Chapter 418: The Portuguese Crisis

When the Russo-Japanese War ended, the governments and citizens of most countries believed that the world situation would usher in a period of brief peace.

Although the confrontation between the two major military blocs in Europe still existed, both sides were at a stage where neither could do anything to the other; logically speaking, it was impossible for a large-scale armed conflict to break out.

But unexpectedly, shortly after the end of the Russo-Japanese War, a crisis with a high probability of igniting the European situation emerged.

What kind of crisis? Come to think of it, this crisis even had something to do with Spain.

Portugal, which Spain had always been obsessed with annexing, had experienced a rather chaotic 12 years since the establishment of its republic in 1892.

The Portuguese Republican Party gained the support of the people, defeated the Portuguese Kingdom government, and established the Portuguese Republic, declaring that it would build a republican government belonging to all Portuguese citizens.

At that time, almost the majority of the Portuguese people believed that this new republican government could save Portugal, and they provided massive support for the rebellion launched by the Republican Party, which was the reason the Republican Party was ultimately able to defeat the Portuguese Kingdom government.

But when Portugal truly achieved a republic, the people discovered that the so-called Portuguese republican government was not that wonderful. The problems that existed in Portugal before still existed under the republican government, and with the party strife between the Republican Party and other factions, some problems even became sharper and more intense.

The republican government established by the Republican Party only wore the cloak of democracy; in reality, most political power was controlled by a small number of people, and these people who controlled Portugal's political power all held significant military force in their hands.

To put it bluntly, the current Portuguese republican government was established through a coup, which also meant that the military was destined to possess extremely huge influence and a role in the Portuguese government.

The Republican Party's coup relied on the support of the people, the assistance of Spain, and the help of various other parties.

This also led to the fact that it was not just the Republican Party that controlled military power, but also other large parties, including the Liberal Party, the Iberian Party, and others.

After seizing power in Portugal, conflicts also erupted within the previously united parties. As internal conflicts broke out within the parties, everyone began to use the military power in their hands to cause trouble for the others.

The first few years after the founding of the Portuguese Republic were precisely the darkest years for this country. Although the Republican Party generally held the highest power, the dissatisfaction of other parties toward the Republican Party grew increasingly intense, and they also planned numerous worker strikes, demonstrations, and armed uprisings.

Under the pressure of various parties and some dissatisfied citizens, Portugal experienced 20 different types of governments in just 12 years; these governments were composed of different parties, and a total of 14 people served as the President of Portugal during those 12 years.

From this point alone, one can see how chaotic the political situation in Portugal was during this period; the average term of each president was less than one year, and the tenure of each government was even just over half a year.

Under these circumstances, even if there were occasionally some capable presidents and cabinet governments, they could not achieve any outstanding political accomplishments during their brief terms in office.

The infighting among Portuguese parties successfully dragged the country down and caused a large number of Portuguese to migrate to Spain, which had a more prosperous economy and a more stable political situation.

Because the total population of Portugal had already exceeded 4. 4 million in 1890, according to the Spanish government's estimates, the Portuguese population was expected to reach 5. million in 1900 and 5. million in 1905.

But the final result was that by the beginning of 1904, the population of Portugal was only 5. 4 million.

During these 12 years, at least 200, 00 Portuguese migrated to Spain. The Portuguese Republic could not block these immigrants because a large part of the reason they gained power was the support provided to them by Spain at the time.

Since Spain could support the Republican Party to overthrow the Portuguese Kingdom government, it could naturally also support other parties to overthrow the current republican government.

Although the Iberian Party, as one of the largest parties in Portugal, was ostensibly a party founded by Portuguese people pursuing Iberian unification, whether this party had the support of the Spanish government behind the scenes was not a question for the Portuguese republican government.

The answer was certainly yes, it was just that this support was all in the shadows, and the intensity of the support was not that high.

But if the Portuguese republican government also intended to be an enemy of Spain like the original kingdom government, I fear Spain would immediately increase its support for the Iberian Party and seek an opportunity to annex Portugal.

