Rise of Empires: Spain.

Chapter 398 America's Disgraced Reputation

The Colombian civil war did not cause much of a stir in Europe, but it did attract the attention of many countries in South America.

Many Spanish-speaking countries have expressed concern about the Colombian civil war, as these countries have different ruling parties, and they support Colombia's Conservative Party and Liberal Party respectively.

To prevent the Colombian civil war from causing internal conflicts within the Spanish-speaking Economic Union, Carlo ordered the head of the Royal Security Intelligence Service, Cádil, to find evidence of ties between the United States and the Colombian Liberal Party as soon as possible, thus solidifying the evidence that the United States instigated the Colombian civil war.

In this way, the focus of South American countries will shift from supporting the Conservative Party or the Liberal Party to uniting against the US invasion.

This would also prevent Panama from seceding from Colombia and ensure that the United States does not take control of the region's government.

In fact, the Royal Security Intelligence Service (RSIS) acted quite swiftly. Within days of Carlos issuing the order, RSIS agents had found evidence of connections between the United States and the Colombian Liberal Party.

Or rather, the Colombian Liberal Party made no attempt to conceal its cooperation with the United States, which is why the Royal Security Intelligence Service's intelligence officers were able to gather intelligence so smoothly.

Following an investigation, the United States promised the Colombian Liberal Party a series of assistance measures, including weapons and strategic materials, and interest-free loans, in exchange for the party's support for gaining control of the Panama Canal after seizing power in Colombia.

Now that it's confirmed that the United States is indeed cooperating with the Colombian Liberal Party, the rest is simple.

On August 17, 1898, the Royal Security Intelligence Service secretly contacted newspapers in various South American countries and published extensively news about the collusion between the United States and the Colombian Liberal Party in an attempt to overthrow the Colombian government and betray Colombian interests.

Once this news was published, it immediately attracted the attention of people in Colombia and other South American countries.

The civil war between the Conservative and Liberal parties is nothing to the Colombian people; there have been countless conflicts between the two parties over the past few decades.

However, if one of the parties colludes with foreign powers, or even sacrifices Colombia's interests to obtain their aid, then the Colombian people will have their own thoughts.

It remains to be seen whether the Conservative Party or the Liberal Party can protect the interests of the people, but it is quite clear who has already harmed the interests of the country.

Do not underestimate the patriotism of the Colombian people. They love their country very much and naturally hate the Liberal Party for betraying Colombia's interests.

Newspapers across South America have reported on the collusion between the Colombian Liberal Party and the United States, clearly indicating that the situation in the Colombian civil war has become one-sided.

The Colombian public initially had varying opinions on the Conservative Party and the Liberal Party. Although the Liberal Party was at a disadvantage, the Conservative Party was not going to be able to eliminate the Liberal Party anytime soon.

But things are different now. Thanks to the newspapers' propaganda, the Colombian Liberal Party's support in Colombia has dropped significantly.

While this is not enough to secure a decisive victory for the Conservatives, the current situation presents them with virtually no chance of winning for the Colombian Liberal Party.

Spain's sudden propaganda offensive in South America naturally attracted the attention of Americans.

To the Americans' surprise, amid the intense Colombian civil war, some people actually focused on the cooperation between the Colombian Liberal Party and the United States.

More importantly, with the media offensive that spread to several South American countries, the United States' reputation was instantly ruined among these countries.

How can a country that is constantly thinking about infiltrating South America and even instigating domestic partisan conflict and civil war possibly gain the favor of other countries?
At this moment, Americans had only one thought: to find the country or force that was causing trouble for the United States and make them understand that the United States was not so easy to offend.

After careful investigation, Americans discovered that these newspapers publishing articles about the cooperation between the US and the Colombian Liberal Party were all linked to Spanish-backed capital.

This also suggests that the country behind the trouble for the United States is likely Spain. Although the culprit has been identified, the United States has no recourse against Spain.

In terms of public opinion offensive, it's impossible for Americans to publish newspapers to clarify things and then say that it was all a Spanish conspiracy.

