Empire Rising: Spain

Chapter 219: Chapter 156: Achievements of the Five-Year Plan

Spain’s equipment purchasing and talent acquisition initiatives could be described as high-profile, attracting the attention of many European countries.

However, to the Spanish Government, this was inconsequential. The talents and equipment introduced could contribute to Spain’s development, so naturally, there was no need to worry about the reactions of these countries.

More importantly, powerful industrial and economic countries like the UK, France, and Germany were still entrenched in the quagmire of economic crisis at this time.

And countries like Portugal and the Netherlands, whose industries and economies are relatively weaker, could not present a significant threat to Spain.

It is precisely because of this that Spain’s talent acquisition efforts, even after receiving protests from some countries, not only did not relent but instead intensified.

The Spanish Government also publicly stated that Spain’s talent acquisition activities were in full accordance with the laws and regulations of various countries. Spain offered these technical talents and scientists salaries within the normal range and welcomed these countries to offer the same salaries and compete with Spain.

In essence, Prime Minister Prim was certain that European countries, amidst an economic crisis, could not afford the high cost of retaining domestic talents.

For countries troubled by the economic crisis, the most important task was to rectify the domestic economy and rescue those large companies and enterprises on the verge of bankruptcy, rather than focusing on the small number of talents being swayed.

For major countries, after all, the talents being poached were still a minority. Should they engage in a life-or-death struggle with Spain over these talents? Of course not.

As for smaller countries, their actions were confined to mere protests. Particularly for Portugal, which suffered the most severe talent loss, they even had to consider Spain’s stance before protesting, as Spain is their neighbor after all.

To what extent was Spain’s talent acquisition extraordinary? Since the outbreak of the economic crisis till now, merely three months have passed, and the Royal Family has already spent over 3 million pesetas on talent acquisition.

It must be noted that this is only the cost of acquiring talent and only covers the Royal Family’s expenditures. If we add the total number of talents acquired by the government, Spain has cumulatively introduced over 2,000 talents in total.

However, unfortunately, more than half of these 2,000 individuals were ordinary engineers and technicians. The research-type talents that Carlo most anticipated numbered less than 500.

Among these fewer than 500 research talents, those awarded the title and treatment of a Second-Level Academician number less than 200. Although some were not given high-level titles and treatment due to being newcomers, this was a minority.

According to the materials from the Royal Intelligence Bureau, among these fewer than 500 research talents, having 20 ultimately earn the title of Third-Level Academician would already be quite remarkable.

Nevertheless, they were research talents; even if their abilities were not as extraordinary as imagined, Carlo was quite welcoming to them.

After these talents almost all arrived in Spain, Carlo personally attended the welcome banquet held for them, expressing a warm welcome to their arrival.

The costs for acquiring talents ultimately were the minority; the expenses for purchasing equipment and enterprises were the majority.

Over the past three months, the Spanish industrial sector has purchased more than 30 enterprises in total, with the funds spent exceeding 80 million pesetas.

The plan for purchasing enterprises is still ongoing, and in the coming months, the spree by the industrial sector will continue, and its scale will only grow larger.

Amid the storm clouds of the economic crisis, some significant events occurring in Europe were also noteworthy.

First, before the outbreak of the economic crisis, German Emperor William I, Prime Minister Bismarck, and Marshal Moltke visited the Russian capital of St. Petersburg and signed a secret military agreement with the Russian Government.

Although Carlo was unaware of the specific content of the military agreement signed between the two countries, considering the historical trajectory of the Triple Alliance, it was likely a mutual defense treaty or similar agreement between Germany and Russia at the time.

It was also previously mentioned that Austria, which had become Austria-Hungary, constantly moved closer to Germany in its foreign policy.

This was unavoidable. After Prussia won the German unification, the newly-founded German Empire became an unstoppable giant.

Instead of competing with the German Empire, Austria-Hungary might as well focus on expanding its sphere of influence in Southeast Europe, in the Balkan Peninsula.

The military alliance between Germany and Russia was most alarming not to England and France, but to Austria-Hungary.

Although Austria-Hungary also had Spain as an ally, distant water cannot quench present thirst. Spain’s strength was not overly powerful, and it could not assist Austria-Hungary in the struggle in the Balkan region.

Austria-Hungary needed a strong ally like Germany, at the very least, to prevent further rapprochement between Germany and Russia, and maintain the current situation in the Balkans to satisfy Austria-Hungary’s needs.

At this time, the conflict between Austria-Hungary and Russia was not yet so intense, as both parties were eyeing parts of the Ottoman Empire.

In handling issues in the Balkan region, Russia and Austria-Hungary maintained a cooperative stance, seeking joint resolution.

Shortly after the outbreak of the economic crisis, Russian Emperor Alexander II paid a public visit to Austria-Hungary. During this opportunity, the two emperors formally signed the Schönbrunn Agreement, which also reaffirmed the two countries’ shared stance on cooperative problem-solving.