[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-rise-of-the-empire-spain":3,"chapter-rise-of-the-empire-spain-rise-of-the-empire-spain-chapter-401":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","Rise of the Empire: Spain",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},2365329,4632,"Chapter 401: Century Progress Report","rise-of-the-empire-spain-chapter-401",401,"\u003Cp>Aside from the Panama Canal Treaty signed by Britain, France, and Spain, another major event in 1899 was the Convention for the Pacific Settlement of International Disputes signed by various European and American nations.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This treaty, signed in The Hague, Netherlands, was initiated by Tsar Nicholas II.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The emphasis of the Convention for the Pacific Settlement of International Disputes was actually quite clear: to resolve various international disputes and conflicts through peaceful means, thereby avoiding the occurrence of a super-war involving multiple great powers.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The reason it was proposed by the Russian side was mainly because Russia's internal conflicts were already quite apparent, and compared to other European great powers, Russia clearly had more weaknesses.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>On one hand, the dispute between Russia and the Austro-Hungarian Empire in the Balkans was already quite intense, which was also one of the reasons for the decline in relations between Russia and Germany.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>On the other hand, Russia also had significant conflicts with Britain in Central Asia and the Far East. If a war were to actually break out, it was unclear whether the Franco-Russian Alliance could win, but the Russians would likely lose.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The idea of peacefully resolving international disputes proposed by Tsar Nicholas II soon received support from many European countries.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Regardless of whether super-great powers like France and Germany feared a super-war, the other non-great power nations were certainly terrified of one.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A super-war would force the great powers to fight for survival, and when these great powers were teetering on the edge of life and death, they would not care about their relationships with surrounding countries.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As long as surrounding countries could provide them with resources and industry, what would it matter if they occupied them? This also meant that at the moment a super-war broke out, no country in Europe would be absolutely safe.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In view of the chaotic situation in Europe, the British government also quickly expressed its support for the idea of peaceful resolution of international disputes proposed by the Russian government.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Do not misunderstand; this was not because Britain intended to reconcile with Russia. The main reason was that Britain, like Russia, was currently in a situation of making enemies everywhere.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Boer War a few years ago had significantly reduced Britain's international prestige and influence, and its conflicts with Russia in Central Asia and the Far East, including historical animosities with France and Spain, all made Britain somewhat restless.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If they did not find a way to ease the conflict between the two major military blocs in Europe, Britain would absolutely not be able to stay out of it when the two major military blocs erupted into a super-war.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>By then, a Britain with an exceptionally powerful navy and an excellent industrial environment would either become a guest of one military bloc or become a thorn in the side of both.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>With Russia initiating, Britain responding, and many small and medium-sized countries supporting, the discussion regarding the peaceful resolution of international disputes was soon convened in The Hague, Netherlands.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Many countries participated in this discussion, encompassing dozens of countries and regions from the four continents of Europe, America, Asia, and Africa.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>From this, one could see how concerned these countries were about a potential super-war; this was not only because of previous reports about a possible super-war in Europe, but also because of the current chaos and tension in the European situation.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Europe was the undisputed most developed and prosperous region, and changes in Europe would deeply affect all parts of the world. With European countries generally possessing powerful military strength, other countries did not wish for a major war to break out in Europe.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After all, the fluctuations of such a war would very likely cause an innocent country to suffer painful tribulations.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As a powerful European great power, Spain was naturally within the scope of invitations for this conference, and its ranking was not low.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Although this was an international conference, when the representatives of various countries were seated, it was clearly still arranged according to national strength.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As the responder and initiator, the diplomatic representatives of Britain and Russia were seated in the most prominent positions. The powerful France and Germany were next to these two countries, and next to them was the diplomatic representative of Spain.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>From this distribution of positions, one could see one thing: in the view of the European great powers, Spain was already at the level of super-great powers like Britain, France, Germany, and Russia, and was a grade ahead of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and Italy.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Austro-Hungarian Empire and Italy had no objections to this seating arrangement. On one hand, Spain's naval strength was indeed powerful, which indirectly increased Spain's military strength.