Chapter 264: Colonial Exchange (Part I)

From 1869 to 1880, over these 11 years, the status of the Cuba colony underwent earth-shaking changes.

During the Bourbon dynasty, Cuba was Spain's most important colony and also one of the primary sources of Spanish fiscal revenue.

At that time, the Spanish mainland was not developed; although it had a certain industrial and economic scale, most tax revenue was withheld by the nobility and lower-level governments.

A large number of peasants were attached to the land of the nobility, with the nobility directly collecting land rent and agricultural taxes from these peasants, while the church also levied an additional one-tenth tithe.

The consequence of this was not only that the Spanish government could not obtain sufficient fiscal revenue, but it also caused the Spanish populace to bear several heavy burdens, with living conditions being miserable and standards of living being abysmal.

Since the reforms of Prime Minister Primo and the two five-year plans, the status quo of the Spanish mainland had improved significantly, and the fiscal revenue from the Cuba colony was no longer that important.

Some time had passed since the last proposal to exchange the Cuba colony was put forward, and judging by the current reactions of government officials and the parliament, this matter was not impossible to facilitate.

As long as the Cuba colony could be exchanged for some land that was still considered valuable, or land with strategic value, the emotions of the populace could be appeased.

As for the opinions of government officials and members of parliament, in certain situations, they could be ignored. After all, in a situation where the opinions of Prime Minister Canovas and King Luo Si were in complete agreement, other officials and members of parliament were not qualified to hold different opinions.

With the popularization of electricity and the construction of streetcars, the Second Industrial Revolution was also proceeding in full swing. The emerging powers led by Germany and the United States would see their comprehensive national strength rise rapidly during the Second Industrial Revolution, and America's ambition for Cuba would also continuously expand.

Although Spain's comprehensive national strength was also continuously growing, in the final analysis, its potential was still not as good as that of the United States, a country with an area of several million square kilometers and a population of tens of millions.

Although Luo Si was not afraid of the Americans coveting Cuba, as the saying goes, there is the logic of a thousand days of being a thief, but no logic of a thousand days of guarding against a thief; for this hot potato that was Cuba, it was time to let go when it was time to let go.

More importantly, this was still the early stage of the European powers carving up Africa, and there were many colonies of extremely high value worldwide whose value had not yet been discovered.

If the Cuba colony could be exchanged at this time, Spain had hope of trading for some important colonies in Africa, and also had hope of trading for parts of the Middle East.

Africa was closer to the Spanish mainland, and some colonies had the hope of connecting with Spain's existing South Morocco colony, the Congo territory, and the Guinea colony, which could be considered a good choice for Spain.

As for the land in the Middle East, it naturally went without saying. As the land richest in oil in the whole world, as long as a piece of land could be obtained in the Middle East, Spain would not have any worries regarding oil in the future.

Oil was the most important strategic material for the next 100 or even 200 years; the more oil held in hand, the more initiative Spain would occupy in the future international situation.

Of course, one also had to have sufficient military strength to hold onto these lands possessing oil. After all, there was a saying from later generations that was quite famous, which was that oil breeds the U. . military.

If a small country discovered an oil field, it was often not a good thing. Not only would the oil field be occupied by a powerful nation, but even the internal affairs of one's own country would be interfered with by other powerful nations.

If the Cuba colony were to be exchanged, then Luo Si's targets would only be the two regions of Africa and the Middle East.

There were not many countries that possessed colonies in the Africa and Middle East regions, and those that could reach a deal with Spain were, in reality, only the two colonial powers of Britain and France, plus Portugal, this already weakened colonial empire.

Although Britain possessed large tracts of colonies in Africa, the British would absolutely never let go of such important colonial regions as the Cape Colony.

Although the Cuba colony possessed a certain economic value, it was clearly not worth such importance to the British. If one were to exchange colonies with the British, the regions that could be obtained were basically concentrated in West Africa, including the British Gambia colony, the British Sierra Leone colony, and the British Gold Coast.

Of course, what the British could pay was not limited to these small colonies; there was also the Middle East region, which had equally high economic value.

In theory, the Middle East region was still held in the hands of the Ottoman Empire, but British infiltration into the Middle East region had already begun to take shape.

As early as 1861, Britain had signed a treaty with Bahrain in the Middle East, and Bahrain had thus become a British protectorate.

Relying on Bahrain as this transit station, Britain could exert greater influence on the Middle East region and had the hope of fully taking over the Ottoman Empire's sphere of influence in the Middle East after the Ottoman Empire completely weakened.

In the Middle East region, no country could compete with Britain for colonies; after all, this land was not far from Britain's core colony, India.

The three countries of France, Germany, and Russia, which had the strength to compete with Britain, were clearly beyond their reach; their hands could not reach here.

If one considered the benefits brought by the Middle East region, exchanging with the British was clearly the most advantageous. The conditions the British could provide were more numerous, and could even include mining rights in Australia and so on.

