Empire Rising: Spain

During the period of foreign capital influx, Chile and the British established a relatively close cooperation and gained substantial funds through saltpeter mining.

With the British as its backing, Chile naturally didn’t worry about the issues between it and Argentina. But the Argentinians weren’t in such a good mood.

Looking closely at Spain’s colonial scope in South America, Chile had already aligned with the British, making a fortune through saltpeter mining.

Bolivia and Peru, to the north of Chile, have also formed an alliance, with both countries united, their combined strength not much different from Chile’s.

Conversely, Argentina, having tasted success in the Paraguayan War, doesn’t have a reliable ally at this moment, and its development speed is nowhere near Chile, which has access to saltpeter mines.

In addition, Argentina has an even stronger neighbor to the north, Brazil, which adds pressure to the Argentine government.

After much consideration, the Argentine government concludes Argentina cannot sit idle. The national strengths of Brazil and Chile are becoming increasingly strong; if Argentina doesn’t make notable advancements, it will surely fall behind in future competitions.

But who should Argentina cooperate with? It’s certainly impossible with the British, as they value Chile’s saltpeter mines more.

Saltpeter not only can be used for gunpowder but also can be made into fertilizer. In this era, saltpeter is an extremely important strategic resource, so it’s evident the British wouldn’t abandon Chile’s saltpeter mines, nor would they abandon Chile.

After examining the European powers, the Argentine government disappointingly discovers there’s no country able to establish close cooperation with Argentina. After all, Argentina lacks strategic-level resources to attract these powers; apart from the vast black land, there’s seemingly nothing appealing about Argentina.

Ultimately, the Argentine government casts its gaze again towards its former colonizer, Spain. Undoubtedly, Spain’s overall national strength is evidently stronger than any American country. (Not counting the United States)

If Spain is willing to support Argentina, it wouldn’t fall behind in the competition among South American countries.

More importantly, Argentina is fundamentally a pure immigrant nation; its domestic population is either Spaniards or Spanish mixed-blood, evidently closer to Spain.

In recent years, the sentiment of closeness to Spain has grown significantly within Argentina, even becoming almost widespread.

Even if this might be instigated and guided by someone, it somewhat represents the public opinion in Argentina.

The Argentine government ultimately decides to go with the flow, strengthening its ties with Spain while utilizing Spanish resources as much as possible to enhance Argentina’s strength, preparing for potentially more intense future South American competition.

Upon receiving the request from the Argentine government, Prime Minister Prim was inspecting the progress of various departments.

Since the formal establishment of the Second Five-Year Development Plan, all departments have been actively moving forward. Prime Minister Prim is quite satisfied with the progress, and he has a premonition that Spain’s development this year may be even more rapid than last year’s.

The inspection hadn’t concluded yet when the Argentine government’s diplomatic request arrived, bringing a more pronounced smile to Prime Minister Prim’s face.

Regarding the idea among some in South American countries to strengthen ties with Spain, it was naturally Prime Minister Prim who had it disseminated.

What Spain is able to utilize at present are precisely these former colonies, which still have considerable populations, and absorbing a bit each year can contribute to Spain’s population growth.

Of course, more importantly, these American countries united together also form a strength. If Spain can reclaim control of or strengthen ties with these American countries, it’s beneficial for Spain.

Frankly speaking, even the economically and industrially fast-developing United States, Prime Minister Prim does not regard highly.

In Prime Minister Prim’s view, there aren’t many countries that can pose a threat to Spain; at most, it would be the five traditional European powers: the UK, France, Germany, Russia, and Austria.

Prime Minister Prim doesn’t even take Italy, his Mediterranean neighbor, seriously, let alone the United States, which was merely a former colony.

Speaking of which, the United States has been independent for less than a hundred years. The Independence Day of the United States was on July 4th, 1776, and until now, it has only been 98 years since their independence.

Spain’s colonial rule in America far surpasses this duration, which is why many European countries, including Prime Minister Prim, look down upon the United States.

Even though the United States has developed population, industry, and economy to the level of powers in this near hundred-year development, European disdain for the United States won’t disappear.

In European eyes, at most, the United States is merely a nouveau riche. Americans inherit their culture solely from Europe; frankly speaking, they are merely the sons raised by the British.

It’s just that this son rebelled too early, deviating from British rule. But to say the United States could ever threaten the British Empire’s dominance, European countries find it utterly unbelievable.

Today’s United Kingdom is thriving as the Sun Never Sets Empire, while on European media power rankings, the United States is merely placed ahead of Italy.

Bear in mind, Italy’s unification has been less than ten years. Italy’s predecessor, the Sardinian Kingdom, couldn’t even make the top ten in Europe.

This is why Americans, clearly coveting Cuba for a long time, waited until Spain was completely weakened before launching the Spanish-American War.

Before launching the Spanish-American War, the Americans even courteously persuaded the Spanish government to sell the Cuban colony to them for $150 million.

However, European countries have a long-standing prejudice against the United States, and the proud Spanish government certainly could not accept the American offer.

Actually, for Spain at the time, Cuba was already a burden. Although Cuba could bring substantial returns to the Spanish government, the independence fighters in Cuba would also make Spain pay a hefty price to maintain control.

At the time, $150 million was close to 800 million Pesetas, and the Spanish government only had to agree to the American transaction to definitely make a profitable deal.

If Spain took the 800 million Pesetas to develop the African Colony, even if it were just to strengthen Spain’s military power, it would undoubtedly be far better than holding onto Cuba.

Unfortunately, the European countries’ prejudice against the United States is heartfelt, which also results in Spain, even in its weakest stage, ignoring the Americans’ requests.