Empire Rising: Spain

If the United Kingdom were to completely control the Suez Canal, the French fleet in the Mediterranean would be blocked within it. The French naturally understand this, and they have always opposed the UK’s complete control of the Suez Canal, frequently questioning the UK’s predominance in holding most of the canal’s shares.

Let’s return to Tunisia. Currently, Tunisia nominally belongs to the Ottoman Empire, but in reality, the Ottoman Empire is unable to govern it.

The reason for this is, of course, the exposure of the Ottoman Empire’s full strength following its defeat in the last Russian-Turkish War.

Once a superpower spanning three continents—Europe, Asia, and Africa—the Ottoman Empire, like a camel that has become emaciated but is still bigger than a horse, remains a strong nation for most countries.

However, for France, which dominated Europe a decade ago, the emaciated camel that is the Ottoman Empire is like a piece of fatty meat on a cutting board, ready for France to carve up.

Yet because Tunisia is closer to Italy, Italy is also very interested in this piece of land. Considering that invading Tunisia would certainly attract the attention of the Italians, and might even provoke their intervention, the current Prime Minister of France, Rufelli, consulted several key cabinet ministers and senior military officials before initiating a war against Tunisia.

The first person consulted was naturally an important member of the French Cabinet, the current Foreign Secretary, Gambetta.

As Foreign Secretary, Gambetta was well-versed in European affairs, and upon learning of the Prime Minister’s intention to invade Tunisia, he immediately raised his first question: how to handle Italy.

Times have changed; Italy is no longer that Sardinian Kingdom that was at France’s mercy. Although Italy, which has achieved unification, is not as formidable as Germany, it is a nation of great power status.

If it were during France’s heyday, France wouldn’t even consider Italian opinions. But now, with France diplomatically isolated by Germany, further offending Italy would only make Germany’s policy of isolating France more aggressive.

Faced with Gambetta’s question, Rufelli thought long and hard and asserted that any possible Italian interference should be met with strong measures.

Despite losing Alsace and Lorraine in the Franco-Prussian War, France remains the hegemon of Western Europe and one of the world’s top three powers.

France’s desire to expand its colonial territory is not something that a small Italy can prevent. Besides, Italy might not even be bold enough to stop France from invading Tunisia.

Italy lags behind France in industry, economy, and population, and its army’s combat effectiveness is far behind France’s.

Even if they were to truly come to blows, France would have no fear of Italy. If Italy were to act up, France could even attack Rome and let the Pope State regain control of the situation there.

After understanding the Prime Minister’s stance, Gambetta nodded and had no further questions.

He and the Prime Minister are from the same political party and must stand together on such matters of importance. Moreover, invading Tunisia is not considered a big deal for France, so there was no need to oppose the Prime Minister.

In addition to consulting Gambetta, Prime Minister Rufelli also sought the opinion of the Secretary of State for War.

But there wasn’t much to ask: in attacking a native nation, the Secretary of State for War would certainly not refuse.

Such an action would not only bring many accolades to the military but would also be a war that would surely be won, essentially granting credit for free.

As for the attitudes of other great powers, that’s not the military’s concern. The military’s job is to win the war; which countries might be offended is something for the government and diplomatic department to consider.

With the support of both the Foreign Secretary and the Secretary of State for War, Rufelli confidently presented the proposal to invade Tunisia in the French Cabinet meeting.

It’s worth mentioning that Rufelli played some minor tricks before presenting the proposal.

Politicians care most about their reputation; before making such a proposal, Rufelli had already had several newspapers report that he would promote the nation’s engagement in war to help France acquire a new colony.

Though it’s not the recapture of Alsace and Lorraine, expanding territories is nonetheless a great achievement.

More importantly, compared to Rufelli, who had just taken office and was confidently starting a war, his 11 predecessors had achieved almost nothing during their terms as Prime Ministers.

Yes, since the establishment of the Third Republic after the Franco-Prussian War, France had gone through eleven Prime Ministers in just over a decade, which is quite an exaggerated pace.

Though France has both a President and a Prime Minister, in the Third French Republic, the Prime Minister has more real power than the President.

The head of state is, of course, the French President, but the President is responsible only for foreign affairs and military matters, while administrative authority lies with the Prime Minister.

With an average of one Prime Minister per year, one can imagine how chaotic the French political scene had been during this period.

At the time, the French President was elected by the public, while the Prime Minister was appointed by the party that won the parliamentary election. The frequent turnover of Prime Ministers also indicates deep conflicts and disputes among French political parties.

Weakening the President’s power in the Third French Republic was a lesson drawn from the experience of Napoleon III.

Before becoming Emperor, Napoleon III was elected as President of France, at a time when the French President wielded significant power, which later laid the foundation for his military dictatorship and the re-establishment of the French Empire.

Weakening the President’s power in the Third French Republic was precisely to prevent events similar to the restoration of Napoleon III.

The President holding both diplomatic and military power is also the reason why Rufelli consulted the Foreign Secretary and Secretary of State for War.

As long as these two Cabinet ministers supported Rufelli, even if the President objected, Rufelli had a way to deal with it.

After all, at this time, public opinion in France supported the war. After the humiliation of the Franco-Prussian War, the French needed several victorious wars to wash away their shame.

If the President dared to directly reject Rufelli’s proposal, the first to be displeased would probably be the French citizens who elected him.

Sure enough, because news of this type had been reported beforehand, when Rufelli brought up the proposal to invade Tunisia at the Cabinet meeting, not a single cabinet minister dared to challenge it.

French public opinion is no joke. Even if they are angered or dissatisfied, the citizens of other countries usually only erupt into protests.

The French public, however, doesn’t take things lightly; if the war is rejected on the first day, protests will break out immediately, and by the second day, there will be related revolutions and uprisings.

The French public, particularly the citizens of Paris, are well-versed in this; they know the locations of both the Paris City Government and the French Government residences, as well as the arsenal in the Paris city area.

Even the King of France could be sent to the guillotine, let alone a President elected by public vote. As long as they have any sense, they would not reject a war proposition.

Unless the French public also did not support the war, which, at that time, was virtually impossible.

The humiliation from the Franco-Prussian War was too intense for the French public, who needed a thrilling war to vent their frustration.

French government officials naturally understood this; whether it was the Cabinet Government or the French Parliament, they were in unanimous agreement.

Amidst this agreement, the French Government immediately began preparations for war.

Rufelli was not foolish; while France was not afraid of Italy, it would be better to carry out colonization discreetly without alerting Italy.

Once France had fully occupied Tunisia, even if the Italians realized it, they would have no way to change the situation in Tunisia.

Though Italy was unified relatively late, it is worth mentioning that Italians had set their sights on Tunisia even before the country was unified.

As early as the period of the Sardinian Kingdom, a large number of Italian capitalists and individuals had already crossed the sea to engage in colonization and business activities in Tunisia.

As the industrial and economic development of the Sardinian Kingdom progressed, the government also got involved in infiltrating Tunisia.

Although Tunisia is located in Africa, it is a relatively fertile land. Tunisia spans an area of 160,000 square kilometers—more than half of Italy’s landmass.

This is why Italy had its eyes on Tunisia; its fertile land and abundant arable fields are close to the homeland, making it a natural colony.