Empire Rising: Spain

This also proves the harshness the economic crisis brought to these private enterprises. A large enterprise that was painstakingly managed could be left with nothing during the economic crisis.

The fact that the shipyard ultimately could be sold for 420,000 Pounds is already quite good. Many enterprises, unable to withstand this economic pressure, could only be sold at one-tenth or even one-twentieth of their value.

The money from the sale also has to repay a large amount of debt caused by the economic crisis; describing it as losing everything is not an exaggeration at all.

Speaking of industrial and technological development, Spain alone striving to catch up with major powers or to bridge the gap is indeed very challenging.

For this reason, Carlo had long found a partner for Spain, which is Italy, a nation sharing the same royal family.

Although Italy is also considered a major power, its overall strength is not much different from Spain’s. In some aspects, Spain’s heritage and technological level are even stronger than Italy’s, as it used to be a Sun Never Sets Empire.

Being a newly independent country, Italy also lacks colonies. Furthermore, Italy is located in the Mediterranean, and any attempt to step out of the Mediterranean is subject to restrictions by other countries.

Under such circumstances, it is impossible for Italy to grow stronger relying solely on its own strength. The union between Spain and Italy is possible, not only because their royal families are one but also due to the mutual rival, France.

For Italy, the areas close to its mainland and hopeful of becoming colonies are Tunisia and Libya.

Yet, the French are also eyeing these areas, so Italy’s chances of acquiring Tunisia are not high, even quite low.

While Spain is not involved in the colonization of Tunisia, the French are likewise in the picture in the colonization of Morocco.

Spain’s desire to colonize Morocco, besides facing opposition from the British, also considers the opinion of the French as a critical factor.

In this scenario, Italy and Spain potentially have closer ties. Combined, the scientific research capabilities of the two countries could possibly compare with the major powers.

Thus, in Carlo’s plan, various fields of scientific research are under collaboration with Italy, allowing for joint progress.

Of course, even with the collaboration with Italy, some areas of research cooperation cannot be completely intimate.

However, if the combined research strengths of the two countries can keep pace with major powers, it already fulfills Carlo’s primary intention.

The cooperation with Italy is destined to be temporary; as soon as some progress is made in their collaborative research projects, that may mark the end of their collaboration.

However, the end of collaboration presupposes that the cooperative efforts yield certain accomplishments. With some research results, the cooperation would be mutually beneficial for both Italy and Spain.

Prime Minister Prim also has a positive attitude towards cooperation with Italy. To achieve Spain’s goal of becoming powerful, it is essential to unite all possible allies.

For now, Italy remains a friend of Spain, naturally within Spain’s scope of alliance.

After Carlo and Prime Minister Prim set the tone, Spain’s Foreign Ministry and some enterprises quickly took action, heading to Italy and other countries to seek friendly cooperation.

While close cooperation at the national level may not be feasible, friendly cooperation among these private enterprises has great potential.

Besides Italy as the main target for cooperation, Austria-Hungary, Portugal, Netherlands, and Belgium, among other smaller countries, are also on the list.

Although these smaller countries’ research capabilities cannot compare to Spain’s and major powers, their combined potential is still quite excellent.

If these countries’ research capabilities can be harnessed to support Spain’s scientific research in certain industries, then such actions would not be in vain.

Under the contact of the Foreign Ministry, Spanish companies are venturing abroad in search of collaborative partners among European countries.

Of course, such cooperation would not involve some more significant industries and research areas, but those more general directions, like steel smelting and oil extraction, are open for cooperation.

Naturally, not all cooperation with these countries and enterprises will succeed; in fact, the majority might fail.

But it doesn’t matter, as long as some succeed, it proves that this action was not in vain. Moreover, the research in these fields is not merely an alteration in a single area but potentially a qualitative change in the entire industry.

Both the Spanish Government and private enterprises place a great deal of emphasis on such cooperation, including governments in other countries like Italy, who are also pleased to see such collaboration.

The research projects involve patent rights shared by both parties, which respects the interests of both sides, another reason other countries are willing to collaborate.

If not for the impact of the economic crisis, perhaps such collaboration could achieve better outcomes. However, it is precisely because the economic crisis diverts the attention of other major powers from Spain that Spain’s high-profile collaborations with other countries’ enterprises have not attracted much attention.

The discovery of the Congo River Basin land brought considerable pressure to the Spanish Government, though not in terms of colonial competition.