Rise of Empires: Spain.

Chapter 352: Sea Power Theory and Shipbuilding Plan
Although the war lasted for a short time, it has to be admitted that the situation in Europe was changed by this war.

Although Europe seems calm on the surface, it is actually in turmoil secretly.

Although Germany, Austria and France no longer mentioned plans for military expansion, their actions showed that they were already preparing for war.

In July 1889, Germany, as the victor of the war, held talks with Austria-Hungary and Italy.

The meeting emphasized the importance of the Triple Alliance and discussed the main direction of the future expansion of the Triple Alliance's military power.

This also requires mentioning a famous American military theorist, Alfred Thayer Mahan.

Although Europe has seen the birth of many empires that dominated the world for a time due to their strong naval power, there are still many countries that attach more importance to the power of the army.

Germany, France and Russia all have a larger army than navy. On the one hand, their territory and population require them to maintain a strong army, and on the other hand, they do not invest much in the navy.

Germany today has the ability to build a strong navy, but their investment in the navy is far less than that in the army.

The German Empire's army was strong enough to dominate Europe, but their navy was actually slightly inferior to the navies of other powers, whether France or Russia.

In early 1890, Alfred Thayer Mahan published the first part of his trilogy on sea power, "The Influence of Sea Power on History 1660-1783", which shocked the whole of Europe and expressed his own cognition and understanding of sea power.

Alfred Thayer Mahan believed that a country's prosperity and security were inextricably linked to sea power, which not only determined the outcome of wars at sea and on land, but also influenced the course of history.

"The Influence of Sea Power on History, 1660-1783" not only records the author Alfred Thayer Mahan's views and opinions on maritime military power, but also proves this opinion by narrating many wars and battles in Europe and America.

As soon as this book was published, it became popular in many countries in Europe and America, and it turned the "sea power theory" from a vague idea into a clear strategic proposition.

It is precisely because of the author of this book, Alfred Thayer Mahan's views and thoughts on the theory of sea power and its forward-looking ideas that he is hailed as the father of the theory of sea power throughout Europe and America and is known as a military theorist with great strategic thinking.

Long before the publication of this book, European countries had already made clearer views on sea power. All countries began to attach importance to the development of their navy and regarded it as an important military force that was no less powerful than the army.

There is no doubt that Alfred Thayer Mahan's "The Influence of Sea Power on History 1660-1783" accelerated this process, making European countries and even countries around the world focus on the development of the navy.

随着《海权对历史的影响1660~1783》这本书的畅销，里面记载的一些经典的海军战役也被频繁提到，其中就包括和西班牙有关的1779～1782年围攻直布罗陀战役以及1805年的特拉法尔加角海战。

Both of these classic naval battles ended with Britain defeating the Spanish-French coalition, and were remembered by the Spanish people for decades.

Before that, the British invasion of Gibraltar was called the eternal pain in the hearts of the Spanish people and was always mentioned by Spanish newspapers as one of the most shameful wars in Spain's modern history.

Perhaps even Alfred Thayer Mahan, the author of "The Influence of Sea Power on History, 1660-1783", did not expect that the most memorable thing for Spain in his book on sea power would be the war with the British.

In February 1890, after the book "The Influence of Sea Power on History 2-1660" became popular in Europe and was published and reported by many countries, a massive anti-British march was launched in Spain.

Although Spain has become rich and powerful, the Spanish people will never forget Gibraltar, which was forcibly occupied by Britain.

There are even more extreme and radical politicians who publicly proposed the idea of ​​retaking Gibraltar during their speeches in order to gain the support of those people who still remember Gibraltar.

The relationship between Spain and Britain has always been bad. Under the influence of this book and some politicians, the Spanish people's perception of Britain has been declining in a straight line.

If we discuss which country is most friendly to Spain, perhaps the Spanish people will hesitate between Austria-Hungary and Italy.

But if we discuss which country has the worst relationship with Spain, there is no doubt that it is definitely the British Empire.

The strength of the British Empire was built on the shoulders of the previous empire on which the sun never sets, Spain. The feud between Spain and the British can be traced back hundreds of years.

Carlo not only did not do anything to stop the rising anti-British sentiment in the country, but allowed it to prevail.

For Carlo, Spain must stand against Britain.

Only by standing against Britain could Spain have the possibility of regaining Gibraltar and annexing Portugal.

These two things are of great strategic significance to Spain, and are the key to whether Spain can become a superpower.

For Carlo, whether he can accomplish these two things during his reign is also very important. If he can do so, Carlo will become one of the greatest monarchs in Spanish history, and he will also lay the foundation for the rule of the House of Savoy in Spain, allowing his throne to be passed down to his descendants for hundreds of years.

In addition, Britain has been preventing Spain from annexing Morocco. No matter which side of the two major military groups Britain joins, Spain will always be on the opposite side.

