Empire Rising: Spain

In the United Kingdom, besides the major news of the economic crisis making a comeback, there is another piece of news stirring up public debate: the Royal Titles Bill issued in May.

This bill granted Queen Victoria a brand new title, that of Empress of the Indian Empire.

Although the United Kingdom is referred to as the British Empire, the title of its rulers is actually King or Queen of the United Kingdom. As Europe stands with numerous empires, the United Kingdom, as the most powerful country in Europe, has finally taken a step towards the imperial rank.

However, compared to other imperial titles in Europe, the title of Empress of India is somewhat awkward.

Imperial titles in other European countries, like Tsarist Russia claiming to inherit the title of the Eastern Roman Empire, and the Austria-Hungary formed by the merge of the Austrian Empire, originally established by the Holy Roman Emperor, and Hungary.

Even though the German Empire is only an empire of the German Region, the German Region once held the justifiable imperial title of the Holy Roman Empire.

On the contrary, the title of Empress of India, which the British prepared for quite a while, derives its legal theory from the previous rulers of the Indian Region, the Mughal Empire.

From the perspective of imperial title legal theory, the so-called Indian Empire is entirely disproportionate to the imperial titles of other European countries. Europe is a place that extremely values legal theories, which is why Queen Victoria faced a lot of pressure in being crowned Empress of India.

The title of Empress of India originated from the native rulers in the Indian Region, as a nickname for the British Queen. When Britain’s mode of ruling India transitioned from the East India Company to the East India Colony, Queen Victoria began to firmly believe herself to be the Empress of India.

For more than ten years, Queen Victoria had grown accustomed to the title of Empress of India, considering India’s land part of her empire under her rule.

In June 1872, when the envoy of the East India Colony bowed to Queen Victoria, she referred to herself as Empress of India, stating: ”As Empress of India, I refuse to accept such ceremonies.”

Queen Victoria’s public acceptance and affection for the title of Empress of India inspired some nobles to strive for her coronation as the Imperial Empress of India.

Three years earlier, Queen Victoria’s secretary, Frederick Ponsonby, had openly suggested to Earl Granville the idea of crowning Queen Victoria with the title of Empress of India.

Frederick Ponsonby reasoned that the title of Empress of India had long been used as a reference to Queen Victoria, just without official proclamation.

As Queen Victoria’s secretary, Frederick Ponsonby would not have spread ideas not agreed upon by the Queen.

This indicated that the crowning as Empress of India was Queen Victoria’s personal wish.

The reason Queen Victoria was eager to become Empress, apart from her fondness for such a title, was largely due to her son-in-law Friedrich Wilhelm Nikolaus Karl ascending from Crown Prince of Prussia to Crown Prince of the German Empire, and his father William I gaining elevation from King of Prussia to Emperor of the German Empire.

When her son-in-law inherited the throne in the future, would she still be just the Queen of the United Kingdom, holding a rank lower than her son-in-law?

Among the five traditional major powers in Europe, Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Tsarist Russia are at the empire level, while France as a republic is not counted among them.

The United Kingdom, despite its comprehensive strength being the strongest, is merely a kingdom, a point of dissatisfaction for Queen Victoria.

Consequently, despite heavy resistance domestically, Queen Victoria still managed to secure her coronation as Empress of the Indian Empire through the titles bill, becoming the fourth monarch among European rulers possessing an imperial title.

While the United Kingdom was busy crowning its Queen with the Empress title, its arch-rival France was not idle.

As the United States was approaching the centennial of its founding, France announced that it was presenting a statue symbolizing liberty to the United States. This very famous statue in later generations is the Statue of Liberty, embodying the symbol of American freedom.

This proposal was made by French political intellectual Edouard de Laboulaye in 1865, supported by many Frenchmen including sculptor Auguste Bartholdi, and also received approval from both French and American governments.

It was in that very year that Bartholdi began the work of creating the statue. Within a short time, he completed the torch held by the Statue of Liberty and transported it from France to the United States to partake in the Centennial Exposition held in Philadelphia.

During the American independence a hundred years ago, the French had offered significant assistance. And a hundred years later, the French painstakingly presented the Statue of Liberty, a landmark famous in later generations, signifying deep gratitude and understanding between France and the United States.

The year 1876 was a busy one for various European countries, and similarly for Spain.

Carlo closely monitored the situation in the Balkan Peninsula, as for now, the Russians seemed to have no intentions of launching a war.

After adding the title of Empress of India to Queen Victoria’s crown, the British hurriedly prepared for the coronation ceremony in the United Kingdom.

After all, this was the imperial title of India, and if the coronation ceremony were not held in India, the so-called imperial title would lack any presence.