Empire Rise: Spain

Chapter 125: Encouraging Economic Data

The good news is that the current Spanish Government is temporarily not short of money.

The economic growth brought by industry and infrastructure construction is difficult to estimate, which has also enabled Spain’s economy to achieve rapid takeoff.

By April 1872, Carlo had only just obtained the Spanish economic estimate data from the Spanish Treasury Department, which showed fairly obvious growth compared to last year.

Seeing such exaggerated economic data, Carlo finally understood how great the harm of the Bourbon Dynasty’s mediocre rule was to Spain.

It can even be said without politeness that Spain declined in the hands of the Bourbon Dynasty. Although Spain during the Habsburg Dynasty was also weakening, its overall strength was still at the level of European Hegemon.

After the Bourbon Dynasty came to power through the War of Spanish Succession, Spain began a long period of weakness. Whether Queen Isabella or her father Ferdinand VII, both were notoriously mediocre kings in Spanish history.

There is no need to say much about Queen Isabella. She was promiscuous and immoral, and even her son Alfonso had bloodline issues.

Queen Isabella’s father, Ferdinand VII, was even the king with the worst reputation in Spanish history. Napoleon once supported his brother Joseph Bonaparte to become King of Spain, but it met with strong opposition from Spaniards.

Ultimately, Ferdinand VII was allowed by Napoleon to restore his position, and the Bourbon Dynasty resumed its rule in Spain. Ferdinand VII, having regained the throne, carried out extremely brutal suppression of Spanish revolutionaries and called his rule after restoration the Dark Decade.

Even more noteworthy is that the independence of Spain’s American colonies occurred under Ferdinand VII’s rule. In addition, by forcibly breaking the Bourbon Dynasty’s rules and designating his daughter Isabella as heir to the throne instead of his original brother Carlos, it caused the Carlist Wars that plagued Spain for decades.

It can be said that the decline of the Spanish Dynasty is inseparable from the Bourbon family, and even more inseparable from Ferdinand VII and Queen Isabella.

This father and daughter ruled Spain for as long as 54 years, forcibly turning Spain from a great power into a secondary power in Europe.

If there had been no such accident as Carlo, the subsequent Alfonso XII and XIII, two mediocre kings, would have successively taken the throne, causing Spain to completely lose hope of revival.

However, this also shows the support and love of Spaniards for monarchy. The extremely mediocre Bourbon Dynasty’s rule in Spain persisted all the way to posterity.

Although there were many times in between when Spain became a republic, the fact that it could ultimately be restored already proves the status of the Bourbon Dynasty in the hearts of Spaniards.

In other words, Spaniards of this era were quite accepting of monarchy. It was just that for nearly a hundred years, it was the Bourbon Dynasty ruling Spain, so Spaniards’ acceptance of monarchy was transferred to the Bourbon Dynasty.

But now with this accident of Carlo, it naturally leads to Spaniards having different choices.

The reason why King Amadeo failed in history was first that he lost his greatest supporter for royal power, Prime Minister Primó, before arriving in Spain.

Second, Amadeo did not fully recognize the responsibilities of King of Spain. His identity as an Italian gave him little support in Spain, and coupled with the joint opposition from the Republican faction and the Carlist faction, the House of Savoy only lasted a few years in Spain.

But now it’s different. With Prime Minister Primó’s support, Carlo’s throne is quite stable.

Moreover, with the Carlist faction already eliminated, the Bourbon Dynasty cannot pose too great a threat to Carlo. Under Carlo’s public opinion propaganda, even Spanish farmers with little education know the pain brought by the corrupt and ignorant Bourbon Dynasty.

Reducing agricultural tax and abolishing the tithe are gifts from Carlo to all Spanish farmers, and also the best way to gain favor.

Under the public opinion propaganda of numerous newspaper offices, the public may not know what Carlo looks like, but they certainly know that this young king from Italy promulgated policies to reduce agricultural tax and abolish the tithe.

Compared to the previous rule of Queen Isabella, conservative Spanish farmers naturally know who they should support.

At least their taxes have actually been reduced, which is also Carlo’s best means to win popular support. Only by letting farmers taste real benefits will they know who they should be loyal to.

As long as he gains the support of these conservative farmers, Carlo’s rule in Spain will be irreplaceable. The reason Spain remains a monarchy country in posterity is because of the support from so many conservatives for monarchy.

The current farmers, who make up the majority of the population, supporting Carlo’s rule in Spain is actually equivalent to most of Spain supporting Carlo’s rule.

