Empire Rising: Spain

For Spain to have Prim in this era is indeed a blessing for the Spaniards. Similarly, it’s Carlo’s fortune to encounter such a politician as Prim, who does not yearn for power, at the beginning of his reign.

The good news is that Prime Minister Prim’s reforms have already achieved certain successes, the first five-year development plan was a complete success, and the second five-year development plan is progressing smoothly.

If all goes well, Prime Minister Prim will be able to retire after the completion of the second five-year development plan with honor. His ten-year collaboration with Carlo, along with the achievements brought to Spain by the two five-year plans, might become a legendary story passed down in Spain for a long time.

This is no exaggeration; indeed, some newspapers have already begun promoting such affairs.

Some newspapers have hailed Prime Minister Prim and Carlo as Spain’s William I and Chancellor Bismarck and referred to their collaboration as Spain’s Great Revival.

The emergence of these reports is in part related to Carlo’s slogan at the time, “Make Spain Great Again!”

The people’s eyes are sharp; they can certainly distinguish whether the country is heading in a positive direction. Currently, Spain is not powerful, but for the Spaniards, since Carlo ascended as King of Spain and during Prime Minister Prim’s governance, this period has been considered great for Spain.

“Your Majesty, in the past year, we have achieved unimaginable successes.” On January 1, 1875, Prime Minister Prim walked into the Madrid Royal Palace with a complete and well-organized government work report, with a joyful smile on his face, reporting this good news to Carlo.

Carlo had already anticipated the significant advancements Spain achieved in 1874.

After all, with so many things bought from abroad, it’s only natural that those acquisitions would bring substantial improvements to Spain. Not to mention, Spain has strengthened its development plans and increased investment in various departments.

It is no exaggeration to say that the railroads built in 1874 alone exceeded the combined total of railroads built in Spain from 1870 to 1871.

Carlo naturally accepted the report, not showing much expression on his face as he carefully reviewed the contents of the report.

Soon enough, Carlo displayed a rather satisfied smile and relaxed completely.

For Spain, 1874 was a year of rapid development, a year that closed the gap with the great powers. One might say that 1874 was a dividing line for Spain.

Before 1874, Spain could only be described as a declining great power, a mighty nation fallen to the weakest point, and even its status as a great power was questionable.

But by the end of 1874, Spain’s current industrial, economic, and military scale could confirm it as a strong great power nation.

Aside from the five traditional European great powers—UK, France, Germany, Russia, and Austria—that still had advantages over Spain, other great power nations like the United States and Italy did not hold much advantage over Spain.

The United States certainly had a massive industrial and economic scale and a larger population. However, it was not a military power, even after the trials of the Civil War.

Before the outbreak of the Civil War, the total size of the U.S. Army was only over twenty thousand. Although during the Civil War, the total number of soldiers participating reached millions, the composition of these soldiers is imaginable.

Perhaps the Civil War did forge a part of the elite troops, but ten years have passed since then, and how much combat power that portion of troops retains is uncertain.

Italy need not be mentioned much. Although Italy has not yet produced any notable scenes, the combat power of the Italian army has always been weak.

Italy’s unification was greatly related to Garibaldi. It was Garibaldi’s Red Shirt Army that was truly the formidable Italian army, yet this army was not under the control of the Italian Government.

In fact, this was also the reason why the Italian Government and Vittorio Emanuele II were wary of Garibaldi.

Even though Garibaldi himself had no ambition or ideas, the Red Shirt Army, with its formidable combat power, was indeed daunting. The Italian Government had no choice but to be on guard.

Compared with Italy, Spain had no such concerns. The Revolutionary Army that once resisted Queen Isabella had already been reorganized into the Kingdom Government Army, which was then reformed into the new Royal Army, falling under the control of the Spanish Government; naturally, there was nothing to worry about.

Returning to the main topic, how rapidly did Spain develop in 1874?

With the benefit of purchased industrial equipment, Spain made significant progress in industry.

This was something Minister of Industry Canovas had already reported to Carlo in advance, earning praise and encouragement from Carlo.

The more achievements the Ministry of Industry had, the more reputation Canovas could gain. The more reputation Canovas gained, the greater his chances of being elected Prime Minister in the next Cabinet Government election.

This concerned the rotation of the Cabinet Government after Prime Minister Prim’s retirement, a matter to which Carlo was quite attentive.

Let’s not forget, the Progressive Party is currently Spain’s largest party. Although under Prime Minister Prim’s leadership, the Progressive Party did not exhibit an overly radical stance.

But who can guarantee that after Prime Minister Prim leaves the political scene, the Progressive Party won’t transform into a radical party under different leadership?