Chapter 477: Neutral Nations Treaty

Spain aggressively snatched up the warship orders for Chile and Argentina, yet the British government had no reaction to this.

Gao Da was initially surprised, but following reports from the Royal Security Intelligence Bureau, Gao Da became clear on exactly what had happened within Britain.

The current British King, Edward VII, suddenly caught a cold in May. Just as everyone thought it was merely a minor, non-serious cold, Edward VII suddenly fell critically ill and subsequently passed away at midnight.

Gao Da certainly knew that Edward VII died this year, but as for the specific time, Gao Da had long since forgotten.

Upon learning that Edward VII had died from pneumonia triggered by an ordinary cold, Gao Da could not help but lament the backwardness of medical technology in this era, and he solidified his resolve to develop medical technology at any cost.

A cold that is not serious in later generations could be fatal in this era; whether it was a king or an ordinary person, everyone was pale and powerless in the face of such a lethal disease.

Fortunately, Gao Da, Queen Suofei, and their several children were still relatively healthy. Currently, the Spanish Royal Family had not lost any children; this was perhaps a benefit brought by Gao Da as a transmigrator.

The sudden death of British King Edward VII would certainly have an impact on the European situation.

Although Edward VII's reputation was not particularly good, it could not be denied that he effectively utilized the remaining heat of the Victorian era, allowing the British Empire to remain the world's number one power during this period.

And Edward VII would become the last king of Britain's Saxe-Coburg and Gotha dynasty, as well as its first king.

His son, George V, forced by anti-German sentiment within Britain, changed his German surname; this was also the origin of the later British Windsor dynasty.

George V was not Edward VII's eldest son; he had an older brother, Wang Chu Albert. It is worth mentioning that Wang Chu Albert, who should have inherited the throne, contracted the same disease as his father—pneumonia—and had already passed away over a decade ago; this was the reason George V was ultimately able to inherit the throne.

The decline of British royal power had various causes, some of which must be blamed on Edward VII and George V.

Although Edward VII was considered relatively popular within Britain, the main reason was the propaganda of the British media combined with Queen Victoria's good image, which made the public love the successor of the Victorian era by extension.

Yet, in reality, Edward VII could not be associated with a king of good image at all; he could only be considered an unadulterated playboy.

How terrible was Edward VII's image?

As the first British Crown Wang Chu in history to enter Oxford University, Edward VII did not successfully obtain a degree from Oxford.

Later, he was forced to transfer to Trinity College at Cambridge University, yet he still could not successfully complete his studies; this was considered rare in British history.

Fortunately, academic qualifications were not a major issue, and they did not affect Edward VII's smooth succession at all.

What truly damaged Edward VII's reputation was his exaggerated and extremely chaotic private relationships.

The number of noblewomen who had illicit affairs with Edward VII was countless. Many nobles at the time knew their wives were having affairs with the Crown Wang Chu, but many let it slide, and some even felt they had gained prestige from it.

This could be considered a relatively chaotic aspect of the European noble mistress system, and it was something commoners could hardly imagine.

Do not be fooled by the fact that European nobles also practiced monogamy; it was very normal for European nobles to have several mistresses and lovers.

Especially for kings, crown princes, and dukes with higher status, having fewer than two digits of lovers was rare; some even maintained intimate relationships with hundreds of people and had affairs with hundreds or thousands.

In this regard, Spain was currently somewhat different. Although Gao Da also had lovers, the number was not large, and the confidentiality work was done very well.

More importantly, Gao Da's lovers were all carefully selected young women from clean family backgrounds; he would never consider the wives of Spanish nobles.

Doing so was not only for the image of the Royal Family but also to ensure that no rift would develop between the King and the nobles.

Gao Da also required his sons to do the same. Under the lead of the Spanish Royal Family, the relationships among Spanish nobles were not this chaotic; this was something Gao Da was relatively satisfied with.

Of course, chaotic relationships among nobles could certainly not be completely eradicated. If conflicts arose because of this, Gao Da would not show any bias.

In this era, dueling was the best way for nobles to resolve conflicts, and in Spain, besides dueling, one could also choose bullfighting to resolve conflicts between nobles.

For Gao Da, this was just right; the number of Spanish nobles was truly too high. If some nobles could be eliminated through dueling, that could be considered good news.

In this world, compared to history, Edward VII had fewer achievements.

In history, Britain had long since concluded an alliance treaty with France, and the Franco-Russian Alliance had long since expanded into the Anglo-Franco-Russian Alliance, becoming a military bloc that appeared more powerful than the Triple Alliance.

But in this world, because of Spain's strong rise, the conflict between Britain and France had not eased, and it even led to Spain obtaining control of the Strait of Gibraltar.

This also led to Britain not joining the two major military blocs, and at the same time, it led to the French Alliance having a slightly inferior comprehensive strength compared to the Triple Alliance.

Under such a situation, the challenge Britain faced was the greatest in the last hundred years, and the level of difficulty was no less than that of the former Anti-French Alliance.

