Empire Rising: Spain

Although France maintained a tough stance during negotiations, it was evident that Italy, returning to the negotiating table, held a considerable advantage.

France harbored no intentions of waging war against Italy, which meant that the colonial dispute between France and Italy could only be resolved at the negotiating table.

Spain favored Italy, leaving France little option but to ensure it doesn’t suffer losses without gaining any benefits from Italy.

Despite the stalemate in negotiations, with Spain expressing support for Italy, France ultimately chose to concede.

Both parties agreed to establish their own colonies in Tunisia based on the land currently occupied by each country.

The French initially proposed exchanging the central Tunisian region from Gafsa to Ghabs for the Italian territory from Kairouan to the Sfax coastline.

If the colonies could be exchanged, France would occupy northern Tunisia and Italy would occupy southern Tunisia, eliminating the awkward situation of having non-contiguous colonial territories.

However, the Italian Government quickly rejected the French Government’s proposal. The area from Gafsa to Ghabs mentioned by France, while coastal, also extends into the Tunisian interior.

This region not only houses the vast Jered Salt Marsh but also borders the southern desert, rendering it of limited land development potential.

In contrast, Italy’s occupied territory from Kairouan to Sfax is relatively flat, almost entirely plains, making it highly suitable for agricultural or pastoral development.

Although integrating the colonies into a single block is more advantageous for colonial development, Italians undoubtedly prefer to maintain the Kairouan region due to the mismatch in land value.

This results in Italy’s Tunisian colony being divided into two non-contiguous parts, with north and south Tunisia connected only through port-based transportation.

With the formal signing of the agreement, the dispute over Tunisia between the two countries officially came to an end.

For France, they secured much of the Tunisian territory, which connects with Algeria, marking a substantial gain.

For Italy, they successfully seized two pieces of land in the Tunisian region, marking the establishment of Italy’s first colony and setting a promising precedent for future colonial endeavors.

More importantly, Italy’s control over southern Tunisia, bordering Libya, signifies a considerable advantage in the colonial venture in Libya.

France has effectively withdrawn from the Libyan colonial competition because colonizing Libya requires circumventing Italy’s colonies or traversing the southern Tunisian desert, imposing substantial costs.

In reality, France is not inclined to colonize Libya anyway. Despite Libya’s vastness compared to Tunisia, only 1% of Libya’s land is arable, and the agricultural or pastoral land amounts to merely a fifth of Tunisia’s.

This figure is quite staggering. Tunisia’s total area is only 160,000 square kilometers, whereas Libya’s total area is a whopping 1,760,000 square kilometers, eleven times that of Tunisia.

Eleven times the land area has only yielded a fifth of arable land, highlighting Libya’s challenging conditions.

It is commonly said that the Middle East is built upon desert, but Libya’s situation is just as inhospitable, if not more extreme than some Middle Eastern countries.

This dominance of desert terrain accounts for why Libya remained a sparsely populated frontier area for such a long time, which also explains Tunisia’s subordinate yet relatively independent position under the Ottoman Empire.

After the peace talks ended, the French Foreign Secretary Gambetta departed without announcement, clearly dissatisfied with the outcome of the negotiations.

Yet, despite his dissatisfaction, France had to accept the results of the peace talks, as they couldn’t risk the repercussions of waging war against Italy and Spain.

With Gambetta’s departure, it became convenient for friendly discussions between Spain and Italy.

Italy’s ability to secure two colonies from France was largely thanks to Spain’s unwavering support.

Without Spain’s steadfast support, even if Italy could occupy these lands, they would eventually have to return them under French threats.

Italy was naturally aware of the importance of Spain’s support, with Umberto I and Italian Prime Minister Benedetto Caroli instructing the Italian Foreign Secretary before the peace talks to maintain favorable relations with the Spanish Government, regardless of the outcome.

Although Italy successfully retained its occupied territories, Spain’s continued support is crucial for sustaining these lands.

Until Italy firmly establishes itself in the Tunisian region, jointly resisting French colonial incursions with Spain remains the best option.

Unless Italy’s military power expands enough to ensure the security of both its homeland and colonies, Italy will not forsake its amicable relationship with Spain.

Given the mutual intent for cooperation, after a brief exchange with the Italian Foreign Secretary, Prime Minister Canovas signed an agreement with the counterpart on colonial cooperation concerning the North Africa area.

The so-called colonial cooperation is not about jointly developing a piece of land but rather ensuring mutual protection against external colonial competition to secure the safety of both country’s colonies.