Empire Rising: Spain

Chapter 49: Chapter 48: Freshly Released 5 Billion Indemnity

Under the influence of the Paris uprising, the French Defense Government quickly signed a new compensation clause with the Germans.

This compensation clause is more exaggerated than the previous draft, with the scale of compensation reaching a terrifying 5 billion francs.

In mid-April 1870, both parties signed this new compensation clause in Frankfurt, also known as the “Frankfurt Treaty.”

The treaty stipulated that France would cede Alsace and Lorraine along with the Metz Fortress to Prussia, and voluntarily renounce sovereignty over Alsace and Lorraine.

In the next three years, the French government needs to compensate Germany with 5 billion francs. This compensation will be exchanged at the rate of 1 Prussian silver coin to 3 francs 50 centimes.

The reason for converting to Prussian silver coins is to prevent the French from devaluing the franc to reduce the amount they have to pay.

Be assured, the French would absolutely do such a thing.

billion francs is not a small number, equivalent to up to 200 million pounds.

million pounds, how exaggerated is this concept?

The current main battleship is the ironclad, and its cost generally ranges from hundreds of thousands of pounds to millions of pounds.

If all this money were used to build ironclads, it would be enough for Prussia to have hundreds of powerful ironclads.

Although building a navy is not that simple, training navy soldiers and having them familiarize themselves with the operation of warships requires a long time to cultivate competent combat forces.

But this is already enough to prove the enormity of this fund, which for Prussia, just defeated France, seems like a timely help, aiding Prussia in its rapid industrial construction and allowing it to join the ranks of the world’s top powers.

In fact, from this perspective, it can be seen that Prussia’s ability to grow into the German Empire and become the world’s second power after the United Kingdom, the French have played a significant role.

Prussia’s industrial foundation wasn’t strong, and the French provided them with the industrially powerful area of Alsace and Lorraine.

Especially the Lorraine Region, which has abundant iron ore resources. The Germans used Lorraine’s iron and the Ruhr District’s coal mines, allowing the industrial power of the German Empire to surpass France in a short time.

Developing industry requires a lot of funds, and the French thoughtfully prepared 5 billion francs for the Germans.

If it weren’t for the French’s considerate assistance, Germany might still rise, but the speed would undoubtedly be much slower.

However, this also demonstrates some of the foundation of old colonial powers like England and France.

The French need to compensate 5 billion francs within three years, which means the Prussians believe that France has the capability to assemble 5 billion francs within three years.

At this point alone, France surpasses most of the countries in the world.

At least currently, Spain doesn’t have the capability to gather 5 billion francs. Forget three years, even if given ten years, it might not necessarily be possible.

Although it was already clear that the French need to pay a compensation of as high as 5 billion francs, upon truly learning about the terms of the agreement signed between France and Prussia, Carlo couldn’t help but be quite surprised and envious of Prussia.

That is a whopping sum of 200 million pounds.

Currently, what Spain lacks the most is funds, which is the only factor hindering Prim’s reforms.

After defeating the Carlos Faction, the domestic voices opposing reform in Spain have gradually weakened. But due to the lack of funds, the progress of the reforms has been slow and cannot meet Prim’s expectations for reform.

Fortunately, Prim remains sufficiently rational. Coupled with the frequent rebellions in Spain during this time, the government has not formulated overly aggressive reform plans, and the overall trend of Spanish reforms remains steady and progressive.

After Prussia received the huge compensation of 5 billion francs, Carlo’s desire to embrace Prussia grew even stronger.

Now, Prussia or rather Germany already has all the conditions to become a top-tier power, and it will be a top power in Europe in the next 40 years.

If Spain could embrace Prussia’s thigh and obtain support from Prussia in terms of industry and funds, Spain’s reforms would be smoother.

As for support from England and France, Carlo never considered it.

The British absolutely do not want to see the rise of Spain because once Spain rises, it will inevitably have the intention to reclaim Gibraltar.

Gibraltar concerns the British control of the Mediterranean, and they absolutely cannot give up their occupation of Gibraltar.

This also means that there exists an irreconcilable conflict between the United Kingdom and Spain, unless one of the nations ceases to be a major power, England and Spain cannot maintain peace.

Needless to say about France. As France’s neighbor, Spain should naturally be as weak as possible.

No country wants to see its neighbor become exceptionally powerful, and the French naturally cannot support Spain’s reform and industrial expansion.

Looking across Europe, the only remaining supporters of Spain’s reforms and industrial construction are Germany, Russia, and Italy.

The conflict between Germany and France is intense, even if just to cause some trouble for the French, Germans would support Spain’s reforms.

Russia has conflicts with the British, and naturally would also willing to see the rise of Spain. But currently, Russia is not much better off than Spain, and their own reform is incomplete, let alone taking out funds to support Spain.

The remaining Italy can be connected due to reasons that Carlo comes from the Italian Royal Family, coupled with Italy and Spain having a common enemy, France, in North Africa.

But the Italian Royal Family is originally family, and the only major power they can ally through marriage would be Germany.

However, Carlo wouldn’t force matters of marriage. Despite considering political interests, Carlo also does not hope to marry a wife he does not like.

If he could meet someone he loves, and is also beneficial to the Royal Family and Spain, it would naturally be a win-win.

A few days have quickly passed, and Carlo still had some gains.

One is the financial enterprise Carlo attaches great importance to, Royal United Bank’s situation.

In a week’s time since opening, the total number of account holders has exceeded five thousand, with total savings reaching 29.13 million pessetas, and an average of 5787.31 pessetas per account.

Although the average savings decreased from forty thousand on the first day to less than six thousand now, it is good news for Royal United Bank.

Because it represents that there are more civilian account holders, and Royal United Bank gradually has credibility in the hearts of Madrid citizens.

After all, Madrid has a limited population, and having more than five thousand account holders in a short time has already proven the public’s trust.

Although the contribution among them by nobles is greater, the public’s trust is even more an encouragement for Carlo, at least proving that the support for the Savoy Dynasty and Carlo among Spaniards is gradually increasing.