Chapter 637 - 300: Pan-Iberianism (2)

And such legitimate colonies will be recognized by all participating countries in the conference, and no country shall undermine the legitimate colonies of other countries, respecting the spheres of influence of others.

The effective occupation principle proposed by Prime Minister Bismarck has garnered support from many European countries, but for the British Government, this proposal has substantial implications.

It is well-known that the country occupying the most land in Africa currently is the British Empire.

While other countries have only occupied African coastal areas, the United Kingdom has established the Cape Colony and Egyptian Colony, and has penetrated deep inland into Sudan.

If we follow the principle of effective occupation put forward by Prime Minister Bismarck, actually, none of the three major African colonies of the United Kingdom meet the requirements of legitimate colonies.

Though no nation with foresight would engage in colonial competition with the United Kingdom in these three places, this nominal illegitimacy will always impose limitations on the British Empire.

The already occupied Egypt, South Africa, and Sudan Regions are still manageable; Britain has effectively established rule, and other countries are unlikely to disrupt British colonies.

However, elsewhere on the African Continent, the United Kingdom will be on the same level as other countries, requiring everyone to establish legitimate colonies to assert their dominance.

This also means that the United Kingdom will face direct competition from the European Powers led by Germany and France, and the unoccupied African coasts will experience more intense colonization and contention.

Even if the British representatives strive to justify their stance, they cannot refute the principle of effective occupation, supported by multiple countries.

Germany and France see benefits in this, and with the backing of these two great powers, unless the United Kingdom gains support from comparable powers, it cannot prevent the inclusion of the effective occupation principle in the treaty.

But the problem is, with Russia’s conflict with the United Kingdom in Central Asia, it is impossible for Russia to support Britain.

And Austria-Hungary being Germany’s ally cannot betray its ally to support the United Kingdom.

The remaining Spain and Italy are even less likely to support the United Kingdom. The former recently resolved a colonial conflict with the United Kingdom, and the latter has no interests tied to the United Kingdom and is itself a powerful colonial state in Africa.

Unbeknownst to them, the United Kingdom has found itself in an isolated plight at the Berlin Conference.

The final result is apparent; the British representatives cannot prevent the effective occupation principle from being included in the treaty and can only seek more clauses favorable to the United Kingdom.

Carlo paid slight attention to the conference status after the Spanish Government and British Government reached a consensus, and then ignored the negotiations.

The division of Africa still requires lengthy negotiation, involving multiple great powers and European countries, unwilling to let the meat in their mouths be snatched by others.

It’s estimated that the meeting will conclude by the end of the year at the earliest, or might even drag into next year for a resolution.

For Carlo, there’s no rush to wait for the end of the Berlin Conference. In this colonial conflict event, Carlo has achieved his goals, which can be considered a fruitful harvest.

There, among the Truce States, Carlo temporarily does not plan to dispatch troops for conquest.

After all, the British have promised Spain can colonize this land, whether sooner or later makes no difference, especially since the land holds little value before oil is discovered.

Securing the land later can also show Britain’s discontent with Spain’s reluctance, naturally reducing their vigilance against Spain occupying the Truce States.

According to the Royal Security Intelligence Bureau’s observation of Portugal’s domestic situation, thus far, the relationship between Portugal and the United Kingdom can be said to be severely damaged.

The Berlin Conference has been going on for several months, yet Portugal still sporadically experiences civilian demonstrations, with Portuguese marching vigorously through the streets and alleys, holding banners reading "Resist British Colonial Extortion."

Such demonstrations have gained many Portuguese supporters, and overnight, several parties opposing the Anglo-Portuguese alliance have emerged in Portugal.

These Portuguese believe that the so-called Anglo-Portuguese alliance severely damaged the relationship that should unite Portugal and Spain, which is Britain’s forced interference in the Iberian Peninsula.

Before Britain seized Southern Congo from Portugal, they had already forcefully taken Gibraltar from Spain, showing a precedent.

The Portuguese Government can no longer trust Britain and should maintain a distance from the British Government to prevent further annexation of Portugal’s colonies by Britain.

During this conflict, King Carlo of Spain’s high-profile support for Portugal has earned him the goodwill of many Portuguese, causing many among them to begin supporting Iberianism, the idea of the Iberian Union.

Iberianism, also known as Pan-Iberianism, initially existed mainly in Spain and has now spread widely in Portugal.

Iberianism was first proposed by Spanish hawks, aiming to unify the Iberian Peninsula and bring Portugal under Spain’s rule.

After spreading to Portugal, Portuguese intellectuals made certain modifications to its ideology, but it essentially follows the idea of Portugal and Spain uniting to form a Federation.

Portuguese scholars supporting Iberianism believe that relying solely on Portugal’s power makes it difficult to compete against great powers like Britain. Only by uniting Spain and Portugal to form a strong Iberian Federation can external interference like Britain be resisted.

These scholars are very cultured; they don’t just talk but provide numerous data proving the strength of the Iberian Federation.

If Spain and Portugal manage to form a Federation, it will have a population exceeding 27 million, nearly occupying the entire Iberian Peninsula.

This new country will possess the world’s fifth-largest army, fifth-largest navy, and second-largest colonies, with industrial and economic levels ranked among the world’s top five.

In this way, the traditional Five Great European Powers will become Six Great European Powers, and the comprehensive strength of the Iberian Federation might surpass Austria-Hungary, becoming a truly significant power.

The data proposed by Portuguese Iberianists is quite reasonable, and the displayed strength of this so-called Iberian Federation is quite exaggerated.

Therefore, Iberianism has instantly become a highly regarded ideology in Portugal. Many renowned literary figures have expressed support for this ideology, and amid the Portuguese government’s and Royal Family’s weakness, supporting Iberianism seems to have become a trend.

Under such a big backdrop, many Iberianism-related parties have been newly established in Portugal.

Among these parties, two have developed a certain scale, namely the Great Iberian Party and the Federation Party.

The Great Iberian Party was founded by those Portuguese literary figures advocating Iberianism and has gained support from Portugal’s literary circle.

Whereas the Federation Party was established by opposition parties within Portugal’s political arena. Their desire to establish a Portugal-Spain Federation isn’t as strong, more like exploiting this trend to garner more support from Portuguese citizens.

The rising Iberianism within Portugal is causing headaches for the Portuguese Government. King Louis I turned livid upon hearing the news, suspecting that the intellectuals emerging in Portugal supporting the Federation might be secretly funded by Spain.

Yet, without any evidence, he cannot arbitrarily accuse the Spanish Government.

At most, he can have the Government arrest these Iberianism supporters, but sometimes doing so will only cause bigger troubles.

The wave of protests in Portugal is not yet cooled, and if the government’s forced arrests of Iberianists are exposed, it will only rekindle the protest wave among the populace.

The people’s disappointment with the Government and Royal Family during this event has been evident. If Louis I does anything stupid, it might really provoke radicals among the people to force a revolution to aid the Federation’s formation.

Never mind those intellectuals extolling the benefits of forming a Federation; Louis I understands that once Spain and Portugal form a Federation, the Portuguese Government will lose all voice.

The King of Spain, Carlo, truly has skill; if he annexes Portugal, it’s doubtful Portugal could find an opportunity to reestablish independence as it did last time.