greed for oil was a pity – because EVEG had in fact made a very good offer; on the other side, it provided him with a means to easily manipulate Cordell Hull, who – in Cárdenas’ appreciation – had the qualities of a hard working clerk, but was not made from the stuff true statesmen were made from.

With some amusement, Cárdenas had registered that the US Navy had hastily removed the sea mines they had laid in the Gulf of Venezuela some weeks ago. Señor von Stauß had told him that colleagues of his had travelled to Venezuela with the European tanker convoy. Apparently, the presence of EVEG agents in Caracas and Ciudad de México had utterly alarmed the US oil companies – and had caused them to take direct influence on political decisions in Washington.

Sidelining García Álvarez proved to be rather tedious; the man was an unmitigated scoundrel – and a tenacious negotiator. In the end, a solution was found that kept García Álvarez rich – but away from Mexico.

The US had some territorial designs on northern Mexico, but here Cárdenas was able to profit from their greed for oil. If the US took the land they still occupied – mainly Baja California and Baja California Sur, plus some parts of Sonora, Coahuila, Nuevo León and Tamaulipas – the Mexican oil would go to EVEG. If Mexican territorial integrity was warranted, the US oil and mining companies could keep their concessions.

Drug production and trafficking turned out to be a sore point. US ideas about prohibiting these activities hardly matched Mexican reality, where Cárdenas had little influence on the drug cartels, but they rather on him. He was quite willing to tackle the problem – but unable to do it right now…

There was a plethora of other things to be discussed and regulated, but Cárdenas had no hurry. With the armistice in place, reconstruction in Ciudad de México and Veracruz had started – and still European convoys kept arriving regularly. And typhoid fever and cholera in northern Sonora and Baja California thus remained something that concerned the US – not the Mexicans…

Therefore, negotiations dragged on all through August without a treaty coming within reach.
 
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They won't... they can't.

Screwing over the proles is an US politician's daily business. Screwing over a power like Standard Oil that owns half of congress is impossible.
 
That part of Mexico is largely desert with lots of rattlesnakes, scorpions and spiders. Now thanks to the efforts of the US Army typhoid and cholera as well. I suppose that now is a good time to remind everyone that the bubonic plague is endemic to the rodent populations in this region. Also Jim Morison was on to something when he said that they like to invent new forms of the clap in Tijuana.

There is the little factor that major US oil companies (Standard Oil Co. had already been broken up before the POD) and by extension the US Government consider EVEG a greater threat to their interests than the Mexicans could ever be. Threatening to kick the door open for EVEG is a master stroke.

Holding the negotiations open like this also holds the US Army in place with the bugs, snakes, heat, drugs and diseases not to mention the little factor of accidents, a 19 year old PFC behind the wheel of a truck is considered a deadly risk second only to enemy fire. Then there is the reaction of the American public to this hurry up and wait turn that the Mexican war has taken.

Whether the McAdoo administration or the American public knows it or not Lazaro Cardenas is currently playing them like a fiddle.
 
¡ Hi ! to Monty Burns: ¡ THANKS !:cool:.

Yep, Wilheim maybe is sometimes to young and naive, but with some kicks by part of life, and with the pass of time he will grow to became a excellent emperor. And finnally, Giovanna is another wise genious, that royal couple maybe it be become a sweet leyend;):cool:.

Peace:).
 
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