Rise of Empires: Spain.

Chapter 324 Negotiation and Compromise

If we were to say which countries are most concerned about the unexpected events in France and Spain, they would probably be Britain and Germany, which have major conflicts with France.

France has always been the main competitor of Britain's colonization of Africa, and the dispute between France and Spain is what the British are happy to see. The main contradiction between Germany and France is concentrated in continental Europe, and the Germans are of course willing to see the relationship between France and Spain break down.

What is slightly different is that Germany hopes that France and Spain will both suffer losses in the fight, or at the very least, France will be delayed for a while.

The British only wanted Spain to slow down the progress of France's colonization in Africa. The British did not want any problems to occur in France. After all, Germany was also a huge threat to France. Without France's containment, Germany would become the biggest threat to Britain on the European continent, even more than Russia.

At present, in the eyes of the British, Russia is the biggest threat, followed by France and Germany. The main reason is very simple. Although Germany and France are powerful, they are also in a state of mutual restraint.

On the contrary, Russia has become a major concern for Britain because there are no countries around it to contain it.

Although the Austro-Hungarian Empire was also a great power, it was impossible for it to contain Russia on its own.

This also reflects the importance of Germany. For Britain, Germany can not only offset the threat posed by France, but also help the Austro-Hungarian Empire resist the expansion of Russia.

It is precisely because Germany is currently playing an extremely powerful role that Britain acquiesced in the diplomatic isolation of France launched by German Prime Minister Bismarck.

The current situation in Europe is actually the most suitable for Britain. France and Russia, the two biggest threats, are both contained by Germany. With the help of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Germany has no problem facing France or Russia alone.

It is also for this reason that when France and Russia were unable to resist Germany alone, Britain did not facilitate the conclusion of the Franco-Russian Entente.

Because the British knew that if the Franco-Russian entente was reached, Germany would not be a match for the combined forces of France and Russia. Even if Germany had the help of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, at best it could only drag down this powerful alliance.

At that time, Germany would still need an ally at the level of the Austro-Hungarian Empire to help itself in order to resist the threat of the Franco-Russian alliance.

It is impossible for the British to participate in the battle personally. Therefore, the great power at the level of the Austro-Hungarian Empire can only be Spain or Italy.

Although doing so can also achieve a balance on the European continent, it is obviously too extreme to walk a tightrope compared to the current situation.

By then, five of the seven major powers on the European continent will directly join the competition, and the two competing alliances will also be powerful forces that Britain cannot shake.

This is what the British are most worried about and the fundamental reason why they are unwilling to promote the Franco-Russian agreement.

Although Britain was powerful, it could not resist the combined power of France and Russia, or Germany and Austria-Hungary or any other great power.

In other words, Britain would not allow an alliance stronger than itself to emerge on the European continent. No matter how big the conflicts between France and Germany, or between Austria-Hungary and Russia were, they were just minor disputes for Britain.

But if it escalates to the point where several powers unite to form a military bloc, it will not be something that Britain can intervene alone. The development of the situation at that time will also exceed the expectations of the British government. For the British government, which has always been trying to control the situation in Europe, this is completely unacceptable.

When the French government issued a serious protest on the surface but did not take any action in reality, the British and German governments knew that France and Spain would definitely negotiate privately to resolve this unexpected incident.

As the saying goes, there are no eternal enemies between countries, only eternal interests. Although the incident between France and Spain seems to have caused quite a stir, it actually has no impact on the two countries.

During this incident, both countries maintained a certain degree of restraint, which prevented the world from evolving into a more intense conflict or even a local war.

Since the situation has not developed in a more intense direction, it also means that it is very likely that France and Spain will negotiate.

If the two countries continue to drag on like this and retaliate against each other, it will only affect the colonial plans of both France and Spain. But if the two countries can shake hands and reach a certain compromise on the colonial development of Africa, they can ensure that their colonial plans will continue.

Neither Britain nor Germany wants to see a possible reconciliation between Spain and France.

They cannot interfere openly in the negotiations between France and Spain, but they can interfere with the choices of the two governments in other ways.

What method? In fact, the best method is to use public opinion to exert pressure and force the two governments to make a more radical choice.

Even if the two countries finally restrained themselves and did not go to war, it would continue to damage the relationship between France and Spain. In this way, there would be no possibility for the two countries to shake hands and jointly colonize Africa, which was good news for both Britain and Germany.

As neither Britain nor Germany wanted to see France and Spain resolve their dispute quickly, the two governments tacitly launched a public opinion war.

The good news is that the war of public opinion in this era can only be carried out by newspapers. Due to the inconvenience of transportation, the propaganda power of newspapers at that time was limited, and few newspapers could cover the public opinion propaganda of the entire country, even in countries with relatively small territories such as Belgium and the Netherlands.

It is impossible to achieve nationwide coverage, let alone cross-border propaganda and pressure.

While newspapers in Britain and Germany were reporting on this incident, the French government and the Spanish ambassador to France were already conducting relevant discussions.

Spain is certainly willing to see the French take the initiative to propose resolving the dispute through negotiations.

France's initiative to give in can not only quickly resolve the dispute, but also ensure that Spain will not suffer any losses in this dispute. For Carlo and Spain, this is indeed the most appropriate solution.

Although the relationship between Spain and France had deteriorated due to colonization in Africa, Carlo also knew that France was not Spain's biggest enemy.

The main conflict and competition between Spain and France was over the colonization of West Africa. Apart from that, there was no other competition between the two countries.

Carlo's colonization plan for Africa has basically been completed, which also means that Spain is unlikely to continue to open up new colonies in Africa. Not to mention opening up new colonies, the existing colonies will basically not expand anymore.