If there was a country willing to do its utmost to help Spain retake Gibraltar, Carlo would not mind letting Spain join its alliance and fully participate in a world war.

Anyway, Spain's geographical location is destined to be far away from the main battlefield in Europe. As long as the mainland is not affected by the war, there will not be too much loss to Spain.

Under the influence of the sea power theory, European countries accelerated the construction of their navies. As time came to 1890, Carlo finally decided to speed up the research and development of battleships, also known as pre-dreadnoughts.

1890年2月22日，卡洛以王室的名义向西班牙的几大造船厂增加超过5000万比塞塔的投资，并且以1000万比塞塔的奖金公开向全西班牙的所有军用造船厂招标下一代主力军舰的设计。

Carlo's attitude of attaching importance to naval development is quite obvious. As the prime minister, Count Canovas will naturally not stand against Carlo.

A few days later, on February 2, the Spanish cabinet government officially announced its shipbuilding plan for the next five years.

The Navy has decided to build at least five 5-ton main warships and ten 5-ton secondary main warships in the next five years.

This also means that in the next five years, the total tonnage of medium and large warships built by Spain alone will exceed 5 tons.

If this plan can be successfully completed, Spain's navy will be able to advance at least one or two places and completely establish its status as a naval power.

Of course, all this has a prerequisite, that is, the navy department can obtain a relatively satisfactory design of the main warship.

Considering that the shipbuilding industry in European countries is relatively developed, Carlo naturally cannot place all his hopes on domestic shipyards.

Starting from March 1890, the Spanish Navy Department also sent out tender notices to several famous shipyards in Europe, inviting them to design a satisfactory naval design for Spain.

If there is a design that satisfies the Navy, Spain will not be stingy. Whether it is a domestic shipyard in Spain or a foreign shipyard, as long as the bidding is successful, it can unconditionally receive a reward of 1000 million pesetas.

1000 million pesetas is not a small sum. Over the past period of time, with the economic prosperity of Spain, the value of pesetas has been growing.

It is worth mentioning that the peseta is not a true gold standard, but a transition period from the silver standard to the gold standard.

Before Carlo's coronation, the value of the peseta was measured in silver. This also caused the value of the peseta to fluctuate greatly due to the fluctuation of the international silver price, and its actual value was slightly lower than that of currencies of the same level such as the franc and the lira.

Since Carlo's coronation, with the circulation of the new Spanish peseta with Carlo's portrait printed on it, the peseta also began to shift from the silver standard to the gold standard.

At present, the exchange rate between the pesetas and the pound has become a relatively stable 25:1, that is, 1 pound can be exchanged for 25 pesetas. The main reason for the exchange rate with the pound is that the pound's exchange rate is relatively stable. The United Kingdom established the gold standard monetary system in 1816, which also firmly fixed the value of 1 pound at 7.322 grams of gold. It is not only the most valuable currency in Europe, but also a relatively stable currency.

When countries conduct import and export trade, in order to prevent import and export losses caused by currency exchange rate fluctuations, they generally adopt the settlement method of national currency plus pounds and francs.

France was once the most powerful country in Europe, and its currency is relatively stable. The British pound and the French franc are also recognized as the most popular world currencies, which can be used basically all over the world and have a relatively stable value.

目前货币汇率：1英镑=4两白银=5美元=6.3日元=9卢布=12荷兰盾=18瑞典挪威克朗=20马克=24奥地利克朗=25法郎、比塞塔、里拉（不满200字不算钱）

The monetary value of the 1000 million pesetas reward from Spain is equivalent to 40 pounds, which is a sum of money worth taking action for large European shipyards.

Although a large shipyard could earn a starting income of more than 100,000 pounds for building a main ironclad ship, a large shipyard could only build a few main ironclad ships in a year.

40 pounds may not seem like much, and there are not many shipyards in Europe that can achieve this level of net income in a year.

This is also the reason why Spain vowed to use 1000 million pesetas for public bidding, because not many shipyards can withstand such temptation, unless they are official shipyards fully controlled by other countries.

After doing all this, Carlo could only wait quietly for the Navy's design to be delivered to him.

Although Carlo would prefer that Spain's own shipyard receive the reward, it is obviously more important for Spain to obtain a satisfactory warship design than who gets the reward.

Carlo was waiting quietly. For the Spanish government, there were still many busy matters to deal with after the announcement of the five-year shipbuilding plan.

The most important of these is the cost of building these 15 main warships. After estimation by the navy department, it has become an extremely huge astronomical figure.

The current main ironclad warships, 60-ton main warships, cost about 70 to 70 pounds. What is certain is that the cost of a new warship design will definitely increase, with the lowest cost of 80 to pounds.

光是5艘万吨级别的主力军舰的建造费用，最多就能达到400万英镑。再加上吨位稍小单数量更多的10艘7000吨军舰，这份5年造舰计划所需的总资金大约在700万英镑到800万英镑之间，也就是1.75亿比塞塔到2亿比塞塔之间。

This is not the end. This is just the cost of building these 15 main warships.

