"Wow!" There was a flurry of meaningful and continuous responses, and knowing smiles appeared on the faces of all the colonial commissioners. The British Commissioner of Bechuana lowered his voice, "In principle, there is still room for discussion on this matter.
, but I personally will never shrink from the British Empire. You must know that we have been ready to sacrifice everything for the country from the first day we went overseas. It’s just that Bechuanaland only has diamonds, which is very difficult.
It’s embarrassing.”
"Like Togo, we only have some local diamonds, and of course there are some rumors of gold mines. If we can get domestic support in some aspects, I personally am willing to work tirelessly to find gold mines for the British Empire that can help the country's development.
." The commissioner of British Togo said with a reserved expression, "When it comes to diamonds, we have to admit that women do particularly like them."
"Cameroon is not rich in resources. There are only pastures and forests. I don't know what use they are?" the commissioner of British Cameroon said with a wry smile and shook his head.
"As long as it exists, it cannot be said to be useless. Any construction requires resources. Now Europe is rebuilding using Newfoundland timber, and once Malaya is transformed into a production base, the demand will also exist. What's more, we all know
, Australia’s environment is very harsh, the land is not fertile enough, and wood consumption needs to be provided elsewhere.”
Alan Wilson said at the outset that this statement was wrong. Forests and pastures cannot be said to be useless. As long as the demand is there, it is a false proposition. In the same way, this is also a response to British Kenya who also believed that they did not have enough resources to manage the colonies.
A piece of advice from the commissioner.
At present, the largest colony in British Africa is Nigeria in terms of population, with an estimated population of 30 million.
Surrounded by French Africa, it can be said that as long as there are no problems in French Africa, Nigeria is very safe.
Alan Wilson remembers that Nigeria seems to be a powerful country in Africa. Although it is largely supported by its population, it also has the foundation of a powerful country in terms of resources.
Later generations in Africa rely on the total population and resources, and their voice in Africa is very high, and he should be regarded as a ruthless character.
As for the visible problem, the population is growing too fast. In Alan Wilson's time, Nigeria's population had exceeded 200 million, and it was still rising at a very fast rate. If no measures were taken, Egypt would be Nigeria's future.
A group of colonial commissioners also knew the situation in Nigeria and held a lot of discussions. Based on the experience of British India, if the population of a single colony exceeds the mainland, it must be divided while control is still there.
This has become the consensus of everyone in Whitehall. Nigeria, with a population of 30 million, is still in a safe state.
From Uganda to Tanganyika, from Swaziland to Sudan, the resources currently discovered in each colony, as well as the resources that are rumored but not confirmed, are discussed by the commissioners of each colony.
"We'd better not compete with each other. Some colonies are big and some don't have such rich resources. God is not so fair sometimes, so as part of a group of gentlemen, we should discuss it. Don't form internal competition." Alan Wilson said
After pondering for a while, he added, "Of course, with the exception of diamonds and gold, I refer to general industrial resources. We should discuss it and give some colonies with inconvenient transportation a chance. After all, we all serve the same country. We all
He is an honorable gentleman, highly educated."
"It depends on which university you received higher education in!" the British Sudanese Commissioner joked with a smile.
"Both universities count." Alan Wilson replied understandingly, "Oxford and Cambridge must remain united and serve the country together."
Obviously, the colonial commissioners were not repelled by the possibility of increasing their burdens, and were even eager to try. They were prepared to go through fire and water for the British Empire.
This is also in response to the call of the Labor government. These civil servants are not opposed to the emergence of nationalized enterprises in the colonies.
"According to the Soviets, this can stimulate productivity. Currently, the local area needs a large amount of resource input, and a large amount of resources can also make the pound more stable." Alan Wilson talked about some of the benefits of nationalized enterprises, "Africa's minerals
The resources definitely need the help of local people, and we can use this to cultivate some pro-British forces."
"Gentlemen, let us first imagine the worst possibility. As we all know, a large part of today's world order is still established by the United Kingdom. In the eyes of the United States and the Soviet Union, this is a remnant of the old order. Since World War II, still
During the war, we were not unaware of the various words and deeds of the two countries. One wanted national self-determination, the other wanted to liberate the world. No matter which one they were, they were all aimed at colonial countries."
"Then we will follow the example of the Soviet Union and carry out nationalization movements in the colonies while cultivating pro-British forces. If, I mean if, one day we can no longer stay in the colonies, we can still hand over the local political power to trustworthy people.
