Rise of Empires: Spain.

Chapter 366 South African Dispute
Austria-Hungary's purchase of battleships from Spain eventually triggered a naval arms race that affected the whole of Europe.

Germany and Italy also had plans to build battleships. Naturally, France and Russia were not willing to lag behind, and they also announced their own battleship construction plans.

Needless to say, the United Kingdom is the fastest in building battleships and currently has the largest number of battleships.

This naval arms race that affected the whole of Europe did not attract Carlo's attention because in faraway South Africa, the conflict between British colonists and the Boers seemed to have reached an irreconcilable point.

It has to be admitted that after the failure of Portugal's Pink Map Project, the situation of the Boers in South Africa became much worse.

Britain's colonies suddenly expanded to the southern part of the Congo region, and together with Portugal's colony of Mozambique, they directly surrounded the Boers, leaving only a small coastal area in the eastern part of the Transvaal Republic that could communicate with the outside world through the port.

As the British colonies continued to expand, the living space of the Boers was constantly compressed. What's more, various precious mineral resources were constantly discovered in the areas where the Boers lived, which also attracted the covetousness of more British colonists.

As early as three years ago, in 1890, in order to cope with the influx of British colonists, the Transvaal government announced that all foreign expatriates living in Johannesburg must pay full taxes.

These foreign nationals who paid sufficient taxes were not entitled to participate in presidential and legislative elections unless they had resided in Transvaal for 14 years and acquired the citizenship of the Transvaal Republic.

In addition, all foreign expatriates who have not obtained the nationality of the Transvaal Republic are not allowed to hold government posts in the Transvaal. The children of expatriates cannot enter government-funded schools, nor can they enjoy the medical subsidies issued by the Transvaal.

Once such a regulation was promulgated, it immediately aroused the dissatisfaction of the British colonists, because Transvaal was almost surrounded by British colonies, and most of the colonists here were British.

To put it bluntly, the regulations of the Transvaal Republic were mainly aimed at the British.

How could the British accept such blatant targeting?
In retaliation, the British colonies, led by the Cape Colony, increased tariffs on the Transvaal Republic and embargoed some of the Transvaal Republic's scarce resources.

The Transvaal Republic also refused to make concessions. They subsequently increased tariffs on British colonies and formulated high taxation and economic restriction policies specifically targeting British expatriates.

Because of the reluctance of both sides, the relationship between the Boers and the British deteriorated rapidly. Although there was no large-scale war, small conflicts in some border areas were quite common.

European countries were delighted to report on the conflict between Britain and the Boers. They were only too happy to see Britain suffer a setback in Africa.

Such reports also increased Britain's hatred towards the Boers. It was because of these Boers that Britain's colonial expansion in Africa was hindered, eventually allowing the Germans to seize a piece of land in East Africa.

Germany's East African colony was located north of Portugal's Mozambique colony, just on the line connecting Cairo and Cape Town in Britain.

This also directly shattered the Cairo-Cape Town connection that the British had planned for a long time. Unless they could annex Germany's East African colonies or Portugal and Spain's Congo colonies, there would be hope of reconnecting Cairo and Cape Town.

But it is obvious that neither annexing Germany's colonies nor turning its attention to the Congo region can be easily achieved.

With the support of the Triple Alliance, Germany is itself a superpower in Europe and is on par with Britain.

Although Spain is weaker, it is not so weak that it can be easily controlled by the British. If Spain cannot be dealt with, it will be useless to take over Portugal's colonies, and it will make the Portuguese hate Britain even more, which is obviously not worth it.

It is also because of this that Britain's colonial focus in Africa gradually shifted from Cairo and Cape Town to operating in both ends.

The expansion of the Egyptian colonies in the north was quite smooth, and there were no strong enemies to hinder the expansion.

As for the Cape Colony in the south, the only obstacles were Transvaal and Orange, that is, the Boers.

The dispute between Britain and the Boers was talked about in European countries for the next two years.

The British hatred for the Boers grew deeper and deeper. They could not wait to sweep the Boers in Africa into the dustbin of history and destroy the two Boer states of Transvaal and Orange.

Time quickly came to 1895.

During these two years, Spain has also undergone major changes.

The first is the successful completion of the five-year shipbuilding plan.

All five battleships had been completed before July 1894. The latest battleships, Philip II and Carlo I, would complete the launching test phase in January next year and officially serve in the Royal Navy.

As for the earlier Ferdinand II and Isabelle I, their construction was completed in the first half of 1892 and they entered service in the Royal Navy in the second half of 1893.

The battleship that is about to be put into service is the Carlos I. The battleship was officially started in May 1892, completed in December 5 and entered the stage of launching and sea trials.

It is expected that around the middle of this year, the Spanish Royal Navy will be able to welcome the battleship Carlos I into service.

By then, the Spanish Royal Navy, which will have three battleships, will be among the top three in the world.

