Empire Rise: Spain

Chapter 169: Establishing A Foothold In Kalimantan

Under Carlo’s order, a beverage company branded Coca-Cola was officially established, and it immediately entered the discussion phase regarding Coca-Cola production, packaging, and transportation.

This carbonated beverage’s most important aspects are production and transportation. Even a slight leak of gas from the beverage could result in a world of difference in taste.

The establishment of the Coca-Cola Company was just a minor interlude, after all, Carlo’s commercial empire was enormous. Even if it could generate massive profits in the future, in terms of importance, it was completely incomparable to military industry enterprises and real economy enterprises like automobile companies.

Carlo’s vacation had just ended, and in the East Indies, the colonial war that had been meticulously planned for a long time finally had results.

This colonial war, which was not on a large scale, ended with the complete victory of the Spanish East Indies Colony.

First was the Philippine Region; whether it was the local loose indigenous tribes or the more organized Sultanate of Maguindanao, none of them had any ability to resist under the steel guns and cannons of the Spanish Army.

These indigenous people had never seen an army with such powerful firepower; even the armies of the Dutch Colony did not have such powerful firepower.

Faced with the relentless bombardment of the Spanish Army, these indigenous armies quickly surrendered their weapons. Do not overestimate their hostility toward the Spanish colonial army, after all, fear of death is human instinct.

Compared to the relatively smooth conquest of the Sultanate of Maguindanao, the conquest of the Sultanate of Sulu was a bit more tortuous.

However, the overall result was still good. The British did express dissatisfaction with Spain’s strong occupation of the Sultanate of Sulu, but by then Spain had basically achieved its strategic goals, and no matter how dissatisfied the British were, they would not possibly issue war threats against Spain. In the end, colonial competition exists among all countries. If a single instance of colonial competition escalated to confrontation between nations or even full-scale war, that would be unnecessary.

Although Britain’s losses in this economic crisis were not as severe as those of Germany and the United States, that did not mean Britain could rest easy.

Compared to a small Sultanate of Sulu, the British were more concerned about competition between other regions and other powerful great powers.

After the Spanish Army occupied most of the land of the Sultanate of Sulu, they finally encountered opposition from the British.

Or rather, opposition from Britain’s colonial forces in Borneo. But such opposition was not intense, because the British had to report layer by layer to the British Government before they could finally decide their attitude toward Spain’s colonial action.

In the end, the British Government chose to yield, with Spain promising not to interfere in Britain’s actions in the Brunei Empire as the condition, tacitly approving Spain’s competition over the Sultanate of Sulu.

Not interfering in Britain’s colonial action in the Brunei Empire actually meant promising not to continue colonizing westward. From the current situation map of Borneo, it was clear that if Spain did not continue westward, the only direction left would be southward.

Crossing southward over the Sultanate of Brunai would enter the Dutch colonial sphere. The British purpose was also very clear: to incite colonial competition between the Netherlands and Spain, then control the situation in Borneo as a mediator, preventing both Dutch and Spanish forces from completely controlling Borneo.

This was actually a habitual tactic of the British Government, aimed at muddying the situation in a region so they could remain independent of it while still controlling it.

If Spain and the Netherlands erupted into colonial competition, the British would join the Dutch side without hesitation. After all, the Netherlands was the relatively weaker party, and Spain’s overall strength could fully qualify it as a great power, albeit a relatively weak one.

The reason the British yielded so quickly, besides the colonial competition in Borneo not being that important and wanting to incite competition between Spain and the Netherlands, was also a factor related to India.

This was not bad news for the British, because Britain was preparing to establish the Indian Empire and have Queen Victoria crowned as Empress of India.

This matter was quite complex, but it was closely related to the establishment of the German Empire.

Before the establishment of the German Empire, there were three major empires on the European Continent: the Second French Empire of Napoleon III, the Austro-Hungarian Empire of Franz I, and the Russian Empire of Alexander II.

The Second French Empire’s legitimacy came from the Napoleonic Empire, the Austro-Hungarian Empire’s legitimacy was inherited from the Holy Roman Empire, and the Russian Empire claimed inheritance from the Eastern Roman Empire, all of which were reasonable.

The establishment of the German Empire broke this balance, but that was not the main issue. More importantly, as the most powerful country in Europe or even the world, Britain was merely a kingdom.

Looking closely at Britain’s competitors in Europe, France had once been an empire, Germany, Russia, and the Austro-Hungarian Empire were currently empires, leaving only Italy and Spain as kingdoms.

But Italy had just unified, and Spain had long been in decline; it was natural for them to be kingdoms, and they had no qualification to establish empires.

Excluding Italy and Spain, these unworthy ones, all of Britain’s other major competitors in Europe were empires, or had once been empires.

This put the British in an awkward position. Should Britain follow suit and establish its own empire, or continue maintaining its kingdom status?

