Empire Rising: Spain

Concerning the current situation of Spain’s colonies, the transportation department proposed a Central and West Africa Railroad Plan.

The so-called Central and West Africa Railroad Plan starts in the South Morocco Colony, follows the coast southwards to connect Spain’s three West Africa Colonies, and then proceeds east from the Guinea Colony into the Central African region, ending in Spain’s Congo Territory.

This railroad plan is quite ambitious, reaching areas where Spain could bring these lands under its colonial control.

However, the issue is that the Central and West Africa Railroad will pass through French and Portuguese colonies; even if the Portuguese were willing, the French likely would not be.

If the Spanish Government could achieve its railroad plan, France’s dream of colonizing West Africa would be shattered. The Spanish railroad would block the northward expansion of French West African colonies, preventing France’s holdings in North Africa from connecting with its West African colonies.

This resembles the conflict between Portugal’s Pink Map Plan and the UK-Cape Town-Cairo line, requiring one country to give way; otherwise, a severe dispute or even war could ensue.

To avoid conflict with France, after the transportation department proposed the Central and West Africa Railroad Plan, Carlo directly rejected the request and made some modifications to the plan.

Although still called the Central and West Africa Railroad Plan, the railroad mainly connects the Gold Coast Colony, the Guinea Colony, and the Congo Territory. Another section connects the Gambia Colony and the Sierra Leone Colony, with no connection between them due to a French colony in between.

And there will also be no connection between the South Morocco Colony and the Gambia Colony, again because of a French colony in between.

Even though conflict between Spain and France over West African colonies is inevitable, for Spain, the later the conflict breaks out, the more advantageous Spain will be.

Currently, France is still the world’s third strongest power after the UK and Germany, with a significant gap between Spain and France.

As the saying goes, a thin camel is bigger than a horse. Even if France has fallen behind the UK and Germany in industrial development and the second industrial revolution, France was once a European hegemon. Its residual power can still easily suppress non-hegemonic countries.

The good news is that among the three West African colonies, only between the Sierra Leone Colony and the Gold Coast is there a French colony; the colony between the Gambia Colony and the Sierra Leone Colony is Portuguese.

The Gold Coast Colony will expand eastward, aiming to connect with Spain’s Guinea Colony. The Gambia Colony and the Sierra Leone Colony will expand southward and northward respectively, striving to connect and form a larger colony.

As for the Portuguese colony in between, Carlo plans to acquire it through purchase and exchange.

In the south of the Congo Territory, there are vast lands not yet colonized and developed, which can be ceded to the Portuguese.

Of course, Carlo is willing to offer this land for a reason, considering the imminent Portuguese Pink Map Plan.

If Spain takes over all the land in the southern Congo Territory, the Portuguese Pink Map Plan would falter midway.

Without the Pink Map Plan, the relationship between Portugal and the United Kingdom wouldn’t be disrupted. Compared to the southern Congo land, Carlo prefers to damage Portuguese-British relations, creating more possibilities for Spain to annex Portugal.

If Carlo remembers correctly, one significant reason the Portuguese monarchy was abolished was due to the Portuguese Pink Map Plan being directly thwarted by the UK.

Angry Portuguese citizens were deeply disappointed with the weak government and king, which became the trigger for the eventual revolution toppling the Kingdom.

Colonization is the trend of this era; whether for major powers or medium and small countries, the public is eager to see their country’s government continuously expand its colonies.

Portugal is like this, and the Netherlands is the same.

Only when the domestic situation in Portugal becomes chaotic does Spain have the opportunity to fish in troubled waters. If Portugal’s situation remains stable, Spain would indeed have to exert significant effort to annex Portugal.

The Spanish Government places great emphasis on the construction of West African colonies. This is not just rhetoric; the government has proposed a West Africa Colony Development Plan, planning to invest at least 1 billion Pesseta in developing the West Africa colonies.

The 1 billion Pesseta investment seems quite extravagant, but this West Africa Colony Development Plan is to span 10 years, equivalent to an annual investment of just 100 million Pesseta.

Currently, the fiscal revenue of the Spanish Government is close to 1 billion Pesseta, which actually means that the Spanish Government only needs to invest one-tenth of its annual fiscal revenue to complete this colony development plan smoothly.

In addition to the previously mentioned Central and West Africa railroad construction, the Spanish Government will fully develop the Gambia agricultural production area, making Gambia an important grain production area for Spain.

If the development of the Gambia Colony goes relatively smoothly, the Sierra Leone Colony will be integrated into the Gambia Colony within a few years. Thus, construction in the Sierra Leone Colony won’t be rigorous, focusing more on maintaining the status quo.

As for the colonial development of the Gold Coast, it mainly focuses on exploring and mining gold. The importance of gold goes without saying, and for most matters concerning the Gold Coast, it ultimately needs to be in Spain’s hands.