Rise of Empires: Spain.

Chapter 382 The Concept of the Dreadnought
The budget battles among government departments have been quite fierce, with some disputes even continuing into the middle of the year.

However, Carlo was not very concerned about the budget struggles among the various departments, and was only interested in the assimilation work of the colonial affairs department regarding the Moroccan colony.

The current size of Morocco's colonies differs from that of historical Morocco. Because large swathes of land to the east and south are desert, Morocco has no significant neighboring powers besides Algeria.

The result was that no force set foot on the surrounding lands near the Sahara Desert. These lands were originally subordinate to Morocco, and after the Spanish occupation, they naturally became subordinate to the Spanish Moroccan colony.

This is why the Spanish colonies in Morocco were much larger than the real Morocco. Of course, these extra territories were mostly in the east and south, near the Sahara Desert—in other words, uninhabited desert.

These desert areas are not included in Morocco's localization efforts. The main reason is that these lands have little value; they have neither population nor mineral resources, and building railways and highways would be extremely difficult, making development unnecessary.

Carlo's plan was that after the localization of the Moroccan colonies was completed in the future, a new colony would be established in the predominantly desert lands of the east and south.

Moroccans who were willing to submit to Spanish rule could live in the more pleasant regions of Morocco. Those who were unwilling to submit to Spanish rule were forced to live in the desert areas.

If their feelings for Morocco are truly too deep, it's not impossible to rebuild a Moroccan nation for them in this desert.

In this way, the Moroccans who are hostile to Spain can also be properly resettled. Spain will grant them certain rights, allowing this desert Moroccan state to function peacefully and stably, just like a real country.

For Spain, Morocco, situated on its border, also had its advantages. It served as a buffer zone between Spanish and French colonies, and also prevented French colonial influence from expanding into Morocco.

The fact that those extremist Moroccans can still live in Morocco is a win-win situation for both Spain and Morocco.

Construction of the Moroccan Railway officially began in May 1896.

Spain today is different from Spain more than 20 years ago; its railway construction capabilities are now vastly different.

When Carlos first became King of Spain, even with the government's significant investment, the railway that could be built each year was less than 500 kilometers.

Today, Spain is able to build thousands of kilometers of railway each year. This is despite certain limitations on Spain's railway development.

If Spain had built railways without restrictions, like the United States before the economic crisis, the construction speed of its railways might have more than doubled.

Of course, building railways too quickly is not necessarily a good thing.

Spain's mainland area is relatively small, so the required railway mileage is naturally limited. Furthermore, due to Spain's mountainous terrain, the cost of building railways is higher than in other European countries.

Unbridled railway construction not only triggers economic crises but also plunges governments into fiscal deficits. Had it not been for the annexation of Morocco, Spain's transportation sector would not have constructed such a long railway line for several years.

In previous years, the transportation department built less than 200 kilometers of railway each year, focusing more on repairing and maintaining existing railways to ensure the smooth operation of Spain's railway system.

While the railway construction in the Moroccan colony was in full swing, the Spanish government also received two pieces of good news.

The construction of the last two of the five battleships in the Spanish shipbuilding program, the battleships Philip II and Carlo I, has been completed and they can be assigned to the corresponding fleets for formal service.

Construction of these two battleships began at the end of 1892, and the entire construction period lasted three and a half years. Originally, according to the plan, the two battleships should have been commissioned at the beginning of this year.

However, because Spain undertook the construction of three battleships for the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the launch of these two battleships was delayed until the middle of this year.

It is worth mentioning that the first battleship built by Spain for the Austro-Hungarian Empire began construction in May 1893 and was completed in November 1894, and was delivered to the Austro-Hungarian Empire in the middle of this year.

Shortly after the battleships Philip II and Carlo I were commissioned, it was almost time for the first battleship to be delivered to the Austro-Hungarian Navy.

The Austro-Hungarian Empire was eager for the delivery of this battleship. Their naval officers had been stationed at the shipyard for six months after construction began, closely monitoring the battleship's progress.

After the battleship was completed in November 1894, the Austro-Hungarian naval officers began a long process of sea trials and training.

Simultaneous sea trials and training has become a common practice among European countries. While this may prolong the sea trials process, the good news is that it allows the navy to achieve combat readiness sooner.

Naval tests typically last one to two years. The naval officers and soldiers on these warships train together with the ships for two years, so naturally they can have a certain level of combat capability as soon as the warships enter service.

