Rise of Empires: Spain.

Chapter 268 Portugal's Ambition
With huge financial investment from the Spanish government, the West Africa development plan is progressing quite smoothly, with railway construction and immigration work being carried out in an orderly manner.

In the last two or three months at the end of the year, Spain had more than 5 immigrants from its homeland and other regions to its three colonies in West Africa. This level of immigration was unprecedented in Spain.

At the rate of 3 immigrants every three months, the three West African colonies could receive a total of about 5 immigrants each year, which is already one-fifth of the total population of the Cuban colony.

If we calculate based on population, Spain only needs five years to build another Cuban colony. With so many immigrants in the three colonies in West Africa, construction will surely be quite smooth.

The reason why more than 3 immigrants were relocated in less than three months was due to the efforts and cooperation of all parties.

First of all, on the Cuban side, there are thousands of Cubans willing to go to other Spanish colonies.

Although it is less than one percent of Cuba's total population, a few thousand people is not too few for the Spanish government.

Before handing over the Cuban colony, the colonial government transferred these thousands of people to the South Morocco colony, and then from the South Morocco colony to three colonies in West Africa.

Carlo was also quite generous to those Cubans who voluntarily went to other Spanish colonies. Spain could provide land to those who wanted to be plantation owners, and would also provide them with low-rent local indigenous labor to help them cultivate the land and build plantations.

As for those who are not willing to work in agriculture, they can also build a small workshop in the colony. The Royal United Bank and the Spanish National Bank will be stationed in all Spanish colonies, and there will be certain support and encouragement policies for these immigrants who come to the colonies with their families.

The population of Cuba is one aspect, and the other indigenous populations in the Spanish colonies are another. As Spain's assimilation of Moroccans progressed, a considerable portion of the population in the southern Moroccan colonies had already mastered Spanish, and many people had converted to Catholicism.

Regardless of whether they truly converted to Catholicism, they had no power to refuse the decision of the Spanish government.

The population of southern Morocco has dropped sharply to less than 50. In addition to some extreme Muslims who died in labor, most of the population loss is due to Spain's immigration policy.

Since the establishment of the South Morocco Colony, Spain has introduced at least 30 immigrants into the Moroccan region.

The regions these immigrants went to were even more diverse. Some were transferred to mainland Spain, while others went to other Spanish colonies.

Of the 5 immigrants received by the three West African colonies, nearly 2 were Moroccans alone.

Most of the remaining immigrants came from the Congo Territory and the Guinea Colony, and Spain itself also contributed several thousand immigrants.

As for the reason why Spaniards are eager to immigrate, it is not because they can no longer live in Spain, but because the immigration policy promulgated by the Spanish government is too attractive.

The combined area of ​​the three colonies in West Africa is still very large, especially the Gambia colony, which is more suitable for agricultural development.

The Colonial Affairs Department also issued different policies to encourage immigration based on the situation in the West African colonies, including free land, agricultural tax reductions, free ship tickets and low-interest loans.

The Spanish nobles in particular were very interested in building plantations.

A characteristic of this era is that mechanized agricultural planting in various countries is only in its infancy, and most countries still have small peasant economies.

In addition, the fertilizer technology is not mature, resulting in low grain production in countries around the world. Except for countries with large plains, few countries can achieve self-sufficiency in food.

Even in countries with high grain production, there is still the phenomenon of people starving to death due to lack of food.

Spain was relatively good in this regard because it abolished various taxes and reduced land rents, so farmers were able to keep enough food to eat.

Looking across Europe, international food prices are still relatively high due to insufficient food production in many countries.

After European countries enter a peaceful stage, the population of each country will also usher in a period of explosive growth.

During this period, food prices would only go up, not down, which is why Spanish nobles were keen on farming.

Of course, they don't just grow grains; vegetables, fruits, olives, grapes and other crops are also grown in the Spanish noble plantations.

In summary, the Spanish nobles planted whatever made money. If they were not sure what made money, they would plant grain, which was easy to sell anyway.

It is worth mentioning that Spain is a major exporter of agricultural products in Europe and also a major importer of food in Europe.

There is no conflict. What makes Spain a major agricultural product exporter in Europe is its vegetable and fruit production.

Olives that can be used to extract oil and grapes that can be used to make wine are both fruits and are the main agricultural products produced in Spain.

Spain is the largest olive producer in Europe and also a major grape and wine producer in Europe. Spain exports a large amount of agricultural products every year and uses the money from exporting agricultural products to buy a large amount of food.

