Chapter 385

The news that the Spanish Royal Family is about to marry the Danish Royal Family is no longer a secret, and the Spanish people have also offered their blessings to Crown Wang Chu Juan Fernando, who is about to get married.

Crown Wang Chu Juan Fernando's engagement ceremony will be held in the Iberian Cathedral; this cathedral was also specially built by Gao Da for the Archbishop of Spain, with the purpose of holding weddings, funerals, and other important ceremonial rituals for royal family members.

This engagement ceremony will be personally organized by Wang Hou Sophie, and the Royal Family will pay a budget of at least one million Pesetas for this.

Although a budget of one million Pesetas is not too much, this is after all just an engagement ceremony. When Wang Chu Juan Fernando and Princess Louise hold the wedding, the funds used by the Royal Family will definitely be more.

For his several sons, Gao Da will not be stingy at all. The cost of Gao Da's own wedding was as high as millions of Pesetas; when these sons hold weddings, the funds spent will only be more.

For royal family members, such a grand wedding only happens once in a lifetime. Gao Da hopes that they can all enjoy the highest wedding specifications; regardless of whether they can inherit the throne in the future, Gao Da hopes that they will live a wealthy and peaceful life.

While the Spanish government is preparing for Crown Wang Chu Juan Fernando's engagement ceremony, it sent invitation letters to countries and royal families that are relatively friendly.

The scale of the engagement ceremony is not as grand as the wedding ceremony, and there is no need to invite all European countries. It is only necessary to invite those governments and royal families that have a relatively good relationship with Spain, and everyone can sit together to reminisce about the past.

Only when it comes to Wang Chu Juan Fernando's wedding ceremony will the Spanish government widely invite governments and royal families of various European countries.

After this engagement ceremony, time reached 1897.

For the Spanish government, two things are the most important in 1897.

The first thing is the cabinet election at the beginning of the year, which relates to who will hold the highest power of the Spanish government in the next five years.

The second thing is the Crown Wang Chu's wedding ceremony. The two protagonists of the wedding are likely the future King and Wang Hou of Spain; whether it is the current Spanish cabinet or the Spanish cabinet after the election, it is impossible not to attach importance to the holding of this wedding.

This wedding will not only invite most countries and royal families in Europe, but even government high-level officials from all over the world.

Gao Da has specially ordered that Spain will dispatch the navy in this wedding. On the one hand, it is to increase the scale and momentum of the wedding; on the other hand, it is also to show the strength of Spain today to the outside world.

As the 20th century is about to arrive, the European situation will also become more chaotic. Only by showing sufficiently strong military strength can Spain attract the attention and fear of European countries.

Gao Da does not want the Spain that has worked hard to reform and develop to eventually become cannon fodder for other countries in the world war. Participating in the world war is fine, but Spain must obtain sufficient benefits and ensure that it is always on the winning side.

For Gao Da, the two major military groups have no tendency. Whoever can provide more benefit support to Spain and whoever can occupy a greater advantage in the confrontation, Spain will choose that side.

Even if the Austro-Hungarian Empire and Italy in the German-Austrian-Italian military alliance have kinship with the Spanish Royal Family, Gao Da will not change his tendency because of this.

As long as the French give more, being an enemy of Germany and the Austro-Hungarian Empire is not impossible. Of course, if the German side gives more, Gao Da does not mind being an enemy of Britain and France for the sake of Gibraltar and the control of the western outlet of the Mediterranean.

Although the Franco-Russian alliance looks powerful at present, Gao Da knows that this is already the last glory of the Tsarist Russian Empire.

In a few years, the war that made another country jump into a power will break out. And Russia will also be seriously injured because of this war, indirectly triggering the revolution in World War I, leading to the final complete destruction of the Romanov family that ruled Russia.

The war that made Russia completely move towards weakness is actually the Russo-Japanese War that broke out in 1904.

Although the war seems to be Japan defeating Russia head-on, sitting firmly on its throne as a power. But the actual situation is that what Japan defeated was only Russia's Far Eastern army and Far Eastern fleet, not the main force of the Russian army.

