Chapter 321: Negotiations and Compromise

If one were to name the countries most concerned about this unexpected incident between France and Spain, it would perhaps be Britain and Germany, both of which have significant conflicts with France.

France has always been Britain's primary competitor in colonizing Africa, and the dispute between France and Spain is something the British are happy to see. The main conflict between Germany and France is concentrated on the European continent, and the Germans are naturally also willing to see the relationship between France and Spain rupture.

What is slightly different is that Germany hopes France and Spain will fight until both are severely weakened, or at the very least, have France dragged down for a period of time.

Britain, however, only hopes that Spain will drag out France's progress in colonizing Africa; the British do not wish for any problems to arise within France's own borders. After all, compared to France, Germany is also a massive threat. If France's containment were lost, Germany would become Britain's greatest threat on the European continent, surpassing even Russia.

Currently, in the eyes of the British, the threat from Russia is the greatest, followed by France, and then Germany. The main reason is quite simple: while Germany and France are indeed powerful, these two countries are also in a state of mutual containment.

Conversely, Russia, because there are no countries in its vicinity capable of containing it, has become Britain's greatest heart-worry.

Although the Austro-Hungarian Empire is also a Great Power, it is fundamentally impossible to contain Russia relying solely on the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

This is where the importance of Germany becomes apparent. For Britain, Germany can not only offset the threat posed by France but also help the Austro-Hungarian Empire resist Russian expansion.

It is precisely because Germany is currently demonstrating an extremely powerful role that Britain has tacitly permitted the diplomatic isolation of France initiated by the German Chancellor Bismarck.

The current European situation is, in fact, the most suitable for Britain. The two greatest threats, France and Russia, are both being contained by Germany, and with the help of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Germany faces no problem in dealing with France or Russia individually.

It is for this very reason that, with France and Russia unable to resist Germany on their own, Britain has not facilitated the conclusion of a Franco-Russian alliance.

Because the British know clearly in their hearts that if a Franco-Russian alliance were reached, Germany would not be a match for a combined France and Russia. Even with the help of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Germany could at best only drag out this powerful alliance once it is formed.

At that point, Germany would still need an ally of the Austro-Hungarian Empire's level to help itself in order to resist the threat of a Franco-Russian alliance.

It is impossible for the British to personally enter the fray. Therefore, this Great Power of the Austro-Hungarian level could only be Spain or Italy.

Although doing so could also achieve a balance on the European continent, compared to the existing situation, this clearly appears to be a form of extreme tightrope walking.

By then, five of the seven Great Powers on the European continent would be directly involved in the competition, and the two major alliances competing would be powerful forces that Britain could not shake.

This is the issue the British worry about most, and it is the fundamental reason they are unwilling to facilitate a Franco-Russian alliance.

Britain is certainly powerful, but it cannot resist a force combined of France and Russia, or Germany and the Austro-Hungarian Empire plus another Great Power.

In other words, Britain does not allow an alliance with strength exceeding its own to appear on the European continent. No matter how great the conflicts between France and Germany, or the Austro-Hungarian Empire and Russia, they are only minor squabbles to Britain.

But if it escalates to the level of a military bloc formed by several Great Powers, that is not something Britain can interfere with alone. The development of the situation would then exceed the expectations of the British government, and for a British government that has always attempted to control the European situation, this is completely unacceptable.

When the French government issued a stern protest on the surface but actually took no action, the British and German governments knew that France and Spain would certainly negotiate privately to resolve this unexpected incident.

As the saying goes, there are no eternal enemies between nations, only eternal interests. Although this incident between France and Spain seems quite noisy, in reality, it has no impact on either country.

During this incident, both countries maintained a certain degree of restraint, which also prevented the world from evolving into a more intense conflict, or even a localized war.

Since it did not develop in a more intense direction, this also means that it is very likely for France and Spain to conduct negotiations.

If they continue to drag it out like this and retaliate against each other, it will only affect the colonial plans of both France and Spain. But if the two countries can shake hands and make peace, reaching a certain compromise on colonial development in Africa, they can ensure their colonial plans continue.

