Chapter 348: Franco-Russian Secret Talks

After the peace talks between the Austro-Hungarian Empire and Serbia concluded, the peace talks between Germany and Russia also ended very quickly.

The Germans ultimately extorted a war indemnity as high as 20 million marks from the Russians; the Russians had to pay it whether they wanted to or not.

However, there was also good news for the Russians: the French ambassador had already spoken with the Russian government, indicating that France was willing to provide Russia with a large loan to help Russia restore post-war order more quickly.

Although neither the German nor Russian sides had truly fought with real blades and guns in this war, the hundreds of thousands of troops mobilized could not be faked.

The reason for mobilizing so many troops was, on one hand, to test the other side's commitment to this war, and on the other, to prevent the other side from launching a real attack after a rapid mobilization.

Facts proved that the Russian large-scale mobilization was indeed very effective.

If not for the mobilization of so many troops, the garrison in the Poland region alone would have been unable to resist the offensive of the German-Austrian allied forces.

If the Germans had broken through the defensive line, it would have been a huge disaster for Russia.

The main reason Russia had been able to hold its territory from the time of Napoleon to the present was that Russia in winter was too cold, and other countries were simply not adapted to fighting in Eastern Europe during winter.

The Russians had long since adapted to such a frigid climate; their capital, Saint Petersburg, was even close to the Arctic Circle.

One must know that the Northeast region of a certain country, known for its cold in later generations, did not even reach as far north as Saint Petersburg in terms of latitude and longitude.

From this aspect, one can see just how cold Russia truly was, and it also reflects the importance of the Ukrainian plains and the Polish plains to Russia.

Especially the Ukrainian plains; they provided Russia with a large amount of grain and were the guarantee for Russia to sustain a population of hundreds of millions.

The war broke out just after winter had passed and ended right in the summer. If not for Serbia collapsing so early, Russia would not have had an easy time on the front lines either.

After all, the temperature in Eastern Europe during the summer is relatively high, and the German and Austrian armies were well-adapted to fighting in such an environment. Without the harsh cold limiting logistical supplies, the combat effectiveness of the German and Austro-Hungarian armies would not have been weakened.

The peace treaty signed between Germany and Russia was not considered harsh. Apart from the war indemnity of 20 million marks, Russia did not need to pay any other price, which was the reason they agreed to this peace treaty.

The situation in Europe after the war became lively; the connections between the great powers attracted the attention of various countries, and everyone was waiting for the formation and opposition of the two major military blocs.

The European countries were not disappointed, as France and Russia quickly strengthened their ties.

On June 20, 1889, the plenipotentiary diplomatic ambassador representing Tsar Alexander III met with the French government in Paris. The two sides held secret talks for several days and eventually signed an unknown agreement under the reporting of the international media.

Most of the content of this agreement was confidential, but some details were leaked.

Since these contents were mainly unrelated to military matters, even if economic affairs were strictly kept secret, they would not be able to be hidden for long.

The leaked contents of the agreement mainly included the loan from France to Russia. Although the specific amount was unknown, the total loan was at least as high as 200 million francs, or about 10 million pounds.

This was not a small sum; it was enough for Russia to build a powerful naval and land force. From this, one can see the extent of France's aid to Russia; they were sincere about concluding an alliance with Russia and truly wanted to make Russia a more powerful country to help themselves divert Germany's attention.

Of course, considering the high level of corruption within the Russian government, France also placed requirements on the scope of the loan's usage when issuing it to the Russian government.

One-third of this loan would be used to purchase grain and other supplies from France to alleviate the agricultural crisis after Russian grain production was affected.

The other two-thirds would be used for military development, including purchasing weapons and equipment, building a navy, and expanding the scale of the standing army.

Although this war did not last long, some of the shortcomings of the Russian army were displayed vividly.

The biggest shortcoming among them was that the Russian army's weapons and equipment were relatively backward; in an era where breech-loading rifles were everywhere, some of the Russian army even still used muzzle-loading rifles as standard weapons.

