Chapter 265: Colonial Replacement (Part 2)

From 1878 to 1880, the British Empire was absolutely the busiest country in the world.

Britain first intervened in the Russo-Turkish War with a strong posture, ensuring the safety of Constantinople and the stability of the straits.

Subsequently, Britain launched the Anglo-Afghan War and the Zulu War, continuously expanding its colonial reach and gaining quite a bit.

However, it was these successive wars that made Britain's finances somewhat tight, forcing an increase in income tax on the bourgeoisie.

This caused the British government to instantly lose the support of the bourgeoisie, and the once-popular Prime Minister Disraeli was also heavily condemned for his aggressive foreign policy, eventually losing the new cabinet general election.

In mid-1880, former Prime Minister Gladstone, who had packaged himself as a passionate protector of weak nations and used every opportunity to criticize and oppose Prime Minister Disraeli, finally seized the chance to win the general election in one fell swoop and ascend to the prime ministerial throne once again.

During the election, Gladstone provocatively asked, "Do you approve or condemn Disraeli's aggressive policy?", which helped his Liberal Party win a large number of votes.

Gladstone, who opposed the aggressive policy, was also seen by the British public as a hero against Disraeli's conservative, aggressive government, and he even earned the reputation as a friend of the Balkan Slavs.

After taking office as British Prime Minister, Gladstone also knew that he could no longer continue the wars launched by the Disraeli government.

These wars not only plunged the British government into a fiscal deficit but also stirred up anti-war sentiment among the British public.

Ending the war in a timely manner was a slogan Gladstone had proposed during the election; he could not go back on his word just because he had successfully become Prime Minister.

Under the orders of the new Prime Minister Gladstone, Britain soon ended the Anglo-Afghan War and announced that the British Empire would usher in a long-awaited period of peace.

Peace is peace, but Gladstone's ambition was no smaller than Disraeli's. Since it was impossible to expand colonies through war, the British Empire's goal could only shift from aggression to colonization; in any case, the final results obtained would be no different.

In mid-August 1880, as news of the Cuba colony fermented, the British government also turned its attention to news regarding Spanish colonies.

Having said that, Britain had always kept a high level of attention on Spain; even during Spain's weakest period, the British government had never reduced its focus on Spain.

The reason was naturally that Spain's geographical location was too important; it was the only outlet to the sea in the western Mediterranean and a vital thoroughfare connecting Europe and Africa.

Spain's geographical location was similar to that of the Ottoman Empire; both were connection points between Europe and Africa, and both possessed outlets to the sea on both shores of the Mediterranean.

Britain had obtained a majority of the shares in the Suez Canal through maneuvering, which also allowed Britain to effectively control the Suez Canal, a quite important transportation artery.

But Britain was not without opponents. Many European countries, including France, needed to pass through the Suez Canal to reach their various colonies.

It was only because France was still in a state of isolation; otherwise, France would have long since raised objections regarding the Suez Canal.

This was also the reason why Britain had not taken any action while France was isolated by the Three Emperors' League of Germany, Austria, and Russia. The Anglo-French conflict remained a relatively intense one, and the hatred between Britain and France was not a bit less than the hatred between Germany and France.

If it were just a simple colonial rebellion, the British government would not be overly concerned. But along with the news of the Cuba colony rebellion, there were also rumors that the Spanish government might be forced to abandon the Cuba colony.

Although it was only a rumor, thinking about it carefully, it did have some merit.

Even one as strong as the British Empire would have a day when it was dragged down by war; although the Anglo-Afghan War and the Zulu War were both small-scale, they still caused the British Empire to face serious fiscal losses, eventually forcing an increase in income tax on enterprises, which also caused Prime Minister Disraeli to thoroughly offend the capitalist class.

The difficulty for Spain to suppress the rebellion in Cuba was lower, but the problem was that Cuba was ten thousand miles away from the Spanish mainland.

Perhaps the military expenditure required for Spain to suppress the rebellion in the Cuba colony was much less than the military expenditure required for Britain to launch a war, but do not forget, the comprehensive national strength and economic scale between Spain and Britain were not proportional.

