Chapter 480: Comparison of Power Strength

The two years from 1910 to 1911 were the most normal two years for Spain. Besides the continuously increasing financial expenditure caused by the large-scale construction of the navy, there was no major difference in other aspects compared to the previous few years.

But for other European countries, especially the member states of the two major military blocs, the two years from 1910 to 1911 appeared somewhat difficult to endure.

The reason for the difficulty was also very simple: as Britain and Spain announced their neutrality one after another, the confrontation between the two major military blocs became more intense, which also led to the Alliance and the Entente, led by Germany and France respectively, constantly expanding their military numbers, and the military expenditure of each country naturally rose continuously.

The intelligence data currently mastered by Spain could lead to the conclusion that whether it was Germany or France, their military expenditure had at least doubled compared to ten years ago.

Doubling military expenditure was no joke. Taking Spain's financial situation as an example, Spain's military expenditure basically remained at about 30% of the government's total financial expenditure; if it doubled, the proportion would reach an exaggerated 60%.

Not all countries could withstand such huge expenditure; if this continued in the long run, European countries would basically face unimaginable financial burdens.

Facts were indeed so; according to intelligence estimates obtained from various aspects, the financial situation of the member states of the two major military blocs had already reached the critical line, and there was a very high probability of triggering a financial collapse.

Currently, the one with the highest government financial revenue was still the British Empire. Besides relying on tax revenue from the British mainland, Britain's overseas investments were also extremely numerous, even accounting for more than one-quarter of national wealth.

Britain's total financial revenue in 1911 had already reached 192 million pounds, infinitely approaching the threshold of 200 million pounds, far ahead among all the world's powers.

Although the revenue was relatively high, Britain's total financial expenditure was also on the scale of 190 million pounds, among which military expenditure had already reached 65 million pounds, higher than Italy's total financial revenue.

The closest to Britain's financial revenue were Germany and the United States, with financial revenues of 145 million pounds each. Germany and the United States were relatively similar; without many colonies, their financial revenues basically relied on the promotion of local industry and economy, which actually also meant that the prosperity of Germany and the United States was no longer inferior to Britain.

Although the total financial expenditures of Germany and the United States were also at the same level, unlike the United States, more than half of Germany's total financial expenditure was military expenditure, with total military expenditure reaching a staggering 82 million pounds; it could be said that the entire country was almost operating for the military, to the point of sacrificing other industries.

France's total financial revenue ranked fourth in the world, at about 132 million pounds. France also obtained a large amount of revenue from its colonies, with the wealth contributed by colonies accounting for about one-sixth of total revenue.

France's military expenditure was also extremely exaggerated, exceeding 70 million pounds; like Germany, it was constantly tilting resources toward the military.

Russia followed closely behind, with a total financial revenue that also reached 120 million pounds. Although Russia's economic situation was not good, because of its vast land area and huge population, the accumulation of small amounts made Russia's financial revenue exceed 100 million pounds.

Of course, this was not good news for Russia either. Because of its vast land and population, Russia also needed to face a large amount of financial expenditure.

Do not be fooled by Russia's total financial revenue reaching 120 million pounds; in reality, Russia's total annual financial expenditure was only more than that, and finance was basically in deficit every year, which was also the reason they needed loans from France and help from capital.

Russia's military expenditure was not much less than France's; after all, they truly possessed an army of over a million. If it weren't for the fact that Russia's speed of building a navy was slower compared to France, Russia's military expenditure would probably have exceeded France's, ranking third in the world.

Russia's total military expenditure was 65 million pounds, also exceeding half of its total financial expenditure.

Spain's total financial revenue ranked sixth among the powers; in 1911, the total annual financial revenue reached 1.9302 billion pesetas, equivalent to 77.21 million pounds, slightly ahead of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

Compared to the several countries above, Spain's military expenditure was much less. Spain's total military expenditure was only 31.25 million pounds, which was 781.2 million pesetas; the overall financial situation could still be maintained.

The Austro-Hungarian Empire's financial revenue was only 69 million pounds, but their total financial expenditure was as high as over 80 million pounds, with the government's annual financial deficit reaching as high as 11 million pounds.

The reason the Austro-Hungarian Empire's finance was so terrible had one and only one cause: their military expenditure was as high as 38 million pounds.

With less financial revenue than Spain and more military expenditure than Spain, under such circumstances, if the Austro-Hungarian Empire could still maintain a relatively good financial situation, it could only be said that the Spanish government was too incompetent.

The Italian government ranked last among the powers, with a total annual government revenue of about 40 million pounds. Like the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the government's financial expenditure was far greater than its revenue, and military expenditure accounted for the bulk.

Italy's annual financial deficit also reached as high as tens of millions of pounds, and the funds invested in military expenditure alone had already exceeded 25 million pounds and were still continuously increasing.

Besides these eight powers, what was worth mentioning was the financial level of the island nation and the Ottoman Empire, two countries relatively strong but below the powers.

After the island nation carried out the Meiji Restoration, its industry had a certain growth, and its economy improved significantly.

According to intelligence probed by Spain, the island nation's total financial revenue in 1911 was about 46 million pounds, which was higher than Italy's.

