Empire Rising: Spain - Chapter 294 - 178: Establishment of the Congo Territory (Part 2)

It’s completely valid to say that Portugal is the closest country to Congo, even the Portuguese West Africa Colony was established by seizing land from the Congo Kingdom.

As one goes downstream from the newly established Congo Territory of Spain, at the estuary, one can see the long-ailing Congo Kingdom and the Portuguese West Africa Colony.

Spain’s ability to secretly establish territories upstream on the Congo River shocked the Portuguese, leaving them utterly perplexed.

The Portuguese were even unaware of when Spain discovered the lands upstream on the Congo River. After all, they had been operating in Congo for a long time, yet never managed to delve upstream and discover new territories.

One must understand that at this time, the colonial progress of European countries in Africa was only a negligible few percent. The only true large-scale colony was the Cape Colony established by the British in South Africa.

Besides the Cape Colony, places like Portugal’s West Africa Colony and Mozambique Colony consisted mostly of simple colonies formed by coastal strongholds.

Beyond these areas, the colonial expansions of European countries in Africa mostly remained near the coasts or in those few excellent ports.

There are many reasons for this; most importantly, it is due to the various viruses and diseases on the African continent. These viruses hindered explorers’ journeys and indirectly prevented the continent’s mineral resources and fertile lands from being discovered by European colonists.

Furthermore, the difficulty of colonizing mainland Africa and the fact that a considerable portion of Africa indeed had limited value for colonialism posed challenges.

Coupled with the fact that the populations in European countries had not yet seen explosive growth, this ultimately led European countries to remain at preliminary scales in colonial development in Africa. Almost no European country delved into the interior of the African continent for colonization, as most deemed it unprofitable.

Take Spain colonizing Congo as an example. Despite acquiring a large tract of land, Spain paid a substantial price.

Whether in forming exploration teams or later constructing railways to establish colonial strongpoints, Carlo’s expenses were substantial. Ongoing maintenance of the Congo Territory also required constant spending, for a long time, resulting in negative growth in income and staying in a deficit state.

This situation might improve only when Congo’s internal mineral resources are developed on a large scale and transported by railway to ports.

Luckily, the railway from Congo to the Guinea Colony is almost finished, perhaps bringing positive returns to the royal family from the Congo Colony within a few years.

Italy and Austria-Hungary successively congratulated Spain on establishing the Congo Territory, due to familial relations with the Spanish Royal Family, their governments were in a honeymoon phase with the Spanish Government, maintaining close relations.

Moreover, as there were no vested interests between the Congo River Basin and the two countries, their congratulations to Spain were sincere.

Especially the royal families of Italy and Austria-Hungary, Vittorio Emanuele II and Franz Joseph I personally sent telegrams, clearly supporting Spain’s establishment of the Congo Territory.

In fact, other countries had little reason to oppose the establishment of the Congo Territory. Because Spain truly had established over 150 colonial strongpoints and there was sufficient evidence proving that Spain was the earliest explorer and colonist of this land.

In such circumstances, it’s difficult for other countries to intervene in Spain’s colonial actions. After all, the closest to this region were the Portuguese, yet even they had not discovered this land.

The other countries are each farther away, so what can they do, surely they won’t intervene in Spain’s colonial activities from afar?

Even the British, continuously wary of Spain, maintained silence after Spain announced the establishment of the Congo Territory.

For the British, the Congo Territory is temporarily not a crucial matter. Even if the land holds abundant resources and offers vast arable land for development, it would still take a long time to exploit and utilize.

Perhaps once Spain fully develops this land, the British can acquire it through other means, or perhaps share in its spoils.

The British are indifferent to this. As their underling, Portugal naturally has no options.

More importantly, Portugal recently achieved some cooperation with Spain, leaving them powerless against Spain.

King of Portugal Louis I can only reluctantly intensify colonial efforts in Congo, striving to control the downstream lands of the Congo River within Portugal’s West Africa Colony before Spain’s colonial forces move south.

Following the announcement of the establishment of the Congo Territory, Spain’s colonial development in Congo became overt.

Almost on the same day, the Spanish Government dispatched more colonial teams and construction groups, aiding the newly established Congo Territory in building more comprehensive railways, strengthening connections between the Congo Territory and the Guinea Colony.

Since the Congo Territory was situated on the African continent, it still needed to rely on ports in the Guinea Colony to exit to the sea. This transformed the railway from Guinea to the Congo Territory into a critical transport channel, directly affecting the survival of the Congo Territory until the railway to the Congo River estuary is completed.