The reason for Russia's failure in this war is, on the one hand, Japan's rise had the support of Britain, with the purpose of destroying Russia's hegemony in the Far East.

On the other hand, it was the dissatisfaction of Russia's ally, France, with Russia's actions in the Far East. France's core interests are on the European mainland and African colonies; the French naturally do not want their ally to focus on the distant Far East.

A Russia that focuses on the Far East is not a threat to Germany and the Austro-Hungarian Empire. If Russia cannot contain a large number of troops from Germany and the Austro-Hungarian Empire, France will have to face the situation of confronting Germany and Germany's allies alone.

It is precisely because of this that France's support for its ally Russia during the Russo-Japanese War was minimal; they hoped that a failure would let Russia see the situation clearly and refocus its attention on the European region.

As for the competition for hegemony in the Far East, compared with the changes in the European situation, it is not so important. As long as the Franco-Russian alliance successfully defeats the German-Austrian alliance, will the hegemony of the Far East be far away?

Europe was the most developed region at that time. As long as one successfully dominates Europe, it also means that the Franco-Russian alliance has the capital to dominate the world.

The comprehensive strength of Japan during the Russo-Japanese War was actually far inferior to European powers. The reason why it could defeat Russia is also very simple, that is, the core area of Russia was too far from the Far East, and material transportation and troop mobilization all needed to spend huge time costs and capital costs.

Although Russia had already been building the Trans-Siberian Railway that runs through Europe and the Far East, the problem is that this railway started construction in 1891 and was not officially completed until 1916.

On the one hand, the Siberia region was too cold, and the construction difficulty was relatively large, which slowed down the speed of railway construction. On the other hand, Russia's own industrial strength was not that powerful, and the speed of railway construction was not very good.

It is precisely because of this reason that such a railway of more than 9,000 kilometers was built for a full 25 years, and the average railway mileage built each year was less than 400 kilometers.

Perhaps even Tsar Nicholas II, who presided over the construction of the Trans-Siberian Railway, did not expect that the railway he built did not facilitate himself, but instead facilitated the Soviet Union, which obtained power in Russia in the future.

Because the railway construction was completed only in the middle and late stages of World War I, the Trans-Siberian Railway did not play much of a role in World War I.

But by World War II, the important strategic role of the Trans-Siberian Railway was reflected. Stalin called it the dragon vein of Russia, and it was an important strategic material transportation lifeline for Russia during World War II.

If there had been such a railway during the Russo-Japanese War, the outcome of the Russo-Japanese War would really be hard to judge. Although the individual combat effectiveness of the Russian army was not strong, the number of Russian troops was the largest.

Except for that oriental power with a population of hundreds of millions and Britain's colony India, there are really not many countries in this world that can do it.

The first month of 1897 was the preparation stage for the Spanish cabinet election. Major political parties shouted their slogans one after another during this period to cheer for their prime minister candidates.

Major Spanish newspapers were also reporting news related to the prime minister election, boldly guessing which prime minister candidate could obtain the final victory.

As time reached the end of January 1897, the final prime minister candidates were basically determined. In addition to one candidate recommended by each of the four major political parties, Gao Da also recommended the current Minister of Industry, Angelo Orcajo, plus three independent self-recommendations, a total of eight prime minister candidates participated in the election.

In fact, it can be predicted that these three independent self-recommendations as prime minister candidates will likely be screened out in the first round of the election.

There is no way; independents are at a huge disadvantage in such large-scale elections.

Those members of parliament who joined political parties basically will not vote for them; what they can win over are only those members of parliament who also have no political party identity.

But the problem is that among the 298 seats in the Spanish House of Representatives, the proportion of independent members is only a small part.

This actually also doomed the ending of these independent prime minister candidates; unless they can obtain the King's support, or luckily win in the stalemate of various political parties, it is impossible to become prime minister.

The purpose of these three independent prime minister candidates running for office is not to win the election, but to add some color to their resumes.

