Rise of Empires: Spain.

Chapter 243

The end of the Russo-Turkish War did not bring lasting peace to the world, but instead made the competition between the two major European powers, Britain and Russia, more intense.

In addition to the fierce competition between Russia and Britain in the Balkan Peninsula, there are also quite intense conflicts in Central Asia.

Between the Ottoman Empire and its Indian colonies, there are two countries, Afghanistan and Iran, which is also where the conflicts between Britain and Russia are most intense.

Originally, there were indigenous states such as the Khanate of Khiva and the Emirate of Bukhara further north, but they were all annexed by the Russians a few years ago.

Although these indigenous states still exist in name, their administrative and military powers have been controlled by the Russians. This also means that Russia's actual control has reached the borders of Afghanistan and Iran, and it is possible to seize the Ottoman Empire and India at any time.
Take a colony with a port between colonies.

This was absolutely unacceptable to the British because their Indian colonies were too close to this land.

If the Russians opened up the seaport in Central Asia, they would inevitably expand in this area on a larger scale. At that time, the Indian colonies would face the harassment of a giant bear. The British Empire did not want to lose its pearl, and any topic about the Indian colonies was a taboo for the British Empire.

If Russia wants to expand in Central Asia, the British will naturally stop it.

Because the indigenous countries further north had been annexed by Russia, Britain could only focus on the only two remaining countries in Central Asia, namely Iran and Afghanistan.

Because Afghanistan was closest to its Indian colony, Britain decided to control Afghanistan first and then infiltrate its influence into Iran to ensure that the Russians would not gain access to the sea in Central Asia.

At that time, Afghanistan was just a weak indigenous country, and it had only been established for 55 years.

Naturally, Britain had nothing to fear from such a weak indigenous country.

In late 1878, the British government took the lead in contacting Afghanistan, asking the Afghan government to receive a British delegation headed by British General N. Chamberlain and allow a small British army to accompany the delegation to Afghanistan.

Such a request for a diplomatic visit is actually a blatant intimidation, and the Afghan government is naturally unwilling to accept it.

Afghan Emir Shir Ali Khan directly rejected the British government's proposal and stated that he would not allow British troops to enter his territory under any circumstances.

The request of the mighty British Empire was rejected by a small indigenous country, which naturally aroused the anger of the British government and even the people.

The British government also took the opportunity to declare war directly on Afghanistan, and the Second Anglo-Afghan War broke out successfully.

As early as about 40 years ago, Britain and the Afghan Emirate had fought a war. The reason for the war was similar, mainly because the Afghan Emirate sided with Russia, and Britain had to launch a war against Afghanistan for the safety of its Indian colony.

The so-called Anglo-Argentine War was not news worthy of attention to Europe at all. After all, a war between a powerful country and an indigenous country was a complete crushing situation.

The only thing worth paying attention to is the possible existence of Russia behind Afghanistan. After all, without the support of Russia, the Emir of Afghanistan would not have rejected the British government's proposal so decisively.

In the eyes of other European countries, it was Russia that instructed the Afghan Emir to quickly reject the British proposal in order to embarrass the British Empire, which suppressed Russia in the Russo-Turkish War.

But unexpectedly, the subsequent developments soon went beyond the expectations of European countries.

After British troops continued to invade his country from the colonial border of India, the Amir of Afghanistan quickly turned to Russia in the north for help.

Shir Ali Khan originally thought that the Russian army would arrive soon and his country could be preserved in the game between the two major powers.

But the Russian government's rejection was so cold that Shir Ali Khan felt more grief-stricken than death, and he soon died in anger, just like Tsar Nicholas I who was betrayed.

After Shir Ali Khan died in anger, his son Yequb Khan became the new Emir of Afghanistan.

But the situation in Afghanistan was already very bad at that time. The British army had occupied a considerable part of Afghan territory, and Afghanistan's own army was pitifully small and could not compete with the British army in a head-on confrontation.

The Anglo-Afghan War was also the last major event in 1878. The Anglo-Afghan War had not yet ended, and time quickly came to 1879.

In early 1879, the Anglo-Afghan War ended with a complete victory for Britain. However, it would take some time for the two sides to sign a contract. After all, it was impossible for the British government to completely annex Afghanistan, which would arouse more intense resistance from the Afghan natives and give the Russians some opportunities to create trouble for Britain.

The main purpose of the British was to incorporate part of Afghan territory into India, strengthen their control over Afghanistan, and ensure that the Russians were kept outside the Afghan border.

Afghanistan must at least exist, and it is more like a buffer zone between the British and Russian spheres of influence.

If Afghanistan did not exist, the spheres of influence of Britain and Russia would be directly adjacent to each other, and the armies of the two countries would engage in more intense confrontations on the border, which is something the British do not want to see.

This may be the only good thing for Afghanistan. At least the country will still exist and will not become a country that exists only in name like the Khanate of Khiva controlled by Russia.

Britain gained in Central Asia, and Spain also gained in Southeast Asia.

