Chapter 633 - 298: The Berlin Conference Moved Ahead (Part 2)

For the British Government, the situation suddenly became very difficult. With only Spain, it would be manageable for the British Government.

But as news of frequent meetings between the Spanish Royal Family and the Austro-Hungarian Imperial Family and the Italian Royal Family emerged, the British Government also understood that these two countries had chosen to stand behind Spain.

At this time, Prime Minister Gladstone finally felt the same as the Portuguese Government did a few days earlier, unable to advance or retreat, feeling quite uncomfortable.

These lands west of Mozambique must be occupied, as it concerns the UK’s Cairo-Cape Town line, and the UK absolutely cannot allow the plan to be disrupted by other nations.

At the same time, they cannot completely sever ties with Spain and its backers, the Austro-Hungarian Empire and Italy. Everyone was initially only supporting Spain in diplomatic terms, but if the UK were to break from Spain, these two countries, even if unwilling to go to war with the UK, would have no choice but to join the conflict.

If a conflict were to start, it would not be a simple matter. Russia has always been at odds with the UK, and faced with such a great opportunity, would certainly stir trouble in the Central Asia and West Asia regions.

The conflict between France and the British is also considerable. Not to mention hitting a man when he’s down, they’d certainly seize the chance to occupy colonies while the British are distracted.

Even if the UK eventually wins the war, the biggest loss in interests would still be the UK itself.

Because of this, after learning that the Austro-Hungarian Empire and Italy expressed their support for Spain, negotiations between the UK and Spain had already stalled.

On March 15, 1884, at the invitation of the British Government, German Chancellor Bismarck sent telegrams to Spain, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Italy, the UK, Portugal, and other countries, inviting each to send representatives to a conference held in Berlin, aimed at resolving disputes over land conflicts in the Southern Congo region.

No one intended to completely sever ties, including the UK and Spain.

This also led to countries agreeing to send representatives to attend the meeting, giving Chancellor Bismarck due respect.

Initially, only a few disputing countries planned to attend the conference. Later, after discussions among nations, it was decided to invite more European countries to the conference to prevent similar conflicts.

Because the main purpose of the conference was to delineate areas for each country’s colonization in Africa, ultimately 15 countries attended the meeting, all capable of colonizing Africa.

The remaining countries without the ability to colonize Africa naturally had no eligibility to attend the meeting. Frankly, the conference was convened by powerful nations to balance their own conflicts.

Smaller countries had no voice initially; they were only allowed to participate to avoid incidents like that with Portugal.

Under Carlo’s intervention, the Berlin Conference was convened several years earlier.

This was not necessarily a bad thing for Spain. With an earlier participation in the partition of Africa, Spain would be able to gain more fertile land.

Of course, Spain’s colonies in Africa were destined to not be very large. Besides the West Africa Colony, other colonies would generally not undergo significant expansion.

Currently, the African Colonies primarily served as production sites for raw materials and agricultural development work.

The local natives generally do not purchase European industrial products; they simply cannot afford them. This also means the African colonies have almost no capacity for dumping industrial products, not greatly helping Spain’s domestic industrial output growth.

For a true market in industrial goods, efforts need to be focused on Asia and America. Countries in these places are more developed, even if they’re not colonies, industrial products can be sold.

Although the Berlin Conference involved 15 countries, in fact, only the seven major powers of the UK, France, Germany, Austria, Italy, and Spain had a real voice.

Don’t be misled by the involvement of countries like the Netherlands, Belgium, and Portugal; they had no real voice, simply ensuring their existing colonial outposts weren’t snatched by the powers was already a difficult endeavor.

After all, this era wasn’t a civilized era; it was a truly dog-eat-dog era, where falling behind meant being beaten.

Though the European countries presented themselves as pinnacles of humanity and civilization, when they saw immense benefits, their true nature was revealed.

The British Museum, as a renowned British exhibition hall, houses collections from around the world. These artifacts were not purchased by the British; they were forcibly taken through invasion from various countries worldwide.

Of over 200 countries in later generations, those that had never been colonized or invaded by the British were very few.

Even Spain was invaded by the British, which further illustrates the nature of European countries, showing no mercy to the weak.

Spain sent representatives to the conference, including Minister of Colonial Affairs William and Foreign Secretary Karel.

The previous Foreign Secretary, the Marquis of Everton, after serving through four terms in the Cabinet Government (including interim cabinets), retired with honor, securing large tracts of fertile land, successfully elevating his family to the ranks of Spain’s top noble families.

His successor, Karel, was also a Spanish noble, but his title was not as distinguished as the Marquis of Everton.

The current Foreign Secretary Karel was from a small family in southern Spain, his father was an Earl, who for various reasons was stripped of his title by the former Queen Isabel, and became a Baron, the lowest rung of nobility.

This plummeted Karel’s family into decline, and if not for the revolution that made Carlo the King of Spain, Karel’s family might have continued to decline, ultimately becoming ordinary people with only a noble title.

Before heading to Berlin, Carlo had already summoned Karel and William, instructing them on what should be done during the conference.

For Carlo, the two fundamental objectives had already been achieved. The relations between the UK and Portugal had been damaged, and the Portuguese were full of discontent and skepticism towards their government.

Unless the Austro-Hungarian Empire and Italy were willing to break out in war with the UK, relying solely on Spain could not prevent the UK from occupying land in Southern Congo.

However, having the British occupy this land might not be altogether a bad thing.

Each time the topic of land in Southern Congo arose, it would remind the Portuguese of this day, recalling how the British stood over them, arrogantly thwarted their colonial union plans, and seized the land that should have belonged to Portugal.

Carlo could concede on the Southern Congo land provided the British are willing to offer more benefits to compensate Spain.

After all, Spain also had the capability to colonize the land in Southern Congo, as long as the British weren’t willing to completely sever ties with Spain, they’d have to consider the repercussions of Spain competing with them forcefully in colonization.

The Berlin Conference was precisely aimed at resolving the conflicts and disputes among the powers, and presumably, the British representatives would also consider this, conceding more to Spain in other aspects.

Regarding Africa’s land, Carlo didn’t have many thoughts anymore. The only desired land, Morocco, the British would never be willing to cede to Spain, which meant if Carlo wanted land, he could only set his sights further in Asia, like the Middle East Peninsula.

Spain had occupied the Sultanate of Muscat, and further north were the Truce States, later known as the UAE region.

Like Oman, the UAE was also a desert area. Oman had small northern areas with mountains and plains, but UAE’s vast majority of land was desert, and unsuitable for habitation.

This meant Spain might gain control of the Truce States through the conference, merging it with the Oman Colony, establishing a larger colony.

Though currently, this colony lacked practical utility, once the Middle East’s oil was discovered in the future, the sheer value of oil would be enough to make Spain immensely profitable.

This is also why Carlo valued the Middle East region, as oil truly generates wealth, and in this era, oil wouldn’t spawn a US military presence.