Chapter 453

The wave of discussion about Portugal's future within Portugal lasted from the end of 1905 to the beginning of 1906; almost half of the Portuguese had read relevant news reports, and quite a few people had seriously thought about what Portugal's future should be like.

More than ten years had passed since the establishment of the Portuguese republican system; had Portugal really become better because of the arrival of the republican system? I am afraid not necessarily.

Most of the public were blind. The democratic system promoted by the Republican Party might not necessarily be very good, but the Portuguese public at that time had suffered from the monarchical system for a long time, which was also the reason why the Republican Party could immediately obtain widespread public support.

Some people might truly support the republican system, but more people were just following the crowd; they couldn't even distinguish the difference between a monarchical system and a republican system, and couldn't figure out what the difference was between an autocratic monarchy and a constitutional monarchy.

Although the Iberian Peninsula where Spain and Portugal were located was directly connected to the European continent, because of the obstruction of the Pyrenees, Spain and Portugal were actually relatively remote European countries, and did not actually have much intersection with the core part of the European continent, Central and Western Europe.

Spain was still okay; because it was directly adjacent to France, and plus it was once ruled by the Habsburg dynasty, its connection with the European continent was deeper than Portugal's.

Portugal was not only obstructed by the Pyrenees, but also completely surrounded by Spain. This also led to Portugal being very difficult to get in touch with other European countries; only Britain, for its own strategic purposes, would choose to take the initiative to reach certain cooperation with Portugal.

Although Portugal possessed extensive plains, in this piece of the world's most prosperous land, Europe, Portugal could only be considered a remote and poor place.

Portugal's illiteracy rate was relatively high; counting on these illiterates to figure out the pros and cons of the monarchical system and the republican system was not as good as counting on the truth that political power grows out of the barrel of a gun.

The problem of the Portuguese's relatively low level of education was actually good news for Spain. A low level of education meant it was easier to be guided by public opinion, and thus easier to accept the fact that Portugal was annexed by Spain.

If it were those with a relatively high level of education, even if Spain could eventually annex Portugal, these people would think about seeking national independence again, and then it would be a huge trouble.

Originally, the newspaper media within Portugal were just discussing Portugal's future, thinking about whether Portugal should choose a monarchical system or a republican system.

But on January 25, 1906, with the Spanish "Sun" newspaper publishing an article on "Discussion on the Conception of the Iberian Empire," it immediately changed the direction of the discussion of newspapers within Portugal.

This article "Discussion on the Conception of the Iberian Empire" was actually based on the existing Pan-Iberianism, made reasonable suggestions for some directions that were relatively difficult to achieve, and carried out more far-reaching fantasies.

The so-called Iberian Empire actually referred to the country after the merger of Spain and Portugal. Since the Portuguese did not want to be annexed by Spain, they could completely use a method similar to the Austro-Hungarian Empire to form a personal union.

With the current Spanish King serving as the King of Portugal, Portugal could both possess a monarch like Gao Da who had sufficient ability to lead Portugal to revival, and not worry about the problem of being annexed by Spain.

After all, Portugal's independent government still existed; Portugal was still Portugal, just sharing the same monarch with Spain.

This phenomenon did not only appear in the Austro-Hungarian Empire; in the long history of Europe, similar personal unions had appeared many times, and had created multiple very famous European countries.

For example, the King of Poland had also concurrently served as the Grand Duke of Lithuania, the King of England had concurrently served as the King of Scotland, and the King of Castile was also the King of Aragon, etc.

It had happened many times within Spain; in addition to the union of Castile and Aragon, there was also the example of the Habsburg dynasty inheriting the Spanish throne, eventually leading to Charles V ruling the Holy Roman Empire and Spain.

Compared to other series of messy guesses, forming a personal union that possessed independent status in all aspects was more willing to be accepted by the Portuguese.

If it were letting Gao Da become the King of Portugal, for most Portuguese, they would not have resistant emotions.