Regardless of whether this is believable or not, it's highly likely that Colombians and other South American countries won't believe it.

Unable to retaliate in the public discourse, and even less likely to do anything to Spain at the national level.

Spain is, after all, a great power, and disputes between great powers are not so easily resolved. To get Spain to stop causing trouble for the United States, one must either offer sufficient benefits to persuade Spain to let them off the hook.

If they are unwilling to pay the price, the only option is to use war or diplomatic intimidation to force the Spanish to abandon their operation.

However, the United States does not have a high international standing or influence, so it is impossible for it to influence Spain's choice through diplomatic intimidation.

As for waging war, it goes without saying that the United States is inferior to Spain in both army and navy, and the only thing it can match is population.

However, the United States has a large Black population, and although there are also a significant number of White people, these White people come from various European countries and are difficult to unite as a group.

This is also the biggest shortcoming of the United States compared to European countries. The population growth rate of immigrant countries is far greater than that of European countries, but the population cohesion of European countries is also far greater than that of immigrant countries.

The U.S. military is only suited for fighting when things are going well. With over 60 million Americans, they can muster at least several million troops, which is more than enough for fighting when things are going well.

However, if the war situation turns unfavorable, various forms of chaos will arise within the US military. First, there will be conflicts between whites and blacks, and second, conflicts between different white ethnic groups.

Furthermore, the differing interests of various classes in the United States make it difficult for the country to sustain a war on its own for an extended period when facing significant headwinds.

Given the current state of the United States, if a war were to break out with Spain, the United States would be more likely to lose.

Although the United States has an advantage in industrial and economic scale compared to Spain, industrial and economic scale cannot be directly translated into military strength.

The sheer size of the industrial base allows the United States to produce weapons faster and build warships at a faster pace than Spain itself.

But what's the use? The construction time for a single warship can easily reach several years. By the time the United States has completed the first batch of warships in a rapid, mass production, the war will almost be over.

Since it couldn't do anything to Spain, the culprit, the United States could only focus its attention on the Colombian civil war, hoping that the Colombian Liberal Party could win it. To help the Colombian Liberal Party achieve victory in the civil war, the US government was going all out.

A few days after the outbreak of the civil war, transport ships carrying tens of thousands of rifles, tens of millions of rounds of ammunition, dozens of artillery pieces and tens of thousands of shells set sail from ports on the south coast of the United States, heading to Colombia.

Although the number of active-duty army personnel in the United States is only a fraction compared to that of European powers, the United States still has a very large stockpile of weapons and equipment.

Leaving aside the old weapons that were phased out after the Civil War, the large number of rifles that have been replaced in recent years alone would have been enough for the United States to easily prepare a batch of weapons and equipment to support the Colombian Liberal Party.

After all, the United States has one of the world's largest industrial and economic scales, and for the wealthy Americans, tens of thousands of rifles and their corresponding bullets are really nothing.

Several more rounds of such aid would not be a financial burden for the US government. On the contrary, as long as the Colombian Liberal Party wins the civil war, even if many more rounds of aid are needed, it would still be worthwhile for the US government.

To the Americans' surprise, the weapons and equipment they provided to the Colombian Liberal Party had just arrived at a port controlled by the Liberal Party when the news was immediately reported in newspapers across South America.

Now, what was originally just simple speculation has been supplemented with photographic evidence, directly confirming the fact that the United States and the Colombian Liberal Party colluded to incite the Colombian civil war.

This batch of weapons and equipment did not help the Colombian Liberal Party improve the situation of the civil war; on the contrary, it aroused resentment among Colombians.

Since you Americans want to help the Liberal Party win the civil war, then I'm determined not to let the Liberal Party win. Even if some Colombians don't have a high opinion of the Conservative Party, they are unwilling to support the Liberal Party, which they see as having treasonous intentions.

On August 22, 1898, the Spanish government summoned the ambassadors of several countries in the Spanish-speaking Economic Union, advocating that the Spanish states should remain neutral in the Colombian civil war, refrain from interfering in the war, and respect the choice of the Colombian people.