Other expenses include daily training of soldiers, use and maintenance of warships, and consumption of various materials. This expense is not a small number compared to the cost of building warships.

According to the Navy's own estimates, the total cost of this five-year shipbuilding plan will exceed 5 million pesetas, and can only be compressed to 2.5 million pesetas at the lowest.

After all these 15 main warships enter service in the navy, the annual use and maintenance costs of these warships alone, plus the salaries of naval soldiers and other material consumption, will require an additional cost of tens of millions of pesetas each year.

This is also the reason why it is said that the navy burns money. In addition to construction costs, other expenses are also quite huge.

In other words, Spain's current financial situation is relatively good, so it can afford such a huge military expenditure. Since it is a five-year shipbuilding plan, it means that this expenditure is the total naval expenditure for five years.

The 2.53 million pesetas expenditure is spread out evenly every year, which is actually just over 5000 million pesetas of naval expenditure. For the current Spanish finances, an annual increase of 5000 million pesetas in military expenditure is indeed not a big number.

According to statistics from the Spanish Cabinet Government, the Spanish government's total fiscal revenue in 1889 reached 13.221 billion pesetas, setting a new record.

On the one hand, this is because the economy and industry in mainland Spain are relatively prosperous, and the war has no impact on the economic development of mainland Spain.

On the other hand, Spain earned a lot of income in its colonies. Whether it was the rubber trade or the development of various plantations, Spain made enough profits.

The only people who suffered more were the local indigenous people in the African colonies. However, with Spain's domestic economy and finances doing so well, no one cared about their efforts.

Although the total fiscal expenditure is as high as 12.021 billion pesetas, the government has a fiscal surplus of 1.19 million pesetas after all. What's the harm in spending 5000 million pesetas on naval expenditure every year?

By 1890, the Spanish government had paid off most of its foreign debts, and the remaining debt was expected to be repaid within two years.

This is definitely a good thing for Spain. After all, it is debt-free and can also obtain a new round of loans for any major construction in the future.

Thanks to the domestic economic prosperity, the Spanish government is also able to raise more funds when faced with large-scale construction.

According to current estimates by the finance department, if a major incident occurs or the government needs major construction, Spain can raise more than 10 billion pesetas in a short period of time.

If the time for raising funds is extended, perhaps another 10 million pesetas can be added to the 5 billion pesetas.

This is extremely important for Spain. Although it is not as terrible as France's payment of 50 billion francs in compensation within a few years, it is a huge improvement for Spain.

It took only a few days for the cabinet government to approve the naval military tax budget for the shipbuilding plan, which also meant that the five-year shipbuilding plan officially began to be implemented.

The plans related to the emphasis on the navy announced one after another by the Spanish royal family and government immediately attracted the attention of shipyards throughout Spain and even the whole of Europe.

Many famous shipyards are gearing up and eager to try, and they will not miss this huge reward.

In addition to the reward of up to 1000 million pesetas for the design of a new main battleship, the design of a 7000-ton secondary battleship can also receive a reward of 500 million pesetas.

For the major shipyards in Spain, they are no strangers to the design requirements for the next generation of main warships required by the Spanish Navy.

To put it simply, there are three points: faster speed, stronger firepower, and thicker armor protection.

If only one of the points is pursued, whether it is to increase the steam turbine group to increase the power, or to increase the number of artillery to increase the firepower, or simply to increase the thickness of the armor, it is not a difficult thing for major shipyards.

Even completing only two of the points is possible. As long as one of them can be abandoned and the remaining two points can be taken into account, a warship with superior performance but obvious shortcomings can be built.

Obviously, the Spanish Navy did not want a ship with obvious shortcomings. They wanted a ship with all-round development, which was the most troublesome thing.

To improve firepower, one must either increase the number of artillery batteries or increase the caliber of the artillery. Either way, the tonnage of the warship must be increased, and the increase in tonnage will also affect the speed.

The same is true for armor protection. Either add steel plates to make the thickness of the steel armor thicker. But doing so will also make the tonnage of the warship heavier, and the speed will definitely be much slower.

The design of the navy cannot be simply superimposed, which requires that shipyards that want to participate in the bidding must have their own technological breakthroughs in speed, firepower and armor.

If there were a more powerful turbine group, or a steel material with stronger protection and lighter weight, it would meet the requirements of the Spanish Navy.

But technological breakthroughs are not easy to achieve. Unless the shipyard can invest in the research and development of technology and materials at all costs, it can only rely on the accumulation of time.

It is no exaggeration to say that whichever shipyard's warship design can meet the requirements of the Spanish Navy means that the level of this shipyard has reached the world's top.

Whether it is the financial incentives offered by Spain or the technical challenges, it is worth it for these shipyards to do their best.

(End of this chapter)