Father of France

Chapter 208 Race, Ethnicity, and Belief

"Should we report this to Paris immediately?" Martin knew who Koeman was, and he had pretty much guessed that Koeman wanted to prove his hands were innocent.

"Before arriving in Madagascar, I thought we would inevitably get our hands dirty, and I was thinking about how to block the news later, but I didn't expect there to be so many favorable conditions."

Koeman's tone was full of relief that while the political figure of the largest ethnic group led the supporters of the second largest ethnic group in a rebellion, the vast majority of the largest ethnic group did not participate.

This is practically a template for a conspiracy theory of divine intervention. Koeman doesn't even need to add any elements; if he reports it completely truthfully, third-party countries and ethnic groups will think that the Austronesians orchestrated this conspiracy to gain greater benefits.

"It's not like they did nothing at all. Didn't they use incitement tactics?" Martin complained, drawing out his words. "The policies they issued were all well-intentioned and no one could criticize them, but in practice, they caused an ethnic massacre involving hundreds of thousands of people. What if we were in Syria back then?"

“Islands and the mainland are different. The Maronite faction can only choose one, and both we and Paris have chosen the overseas departments.” Coleman interrupted Martin’s reminiscence of the glorious past.

Madagascar is an isolated island, and in its relatively closed environment, the French army was the rule-maker.

On a continent with contiguous landmasses, how easy is it to achieve this? Between Syria and North African overseas provinces, is there even a choice? The obvious choice is the latter.

“Everyone should have dreams, and maybe we should try to achieve them.” After all, having lived in Syria for so many years, Martin still didn’t want to give up like this, but seeing Koman’s attitude, he said helplessly, “Alright, what have you been writing so mysteriously these past few days?”

"Reporting on ethnic feuds and speculations about Austronesian people migrating to Madagascar." Koeman seemed quite interested in this question, explaining why he was doing this.

After France colonized Madagascar, it suspected the origins of the Austronesian people, who were very different from the black people on the African mainland. This suspicion was further confirmed after the colonization of French Indochina, but the only basis for the suspicion was speculation based on language and culture, without any direct evidence.

This conjecture still needs to be confirmed by molecular biology. Coman can't provide any evidence, but he can use the Vietnamese National Army to provide some dubious confirmation.

As for reporting this ethnic conflict, as Martin said, it was to prove his innocence. He originally thought the French army would carry it out themselves, so he had to cover it up. But if it was an internal ethnic conflict in Madagascar, there would be no need to hide it.

Koeman had previously considered a way to cover it up, which was to conduct a new census.

The Governor-General of Madagascar only had a rough estimate of the colony's population, and given the extent of his control, it was certainly inaccurate. Madagascar's population was definitely more than the Governor-General's statistics, that was inevitable.

It's worth noting that in the early 20th century, Britain actually estimated a population of 160 million in British India, which gives you an idea of ​​how unreliable statistics were in the colonies.

France directly ruled its colonies, and its control was certainly much stronger than that of Britain, but there were bound to be some oversights.

After the riots were suppressed, a new census was conducted and compared with the original data. The missing population would not be reflected in either set of statistics, and the people who disappeared during the suppression were simply forgotten.

But since it's an ethnic massacre, there's no need for population statistics. What we need to do now is report the facts truthfully, go through the normal procedures, and wait for instructions from the Paris government.

“We wait for the Paris government to tell us a solution, then we ask for specific measures. Time passes by like that. By then, the ethnic conflicts on the Middle East coast should be over.” Koeman looked selfless. What’s wrong with the army obeying the government’s orders?
On colonial issues, the French army could choose not to listen to the Paris government, such as in the North African overseas departments, or it could listen to them, such as in present-day Madagascar. The initiative of whether or not to listen was still in the hands of the army.

“I understand. Bureaucracy will buy us time,” Martin agreed. “The Bantu people on the East Coast will become insignificant after the crackdown, and the South Islanders also need to be suppressed.”

“There are eighteen ethnic groups on the island. I’m sure the Governor’s Office has its own ideas.” Coman wasn’t too worried. If the second largest ethnic group is gone, isn’t there still a third?
The black people on the west coast are also Bantu people. The only difference between them and the Bantu people on the east coast is that they arrived in Madagascar at different times, perhaps by several hundred years.

The Bantu people on the east coast launched this riot, and even if many of them survive, they will certainly be marginalized. The Austronesian people are equally guilty of taking advantage of the situation to launch ethnic feuds for the sake of land.

Since land has been allocated to the Austronesians, political status cannot be granted. France should choose partners from other ethnic groups for its next collaboration.