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>On the other hand, the relationship between Spain and the Austro-Hungarian Empire and Italy was relatively good, and they naturally could not have any opinions on this division of positions; after all, such a division of positions could not bring actual benefits.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Below the five great powers of Britain, Russia, Germany, France, and Spain were the remaining three great powers: the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Italy, and the United States.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Although the United States' economic and industrial strength was very powerful, the position of the American diplomatic representative was at the very end of the great powers, from which one could also see the European countries' contempt for the United States.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Below the eight great powers were diplomatic representatives from dozens of different countries across four continents. Colombia did not send a diplomatic representative to attend this conference due to its civil war.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But there were still quite a few South American countries that sent diplomatic representatives; after all, they had already participated in international affairs through the Spanish-speaking Countries Economic Alliance, and naturally needed to stand up for Spain at such a time.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The reason Spain gathered these Spanish-speaking countries together was to bolster its own momentum and increase its number of votes during international conferences.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Of course, this conference on the peaceful resolution of international disputes did not really need that. Because in such a conference, Spain was not the protagonist.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Spain was neither involved in the competition between the two major military blocs, and its relationship with most of the countries in the two major military blocs was relatively good, so it naturally did not need to worry that their war would spread to itself.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Spain's geographical location was also far from the center of the European continent; as long as Spain was determined not to participate in Europe's super-war, other countries had no way to force Spain to participate, unless they declared war directly on Spain.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But as long as these countries had not reached the final step, they would absolutely never do something as foolish as declaring war directly on Spain.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Spain's strength did not come from industrial strength and economic development like the United States, but was obtained through the continuous accumulation of military strength.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>With the world's third-largest navy and a top-five army, such military strength could not necessarily guarantee a one-hundred-percent defeat of Spain, even during the peak of other super-great powers.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Not to mention when a super-war broke out; unless absolutely necessary, for most countries, having one less enemy was definitely better than having one more.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After weeks of discussion by diplomatic representatives from dozens of countries, they finally negotiated a treaty content that was reasonably satisfactory to the diplomatic representatives of all countries.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Most of the treaty's content was about the maintenance of peace and mediation and arbitration in the event of conflict, and it also stipulated that one or more countries unrelated to the dispute could, if the situation permitted, take the initiative to provide mediation or arbitration to the parties involved in the dispute.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In order to make the mediation and arbitration process fairer, the diplomatic representatives of various countries also agreed to establish a Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague to help the disputing countries resolve their conflicts peacefully and amicably.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Although this conference on the peaceful resolution of international disputes was held very smoothly, the representatives of the great powers participating in the conference knew that doing so could at most resolve superficial conflicts, or even only resolve the disputes of those small and medium-sized countries.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>For the intense confrontation between the two major military blocs in Europe, let alone an international court of arbitration, even the intervention of other great powers would not have any effect.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In fact, if any great power dared to intervene in the confrontation between the two major military blocs, it would very likely cause a situation where the two major military blocs would jointly besiege that great power.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even one as strong as Britain dared not claim to mediate the confrontation between the two major military blocs, let alone other great powers.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After this conference ended, the time had almost reached the latter part of 1899.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The 19th century was about to end, and for Wang Gong, as the new century was about to arrive, he still had many thoughts.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ever since Wang Gong became the King of Spain, Spain had not only reversed the trend of decline but had gone further, constantly advancing toward the ladder of a super-great power.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Looking at the results Spain had achieved so far, the political achievements of Wang Gong during his many years as King of Spain were still very excellent.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If the 30 years since becoming King of Spain were Spain's golden development stage, then starting from the 20th century, Spain would gradually bid farewell to its golden development period and usher in a very challenging time node.\u003C\u002Fp>",1601,"2026-06-25T09:27:15.200Z",1,"Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite","45df427211f5cdd0f01f04df99cba370d2fa097629138baed77a5e64a4e9a7c0","rise-of-the-empire-spain-chapter-402","rise-of-the-empire-spain-chapter-400",493,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Frise-of-the-empire-spain-cover.jpg"]