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Kaiser Wilhelms Plan
Kruger was shown through the small side door to the private study of the Emperor of Germany, and undoubtably one of the worlds singularly most powerful men, Kaiser Wilhelm I. He nodded slightly to the white gloved aid, who bowed before backing out of the room. As the door closed, the sounds of the banquet continuing in the main hall slowly faded, before being completly silenced. Kruger took two steps towards the large, oak panneled desk embossed with the Imperial Eagle before quietly coughing to announce his presence. The man by the window was startled out of deep thought, he turned away from the large arched window overlooking his Capital and tugged the curtains closed before steppig out of the shadows.
At that moment the heavy door opened again and the imposing figure of Chancelor Bismark strode into the room. Kruger nodded seriously, it was easy to see how it was this man who united all the seperate German nations into this new, powerful Empire. He radiated confidence and power.
"Ah, President Kruger" Bismark inclined his head slightly in recognition, "And my Lord Emperor." Even for the Kaiser, Bismarks bow was far less than that required for one of such a high station.
Bismark marched up to the desk before turning to face the two men before unrolling a huge map of the world and spreading it over the desk.
Kruger took a tentitive step forward to glance at the yellowed parchment. Every continent of the world was covered with a substantial shade of red. Wilhelm thrust one finger at a small cluster of islands off the European coast.
"How is it gentleman, that the worlds most powerful Empire, may be ruled by a cluster of pittiful islands not much larger than my own family estates?"
Bismark nodded at the Kaisers words, slowly running a hand over the vast holdings of the British Empire displayed on the map before turning and looking directly at Kruger, with a stare that would surley have sent a lesser man cowering. "This, President Kruger, is something we hope to rectify, and you are in a unique possition to aid us."
Kruger nodded and stepped up towards the desk, jabbing a finger at the red-painted southern tip of Africa. "Gentlemen, you are looking at the richest coloney in the British Empire."
The Kaiser chuckled slightly before pointing at India, "Surely President Kruger, you mean that THIS is the richest coloney of the Empire"
Kruger shook his head "No Kaiser, I beg to differ. And this is why I believe we may come to a mutual understanding."
Kruger turned and began to pace slightly, walking in and out of the shadows that flanked the desk, lit by a slowly hissing gas lamp on the wall behind it.
"The worlds richest diamond and gold mines are soon to be announced after several years of exploration by the Transvaal and Oranje Repulbics."
"The Witwatersrand is believed to hold more gold than 80% of all other gold reefs in the world combined, and while this will bring untold riches to my nation, I cannot fool myself into thiking that the British will not make formal moves to secure this resource for their own Empire, and rather than rejoyce at the discovery of this resource, I fear it will cause our lands to be soaked in blood"
The Kaiser nodded apreciativly, his eyes already aglow with anticipation as to exactly the terms the President was seeking with his Empire.
"Thus Kaiser Wilhelm, Chancellor Bismark, I offer you a uniqe opportunity, to both reduce British influence over the African continent, and secure a new supply of resources for your nation."
Bismark shook his head slowly "My Emperor we cannot risk war with the..."
Wilhelm held up his hand, motioning for silence and for Kruger to continue.
Kruger continued to pace and and forwards, running a hand through his beard
"We have alread seen one victorious war against the British in Africa, however I fear the next will not come to such a favourable conclusion, as such I offer to smuggle 25% of all gold mined inside the Transvaal Republic though Portuguese Mozambique and to your coloney of Tangyanika in East Africa, in return I ask only for two dozen German military advisiors to train our forces and supplies of guns and artillery to be smuggled from German West Africa."
Kruger turned and slammed his fist down on the oaken writing desk "When they come for our land, we will be ready"
The Kaiser could only smile and nod appreciativley as he imagined trainloads of illicit gold rolling into Berlin.
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Wilhelm is being a little greedy, I wonder if that won't come back to haunt him all the same.
