Chapter 240: Political Parties

After staying in France for a few days, Gao Da's visit concluded smoothly.

Although France's industrial development had shown signs of decline, it remained very formidable in terms of its economy. On the premise that Spain would not lean toward Germany, the French were also happy to invest more in Spain.

Following negotiations between the two governments, Gao Da ultimately secured another 500 million francs in loans from France.

Of this, 100 million francs came from the French government; as a reward for Spain maintaining neutrality or even leaning toward France, this loan was interest-free, required repayment within five years, and had no additional conditions.

The remaining 400 million francs in loans came entirely from French private banks and financial groups, but these were also low-interest loans with relatively low rates.

These low-interest loans had longer repayment terms, with the Spanish government only needing to pay them off within ten years.

Of course, like the previous loans provided by France, these loans from French private banks and financial groups came with certain requirements.

For example, 60% of the funds from this 400 million francs could only be used to purchase supplies within France, while the remaining 40% was for the Spanish government to allocate freely.

This meant the Spanish government only had 160 million francs in free funds, while the remaining 240 million francs had to be spent on imports from France.

The good news was that due to various restrictions, the interest on this loan was not high. The Spanish government only needed to repay a total of 480 million francs in principal and interest within ten years, averaging an annual interest rate of only 2% of the principal.

Because 240 million francs could only be used to buy goods in France, Gao Da naturally did not stand on ceremony and immediately signed a large order with France.

The items purchased in this procurement mainly included various industrial equipment, some technical data, and shares in some French factories and enterprises.

This major purchase cost over 100 million francs, leaving French officials and the owners of the factories and enterprises that received the orders beaming with joy.

These orders could not only alleviate the economic crises faced by these factories and enterprises but also promote the growth of the French economy.

After passing through these hands, the money simply returned to France, having no impact on France whatsoever.

Spain also obtained the necessary industrial equipment and relevant technical data through this large purchase; in short, such cooperation was not a loss for either Spain or France.

This major purchase was also the last thing Gao Da did in France. After the procurement orders were signed, Gao Da took a group of Spanish government officials and returned south to Spain by train.

This visit took nearly two months in total. When Gao Da left Spain, Christmas had just ended, and by the time he returned, it was already February.

The first thing to do upon returning to Spain was naturally to spend quality time with the two little ones, Hu An and Fernando, and Sofia. Of course, there was also Queen Sofia and the two little maids.

After resting for a few days, Gao Da turned his attention back to Spain's development, beginning to attend meetings one after another to discuss the next phase of Spain's development plan.

Since the proposal to exchange the Cuba colony was raised at the cabinet meeting last time, the Spanish government had determined a basic strategy: prioritizing the development of African colonies.

Among Spain's three African colonies, the highest priority was the South Morocco colony, followed by the Congo territory, and finally the Guinea colony.

Apart from the South Morocco colony, the development of the Congo territory and the Guinea colony faced a problem: an insufficient resident population in the colonies.

The resident population here refers to the population recognized by Spain, that is, legal citizens who have obtained Spanish nationality.

Currently, the entire Congo territory had a resident population of less than 20, 00, which was undoubtedly a drop in the bucket for the Congo territory, which spanned over a million square kilometers, and it also limited the speed of the Congo territory's development.

The same logic applied to the Guinea colony. The Guinea colony also covered tens of thousands of square kilometers, yet its resident population was less than 10, 00.

Therefore, the purpose of Gao Da convening the cabinet meeting was to find ways to further resolve the population problem in these colonies.

The cabinet government's efforts last year were quite effective. Through the method of trading with Russia for population, Spain obtained about 25, 00 people from Russia, and at least half of them were dispersed to the various major colonies.

This also brought rapid population growth to Spain's major colonies, and the Congo territory began to take shape, at least no longer looking as crude as it had before.

But clearly, this small amount of population was not enough to meet the needs of Spain's colonies. To get the African colonies on the right track as soon as possible, the Spanish government needed to obtain more population from elsewhere.

Currently, there was only one country from which Spain could import a large number of immigrants: Russia, the country with the largest population in Europe.

For a country with such a massive population as Russia, losing tens of thousands of immigrants a year was of no concern, nor would it cause the Russian leadership any heartache.

Currently, the proportion of the Russian population in the Congo territory had already reached about half. According to Gao Da's idea, the proportion of the Russian population needed to be maintained at around 50%, or even reduced to below 50%.

Fortunately, Spain could also obtain population from the South Morocco colony, and combined with a small amount of immigration from the mainland, it could ensure that the Russian population in the Congo territory would not be too high, preventing it from affecting the stability of the Congo territory.

Regarding the South Morocco colony, Gao Da had only one plan: to assimilate or eliminate all Moroccans in the South Morocco colony.

