Rise of Empires: Spain.

Chapter 402 Panama Canal Convention

While Europeans were dreaming of a bright future, and only a few were worried about the possibility of a super war breaking out, in South America, separated from Europe by the Atlantic Ocean, the flames of war had already spread throughout Colombia.

The sudden outbreak of the Colombian civil war brought the construction of the Panama Canal to a standstill, and the civil war even affected several countries in South and Central America.

The Americans had originally planned to incite Panama to independence during this civil war, but because the United States' reputation had been tarnished by Spain, they were no longer able to carry out such a plan.

Because once the news of the US instigating Panama's independence is revealed, it will cause a wave of resistance against the US throughout South America.

This is not a good deal for Americans, because it is tantamount to handing over their backyard, South America, to others.

It's important to understand that the United States wasn't the only country eyeing South America at this time. Spain, the former inhabitant of South America, France, the builder of the canal, and Britain, which had acquired Cuba, were all also watching with predatory intent.

Once America's reputation is completely ruined, it means that America will withdraw from the competition in South America.

To preserve its reputation, the United States has temporarily chosen to remain inactive. Because the war in Colombia is currently at a stalemate, the Liberal Party has used various methods to slow down the Conservative Party's progress, thus buying the United States some time.

What the United States did not expect was that they chose to remain inactive, but other countries would not continue to stand idly by at this time.

Because the Boer War had ended, Britain did not need diplomatic support from the United States. This also led to Britain not favoring the United States on the issue of sovereignty over the Panama Canal; in fact, Britain even wanted to control the sovereignty of the Panama Canal itself.

The fact that Britain occupied key global transportation routes demonstrates its strong interest in international waterways like the Panama Canal.

The Strait of Gibraltar, the Suez Canal, and the Strait of Malacca are already under British control, and Britain would not mind adding the Panama Canal to its fold.

Britain, which began to engage with the Colombian government, suddenly discovered that Spain, the former hegemon of South America, had begun to engage with these South American countries and establish relatively close economic ties.

Gaining sovereignty over the Panama Canal under Spain's watchful eye appears to be no easy task at present.

This was not a problem for the British, who quickly changed their minds and decided to join forces with Spain to control the sovereignty of the Panama Canal.

Because the French were the actual builders of the canal, they certainly also possess sovereignty over the Panama Canal. In the British plan, sovereignty over the Panama Canal would ultimately be jointly held by Britain, France, and Spain, with other countries having no involvement in its operation and management.

This seems somewhat ridiculous, because Britain, France, and Spain are all European countries, yet they ultimately gained control of the Panama Canal in the Americas.

But for this era, Europe was the center of the world, and in the eyes of the British, only Europeans were qualified to control the Panama Canal.

Although relations between Britain and Spain are not good, this does not affect Britain's willingness to cooperate with Spain on the Panama Canal issue.

After all, Britain would prefer European countries to control the Panama Canal rather than the United States.

This would not only weaken the United States’ influence in the Americas, but also ensure that the Panama Canal would not fall under the control of any country other than the United Kingdom.

Although it appears that Britain, France, and Spain jointly control the Panama Canal, the British are confident of gaining ultimate control, just as they had with the Suez Canal.

When Carlo learned that the British wanted to get involved in the construction of the Panama Canal with Spain, it was already late 1899.

To be honest, Carlo was quite surprised and curious about how long the Colombian civil war had lasted.

Because the news that the United States supported the Colombian Liberal Party in launching a civil war has become public, the Liberal Party's support within Colombia has dropped significantly.

It was initially thought that the Colombian Conservative Party would quickly end the civil war after defeating the Liberal Party, but unexpectedly, a large number of parties and forces opposed to the Conservative Party and the Colombian government emerged within Colombia after the Liberal Party.

This is why the Colombian civil war has not ended yet; judging from the current trend, it will not end for at least one or two years.

If we were to name the countries most concerned about the Colombian civil war, the first would be the United States, which orchestrated the conflict, and the second would be France, which is currently building the Panama Canal.

Because the Panama Canal is located in Panama, which is controlled by Colombia, and because Panama has been affected by the Colombian civil war, the French had to control the situation in Panama in order to successfully complete the construction of the canal.

To control the situation in Panama, one must either gain the support of the Colombian conservative party and first eliminate the opposition forces in the region.

Alternatively, the French themselves would have to rely on their own efforts to mobilize the military to maintain security around the canal.

The former is better; as long as the support of the Colombian conservative party can be obtained, the security around the Panama Canal can still be guaranteed.

But if they rely on the latter, France's reputation could very well become as infamous as that of the United States.