Except for Britain and France, the four major powers of Germany, Austria, Italy and Russia could not catch up with Spain in terms of battleships, which is why Spain was able to become the third largest naval power in the world.

Of course, the size of Spain's navy could not widen the gap with the following countries.

The size of the British navy is the largest, followed by France, and then the size of the navies of Germany, Austria, Italy and Russia are all at the same level.

The only criterion for assessing the naval strength of these five countries is the number of battleships. After all, battleships are the most powerful main warships at the time, and their role in naval decisive battles is unmatched by other warships.

It is worth mentioning that the construction of the three battleships built by Spain for the Austro-Hungarian Empire has also started.

The construction of the first battleship officially started in May 1893. It was completed at the end of last year and entered the naval testing phase.

The remaining two battleships will also be able to enter the naval test phase around this year, and between the end of 1896 and the beginning of 1897, all three battleships will be delivered to the Austro-Hungarian Navy.

A strong navy is certainly a good thing for Spain, but compared to what is happening on the African continent, the latter is more exciting.

In early 1895, British mining magnate Cecil Rhodes became Governor of the British Cape Colony.

His mining company discovered a huge gold mine in the area around Transvaal, and the news shocked the entire Cape Colony.

The discovery of a gold mine not only means that the mining company will make a lot of money, but also means that the people around it can become gold diggers. The areas around the gold mine are places where you can make a lot of money. In the eyes of many British people, the news of the discovery of a gold mine means a lot of pounds.

Naturally, the news of the gold mine was also known to the Transvaal government.

Because the relationship between Britain and the Boers was already quite bad during this period, the Transvaal government had almost no hesitation and forcibly expelled the British mining company on the charge of illegal mining on Transvaal land, and declared the newly discovered gold mine to be state-owned property of the Transvaal Republic.

This immediately caused dissatisfaction among Cecil Rhodes. As a mining magnate, he certainly knew the income that a large gold mine could bring.

More importantly, Cecil Rhodes was already successful and famous at this time. As the most powerful man in the Cape Colony, he could not tolerate the provocation of the Boers.

Cecil Rhodes invited his good friend Dr. Johnson, a senior employee of a South African mining company, to lead more than 500 police officers and soldiers affiliated with the mining company back to the place where the gold mine was discovered, intending to forcibly occupy the gold mine.

This move caused strong dissatisfaction in the Transvaal Republic, which sent troops to fight against the company's armed forces led by Dr. Johnson.

Although South African mining companies purchased several machine guns to arm their military forces, they were ultimately unable to resist the large-scale national military forces.

After more than an hour of fierce fighting, more than 500 soldiers belonging to the mining company suffered more than 100 casualties.

Including Dr. Johnson, other senior executives of the mining company were captured by the Transvaal Republic. The battlefield around the gold mine was in a mess, and it was impossible to tell which side the bodies on the ground belonged to. In order to save the captured Dr. Johnson and his team, the Alien Reform Committee formed by British expatriates launched a rebellion in Johannesburg, attempting to overthrow Paul Kruger, the president of the Transvaal Republic.

At this time, the Transvaal Republic was already very wary of these British expatriates. After the so-called Aliens Reform Committee launched a rebellion, it quickly called in the police to suppress the rebellion.

The head of the Aliens Reform Committee was sentenced to death by the Transvaal Court, and it was announced that the public execution would take place a week later.

This action caused dissatisfaction among a large number of British expatriates, who protested against the Transvaal Republic's sentencing of British people to death, believing that only British courts had the right to sentence British people to death.

This incident immediately attracted the attention of the whole of Europe, and the large number of casualties among the British in this incident also caused an uproar in Europe.

From different standpoints, this matter actually has different natures.

In the eyes of the Boers, the minerals on the land of the Transvaal Republic naturally belonged to their country. The British's private exploration and mining of minerals on the land of the Transvaal clearly violated the interests of their country.

In the eyes of the British, the minerals they had explored with great effort were confiscated by the Transvaal Republic, which was clearly an act of shameless robbery.

More importantly, several British people had already died in this incident. The Transvaal Republic even wanted to sentence the British to death, which was undoubtedly a direct slap in the face of the British government.

The British Times reported the incident in detail, and wrote in the center of the newspaper's headline: "This is a Boer provocation against Britain!"

These newspapers and media have promoted this incident as a provocation by the Boers against British colonial hegemony. In the eyes of the proud British, a country like the Transvaal Republic that attempts to resist Britain should be destroyed and thrown into the dust of history.

Of course, public opinion in Europe cannot be unanimous.

Compared with the indignation against the Boers in Britain, public opinion in other European countries seemed somewhat different.

The Netherlands, which has a close relationship with the Boers, has a strong support for the Boers. Some countries that have a bad relationship with Britain, such as France and Russia, also support the Boers.

It is worth mentioning that even Germany, which Britain believed had a good relationship with, seemed to have a tendency to support the Boers.