These Moroccans faced only two choices: either work to death as Moroccans in Spain's plantations, mines, and other labor sites, or go to the Spanish mainland or other colonies as Spanish citizens.

Once they obtained Spanish nationality, they would gain the status of free citizens and could look for work they liked just like ordinary Spaniards, rather than being forced to work in those more dangerous labor sites.

Currently, the Moroccan population in the South Morocco colony was constantly decreasing, and it was estimated that the number of Moroccans had already fallen below 750, 00.

This actually facilitated Spain's assimilation progress. These Moroccans clearly could not stir up any trouble; they could only obediently choose their future under the rules set by the Spanish government.

Clearly, most Moroccans were relatively smart. They might not be willing to join Spanish nationality, but faced with the choice of either joining Spanish nationality or being a slave for life, they all sensibly chose the former.

If it weren't for the fact that Spain's nationality review system was too strict previously, with an observation period of several months or even a year, I am afraid that tens of thousands of Moroccans would have joined Spanish nationality every year.

After developing the Congo territory, Spain gradually relaxed the quotas for joining nationality. Currently, more than 100, 00 Moroccans had entered the observation stage; if things went smoothly, Spain hoped to gain more than 100, 00 immigrants within half a year.

Most of these 100, 00 Moroccan immigrants would be sent to the Guinea colony and the Congo territory, with only a very small portion having the opportunity to go to the Spanish mainland.

Dividing them between the Guinea colony and the Congo territory, each could basically receive about 30, 00 immigrants.

These immigrants could help Spain cultivate the colonies and territories faster, while also avoiding the need to send a large number of immigrants from the mainland.

For Spain, which was already short on population, this was the best news; the population development of the mainland would not be restricted and could even achieve rapid growth thanks to the continuous influx of immigrants.

Speaking of population, after Gao Da finished his visit and returned to Spain, the cabinet government also reported to Gao Da on the growth of Spain's population last year.

As of January 1878, Spain's total population had exceeded 19 million, reaching 19. 2 million. According to the current rate of population growth, Spain had a good chance of increasing its population to over 20 million by 1880.

In addition to the sharp increase in the birth rate of the local population, another major reason for the rapid population growth was the large number of immigrants Spain received last year.

Russian immigrants alone exceeded 25, 00, not to mention the 15, 00 or so immigrants from Italy and Portugal combined.

Adding up all the immigrants from various European countries and regions, they provided Spain with a population growth of over 50, 00, which was a quite impressive figure.

It was expected that for a long time to come, Spain would be able to obtain a considerable number of immigrants from Russia and Italy every year.

Coupled with the high birth rate in Spain, this could ensure that Spain achieved higher population growth while the proportion of the main ethnic group did not decrease.

Only by increasing the population to over 30 million would one have the qualifications to challenge the five traditional European powers. Only by increasing the population to over 50 million would there be hope of surpassing the five traditional European powers.

In addition to more detailed planning for the colonial population, the Spanish government also officially began its plotting against Portugal.

The history of Spain and Portugal was spent in constant love-hate relationships. The Kingdom of Portugal was the first to separate from Spain, which also led to the two countries having deep origins.

Coupled with the fact that Portugal and Spain were the only two sovereign countries on the Iberian Peninsula, this led to the relationship between the two sides always being poor, and Spain had never given up its covetousness for Portugal.

The so-called plotting against Portugal was actually a series of small strategies to make Portugal more chaotic internally.

Compared to Spain, which was gradually achieving a revival, Portugal, still in a period of decline, was clearly more chaotic internally. Chaotic order was more prone to problems, and for Spain, it could use various ways to make the problems within Portugal more acute and intense.

Portugal possessed two large colonies in Africa, but the benefits these two colonies brought to Portugal were not high.

Historically, it was precisely because Portugal maintained too many colonies that its domestic finances were strained, eventually leading to two consecutive bankruptcies within ten years.

The economic collapse caused a serious social crisis and also shook the foundations of Portugal's long-standing monarchy. Eventually, King Carlos I of Portugal and the Crown Prince Luis were assassinated, and the Portuguese throne was overthrown a few years later.

What Gao Da had to do was accelerate Portugal's economic collapse, plunge Portugal into chaos, and make the public have a crisis of confidence in the monarchy.

Although the 19th century was the era of the Industrial Revolution, it was also the era of great revolutions. As long as Portugal fell into chaos, a great revolution was inevitable.

And history had also proven that the first republic established by most countries after overthrowing the monarchy was not that reliable, just like the Spain of history.

The Spain of history established the Spanish Republic after overthrowing the Bourbon dynasty. But the hasty establishment of the republic did not slow down Spain's decline; instead, because of the frequent changes in the republican regime, Spain fell into even more serious chaos, eventually prompting the restoration of the monarchy.

