Chapter 295: Allied Powers Expansion

The full name of the Oman region is the Sultanate of Muscat and Oman, which was once a country spanning two continents.

During the reign of the previous Sultan, Said bin Sultan, the Sultanate of Muscat and Oman occupied vast stretches of land; its territory included not only the Oman of later generations but also parts of the UAE and Gwadar in Pakistan.

Of course, this also included Oman's East African territories, which is why it is said that the Oman of the past was a country spanning two continents.

However, after the old Sultan passed away, his two sons inherited the Omani mainland and the East African territories respectively, and subsequently broke ties.

Currently, the Sultanate of Muscat and Oman only controls the Omani mainland of later generations; all other lands now belong to other countries.

Spain's colonial goal was only the Omani mainland; even if Oman still controlled its East African territories at this time, Luo Da would not have any extra thoughts on the matter.

After all, Oman's East African territories were located on the east coast of Africa, right to the north of the Portuguese colony of Mozambique.

This location sits exactly on the longitudinal line of the British Cairo-Cape Colony; any country occupying a colony here would inevitably incur the hatred and retaliation of the British.

Luo Da did not pay too much attention to Spain's colonial war, as it was a war without any suspense for Spain.

Compared to most African indigenous peoples, the level of civilization in the Sultanate of Muscat and Oman was slightly higher, but that was all.

Facing European colonists, they could hardly form a powerful resistance, and coupled with the lack of interference from other European countries, the colonial war launched by Spain could not possibly fail.

And so it was. After the Spanish army arrived on the Arabian Peninsula, it immediately launched an offensive against the Sultanate of Muscat and Oman.

This maritime power, which once stood against European countries and even defeated Portuguese colonial aggression, had now weakened into an ordinary, unremarkable small country.

When the Sultanate still controlled its East African territories, those territories provided the Omani mainland with a large amount of fiscal revenue every year, which allowed Oman to build a reasonably powerful navy.

Upon losing the East African territories, Oman not only lost a treasure land that provided significant fiscal revenue but also lost most of the navy stationed there.

This resulted in the current Sultanate of Muscat and Oman being in a shambles in terms of both military and economic strength. When facing the Spanish army's offensive, the current Sultan, Turki bin Said, tried every possible way to stop the Spanish advance, but none of it had any effect in the face of Spanish steel guns and cannons.

On April 22, 1883, only a month and a half after the Spanish army set out, the Spanish army had already occupied nearly one-third of Oman's land.

Spain's offensive against Oman was launched from north to south, and the first target of the attack was Muscat, the capital of the Sultanate of Muscat.

The Middle East is a land covered in deserts, which leads to a common phenomenon among countries in the region: they are vast and sparsely populated, with the population generally concentrated in areas with less desert.

Although Oman is a medium-sized country about 1, 00 kilometers long from north to south, in reality, the vast majority of Oman's population is concentrated in two northern regions, especially the Muscat region where the capital is located, which holds over 60 percent of the entire Sultanate's population.

This meant that although Spain only occupied one-third of Oman's territory, it had actually controlled the vast majority of Oman's population.

Of course, Oman's population was not large. The entire Arabian Peninsula combined had a population of only three to four million, and Oman possessed only one-tenth of that.

After occupying the northern territory of Oman, there was no need to rush the occupation of the central and southern regions.

In any case, most of the area to the south is desert, and there are very few Omanis there; it would not affect Spain's colonial rule at all.

Other European powers would not be interested in this desert either; the British would even prefer that Spain occupy the great southern desert of Oman while they themselves occupied the most prime area of the Middle East, the Mesopotamian Plain.

At the same time that Spain launched its colonial offensive against Oman, sales personnel from the Royal Arsenal were also in contact with the dynasty behind Vietnam.

It is worth mentioning that when the Spanish sales personnel identified themselves and expressed a willingness to sell them weapons and equipment, the other party not only failed to show an eager desire to purchase weapons but instead hoped to use Spain's connections to mediate the war between them and France.

The sales personnel tried every possible way to find out that the country was divided into two factions regarding the war with France. One faction advocated resisting France to the end, fearing that the loss of Vietnam would put their southern border at risk of French invasion.

