Chapter 298: Portuguese-British Crisis

As time came to 1884, the Spanish colonization in the southern Congo gradually yielded results.

The Portuguese successively occupied the Luunda Kingdom and the Buunda Kingdom, and with their own strength, pushed their sphere of influence to the Barotseland Kingdom.

From the distance, the distance between Portugal's West African colony and the Mozambique colony was only less than 500 kilometers, and the Great African colony that Portugal was dreaming of seemed to be realized soon.

At the moment when the Portuguese were dreaming, reality soon gave them a slap in the face.

Portugal's colonial action in the southern Congo had long attracted the attention of the British, and the situation where Portugal's East and West African colonies were about to merge also made the British feel a trace of threat.

If Portugal successfully merged the West African colony and the Mozambique colony, the Cairo-Cape colony connection plan within the British government would be cut off.

Facing the behavior of the Portuguese directly destroying their own colonial plan, even if they knew that Portugal was their ally, the British could not sit idly by.

On February 22, 1884, the British government officially made public the Cairo-Cape connection plan, and contacted the Portuguese ambassador to Britain, demanding that Portugal give up the colonization of the Barotseland Kingdom and the Mwata Kazembe Kingdom, and leave a 500-kilometer-wide channel to help Britain complete the connection of the North and South African colonies.

When the Portuguese government received the British government's request, King Luis I of Portugal was directly stunned.

He did not expect that the Spanish he had been guarding against did not stop his colonial plan, but it was the British who had always claimed to be Portugal's allies who stood up to stop him at the critical moment when Portugal's East and West African colonies were about to merge.

Sharing the same emotion as King Luis were the officials of Portugal who had worked hard for a long time.

One must know that the Great African colony plan is a political achievement for King Luis, and it is also a political achievement for the Portuguese cabinet government.

In order to make this so-called political achievement have the best effect, as early as a few years ago, Portugal had publicized the Pink Map plan and the Great African colony plan many times, and the merger of the East and West African colonies was not strange to the Portuguese.

If at this time they told all the Portuguese that the Great African colony plan was ultimately just a fantasy and completely impossible to realize, the emotions that the Portuguese would erupt with naturally go without saying.

By then, let alone accumulating some achievements for themselves, even keeping their current positions would be a bit difficult.

Agreeing to the British request requires facing the anger of the Portuguese people at home. Refusing the British request requires facing the anger of the British government.

How to choose made King Luis I and the Portuguese government distressed, and King Luis I convened cabinet meetings many times to discuss solutions, but in the end, they could not discuss anything.

Helplessly, the Portuguese government finally decided to use the "delay" tactic.

If they could delay the British government on one hand, and accelerate the colonization of the land in the southern Congo on the other.

Whether it is the Barotseland Kingdom or the Mwata Kazembe Kingdom, occupying any one of them can connect Portugal's West African colony and the Mozambique colony.

As long as the connection of the two colonies is completed, King Luis I and the Portuguese government have completed their promise to the public at the beginning.

As for the subsequent forced transfer of the sovereignty of the Barotseland Kingdom and the Mwata Kazembe Kingdom, that is also due to the pressure of the British government, and it is not that the Portuguese government is painting a big cake without implementing it.

By then, even if the Portuguese have anger, it will be transferred to the British. After all, it was the British who shattered Portugal's Great African colony plan, and the Portuguese government could not confront the British.

The delay tactic adopted by the Portuguese government did indeed have a certain effect. Because the Portuguese government ordered the ambassador to Britain to engage in negotiations with the British government, it made the British government think that Portugal was just seeking compensation.

But what the British did not expect was that while the Portuguese were negotiating with them, they were accelerating the colonization of the southern Congo region.

By the time the British reacted, they had already been delayed for more than a week.

In these ten-plus days, the Portuguese's offensive against the Barotseland Kingdom had never stopped.

They successfully pushed the occupied area by more than 100 kilometers, which also means that the Portuguese army was less than 400 kilometers away from the Mozambique colony on the East African coast.