Military expenditure that could drag down Spain might not mean much to the British Empire. Military expenditure that could drag down the British Empire might, for Spain, prompt the country to go directly bankrupt or trigger a relatively serious economic crisis.

"Gentlemen, let's talk about it. It is possible for the Spanish to abandon the Cuba colony; what attitude should we maintain regarding this event?" New Prime Minister Gladstone looked at the cabinet ministers with a pair of sharp eyes and raised the first question of this cabinet meeting.

Gladstone was the leader of the Liberal Party, and the Liberal Party government he formed was a government that completely favored the bourgeoisie.

In order to gain the support of the bourgeoisie, Gladstone announced on his first day as Prime Minister the abolition of the decrees of former Prime Minister Disraeli, canceling the extra income tax levied on capitalists.

Although doing so caused the British government to lose a large sum of income, it did indeed please the bourgeoisie. The bourgeoisie returned the favor by launching a public opinion offensive, which soon allowed Gladstone to gain the support of a large number of the public and workers.

Since it was a government formed by the Liberal Party, what the government cared about most was naturally the interests related to capital.

Spain's colonies were nothing special, but as the world's largest sugar producer, Cuba's economic value was relatively high among all colonies in the world.

The income brought by the sugar cane industry alone was a considerable figure, not to mention that Cuba's geographical location was also very important; to the north, it could contain the United States, and to the south, it could restrain South America. In the era of colonizing the Americas, it could be called a place that all strategists must fight for.

"Your Excellency Prime Minister, this might be an opportunity for us." As Prime Minister Gladstone's confidant, the British Foreign Secretary stood up first and put forward his own point of view:

"If Spain is unwilling to abandon Cuba, then so be it; if they are willing to abandon Cuba, I think it is very necessary for us to obtain this colony.

Cuba is the world's largest sugar cane producer; the sugar produced is not only popular in the Americas, but large quantities are also shipped to Europe for sale every year.

If we can control the Cuba colony, we can control the sugar trade in the Americas, earn a large amount of income through the sugar trade, and make up for the fiscal revenue lost after we abolished the extra income tax bill.

Besides this, Cuba's strategic location is also very important. Cuba can be connected to our Bahamas colony and Jamaica colony; when necessary, it can blockade the Gulf of Mexico to achieve the goal of containing the expansion of the United States.

If we let the United States obtain this land, we will find it difficult to stop the southward expansion of the United States. Although the United States has not shown too much of a threat at present, on this land of the Americas, there is no country of the same level that can threaten the security of the United States.

If we do not contain the expansion of the United States, in the next few decades or a hundred years, the American continent may give birth to a superpower that we cannot imagine."

Gladstone nodded, but did not express his own point of view, instead turning his gaze to the other cabinet ministers.

A few seconds later, another cabinet minister stood up and stated his completely opposite point of view: "Mr. Foreign Secretary, I hold a completely opposing attitude toward your point of view.

First of all, whether the Spanish will abandon the Cuba colony is a question worth considering.

Judging from the income and importance generated by the Cuba colony, I think the Spanish will likely not abandon this land.

Even if they are willing to abandon the Cuba colony, what price should we use to obtain this land?

Except for India, Canada, Australia, and South Africa, we have no colonies that can match the economic value of the Cuba colony.

The importance of the Straits Settlements can rival the Cuba colony, but are we really willing to abandon the entire Straits Settlements for one Cuba?

To make the Spanish agree to abandon the Cuba colony, we must pay an equal price. Such exchange conditions may not necessarily be favorable to us; it is better to wait for the attitudes of other countries for the time being; in any case, the Spanish government has not made any relevant statement."

Although the British Empire was the most powerful colonial empire in the world, the British Empire did not have many large colonies.

Of course, the main reason for this was that the British Empire's colonies were too vast. Canada, India, and Australia were all lands with areas reaching millions or even tens of millions of square kilometers, and the India colony even had a population of hundreds of millions.