As mentioned before, the Spanish colony in the Philippines had two expansion directions: expansion on the island of Kalimantan and expansion on the island of New Guinea.

There needs to be a buffer zone between Britain and Russia because the British are also afraid of the Russian army. Although the Russian army is not strong in combat, its number of troops is irreplaceable in the whole of Europe.

The indigenous Indian army alone could not resist Russia. If the domestic army was mobilized, it would disrupt the balance maintained by Britain in various regions.

But Spain didn't need it at all. Spain had only one enemy in Southeast Asia, and that was the Netherlands, a country with a small territory and a sparse population.

The Netherlands is similar to Portugal in that it is a weakened country that was once a powerful country.

However, the overall strength of the Netherlands is much stronger than that of Portugal. Whether in terms of industry or economy, the Netherlands ranks among the top among all small European countries, and it can even be said to be one of the best small European countries.

Unfortunately, the Netherlands' opponent is Spain.

When the homelands of both countries are almost the same distance from their colonies, the comprehensive strength of the homelands becomes particularly important.

Although the Netherlands is strong, it has no resistance to Spain. At present, it is generally recognized by European countries that Spain has regained its status as a great power and generally ranks 6th to 7th among the world's eight great powers.

This ranking is already quite high. After all, the status of the five traditional European powers is difficult to shake. In the eyes of European countries, Spain's current comprehensive strength is second only to the five European powers and is stronger than the United States across the ocean.

According to the opinions of mainstream newspapers and some major officials in European countries, the eight major powers in the world are Britain, Germany, France, Russia, Austria-Hungary, Spain, the United States and Italy.

There is no doubt that the British Empire is the most powerful country, followed closely by Germany, which defeated France on the front battlefield.

If there had been no Franco-Prussian War, the world's second most powerful country would definitely be competing among France, Germany and Russia, and the French would be the most likely to become the world's second most powerful country.

But unfortunately, Prussia defeated France head-on in the Franco-Prussian War, and France naturally withdrew from the competition for the world's second most powerful country.

Of course, Russia is also very powerful, but Russia first suffered a crushing defeat in the Crimean War, and was finally blackmailed by Britain and the Austro-Hungarian Empire in the Russo-Turkish War, and could only rank as the fourth most powerful country in the world.

France ranks third in the world thanks to its own foundation. The four countries of Britain, Germany, France and Russia are considered to be the first echelon and are also jokingly called first-class powers by many European newspapers and people.

After Russia, the Austro-Hungarian Empire gained the reputation of the fifth most powerful country in the world by virtue of its comprehensive advantages in all aspects. However, the Austro-Hungarian Empire was slightly weaker than the four countries of the first-class powers, so the Austro-Hungarian Empire could only be ranked as a second-class power.

Although there are some controversies about the top five rankings in the world, they are generally not much different.

The rankings after that are somewhat controversial, with the biggest controversy being between Spain and the United States.

However, because the United States had not yet demonstrated its strong industrial strength at that time, and because the U.S. navy was too weak, most European countries still ranked Spain sixth in the world and the United States seventh. After all, Spain also had an army of more than 100,000 and the world's fifth-largest navy, so it was not an exaggeration to rank it sixth in the world.

Ranked eighth in the world, which means it is at the bottom of the great powers, is naturally Italy.

The Austro-Hungarian Empire, Spain, the United States and Italy are called second-tier powers. Compared with the first four first-tier powers, these four countries have a large gap in industrial economy or military strength, and their international status and influence are far inferior to those of the first four countries.

But then again, second-tier powers are still powers, and they still have huge advantages over ordinary countries.

The Netherlands' industry and economy are certainly quite excellent, but due to its limited land area and population, it can only be a small country after all.

In the colonial competition between Spain and the Netherlands, as long as there was no intervention from the great powers, Spain would have had a completely overwhelming advantage.

Taking advantage of the fact that the Russo-Turkish War and the Anglo-Afghan War attracted the attention of European countries, Spain also accelerated its colonization plans on Kalimantan and New Guinea.

In June 1878, the Spanish army stationed in the Philippines openly invaded the Sultanate of Burungan in the south and occupied all the lands of the Sultanate of Burungan in less than two days.

A large number of the indigenous people here were captured and taken back to the Philippines to be used as laborers, or transferred to the Lan Fang Republic in the west.

As mentioned before, the Lan Fang Republic made its fortune by panning for gold. Panning for gold requires a large amount of labor, and these indigenous people happened to be a natural and excellent labor force.

After occupying the Sultanate of Blongan, Spain officially bordered the Sultanate of Kutai controlled by the Netherlands.

Spain also sent some soldiers to be stationed on the border, but did not guard the border strictly.

The Spanish government even expected the Dutch to attack Spanish colonies. If Spain took the initiative to declare war on the Netherlands, Britain, the troublemaker, might interfere in the war.

But if the Dutch took the initiative to declare war on Spain, Spain would have enough reasons to fight a big war with the Netherlands.

