Empire Rising: Spain

Chapter 164: Chapter 37: The Morocco Agreement (Double-Length) (Part 2)

To ensure that France and Spain do not encounter conflicts on a strategic level, President Thiers and Prime Minister Prim also agreed to sign the “Morocco Agreement” concerning African colonization after friendly consultations between the governments of both countries have reached a consensus.

The main purpose of this agreement is to avoid colonial conflicts in Africa between France and Spain. As long as Spain does not oppose France and maintains a neutral or pro-French stance in the Franco-German competition, the French will temporarily refrain from interfering in Moroccan colonization and support Spain’s colonial activities in Morocco.

In other words, France is temporarily using Morocco to stabilize Spain by sacrificing its colonial ambitions in Morocco in the short term, in exchange for Spain’s neutral or more friendly attitude in the Franco-German rivalry.

At first glance, it might seem surprising that the French are willing to make such concessions, even allowing Spain to colonize Morocco recklessly.

But actually, upon reflection, this is instead France’s blatant and strategic play.

If Spain wishes to colonize Morocco, it will inevitably conflict with the British Empire. Even if the French do not participate in the colonial competition in Morocco, Spain may not be able to annex the entire Morocco under British pressure.

As long as Spain cannot annex the entire Morocco, after the future treaty ends, France still has the possibility of colonizing Morocco.

After relations between the United Kingdom and Spain deteriorate, Spain will certainly need a powerful great power to protect itself.

Austria-Hungary is obviously insufficient. The opponent, after all, is the British Empire. Austria-Hungary’s naval strength is not much different from Italy’s and cannot pose a significant threat to the British Empire.

Although France’s navy also cannot match the British Empire, it is closer to Spain and can provide more support.

As for Germany, although Germany defeated France, it can be said to be impoverished in terms of naval power.

Coupled with the reason that Germany is separated from Spain by France, the help it can offer to Spain is even more limited than that of Austria-Hungary.

Under such an open strategy by the French government, even if Spain annexes the entire Morocco, it would face the immense pressure from the British.

To counter the British, even if Spain is reluctant, it must continuously align itself with the French and even establish relevant military alliances with France to ensure its safety.

If Spain cannot even annex Morocco, that is even better. Not only can France again plan for Moroccan colonization after the treaty ends, but it can also confirm once more that Spain does not pose a significant threat to itself.

At the same time, by dangling the unattainable Morocco in front of the Spaniards during the period of the agreement, relations between France and Spain will remain relatively friendly, and France will not incur a great cost to maintain a less negative diplomatic situation.

In essence, the French have predicted that the British will not allow Spain to annex the entire Morocco, leading to the creation of this Morocco Agreement.

In fact, Prime Minister Prim is also aware of the French intentions because the British ambitions are entirely visible.

Perhaps this is also the pride of the Sun Never Sets Empire, as the British Empire never hides its vigilance towards Spain and even actively intervenes in Spain’s colonial activities in Morocco.

Even though Spain is at a strength disadvantage compared to great powers, it is far superior to Morocco, a native African country. However, Spain has still not occupied Morocco, separated by only a strait, and eventually divided it with France through cooperation.

The British are also currently the biggest obstacle to Spain’s expansion, as they worry even more than the French about Spain’s strength because Spain’s first target after becoming powerful would be to reclaim Gibraltar.

The conflict between Spain and the United Kingdom is irreconcilable, unless Spain is willing to abandon its hopes for national revival and content itself as a second-rate European country.

Upcoming generations will witness various disputes and conflicts over Gibraltar between the two countries, which further highlights the hatred of the Spaniards for the British occupation of Gibraltar and the resentment toward the British during this era.

Prime Minister Prim agreed to sign the “Morocco Agreement” to reassure President Thiers and the French government.

However, in the short term, the Spanish Government does not have any plans to recolonize Morocco, as the British are not so easily dealt with.

Maintaining the extent of the existing South Morocco Colony and stabilizing the colonies in Cuba and the Philippines are all that Prime Minister Prim envisions for Spain’s current colonies.

For Spain to achieve revival, the most crucial thing is domestic industrial and economic development. Although Spain’s land conditions are worse compared to other great powers, the national territory remains significant.

Spain’s territory exceeds 500,000 square kilometers, making it a substantial land power in Europe. The British mainland is only 240,000 square kilometers, and Italy is just over 300,000 square kilometers.

Having an area of over 500,000 square kilometers significantly enhances Spain’s development potential. Even if it cannot accommodate hundreds of millions of people, it can still comfortably sustain a population of around 50 million.

However, Spain has yet to achieve this population milestone even as late as 2024. For present-day Spain, the population is the area where it is most lacking and represents the largest gap compared to other great powers.