Besides the threat posed to British hegemony by the two major military blocs, the newly risen power, Spain, also posed a huge threat to Britain.

The Royal Navy, which Britain was proud of, had been defeated by Spain twice; this also allowed Spain to leap into becoming the world's second-strongest naval power, stepping on Britain to enter the ranks of super powers.

These various achievements made Edward VII's reputation in Britain poor, and the public had no affection for this king with absurd behavior and poor character.

On the second day after Gao Da received the news, the British government publicly announced the death of King Edward VII and announced the date of Edward VII's funeral, inviting countries across Europe to send representatives to participate.

Spain naturally received the invitation from the British government. Although the relationship between Spain and the British government was not good, they certainly still had to invite the Spanish government.

Although Gao Da did not have much affection for the British government either, as a member of the European noble system, the Spanish Royal Family naturally would not refuse such an invitation.

Of course, Gao Da would not personally participate in Edward VII's funeral, but instead sent his Crown Wang Chu, Andrew Luo Suo.

After all, there was no overly close kinship between the Spanish Royal Family and the British Royal Family; although they could claim distant relations, such a relationship was clearly insufficient for Gao Da to go personally.

Following the British government's invitation, European countries also agreed to the British government's invitation one after another, including Britain's arch-enemies, France and Russia.

It is worth mentioning that German Emperor Wilhelm II not only agreed to the British government's invitation but also stated that he would personally go to London to attend Edward VII's funeral.

The reason German Emperor Wilhelm II could personally go to London was very simple: first, the relationship between the German Imperial Family and the British Royal Family was relatively close.

Especially after Wilhelm II became the German Emperor, the relationship between him and Edward VII became that of a nephew and an uncle.

With his own uncle passing away, even if Wilhelm II had become emperor, participating personally was very normal, just as he had once personally participated in the funeral of his grandmother, Queen Victoria.

On the other hand, Wilhelm II's act of personally going to London also had the intention of showing goodwill to Britain.

Although on the surface the Triple Alliance had already suppressed the French Alliance, only the Germans themselves knew that the internal problems of the Alliance were significant.

Do not be fooled by the fact that their ally Italy was a power; Italy only had a useful navy, while the Italian Army was more like a facade—it only looked intimidating in numbers, but in reality, it had no effect at all.

The Austro-Hungarian Empire's army was passable, but only the regular troops were; the combat effectiveness of the reserve troops was already very poor, and the combat effectiveness of the newly mobilized recruits was even more disastrous.

This also led to the support Germany would receive in the war being extremely limited. Unless they could concentrate their energy to defeat France or Russia first, Germany would have to face a pincer attack from France and Russia.

The reason German Emperor Wilhelm II chose to show goodwill to Britain was, on one hand, because Britain's current industry and economy were very powerful, and on the other hand, because the British Navy could provide huge support to Germany.

Once the Alliance's navy could suppress the Allied navy, the logistics supply problem Germany worried about would cease to exist, and at the same time, they could blockade the connection between France and its African colonies, leaving the French mainland facing a shortage of supplies.

There was also the issue of Spain constantly leaning toward France.

Although Spain had not expressed a clear willingness to form an alliance with France, under the premise of constantly leaning toward France, there might be a possibility of joining the Franco-Russian Alliance in a future war.

Once Spain joined the French Alliance, the advantage currently held by the Alliance would vanish. The combat effectiveness a single Spain could exert far exceeded that of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and Italy. Once Germany faced a siege by France, Russia, and Spain, even if the Austro-Hungarian Empire and Italy performed exceptionally, Germany would fall into a predicament, unless there was help from a power of the same level.

Looking at the current world situation, the only power of the same level remaining was Britain. In other words, the current German government had no choice: either win over Britain to join the Alliance, or find a way to launch a blitzkrieg before Spain joined the French Alliance, defeating either France or Russia first while the enemy was unprepared.

As long as one enemy is resolved, whether it is France or Russia that remains, the possibility of Spain joining the war becomes extremely low.

Moreover, the threats from the Spanish-French alliance and the Spanish-Russian alliance are no longer so immense, which is completely acceptable to Germany.

Regarding German Emperor Wilhelm II's show of goodwill to the British Royal Family, France and Russia saw it in their eyes and kept it in their hearts.

Were France and Russia afraid? Of course they were afraid.

If Britain joined the Alliance, the Alliance would completely crush the Allied powers, rather than just holding a slight advantage as they currently did.

But fear aside, France and Russia were not that panicked.

On one hand, they knew Britain could not join the Alliance so easily. The British character of being a "shit-stirrer" was famous in Europe; they had always liked to support the confrontation between two major forces in a region and help the weaker side.

Judging by the regional balance policy Britain had always maintained, even if Britain chose to intervene in the confrontation between the two major military blocs, the side they chose to help should be the Franco-Russian Alliance.

After all, Germany at this time was exceptionally powerful; besides Germany being publicly recognized as having the world's number one army, they were also vigorously developing their navy, and their industry and economy were far beyond the scale possessed by France and Russia. ===== CHAPTER 478 =====