The reason for this problem was, on one hand, that Russia's military industry could not keep up with the army's needs, and on the other, that Russia's finances were not enough to support a comprehensive re-equipping of the army.

Russia possessed an army size far exceeding other countries, which also gave Russia the title of "European Steamroller," making it highly feared by other countries.

But a larger army size not only represented higher military expenditures but also meant additional military spending was needed when updating weapons and equipment.

With Spain's continuously growing prosperous economy, it still took more than a year to replace the weapons and equipment for its 200, 00-strong standing army.

Not to mention Russia, which had a worse economy; replacing weapons and equipment for a standing army of over 600, 00 was essentially a death sentence for Russian finances.

Moreover, Russia had experienced multiple wars in recent years, and the military expenditures had made Russia miserable.

If not for the previous Russo-Turkish War, Russia's weapons and equipment would not even have reached their current state. The French naturally understood the financial situation of the Russian government, and they required that at least 2 million pounds of this 10-million-pound loan be used to replace the equipment of the Russian army to prevent the combat effectiveness of the Russian army from continuously declining.

Regarding the requirements of the French government, the Russian plenipotentiary diplomatic ambassador naturally nodded and agreed continuously.

This money was provided by the French in the first place, so it was only natural for them to demand how it should be used on the Russian side. Furthermore, replacing the army's weapons and equipment was also a good thing for Russia; only after re-equipping would Russia be the true European Steamroller.

To show their sincerity to their ally, this loan of 10 million pounds was interest-free, which was also the reason why Tsar Alexander III sent a plenipotentiary diplomatic representative and was impatient to conclude an alliance treaty with France.

There was no help for it; France at this time was simply too wealthy. Although France was not as rich as Britain in terms of government finance, much of the British people's money had to be invested in domestic factories and enterprises in Britain, while French capital did not have many such worries.

Compared to investing in domestic French enterprises, French capital preferred to lend money to other countries and then lie back and earn interest on the loans.

At this time, France was known as the "Usurer Empire," and the number of countries that had accepted French loans was countless; even Spain had had loan cooperation with France.

And it must be said, Spain at this time was a golden client in the eyes of French capital. Because of the rapid growth of Spain's domestic economy and industry, these French capitals could quickly make a big profit with interest after pouring into Spain for investment. Coupled with the fact that Spain and France were neighbors, these French capitals did not reject coming to Spain for investment and even scrambled to participate in some of Spain's engineering construction.

It is no exaggeration to say that the reason for Spain's rapid economic development was absolutely inseparable from the help of French capital behind the scenes.

In fact, one cannot blame French capital for not investing in domestic French enterprises; it was mainly because the changes in the French government were too frequent, which seriously affected the execution of some of the French government's decrees.

Only under a stable political situation can there be more prosperous economic and industrial growth. Obviously, compared to the politically turbulent France, Spain was the more stable country.

Regarding the influx of these French capitals, the Spanish government was also paying close attention. Currently, the industries most popular with French capital were agriculture, the chemical industry, and mechanical production; French capital's investment in these three industries had already reached hundreds of millions of francs.

French capital's investment in agriculture was mainly concentrated in the vegetable and fruit industries, which was also a characteristic of Spain.

Currently, Spain's total vegetable production accounted for one-fifth of Europe's total production, and its total fruit production accounted for one-third of Europe's total production, making it Europe's most important vegetable and fruit exporter.

In terms of olive and olive oil production, Spain accounted for 35% and 42% of Europe's total production respectively, and this scale was still continuously growing.

It is no exaggeration to say that half of the olives and olive oil in the European market came from Spain, which was also the reason why Spain was hailed as the Kingdom of Vegetables and Fruits.

In terms of citrus fruits, Spain's total production accounted for nearly half of Europe's total production, and the citrus produced in Spain was famous for being sweet, delicious, and fragrant, selling well in Europe and even the Americas.

The Pepsi and Coca-Cola that Carlo invested in also launched citrus and lemon flavors; these uniquely flavored sodas also sold well in Europe and even opened related branches in the Americas.