Yes, Spain’s current food production can no longer meet the needs of the country’s more than 2000 million people.

There is no way around it. For a country where most of the land is mountainous, it is too difficult to meet the food needs of the entire population.

Unless the country has a small population, Spain's population has grown over the past decade and has reached 2000 million, which is definitely not small compared to the whole of Europe.

Although there is still a lot of gap compared with the great powers, looking at the whole of Europe, there are not many countries with a population of more than 2000 million. Apart from several major powers, only the Ottoman Empire has a population of more than 2000 million.

However, the Ottoman Empire was not considered a European country. The Ottoman Empire also had a derisive title, which was the Sick Man of West Asia.

From this aspect, it can also be seen that Europeans do not think that the Ottoman Empire is a European country. This also means that in the eyes of Europeans, only the great powers have a population of more than 2000 million.

Although the Gambia colony is more suitable for agricultural cultivation, because the colony is currently not large in size, Spain's goal is only to provide part of the food supply for the mainland.

The influx of large amounts of food will also affect food prices in Spain and reduce the income of the vast majority of Spanish farmers. Therefore, Gambia's food production also needs to be controlled.

In other words, except for a small portion supplied to Spain, most of the grain production in the Gambia colony had to be exported, or further processed before being exported or sold domestically.

Regarding the construction of the Gambia colony, the Spanish government's initial goal was to increase the grain production in the Gambia colony to about 20 tons, which is one twentieth of the grain production in Spain itself.

Although the food production is only 20 tons, it is still no problem to feed a population of about 100 million. The food produced by the Gambia colony will be fully supplied to the South Morocco colony, the Sierra Leone colony, the Gold Coast and Guinea.

It is worth mentioning that because the Gambia colony is closer to Africa, in theory the per-acre land yield in the Gambia colony is higher than that in mainland Spain.

Especially in rice cultivation, Gambia can achieve two or even three crops a year because of more abundant sunlight, while Spain can only achieve one crop a year, and only a few areas with sufficient sunlight can achieve two crops a year.

Compared with one crop per year, the difference in grain production between two and three crops per year is at least twice. This is why Carlo was optimistic about the Gambia colony becoming an important grain producing area for Spain. This land can be said to have the best time and location, and it only needs a large number of immigrants to promote harmony among people.

As the West African development plan progressed, the time finally jumped from 1880 to 1881.

The Spanish government was about to face new challenges in 1881. Spain's goal was to acquire Portuguese Guinea, Portuguese Ziguinchor, Portuguese Ouidah and Portuguese Sao Tome and Principe in the new year.

These colonies were not large in area, but they were all located around the colonies that Spain already controlled, especially Portuguese Guinea and Portuguese Ziguinchor. If Spain wanted to expand its Gambia colony, Portugal's colonies would be almost the only choice.

After all, to the north of the Gambia colony is the French colony of Senegal. If they don't want to have a conflict with the French, they can only turn their attention to the Portuguese.

Of course, the Gambia colony could also expand inland. But the problem was that the British Gambia colony was built along the river, and the entire colony was more like a rectangle.

If the colony continued to expand inland, it would be infinitely stretched from east to west, but only a few dozen kilometers from north to south.

It would be fine if there was no conflict with France. If a conflict broke out with France, the French army would move south from the Senegal colony at any time and cut off the connection between the East and the West at any point in the Gambia colony.

We still need to do preventive work in advance. Although the French are unlikely to take the initiative to attack, we must take necessary precautions.

If it could be merged with Portuguese Guinea, the Gambia colony would become a square-like shape, and there would be no risk of being cut off.

As for the Portuguese Sao Tome and Principe, which has not been mentioned before, these two colonies are not on the African continent, but are located in the Gulf of Guinea, across the sea from the Spanish Guinea colony.

Although both are called Guinea Colonies, Portugal's Guinea Colony is located at the westernmost bulge in Africa, while Spain's Guinea Colony is located at the inner corner of the African figure-7 bend, with a distance of more than 2000 kilometers between the two.

If Spain could capture São Tomé and Principe, it would also be able to strengthen its influence in the Gulf of Guinea while protecting the coasts of its colonies in the Gulf of Guinea.

Although these colonies were not large in scale, it was undoubtedly difficult to take them from the Portuguese.

As a former colonial empire, Portugal also has its own pride. Spain can only obtain these colonies in exchange for benefits. If it wants to seize them by force, it will only damage the relationship with the Portuguese.