Because the naval officers and soldiers on board this strategic ship were all soldiers of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, in reality, the battleship only needed a public delivery ceremony before it could be sailed back to an Austro-Hungarian port by the Austro-Hungarian naval officers and soldiers.

Having witnessed the construction of this battleship firsthand, the Austro-Hungarian naval soldiers were quite envious of the Spanish navy.

Spain already possessed five of the battleships they had been eagerly awaiting. Although Austria-Hungary would also equip itself with three more over the course of a year, their numbers would inevitably fall short of Spain's.

Since the advent of battleships, the role of ironclad warships has been greatly diminished. This also means that the Austro-Hungarian Empire's fairly large ironclad fleet had effectively become obsolete.

During the year-long naval trials, the Austro-Hungarian naval personnel gained a clear understanding of the power of battleships.

Such a battleship would definitely be able to put up a fight even when facing an attack from three ironclads. However, if it were to face an attack from two ironclads, the battleship would most likely emerge victorious, rather than the ironclads.

This is the advantage brought by technological superiority, and it is also the reason why the Austro-Hungarian naval soldiers had such high expectations for battleships.

In the current European situation, only a navy equipped with a considerable number of battleships can be considered a powerful navy.

While ironclad warships alone can maintain a decent naval tonnage, they would be of little use in the event of a large-scale war.

It has been almost six years since the Monarch-class battleship was born.

The Spanish Navy had requested Carlo to develop an even more powerful battleship, but Carlo ultimately refused the Navy's request.

Carlo knew that while battleships were far more powerful than ironclads, the dreadnoughts that followed were just as powerful.

The construction cycle for a warship can take several years, so it is not cost-effective to continue investing in battleships now.

Even if a more powerful battleship could be developed within two years, the construction time for the first battleship alone would still be at least three years.

Two years plus three years, which means five years were wasted on the first strategic ship. Five years later it was 1901, which also meant that even if the new battleship could be developed, by the time a few new battleships were built, the era of dreadnoughts would be almost here.

Instead of wasting money developing more powerful battleships, it would be better to concentrate on developing powerful dreadnoughts.

After rejecting the navy's proposal, Carlo put forward his ideas related to dreadnoughts. Upon hearing that Carlo's rejection wasn't due to a lack of desire to continue building the navy, but rather a desire to construct even more powerful warships, the admirals of the naval ministry were extremely excited.

They certainly wanted to see even more powerful warships emerge. Whether it was a battleship or a dreadnought, any more powerful warship would satisfy the naval commanders.

Because of Carlo's ambitious vision of building dreadnoughts, naval commanders are willing to reduce naval spending for the next five years.

A new five-year shipbuilding plan has finally been released. The Spanish Navy will only build two battleships in the next five years, both of which will remain Monarch-class battleships.

The first strategic ship was named the battleship HMS Empire, and the second was named the battleship Smöröl (The Sun Never Sets). Naming the Spanish battleship Smöröl was actually quite reasonable. As the founder of the British Empire, even though the British Empire was at the time, Spain had no problem recalling its own history.

Moreover, the relationship between Spain and Britain was not good to begin with, so there was no need to attribute the title of the British Empire to Britain.

The original meaning of the British Empire was that the country's territory spanned the entire globe, and no matter when, there would always be a territory where the sun would shine.

If we follow this logic, Spain is still a empire on which the sun never sets.

Spain's land spans across Europe, Africa, the Americas, and Asia, so much so that the sun almost never sets on Spanish soil.

Of course, such a claim to an empire on which the sun never sets seems rather forced, which is why, apart from Britain, no other country in the world claims to be an empire on which the sun never sets.

Although only two battleships were built, Carlo's investment in naval warship development was not reduced in the slightest.

After the completion of the five Monarch-class battleships, Carlos specifically instructed the naval department to reveal his conjectures about dreadnoughts and requested that Spain's major shipyards conduct related research on dreadnoughts.

What exactly is a dreadnought? And what is a regular battleship?

The name "Dreadnought" comes from the battleship HMS Dreadnought, and all subsequent warships of the same type have been called Dreadnoughts.

The biggest difference between this warship and the previous battleships is the significant improvement in steel armor material, warship propulsion system, and artillery.

Armor protection, power, and firepower are also the three essential elements of a warship. Comprehensive improvements in these three areas represent significant advancements in the overall performance of the warship.

Because of the significant improvements in the performance of warships, all the battleships built by various countries before the advent of the dreadnought became scrap metal.