These colonies certainly could not be exchanged with Spain; let alone a small Cuba, even the Spanish mainland, for the British Empire, would definitely not be worth as much as the gains brought by an India.

Besides the three large colonies of Canada, India, and Australia, the only colonies Britain could bring out were the Cape Colony and the Straits Settlements.

The Cape Colony was located at the southernmost tip of Africa, which is the later South Africa. It was impossible for Britain to abandon the Cape Colony; this not only concerned Britain's plan for the connection of African colonies but also concerned Britain's deployment in the South African region.

The Straits Settlements were not as important as South Africa, but because of the important geographical location of the Straits Settlements, they also had a quite important role at the strategic level.

These colonies were not easily abandoned by the British Empire; even if they were used to exchange for the Cuba colony, the British were not very willing.

Except for these large colonies and colonies with high strategic value, the remaining colonies of Britain were relatively small, and their value was not too high.

Representatives of these colonies included the Bahamas near Cuba, Jamaica, Honduras, Guyana, and the Gold Coast, Gambia, and Sierra Leone in Africa, etc.

The number of these small colonies was countless; some colonies at least had a population of tens of thousands to over a hundred thousand, while some colonies were simply an archipelago composed of one or several small islands, with a population of at most only a few thousand, and some even only a few hundred.

Wanting to exchange such small colonies for Spain's Cuba colony was clearly a bit of a pipe dream.

The British government itself thought it was impossible; how could the Spanish agree to such conditions?

Hearing the completely different rebuttal, British Prime Minister Gladstone also nodded, and the enthusiasm in his heart was also extinguished a little.

To get the Cuba colony, one must pay equal benefits, or at least not too much of a difference.

Spain was, after all, a great power; Britain's method of forceful seizure would not work on Spain.

It would be fine if it were during Spain's period of decline; at worst, they would offend the Spanish. But the current Spain was one that Britain did not want to offend; Spain had good diplomatic relations with the Austro-Hungarian Empire and Italy, and France also relied on Spain to break through Germany's blockade.

Under such circumstances, Spain did not fear Britain's threats. Britain's act of gradually controlling the outlets on both shores of the Mediterranean had already caused dissatisfaction among European countries; if the situation became even more unscrupulous, sooner or later there would be a day of reckoning.

Although Britain was the world's number one power, Britain's strength was clearly not strong enough to contend with all European countries.

Especially when the British public was already tired of war, how to obtain the Cuba colony in a peaceful environment was the question the British government needed to consider.

Although the opposing side's point of view was also very reasonable, the Foreign Secretary also put forward a new opinion:

"We indeed do not know Spain's attitude, but Spain's attitude can be manipulated by us.

If we add fuel to the fire in the Cuba colony, no matter how much Spain does not want to abandon Cuba, they must consider the harm brought by continuing to control Cuba.

Gentlemen, in the end, Spain's industry and economy are still at the bottom of the great powers. A Cuba that frequently rebels is a quagmire that Spain can never get out of; they also have to consider the normal development of the country, don't they?

The Madrid night city and the tram look glorious, but this was born under the condition that the Spanish royal family invested heavily in scientific research.

Our government needs a large amount of funds to build the London night city; the funds Spain invests in the Madrid night city and the tram will only be more.

Under such circumstances, the Spanish are certainly unwilling to invest too much capital in military expenditure, and they certainly do not have much capital that can be used for military expenditure.

If the Spanish are unwilling to abandon the Cuba colony, we can make the Cuba colony become more chaotic, making the Spanish have to abandon the Cuba colony.

A Cuba colony that has already escaped control will certainly decrease in value a lot. When the day comes when Spain cannot suppress the Cuba rebellion, we will then negotiate with Spain about the colonial exchange, and the price we need to pay will be much less.

For us, this is a good opportunity that must not be abandoned. If we can obtain a relatively large colony in a peaceful way, not only can we avoid the dissatisfaction of the public, but we can also improve our achievements, can't we?"

(End of chapter)