CHAPTER 252: CHAPTER 241 WHY MAYOTTE?

Mayotte Island is located in the Mozambique Channel, forming the Comoros Archipelago together with Grande Comore, Anjouan, and Mohéli Islands. It covers an area of 374 square kilometers, with an economy primarily based on agriculture, mainly producing spices like vanilla. In the past, it was an overseas region of France, consisting of one province, Mayotte Province.

In 1870, there were six key regions in the French colonies. The first was North Africa (French Algeria), whose importance is self-evident, being the closest to mainland France and the area France most wishes to integrate as part of its homeland.

The second was West Africa (French Seychelles—Gambia, Guinea, etc. Ivory Coast—Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, etc. Gabon, Equatorial Guinea region—which later developed into French Congo). In terms of quantity and quality, it can be considered the most economically valuable French colony. Furthermore, the latter two are located around the Gulf of Guinea, making it easy for the French mainland navy to support these regions.

The third was Madagascar, which, together with the French Comoros (Mayotte Island) and French Reunion Island, forms its strategic foothold in the Indian Ocean.

The fourth was Southeast Asia (Cambodia, Southern Vietnam), the Far East region.

The fifth was French Guiana, in the South American region.

Lastly, there was the Djibouti region, controlling the Suez Canal, as the importance of the Mand Strait is self-evident. Without the Mand Strait, the Suez Canal would be a dead end, so both the British and French have deployed forces near this area.

These regions composed the main parts of the French empire, and combined with mainland France, they radiated influence globally, making none of the mentioned areas dispensable.

Moreover, Africa accounted for four out of these six regions, illustrating France’s emphasis on Africa. According to the European version of the world map, Africa is the true center of world geography, with the intersection of 0-degree latitude and longitude located in the Gulf of Guinea.

Thus, Ernst had to think of solutions from the French-controlled islands. Those too far away were certainly out of the question, while Mayotte Island was the closest to East Africa and situated at the center of the Mozambique Channel, holding significant strategic importance to East Africa.

At the same time, the island’s agricultural conditions were favorable, capable of sustaining tens of thousands of people without issue. Including the entire Comoros Archipelago, sustaining a population of over one hundred thousand would be feasible (in fact, the future Comoros Islands had a population exceeding 800,000). The other three islands were all Land of No Master (in reality, there were two indigenous kingdoms, with Grande Comore speaking Swahili like the East African natives), but Mayotte alone, occupied by France, stood out distinctly, hence Ernst paid particular attention to this island.

The residents of Mayotte Island were Malagasy people; the southern part of Madagascar consisted of Malagasy tribes, while the northern part was the French Madagascar colony and the Imerina Kingdom.

Saying Ernst had no interest in Madagascar would be false, but the French Madagascar colony could not be defeated; the East African navy’s four ships could hardly withstand a tussle.

The Imerina Kingdom also wasn’t a match for East Africa at present—its size aside, it was not like the East African native groups, who were inexperienced, unarmed, and disorganized. Ernst determined the standards of indigenous civilizations simply: primitive, slave, semi-feudal semi-slave, and feudal.

East Africa’s expansion in Africa also validated this viewpoint. The easiest to conquer were primitive tribes, followed by slave-based kingdoms, then semi-feudal states, and finally feudal kingdoms.

The higher the level, the greater the degree of centralization, and the stronger the organizational capacity. To date, the most challenging countries East Africa had fought were those semi-feudal, semi-slave kingdoms in the Great Lakes Region and the Gledi Sultanate. The incident with the Zanzibar Sultanate was purely a fluke—after all, its upper leadership was controlled by the unscrupulous Felix. If East Africa had chosen to eliminate the Zanzibar Sultanate’s leadership then, it likely would have continued conflicts with them, as their main force was on Zanzibar Island, and at that time, East Africa didn’t even have its own ships to launch a cross-sea attack.

The Imerina Kingdom was a particularly tough nut to crack. Among African indigenous peoples, it was on the same level as the Abysinnian Empire.

It can only be said that the Madagascan people, like the Abysinnian people, were not purely African natives. One was heavily influenced by Middle Eastern civilization, while the other predominantly consisted of brown people from the Far East. Both nations just happened to be located at the crossroads of civilization, making them more enlightened.

As early as 1817, Britain had concluded a treaty with the Kingdom of Madagascar, recognizing Radama I as the King of Madagascar, agreeing to provide weapons and advisors, and prohibiting the slave trade. The London Missionary Society was allowed to conduct missionary activities in Madagascar.

Its ruler, Radama I, was a mighty sovereign who abolished the slave trade and implemented modernization reforms. His successors, Ranavalona II and Ranavalona III, came into conflict with the French and were eventually overthrown by them. After failing in the war against France in 1896, the Imerina Kingdom was destroyed, becoming a French colony.

Even so, continuous uprisings followed in the Imerina Kingdom, so conquering Madagascar without sufficient population was utterly impossible.

Judging by the time of its downfall, the Imerina Kingdom wasn’t to be trifled with. Belgium, a small country, took only a few years to annex the entire Congo, while the Imerina Kingdom battled France for nearly a century.

Thus, compared to the Imerina Kingdom, Ernst was more interested in those tribes in the southern part of Madagascar.

Currently, East Africa’s focus was on the mainland, so expanding into Madagascar was out of the question. However, the present impossibility didn’t mean it would remain so in the future, and the southern part of Madagascar was quite remote from East Africa. The Comoros Islands, lying in between, could serve perfectly as a transfer station.

Acquiring the Comoros Islands, however, had one major problem—French-controlled Mayotte Island. Mayotte was crucial, yet to France, it was just so-so, given it already had the Madagascar colony and Reunion colony. The Madagascar colony was certainly a priority area for the French, concerning their global strategy (threatening the Cape of Good Hope and Indian Ocean routes).

The only colonial territory that could be acquired through the Franco-Prussian War was Mayotte Island. Other French colonies were powerful and far away, and they enjoyed substantial autonomy; they might not obediently heed the central government’s directives. To be precise, they had a cooperative relationship with the French central government.

Therefore, it was pointless to think about those vast and populous colonies. Even if France agreed, East Africa would have to wage a second war.

Mayotte Island, however, did not have this concern. It was sparsely populated, small in area, and of little value, so ceding it to Heixinggen wouldn’t be painful.

As for competition issues, it wasn’t East Africa’s turn; here, the British were genuinely the French’s main adversaries, as evidenced by the Seychelles, which the British snatched from the French, and the fact that the British had stronger naval power than the French was also a crucial reason.