With the support of these farmers, the remaining opposition from the church and the Republican faction can be easily dealt with.

Moreover, the current church is far from monolithic. The church is absolutely one of Spain’s major forces, with status and influence no less than Spain’s nobles.

But the problem is that the current Spanish Church has no real military power; what they have is only countless lands and wealth.

This is like a fat and plump sheep in front of a butcher wielding a knife—besides panicked fleeing, it can perhaps only close its eyes and wait for the knife to fall.

The Pope is also impossible to give them support. In Spain, although the church’s power is great, it is the existence least likely to influence or threaten the government.

Of course, if the church dares to incite rebellion, that would be a good thing. Carlo and Prime Minister Primó are just looking for a suitable excuse to strike at the church.

Carlo’s idea of establishing the Archbishop of Spain is not just talk; he really wants to do it. The title of Archbishop of Spain is exactly the means Carlo uses to win over loyalists in the church and divide it.

If Toledo Archbishop Pedro is unwilling to be loyal to Carlo for the title of Archbishop of Spain, there will naturally be other bishops willing to be loyal to Carlo for this title.

After all, this is the real Archbishop of Spain, possessing the power to manage all Catholic churches and bishops in Spain.

As for whether the Pope is willing to see Spain establish an archbishop to manage Spain’s Catholic church, that is not something the Pope himself can decide.

After all, the Pope is still in the Vatican now, and Catholic churches are all lambs waiting to be slaughtered, let alone just Spain’s church.

Although current Spain has not reached Carlo’s ideal state, compared to the period of Queen Isabella’s rule, there has already been too much progress.

The public trusts the government, after all, various policies are promulgated by the current government, and the current government is the new government established after the revolution, so the public’s hatred for the kingdom government during the Bourbon Dynasty naturally will not be transferred to the current government.

It is also thanks to Carlo being the king elected by the new government that the public’s hatred for the original king will not be transferred to Carlo.

This is also the advantage of king selection. The downside is that the elected king finds it hard to master power, but Carlo’s influence is already rising higher in his own layout, and it is hopeful to gain more power in the future.

Under the condition that the public trusts the government, the government’s construction and reform have also gone much more smoothly.

For the whole year of 1871, Spain’s gross national product reached 6778 billion pesetas, with a growth rate exceeding 8% compared to

Such a growth proportion is relatively normal. After all, Spain in 1870 still had war, but Spain in 1871 was spent under peaceful development.

Spain in 1871 also obtained aid from Italy and the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and the government obtained a large amount of low-interest loans, which is also the reason for such strong economic development.

Fiscal revenue also rarely broke through 400 million pesetas, exceeding last year’s fiscal expenditure, reaching a new high in Spanish Government’s fiscal revenue, totaling 3 million pesetas.

However, due to more industrial construction and railway and road construction, Spain’s total fiscal expenditure in 1871 also broke a new high, reaching 5 million pesetas.

The good news is that the fiscal deficit in 1871 was only 2 million pesetas, reduced by more than 22 million compared to

The increase in fiscal revenue is mainly because order in Cuba has stabilized again, providing Spain with a large amount of revenue.

Additionally, the actual increase in public income, and the increase in jobs brought by a large amount of infrastructure construction and industrial bases, have continuously increased government tax revenue.

A few years ago, agricultural tax was the major part of Spanish Government’s fiscal revenue. But now, taxes from industry and finance have also reached a considerable scale, which also represents that Spain is transforming from an agricultural nation to an industrial nation.

However, such a transformation definitely cannot be completed in a few years. According to Spain’s current progress, it can be built into an agricultural-industrial country within the next ten years.

Perhaps after more than 20 years of struggle, Spain has hope of completely shedding the identity of an agricultural nation and becoming a powerful industrial nation.

The more than 100 million pesetas increase in fiscal expenditure in 1871 compared to 1870 was mostly invested in the construction of railways and roads and the development of industry.

Such investment is obviously not a loss; this funding will feedback into the future Spanish Government’s economy and revenue through various means.

Moreover, based on the current economic development of the Spanish Government, both total fiscal expenditure and fiscal revenue in 1872 will increase significantly, thereby further reducing the gap with great power nations.

Actually, the biggest gap is still population and colonies. The reason Spain’s fiscal revenue is so low is largely because Spain has only less than 17 million population.

Such population is less than half of Germany, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and France, close to half of the United Kingdom, and a large part of Italy; the government’s total fiscal revenue naturally cannot catch up with these great power nations.

First update of 3000 words, seeking support!