Whether it was a war on the home front or a war in the colonies, Spain had enough confidence to crush the Netherlands. If Britain wanted to intervene after the Netherlands took the initiative to declare war, the several treaties signed by Spain would not have been signed in vain.

Apart from anything else, France and Russia alone would be happy to trip up the British.

If Austria-Hungary and Italy were also willing to support Spain, even if Britain was the world's most powerful country, it would not be able to face such diplomatic pressure.

In addition to annexing the Sultanate of Burungan on the island of Kalimantan, Spain also had colonial operations on the island of New Guinea.

The shape of New Guinea Island is quite unique and looks more like a standing dinosaur.

This island is larger than Kalimantan and is the second largest island in the world, second only to Greenland, most of which is uninhabitable.

In other words, New Guinea is the world's largest habitable island. Coupled with its abundant mineral resources and other natural resources, it is no surprise that it has been targeted by other powers.

Currently, there are colonial teams from many European countries including the Netherlands, Spain, Germany, Britain, France and Portugal on this dinosaur-shaped island.

The Spanish, Dutch and Portuguese colonial forces generally focused on the upper half of the dinosaur, that is, the dragon head and the upper half of the dragon.

The British, French and German colonial forces mainly focused on the lower half of the dinosaur, namely the tail and claws, as well as the small half of the dragon's body.

In addition, several large islands around New Guinea were also set foot on by these European countries, and for a time there was a trend among European countries to divide up the New Guinea Peninsula.

However, the colonial forces of various countries simply established colonial outposts, and no country announced the large-scale occupation of New Guinea Island.

This actually also means that the European countries that sent colonial troops all had the hope of occupying the island, or at least dividing up a part of the land to establish a new colony.

It is also because of this that even though the colonial competition on the island of New Guinea was quite fierce, the countries involved in the colonization did not give up, but instead increased their colonial efforts step by step.

If we talk about the three countries that are most convenient for colonizing New Guinea, they are probably Britain, Spain and the Netherlands.

The British colony of Queensland, which is the protruding area in the northeast corner of Australia, is very close to the island of New Guinea, which also gave the British a great advantage in colonizing the island of New Guinea.

The Dutch were no different. The Dutch East Indies were only 200 kilometers away from New Guinea at their closest point, and the army and indigenous population of the East Indies could quickly reach New Guinea, establishing colonies the fastest among these European countries.

And then there is Spain.

Spain's Philippine colony was about 1000 kilometers away from the closest point of New Guinea Island, which did not have much advantage compared to Britain and the Netherlands.

However, Carlo still attached great importance to the colonization of New Guinea Island. Under Carlo's instructions, the Philippine colonial government also strengthened the colonization of New Guinea Island, which made Spain's colonial progress in New Guinea Island not inferior to that of the Netherlands and Britain.

Of course, this also involves the support and cooperation of the Portuguese.

Portugal also had colonies in Southeast Asia, but this colony was smaller and was called Timor.

Yes, it is the East Timor of later generations.

In fact, Portuguese colonists were the first to come to Timor Island to colonize, and it was these colonists who established the Portuguese Timor colony.

But the Dutch followed closely, they discovered and colonized Timor Island, and drove the Portuguese to the east of the island, which made Portugal's Timor colony look only a small piece and very pitiful.

Although the Timor colony was small in area, Portugal still had troops stationed here, after all, it was an official colony of Portugal.

It is worth mentioning that the Timor colony is only about 800 kilometers away from the island of New Guinea at its closest point, which is closer than the distance between the Spanish colony of the Philippines and the island of New Guinea.

This is also one of the reasons why Portugal joined the colonization of New Guinea. They also had the opportunity to get a piece of the pie in this colonial competition.

In addition, Carlo and King Louis of Portugal had previously raised the issue of colonial cooperation, so Spain and Portugal joined forces and indeed established many colonial outposts on the island of New Guinea.

Although both Spain and Portugal have experienced decline, when it comes to colonization, Spain and Portugal are still the leaders in this regard.

The main reason is that Spain and Portugal had a glorious colonial history. These two countries together occupied most of America.

It was absolutely easy for the Iberian territories to colonize a small island of New Guinea, which also meant that Spain's colonization progress was not inferior to that of the Netherlands and Britain despite the greater distance.

There would certainly be conflicts associated with immigration between European countries, and it would be impossible to obtain ownership of colonies simply by coexisting peacefully.

Because there were only the Netherlands, Spain and Portugal to the west of the dinosaur-shaped New Guinea Island, the Iberian Tetra had a huge advantage in the colonial competition, defeating the Dutch step by step, and even their colonial outposts were squeezed to a farther location by Spain.

In order to ensure the security of Spain's colonial outposts on the island of New Guinea, the Philippine colony sent an entire colonial garrison to New Guinea.

This also exacerbated the colonial conflicts in New Guinea. The Dutch did not back down and sent some troops to New Guinea in order to guard against the Spanish.

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(End of this chapter)