Rise of Empires: Spain.

Chapter 104 Labor Policy
As time entered 1871, there was one thing that concerned the Spaniards and many European royal families: the marriage of King Carlo of Spain.

Now Carlo has firmly established himself on the throne of Spain, and he is about to turn 20, which is the age for European aristocrats to get married.

As the King of Spain and a member of the House of Savoy, there were many European royal families who wanted to establish a marriage alliance with the Spanish royal family, including the royal families of many powerful countries.

Firstly, Spain’s geographical location is indeed important. Secondly, Spain’s overall national strength is not bad either, and it is considered to be in the first tier below the great powers.

What's more, Carlo was the son of King Vittorio Emanuele II of Italy. His marriage to the Spanish royal family was actually also a marriage to the Italian royal family.

Because Carlo's mother Adelheide had passed away, the European royal family took the initiative to find Carlo and his father Vittorio Emanuele II.

Seeing the letters from different European royal families and the photos interspersed in the letters, Carlo was almost overwhelmed.

It's ok that there are some princesses of the right age, but how come there are even little girls who have just turned ten? Look at the letter sent to me by my sister, Princess Maria Pia, which actually recommends the princess of Portugal.

Carlo rubbed his brows and wrote a letter back to his sister, in which he said that he had no plans to marry Portugal for the time being.

Apart from anything else, the marriage between Portugal and Spain is impossible to happen now. The British absolutely do not want to see Portugal and Spain unite. A unified Iberian Peninsula will be a powerful enemy of Britain in the western Mediterranean.

As the saying goes, there is no room for two tigers in one mountain. The relationship between the Portuguese and the Spanish has never been so friendly. In the 1580 years between 1640 and 60, Portugal was briefly jointly ruled by Spain, and the two sides also established the Iberian Alliance.

But this union was obviously not as smooth as the union between the Kingdom of Castile and the Kingdom of Aragon more than 100 years ago. The Kingdom of Castile and the Kingdom of Aragon united to create the powerful Kingdom of Spain, while the union between Spain and Portugal made the people of the two countries begin to hate each other.

Besides, marrying a Portuguese princess was not in Carlo's own interests. Even if he could form an alliance with Portugal, the disadvantages it would bring to Spain would far outweigh the advantages.

Britain will definitely destroy the alliance between Portugal and Spain, which will not only make the Spanish government miss the golden opportunity for development, but the Portuguese and Spanish will also become more conflicted under the constant provocation of the British.

Because of Queen Victoria's hemophilia, Carlo excluded the British royal family from his marriage partners from the beginning.

Among all the European powers, there are only three countries - Germany, Austria and Russia - whose royal families can marry Carlo.

If Carlo had to choose, he would prefer Germany for marriage. Germany itself does not have too many problems, and will perform very well in the First World War.

On the contrary, the domestic problems of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and Russia were full of contradictions and basically beyond redemption.

However, after the end of World War I, Germany, Austria and Russia all abolished the monarchy, so the shortcomings of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and Russia were not that great.

Among these three countries, Carlo would definitely choose Germany first, followed by Austria-Hungary, and finally Russia.

Germany and Austria-Hungary will be stronger industrially, and their military technology can also help Spain gain practical and effective improvements.

Although Russia has a larger population and richer resources, it is far inferior to Germany and Austria-Hungary in terms of industry and economy.

In fact, before the outbreak of World War I, the initial alliance was the Triple Alliance between Germany, Russia and Austria. But why did it eventually evolve into the Franco-Russian Alliance? Because the French firmly grasped the economic lifeline of the Russians through continuous financial assistance.

But there is a problem at present. The Hohenzollern and Habsburg families do not seem to have many princesses of the right age to marry Carlo.

Fortunately, Carlo was not in a hurry at this time. He could choose his favorite candidate while waiting for news from the royal families of other countries.

In February 1871, the Spanish government approved another major project, which was to build a railway across southern Morocco.

Because there are no railways in Morocco, this section of railway needs to be fully invested and constructed by the Spanish government. The total length of the railway is more than 300 kilometers.

The railway starts in Agadir, the capital of the southern Moroccan colony, and ends in the southernmost city of Tantan, passing through smaller cities such as Tiznit and Guelmim.

