Empire Rising: Spain

Even to the west of Spain’s Congo Territory, there are French colonies.

Combined with Spain and France’s colonial conflict over Morocco, it is expected that various conflicts and disputes will erupt regarding Africa’s colonization in the coming decades between Spain and France.

This is why the British are willing to abandon the West Africa Colony because after their withdrawal, colonial competition in West Africa will become even more intense.

As for whether France and Spain would unite to jointly partition West Africa, this is almost impossible.

Their alliance relies heavily on the presence of a stronger country lurking. With the United Kingdom fully abandoning the West Africa Colony, the alliance between France and Spain has lost the initiative.

This is an era of survival of the fittest, expecting France and Spain to unite and colonize West Africa without any external threats is as unrealistic as hoping France and Germany would shake hands and dominate Europe together.

Without a larger competitor present, Spain and France in West Africa are merely competitors to each other.

The British Government also trusts its diplomatic maneuvers; under its intervention, France and Spain won’t reach any compromise in the West Africa area.

France and Spain continuously erupt in colonial conflicts, mutually impacting each other’s colonial plans, which is precisely the British purpose.

If this plan can influence the second and third colonial powers, this would be the best strategy for the United Kingdom, which is the leading colonial power.

Carlo naturally noticed the British’s intention, but such overt schemes have no effective resolution.

The United Kingdom believes Spain and France will erupt in colonial conflicts because they are convinced Spain and France won’t relinquish their colonial ambitions in Africa.

Unless Spain or France is willing to abandon their established colonies, disputes are bound to erupt between their adjacent colonies.

The French’s three colonies in West Africa are all connected with Spain’s existing colonies, under such circumstances, if France and Spain don’t erupt in colonial conflicts, it would only mean divine intervention in their diplomatic decisions.

Spain’s only colony in West Africa not connected with French colonies is the Sierra Leone Colony. But the Sierra Leone Colony’s south and north are each bordered by a French colony, effectively surrounded.

This actually indicates that neither Spain nor France has any retreat; if they wish to colonize West Africa, they must force the other to make concessions.

For Spain, there is another issue, which is the dispute between the British Gold Coast and the northern native state, Ashanti Empire, untouched inherited by Spain.

This isn’t a conflict between the British Government and local natives but rather between the Gold Coast Colony and the natives. Since Spain acquired the Gold Coast Colony, it naturally has to fight against the Ashanti Empire to protect the safety of the Gold Coast.

The good news is, while the Ashanti Empire sounds like a large empire, in reality, it’s just a small country covering a few tens of thousands of square kilometers.

Native nations pose little threat to Spain; dispatching 1 to 2 Colonial Defense Corps is enough to safeguard the Gold Coast’s safety.

Spain has deployed a total of 6 Colonial Defense Corps in the Cuban Colony, which can precisely send 2 Corps to each of the newly acquired 3 colonies to maintain local order and safety.

The 2 Colonial Defense Corps have a troop strength of 4,600; while this might be insufficient for warfare against other European Countries, it is more than adequate to maintain local order and safety within the colonies.

Not to mention that each Colonial Defense Corps is also equipped with 3 cannons, with sufficient ammunition supply, 6 cannons combined with 4,600 troops can easily defend against any indigenous army under 20,000 strong.