Of course, because of its relatively large-scale army and the scarcity of local mineral resources, the island nation's financial expenditure was also far higher than its revenue, with total financial expenditure already exceeding 50 million pounds.

After the Ottoman Empire lost most of its European territory, its financial revenue was also directly halved. According to the latest data, the Ottoman Empire's total financial revenue for the whole of 1911 was only barely over 20 million pounds, which still had to be attributed to industrial investment from Germany and the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

In fact, from this list of income and expenditure of the major powers, it could be clearly inferred that the World War in this world would definitely break out in advance; it was impossible for it to be delayed until 1914 like in history, breaking out because of an accidental incident.

The reason was also very simple: whether it was the Austro-Hungarian Empire or Italy, their finances were clearly unable to bear such huge military expenditure for a long time.

But currently, the size of the armies of the two major military blocs could only be increased, not decreased; after all, the enemy was frantically expanding their military, so one could not go and cut the number of troops on one's own side.

The result of doing so was only one: the enemy's active invasion.

The finances of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and Italy were already extremely terrible, and the finances of Germany and France were not much better.

Germany had two burdens, the Austro-Hungarian Empire and Italy, and France also had a burden, Russia; both needed to pay a large amount of funds to help their allies maintain financial balance.

Although the financial situation of Germany and France was relatively good, they also possessed more funds that could be invested in military expansion.

But whether it was Germany or France, the government's financial budget had limits. When the annually increasing financial revenue could not satisfy the significantly increased military expenditure, they had to find a way to resolve the financial burden.

The war had to be fought; this was not only Gao Da's inference, but also the thought of the German and French governments.

Besides the increasingly intense confrontation between the two major military blocs, another important reason was that the internal conflicts within European countries were also intensifying.

The situation within Russia was relatively terrible, and the situation within France and Germany was not necessarily much better.

Various class conflicts led to problems of all sizes within the country, and because these problems involved too many people, they were often not easy to resolve.

Only war—only by transferring conflicts to the outside world through war—could the current various problems within the country be effectively resolved.

War could pull the public's focus back to national hatred, making them briefly forget domestic class hatred, which was relatively important for Germany and France.

Precisely because of this, Germany and France were frantically expanding their armaments; they were already prepared to ignite this war at some point in the future, letting the other side bear the huge military expenditure for themselves.

Because Britain did not join the Allied powers, the gap between the Alliance and the Allied powers at this time was not large, and it could even be said to be a hair's breadth.

The financial aspect was like this, and the population aspect was also the same.

As of the end of 1911, the Alliance had a total population of 175 million, among which Germany had a population of 63.97 million, the Austro-Hungarian Empire 47.92 million, Italy 36.08 million, Bulgaria 4.1 million, and the Ottoman Empire 22.95 million.

The Allied powers had a total population of 208.3 million, among which Russia had the largest population, reaching 162 million, France 40.87 million, Serbia 4.56 million, and Montenegro 0.92 million.

Although the Allied powers had a larger population than the Alliance, they did not pull away a large gap. More importantly, the population of the Allied powers was mainly concentrated on Russia and France, especially Russia, whose population was already close to the total population of the Alliance.

Besides the three power-level combat forces, the Alliance had Bulgaria and the Ottoman Empire—one had relatively strong army combat effectiveness, and the other possessed a population of over 20 million; both could still exert a certain effect.

And on the Allied side, the effect Serbia could exert was at most equivalent to Bulgaria, and Serbia was also in the encirclement of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and Bulgaria; how long it could hold out was a question.

Montenegro went without saying; a small country with a population of less than one million, it was completely there to make up the numbers.

From the population situation of the Alliance and the Allied powers, one major characteristic could also be seen: the Allied powers basically relied only on France and Russia, while the Alliance, besides the three major powers, had other countries that also had a certain effect.

Precisely because of this, the public opinion of other neutral countries in Europe was still relatively optimistic about the Alliance. Although the Alliance was at a disadvantage in terms of population, if they really fought, the effect that Russia's 160 million people could exert was highly likely to be inferior to Germany's 60 million-plus people.

Of course, France possessed large areas of colonies, and the population of these colonies was not counted in. If the population of these colonies was counted, France's population could barely exceed 100 million.

It was just that the effect these people could exert was even more limited; besides acting as cannon fodder in the war, it seemed they only had the effect of filling the gap in the data.

Besides economy and population, in terms of coal production and total steel production, the gap between the Alliance and the Allied powers was also not large.

In terms of coal production, the United States' coal production ranked first in the world, with an annual coal production of 474 million tons, already close to the sum of the world's second and third.

The world's second was naturally the British Empire; relying on the coal reserves of its large colonies, Britain's coal production in 1911 was 292 million tons.

Germany ranked third in the world, with a coal production of 251.5 million tons. As the leader of the Alliance, Germany was number one in both coal production and industrial production among the two major military blocs.

Russia ranked fourth in the world relying on its abundant domestic coal reserves, with an annual coal production of 220 million tons. In terms of coal production, the only one the Allied powers could bring out was Russia; France's coal production was only 39 million tons, less than one-sixth of Germany's. ===== CHAPTER 481 =====