Australia possessed extremely rich mineral resources, among which were coal mines, iron mines, and other metal mineral deposits that industry desperately needed.

Although Spain also had coal and iron mines domestically, the overall scale was not large, and it could not support a major industrial power with massive output.

This was also the reason why Luo Si wanted to continuously expand colonies, because the existing scale and potential of the Spanish mainland could not compete with super powers like Britain, France, and Germany.

The scale of colonies that France could exchange with Spain was not much different from that of Portugal, and the probability of France abandoning its West African colonies was extremely low; it was basically impossible to reach cooperation with Spain.

This actually also meant that Spain only had two choices: either reach cooperation with the British to obtain land in West Africa and the Middle East, or reach cooperation with the Portuguese to obtain the Congo Kingdom under Portuguese control.

Although the Congo Kingdom could be connected with Spain's Congo territory, the actual value was certainly not as high as the combined value of the British West African colonies plus the Middle East land.

Moreover, Portugal's comprehensive strength was even worse, which might prompt the United States to launch a war for the Cuba colony earlier.

If the United States were allowed to rise too early, then it would be even less easy to resolve the trouble of the United States in the future. It would be better to reach cooperation with the British, let the British obtain Cuba, and the United States would also have to weigh whether it had the confidence to challenge the British Empire.

In a situation where the United States could not obtain the Cuba colony, it would become more difficult to rise. Luo Si was not afraid of the Americans eyeing the Philippines; although the Philippines was separated from the Spanish mainland by ten thousand miles, the Philippines was also not close to the American mainland.

The Philippines colony was about 11, 00 kilometers away from the U. . West Coast, and the island of Kalimantan was also only about 11, 00 kilometers away from the Spanish East Coast.

This was not like Cuba at the Americans' doorstep; if the United States wanted to cross the ocean to invade the Philippines colony, Luo Si would not mind letting the Americans experience the changes in Spain since the Industrial Revolution.

Anyway, the current United States was still a soft persimmon and could not pose too much of a threat to the European powers. If one waited until after World War I, after the United States had obtained certain benefits, it would not be so easy to treat it as a soft persimmon.

After comprehensive consideration, Luo Si was more willing to reach cooperation with the British to complete the exchange of colonies.

From the development of British colonies in history, it could also be seen that the British purpose for the development of African colonies was mainly to complete the connection between the Egypt and South Africa colonies.

In the end, the British did indeed complete the connection between the two African colonies in the north and south; this vast colony did not include West Africa, which also meant that in the eyes of the British, the colonies located in West Africa were not that important.

Although there was a high probability of obtaining the British colonies in the West Africa region, this did not mean there were no disadvantages.

Currently, there were three major powers colonizing the West Africa region, namely Britain, France, and Spain.

If Spain fully took over the British West African colonies, this also meant that in the future, only France and Spain would be left to compete for colonies in the West Africa region.

A tripod might be relatively stable, but when two countries fight, one will inevitably be injured. If Spain wanted to complete the integration of the West African colonies, it would have to face the pressure brought by the French directly.

The British in history did indeed complete the connection between the Egypt and South Africa colonies, but the French were not without achievements.

France obtained large tracts of colonies in West Africa and North Africa; although the large tracts of land here were desert regions, the total area of the colonies and the quantity of mineral resources were enough to rank second among the powers, apart from the colonies obtained by the British.

One must know that the German Empire, which was the world's second-strongest power during World War I, only obtained a small piece of worthless colony in the scramble for African colonies.

This was enough to prove the intensity of African colonization; one slight mistake could lead to a colonial war between Spain and France.

The good news was that before the Three Emperors' League had broken up, France did not dare to tear its face with Spain.

Once Spain was forced to lean toward the Three Emperors' League, what France would face would be the complete blockade of France by the European continent.

And how long would the breakup of the Three Emperors' League actually take? In history, the breakup time of the Three Emperors' League was 1887, but in this world, it might not be so.

The Russo-Turkish War greatly damaged the relationship between the Austro-Hungarian Empire and Russia, and the post-war peace negotiations greatly damaged the relationship between Germany and Russia.

With the signing of the alliance treaty between Germany and the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Russia instead became an outsider in the Three Emperors' League.

The French naturally also saw the possibility of the Three Emperors' League breaking up, and the French government was continuously wooing Russia, attempting to form a Franco-Russian alliance to confront the German-Austrian alliance.

However, the current Russian government clearly had not made up its mind; while they were in contact with French capital, they had not broken the treaties with Germany and Austria, which also allowed the so-called Three Emperors' League to still exist, and the situation in Europe was able to remain peaceful.

Since it had been determined to exchange colonies with the British, then what needed to be done next was naturally some public opinion layout before the exchange of colonies.

Spain could not just directly find the British government to discuss the matter of colonial exchange; this would definitely arouse the vigilance and suspicion of the British government.