In the hands of other people, we broke up the nationalized enterprises, retained everyone's shares, and cooperated with independent leaders."
"So when it comes to nationalization, we don't take everything. We must allocate part to local forces who are optimistic about it and bundle their interests. This is actually not a loss. If there is help from local forces, maybe the mining volume will explode.
growth, we still made a profit.”
"In terms of developing resources, the major colonies cooperate with each other to ensure that once the colony becomes independent, there will only be a single industry to rely on, so that we can still exert influence. We will adopt an international division of labor among the major colonies.
The integration of the model can also be said to be a concrete embodiment of the imperial preferential system.”
"This is an explanation to the Conservative MPs." Norman Brooke looked at Sir Ismay beside him and nodded.
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! The main content of the Imperial System of Preferences is: mutually lower tax rates or tax exemptions for imported goods between member states; high tariffs on imported goods from outside member states to prevent
The influence of the United States and other countries penetrated the British imperial market.
After the war, as the United States forced the United Kingdom to relax restrictions, the scope and role of the system gradually narrowed. Many newly independent federal member states canceled the preferences previously granted to British goods.
At present, Britain has no intention of kneeling down, and the 1.2 billion pounds scraped out by emergency raids will cause a lot of trouble to the major colonies, but as long as the mainland recovers, it can continue to fight the United States. It is just a loss on the books.
The whole of British India.
Even earlier, the United States had been targeting the United Kingdom over the World War I debt issue. Even Axis countries like Italy were generously exempted from half of their debts by the United States. Germany even received tens of billions of dollars in investment, and France was also
It has significantly reduced debt, but it is particularly stingy towards the UK.
"The large-scale establishment of nationalized enterprises in the colonies, I think once the Americans see it, they will definitely put pressure on it." After hearing this, Sir Ismay smiled bitterly and said, "I hope it can be hidden as long as possible."
"There is no way. The Americans want to dismantle the imperial preferential system immediately, but we cannot let it disappear for the time being, because we do not yet have the strength to resist the scale of American industry, unless Malaya reaches the day when it can share the pressure."
Alan Wilson said calmly, "Nationalization will cause inefficiency, but it also depends on the industry. For example, the mining industry should be the easiest industry to take advantage of nationalization and avoid the disadvantages of nationalization. We start from
Starting from the most basic raw materials, we can provide British companies with the most cost-effective raw materials and improve the competitiveness of British private enterprises. We can use nationalization to explain to the Labor government, maintain the imperial preferential system to explain to the Conservative Party, and use interest binding to colonial elites.
."
"Currently, we are the only ones suffering as humble social servants, right?" A smile appeared on the corner of Norman Brooke's mouth, "But there is no way. Who made us, the people, born to serve the empire? These grievances are also
We can’t publicize it everywhere, it’s just decided.”
"Yes, sir!" nearly twenty colonial commissioners replied in unison.
"Ismay, save the minutes of the meeting. Today we will talk about the layout of British Africa first." Norman Brooke raised his wrist and looked at the time. He was about to have a chance encounter with the Dutch ambassador, and at the same time he had to
Prepare for a delightful briefing to Prime Minister Attlee.
This meeting seemed very long, but in fact it only talked about African issues, to be precise, black African issues. The issues of the Persian Gulf and Suez Canal were not discussed much, and Malaya's plan was only briefly discussed within the scope of security.
For a moment.
After the meeting adjourned, and after the necessary checks, which could not be called body searches, the colonial commissioners left the Ministry of Foreign Affairs building.
Of course, every commissioner who walked out of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs building had a smile on his face. Although the burden on him was heavier, inspired by the glory of the British Empire, everyone accepted it gladly.
Alan Wilson also walked with the wind, and after thinking about whether he had enough time, he went to find Hepburn. He had something to talk about other than politics. Her serious attitude made him very happy, and he began to outline the British literary world and history.
Hepburn's uneasiness disappeared after a few minutes. It was as if she was sitting alone in the whole world, and he was talking about British literature to Hepburn's bright black eyes. And these eyes could think deeply, smile, and blink with appreciation.
Alan Wilson remembered throwing teachers aside during his short studies at Oxford, and this time he threw everything aside.
Alan Wilson considered whether to make the candlelight dinner plan today or wait until all colonial issues were settled and there would be plenty of time to discuss. Finally, he decided to postpone it. It was not the time yet.