While French canal construction companies were still hesitating, British and Spanish parties had already approached them jointly.

The UK has expressed its desire to join the canal's construction team and has indicated its willingness to provide diplomatic support to France, as well as funding the canal's construction.

Spain assured that it would bring the support of the Colombian government, ensuring that the French canal construction would not be affected by the Colombian civil war.

These two forms of support are exactly what France needs at the moment, and the three parties hit it off immediately, quickly finalizing their cooperation on the Panama Canal.

After several days of negotiations and discussions, a treaty was drawn up concerning the joint operation of the Panama Canal by the United Kingdom, France, and Spain, and the construction of the Panama Canal. The official name of this treaty is the "Panama Canal Convention".

The convention stipulates that the construction rights of the Panama Canal are jointly held by France, the United Kingdom, and Spain, and the subsequent operation and management rights, as well as the revenue generated from its operation, should also be shared among the three countries.

Because France has invested heavily in the construction of the Panama Canal, it will control 40% of the shares, while the remaining 60% will be shared by Britain and Spain, each holding 30%.

As co-builders, the United Kingdom, France, and Spain should jointly safeguard the construction of the Panama Canal and ensure stability in the area where the canal was built.

At the same time, the three countries should unite to resist external threats, such as other countries that are also interested in the canal.

Unless all three countries agree simultaneously, no other country has the right to participate in the construction and subsequent operation of the Panama Canal, nor is any country allowed to interfere with the sovereignty of the Panama Canal.

The United Kingdom, France, and Spain, which signed the treaty, were all powerful nations. The signing of the Panama Canal Convention was quite aboveboard, and many media outlets were even invited to witness it.

When Americans learned that Britain, France, and Spain had jointly signed the Panama Canal Convention, they were stunned.

Who would have thought that these three countries had secretly agreed on the construction and subsequent operation and management of the Panama Canal, and completely excluded the United States from the operation and management rights of the Panama Canal.

It's important to know that these three countries are all European countries, and theoretically they should have absolutely no connection to the Panama Canal.

Ironically, it is the United States, which was excluded, that is the country that needs the Panama Canal the most. The fact that the country most in need of the Panama Canal was excluded from its operation and management means that if the United States wants to pass through the Panama Canal in the future, it will need the consent of the three major powers: Britain, France, and Spain.

The Americans orchestrated the Colombian civil war in their struggle for sovereignty over the Panama Canal. Yet, the current outcome is that the United States has absolutely no connection to the subsequent operation and management of the Panama Canal, nor can it possibly gain sovereignty under the control of the three major powers: Britain, France, and Spain.

Britain, France, and Spain—any one of these three great powers was someone the Americans couldn't afford to offend. Not to mention that these three countries jointly controlled the Panama Canal; even if the Americans had ten times the courage, they wouldn't dare to directly provoke the three great powers that signed the treaty.

Of course, public protests are still necessary. The US government is indeed quite dissatisfied with the overbearing behavior of these three countries, but they are helpless to do anything about it.

They could only vent their dissatisfaction through newspaper articles, angrily denouncing the signing of the Panama Canal Convention by these three countries as ignoring the sovereignty of the Panama region and Colombia, and as an extension of European hegemony in the Americas.

The US government's protests were incredibly tearful, but newspapers reporting on the protests only circulated in North America.

To be precise, it circulated within the United States. Canada, being a British colony, could not have distributed such a newspaper.

Moreover, present-day Canada is not the loyal ally of the United States that it would become in the future; present-day Canada has even burned down the White House.

At that time, Napoleon was still in power in Europe. Because France was at war with the anti-French coalition, the United States was attempting to annex Canada and become the sole hegemon of North America.

Unfortunately, the Americans overestimated their own strength. During the Revolutionary War, it would have been difficult for the United States to gain independence if it hadn't been for French support.

The idea of ​​taking on Britain alone after only a few decades is clearly a nightmare scenario for Americans.

The British and Canadian forces quickly defeated the United States, and in retaliation for the Americans burning Newcastle, the British and Canadian forces burned down the U.S. presidential palace.

Because the presidential palace is a stone building, the fire did not cause much damage to the palace, only leaving burn marks on the interior and exterior walls.

To cover up the blackened marks from the fire, the US government painted the presidential palace white, which is the origin of the famous White House.

As the United States gradually grew stronger, the White House transformed from a symbol of American humiliation into a symbol of American pride. However, in this era, because the United States had not yet demonstrated its power through a war, the White House still retained some of its humiliating connotations.

Even in Canada and South America, no related protest newspapers were published, let alone in Europe.

