Samoa crisis/45 million tons of phosphorus ore
It's the 19th century, the age of romance.
Great powers have exploded in power by acquiring overseas colonies, and losing the seas that connect them to their home countries and colonies will lead to a rapid decline in power.
Examples abound.
Napoleon's Continental System (Continental Blockade) caused people to starve to death on the mainland of the British Empire.
The British Empire's first and second opium wars devastated the Qing Empire's coastal industries.
The German Empire, whose coasts were blockaded during World War I, experienced such severe shortages that even the Kaiser suffered the humiliation of eating turnips.
A [battleship] that could connect those oceans, that could control them.
A strategic weapon that eats up % of a country's budget and is a measure of a nation's dignity and power.
A battleship is an absolute power that rules the seas.
A battleship can only be countered by battleships, and the number of battleships was a symbol of a nation's power and technological prowess.
Currently, only the British Empire, the German Empire, the French Republic, the United States of America, Confederate States of America, the Russian Empire, the Kingdom of Italy, and the Austro-Hungarian Empire are capable of building battleships.
The Ottoman Empire, the Brazilian Empire, Argentina, Chile, Greece, and the Empire of Japan are among the countries that have ordered battleships from foreign countries, and are rapidly acquiring battleship technology by tinkering with purchased battleships.
Before long, the Japanese Empire would have the technology to build its first modern warships.
The Empire of Japan is so serious about its navy that it could cook the Baltic Fleet of the Russian Empire.
The army is an asshole.
"Of course, the Qing Empire also has a navy that's the size of a major power with only imported warships."
"Isn't that dangerous?"
"What?"
"Because unlike the European powers, who only have a few ships assigned to Asia to keep them on the edge of the world, the Qing Empire has all of its ships on the mainland. If they go on a fucking rampage to avenge the humiliation of the First and Second Opium Wars, it's going to have a devastating effect on the German Empire's economy."
"Hmm. The Qing Empire is decades away from slipping out of the tight leash the Brits have on it, and they're such a bubble that even the Japanese Empire is a bubble."
"...The Japanese Empire? When did the Japanese Empire and the Qing Empire ever stick together?"
"..."
I fell silent at Bismarck's question.
I can't reveal things from the future.
***
The German Empire, the world's second largest superpower, dispatches three battleships to the Samoan Islands from Kiel, and the United States of America, the world's ninth largest superpower, dispatches three battleships to the Samoan Islands from the U.S. Naval Station in Norfolk, Virginia.
Naturally, the eyes of the world were on the Samoan Islands.
Of course, there was a lot going on around the world as the three warships converged on the Samoan Islands.
February 11th.
The Meiji Constitution is adopted in the Empire of Japan, making it a fully-fledged modern nation.
February 22.
President Grover Cleveland rallies expansionists by signing a bill admitting North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, and Washington as states of the United States.
As the United States of America slowly annexed the troubled Republic of California, tensions were high in North America, with the Confederate States of America (CSA) naturally pushing back.
March 4.
Benjamin Harrison, a Republican in the Monroe Doctrine, is inaugurated as the 23rd President of the United States.
March 11.
Three U.S. ships arrive in the Samoan Islands.
"There they are, the Samoan Islands.... Beautiful, very beautiful."
"I mean, they are. Maybe they'll make a name for themselves as a more beautiful vacation spot than the Hawaiian Islands."
"That's what we were talking about when we made the Samoan Islands a territory of the United States.... Or is that the story of when we survived the German Imperial Army groaning under the oppression of our overlords?"
"..."
"Anyway, we'll see. We'll see how the German Empire turns out...."
Even President Benjamin Harrison couldn't stem the tide, even though the White House had changed hands a week earlier to an isolationist.
How dare a president stand in the way of the American people's desire to punch the German Empire right in the nose?
In the United States, a country that loves individual liberty, no president could ignore the aspirations of its citizens.
***
But they didn't know that.