According to this progress, it would take at most a month for Portugal to break through the entire Barotseland Kingdom and arrive at the Mozambique colony.

On the side of the British government, when the time was delayed for more than a week, the British also noticed that something was wrong.

The Barotseland Kingdom is not far from Britain's Cape colony, and the news of the Portuguese constantly attacking the Barotseland Kingdom still reached the Cape colony.

The British, who realized they had been deceived, were both shocked and angry; they could not believe that a small Portugal dared to disobey their request.

The British government contacted the Portuguese ambassador to Britain again, demanding an explanation from the Portuguese ambassador.

But what was unexpected was that the Portuguese ambassador still avoided the important and dwelt on the trivial, seemingly still wanting to delay a certain amount of time in this way.

This time, the British government could not bear it anymore. British Prime Minister William Ewart Gladstone personally summoned the Portuguese ambassador and issued his final ultimatum.

Prime Minister William Ewart Gladstone angrily stated that if Portugal did not intend to stop the colonial offensive, then the British would obtain a buffer zone through their own means to ensure that Britain's colonial actions would not be affected.

Such words were already an open threat. The face of the Portuguese ambassador changed at that time; he did not expect the British to be so serious, and even more did not expect that Britain would issue an ultimatum to its allies.

The meaning of the ultimatum is very simple: either fulfill the content of the ultimatum, or face war.

Breaking out into a war with the British is something the Portuguese never thought of. The Portuguese ambassador was finally anxious at this time; he tried to communicate with Prime Minister William Ewart Gladstone, but the angry Prime Minister Gladstone did not pay attention to the explanation of the Portuguese ambassador, but instead reiterated his request again: "If Portugal does not stop its war behavior, then Britain will launch a war."

After speaking, Prime Minister Gladstone slammed the door and left angrily, clearly angered by the Portuguese's delay tactic.

When the Portuguese ambassador transmitted this bad news back to the country, from King Luis I of Portugal to the Portuguese government, they were all sighing.

The tough attitude of the British government was something the Portuguese did not expect. Facing such a tough British government, the Portuguese government seemed to have no choice.

Just when King Luis I was about to give up, an official suddenly put forward a proposal, stating that the Portuguese side could ask about the attitude of the Spanish government.

One must know that when the colonial exchange agreement was reached with Spain, Portugal had requested Spain to provide strong support for Portugal's colonial actions.

Although the several indigenous countries in the southern Congo are not powerful, the population scale combined is still considerable.

Because Portugal has limited population, it is difficult to complete the colonization of these indigenous countries by its own strength.

Although the expected enemy changed from an indigenous country to the British Empire, this does not mean that Portugal cannot obtain Spain's support.

If they could obtain the support of the Spanish government, Portugal would still have hope of completing its Great African colony plan.

Of course, if the British still maintained a tough attitude under the condition that Portugal obtained Spain's support, then Portugal could flexibly respond; at worst, they would give up by then, which would not be a waste of their efforts during this period.

Upon hearing this proposal, a hopeful color flashed in the eyes of King Luis I.

Spain, which he guarded against in every way, became the only hope for Portugal to complete the Great African colony plan at this time.

Besides Spain, other European Great Powers were even less likely to support Portugal at the risk of offending the British.

The problem is, is the Spanish government really willing to support Portugal at the risk of offending the British, or even launching a war with Britain, for the sake of a piece of paper of promise?

King Luis I was not sure about the thoughts of his brother-in-law, Gao Da; in his view, Gao Da was a king with great ambition, which was also the reason why he had been guarding against Spain.

Under the leadership of Gao Da, Spain realized reform and completed the great revival. This is what King Luis I dreamed of, but Portugal's national conditions simply did not allow for reform, because King Luis I could not suppress the opposition at all.

If he insisted on pushing for reform, before the reform was completed, the government would be reformed first.

The reason why Spain was able to complete the reform was also because the revolutionary faction controlled the government and the army. This also made King Luis I envious but helpless, because the same route was something he could not replicate.

