Chapter 89: The British Response (Please Subscribe!)

This colonial war launched by the Spanish government had come to an end just like that.

Long before the war was launched, Prime Minister Primo had considered what the purpose of this war actually was, which is to say, what Spain was to gain from this war.

Since the British government had already agreed to Spain occupying the coastline near Agadir in southern Morocco, and had also agreed to the Moroccan government paying reparations to the Spanish government, it was naturally time to end this war.

It is a pity that such things are destined to be impossible to do again. Otherwise, if it happened once a year, the industrial development funds that the Spanish government lacked would have a source.

On October 2, 1870, under the witness of the British ambassador, the Spanish government and the Moroccan government began peace negotiations in Ceuta to end this war.

Unlike the brief talk between the British ambassador William and Prime Minister Primo earlier, these peace talks concerned the interests between Spain and Morocco and were destined to involve a fair amount of haggling.

The peace talks could take anywhere from a few days to over ten days or even a month. Only when a peace agreement acceptable to both sides was determined could the peace talks be considered truly concluded.

After reaching a compromise with the British ambassador William, Prime Minister Primo reported to Yu Kaluo, informing him that the peace talks and the war were about to end.

Yu Kaluo still felt a bit regretful. The war had only broken out a few days ago, and Kaman and Andrew had only just rushed to the battlefield; it was clear they would not be able to gain any glory.

However, as long as it was guaranteed that the Spanish government could harvest more land and reparations in this war, it could still be considered good news.

Time arrived at October 2, and the peace negotiations located in Ceuta officially began.

The Spanish diplomatic representatives put forward Spain's two demands right from the start: the first was land, and the second was funds.

The Spanish government demanded that all Moroccan territory south of the line from Agadir to Tata be ceded to the Spanish government as compensation from the Moroccan government to the Spanish government and its civilians.

Secondly, the Moroccan government needed to pay the Spanish government 350 million pesetas in reparations. Of this, 200 million pesetas were the expenses for Spain's military operation this time, which should rightfully be borne by the Moroccan government.

The remaining 150 million pesetas were compensation for the Spanish civilians and soldiers who were casualties in this war, as well as the costs for providing for the withdrawal of the Spanish army from Moroccan soil.

There was an additional requirement: the Moroccan government must establish a demilitarized zone within the triangle area of Tangier, Tetouan, and Ceuta, which the Moroccan army must not enter, to prevent similar conflicts from happening again.

At this, the Moroccan government's representatives could no longer sit still.

The three conditions were more outrageous than the last; it was practically putting the Moroccan government representatives on a fire to roast.

Although Agadir was known as the largest city in southern Morocco, its geographical location was actually more inclined toward the center.

The land south of the line from Agadir to Tata was not insignificant; for Morocco, it was already close to one-sixth of its national territory.

Although the population here was not large compared to the northern regions, ceding nearly one-sixth of the country's land all at once was something the Moroccan government absolutely could not agree to.

Next was the 350 million pesetas in reparations.

This sum of reparations was an astronomical figure for the Moroccan government; it would be impossible to come up with it even if they smashed their pots and sold their iron.

Coupled with the demilitarized zone required by the final condition, the Moroccan government had not technically become a Spanish colony, but what was the difference between this and becoming a Spanish colony?

"No, this is fundamentally impossible." The Moroccan government representative stood up in shock, looked at the Spanish government representative with angry eyes, and refused directly: "We cannot agree to such demands, absolutely not."

"Then that makes things easy." The Spanish government representative smiled and nodded, not caring at all about the Moroccan government representative: "Then let the war continue, and let the results of the war do the talking."

"However, I would like to offer a friendly reminder to your country: by the time we invest more funds into this war, the reparations your country pays after being defeated will be even higher."

Hearing Spain's threat, the Moroccan government representative hurriedly looked toward the British ambassador William, seeking help from the British side.

The British naturally could not sit by and watch these negotiations collapse. If the war were really allowed to continue, the development of the situation would be beyond the control of the British.

"Gentlemen, since you have both come here together, it proves that everyone has the willingness to negotiate peace."

"I propose that both sides take a step back and strive to reach a peace agreement that both sides can accept."

"Considering the specific economic situation of the Moroccan government, I believe that 350 million pesetas in reparations is unreasonable and an unbearable burden for the Moroccan government." The British ambassador William stood up, attempting to get the peace talks back on track: "

"How about this, let's end today's negotiations here. Both sides draft more reasonable peace demands, and we shall discuss them again tomorrow, how about that?"

The first day of peace negotiations ended without any progress.

The expressions on the Spanish side were still very relaxed; Morocco was now like a lamb waiting to be slaughtered, and it was impossible for them not to pay some heavy price.

This was also a characteristic of this era: countries with backward development had to be prepared at any time to be invaded and plundered by more powerful nations.

The saying that "backwardness leads to being beaten" was very reasonable; the law of the jungle was the only truth in this era.

On the Moroccan side, after the first day of negotiations ended, the Moroccan representative immediately sought out the British ambassador William, seeking the British ambassador's help.

"Respected Mr. British Ambassador, Spain's demands are fundamentally unacceptable to Morocco. We request the help of the powerful British government, and we are willing to pay the corresponding price." The Moroccan ambassador said straight to the point to William.

"Sir, I sympathize with your government's plight." The British ambassador William first put on a helpless look and said to the Moroccan government representative with great regret: "But you know, even if the British Empire is incomparably strong, it cannot interfere with the decisions of other countries at will."

"Getting Spain to abandon its claims to northern Moroccan land is already the limit of what we can do for your country. The Spanish are impossible to give up the idea of colonizing Morocco; we express our deepest apologies for this."

Although the British government could accept Spain annexing the land of southern Morocco, this did not mean the British would not find some trouble for Spain.

Inciting the Moroccans to resist Spain more fiercely through this incident was something the British government had planned internally long ago.

Since Spain had the courage to launch a war against Morocco and occupy Moroccan land as a colony, then Spain should also bear the resistance of the Moroccans against Spain and the hatred of having their territory occupied.

In this way, even if Spain could obtain a fairly large colony through this war, they would be exhausted by the long-term suppression of the Moroccans' resistance, and the costs might even outweigh the benefits.

With the Spanish busy suppressing the rebellion in Morocco, they would naturally have no time to have ideas about the British Gibraltar.

Coupled with the rebels in Cuba and the Philippines, the rebellions in these three colonies would be enough to keep the Spanish government in a state of chaos, and it might even cause Spain to spend a large amount of funds, manpower, and material resources over a long period, eventually making their national strength weaker and weaker, and completely turning into a country that could not pose any threat to Britain.

I'm not feeling well today, so I'm taking a day off, just one update. Back to ten thousand words a day tomorrow!





(End of chapter)