Exporting Revolution (2)

Haile Selassie of Ethiopia, having resolved to emulate Shtal's character, decided to copy his actions as well. Shtal, of course, had merely built his power by stacking up achievements through improvisation based on future knowledge, but that was Shtal's own business. To an outside observer, it was utterly incomprehensible how such miraculous events could keep occurring. Therefore, Haile Selassie believed that the series of purges and victories Shtal had orchestrated were all part of a meticulously laid board, subtly "inducing rebellion" or "provoking war."

He was half right. After all, instead of striking first to tear them out by the roots, Shtal had simply waited for them to make the first move. This was an intuition born of future knowledge. He knew that Karl Lueger, Apis, Roman von Ungern-Sternberg, and Hötzendorf would inevitably cause trouble sooner or later. So, he had set the board and waited, whether it took five years or ten. Shtal's archenemies had simply stepped onto the board he laid out when their time came.

If one is merely spectating a game of Go, even a casual player can feel as wise as a 9-dan professional. While Shtal, who had peeked behind the curtain of time to glimpse the future, was a spectator to the game, Haile Selassie was an active player on the massive Go board of modern politics. It was not a method Haile Selassie could easily replicate, as he lacked the ability to discern who his enemies were or what weaknesses they possessed. Where Shtal had set the board before initiating action, Haile Selassie chose to act first to secure a spectator's vantage point, and then observe the board.

Needless to say, it was a complete lie. Spouting whatever nonsense came to mind just to manufacture a sense of crisis was a dictator's specialty. Yet, regardless of the truth of his words, the subjects felt a profound sense of dread. The masses, suddenly elevated from "subjects" to "the people," were utterly bewildered. He looked exactly like Chucky. That bizarre expression, that strange tone, and those peculiar word choices were threats in themselves. While there were plenty of instances of a state threatening and plundering its citizens, it was the first time anyone had seen a state threaten them with such polite, formal language. Normally, a state threatened its people with authority, guns, bayonets, or the threat of eternal damnation. But Haile Selassie was only the second ruler to inspire terror through an incomprehensible, skin-crawling creepiness, like the wriggling of an insect. The first was Antonin Artaud of France, whose extremist ideology was so unhinged that even Shtal shook his head in disbelief.

This, too, was modeled after Shtal's past actions. Specifically, when Shtal had turned Hötzendorf into the leader of the naked officers. He had created an organ called the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Imperial Integration National Assembly, ascended to the position of Vice Chairman himself, and seized the authority to investigate political criminals and execute summary judgments across the empire. This was highly similar. The only difference was that this Peace Preservation National Council functioned more like a secret police force and even wielded direct military command.

"Your Imperial Highness."

"No. I am no longer the Crown Prince. I am now the Vice Chairman of the Ethiopian National Council. Please address me as such."

"Ah, yes... Vice Chairman."

In the end, the one who became the Napoleon of Europe was neither Trotsky nor Ludendorff, but Shtal. Of course, unlike the first Napoleon, Bonaparte, or the second, Hitler, he had absolutely no intention of throwing his armies into the meat grinder of Russia. Yet, in the sense that he served as the ultimate role model for dictators across the globe, he was truly a Napoleon.

"It is as clear as day that we must secure the support of the people before carrying out our 'grand undertaking.' To reduce the public's hostility toward the National Council, we need to put on a performance. We must show them that something has indeed changed."

"Then... what do you intend to do?"

"Once again, I shall emulate the 'real' Vice Chairman. I am thinking of producing and distributing a photo album."

"P-Pardon?!"

Any modern dictator worth their salt had to have a few photos taken for posterity. Haile Selassie was by no means handsome like Shtal, but he was like many men who look in the bathroom mirror and mutter to themselves, I don't look half bad, do I?

"Hire a photographer immediately. I will use my personal funds to distribute the albums to the deepest corners of the countryside for free."

Haile Selassie took countless photos of himself: swinging a scythe alongside the people on a farm, sharing a beer at a local tavern, and visiting an orphanage to ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠tightly embrace the children.

"Um, Your High—no, Your Excellency Vice Chairman. Please, try to smile a bit more naturally... I beg of you."

"Am I a bit stiff? Let me try. Pff, pff-hah, pffft...!"

"Ah, no..."

In the case of the last photo, the orphans were forcing smiles while looking half-paralyzed with sheer terror. Thus, Haile Selassie scattered his photo albums across every corner of the nation, and his primary objective of winning "the support of the masses" was technically achieved. To put it in perspective, the photos carried a vibe roughly similar to war criminals like Japan's Tojo Hideki suddenly pretending to be innocent schoolboys or saintly sages.

The sight of him standing as stiff as a wooden puppet while plastering on a gentle, saint-like smile was more than enough to give anyone goosebumps. Consequently, the citizens felt a terror that far transcended mere respect. The next step was simple.

"Let us begin provoking our enemies. If we restrict the military authority of the high-and-mighty nobles in the name of the National Council, they will all come charging out at once."

Haile Selassie first temporarily restricted the military authority of the powerful elites and froze the Orthodox Church's funds under the pretext of searching for "traces of espionage." Naturally, the nobility, the military, and the clergy exploded in fury, mobilizing their private soldiers and funds to plot a coup. Of course, the coup attempt collapsed miserably. Not only did they hold the information advantage through the National Council, but they also possessed troops armed with Shtal's new weapons. Haile Selassie's private forces joyfully sped through the sprawling city streets in armored cars—which the regular Ethiopian army lacked—unleashing torrents of machine-gun fire.