The other faction advocated seeking peace with France, as the country had never won a war against European powers and there was no need to start a war with a power like France over Vietnam.

Because the representatives of the peace faction controlled diplomatic and military power, it was difficult for Spain to sell its weapons and equipment for the time being.

Luo Da had not expected that the other side would refuse the equipment delivered to their doorstep, preferring to believe in the faint hope of peace rather than picking up weapons to resist.

There was no help for it; the plan to delay the French offensive by selling weapons had to be shelved for the time being. When the parties involved chose the attitude of the peace faction, what could Spain do?

Returning the perspective to Spain, after occupying more than one-third of Oman's territory, Luo Da officially announced the establishment of the Oman colony and began building a larger naval base in the colonial capital, Muscat, for the replenishment of the Spanish navy and civilian ships along the route.

The news of adding a new colony did indeed attract the attention of the Spanish people that day, but it quickly lost its heat.

After all, most of Oman's land is desert; although the entire territory is half the size of Spain, the only arable land is in the northern mountains and coastal areas, and its economic value is quite pitiful.

There are a few other things worth mentioning in 1883.

First is the earthquake that occurred in Ischia, Italy, on July 28, which caused over 2, 00 deaths and nearly 10, 00 injuries.

This counted as a rare major disaster. As soon as he learned of the earthquake in Italy, Luo Da and the Spanish government each sent condolence telegrams to the Italian side and donated some supplies.

After all, Luo Da came from the Italian royal family, so by blood, he was certainly Italian. Luo Da could not sit idly by when a disaster struck Italy; donating 1 million pesetas in funds could also bring Luo Da closer to the Italian people.

The Spanish government also made a friendly donation of supplies to help the Italian government better restore post-disaster order and rebuild the affected areas.

At the end of September 1883, German Emperor Wilhelm I encountered an unsuccessful assassination attempt.

It is worth mentioning that at the time, Wilhelm I was riding in a custom-made car produced by the Royal Benz Automobile Company, which had steel plates installed on the car windows.

This resulted in the assassin's attempt failing; apart from being somewhat startled, Wilhelm I did not suffer any injuries.

This successful prevention of an assassination also drew the attention of royal families across Europe to the special custom-made cars launched by Royal Benz.

The so-called special custom-made car was actually a car modified by sacrificing a certain amount of speed. Steel plates were installed on the car doors, windows, and front and rear windshields to ensure the safety of the passengers to the greatest extent.

Of course, because these steel plates greatly increased the weight of the car, the final top speed of such a modified car was only 25 kilometers per hour, generally only maintaining about 18 to 20 kilometers per hour.

Although this speed was not fast, for the sake of their own safety, the royal families of various European countries still purchased these custom-made cars in large quantities.

Moreover, compared to the speed of the original horses and carriages, even at a speed of only 20 kilometers per hour, the car's speed still exceeded that of a carriage.

Led by the royal families of various countries, European nobles purchased cars in large quantities, which led to a large-scale increase in car sales in the second half of 1883, and the branch factories in various countries made a fortune.

At the end of October, another piece of news once again made Luo Da pay attention to the European situation.

Since the formation of the Triple Alliance of Germany, Austria, and Italy, the European situation had not changed at all. The French focused on external migration and expansion, while the British were busy developing colonies and suppressing colonial rebellions, and Europe had been calm for a period of time as a result.

But on October 30, 1883, Romania, which had just been renamed the Kingdom of Romania, secretly joined the military alliance formed by Germany, Austria, and Italy, which also allowed Luo Da to see a future where the League of the Three Emperors was about to collapse.

The reason why Romania was willing to join the Triple Alliance was very simple: Romania's geographical location.

As the northernmost country among the Balkan states, Romania could be said to be on the front line of the Balkan states resisting Russia.

But because of Romania's own lack of strength, Romania also needed external factors to ensure its own safety.

In a situation where both sides had a common enemy, the Austro-Hungarian Empire and Romania hit it off, and the two sides signed a mutual defense alliance treaty.

