Chapter 815: Colonial Aftermath

“Mr. Charles, I understand the request from the British side, but there is one thing that I am not willing to correct again.” Haile Selassie I said with a condescending gesture, “I am white.”

“Of course, Your Honor, you are the heir to King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba.”

Charlie smiled slightly and said, “I would like to present several perspectives on this British request for His Majesty the Emperor’s concern over the situation in Sudan. First of all the British Empire, like Ethiopia, is a monarchy. In today’s world, because of the United States and the Soviet Union, many monarchies are in a very dangerous situation. London is keen that His Majesty the Emperor takes care of the stability of Africa.”

“As for the other point, it is in a religious perspective, Ethiopia is part of Christendom like many European countries, and you yourself are a descendant of King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba. But your country is surrounded by a multitude of pacifist nations, and whether out of guardianship of Christendom or the current hostility of the Arab world toward Israel, you cannot stand by and watch.”

“Not to mention the fact that Sudan is so large, and Egypt and Sudan are still inextricably linked, that in the event that Sudan succeeds in becoming independent, and there are consequences that many people don’t want, such as a merger of Egypt and Sudan, it would be a not-so-small challenge to Ethiopia’s supremacy in Africa.”

Charlie gave numerous reasons, whether it was from the point of view of religion, geography or Haile Selassie I himself, to assist Britain in bringing things under control this time around.

Every one of his statements was true, and Haile Selassie I’s confirmed titles alone included “Lion of the Jewish People” and “God’s Envoy,” the former destined to be associated with Israel, and the latter, given Ethiopia’s location, out of place in the surrounding pacifist nations. The latter, given Ethiopia’s location, does not fit in with the surrounding pacifist countries.

It is also true that the Israeli government is now making overtures to Ethiopia; after all, Israel is surrounded by a ring of Arab states.

A careless can be like a sea of Arabs driven into the sea, in order to open the isolation of the situation, Israel is in the back of Egypt’s Ethiopia is very favorable, this favor is sincere or not to say first, but it is true that Israel is to express the proximity.

Haile Selassie I did not say anything, and was obviously considering whether to express his opinion on the situation in Sudan.

Because of its performance in the war with Italy, Ethiopia is the only country in Africa that survived the colonization wave, except for Liberia, America’s little African number.

Indeed, many African politicians have been calling on Haile Selassie I to take a stand on the African independence movement. Implicitly, Haile Selassie I is seen as the savior of Africa.

As a matter of fact, Hail Selassie I did meet with many leaders of the independence movement in the past few years, but seldom made a statement on the independence movement.

This time when Britain came to his door, Haile Selassie I was skeptical in his mind about the real move of the British, after all, it was not as if Haile Selassie I himself had not suffered at the hands of the British in the past.

But Charles wanted Haile Selassie I to cooperate with Britain’s move to partition the Sudan, so that he dispelled the suspicion in his heart.

As a monarch of a country, he was still clear about Ethiopia’s situation, and this Englishman was right about everything.

The current set of problems were indeed what he and his country had to face, as the other said.

Africa was actually two worlds, northern Africa was the world of the religion of peace, a world that was the result of the Arab empire’s tiger swallowing the world. The Africa south of the Sahara Desert, on the other hand, was the world of Christendom.

Christendom comes from the result of Europe launching a wave of colonization that pulled the black world into Christendom to become part of it.

And Ethiopia was right in the middle of the junction, and the majority of the Ethiopian people were Christians, including Haile Selassie I himself, with a demographic advantage over the Pacifists that existed, but was not significant.

“Mr. Charlie, Ethiopia is willing to speak out on the rights of blacks in southern Sudan. Express justice.” Haileselassie I’s considerations eventually came to fruition, “I believe that it pays off, does it not?”

“Of course, Britain is willing to give political and material support regarding His Majesty the Emperor’s reforms.” Charlie laughed happily, “London is happy to see the country led by His Majesty the Emperor as a backbone of stability in Africa.”

In Khartoum, the capital of Sudan, Alan Wilson received a telegram from his colleague Charlie and immediately expressed his gratitude in a reply.

Ethiopia’s stance is important for the current situation in Sudan. Although Haile Selassie I claimed to be white, but this did not prevent, black people to take him as a savior, in fact, as long as they are not blind, can not be contrary to staring at each other’s dark face, said Haile Selassie I is white.

This year happens to be the twenty-fifth anniversary of Haile Selassie I’s accession to the throne, and Ethiopia is indeed undergoing reforms.

Aside from providing for elections under the House of Representatives, the main reforms were the following, such as reaffirming the hereditary system of the Emperor; providing for the largest gold mine in the country to become the Emperor’s private property, and so on.

