Rebirth of the Spanish Empire

He naturally understands the ambitions of the United States for Latin America, and the rest of Latin America is also very clear. Therefore, these talents will be more closely united, and it is for this reason that the current alliance between the seven countries and Spain is established.

However, the United States has been tolerant enough in recent years, and under the strong pressure from Spain, it has not revealed its ambitions at all.

This makes them all feel uneasy. However, this uneasiness is based on the fact that there is no movement in the United States. This lack of movement does not mean that there will be no movement in the next second. This calm before dawn, It means that chaos is likely to begin in the next second.

in London.

"Under the leadership of the Spanish navy, various countries have now begun to participate in exercises. This naval exercise is unprecedentedly large in scale. Spain has now dispatched naval fleets that have been deployed around the world, although many of them only have one or two ships. However, there are more than 20 ships under more than a dozen large and small fleets in various places. This is such a large scale. Even compared to some medium-sized countries, if Belgium, the Netherlands, Sweden and other countries come, this is already almost two-thirds of their The ship is gone.

The other countries participating in the warship exercise this time also showed their talents and elites.

The seven South American countries actually dispatched almost one-third of their warships and submarines. You must know that although these countries are small countries, with the strong support of Spain in recent years, although these countries are still unable to compare with European countries, such as Belgium The fleets of Argentina, Ecuador and other three countries are almost half the size of Sweden and other countries. Together, these three countries have reached the strength of one and a half Swedish navies. Coupled with the existence of Venezuela, Mexico and Colombia, which only have one-third of Sweden's strength.

The naval strength of two and a half Sweden was gathered there. This has reached the level of Italy. You know, Italy is the third largest naval power in the Mediterranean.

Although we still don’t know what their combat power is, judging from the Cobra Gold military exercises led by Spain many times, and based on the actual situation, their strength should not be worse than other countries, especially The previously closed-door kingdom of Italy.

Therefore, I think the United Kingdom should strongly oppose this military exercise led by Spain. because. This has seriously threatened the authority of the British Empire in the Mediterranean."

The distrust of Spain in Churchill's words has already been revealed in these few sentences. Spain is a country of distrust. is a serious threat to Britain. This is where the problem lies. It's also his goal.

John Assnot Fisher was a man who had always had a dispute with Churchill. It also started to shut down. Because his life motto is "The essence of war is violence, and moderation in war is stupidity and imbecility."

So, Churchill’s speech this time. He chose to remain silent. In fact, that was all he could do.

However, his silence does not mean that others will be silent. Among them, his partner and important ally in the British government, British Foreign Secretary Edward Gray, obviously did not want Churchill to be more beautiful than George V.

"With the development over the years, the Spanish navy has been able to compete with the German Empire. Ten years ago, Britain still accounted for more than one-third of the tonnage of the world's navy, and was truly the world's No. 1 navy. A great naval power, however, since before we knew it, the German Empire gave up its agreement with us and destroyed the saying, "The German Empire is our land power, and we are the German Empire's sea power." After they vigorously developed their navy and After vigorously competing with us for overseas colonial power, we repeatedly urged them to continue to cooperate with us, continue to maintain our agreement, and continue to compromise in our British Empire to give them more colonies, such as the previous Cameroon, northern Papua New Guinea, and other parts of the country were all for our cooperation, but Britain's concession was ultimately rewarded by the continued progress of the German Empire."

Edward Gray said with an angry face: "The final result of the German Empire was naturally a severe blow from the British Empire, which dealt a heavy blow to the German Empire's diplomatic and military capabilities and other areas of expansion, compressing their space, but thousands of After all, we did not expect that the indirect consequence of this was that while we were focusing our energy on containing the German Empire, we were also watching Tsarist Russia and France with vigilance, but Spain was rising silently right before our eyes, and it was still so... Suddenly, I don’t know whether it’s our inappropriate diplomatic attitude at the time that should be blamed, or Spain’s attitude towards rising too quickly.”

As soon as Edward Gray finished speaking, everyone turned their attention to Asquith, because at the time of his death, he had always advocated that Britain should focus on the above countries. Therefore, here, In fact, Edward Gray was obviously insinuating towards Prime Minister Asquith.