Currently, Spain has a total of four colonies in Africa, namely the South Morocco Colony, the West Africa Colony, the Guinea Colony and the Congo Territory.

Needless to say, the South Morocco colony has no expansion direction at present. The West African colonies and the Guinea colonies can indeed continue to expand into the interior of Africa, but the cost of doing so will also increase infinitely.

The African continent is already full of various diseases and viruses, making it very difficult to develop. Sub-Saharan Africa, east of the West African colonies and north of the Guinea colonies, happens to be the African region where viruses and diseases are most rampant.

Because Spain currently only occupies important colonial outposts on the coast, diseases and viruses in sub-Saharan Africa do not pose a threat to Spain for the time being.

However, if the territory is further expanded into the interior of Africa, the Spanish government will have to consider the threat posed by diseases and viruses on the African continent. For Spain, continuing to expand into the interior of Africa is not worth the cost. Even if Spain can obtain large tracts of land of hundreds of thousands or even millions of square kilometers, it does not have the capital to develop these lands.

It's the same problem mentioned before, that is, Spain's population deficiency. Compared with other European countries, Spain does not have so much ability to develop colonies.

It is not an exaggeration to say that with the current Spanish population it would be difficult to develop just the territory of Congo, let alone other colonies including West Africa and Guinea.

The reason why Spain currently occupies so much land is to exchange interests with Britain, France and even other countries in the future.

Looking at the whole of Africa, the land that Carlo wanted most was actually Morocco. Morocco's land could be easily localized for Spain, and Moroccan whites could also be assimilated through various means. Compared with those blacks who could not integrate into Spain at all, the value of developing Morocco was much higher.

If they want to completely annex Morocco, they will have to face pressure from Britain and France. In this case, it is very important to exchange interests.

The exchange of interests is not only an additional option for Spain, but also for Britain and France.

When Spain grows strong enough, Britain and France will also be wary of Spain's strength. At that moment, unless it is absolutely necessary, no one is willing to tear their faces apart.

If both sides are unwilling to fall out, colonial exchange can allow them to reach a certain compromise without suffering heavy losses.

As long as he could stabilize either Britain or France by exchanging interests or replacing colonies, the remaining Carlo would not be afraid.

For the British, the Boer War was enough to give them a headache for a while. For the French, Germany, which was becoming increasingly powerful with the Second Industrial Revolution, was their biggest enemy.

As neither France nor Spain was willing to break up, the two countries reached a compromise after a short period of negotiations.

First of all, regarding this accidental conflict, the French government admitted its fault in the incident and expressed its willingness to make certain compensation.

The French government also promised to increase supervision of the military in the future and will never allow such incidents to happen again.

Spain also apologized for its reckless retaliation and said that Spain and France have good cooperation and the relationship between the two countries should continue to be maintained in a friendly manner.

After setting the tone for the negotiations, the next important issue is the division of land in West Africa.

As Britain and Portugal successively withdrew from their colonization of West African lands, there are only two countries left that have colonized West Africa, namely France and Spain, which are attending this meeting.

How to divide West Africa into regions and define the scope of each country's colonies is very important to both France and Spain.

Because relevant discussions had already been held within Spain, and Carlo had made it clear that he did not want Spain to continue expanding in West Africa, Spain did not maintain its previous tough attitude in the negotiations and chose to make concessions to France in some aspects.

Of course, such concessions are not made in vain. Wherever Spain makes concessions, France needs to make certain compensation.

After all, both countries are powerful countries and need to respect each other's interests. It is impossible for France to take all the benefits. Spain also needs to obtain enough benefits so as to appease the people at home.

At this conference, France and Spain clarified the division of West African lands. Spain would maintain its existing colonial scale and promised not to expand its colonial scope.

This also means that Spain will hand over the remaining land in West Africa to France, and France will become the only country qualified to colonize West Africa.

Of course, the compensation Spain received was also quite generous.

Because Spain took the initiative to make concessions, the French waved their hands and ceded tens of thousands of square kilometers of land in northern French Congo to Spain.

This land is located in the lower reaches of the Congo River and still has certain development value.

Spain was also not polite. After France ceded the land to it, it immediately incorporated it into the Congo territory.

In addition to tens of thousands of square kilometers of land in the Congo region, France also made certain cessions of land in the southern part of the Senegal colony.

The area of ​​this land is not large, but it is very suitable for agricultural development and has certain value to Spain.

In addition to these two small pieces of land, Spain and France also reached a certain compromise on the most important Moroccan region.

Regarding this piece of land that was clearly targeted by both countries, the two governments tacitly chose to temporarily shelve it and not take the initiative to colonize Morocco.

The reason why Spain chose to shelve it is very simple. In addition to France, there is also Britain, the world's most powerful country, eyeing the land of Morocco. It is quite difficult for Spain to annex Morocco.

As for France, they also face such concerns.

Spain is eyeing Morocco, just as France is eyeing Algeria. Morocco is even more important to Spain than Algeria is to France.

If France wants to annex Morocco alone, it must either make concessions to Spain that match Morocco's interests, or it will have to go to war with Spain.

Even if the huge threat from Spain can be resolved, there is still the unexpected factor of Britain that needs to be considered.

Britain seized Gibraltar from Spain in order to control the strait. If France occupied Morocco, it would definitely have a certain impact on Britain's control over the strait.

It is precisely because Britain, France and Spain pay close attention to the Morocco region that ultimately, even though Morocco is a very weak country, no country can annex it.

It is a more suitable choice for both Spain and France to put Morocco aside together. Only when the situation in Europe changes and other powers are too busy to pay attention to other things, may it be the best time to annex Morocco.

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