Because an ordinary member of the House of Representatives and a member of the House of Representatives who has run for prime minister, no matter how you look at it, the latter is more powerful.

Even if the prime minister's election was not successful, and even if they were eliminated in the first round, they are still members of parliament who have participated in the prime minister's election.

In this regard, Spain's election system is still relatively good. Regardless of whether these prime minister candidates can win the election in the end, as long as they meet the conditions, they are qualified to become prime minister candidates.

To a certain extent, this can also be considered a manifestation of fairness. As for running for office but being unable to win, this can only be said that they did not get the support of other members of parliament, not a problem with the election process itself. To a certain extent, as the prime minister candidate of the largest political party, Jovellanos Soler should possess the greatest advantage and public support.

But there is no way; in this prime minister election, Gao Da personally recommended Baron Angelo Orcajo, and the people, under the premise of knowing that Gao Da supports Baron Orcajo, will naturally also look favorably on Baron Orcajo.

This is the blessing brought by Gao Da's huge folk prestige; the people will naturally believe in the candidate recommended by Gao Da, even if this candidate does not possess an advantage himself.

Old cabinet ministers like Jovellanos Soler and Ewald Bartel are actually not stupid. When Gao Da personally recommended a prime minister candidate, they understood that this cabinet prime minister already had a definite candidate.

Unless they can rely on the advantages of their political party to quickly win with a large number of votes. Otherwise, in the situation where the election is deadlocked, those small political parties will definitely cast their votes for the candidate supported by Gao Da.

Doing so, in addition to expressing their loyalty to His Majesty the King, is also to befriend the new prime minister in advance.

Baron Angelo Orcajo has a huge difference from other prime minister candidates, that is, he himself has not joined any political party.

Spain does not restrict prime ministers and prime minister candidates from joining political parties; does this mean that they also have hope of pulling Angelo Orcajo, this prime minister candidate with high popularity, into their own political party?

Of course, pulling into a political party is definitely not now. Because each political party can only recommend one prime minister candidate, so before the end of the election, it is not the best time to win over Baron Orcajo.

You can also win over after the election ends. If Baron Orcajo wins the final victory, he will definitely seek re-election after his term ends. If there is the help of a political party, Baron Orcajo's chance of seeking re-election will also become greater.

If Baron Orcajo did not win in this election, he can also be pulled into a political party to strengthen his momentum, waiting for the next prime minister election five years later.

Anyway, this is a candidate supported by His Majesty the King; even if this prime minister election fails, the possibility of winning the next time will only be greater.

After all, Baron Orcajo's own age also has an advantage. A 49-year-old politician, his age at this time is still in the golden stage.

Although the average life expectancy in Europe is only 30 or 40 years old, this is because a large number of European civilians pulled down the average life expectancy.

For people in the upper social strata in Europe, living to 60 or 70 is completely no problem. Especially those nobles who live in luxury, their life expectancy is basically over 70 years old.

For these people, being under 50 is really not old; Baron Orcajo's political career has at least more than ten years, and investing in him will definitely not be a loss.

Even if he can only serve one term as cabinet prime minister, the improvement of the political power of the political party is also incomparably huge. During the administration of Prime Minister Primo, Spain's largest political party was the Progressive Party.

By the time of Prime Minister Canovas, Spain's largest political party had become the Conservative Party.

That is to say, Prime Minister Evan Bradley himself has no political party identity; otherwise, whether the current Conservative Party can continue to maintain the status of Spain's largest political party is really hard to say.

In fact, from the perspective of political parties, one can also explain why Gao Da finally gave up letting Deputy Prime Minister Jovellanos Soler become prime minister.

Deputy Prime Minister Jovellanos Soler is after all a member of the Conservative Party; if he is elected prime minister, it will only make the Conservative Party's power in Spain become greater.

Although the Conservative Party is also a member of the Royalist Party, the Conservative Party's support rate being too high is not a good thing for Spain's development.

Gao Da hopes that Spain's politics will have more participation from the Progressive Party, the Liberal Party, and the Workers' Party; only when the political situation is blooming can Spain's development not be confined to one kind of thought.

