Chapter 404: Model 1897 75mm Artillery

The Spanish government's actions were quite swift. After Carlo decided to establish an industrial base in Asturias, the cabinet government began acting very quickly.

It took less than a month for the preliminary preparations for the construction of the industrial base to be completely finished, and the construction of the industrial base officially began.

Like the previous Barcelona industrial base, the Asturias industrial base will be divided into three phases; the first two phases will last one year and one and a half years respectively, and the third phase will last two and a half years, totaling five years.

Once the construction of the Asturias industrial base is completed, this industrial base will become Spain's most important steel production base and heavy industry base, providing Spain with an annual output of at least 500, 00 to 1 million tons of pig iron.

It is no exaggeration to say that once the Asturias industrial base is completed, the steel output of this industrial base will be greater than the steel output of both the Austro-Hungarian Empire and Italy.

For this industrial base, the Spanish government will pay at least 35 million pesetas annually, spending a total of 175 million pesetas over five years to build this industrial base.

As long as the Asturias industrial base can be completed, most of the steel output growth mentioned in the industrial development plan can be realized instantly.

Spain's industrial base was being built in full swing, and there was basically nothing major happening in Europe.

Britain was still busy solving problems in Ireland and India, France and Germany were both busy developing their own navies, Russia was busy deploying its Far Eastern situation, while the Austro-Hungarian Empire and Italy were just going through the motions.

A year passed in the blink of an eye, and time quickly arrived at 1901.

Just like in 1900, a major event occurred at the beginning of 1901, which was the death of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom.

To the United Kingdom, Queen Victoria was not only a symbol of the nation but also a witness to Britain's glorious history.

From the time Queen Victoria became Queen of the United Kingdom, Britain firmly sat on the throne of world hegemony and expanded its colonies across the globe.

This period is also known as the Victorian Era, the most glorious, prosperous, powerful, and flourishing period of the British colonial era.

But a country will not remain strong forever, just as a person will not remain young forever.

This queen, born in 1819, was now at the advanced age of nearly 82.

In an era when the average life expectancy in Europe was only 40, the advanced age of 82 was absolutely very rare. Because Queen Elizabeth II had not yet been born, Queen Victoria remains the longest-reigning monarch in British history.

The death of such a great monarch who symbolized the United Kingdom attracted the attention of Britain and even all of Europe.

Even though the relationship between Spain and Britain was not good, the Spanish side still had to send diplomatic representatives of sufficient status to the United Kingdom.

There was nothing to hesitate about; the only person who could go to the United Kingdom to attend Queen Victoria's funeral was the current Prime Minister, Angelo Orcajo.

Queen Victoria's status among European royalty was quite high; because her daughters married into multiple European kingdoms, Queen Victoria was also known as the Grandmother of Europe and was one of the most powerful and influential European monarchs.

Although Spain and Britain had no kinship, as members of European royalty, the necessary respect still had to be shown.

The poor relationship between Spain and Britain was a matter for the two governments; before completely tearing off the mask, the two royal families still had to maintain a friendly facade.

In addition to Prime Minister Baron Angelo Orcajo personally traveling to the United Kingdom, this diplomatic mission also included important cabinet ministers such as Foreign Minister William and Minister of Royal Affairs Grant Jeffries, which could be said to have given the British government plenty of face.

This was already a very high level of importance; under normal circumstances, only Carlo personally traveling to the United Kingdom could exceed this level of importance, but it was impossible for Carlo to go to the United Kingdom at such a juncture.

After all, there was no connection between the Spanish royal family and the British royal family; everyone was a king, so why should Carlo personally attend Queen Victoria's funeral?

A king going personally would not only fail to show importance but would instead lower his own status.

Unless it was a country with marriage ties to Spain, such as Italy or the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Carlo would not condescend to personally attend the funerals of various royal families.

Moreover, Carlo himself had no interest in going to the United Kingdom. Although London was currently the world's largest city and the most prosperous and advanced city.