The Winds of War
Kruger stood on the varandah of his modest home in the captial city of the Transvaal Republic, Pretoria. A hot wind tugged at the lappels of his coat as he gazed over the small yet bussling center of commerce that the town had become. 15 long years had passed since his covert meeting with the German Emperor, Kaiser Wilhelm I, and for 15 years Transvaal gold had been smuggled out of the country, and found its way to Germany. While some members of the Volksraad, the Republics parliament, had voiced outright hostility to the plans, citing that such a large smuggling opperation must surley come to the attention of the British, Kruger had pushed the plans through. The gold had been ingeniously coated in a fine iron plating, thus the erstatz iron bars were taken by horse and cart, often hidden further inside sacks of grain or flour over the rugged terrain of the Transvaal and into Portuguese Mozambique. The corrupt Portuguese officials had been more than happy to let the unregistered shipments through their territory go unnoticed when, after the baggage trains had passed, several bars of unmarked bullion found its way into their possession.
However, getting the German arms and munitions in through British territory had been more difficult. Once more however, the time scale of the plans allowed each gun and artillery piece to be individualy broken down and then carried across the border by native barers. In 15 years, over 100 pieces of artillery and thousands of German rifles had brought into both the Transvaal and Oranje Republics under the nose of the British administrators and then rebuilt and stored in warehouses in strategic possitions across the two nations. In this time a covert proffessional army had also been trained by the German military advisors sent first by Kaiser Wilhelm I and now his newly coronated son, Wilhelm II. Every male between the ages of 17 and 40 had been made to undertake a week of military training every three months under a rotating roster, meaning there were never large groups of men out of the community at any one time. This training combined with the skills needed to simply survive in the harsh African bush created a core of dedicated vetran soldiers.
Things however, were not worstening. As predicted, gold had brought the attention of the British to the Republic. Thousands of British miners flocked to the vast gold fields eager to strike rich. Relations with the British had steadily worstened, to the point that the mining magnate Cecil Rhodes had sponsored a coup by the British miners to overthrow the Boer government in 1895.
It was now September 1899 and conditions had worstend still. The British had used the excuse of "protecting British citizens" to mass a major force on the borders of the Transvaal and, Kruger mused, war could now not be avoided.
"We are ready," Kruger muttered to himself. Only two days ago he had met with the President of the Oranje Free State, Martinus Steyn and the two had dawn up a formal ultimatum that would be handed to the British Colonial Secretary, Joseph Chaimberlain. Kruger paused to look at the wax sealed envelope he held in his brown, wrinkled hand, knowing all too well what was inside.
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Actually this is the historic ultimatum that started the 2nd Boer War, unfortunatly for Kruger he didnt have artillery, or a German trained army to work with, it will be interesting indeed to see how this works out, I havnt decided myself, as such feedback would be much appreciated!
The real problem is one of numbers. Great Britain might be slow to get an adequate response to the ground (like most of its african wars) but they would wear things down, slow and methodical. Great Britain's main problem are other European powers. Would Germany be forceful in support in the international seen. Might this, not Sarajevo, be the spark to ignite the globe? Or would the French take advantage, and the Germans just sit quitely on the sidelines, cheering all sides on as they weaken themselves in these endeavours?
Lots of possibilities.
Lots of possibilities.
Thanks for the praise Darks, this is my first AAR so Im still trying to decide which I like more, a character driven or historical esq approach, also you win a cookie for being the first person to subscribe officialy! *hands over the cookie*
Indeed, great AAR. I like what you have been doing now, an history book style, with some regards for the different characters. I will be intrested in how the style will be once the 2nd Boer War explodes.
There was (historicly) alot of symphaty for the boers, I know that in the Netherlands the attention for the Boer War was alot bigger then for our own wars in Indonesia.
There was (historicly) alot of symphaty for the boers, I know that in the Netherlands the attention for the Boer War was alot bigger then for our own wars in Indonesia.
Don't think the British Empire has any reason to throw stones, when it comes to shady backroom deals motivated by greedIron-Chef said:Since when did taking on the British Empire ever end badly for Germany?stnylan said:
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The author of Sacred Grove of Britannia just said my AAR was good, Sir, I am humbled!