“Will the white emperor be willing to help?” It didn’t take long for John to come over and inquire about the attitude of Haile Selassie I. He was a Sudanese commissioner, and of course he knew a lot about the situation around the Sudan, which naturally included the Ethiopian emperor, who claimed to be a white man.

“Not much of a problem.” Alan Wilson handed the telegram from Ethiopia, to John spoke, “In fact, we express some of the real existence of the information can be, there is no reason can let him judge for himself.”

Since the beginning he had thought that it would not be difficult to get Haile Selassie I to make a statement favorable to partition.

Though it might incur the enmity of an independent Sudan, especially North Sudan, the benefit of dividing a neighboring country into two pieces was a real one compared to a vain enmity.

Ask the Chinese if they would agree to the division of India into North and South India, which could be done with just a statement of support from China. By the same token, Ethiopia surely wants its neighbors to be as weak as possible.

The so-called invincible British diplomacy, but according to the current situation because of the situation, the most fundamental reason is still the British strength is enough, the latter days of Britain’s performance on the great loss of standard, not necessarily is the twenty-first century British diplomacy is poor, but the strength is no longer enough, did not have the ability to make the best use of the situation.

“There are now two main political parties in Sudan, both based on Arabs in the north. The blacks in the south are still lagging a bit behind, but of course there is still a predominantly black army in the south called the Equatorian Legion.” John described the current political situation in Sudan.

Both political parties were founded during World War II, and nationalist parties have emerged one after another, the more famous ones being the Brotherhood Party, founded in 1943 and headed by Ismail Azari, and the National People’s Party, founded in 1945 and headed by Abd al-Rahman al-Mahdi, the former of which is based on the Hatemiyyah sect and advocates for a union with Egypt and the implementation of the “Unity of the Nile Valley”; the latter of which is based on Mahdi’s belief in the “Unity of the Nile Valley”. The former, backed by the Hatmiyya sect, advocated union with Egypt and “Nile Valley unity”; the latter, based on the Mahdi sect, advocated “Sudan for the Sudanese”, with the goal of independence from Anglo-Egyptian rule.

“This party in coalition with Egypt is disgusting. Is the situation manageable? The garrison is able to maintain the current smooth situation.” Alan Wilson grunted as he listened, not favorably disposed to Ismail Azari, who advocated a coalition with Egypt.

“The Sudanese army is 20,000 strong, including the black Equatorians.” John replied without thinking, “Not much of a problem.”

Of course it’s not a big problem, three thousand British troops are more than enough to deal with an army of that size, Alan Wilson hemmed and hawed, “I’m relieved then, it’s simply the ideal venue for us to show off our talents.”

The two current parties, one of which was suspected of being too close to Egypt, were very unappealing. Alan Wilson knows the original history, and Egypt and Sudan did not end up merging, but it’s still a handful to guard against.

Originally, it was Nasser who led Egypt, and with Egypt agreeing to Sudan’s independence, made it necessary for Britain to agree to independence as well. But now the ruler of Egypt was Farouk I, not Nasser, who didn’t even know where people went.

History has changed, so who’s to say that there won’t be an adverse effect on Britain?

In fact, the two main political parties in Sudan, already knew that the Sudanese commissioner had returned to Khartoum and brought back a man to discuss the agenda of independence together, and both parties were making preparations to get the terms of independence from Britain.

One of them, the Sudanese Brotherhood Party, advocated a joint Sudanese-Egyptian system under a common Egyptian king, with the following as its main objectives: the guarantee of the welfare of the Sudanese people, the development of their interests, their active preparation for self-government and the consequent exercise of the right to choose the future status of the Sudan. The agreement of 1899 remains in force until the last of these objectives can be fully and unanimously realized by the contracting parties in consultation with the Sudan.

Alan Wilson will be damned if he’s going to agree to that; he’d rather cut Darfur out of Sudan than agree to the idea.

Before meeting with the two parties, Alan Wilson first went to the British camp in Khartoum, the garrison being the most trustworthy at a time like this, and the next day began counting the number of British expatriates in the Sudan and making plans for their evacuation.

This was all in India, where he had done similar things before, so it was not at all difficult for him.

But after the survey, Alan Wilson had another condition in mind, that is, what about the mixed population in Sudan? He was not willing for these people to return to the UK, to know that Sudan is only the first, this mouth is open, in the future, an independent colony, return to the UK a batch of people, then the entire British colony in Africa, how many of such a mixed community, all return to the UK?

“John, this is a big deal, the blacks can barely be taken for granted, but coupled with the issue of faith, if one colony after another becomes independent in the future, something big will happen to Britain.” Alan Wilson expressed his concern to his colleague, “I don’t want to make it too clear, but this matter needs to be resolved.”