Empire Rising: Spain

One must admit, ever since the Franco-Prussian War, the development of the Germans has hit an accelerated pace.

The unified German Empire quickly became the world’s second strongest industrial power, and the speed of industrial development was not in the least affected by the unification of the country.

In 1871, Germany’s steel production was only 251,000 tons. But last year, Germany’s annual steel production had already exceeded 400,000 tons.

Although surpassed by the equally rapid development of the United States, Germany’s steel production still ranked third in the world, far exceeding France’s 300,000 tons.

It’s worth mentioning that Spain’s steel production, after nearly a decade of hard work, finally reached a scale of 201,000 tons.

Though this seems not much, it already surpassed the steel production of Austria-Hungary and Russia. Even looking at the world, Spain’s steel production can rank behind the UK, US, Germany, and France, claiming to be the world’s fifth largest steel producer.

However, steel production only represents the scale in the heavy industry sector, and does not represent a country’s industrial level. Although Spain surpassed Austria-Hungary in terms of steel production, in terms of total industrial scale and industrial level, there is still a certain gap with Austria-Hungary.

One can only say that the former Spanish Colonial Empire was too glorious, and even weakened over such a long time, still retains a certain foundation.

After these years of development, although Spain has not yet restored its peak stance, in terms of industry, compared to the five great powers like Austria-Hungary and Russia, the difference is not too much.

Spain’s industrial scale has even surpassed that of Russia, it’s just that Carlo did not advertise this much, which is why the peoples and governments of European countries are not very aware of it.

In fact, during these years of economic crisis, Spain has been quietly developing, and is currently definitely the strongest country in Europe outside the five great powers.

Under the guidance of German officials, Carlo and Spanish officials visited several important cities in the Ruhr District.

After completing the visit, Carlo, with the introduction of the German government, met the controllers of famous German companies like Krupp.

Apart from being a famous arms company, Krupp is also an advanced technology steel company.

At the 1862 London International Industrial and Art Exposition, the Bessemer process which allows for the convenient smelting of low-quality iron ore into high-quality steel made its first appearance.

And in the next six years, more than 70 Bessemer converters were put into use in Europe, most of which were built in Germany.

Led by Alfred Krupp, Krupp was not only the first steel company in Germany to adopt the Bessemer process, but also rapidly became a well-known German high-quality steel production company.

The steel produced using the Bessemer process was also internally called ”Krupp Steel” in Germany, which made the Krupp Company famous and garnered strong support from then King of Prussia William I and Prime Minister Bismarck.

With the support from governmental forces, the Krupp Company quickly expanded its scale and began to delve into military and chemical industries.

The Krupp Cannon made with Krupp Steel was Alfred Krupp’s best return to the trust of William I and Prime Minister Bismarck, and it was also the trump card that drove the Krupp Company’s prosperity.

The reason why Carlo wanted to meet Alfred Krupp was not only to introduce Krupp Company’s artillery technology but also to introduce Krupp Company’s steelmaking technology.

Steelmaking requires the use of chemistry, and the country with the most chemical talent reserves is undoubtedly the British Empire. In fact, many famous steelmaking processes were invented by British scientists, but the ones who heavily employed these steelmaking processes weren’t necessarily the British Government.

Alfred Krupp’s talents in steelmaking technology are beyond doubt. He successively learned the Bessemer process and Thomas steelmaking process, keeping Krupp Company’s steelmaking technology at the forefront of the world, which is one of the reasons for the prosperity of the Krupp Company.

The strength of German artillery technology is largely due to the advanced steelmaking process. The famous Krupp Cannon barrels were made with Krupp Steel, whose durability also contributed to the powerful and very stable performance of the Krupp Cannon.

Since Krupp Company is a private enterprise, this also increases the possibility of Spain obtaining steelmaking and artillery technology from Krupp Company.

Given that the German Government does not oppose, Carlo is very confident in reaching a cooperation with Krupp Company, which, through Krupp Company’s steelmaking process, would allow the Spanish steel production to increase further.

Sure enough, when Carlo met the famous Alfred Krupp, the other’s attitude was very respectful, and expressed willingness to cooperate with the Spanish Government.

Due to the economic crisis that hasn’t fully ended, Krupp Company, as a steel company, was also affected. More importantly, another major source of income for Krupp Company, military industry, also lacked orders at this time, making the company’s finances quite tight.

Although Krupp Company was willing to cooperate with Spain, when Alfred Krupp heard Carlo mention that the cooperation was to purchase Krupp Company’s artillery technology and steelmaking technology, even Alfred Krupp was somewhat shocked and hesitant.

Steelmaking and artillery technologies are the foundation of the existence of Krupp Company, not to mention introducing both these technologies simultaneously.