Britain and Germany are both unwilling to see a possible reconciliation between Spain and France.

They cannot interfere with the negotiations between France and Spain on the surface, but they can interfere with the choices of the two governments in other ways.

What way? In fact, the best way is to use public opinion to exert pressure, forcing the two governments to choose a more intense direction.

Even if the two countries eventually restrain themselves and do not head toward war, it will continue to damage the relationship between France and Spain. In this way, there would be no possibility of the two countries shaking hands and colonizing Africa together, which is good news for both Britain and Germany.

In a situation where neither Britain nor Germany wants to see France and Spain resolve their dispute quickly, the two governments tacitly launched a war of public opinion.

The good news is that public opinion warfare in this era can only rely on newspapers. Because of inconvenient transportation, the promotional reach of newspapers at this time is limited, and few newspaper offices can achieve public opinion coverage across the entire country, even in countries with relatively small territories like Belgium or the Netherlands.

If nationwide coverage cannot be achieved, let alone transnational public opinion propaganda and pressure.

While British and German newspapers were reporting on this incident, the French government and the Spanish Ambassador to France were already conducting relevant discussions.

Regarding the French initiative to resolve this dispute through negotiations, the Spanish side is naturally happy to see it.

France's proactive concession not only resolves this dispute quickly but also ensures that Spain will not suffer any losses in this dispute. For Gao Da and Spain, this is indeed the most suitable solution.

Although the relationship between Spain and France has declined due to colonization in Africa, Gao Da also knows that Spain's greatest enemy is not France.

The main conflict and point of competition between Spain and France is in the colonization of West Africa; other than that, there is no competitive relationship between the two countries.

Gao Da's colonial plan for Africa is basically complete, which also means that it is highly probable that Spain will not continue to open up new colonies in Africa. In fact, let alone opening up new colonies, there will basically be no further expansion of existing colonies.

Currently, Spain has 4 colonies in Africa, which are the South Morocco colony, the West Africa colony, the Guinea colony, and the Congo territory.

There is no need to say much about the South Morocco colony; there is currently no direction for expansion. The West Africa colony and the Guinea colony can indeed continue to expand into the African interior, but the cost of doing so would increase infinitely.

The African continent is already riddled with all kinds of diseases and viruses, making it extremely difficult to develop. And sub-Saharan Africa, east of the West Africa colony and north of the Guinea colony, happens to be the region in Africa where viruses and diseases are most rampant.

Because Spain currently only occupies important colonial strongholds on the coast, the diseases and viruses of sub-Saharan Africa do not yet threaten Spain.

But if the territory were to continue to expand into the African interior, the Spanish government would have to consider the threat posed by the diseases and viruses of the African continent.

For Spain, continuing to expand into the African interior is not worth the loss. Even if Spain could obtain vast tracts of land of hundreds of thousands or even millions of square kilometers, it would have no capital to develop these lands itself.

It is still the problem mentioned earlier, which is Spain's population deficiency. Compared to other European countries, Spain does not have that much capacity to develop colonies.

It is not an exaggeration to say that Spain's current population is struggling just to develop the Congo territory, let alone other colonies including West Africa and Guinea.

The reason Spain currently occupies so much land is precisely for the sake of future interest exchanges with Britain, France, and even other countries.

Looking down at the whole of Africa, the only land Gao Da really wants is Morocco. The land of Morocco can be easily localized for Spain, and the white people of Morocco can also be assimilated through various means; compared to those black people who cannot integrate into Spain at all, the value of developing Morocco is much higher.

To completely annex Morocco, one must face pressure from Britain and France. In this situation, conducting interest exchanges becomes very important.

Interest exchange is not only an extra option for Spain, but also an extra option for Britain and France.

When Spain grows to be sufficiently powerful, Britain and France will also fear Spain's strength. At that moment, unless absolutely necessary, everyone is unwilling to tear off the mask of civility.

