Chapter 447: The Iberian Alliance Treaty

Besides pressuring the British to concede as early as possible, Yu Kaluo was also laying the groundwork regarding the Portuguese.

The grand military parade held in Cadiz had a very good effect; even though the parade had ended several days ago, news related to it remained the hottest topic on the Iberian Peninsula.

A large number of Spanish and Portuguese citizens were discussing the stunning performance of the Spanish military during the parade, and they were also curious about the air force and naval units Spain had showcased.

Judging by the record of the Spanish Navy defeating the British Navy, the Spanish Navy could fully be considered one of the most powerful navies in Europe.

The concept of an air force unit was also first proposed by Spain, which meant that Spain was already a well-deserved world leader in both naval and air power.

Regarding the army, although the Spanish Army did not have enough combat records to establish the status of a top-tier army, one could see from the performance of the various Spanish army units in the parade that the combat effectiveness of the Spanish Army was absolutely reliable, and it was definitely on the same level as the armies of the two major European land powers, Germany and France.

Viewed in this light, Spain was simultaneously at the top level in all three military branches: land, sea, and air. Aside from Spain, no other country currently could achieve this.

Of course, Spain was being a bit opportunistic. Currently, Spain was the only one that essentially possessed an air force; while other European countries were also developing airships, they had not yet reached the point of arming their military with airships to form an air force.

But even ignoring the air force, which was merely a concept, there were actually only three countries—France, Germany, and Russia—that could simultaneously rank at the top in both the army and navy.

Although the British Army was not bad, compared to the three major land powers of France, Germany, and Russia, the British Army could absolutely not be considered top-tier.

Needless to say, great powers like the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Italy, and the United States were even further behind. The Austro-Hungarian Empire and Italy were both countries with severe lopsidedness, and the military strength of the United States was even more pitifully weak, with the total scale of its land and naval forces being at the very bottom among the great powers.

Although a large factor in this was that the United States had no external threats, it was no wonder that European countries could value the United States when a great power possessed such a pathetic scale of military forces.

Yu Kaluo was not clear about the reactions of the citizens of other countries, but he was very clear about the reactions of the Portuguese citizens. Currently, a wave of envy toward the Spanish had emerged within Portugal.

The Portuguese citizens envied the Spanish very much because Spain possessed an extremely powerful land, sea, and air force, and could even defeat the once-unbeatable British Empire.

And what about Portugal? If it were not for Spain's help, the Portuguese Shehui Party would still be ruling Portugal, and the Portuguese citizens would only be forced to submit to the dictatorial rule of the Shehui Party.

If it were said that Spain only possessed military power, that would be one thing, but today's Spain, on the premise of possessing powerful military strength, also had huge achievements in industry and economy.

Spain's current industrial scale was only second to the three great powers of Britain, Germany, and the United States among the great powers, and it was at about the same level as the industrial scale of France and Russia.

Spain's economy was also growing at a high speed; Spain, which was once a brother in adversity with Portugal, now had an annual per capita income that had increased several times over.

This also resulted in the income of the Spanish, who were also on the Iberian Peninsula, being more than half higher than that of the Portuguese; the Spanish could live a full and wealthy life, while many Portuguese could not even get a full meal.

The huge gap between Portugal and Spain not only made the Portuguese feel envious of the Spanish but also made Pan-Iberianism more prevalent.

Quite a few Portuguese were thinking: if Portugal and Spain became a unified country again, could they also enjoy everything that the Spanish could enjoy?

Developed industry, a prosperous economy, a powerful military, and a peaceful and stable political environment—for the Portuguese, these were a golden age they had never experienced.

Of course, most of the time these people were just thinking about it. After all, if they really did that, Portugal would be annexed by Spain again, which was unacceptable to many Portuguese.

But at least the public opinion effect that Yu Kaluo wanted had been achieved; if he were to annex Portugal through relatively peaceful means at this time, even if a portion of the people opposed it, there would definitely be another portion supporting the merger of the two countries.

The opposition of some Portuguese meant nothing to Yu Kaluo. Portugal's population was not large to begin with; if only a portion of the people opposed the merger, he could easily disperse this portion of people to other regions to reduce the number of Portuguese in the Portuguese region.

As long as the number of Portuguese in the Portuguese region was less than half, even if a considerable portion of the Portuguese there opposed the merger of the two countries, they would not be able to stir up any waves at all.

Regarding the merger of the two countries of Spain and Portugal, the Spanish government was already in consultation with the Portuguese government.

Yu Kaluo preferred to annex Portugal through peaceful means; if he could do so, he did not mind letting the existing Portuguese government continue to possess a portion of power, allowing Portugal and Spain to exist in a manner similar to the Austro-Hungarian Empire for a short time.

To put it bluntly, it was to establish a dual monarchy, where Spain and Portugal each possessed their own government, while Yu Kaluo served as the common monarch of the two countries, achieving the unification and separate governance of the two countries.

Whether the Portuguese government continued to exist was not an important matter to Yu Kaluo. As long as he could bring Portugal into his rule, completely controlling Portugal was only a matter of time.

The consultation with the Portuguese government was actually a negotiation; the Portuguese government understood that being annexed by Spain was the general trend, and even the founding philosophy of the Iberian Party was based on the Pan-Iberianism that promoted the merger of Spain and Portugal.

The current Portuguese Iberian Party had already been infiltrated by a large number of high-level officials by Spain; under these circumstances, the existing Portuguese government was unable to stop Portugal from merging into Spain.

Spain had also defeated the British on the front lines, which could be said to have cleared away all external obstacles to annexing Portugal.

Germany and France could not possibly offend Spain for the sake of little Portugal; after all, Spain at this time required 100% respect and attention from every European great power.

On February 11, 1905, Spain and Portugal officially signed the "Iberian Alliance Treaty," agreeing that the two countries should work together to deal with enemies outside the Iberian Peninsula and protect the peace and stability within the Iberian Peninsula.

According to the provisions of this alliance treaty, the Spanish Navy would enjoy the right to dock and station in all Portuguese ports, and the Portuguese Navy also had the right to dock and station in all Spanish ports.

Spain generously promised that all Portuguese warships and merchant ships could pass through the Strait of Gibraltar just like Spanish ships, without any obstacles.

In return, the Portuguese government should also permit the Spanish military to use the roads and railways within Portugal for rapid transfer under specific circumstances.

It could be said that under the provisions of this alliance treaty, the Spanish land and naval forces almost undertook all the defense tasks of the Iberian Peninsula, and Portugal no longer had to worry about threats from the outside.

But for Portugal, this also meant that Portugal was leaning completely toward Spain; Spain had become the only threat to the current Portuguese government, and the kind that could not be resisted.

In addition to reaching various types of cooperation in the military field, the Spanish and Portuguese governments also agreed that both governments would reach further cooperation in the fields of economy and industry.