Carlo's initial plan was to acquire these colonies of Portugal through a method similar to colonial exchange.

If the colonial replacement approach failed, Carlo would consider other options.

Anyway, Portugal is a country on the Iberian Peninsula, right in front of Spain. For Spain, Portugal is a piece of fat meat on the chopping board. It is only a matter of time before it is eaten. Portugal cannot escape.

After New Year's Day, Spanish Prime Minister Canovas found the Portuguese ambassador to Spain and talked about the joint development of colonies between the two countries.

Because Portugal and Spain jointly developed the Island of New Guinea, Portugal and Spain still have a relatively good relationship in terms of colonial development.

After talking for more than half an hour, Prime Minister Canovas finally shifted the topic to topics related to African colonies and directly revealed the secret agreement between Spain and Britain on the exchange of colonies.

When the Portuguese ambassador heard that Spain would exchange its Cuban colony for three British colonies in West Africa, he first showed an expression of surprise, and then some regret and remorse.

What did they regret? Of course, they regretted that Portugal did not learn the news in advance and failed to obtain the Cuban colony from Spain.

Regardless of the shortcomings of the Cuban colony, Cuba was still a very valuable colony at that time. Portugal did not expect Spain to give up the Cuban colony, and it was even more unexpected that the British only exchanged three worthless colonies in West Africa for a complete Cuba.

In other words, because Spain was a wealthy and powerful country and had developed the Congo territory in Africa, it had the capital to give up its Cuban colony.

It is impossible for Portugal to do this. Firstly, there are not many colonies in Portugal, and secondly, the Portuguese people will not accept the government's voluntary abandonment of colonies.

Although somewhat surprised by the Spanish government's decision, the Portuguese ambassador could only express his approval of the decision. He was not stupid and naturally understood that if he expressed a different opinion, he would definitely offend the Spanish government.

Regardless of whether the Spanish government is right or wrong, Portugal certainly has no say in this matter. If the Portuguese ambassador says too much, wouldn't it be causing trouble for Portugal itself?

After chatting for a while, the topic finally shifted to the Congo Territory and the land south of the Congo Territory.

Canovas first stated that after Spain acquired three colonies in West Africa, it was no longer able to carry out a new round of colonization in the southern part of the Congo territory.

Then, Canovas seemed to have come up with a good idea and proposed to the Portuguese ambassador that the two sides reach a compromise on the colonization of the Congo Basin similar to that of New Guinea Island.

Spain completely abandoned its colonization of the southern lands of the Congo Territory and supported Portugal's colonization of these lands.

In return, Portugal transferred its few colonies in West Africa to the Spanish government to help the Spanish government better carry out its West African development plans.

Of course, in order to demonstrate Spain's sincerity, Portugal could first carry out colonial expansion on the land in the southern part of the Congo territory, and then transfer the West African colonies to Spain after achieving certain results.

For example, the Kingdom of Ruanda in eastern Portuguese West Africa was the land closest to the Congo region controlled by Portugal. The Portuguese government could colonize it first and then transfer the land in West Africa to Spain.

The reason for proposing to receive the goods first and pay later was that the Spanish side had no fear that Portugal would break the contract.

I believe the Portuguese government should also be self-aware. In the face of the huge gap in power between Portugal and Spain, unilaterally tearing up the treaty will only lead to Portugal's destruction faster.

If the war was caused by Portugal's unilateral violation of the treaty, Britain would have no good reason to help Portugal, at least it would not be able to preserve all of Portugal's interests.

This is exactly why the Spanish government is so confident. As long as Portugal and Spain reach relevant agreements, the Portuguese government has no choice but to abide by them.

Upon hearing Prime Minister Canovas' proposal, the Portuguese ambassador was stunned at first, and then began to think carefully.

If the two most important colonies of Spain before were Cuba and the Philippines, then for Portugal at this time, the two most important colonies were Portuguese West Africa and Portuguese Mozambique.

The Portuguese West Africa here does not refer to the scattered colonies of Portugal in West Africa, but the colonies established by Portugal after it annexed the Kingdom of Kongo in the lower reaches of the Congo River.

The southern part of the Spanish Congo territory was located between Portuguese West Africa and Portuguese Mozambique. According to Spain, although Portugal had given up scattered colonies in West Africa, it hoped to connect the Congo region with Mozambique and establish a larger Portuguese African colony.

(End of this chapter)