Although in Europe, kings and emperors were equally the highest rulers of independent countries, with little difference in status.

But undeniably, in most people’s minds, the status of an emperor was always a notch higher than that of a king. A kingdom might be a powerful country, but an empire was certainly a powerful country.

On this point, the attitudes of the British Government and Queen Victoria became aligned.

Although she was a female monarch, Queen Victoria was very special in British history and absolutely one of Britain’s greatest monarchs.

The renowned Victorian Era was inaugurated by Queen Victoria, and during the Victorian period, Queen Victoria enjoyed supreme influence and prestige in the British Government, capable of exerting enormous influence on Britain’s constitutional monarchy government.

This was also the most unique aspect of Britain’s constitutional monarchy system: the monarch’s power was not restricted too rigidly.

A capable monarch could still gain a certain right to speak through their own efforts and public support, even influencing the government on a deeper level.

Especially after Britain’s decline, the monarch became even more important. Why did posterity Britain remain a constitutional monarchy? The biggest reason was that the British Government wanted to maintain rule over the Scotland region and Northern Ireland region, of course including Wales.

On this issue, Britain faced the same problem as Spain.

The United Kingdom appeared powerful, but the word “united” was its fatal weakness. United it was indeed powerful, but it depended on whether other countries were willing to unite.

The United Kingdom was composed of four regions: the Kingdom of England, the Kingdom of Wales, the Kingdom of Scotland, and Northern Ireland.

Of course, if it were now, Northern Ireland should be replaced with Ireland, since Ireland had not yet gained independence from British rule.

But that Ireland could gain independence from the once-prosperous British Empire already highlighted Britain’s own problems: non-Englishmen led by Scots and Irish were actually not that satisfied with English rule.

When the British Empire was strong, these dissatisfactions could only be endured. But with the weakening of the British Empire, the kingdom’s disintegration was only a matter of time.

In such a situation, the monarch became extremely important. Once the kingdom government ceased to exist, the United Kingdom’s legitimacy would also cease.

The reason posterity Britain and Spain remained kingdoms was precisely because of this. Only with the monarch’s existence could the legitimacy for uniting the nation persist. If the country became a republic, the only reason for national unification would vanish into thin air.

Queen Victoria was very supportive of establishing the Indian Empire, because it was beneficial for her as well.

Although the prestige of Empress of India was not that high, she would at least be called an emperor. Moreover, the Indian throne could strengthen Britain’s rule over India, which was the most important thing for Britain.

After all, it was the jewel in the crown; without the jewel, the crown would lose its luster.

Precisely because of Britain’s emphasis on India during this period, such a minor interlude in Borneo was not taken seriously by the British.

Unless Spain and the Netherlands formally went to war over colonial matters in Borneo, or Spain had occupied most of Borneo, this was a small matter, at least until the establishment of the Indian Empire.

In any case, the British did not cause trouble, which was a good thing for Spain.

After fully controlling the Sultanate of Maguindanao and the Sultanate of Sulu, the colonial government of the East Indies also began its further actions.

First was building a T-shaped railway on Mindanao, connecting east-west and north-south on Mindanao to strengthen rule over Mindanao.

Second was on Borneo. The land controlled by the Sultanate of Sulu was indeed not large, at least relative to Borneo.

But the problem was, Borneo’s area was not small. Even if the Sultanate of Sulu controlled only a small part, the total area added up to tens of thousands of square kilometers.

More importantly, after Spain gained a foothold on this land, there was hope of continuing southward expansion, extending hands into the southern Sultanate of Brunai.

Although the Dutch had actions in the Sultanate of Brunai, the Dutch overall strength was inferior to Spain’s, and the East Indies colonial government had no major worries about this.

Therefore, the railway construction on Borneo did not adopt an east-west route, but instead chose a north-south railway to facilitate future connection to the Sultanate of Brunai.

What the Dutch thought was no longer the East Indies colonial government’s concern. Anyway, the Dutch did not have the guts to engage Spain in colonial war; at most, they would engage in colonial competition over the Sultanate of Brunai issue—would Spain be afraid? Of course not.

When the news that the colonial war in the East Indies ended with complete victory reached Spain, Prime Minister Primó and Carlo both breathed a sigh of relief.

The benefits this war brought to Spain were enormous, and the importance of the East Indies Colony to Spain increased endlessly.

It was worth mentioning that after this war, the Sulu Sea also became an inland sea of the East Indies, making the connection between the East Indies and Borneo even closer.

Carlo had previously considered abandoning the East Indies early, but now Carlo had changed his mind.

After the automobile era arrived in the future, Southeast Asia’s rubber industry would absolutely be one of the hugely profitable industries; abandoning the East Indies now would definitely be a loss.