Britain, France, and Spain paid no heed to the tearful protests from the US government.

The combined might of Britain, France, and Spain was something the United States could not contend with, and even the German-Austrian-Italian military bloc, one of the two major military blocs, was somewhat lacking.

The American protests were ultimately just protests, and since they were limited to superficial protests, the three major powers of Britain, France, and Spain naturally did not need to respond.

Following the successful signing of the Panama Canal Convention, Spain contacted the Colombian government, demanding that it take the lead in eliminating opposition forces in the Panama region to ensure stability in the Panama Canal area and the smooth construction of the canal project.

Of course, the Colombian government won't work for nothing.

As long as the Colombian government can maintain stability in the Panama region and ensure that the canal project is not delayed, the three major powers responsible for the canal's construction—Britain, France, and Spain—will support the conservative party's rule in Colombia and safeguard the unity and integrity of the various regions of Colombia.

Simply put, countries and forces like the United States that could potentially incite independence in various regions of Colombia will be dealt with by the three major powers: Britain, France, and Spain.

Colombia only needs to clear all internal obstacles to the construction of the canal, and they will also gain more benefits from the canal, which is a win-win situation for both sides.

Support from the three major powers is very important to the Colombian government, as external support can also change the course of the internal conflict.

If it weren't for Spain's intervention, which tarnished the United States' reputation, Panama would likely have gained independence under American guidance before the civil war even ended.

Colombia's conservative party is still able to see the situation clearly, and they certainly wouldn't give up such a rare opportunity to cooperate with the three major powers.

Under orders from the Colombian government, a large number of conservative troops began to be stationed in Panama to maintain local stability and ensure that the construction of the canal would not be affected by the Colombian civil war.

When Carlo learned that construction on the Panama Canal had resumed, he realized that he had once again altered the course of history.

Because of Spanish intervention, Panama did not gain independence despite US instigation. Furthermore, with the three major powers—Britain, France, and Spain—already controlling sovereignty over the Panama Canal, it became extremely difficult for the US to regain control.

If the Panama Canal cannot be controlled, communication between the east and west coasts of the United States will be severely affected. In peacetime, things are better; American commercial ships can still pass through the Panama Canal smoothly by paying extra tolls.

However, during times of war, especially those involving the United States, it becomes difficult for American commercial ships to pass through the Panama Canal.

Not to mention that US warships would have to go through even more procedures and fees to pass through the Panama Canal.

Under such circumstances, the United States' own potential will also be affected to some extent.

At the same time, losing control of the Panama Canal would significantly reduce the United States' control over Central and South American countries.

After all, Central and South American countries also have a great need for the Panama Canal. Compared to the United States, they clearly need the support of the country that controls the Panama Canal more.

Offending the United States might at most reduce economic cooperation with them, but it won't have much other impact.

Anyway, we can trade with European countries. The United States has some industrial products, but European countries have more and they are cheaper.

However, if you offend the three major European powers that control the Panama Canal, it won't be so easy to pass through the Panama Canal in the future.

The additional toll fees alone will drive up the costs for private transportation companies, and may even put them at risk of bankruptcy.

If passage through the Panama Canal is prohibited, it will not only affect private businesses, but also international trade.

While these factors aren't fatal to the United States, they can effectively slow down its development. In Carlo's view, the United States is a much bigger problem than European countries.

Among the great powers of Europe, Britain relied on the income from its colonies to develop its navy, and with its world-leading navy, it firmly held the throne of global hegemony.

If the colonial system collapses, or if Britain's finances collapse, Britain will no longer be able to support such a large navy, and naturally it will be unable to continue to sit on the throne of world hegemony.

Germany and France would be severely depleted in the two world wars, and although these two countries were powerful, they would not be much of a threat after the devastation of the wars.

Post-revolutionary Russia was a huge threat, but since the revolution had not yet taken place, there was still a lot of room for change for Carlo.

As for the remaining Austro-Hungarian Empire and Italy, there's not much to say. Both of these countries had significant limitations and were unlikely to grow into world superpowers, so they naturally posed little threat to Spain.

The United States, if left unchecked, is a natural candidate to become a global superpower.

A powerful United States is not good news for Spain, and Carlos naturally hopes that the United States can be contained and, ideally, pose no threat to Spain.

For Carlo, gaining control of the Panama Canal was the first step in weakening the United States.

The United States will be isolated in the long term if it uses the Panama Canal to influence countries in Central and South America.

Then it won't be so easy for the United States to shake off the influence of isolationism. Even if the United States wants to abandon isolation, other countries in the Americas may not necessarily give up on isolating the United States.

(End of this chapter)