But because Britain did not value the environment during the Industrial Revolution, London was also the world-famous Foggy City.

Fine carriages, good wine, and stinking London—this was the best description the public of various countries had for the British capital, London. In the streets and alleys of London, one could see the wealthy and automobiles everywhere, and wines produced in France and all over Europe were also visible everywhere.

But at the same time, London also had very serious smog. Added to the fact that Europeans of this era did not pay attention to hygiene, excrement could be seen in the streets and alleys of London.

Smog plus excrement everywhere; if you were unlucky, you might even step on feces.

Unlike Madrid, which attached great importance to the sanitary environment, London could be said to be a complete mess in terms of sanitary conditions.

Carlo was not willing to go to such a London unless he wanted to suffer.

The reason for sending such a luxurious diplomatic mission lineup, including the Prime Minister, the Foreign Minister, and the Minister of Royal Affairs, was that in addition to attending Queen Victoria's funeral, Carlo also intended for them to conduct a round of visits to European countries.

As time reached 1901, it was one step closer to the First World War.

In recent years, the two major military blocs had both been heavily courting Britain and Spain; they both wanted to make their lineups more luxurious and lead their opponents in military strength.

This diplomatic visit was to express Spain's attitude to the outside world; at least for now, Spain had no plans to join either military bloc.

Maintaining neutrality for the time being was the most cost-effective for Carlo and Spain, because it meant Spain could do business with both sides simultaneously.

Of course, the behavior of a fence-sitter leaning both ways was also the most shameful. At the appropriate time, Carlo would choose his favorite side without hesitation and would not maintain a neutral status for long.

As for how to choose, it would depend on which side of the two major military blocs showed more sincerity.

In fact, everyone understood that Britain and Spain were gradually standing in opposition. If the sincerity toward Britain was greater, the sincerity toward Spain would be slightly insufficient.

Conversely, the same logic applied; if one wanted to win Spain over into their alliance, they would certainly have to give up on winning over Britain.

It was not that Germany and France had not thought about winning over both Britain and Spain, but such ideas were decisively rejected by Spain.

It was impossible for Spain to become an ally of Britain unless Britain was willing to directly cede Gibraltar and allow Spain to annex Portugal.

But such a situation simply did not exist; Britain could not lose both Portugal and Gibraltar at the same time, and it was even more impossible for them to make concessions to Spain without doing anything.

Queen Victoria's successor was Crown Prince Edward, a point that was quite subtle for Spain.

Because starting with Crown Prince Edward, the United Kingdom would officially enter the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha.

The origin of this family naturally needs no mention; it was a long-standing noble family in Germany. Did this mean that after Crown Prince Edward became King of the United Kingdom, Germany would work even harder to win over Britain?

After all, in history, even when World War I was about to break out, the Germans did not give up the idea of winning over Britain.

It was just that the Britain of that time felt that Germany was the greatest threat, so they chose to stand on the side of France, which was less of a threat.

Facts proved that the British choice was quite smart. If they had chosen to stand on the side of Germany, once Russia withdrew from the war, France could absolutely not be a match for both Britain and Germany.

As long as Germany defeated France, Germany would be the undisputed hegemon of Europe. No matter how strong Britain's industrial foundation was, they could absolutely not be a match for Germany.

Germany, having absorbed the essence of French industry, would undergo a complete transformation; once given sufficient time to develop, Britain would be unable to form enough of an advantage to suppress Germany, whether in terms of navy or army.

Things really did turn out just as Carlo had predicted.

According to the report from Prime Minister Angelo Orcajo, after Queen Victoria's funeral ended, Kaiser Wilhelm II engaged in an intimate conversation with King Edward VII of the United Kingdom.

Unlike Carlo, Wilhelm II had a kinship with Queen Victoria, which was also the reason he came to London in person to attend Queen Victoria's funeral.