“For multi-ethnic countries, the nation is more important than the ethnicity,” Koeman said to Martin, something that most European countries could not understand.

Modern Europe is not like it will be decades later, when most countries are still largely homogeneous nations, with France being a Gaulish state and Germany a Germanic state. The US and China could also be described this way, but not as purely as European countries.

If the United States in the 21st century were still like it is now, with 90% of the population being white of European descent and the remaining percentage of Black people negligible, the principle of "ethnicity over nation" would still hold true, as it is the simplest way to build consensus. However, some compromises would still be necessary for the remaining 10% of the population, as modern society does not operate the way it did in ancient times.

The same applies to the great Eastern power. The existence of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau means that some people are inherently of high value in united front work. The problem is not that there are not enough people of the main ethnic group, but that there are places that no one goes to.

The concept of nation being greater than state did not apply to the Soviet Union, as Russians made up a mere 50% of the population, and even including all Slavs, the figure was only 70%.

At this point, the nation takes precedence over the state, which is tantamount to marginalizing one-third of the population, a consequence that no one can bear.

Therefore, even if Stalin was a Great Russian nationalist and promoted the Russification of the Soviet Union, he could only do so through practical actions, not by openly using nationalist means.

For religious countries like India and Pakistan, religion can be considered more important than ethnicity, though the specific differences are not the same. For Pakistan, religion being more important than ethnicity is beneficial for seeking external assistance, given that there are dozens of Muslim countries.

But it's a completely different story for Indians. Besides India, the only other Hindu country is Nepal.

Therefore, India has consistently attempted to conflate Hinduism and Buddhism in its external propaganda, hoping to gain support from Buddhist countries in the Indochina Peninsula. However, it's clear that the Buddhist countries of the Indochina Peninsula are not going to listen to India's self-serving rhetoric.

The caste system, which is deeply intertwined with Hinduism, is not something that most countries can accept. Even Sri Lanka, which is so close to us, doesn't want to be associated with it, let alone the Buddhist countries of the Indochina Peninsula.

"If one day African countries are all independent, and if the Austronesians are the majority in Madagascar, will African countries still be unable to accept it?" Martin was also intrigued at this point, and he seriously discussed issues such as race, ethnicity, and religion with Koman.

“That’s for sure.” Koeman’s tone was very certain. In the 21st century, Madagascar was a semi-transparent, marginalized country in Africa.

Madagascar's Austronesian culture is deeply rooted, a stark contrast to the predominantly Black culture of the African continent. Its language, customs, and architecture are more distinctly Southeast Asian in character.

Madagascar's main trading partners are not African countries, but rather China, France, the United States, and countries around the Indian Ocean. Its trade and investment with countries within the African continent are relatively limited.

"After our transformation, Africa will definitely be further away from Madagascar. It seems that even the Austronesian countries in Southeast Asia can't reach this area. Madagascar will have to rely on us in the future."

Martin was optimistic about the issue, believing that even if Madagascar became independent, it would still be unable to break free from France.

"Who can say for sure what's going to happen so far in the future? Maybe from a racial perspective, there really will be a country with a predominantly Asian population that can replace France here." Koeman felt that it was best not to make any definitive statements; what if?
Although the major Eastern power has basically gained an absolute advantage in Southeast Asia, let's not forget that there are many Austronesian people in Southeast Asia itself.

One day, the title of the world's strongest nation will change hands. Who knows if Madagascar will suddenly remember that the Austronesians are also part of the yellow race, like the Southeast Asian countries, and awaken some strange ideas.

Extending this idea further would be quite remarkable, because there are quite a few people of East Asian descent in the world. There were Austronesian people who left the East Asian continent six to eight thousand years ago, and let's not forget about North Asians as well.

This "North Asian" does not refer to the ethnic groups living in Russia, but rather to the Mongoloid people who entered the Americas 10,000 years ago, also known as Native Americans.

Native Americans were largely wiped out in North America due to sparse population and the eradication of their nomadic culture. This was not the case in Central and Latin America.

In these areas, many people identify as descendants of Native Americans, a population of fifty to sixty million. An even larger group consists of mixed-race individuals with East Asian features, numbering four to five hundred million.

What is the situation like in Latin American countries? They are similar to the Philippines in Asia, with their religion being European but their bloodline being Asian.

Some Europeans believe that the future of Catholicism lies in Latin American countries, and in the more distant future, the hope for population growth among people of Asian descent also lies in Latin America. What's impossible about that?

The Philippines serves as a benchmark for Latin American countries. If the Philippines can one day successfully break free from the influence of the United States, it could easily become a model for Latin American countries.

(End of this chapter)