To exchange colonies, one must have a reason that looked quite reasonable. This would not only allow the British to negotiate with the Spanish government with peace of mind, but also appease the Spanish populace, ensuring that the loss of the Cuba colony would not cause public anger.

The best reason to prompt the Spanish government to abandon the Cuba colony was that the rebellions in the Cuba colony were constant, making the Spanish government overwhelmed, and thus choosing to abandon it voluntarily.

Although this was a very good reason, when spreading the news, one also needed to grasp a degree.

Spain was originally abandoning the Cuba colony voluntarily; if the news spread was too serious, it would inevitably make the British government sit on the ground and raise the price, leading to Spain obtaining fewer benefits.

To ensure the smooth exchange of colonies, Luo Si even took the initiative to convene a cabinet meeting, requesting close cooperation between the diplomatic department and the colonial affairs department to promote the exchange of the Cuba colony.

Of course, before exchanging the Cuba colony, what Spain needed to do was to absorb as much of the population that supported Spain from the Cuba colony as possible.

Although most people in the Cuba colony wanted to be independent, there were still a small number of Spanish immigrants willing to continue to submit to Spanish rule.

Under Spanish rule, the security of Cuba could still be guaranteed. But if it were to become independent, Cuba, with a population of just over a million, would have no power to resist in front of other powers.

Spanish colonial rule was indeed cruel, but this did not mean that the colonial rule of other European countries was kind.

If the complete independence of Cuba could not be guaranteed, a considerable number of Spanish-descended immigrants would rather remain in the embrace of Spain; at least they could become first-class citizens in the Spanish colonial system, and their interests could be sufficiently guaranteed.

Although they were all European immigrants, in different countries, different immigrants also had different treatments.

Take the United States as an example. In peacetime, whether they were immigrants from Britain, Germany, France, Russia, or Italy, everyone was white, and naturally, they would be treated equally.

But when it came to wartime, immigrants from countries at war with the United States would also be subject to certain discrimination and targeting within the United States.

The Germans who immigrated to the United States during the First and Second World Wars received such treatment, and their situation could be considered miserable compared to other white immigrants.

Of course, no matter the period, the treatment of white people was always better than that of other races.

The reason why some white people chose to immigrate abroad was precisely that they could enjoy the treatment of high-class citizens in foreign countries. This era was quite cruel to black people, and even the laws of various colonies and immigrant countries basically would not protect the interests of black people.

Even for black slaves who had obtained the status of free people, their interests would still not be protected.

This point could also be seen from later generations. Even in the 21st century, white police officers could still shoot at black people unscrupulously.

As long as the incident was not fermented by public opinion, the white police officer would not only not receive any punishment, but instead had the hope of receiving a few days of paid leave.

And black police officers were completely different. As soon as an incident of a black police officer shooting a white person broke out, it would quickly evolve into a political event sweeping the entire United States.

It was like this in later generations, let alone in this chaotic era. In 1880, it was very common for white Americans to shoot and kill black people, especially those white families with considerable power; killing a few black people would not be punished.

As for black people killing white people in retaliation, that was absolutely impossible. Because in the United States at this time, the government from top to bottom practiced a policy of racial segregation.

Black people could only live in remote rural areas and chaotic slums; it was rare to see traces of black people in prosperous cities.

Even if one could see black people in prosperous New York, these black people were definitely the ones with the lowest status. Compared to those with the highest status among the black group, it was easier for slaves who were beasts of burden for white people to enter big cities.

In a situation where the members of Congress, capitalists, and government officials in the United States were basically white, the treatment and situation of black Americans could be imagined.

When Luo Si and Prime Minister Canovas determined the policy of exchanging the Cuba colony, not a single cabinet official stood up to oppose it.

They were not stupid; they knew who had bestowed the power in their hands. It would be fine if such a proposal had been put forward by a cabinet member; at least it would prove that they were qualified to refute and debate.

But such a proposal was put forward by the Prime Minister and the King personally; even if other members of the cabinet did not support such an idea, they were unable to prevent such a situation from happening.

What's more, as early as the last discussion, the Spanish cabinet government had maintained a quite ambiguous attitude toward exchanging the Cuba colony.

There were indeed cabinet members who explicitly opposed it, but not many. More cabinet ministers maintained a non-committal attitude; as long as they did not have to be responsible for this matter, they did not mind going with the flow and echoing the decision of the Prime Minister and the King.

After the Spanish government made the decision, various public opinion institutions also took action.

First was the Cuba government side, which needed to let some Spanish opponents plan resistance activities.

Of course, such resistance activities needed to be kept at a certain scale; at least they could not affect the Cuba colony.

If a large-scale resistance broke out in Cuba during this period, even if the colony could be successfully exchanged in the end, the value of the Cuba colony would definitely be greatly discounted.

(End of chapter)