The reason for emphasizing the importance of neutrality in the economic alliance is mainly because Venezuela historically participated in the Colombian civil war, and they supported the Liberal Party, which was supported by the United States.

Regardless of whether the countries in the economic alliance have their own ideas, they must respect Spain's stance once the Spanish government formally put forward its initiative on maintaining neutrality.

This is the power of discourse that comes with international status. Whether these countries like it or not, they need to consider the consequences of opposing Spain.

The ultimate result was that the ambassadors of the Spanish-speaking countries participating in the meeting agreed with Spain's position, expressing their willingness to remain neutral in the Colombian civil war and respect the Colombian people's own choice.

It is worth mentioning that, apart from countries that genuinely have reservations about the Colombian civil war, most other countries are quite supportive of Spain's idea of ​​remaining neutral.

After all, most countries do not want their domestic affairs to be interfered with by other countries.

Unless the civil war has become one-sided and there is a high probability of defeat without external intervention, they might consider seeking external support.

The Spanish government's summoning of diplomatic ambassadors from several South American countries and its advocacy for neutrality in the Colombian civil war quickly became news, spreading across newspapers throughout South America.

This was not a big deal, and it was unlikely that South American countries would interfere in Colombia's internal affairs.

However, given the precedent set by the United States, the people of South America clearly have some goodwill towards Spain's proactive stance of remaining neutral and not interfering in the Colombian civil war.

The Colombian people, in particular, largely approve of the Spanish government's proposal to respect their own choices.

The civil war is ultimately Colombia's own affair. Regardless of whether the Conservative Party or the Liberal Party wins the civil war, the side that ultimately prevails will be the one supported by the majority of the Colombian people.

In this era, the choice of public opinion has become extremely important for all countries. The Liberal Party, which goes against the will of the Colombian people and forcibly seeks victory through cooperation with the United States, is destined to be abandoned by the Colombian people.

While other South American countries remained neutral, a fierce battle erupted between the Colombian Conservative Party and the Liberal Party in Palonegro.

With the support of the United States, the Liberal Party has organized an army of more than 10 people, while the Conservative Party, as the ruling party in Colombia, also has an army of more than 10 people.

The battle at Palonegro involved more than 20 troops from both sides and lasted for more than a week, with casualties on both sides totaling as many as 6.

The battle ended in a Pyrrhic victory for the Conservatives, with the Liberals suffering nearly 4 casualties and leaving them with fewer than 6 combat-ready troops.

On the Conservative side, despite suffering more than 2 casualties, they still have nearly 8 combat-ready troops remaining.

Moreover, because the Colombian people have already tended to support the conservative party, the conservative party is still able to mobilize troops from all over the country.

On the Liberal Party's side, although they are continuously mobilizing troops with the help of US-backed funds and weapons, it is clear that fewer and fewer Colombians are willing to join the Liberal Party's army.

As it turns out, Spain's propaganda offensive within Colombia was quite successful.

Apart from the die-hard Liberal Party supporters, the remaining Colombians, even if they don't support the Conservative Party, are equally unwilling to support the Liberal Party, which is betraying national interests.

After the devastating battle at Palonegro, the Liberal Party has been forced into a guerrilla war, which is necessary to slow down the Conservative Party's offensive to some extent.

But guerrilla warfare is not so easy. Guerrilla warfare can indeed allow the disadvantaged side to effectively tie down the superior side and seek counterattacks or even strategic reversals.

The problem is that guerrilla warfare requires terrain advantages and a mass base, which the Liberal Party completely lacks.

The Boers continued to wear down the British through guerrilla warfare because they were united and deeply dissatisfied with the invading British, and were willing to sacrifice themselves to use guerrilla warfare to wear down the British.

But the situation is different for the Colombian Liberal Party. Support for the Liberal Party among Colombians has declined significantly, and even the party itself has been split into several ideologies and viewpoints.

Under such circumstances, guerrilla tactics can only temporarily delay the Liberal Party's defeat, but cannot give the Liberal Party a way or opportunity to turn the tide.

(End of this chapter)