If the Republican Party continued to keep a clear head, it would be impossible for Gao Da to openly interfere in Portugal's domestic situation.

But as it stands, the current Portuguese republican government seems to have abandoned its original diplomatic stance. Facing the increasingly chaotic domestic situation and the Portuguese people who were gradually becoming dissatisfied with them, the Portuguese republican government seems to have a tendency to lean toward the UK again.

On June 12, 1904, the Portuguese republican government and the British government secretly signed the "Anglo-Portuguese Economic Mutual Assistance Treaty," seeking economic aid from the UK.

The British government very generously provided the Portuguese government with a low-interest loan of as much as 8 million pounds, which far exceeded the total annual fiscal revenue obtained by the Portuguese government.

Although Portugal still retained the title of a colonial power, in reality, Portugal was one of the poorest countries in Europe and also the most remote country in Europe.

Portugal essentially had only Spain as a neighbor, and because of the long-term poor relationship maintained with Spain, Portugal's connections with European countries could only rely on maritime transport.

This also led to the fact that there was not much economic exchange between Portugal and European countries, and its economic and industrial development was significantly lagging behind other countries in Central and Western Europe.

Originally, there was the equally declining Spain to keep it company, but after Spain gradually became stronger through reforms, Portugal was the only one left in continuous decline.

Do not look at the fact that Portugal's land area and population were at the same level as many small and medium-sized European countries; the industry and economy of those countries were still far ahead of Portugal.

Compared with small European countries like the Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark, and Sweden, Portugal was still at the very bottom of the ranks of these countries.

It was precisely for this reason that since the Industrial Revolution, Portugal's sense of presence had always been the lowest among countries with a certain scale and territory.

The 8 million pound low-interest loan that the Portuguese republican government obtained from the UK did indeed alleviate Portugal's domestic economic problems, but this disobedient Portuguese republican government caused Gao Da to lose trust.

Spain absolutely could not allow Portugal to lean toward the UK again; since the current Portuguese government was disobedient, Spain had every reason to replace the government for Portugal once more.

Starting from mid-June 1904, Spain strengthened its ties with the Portuguese Iberian Party and provided the Iberian Party with 20 million pesetas in funding, with the excuse of supporting the proposition of Iberian unification.

Although the Republican Party was the protagonist of the Portuguese republican government, the idea of Iberian unification derived from Pan-Iberianism had gained widespread support in both Portugal and Spain.

The reason for Spain's support for Iberian unification was not doubted by these people, because in their view, Spain and Portugal indeed had reasons to unite.

The history of Spain and Portugal was highly similar, and the founding of both countries was due to the Reconquista. During the Age of Discovery, Portugal and Spain both had their own achievements in circumnavigation, and they successively became powerful colonial empires at the time, ushering in a long Golden Age.

Portugal and Spain were not only powerful during the same period, but also declined during the same period. If it were not for Spain's resurgence due to the revolution, I fear it would only be a brother in misfortune to Portugal at this time.

Regarding the similarly experienced history of the two countries, many people still felt a sense of closeness in their hearts. Coupled with the fact that the Portuguese and Spanish people had some or many similarities in language, religion, and customs, this was the reason why Pan-Iberianism was prevalent on the Iberian Peninsula.

People who supported Pan-Iberianism believed that compared to other countries and nations in Europe, the Portuguese and Spaniards on the Iberian Peninsula should be one entity; everyone was their own people.

Facing the relatively intense competition in the European situation, Spain and Portugal should also unite to jointly deal with enemies outside the Iberian Peninsula.

People firmly believed that the united Iberian Peninsula would become one of the most powerful countries in this world, and it would not be even half a step inferior to the UK, France, or Germany.

The combined population of the two countries had already reached over 40 million, which was at the same level as France and the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and more than the populations of the UK and Italy.

The great powers that could exceed the combined population of Spain and Portugal were, in fact, only Russia, Germany, and the United States.