Moreover, the East Indies had already formed scale among Spain’s colonies; developing African colonies to the level of the East Indies would take at least decades.

Spain currently did not have so much time to waste. Besides, the East Indies could serve as a nail inserted into Southeast Asia, striving for more Asian interests for Spain.

The actions in the East Indies were very smooth, and the actions in Africa were not much worse.

Mainly because they had kept it from the Portuguese, thus not alerting the attention of the British and French.

Although only two and a half months had passed, Spain still had significant actions in Africa.

First was deepening ties between the Guinea colonial government and the Baka people, although achieved through military means.

Guinea’s railway extended deep into Baka territory, providing strong support for the army’s logistics and supply.

After obtaining a batch of transport livestock and carriages from the Guinea Colony, the army could also confidently garrison upstream of the Congo River Basin, ensuring the safety of colonial outposts in that plain.

Although only two and a half months had passed, the colonial outposts Spain established here had increased from over 20 to over 30, and the scale of the colonial outposts was steadily growing.

If nothing unexpected happened, Spain had hope of announcing the establishment of the Congo Territory before railway construction was completed, fully incorporating this land under Spanish rule.

But colonization was not all smooth sailing; during Spain’s increased colonial investment, it also provoked local indigenous resistance.

The most intense resistance came from the Bantu people and Baka people. Spain’s colonial action invaded their territory, threatening their survival.

Although these regions had no organized indigenous nations, there were many scattered indigenous tribes.

Some of the larger tribes united, managing to gather several thousand people, on a grand scale.

But clearly, they underestimated the Spanish Army’s lethality, and similarly underestimated the cruelty of European colonizers toward African indigenous people.

Or rather, not just African indigenous people, but all indigenous populations in all colonies.

British colonizers and later Americans could carry out massacres of Native Americans on the American continent; at this time, Spain could naturally carry out massacres of African indigenous people in the Congo River Basin.

However, Spain considered more factors, and given the shortage of weapons and ammunition, it did not carry out overly cruel retaliation against local indigenous people; it merely used a few tribes involved in the resistance as the chicken to kill to scare the monkeys, making them disappear from this land in a few days.

Facts proved that friendly exchanges were far less effective than military means.

Spanish colonizers maintained a friendly attitude and exchanged amicably with them, which instead aroused their suspicion and hostility.

But if speaking to them forcibly with steel guns and cannons, they would not only listen in fear and trepidation, but listen very well, absorbing every word without missing a thing.

As for those not so willing to listen, they had long since fallen asleep under this land along with the Spanish Army’s actions.

Local indigenous bodies had to be buried promptly after handling, which was also an order the army received before arriving in Africa.

The reason was simple: to prevent the spread of epidemics. Africa’s land had very hot and dry temperatures, plus the lush vegetation in the Congo River Basin, with all sorts of unimaginable viruses existing in the dense forests.

If carelessly allowing the army to become infected with epidemics, it would not only greatly affect colonial development in the Congo River Basin, but might even attract attention from the Portuguese and Britain and France.

After all, large-scale army infection with epidemics was no small matter, and the Spanish Government could not possibly stand by and watch them die. Large-scale transport of drugs to Africa would inevitably arouse suspicion from other countries, which would be extremely detrimental to colonial development in the Congo River Basin.

Therefore, from the beginning, Carlo had repeatedly emphasized the importance of preventing epidemics. On this land, not only to guard against local poisonous insects and toxins, but also to prevent any possible emergence of viruses.

Normally deceased indigenous people were to be buried promptly; for abnormally deceased ones, the handling method was to burn the entire tribe to the ground.

Although treating indigenous people this way might be a bit cruel, for the safety of the Spanish Army and for smooth colonial development in the Congo River Basin, some sacrifices were very necessary.

Under the Spanish Government’s strong emphasis on colonial development in the Congo River Basin, the progress of colonial development across the entire Congo River Basin was very rapid.

Of course, this also could not be separated from the sacrifices of the Guinea Colony.

As a not very large colony, Guinea’s population was actually not large. But for developing the land in the Congo River Basin, the Guinea Colony had already selected several hundred trustworthy Spanish immigrants to advance ahead with the army into the upstream of the Congo River Basin.

Their arrival greatly enhanced the scale and number of colonial outposts, also making Spain’s rule in this region more stable.

Even if the Portuguese and Britain and France discovered this place, they could not claim sovereignty over this land.

Because Spaniards had already settled in large numbers on this land, and the number of colonial outposts proved this.

As long as development of the Congo River Basin continued smoothly next, the establishment of a king-directly-controlled territory might be in the not-too-distant future.

Five thousand word two-in-one chapter, seeking support!

Saw the additional update thread reach 200 posts, will complete a single chapter of no less than three thousand words within three days. Maps of the other two colonies are being made, will post in the book review section tonight.