German Emperor Wilhelm II sent a historically famous telegram to Paul Kruger, President of the Transvaal Republic, in which he congratulated the Transvaal Republic on its victory and praised the Boers for their just struggle.

This telegram from German Emperor Wilhelm II seriously damaged the relationship between Britain and Germany, and also made the British government realize the fact that the Boers seemed to have the support of Germany.

This news not only did not make Britain back down, but instead made Britain more determined to conquer the Boers.

If the Boer problem could not be solved, the Transvaal Republic would sooner or later become a bigger problem for Britain.

Of course, the British government’s decision was also driven by the surging public opinion in the country.

For Carlo, of course, he was happy to see the outbreak of the Boer War. The Boer War was a very important node for Spain. Now Spain was well prepared and might be able to win the support of its allies. Naturally, it was looking forward to the outbreak of the war.

Under Carlo's special arrangement, British newspapers continued to publicize the hatred between Britain and the Boers, portraying the Boers as robbers who robbed and plundered.

Although the UK has this image in the eyes of other countries, in the eyes of the British, it is natural for the UK to rob others. But if others dare to rob British property, it is barbaric and shameless and must be resolutely eliminated.

Under the influence of these propaganda, the British people were quite supportive of launching a war. The capitalists who had shares in mining companies in Africa were also eager for the government to launch a war so that they could get shares in the Transvaal Republic's minerals.

These minerals represent money. For capitalists, nothing is more attractive than making money.

Because of the support of British public opinion at that time, Joseph Chamberlain, then Colonial Secretary, sent a telegram to Cecil Rhodes, Governor of the Cape Colony.

This telegram contained a lot of content, but it can be summed up in one sentence: Tell Cecil Rhodes not to have any worries and just go ahead and do it boldly.

Since Joseph Chamberlain had already hinted at him blatantly, Cecil Rhodes was completely relieved.

He is the largest shareholder of a South African mining company. If he can seize the Boers' gold mine, he will naturally be the one to reap huge profits.

Cecil Rhodes made representations to the Transvaal Republic in the name of the Cape Colony, demanding that the Transvaal side immediately pardon British expatriates and release all prisoners captured in the Transvaal.

In order to make his statement seem more just, Cecil Des added another demand in the last paragraph of the negotiation, which was to demand that all British expatriates in the Transvaal Republic be given the right to vote and be elected.

To the Boers, such a request was simply a fantasy.

You, Britain, planned the attack on the Transvaal Republic and even let the so-called Aliens Reform Committee plan a rebellion to overthrow the regime. Now that the plan has failed, you shamelessly demand that we release all prisoners and grant all British expatriates the right to vote and be elected. Isn't this ridiculous?
If the British request was agreed to, wouldn't it mean that the Transvaal Republic had admitted that all the faults in this incident were caused by itself?

The Boers were no pushovers and they certainly were not afraid of Britain, even though Britain was much more powerful than the Transvaal Republic.

The Transvaal government decisively rejected the Cape Colony's request and stated that it would invite European powers to enter Transvaal to investigate, determine who was at fault for the incident, and resolve the dispute with Britain.

As for the captured prisoners and the British expatriate rebels who planned to overthrow the government, their crimes were real and the Transvaal Republic would not forgive them.

What's more, Transvaal actually invited European countries to form a so-called investigation team.

They invited all the European powers except Britain, and Spain was naturally among them.

After receiving the request from the Transvaal Republic, Spain quickly sent representatives to join the investigation team and expressed that it would impartially investigate the cause of the incident and resolve the dispute between Britain and Transvaal.

Other major powers also expressed their views at the same time.

France and Russia naturally would not miss the opportunity to cause trouble for Britain. Germany still had a good relationship with Transvaal, and the remaining Austro-Hungarian Empire and Italy were purely here to watch.

Will the British side agree to the so-called international investigation mission in Transvaal?

of course not.

Just kidding, although the British kept calling the Boers robbers, they actually knew very well in their hearts that the Boers were the ones who were right in this incident.

Although the gold mine was discovered by a British mining company, the location of the gold mine was within the control of the Transvaal Republic.

The British discovered gold mines in other people's homes, but they couldn't just occupy them. Sending military forces to forcibly occupy the gold mines would be a real robbery.

As for the rebellion launched by the Aliens Reform Committee, there was no reason or basis for it. British expatriates did not have the nationality of the Transvaal Republic, and it seemed a fantasy that a group of foreigners launched a rebellion to overthrow the regime in Transvaal.

From this perspective, it seems that the responsibility for the incident lies entirely with the UK. It would be impossible for the British government to agree to allow the international investigation team to enter the Transvaal Republic for investigation.

Now that things have come to this point, it is naturally impossible for the British side to back down.

Before the international investigation team arrived in Transvaal, the Cape Colony army had already launched a sneak attack in the border area.

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(End of this chapter)