Rise of Empires: Spain.

Chapter 124 The Coming Economic Crisis

After this economic crisis, the industries and economies of various countries will be sluggish for a period of time, and this period is also a good opportunity for Spain's industry and economy to catch up.

Who should it catch up with? In fact, Spain's industry is currently at a mediocre level.

It is a bit difficult to catch up with the big powers, but we have some advantages compared with countries like Belgium and the Netherlands. It is a bit difficult to choose a target to catch up with.

But as the saying goes, slogans are shouted out. Whether or not we can catch up is not important. What is important is to shout out the slogans.

Setting a more difficult goal for the Spanish people can also unite the people and make them work hard for this goal together.

Before the economic crisis broke out, the stock markets in Europe and the United States experienced a period of prosperity.

Carlo naturally would not miss this opportunity. This period of prosperity was also a good time for the royal family to make money.

The boom period is still quite long. If we look at the historical development, this boom period will last at least one more year.

During this period, any company registered and listed on the stock exchange can make a lot of money.

Any business related to railways and industry can easily borrow large amounts of money from banks for construction.

During this period, many countries did not have national banks to manage the banking industry, and basically relied on private banks to issue government bonds.

Although this has promoted economic prosperity, this prosperity is too free and undisciplined and is clearly not controlled by the countries.

The economic crisis broke out during this uncontrolled rapid economic and industrial development. Also, because it was difficult to control national power in the early stages, the impact was quite serious.

The reason why the Spanish National Bank was established so early was to control the development of the Spanish economy in a timely manner and allow Spain to avoid the impact of the economic crisis as much as possible.

Of course, it is impossible to avoid it completely, but every reduction in the impact will increase the possibility of Spain becoming stronger.

After all, economic crisis is inevitable for every country. If Spain can still develop steadily while other countries are suffering from the economic crisis, the gap will be further narrowed.

Since 1872, Carlo has had people enter the London Stock Exchange and the Vienna Stock Exchange to buy large quantities of shares of newly registered companies.

During the economic boom, the value of these stocks will maintain a relatively stable growth. Basically, as long as you buy them, you will not lose money, which is why many investors are crazy about them.

Of course, it was this madness that accelerated the outbreak of the economic crisis. In order to ensure that the royal family's money could be withdrawn safely from the stock exchange, Carlo ordered the Royal Security Intelligence Agency to investigate the situation in the United States and European countries.

As long as the industry and railway construction of various countries entered a period of stagnation, whether it was an accident or a precursor to an economic crisis, the royal capital had to be withdrawn from the major stock exchanges in Europe.

Although temporary withdrawal may lead to a reduction in income, it is better than letting the money rot on the stock exchange after the economic crisis breaks out.

It is worth mentioning that after the signing of the alliance treaty between Spain and Austria-Hungary, Spain not only welcomed some Austrian capital, but also many immigrants from Austria-Hungary.

In any case, the Austro-Hungarian Empire was a populous country in Europe. In 1872, the population of the Austro-Hungarian Empire exceeded 3700 million, which was more than twice the total population of Spain. Although the relatively stable environment has made some progress in Spain's population growth compared to the period of Queen Isabel, it is limited by the small total population size. The current total population of Spain is about 1690 million.

After welcoming a certain amount of immigrants from Italy and Austria-Hungary, Spain's population growth is expected to increase in the future.

However, if we want to see Spain's population exceed 2000 million, we may have to wait at least a dozen years.

At present, the Spanish government has no plan to introduce immigrants on a large scale, and most of the immigrants introduced are technical talents, including those in education and medical fields.

There is no other way. Spain is a multi-ethnic country. If more people from other ethnic groups are introduced, it will definitely affect the stability of Spain.

Although Spaniards make up the majority of Spain's total population, Spain is also made up of Castilians and Aragonese.

Spain will not allow large-scale immigration until the Catalans and Basques are completely assimilated.

Of course, the exception is the population of those former Spanish colonies in Latin America. In theory, those people also have Spanish ancestry, they also speak Spanish, and are more easily assimilated into Spaniards.

Currently, more than 30% of the immigrants Spain receives each year come from Italy, nearly 20% from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and nearly 30% from other parts of Europe. Only 20% of the immigrants come from former colonies in Latin America.

Although the colonies in Latin America have already gained independence, it is still necessary to establish good relations with these independent American countries.

Spain has a natural advantage in these countries, and these countries are inherently closer to Spain. Carlo's goal is not to turn these countries into colonies again, but to expand more markets for the future industrialized Spain through cooperation with these countries.

As long as it maintained its influence over these American countries, Spain would remain the third largest colonial power after Britain and France.

This is also the reason why the United States launched the Spanish-American War in history. Although Spain lost most of its colonies in the Americas, it does not mean that Spain's influence disappeared.

The dream of the United States is to build the entire America into its backyard. Naturally, it is impossible to allow a country with great influence like Spain to stand behind South American countries.

But Carlo will not give the United States so many opportunities. When Spain becomes stronger in the future, it will not be afraid of the threat from the Americans.

If the Americans dared to challenge Spain's position, Carlo would not mind using the Americans to re-demonstrate Spain's strength.

Spain's weakness is relative. The current Spain is not a weak country, let alone Spain after completing the reform and building a stronger industry and economy.

Carlo was confident that Spain would regain its military strength at the level of a great power within 10 years and return to the throne of a great power within 20 years.

There are still 40 years before the outbreak of World War I. By the time the world's First World War breaks out, Spain may have grown into a top power second only to Britain, France and Germany, and will naturally be qualified to play on the world chessboard.

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(End of this chapter)