After all, the performance of this king, Gao Da, was still fresh in their memory. Whether it was leading Spain to move toward revival again, or the various reform policies promulgated within Spain, Gao Da's figure was behind them.

The reason why the Spanish annual per capita income was continuously climbing was precisely because of the influence brought by Spain's various reforms.

The Portuguese had also envied Spain for possessing such a great monarch; now, with this news report, the Portuguese suddenly discovered that they seemed to be able to become the subjects of this great monarch, Gao Da, who was enough to be recorded in history, just like the Spanish.

This news report, first published in the newspaper by the Spanish "Sun," quickly spread to the entire territory of Portugal and became the most heatedly discussed news report within Portugal.

Most of the Portuguese were influenced by this news report; they began to think about what kind of changes Gao Da could bring to Portugal if he became the King of Portugal.

If reforms like those in Spain could also be implemented within Portugal, not to mention achieving revival like Spain, at least it could significantly change the current quality of life of the Portuguese and significantly improve Portugal's existing industrial and economic level.

What did the Portuguese need to pay? Nothing more than having one more king on their heads again; but since it was determined that this king was a wise monarch, could such payment still be considered a disadvantage?

Actually, a small number of people could also see some details in it, such as the fact that the newspaper media that first reported this article was Spanish, and such as the fact that after this article was published, it was quickly reprinted by major newspaper media in Portugal, as if there was greater power manipulating it behind the scenes.

If one thought about it carefully, one could actually understand that the reason why the Spanish King Gao Da was mentioned multiple times in this article seemed to be someone doing it on purpose.

Either the Spanish royal family wanted one more territory, or the Spanish government was thinking about Portugal and wanted to bring Portugal into its own sphere of rule through this means, and then slowly carry out assimilation.

It was not that no one raised opposing opinions; for example, the personal union would definitely have a side with greater say, and it was impossible for Portugal to go to compete with Spain for the say.

Even if Portugal and Spain formed a personal union, Portugal would ultimately be the side with less say; most of the policies of the two countries needed to listen to Spain, which might not necessarily be a good thing for Portugal.

Although these opposing opinions could also be published in the newspaper smoothly, the effect achieved was minimal.

Wanting to dissuade the Portuguese who were already moved by a few words was clearly impossible to achieve. Plus, with Spain's pushing behind the scenes, many Portuguese believed that forming a personal union was a better choice for Portugal.

As for those opposing opinions that appeared occasionally, they were just the worries of Portugal's current power holders about their possible loss of political power; they were not really for the good of Portugal.

With the relevant news reports spreading widely within Portugal, many people were actually paying attention to the attitude of the ruling party of the Portuguese Democratic Republic, the Iberian Party.

The Iberian Party was a political party established precisely based on Pan-Iberianism; what they emphasized and pursued was precisely the union of Portugal and Spain, uniting Iberia together to construct a country enough to rival the super great powers.

Now the relevant news reports had already pointed out a clear path for the union of Iberia, and some political parties in Portugal were also paying attention to see if the Iberian Party was willing to form a personal union with Spain, just as the news said.

The Iberian Party at this time was actually also paying attention to domestic public opinion. As a political party supported by Spain, Spain's influence within the Iberian Party was also extremely high.

In the multiple meetings held within the Iberian Party, quite a few key members believed that uniting with Spain was a very good way, which could let Portugal completely get rid of the status of a weak country, and no longer be alienated from the European continent, and could trade with various European countries through Spain.

Although uniting with Spain would weaken Portugal's say, there would be disadvantages if there were advantages; it was impossible for Portugal not to pay anything.

There were not a few people within the Iberian Party who supported such a voice, which was also the reason why the Portuguese government was indifferent to these public opinion reports.

Especially when the Spanish "Sun" reported the relevant news, the Iberian Party immediately understood that the public opinion in Portugal was pushed by the Spanish behind the scenes.

Under such circumstances, it was even more impossible for them to stop the domestic public opinion, and they could only think about how they should choose.

Whether to follow the situation and facilitate the union of Portugal and Spain became the most intensely discussed topic within the Iberian Party.