This scenario is very similar to the situation after the advent of battleships, when ironclads became obsolete. However, dreadnoughts are even more advanced ironclads. To build dreadnoughts, besides continuous advancements in naval design philosophy, it was necessary to wait for continuous progress in technology regarding armor materials, warship propulsion, and artillery.

Britain was able to build dreadnoughts ahead of the world because its naval construction technology was among the best in the world at the time.

They possessed the most powerful naval design capabilities, the most advanced artillery technology, steam engine technology, and steel smelting technology. By integrating these technologies, they were able to develop the dreadnought, a ship whose performance in all aspects had been greatly improved.

This also means that it is extremely difficult to take the lead over Britain in dreadnoughts.

It is no exaggeration to say that for any country to surpass Britain in dreadnoughts would be no less difficult than defeating Germany on land.

Currently, France seems to be the most promising contender. France's chances of surpassing Britain in dreadnoughts are roughly the same as its chances of defeating Germany in land warfare.

It's possible, but the probability is ultimately low.

Carlo also understood that it would be extremely difficult for Spain to surpass the British Navy in the era of dreadnoughts with its current technology.

Carlo didn't expect to surpass the British Navy in the dreadnought era. The Spanish Navy only needed to build a powerful navy capable of threatening the British Royal Fleet in the dreadnought era.

After all, with the advent of the dreadnought era, World War I was not far off. World War I was not a contest between individual nations, but rather a contest between two major military blocs.

Joining one of the military blocs and integrating the naval forces of all allied nations within that bloc, using the combined naval power of the entire bloc to defeat the British navy, is the most likely way to defeat the British navy.

As for whether Britain will join one of the military blocs, the answer is definitely yes.

Fortunately, Spain had enough options to choose which side to join based on the development of the situation in Europe, instead of being dragged into a world war without any options at all.

Carlo didn't demand that Spain be the first country in the world to develop a dreadnought, but he felt it was still worthwhile for Spain to compete for the title of the second country after Britain to do so.

While Spain was not the second country to design battleships, it was the second country to possess them.

The French Navy conceived of battleships earlier than the British, but their naval construction took so long that they became the third nation to possess battleships.

Although the order of first, second, and third may seem similar, the actual differences are significant.

The United Kingdom currently possesses the largest number of battleships in the world, surpassing even the combined numbers of Spain (second) and France (third).

Spain has the second-largest number of battleships in the world, and France's number of battleships is still far behind that of Spain.

France did not lag behind other countries in the number of battleships. In fact, Austria-Hungary, with the help of Spain, quickly closed the gap with France in battleship numbers.

This also shows France's backwardness in the navy. The once glorious French navy is gone forever, and its second-place position will soon be surpassed by other European countries.

As the world's third-strongest navy, Carlos naturally hopes that Spain will be the country that surpasses France.

If Spain can replace France as the world's second-strongest navy, it would mean that Spain will officially join the ranks of superpowers.

After all, besides its powerful navy, Spain also possesses a formidable army. Although the size of Spain's military is relatively small compared to other European powers, its large population has compensated for this.

Spain currently has a population of 3100 million, and its maximum mobilizable military force is as high as three to four million men.

Including the colonial armies, Spain could mobilize at least six or seven million troops in a world war.

With an army of six to seven million men and the world's second-largest navy, Spain might actually have been able to change the course of the world war.

Such a powerful military force, no matter which military group it is deployed to, will instantly give that military group an advantage.

What about the historically defeated Austro-German military bloc? With the support of Spain today, Germany might very well have been a victor in World War I.

As for the other major military bloc, Britain, France, and Russia, there's no need to elaborate. If they could secure Spain's support, their lead over the German-Austrian military bloc would be enormous.

Based on this alone, Carlo was confident that Spain could gain enough benefits from World War I.

The United States, being geographically distant from the European continent, naturally had no need to participate in World War I.

Spain could have played the same role as the United States in World War I, and perhaps even far surpassed it.

Although the United States far surpasses Spain in population, land area, economy, and industrial scale, its military strength is disproportionate to that of Spain.

The United States is neither a land power nor a naval power. Its army has been reduced to only tens of thousands of personnel, which is less than that of some middle-sized European countries.

The navy ranks at the bottom of the major powers, and coupled with the fact that the United States' naval construction technology lags behind that of European countries, it is difficult for them to keep up with the current progress of European countries in battleships, let alone future dreadnoughts.

(End of this chapter)