The three most critical elements in executing and suppressing a coup are informational superiority, mobility superiority, and elite troops. No matter how formidable the Ethiopian army was—strong enough to easily handle Italy—20th-century warfare had finally reached a point where tactical maneuvers and soldier morale alone could no longer overcome technological superiority.

"C-Cough, hack! W-What on earth is this?!"

"F-First, *cough*! Cover your mouth! Retreat immediately, *cough-hack*!"

In the original history, the romantic army of Italy had only managed to defeat Ethiopia through the indiscriminate spraying of poison gas. Now, hit by Tear Gas, the coup forces crumbled helplessly.

"Now Haile Selassie will seize absolute, unrivaled power over Ethiopia."

"The Orthodox priests are all being arrested on charges of espionage? ...Is this really going to be okay?"

They had defeated the coup forces, but the next stage remained. Namely, the citizens resisting the dictatorship. Only by overcoming them could he truly become the absolute ruler of Ethiopia. Here, Shtal's advice shone brilliantly.

Selassie voluntarily stepped down from the position of Crown Prince and handed the authority to appoint the new Emperor over to the Church. This was an immense compromise. At the very least, it served as proof that he was no traitor.

"We shall now march toward modernity. No longer will the Western powers look down upon us. To modernity, and ever further into modernity!"

Indeed, was not a constitutional monarchy the true hallmark of the modern era? Having secured absolute power through these means, Haile Selassie steadily grew his strength, selling gold to purchase massive quantities of weapons from the Treaty Organization.

Unsurprisingly, the most explosive reaction came from Great Britain.

"S-S-S-Shtal, you piece of trash!"

Great Britain, the undisputed ruler of Africa, had lost West Africa, Ethiopia, and Eritrea in the blink of an eye. Now, Shtal could easily threaten British Sudan and Somaliland at any moment.

"Haile Selassie is... in a word, a man just like Antonin Artaud. Look at that grotesque spectacle!"

"So, Minister Churchill. What do you intend to do?"

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

"Secure cooperation from the War Office and the Admiralty immediately! We have no idea when Ethiopia might seize Somaliland and Sudan, threatening the Suez Canal!"

"But... we no longer have the luxury of deploying more troops to Africa. Are we not currently bogged down in West Africa?"

"Then we must withdraw troops from West Africa! Does the Army, which is currently being utterly humiliated by African natives who are worse than American Indians, really have any right to complain?"

Churchill instantly shifted the blame for the disastrous campaign in West Africa onto the military leadership. Using that as a pretext, he pulled troops out of West Africa and stationed them in Sudan and Somaliland. Of course, because the West African theater itself was a complete quagmire, he could only extract enough forces to maintain a bare-minimum defense. In West Africa, where several battalions and divisions had suddenly vanished, the remaining forces wailed once more over the critical manpower shortage. It was glaringly obvious that, at this rate, Great Britain would gain absolutely nothing from either West or East Africa. But what choice did they have? The British Cabinet was in no position to withdraw completely from West Africa due to sunk costs and the looming threat of a vote of no confidence. Yet, they could hardly afford to neglect the defense of the Suez Canal either.

Naturally, even amidst all this, Shtal's journey continued. The Ethiopian revolution was only fully completed after Shtal had finished his tour, and when Shtal arrived in Siam, the revolution was still in full swing. In any case, Shtal was fully prepared to dump another bucket of filth over Great Britain's head.

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"Siam, where we are arriving next, is in a much better economic situation than Ethiopia, both in terms of economic scale and because their King is quite competent. Why not suggest they join the Treaty Organization?"

I shook my head at Goebbels' words.

"In the first place, Siam has never actively courted us, has it? Besides, it's not as if we and Siam are on particularly good terms."

Just as Korea and Japan were like cats and dogs, so too were Siam and Vietnam. They were rivals who would dispute who the true hegemon of Indochina was well into the 21st century. The moment France washed its hands of Indochina and departed, Siam had gleefully swallowed up all the old territories it had previously ceded to the French.

"Indeed. I did hear that Vietnam reached out a few times asking for help."

"And since I happen to be arriving in Siam now, they must be sweating bullets."

"So, surely you didn't come to Siam just to deliver a warning?"

"Of course not."

I let out a hearty laugh. Siam was a nation that had consistently picked fights with Vietnam while relying on British backing, but Goebbels' point from earlier was also valid. The King of this country was quite capable, and thanks to that, he had somehow exercised enough diplomatic leverage in this savage 20th century to preserve at least their basic national sovereignty.

"Even if we lack naval power, a country like Siam in Indochina is one we could crush with a single breath. If we give Vietnam even a slight push, Siam is finished."

"Vice Chairman Shtal, surely we cannot just leave them be, can we?"

"That is true... but Great Britain could just as easily wipe out Siam if they mobilized India."

Siam had likely sided with Great Britain and reaped substantial benefits in Indochina. But now that they had taken what they could from the British...

"Next, they will side with us. Since keeping this confidential was crucial, I don't believe I mentioned it to you beforehand."

I whispered into Goebbels' ear. Goebbels' eyes widened in surprise.

"T-Then, Jawaharlal Nehru is in Bangkok...!"

"Shh. I told you, it's a secret. We will meet him discreetly, like real secret agents."

Having sided with Great Britain for a time, it seemed Siam had now resolved to throw in their lot with us.