What they didn't know was that in the German Empire, the country they hated and loathed so much, there was a man from the future.
This man happened to be in a position to command the warships of the German Empire.
March 15th.
SMS Adler from the German Reich.
Admiral Frizze, in charge of the Samoan Civil War.
He stood on deck and stared blankly at the ruins.
"..."
Then.
The vice-admiral next to him sighed.
"Ugh~"
"Why the hell are you sighing so deeply?"
"It's because I don't like being stuck here! I can't believe we're docking a battleship here when we could be kicking the asses of the Americans as soon as possible...."
The United States of America is cowering in the Samoan islands, which the German Reich has drooled over.
Why are they cowering here when they could drive their battleships at full speed?
Because-
"It's inevitable, isn't it? The Kaiser wants the entire Pacific under his thumb, not just the Samoan Islands...."
"..."
1889.
The Pacific Islands are now claimed by the British Empire, the Spanish Empire, the French Republic, the United States of America, and the Kingdom of Porutucal.
And the high-value colonies of the German Empire, with the exception of Africa, which is losing money.
German New Guinea and German Samoa.
Is that all?
There are still countless islands where the British Empire hasn't flown its flag.
How could the greedy German Empire miss out on El Dorado, which is still untouched by the British Empire?
Admiral Frizze would applaud the Kaiser's proclamation if it weren't for the nervous war with the United States of America that threatens to erupt into war between the great powers.
"German Samoa, one of only two in Oceania, is about to be handed over to the United States, and we're stuck with the islands of German New Guinea...."
"Didn't the Kaiser say that the United States could be dealt with through diplomacy? The Kaiser was more concerned that the Pacific colonies would turn against us like Samoa than the United States."
"Is that why you're firing your guns like this at the German colonies?"
"That's right!"
-Kwagga River
-Kwagga River
-Kwagga River
-Kwagga River
Unlike shipbuilding, the German Empire is the best in the world at artillery.
Every day, shells are being fired from the guns of battleships that utilize all of the Reich's technological prowess.
So, while practicing gun diplomacy (?) to keep the colonies from going crazy like the Samoan Islands, three battleships were passing by an island with a beautiful beach.
"Is this also a colony of our German Empire?"
"Yes. It's an island called Nauru in the Bismarck Islands, which was incorporated into German New Guinea in 1884?"
"Hmm.... It's pretty big for an island, so I guess it's possible."
"What?"
Admiral Frizze smirked at the Vice Admiral's comment.
Admiral Frizze had been under a lot of stress lately with the recent news of the American-backed rebellion in the Samoan Islands, and he needed to blow off some steam.
And there's no better way to relieve stress than to....
Nothing like a little killing.
"Instead of firing shells into the sea in vain, wouldn't you like to fire your ships directly at the islands?"
"...!!!!"
"What do you say?"
"Yes, let's do it right away, and if we shoot at the cliff side, where there aren't many natives anyway, there won't be any casualties, and even if there were, they wouldn't dare to oppose us."
"Huh.... I see you're a brave son of the German Empire. All right, let's shoot!"
-Kwagga River
-Kwagga River
-Kwagga River
-Kwagga River
The cannon breathed fire.
And so a great natural wonder, carved and chiseled for thousands and tens of thousands of years, was transformed into an ugly sight.
The German Imperial Navy, of course, took pleasure in the sight.
-Kwagga River
-Kwagga River
-Kwagga River
-Kwagga River
As you're relaxing by firing your stretch cannon, you see a white object peeking through the cliffs shattered by shells.
"Huh? What is that?"
"Yeah.... Isn't it just a white stone?"
"It's too weird to be a pure white stone, shall we take a look?"
"A.... Why bother?"
"Do you know, maybe it's a gem or an ore, and if it's a resource that helps the German Reich improve its national power, we can get a reward?"
"I'll be right there."
"..."
That day, the German Empire would discover 45 million tons of phosphate, worth $45 billion in 2024.