Because he became the Chancellor of Finance in the h-Campbell-Bannerman cabinet in 1906, he was the right-hand man of the Prime Minister at that time. In this flagship, he advocated a change in the relaxed attitude towards the German Empire and the approach to France and Tsarist Russia. At the same time, he was also wary of their threats, and even encouraged Edward VII to be more proactive against these countries, and to attract other countries to hunt around, so that Britain could gain more status as the leader of the alliance. Edward VII, who was so happy with his success, would not let go of such an opportunity. As a rapidly rising southern European power, Spain has naturally become the target of Britain's competition, because its geographical advantage close to France has created Spain's containment position against France. If Spain can rise, it will naturally need foreign aid in the competition with France, and France will naturally have Tsarist Russia. After Spain looks around, it can only do what it wants and will naturally aim at Britain. When the time comes, Britain will let itself Maybe we have gained another ally in Europe, and it may even be an ally that affects the European process even more than Greece.

It is a pity that the British calculations and the Bannerman cabinet supported by Asquith underestimated the speed of Spain's development. Moreover, they also underestimated the country's vigilance against British penetration. The final result was, Spain has risen, but it is not with the support of Britain, but Spain has shrewdly maintained a peaceful coexistence relationship with France, and also signed a sensational strategic agreement with the German Empire at the time, which made the three countries obviously With the intention of cooperation, it also exposed Britain's intentions towards the three countries, which made Britain suddenly fall into passivity, making Britain hostile to various countries on the European continent for a long time.

Asquith naturally understood what Edward Gray meant by pointing at him, but he would not be angry because of it. The battle with Chavez some time ago had already quickly sublimated his quiet mind for many years, and even more It was a blessing in disguise, and he felt that his heart was calmer.

"At that time, many people did not expect that Spain would do that. This can be regarded as a policy mistake by the British cabinet."

There is another point that has not been mentioned but is clear to everyone, that is, the cabinet at that time did not have much final decision-making power, because the strong Edward VII inherited the strength of Queen Victoria and continued to make the cabinet just a tool arm of Edward VII. , just carrying out His Majesty’s orders. So, in this way, everyone should understand what it means.

In fact, after Asquith said these words, George V's expression changed. His father, the former king of the British Empire, was so "tarnished" by his capable men. Isn't this putting a cap on his head that is common to fathers and sons?

Asquith didn't seem to see it, and he continued calmly: "Of course, as a minister, no one dares to say that he has no responsibility, so in terms of designated foreign policy, I, the Prime Minister, do have such serious shortcomings. Therefore, Your Majesty, I admit that I did not take the precautionary measures against Spain, so that something too big has happened now, making it a serious threat to the British Empire."

George V was stunned, because just now he thought that the other party was testing his attitude, and he was indeed a little angry with this old minister who had served three British kings. However, the situation suddenly changed and he went to another place. Thinking of this, he looked at the already a little angry Edward Gray next to him. Suddenly there was a calculation in my heart. So, for a while, he chose silence.

The silence of George V also caused the entire conference room to fall into silence. Even Churchill, who had always been eloquent, was like this at this moment.

However, just because they are silent does not mean that they will be the same in other places.

At the headquarters of this Mediterranean military exercise, Port Brega.

"After His Majesty organized the exercise this time, people were really shocked and sighed. If you don't count other countries, the exercise of dozens of Spanish ships alone was awe-inspiring. Coupled with the participation of many countries, this This time, the Mediterranean may really become lively.”

Gaston Doumergue said in amazement, "This exercise also opened my eyes. I understand that the future of the world should be developed between groups. Therefore, we in France will continue to support The team spirit will continue to support the development of the Union for the Mediterranean.”

Alfonso first smiled kindly at Doumergue, and then said: "The team can gain strategic understanding from other countries, and can also gain mutual assistance. I think that in terms of interests, we can also achieve mutual satisfaction. After all, profit is the biggest reason for forming an alliance, isn't it?" (To be continued...)

ps: Today’s first update, there will be another update later.