What Gao Da had to do was push the Portuguese to launch a revolution to overthrow the royal family and establish the Portuguese Republic.

The republic hastily established by the Portuguese was destined to be unable to rule the country perfectly, and with Spain causing trouble on the sidelines, Portugal's economy was destined to fall into an even more serious collapse.

At this time, the Portuguese public would also remember the benefits of the monarchy. But since Portugal's own royal family had been overthrown, they could only restore the monarchy by electing a king or promoting a noble to become king.

As a neighbor of Portugal, if Spain developed rapidly and entered a prosperous stage during this period, it would certainly attract the attention of most Portuguese.

If Gao Da polished his image in Portugal while guiding the public opinion of the Portuguese people, it might not be impossible to promote the re-merger of Spain and Portugal.

As long as Portugal could be annexed through peaceful means, the subsequent matters would become quite simple. After all, Portugal's population was only over 4 million, so assimilation would be relatively simple.

Spain could easily disperse the Portuguese people by recruiting workers through industrial bases, while simultaneously immigrating a portion of Spaniards to Portugal.

Once the proportion of Portuguese in the Portuguese region was reduced to below 50%, it would not be so easy for Portugal to want to become independent from Spain again.

For this quite tempting piece of fat that was Portugal, Gao Da still wanted to eat it as soon as possible. If Portugal's population of over 4 million were added, Spain's population would have the hope of increasing to 30 million by around 1890, and to over 40 million before the outbreak of World War I; only then would it have enough self-preservation power in World War I, and could even decide the outcome of World War I at a critical moment.

It wouldn't even have to wait for World War I; for some small-scale wars and conflicts before World War I, Spain would also have enough strength to intervene and fight for more benefits for itself.

Some more covert means involved supporting some parties existing within Portugal and using these parties to completely stir up Portugal's political situation.

For a monarchy, parties that advocated freedom and democracy would harm their own interests. But most countries had no good way to deal with this; they either chose to concede to these parties or could only use force to suppress them.

No matter which way the Portuguese government chose to handle it, Spain could use such methods to stir up Portugal's political situation.

Once Portugal adopted the means of armed suppression, it would inevitably incite even more intense resistance from the Portuguese.

Then there would be a good show to watch. If a civil war broke out in Portugal because of this, Spain, as Portugal's only neighbor, could have a more profound influence on Portugal's situation.

Of course, it would be best to find a time when the British were too busy to care, such as during the Boer War, to ignite the contradictions within Portugal.

These actions against Portugal still had to be left to the government to do; at the very least, Gao Da could not participate in them on the surface.

After all, King Luis of Portugal was Gao Da's brother-in-law, and the Queen of Portugal was Gao Da's own sister. Attacking one's own relatives was a bit difficult to justify in terms of face.

If a rebellion broke out within Portugal itself to overthrow the royal family, then this problem could be easily solved.

Gao Da could even gain the favor of the Portuguese royalists by providing asylum to the Portuguese royal family, which could also avoid damage to his own reputation.

Mentioning supporting parties in Portugal to mess up Portugal's political situation, Gao Da suddenly had a new idea.

Since he could support foreign parties to stir up the situation, why couldn't he support domestic parties to control the domestic situation?

Spain currently had three major parties: the Royalist Party was a die-hard supporter of the monarchy, the Progressive Party also supported the monarchy, and only the Liberal Party had an ambiguous attitude.

And among these three major parties, there was no workers' party concerning workers' interests. If Gao Da created and supported a workers' party, he could not only perfect Spain's party system but also stabilize Spain's domestic situation by controlling the party.

It is well known that the power of workers had been a relatively strong force since the Industrial Revolution, and could even influence the fate of a country.

If Gao Da could completely grasp this political force of workers in his own hands by creating a workers' party, coupled with the support of the pro-conservative peasant class, then who could destroy Spain's monarchical system?

A Kingdom of Spain that had gained the support of the worker and peasant classes could be said to be invincible to a certain extent.

Once Spain's bourgeoisie grew up, he could control it to make the bourgeoisie and the working class oppose each other; the royal family only needed to balance these two classes, and coupled with the support of the noble class, it could completely achieve the goal of stabilizing the entire country.

If the power of the working class was too strong, he could also alleviate contradictions by pushing out a few capitalists. Anyway, capitalists were not good things, and for the sake of the country's stability, it was very necessary to appropriately sacrifice a few capitalists.

Thinking of this, Gao Da was very satisfied with his plan and decided to try to execute it according to the plan.

Even if the effect of the plan was not as good as imagined, this workers' party completely controlled by Gao Da could still play a certain role.

After all, compared to letting the political power of the working class grow wildly, appropriate guidance and control could make this force sharp without hurting oneself.

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(End of this chapter)