In order to strengthen control over the interior of the southern Moroccan colony, the railway also has a branch that runs eastward from Agadir, passing through Gruden and Tata, basically connecting all the larger cities and towns in the colony.

Because it was a colonial railway, the Spanish government did not plan to invite bids for the project, but instead invested in its own construction.

The good news is that the southern Moroccan colony has millions of Moroccans who can serve as laborers in the construction of the railway. Part of the Moroccan compensation can also be invested in the construction of the railway. The total length of 300 kilometers of railway will not cost too much money. This railway is generally profitable.

After the railway is completed, all resources in southern Morocco can be easily transported to Agadir by rail and then shipped to Spain via the port.

Morocco is rich in mineral resources, after all, it is mostly mountainous. Southern Morocco also has a lot of mineral resources, including phosphates that can be used to make fertilizers.

Speaking of phosphates, an uninhabited area in southern Morocco, which later became Western Sahara, also has considerable phosphate reserves.

According to the agreement reached between the Spanish and British governments in the last treaty, the British government will not prevent Spain from colonizing the Western Sahara region, which also means that the entire Western Sahara region is basically in Spain's pocket.

It is easy to understand why the British agreed to Spain's colonization of Western Sahara. After all, Western Sahara is a region mostly composed of deserts, with a sparse population and very low overall economic value.

It would be acceptable to the British if they could use this area to attract the attention of the Spanish government and temporarily prevent Spain's expansion into northern Morocco.

What the British really care about are regions rich in mineral resources and fertile land, so they can naturally give up regions like Western Sahara.

For Spain, both Southern Morocco and Western Sahara play a very important role.

The rich phosphate mines in these two regions allow Spain to vigorously develop the chemical fertilizer industry and quickly popularize the use of chemical fertilizers.

Although Spain's land has too many inherent shortcomings, the large-scale use of chemical fertilizers can also increase Spain's overall crop yields.

Increasing crop yields means being able to feed a larger population, which is good news for the Spanish government.

According to Carlo's future plan, Spain's population must exceed 2000 million at least before it can have the confidence to return to being a great power.

If Spain wants to control its own destiny and avoid becoming a pawn on the world chessboard, it must have a population of at least 3000 million and an industry and economy that are among the top five in the world.

This is still a huge challenge for Spain at present, and it may take decades to achieve this goal.

At least in the first ten years, it is basically invisible. It is already very good to complete Primo's reform within ten years. If Spain wants to be strong, it may have to rely on the opportunities of the future Boer War and World War I.

The Spanish government did not intend to take a soft approach to its colonial policy in the southern Moroccan colony.

Although Moroccans are white, they are not orthodox Europeans and are destined not to become the main ethnic group in Spain.

Except for a small number of Moroccans who were able to assimilate or were willing to accept Spanish rule, the remaining Moroccans were treated as ordinary African natives.

Apart from creating a steady stream of economic benefits for the Spanish government, they have no other value.

However, compared to the small number of black natives, the treatment of white people in Morocco is a little better.

Although Moroccan white workers also have to do relatively tiring work, their working hours are limited to 12 hours and they can get two meals a day.

The black laborers worked more than 14 hours a day, and their only food was a meal of black bread that was barely enough to fill their stomachs.

The so-called black bread is made of flour mixed with sawdust and bran. It has extremely low production costs and is the food provided to the indigenous people in most European countries.

Of course, there are also many capitalists who will provide it to factory workers. After all, for capitalists, the most important thing is how to reduce factory expenses. As for whether such black bread will kill people, what does it have to do with the factory?
Prime Minister Primo could also understand Carlo's disgust towards black people. Such an attitude was not surprising in this era, and Prime Minister Primo himself did not have a good impression of black people.

It was precisely because the two people with the highest power and status in the Spanish government hated black people so much that the colonial policy in southern Morocco was like hellish torture for black people.

Since the railway officially started construction in February 1871, an average of at least two-digit black workers died on the job every day, and the number of black workers dying every day was still increasing.

Perhaps it won’t be long before the southern Moroccan colony will become a pure land with only white people, and black people will completely disappear from this area.

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(End of this chapter)