The treaty stipulated that once Romania's borders were attacked, the Austro-Hungarian Empire should immediately join Romania's side to help Romania defend.

At the same time, if the eastern border of the Austro-Hungarian Empire was also attacked, Romania should also send at least 100, 00 troops to help the Austro-Hungarian Empire defend.

Although not explicitly stated, the enemy that the two countries were jointly guarding against was already very obvious. Only Russia would make the Austro-Hungarian Empire and Romania so wary; the Balkan countries did not have that qualification.

At this time, the Russians did not know that their allies, Germany and the Austro-Hungarian Empire, were already secretly on guard against them in every way, to the point that they were almost ready to take the initiative to attack to resolve this threat.

Under the leadership of the new Tsar, Alexander III, Russia during this period had always shown a relatively low-key attitude, both at the international level and in the Balkan situation.

However, because of Russia's vast land area and large population, the European countries' guard against Russia had never weakened.

Even the most powerful British Empire believed that the most threatening country in Europe at present was Russia.

Just like the historical trend, the formation of the Allied Powers was faster than that of the Entente Powers.

The alliance treaty between Germany, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and Italy had already been concluded, and even a country like Romania had joined the Allied Powers.

But on the side of the Entente Powers, there was no sign of a Franco-Russian alliance, and it was even more impossible for the British to join France and Russia in the European situation at this time.

In fact, from the current trend of the European situation, it could be seen that Germany's ambition was great. They had won over the Austro-Hungarian Empire and Italy, which also meant that Germany regarded both France and Russia as enemies.

Once Germany could defeat France again, Germany would become the undisputed hegemon of Europe, and even challenging the British Empire would be no problem.

After all, although the British were strong, they were outside the European continent. The British Isles and the European continent were separated by the English Channel, which made it difficult for the British to intervene in the situation on the European continent, unless it was a situation as chaotic as a world war.

After Romania joined the Triple Alliance, Italy and the Austro-Hungarian Empire also successively invited Italy to join the alliance.

However, the two countries did not reveal the situation of the Triple Alliance, but tentatively invited Spain to join a defensive alliance against France.

In fact, for the current European situation, Spain joining the Triple Alliance might not be a bad choice.

First, the Triple Alliance with Spain would become even more powerful. The German Empire, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Italy, and Spain were all powers; the union of the four major powers was something no country could underestimate.

Secondly, the union of the four major powers could also attract more small and medium-sized European countries to join.

Countries like Romania also needed to pick a side; not all countries could remain neutral and not be coveted by the great powers.

The Allied Powers, possessing four major powers, were the best objects to align with. After all, there were only eight powers in the whole world, and the United States, as a power, was far across the Atlantic and could not participate in the European situation.

But this did not mean that there were no disadvantages to Spain joining the Allied Powers.

The union of the four major powers would inevitably arouse the wariness of France, Russia, and even the British, which would lead to the rapid formation of an Anglo-Franco-Russian Entente.

At this time, Germany, Austria, Italy, and Spain were clearly not yet the opponents of the three major powers of Britain, France, and Russia. Except for Germany, which could match the national strength of Britain, France, and Russia, the remaining three major powers were not on the same level as Britain, France, and Russia.

Furthermore, Luo Da did not want to stand completely on the opposite side of France. At this time, even though there was a competitive relationship with France, Spain could still get some funds from France for its own development.

If it stood completely on the opposite side of France, French capital would be out of the question. Germany and the Austro-Hungarian Empire could not provide Spain with enough funds for development, which also meant that after joining the Allied Powers, Spain's development would have to rely on itself.

For this reason, Luo Da rejected the invitation from Italy and the Austro-Hungarian Empire, stating that Spain did not intend to join a defensive alliance against France.

Of course, Luo Da also ordered the Spanish government to reiterate its stance on jointly developing North Africa with Italy.

At least in the North African region, Spain and Italy would advance and retreat together, jointly guarding against France, the greatest enemy.

Having obtained the promise of the Spanish government, the Italian government no longer insisted on inviting Spain to join the defensive alliance; after all, Spain's attitude had already indicated that it would not join France's side and would lean towards Italy as much as possible while remaining neutral.

(End of chapter)