To a certain extent, Ewald Bartel might also be a good candidate. He comes from the Progressive Party; if he serves as prime minister, Spain will return to the situation where the Progressive Party and the Conservative Party contend with each other.

It is a pity that Ewald Bartel's age is really too old; considering that the 20th century is about to arrive, Spain still needs a prime minister who is more energetic and has more open-minded thoughts.

As time reached February 1897, Spain's prime minister election officially began.

Several major political parties warmed up for the prime minister election for more than a month, but the entire election process lasted less than three days.

As expected by various political parties, at the beginning, the Conservative Party's Jovellanos Soler did obtain a huge advantage.

But these advantages were not enough to make him the cabinet prime minister, and he could not obtain the support of other political parties, so he had to give up helplessly.

Ewald Bartel naturally goes without saying. At this time, the Progressive Party is not the largest political party during the Primo prime minister period; wanting to rely solely on the support of the Progressive Party to become Spain's prime minister is impossible in the current Spanish political situation.

Those political parties that have no hope of competing for prime minister will not support the prime minister candidates of the Conservative Party and the Progressive Party. When the two political parties were deadlocked, they instead cast their votes for Baron Angelo Orcajo.

Seeing that the general trend was gone, the Conservative Party and the Progressive Party could only cast their votes for Baron Orcajo to obtain certain interest exchanges.

The final result was that Baron Orcajo became the Prime Minister of Spain directly after the end of his first cabinet term, winning the highest throne of Spanish political power.

For the Conservative Party candidate Jovellanos Soler who knows how to advance and retreat, Gao Da does not mind giving him a bright future.

The day after the prime minister candidate was determined, Gao Da publicly stated that Jovellanos Soler would be re-elected as Deputy Prime Minister, letting him end his political career with the high position of Deputy Prime Minister.

Although he could not win the prime minister throne in the end, relying on his resume of two terms as Minister of Agriculture (plus the second term of Primo and the temporary cabinet) and three terms as Minister of Industry plus two terms as Deputy Prime Minister, Jovellanos Soler can still become a hero of Spain and obtain the title of nobility from Gao Da after retirement.

Winning a title of nobility for himself and his descendants can also be considered the best ending for Jovellanos Soler.

Except for not having too much land, there is no big difference between new nobles and old nobles. The title of nobility that Jovellanos Soler can obtain is likely to be a Count, which is a hereditary title.

Through his own efforts to make his family a real noble family, for Jovellanos Soler himself, such an ending can be considered complete.

As for the Progressive Party candidate Ewald Bartel, he can also retire from the position of Speaker of the House of Representatives.

This is not just compensation for him, but also a power balance made by Gao Da.

The Conservative Party itself is Spain's first largest political party, and the position of Speaker of the House of Representatives is destined not to be obtained by a Conservative Party member.

If the position of Speaker of the House of Representatives is controlled by the Conservative Party, the House of Representatives, the most important institution of the parliament, is very likely to become the one-man show of the Conservative Party.

Although the Conservative Party is loyal to Gao Da at this time, who can guarantee that the Conservative Party's political thought is in line with Spain's development needs?

Letting the Conservative Party dominate alone does not conform to Gao Da's political layout; whether it is now or in the future, the position of Speaker of the House of Representatives cannot be obtained by the largest political party at that time.

Ewald Bartel's qualifications are older than Jovellanos Soler's; he has served as Minister of Finance for four terms and Speaker of the House of Representatives for one term. If he is re-elected in the position of Speaker of the House of Representatives, he can also obtain the title of nobility above Baron in the future.

Although he could not sit on the highest throne of Spanish political power, such an ending is already quite complete for them.

Most politicians only seek three things in their lives: one is fame, two is profit, and three is the country.

Jovellanos Soler and Ewald Bartel have already achieved both fame and profit. In terms of the country, they have also made no small contributions.

Now that these three things have been achieved, what else do they have to be dissatisfied with?

(End of this chapter)