The reason Spain's vegetable and fruit industry could reach such a scale was, on one hand, the agricultural development of the West African colonies, which allowed domestic land to shift from grain planting to vegetable and fruit planting, and on the other, the various policy support and subsidies from the domestic government, as well as the heavy investment from French capital.

Because Spain's vegetable and fruit production accounted for half of Europe's total production, the Spanish fruit and vegetable export companies also had great say in the prices of vegetables and fruits.

The money that could be earned from this almost monopolistic position was several times that of non-monopolistic enterprises, which was also the reason why the French were willing to invest.

It is worth mentioning that after French capital invested in the vegetable and fruit industry in Spain, they transported the vegetables and fruits produced in Spain back to France for sale.

Although France's agricultural scale was quite good, because of its larger population, it could not compare to Spain in terms of per capita vegetable and fruit production.

Coupled with the various propaganda from French capital, the fruits produced in Spain became even more popular in France itself.

Benefiting from the propaganda of French capital to make money, Spanish wine also rapidly expanded its market in France, gradually entering the daily life of the French public.

Regarding the behavior of French capital investing heavily in Spain, Carlo not only did not refuse but actually welcomed it warmly.

In fact, if it weren't for the fact that the French were also interested in Morocco, there would still be a great possibility for an alliance between France and Spain.

Spain could become a strong backing for France, and France could also help Spain better build the Iberian Fortress.

If France were Spain's ally, the geographical advantage of the Iberian Peninsula where Spain was located would be infinitely enhanced, and other countries wanting to attack Spain would only be able to do so through maritime landings.

Maritime landings were never an easy task, not to mention that Spain's army and navy construction had already achieved certain results.

To invade Spain from the sea, besides having a navy more powerful than Spain's, one must also have an army more powerful than Spain's.

Only when the navy suppressed Spain's navy would the army have a chance for a coastal landing. Every coastal landing would pay a huge price in casualties; such a mission, even for Britain and Germany, could not necessarily be 100% completed.

The reason Spain was slow to express its stance was actually because it was waiting for the wooing from the Franco-Russian Alliance and the German-Austrian Alliance.

As a country with a powerful army and navy, Spain had room for its own choices. Spain could even remain neutral; as long as Spain did not want to participate in European affairs, no country could force Spain to express its stance.

If France could provide Spain with a large amount of funds and support in industrial technology, and express its willingness to abandon its claims on Morocco and support Spain in annexing Morocco, Carlo really would not mind concluding a series of cooperation treaties with France.

After all, if they were on the German-Austrian side, it would mean that if Spain wanted to take Morocco, it would have to experience the dual pressure of Britain and France.

Although the main forces of Britain and France were held back by the German-Austrian Alliance, if Spain also entered the fray, perhaps Britain and France would prioritize focusing their fire on Spain.

As for Italy, which repeatedly jumped back and forth in history, Carlo did not hold much hope.

Even though Carlo was born into the Italian royal family, he still dared not assert that Italy would join the German-Austrian side in the war. If it were the current King of Italy, Umberto I, perhaps Italy would still be the more firm side.

But unfortunately, this brother of Carlo did not reign for long and could not hold on until the outbreak of World War I. His son, who was Carlo's nephew, did not have as firm an attitude as his father, which was the reason why Italy repeatedly jumped back and forth in World War I.

Of course, even if Italy did not jump back and forth, the role it played in the war was really limited.

When Carlo considered the two major military blocs in Europe, he generally only considered the situation of France-Russia vs. Germany-Austria.

Although Britain was strong, Britain did not contribute much in the early stages. The two sides that truly contributed were actually France and Germany; these were the two most powerful land powers on the European continent in the true sense.

If viewed from a historical perspective, Spain had a certain chance of winning by joining either side.

As the victors in history, the Entente side certainly had a greater chance of winning. If Spain joined the Franco-Russian side, even by dragging it out, they could drag Germany to death.

If they joined the German side, they would only have a hope of winning this war by first defeating Russia and then focusing their fire on France.

(End of this chapter)