In a situation where they are unwilling to tear off the mask, colonial swapping can allow both sides to reach a certain compromise without suffering heavy losses.

As long as one can stabilize either Britain or France through interest exchange or colonial swapping, Gao Da does not fear the remaining one.

For the British, the upcoming Boer War is enough to give them a headache for a while. For the French, Germany, which is constantly growing stronger due to the Second Industrial Revolution, is their heart-worry enemy.

In a situation where neither France nor Spain is willing to tear off the mask, the negotiations between the two countries reached a compromise after only a short time.

First, regarding this unexpected conflict, the French government admitted its fault in this incident and expressed its willingness to provide certain compensation.

The French government also promised to increase supervision of the military in the future and would absolutely not allow such an incident to happen again.

The Spanish side also apologized for its reckless retaliatory behavior and stated that Spain and France have good cooperation, and the relationship between the two countries should be maintained in a friendly manner.

After setting a tone for these negotiations, the next more important thing is the division of land in West Africa.

With Britain and Portugal successively withdrawing from the colonization of West African land, the only countries currently colonizing West Africa are the two participating in this meeting: France and Spain.

How to divide the West African region and delineate the scope of each country's colonization is very important for both France and Spain.

Because there had already been relevant discussions within Spain, and Gao Da had clarified the idea that he did not wish for Spain to continue expanding in West Africa, this led to Spain not maintaining its usual tough attitude in these negotiations, choosing to concede to France in some aspects.

Of course, such concessions are not made for nothing. For any place where Spain concedes, France needs to provide certain compensation.

After all, both countries are Great Powers and both need to respect the other's interests. It cannot be that France takes all the benefits; Spain also needs to obtain sufficient benefits to appease the hearts of its people at home.

In this meeting, France and Spain clarified the division of land in West Africa. Spain will maintain its existing colonial scale and promises not to open up new colonial ranges.

This also means that Spain will hand over the remaining land in West Africa to France, and France will become the only country qualified to colonize West Africa.

Of course, the compensation Spain received for this is quite generous.

Because of Spain's proactive concession, the French waved their hands and ceded tens of thousands of square kilometers of land in the northern part of French Congo to Spain.

This piece of land is located in the lower reaches of the Congo River and still has a certain development value.

The Spanish side was also unceremonious; after France ceded this piece of land to them, they immediately incorporated it into the Congo territory.

In addition to the tens of thousands of square kilometers of land in the Congo region, France also made certain concessions in the land south of the Senegal colony.

This part of the land is not large in area, but it is all land very suitable for agricultural development, which also has a certain value for Spain.

Besides these two small pieces of land, regarding the most important Morocco region, Spain and France also reached a certain compromise.

Regarding this piece of land that was clearly eyed by both countries at the same time, the two governments tacitly chose to shelve it temporarily and not proactively launch colonization in Morocco.

The reason Spain chose to shelve it is also very simple: besides France, there is also Britain, the world's strongest country, eyeing this piece of land in Morocco; it is quite difficult for Spain to annex Morocco.

And for France, they also face the same worries.

Spain itself is staring fixedly at Morocco, just as France is staring fixedly at Algeria. The importance of Morocco to Spain is even higher than the importance of Algeria to France.

If France wants to annex Morocco alone, it must either provide Spain with interest cessions matching Morocco, or it can only break out into a war with Spain.

Even if they could resolve the great threat of Spain, there is still the unexpected factor of Britain that needs to be considered.

Britain snatched Gibraltar from Spain precisely to control this strait; if France occupied Morocco, it would certainly have a certain impact on Britain's control over the strait.

It is precisely because of the high attention paid to the Morocco region by Britain, France, and Spain that it ultimately resulted in Morocco being a very weak country, yet no country is able to annex it.

Shelving Morocco together is considered a relatively suitable choice for both Spain and France. Only when the European situation changes and other Great Powers are too busy to look elsewhere might it be the best time to annex Morocco.

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(End of chapter)