[{"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-453":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},2365381,4632,"Chapter 453: The Conception of a Personal Union","rise-of-the-empire-spain-chapter-453",453,"\u003Cp>The wave of discussion regarding the future of Portugal lasted from the end of 1905 to the beginning of 1906; nearly half of the Portuguese people had read the relevant news reports, and many had seriously considered what the future of Portugal should be.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>More than ten years have passed since the establishment of the Portuguese Republic; has Portugal truly become better because of the arrival of the republican system? I am afraid not necessarily.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Most of the public are blind. The democratic system promoted by the Republican Party may not necessarily be all that good, but the Portuguese people at the time had suffered under the monarchy for too long, which is also the reason why the Republican Party was able to immediately gain widespread public support.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Some people might truly support the republican system, but more people are just following the crowd; they cannot even distinguish the difference between a monarchy and a republic, nor can they understand what the difference is between an absolute monarchy and a constitutional monarchy.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Although the Iberian Peninsula, where Spain and Portugal are located, is directly connected to the European continent, because of the obstruction of the Pyrenees, Spain and Portugal are actually relatively remote European countries and do not have much intersection with the core part of the European continent, Central and Western Europe.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Spain is better off because it is directly adjacent to France and, having once been ruled by the Habsburg dynasty, its connection to the European continent is deeper than that of Portugal.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Portugal is not only blocked by the Pyrenees but also completely surrounded by Spain. This also makes it difficult for Portugal to establish contact with other European countries; only the United Kingdom, for its own strategic purposes, would choose to take the initiative to reach certain aspects of cooperation with Portugal.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Although Portugal possesses vast plains, in Europe, this most prosperous land in the world, Portugal can only be considered a backwater.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The illiteracy rate in Portugal is relatively high; counting on these illiterate people to figure out the pros and cons of a monarchy versus a republic is better than counting on the truth that \"political power grows out of the barrel of a gun.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The problem of the low level of education among the Portuguese is actually good news for Spain. A low level of education means it is easier to be guided by public opinion, and thus easier to accept the fact that Portugal is being annexed by Spain.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If they were those with higher levels of education, even if Spain could eventually annex Portugal, these people would think about seeking national independence again, which would be a huge trouble at that time.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Originally, the newspaper media in Portugal were only discussing the future of Portugal, thinking about whether Portugal should choose a monarchy or a republic.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But on January 25, 1906, with the publication of an article titled \"Discussion on the Conception of an Iberian Empire\" in the Spanish *Sun*, the discussion in Portuguese newspapers immediately changed direction.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This article, \"Discussion on the Conception of an Iberian Empire,\" was actually based on the existing Pan-Iberianism, providing reasonable suggestions for some directions that were difficult to achieve, and carrying out even more profound fantasies.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The so-called Iberian Empire actually refers to the country after the merger of Spain and Portugal. Since the Portuguese do not want to be annexed by Spain, they can completely use a method similar to the Austro-Hungarian Empire to form a personal union.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>With the current King of Spain serving as the King of Portugal, Portugal can both possess a monarch like Carlos who has sufficient ability to lead Portugal toward revival, and not have to worry about the problem of being annexed by Spain.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After all, the independent government of Portugal still exists, and Portugal is still Portugal, just sharing the same monarch with Spain.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This phenomenon did not only appear in the Austro-Hungarian Empire; in the long history of Europe, similar personal unions have appeared many times and created many very famous European countries.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>For example, the King of Poland once concurrently served as the Grand Duke of Lithuania, the King of England once concurrently served as the King of Scotland, and the King of Castile was also the King of Aragon, and so on.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This happened many times within Spain; in addition to the union of Castile and Aragon, there is the example of the Habsburg dynasty inheriting the Spanish throne, which eventually led to Charles V ruling the Holy Roman Empire and Spain.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Compared to a series of other messy conjectures, forming a personal union with independent status in all aspects is more acceptable to the Portuguese.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If Carlos were to become the King of Portugal, for most Portuguese people, they would not have feelings of resistance.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After all, the performance of this King Carlos is still fresh in everyone's memory. Whether it is leading Spain to a revival or the various reform policies promulgated within Spain, the figure of Carlos is behind them.