After all, if he wanted the revolutionary faction of Portugal to control the political power, he, as the King of Portugal, would have to give up his throne; the best result would be to become a mascot king without real power, which is something King Luis I absolutely could not accept.

Sighing, King Luis I issued his order, letting the Portuguese ambassador to Spain ask about the attitude of the Spanish government.

If the Spanish government was willing to support Portugal, then Portugal would still have room for delay. If even Spain was unwilling to support Portugal, then the Portuguese government could only accept its fate.

March 3, 1884, Royal Palace of Madrid, Spain.

When Gao Da learned that the Portuguese ambassador was asking for an urgent meeting, Gao Da knew that something big must have happened in Portugal.

As early as when exchanging colonies with Portugal, Gao Da had considered that Britain would definitely interfere with Portugal's colonial actions.

The reason why Gao Da was willing to pay the Congo Basin's most essential land in the southern Congo was also because Gao Da knew that Portugal could not occupy this region.

This also meant that the colonial exchange between Spain and Portugal was more like a "white wolf with empty gloves" (a zero-cost acquisition), and there was even a possibility of reeling in Portugal's own mainland as well.

Sure enough, after the Portuguese ambassador saw Gao Da, he first saluted respectfully, and then stated the predicament currently encountered by the Portuguese government with a panicked expression.

He mentioned the kinship between King Luis I of Portugal and Gao Da, and also mentioned that a few years ago, the Portuguese and Spanish governments signed a colonial exchange treaty, among which there was a clause that Spain should provide support for Portugal's colonial plan.

After telling everything, the Portuguese ambassador sincerely requested Gao Da to support Portugal and requested the Spanish government to support Portugal's colonial actions and confront the diplomatic pressure exerted by Britain.

Looking at the panicked Portuguese ambassador, Gao Da did not rush to express his attitude.

Although in Gao Da's plan, Spain would definitely declare its support for Portugal, so as to further damage the relationship between Portugal and Britain.

But the attitude of supporting Portugal does not need to be expressed too early; after all, the easier it is to get, the less valuable it will be.

Only by letting the Portuguese side feel the urgent situation and letting the Portuguese government and King Luis I fall into a panicked mood, and then Gao Da expressing his support for the Portuguese government, will he obtain the greatest emotional value.

Of course, the support of Gao Da and the Spanish government for Portugal will also be widely reported by the Spanish media and even forwarded to Portugal.

Only by letting the Portuguese understand the support of Spain and Gao Da for them, and then comparing it with the British interference, can Gao Da's purpose be achieved, which is to damage the relationship between Portugal and Britain, and make Portugal have to lean towards Spain.

For the small countries of this era, their situation is quite difficult. Especially for a country like Portugal that only has one neighbor, either honestly lean towards Spain, or seek external factors to preserve its sovereignty.

It is obvious that Portugal chose to rely on Britain to protect its independence. But if Britain stands on the opposite side of Portugal, then Portugal has no choice but to lean towards Spain.

After a long silence, and seeing the facial expression of the Portuguese ambassador becoming more and more panicked, Gao Da smiled and nodded, showing an appearance of being very concerned about the Portuguese situation, and said: "Whether it is because of the good relationship with the Portuguese royal family, or because of the agreement at the time of the colonial exchange treaty, Spain should stand on Portugal's side.

Ambassador, please tell your government that Spain is willing to stand on Portugal's side and support your country's colonial action on the land in the southern Congo.

If Britain does not hesitate to use force to interfere forcibly, Spain will fulfill its promise and confront Britain's armed interference together with Portugal.

May the friendship of the Iberian Peninsula last forever; we should join hands to confront the dirty hands stretched towards the Iberian Peninsula by the outside world.

This is my attitude, and it is also the attitude of the Spanish government. If your country wants the Great African colony, then take action.

Once Britain shows a posture of declaring war, Spain will immediately carry out armed mobilization and let the British understand with steel guns and cannons that the dignity of the countries on the Iberian Peninsula cannot be trampled upon!"

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 299 =====