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The reason why the per capita annual income of the Spanish people continues to climb is precisely because of the influence brought about by Spain's various reforms.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Portuguese also once envied Spain for having such a great monarch; now, with this news report, the Portuguese suddenly discovered that they seem to be able to become subjects of this great monarch, Carlos, who is worthy of being recorded in history, just like the Spanish people.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This news report, first published in the newspaper by the Spanish *Sun*, quickly spread throughout Portugal and became the most hotly discussed news report in the country.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Most Portuguese people were influenced by this news report; they began to think about what kind of changes Carlos could bring to Portugal if he became the King of Portugal.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If Portugal could also implement reforms like those in Spain, not to mention achieving a 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 levels.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>What do the Portuguese need to pay? It is nothing more than having one more king over their heads, but since it is certain that this king is a wise monarch, can such a payment still be considered a disadvantage?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In fact, a small number of people can also see some details, such as the fact that the first to report this article was the Spanish newspaper media, and that after this article was published, it was quickly reprinted by major Portuguese newspaper media, as if there were a greater force manipulating it behind the scenes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If you think about it carefully, you can understand that the reason why the King of Spain, Carlos, was mentioned many times in this article seems to be something someone did on purpose.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Either the Spanish royal family wants one more territory, or the Spanish government is obsessed with Portugal and wants to use this means to bring Portugal into its sphere of rule and then slowly assimilate it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It is not that no one has raised objections; for example, a personal union will definitely have a party with greater say, and it is impossible for Portugal to compete with Spain for the right to speak.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even if Portugal and Spain formed a personal union, Portugal would ultimately be the party with less say, and most of the policies of the two countries would need to listen to Spain, which may not necessarily be a good thing for Portugal.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Although these objections could be successfully published in newspapers, the effect they had was minimal.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It is obviously impossible to dissuade the Portuguese who are already moved by just a few words. Coupled with Spain's fueling of the flames behind the scenes, many Portuguese believe that forming a personal union is a better choice for Portugal.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As for the occasional objections, they are just the worries of those currently in power in Portugal about the possible loss of their political power; they are not really for the good of Portugal.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As the relevant news reports spread widely in Portugal, many people are actually paying attention to the attitude of the ruling party of the Portuguese Democratic Republic, the Iberian Party.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Iberian Party is a political party founded based on Pan-Iberianism; what they emphasize and pursue is precisely the union of Portugal and Spain, uniting Iberia together to construct a country capable of rivaling the super powers.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Now that the relevant news reports have pointed out a clear path for the union of Iberia, some political parties in Portugal are also watching to see if the Iberian Party is willing to follow what is said in the news and truly form a personal union with Spain.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At this time, the Iberian Party is actually also paying attention to domestic public opinion. As a political party supported by Spain, Spain's influence within the Iberian Party is also extremely high.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the many meetings held within the Iberian Party, many key members believe that uniting with Spain is a very good way, which can allow Portugal to completely get rid of the status of a weak country, no longer be alienated from the European continent, and be able to trade with European countries through Spain.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Although uniting with Spain will weaken Portugal's right to speak, there are disadvantages where there are advantages, and it is impossible for Portugal not to pay anything.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>There are quite a few people within the Iberian Party who support such voices, which is also the reason why the Portuguese government is indifferent to these media reports.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Especially after the Spanish *Sun* reported the relevant news, the Iberian Party immediately understood that the public opinion in Portugal was driven by the Spanish.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Under such circumstances, it is even more impossible for them to stop the domestic public opinion, and they can only think about how they should choose.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Whether to comply with the situation and facilitate the union of Portugal and Spain has become the most intensely discussed topic within the Iberian Party.\u003C\u002Fp>",1683,"2026-06-25T09:27:15.200Z",1,"Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite","1f757d625731068e999fd8ecb65d3277e23b6c6549e45e0edab32ee5e69bd6a7","rise-of-the-empire-spain-chapter-454","rise-of-the-empire-spain-chapter-452",493,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Frise-of-the-empire-spain-cover.jpg"]