Rise of Empires: Spain.

Chapter 418 The Defeated Russia

The war, which broke out due to the surprise attack, was a bolt from the blue for the Russian government, making it realize the reality all at once.

Experience has shown that comprehensive national strength cannot determine the quality of an army's combat effectiveness, much less the actual course of a war.

Russia was not adequately prepared for this war, and its initial defeats were to be expected.

However, this was a shocking defeat after all. The poor performance of the Russian Far East army aroused dissatisfaction among many officials and the public. Nicholas II also understood that the blame for the early defeats in the war had to be placed on someone of sufficient status and position, otherwise the blame would fall on his own head.

After all, Nicholas II was one of the main culprits behind the extreme deterioration of relations between the island nation and Russia. Tsar Nicholas II's hateful attitude towards the island nation caused the islanders to completely abandon the idea of ​​peaceful negotiations with Russia, and instead give rise to the intention of achieving their goals through war.

In an effort to absolve himself of responsibility as much as possible, Tsar Nicholas II quickly held the commander-in-chief of the Russian forces in the Far East accountable, dismissing General Stark, commander-in-chief of the Pacific Fleet, from all his posts and ordering him to go to St. Petersburg immediately to stand trial.

The man who succeeded the incompetent General Stark was the renowned Russian general Makarov. Makarov, whose full name was Stepan Ospovich Makarov, was a famous Russian naval commander, military theorist, and scientist.

The reason he was appointed Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Pacific Fleet was twofold: firstly, General Makarov was indeed exceptionally talented, and secondly, there was a lack of truly outstanding individuals within the Russian Navy.

Russia is internally chaotic and corrupt. Despite its relatively large navy, its actual naval combat capability is a complete mess.

At the time, Lieutenant General Makarov, who was serving as the naval commander of Kronstadt in St. Petersburg, submitted a letter to the Imperial Navy Ministry, in which he solemnly reminded the Ministry and the Tsarist government that war between the Empire and the island nation was imminent and that it was necessary to guard against the island nation's undeclared war and surprise attack.

Lieutenant General Makarov believed that only by concentrating most of the main warships of the Pacific Fleet in Port Arthur could there be any hope of defending against a surprise attack from an island nation.

Only when naval forces are united can they work together as one, and this naval force can play a vital role if war breaks out suddenly.

Logically speaking, General Makarov's suggestion made a lot of sense. Port Arthur was extremely important to the Russian Pacific Fleet, being the only ice-free port under Russian control.

So-called ice-free ports are actually ports that never freeze in any season. Most of Russia's territory is located in the north, and although its coastline is not short, these ports near the north freeze over in winter, making it impossible for ships to dock.

Russia's continuous southward expansion in Central and East Asia was precisely aimed at finding a natural ice-free port like Port Arthur.

Unfortunately, General Makarov was not given important positions because his outspoken personality offended most of the high-ranking officials in the Russian Navy.

General Makarov was like a shining jewel in the corrupt Russian Navy, but to the other officials in the Navy, this brilliance was like a bright light bulb illuminating their darkness.

The navy doesn't need such an honest and capable commander. Any proposal made by General Makarov would be shelved by the corrupt high-ranking officials in the navy.

When Nicholas II learned of Makarov's letter to the naval authorities, more than half a month had passed since the Russian Pacific Fleet was attacked.

Although he was furious with the high-ranking officials in the Navy and General Tasker, Commander-in-Chief of the Pacific Fleet, Nicholas II still valued Lieutenant General Makarov, who proposed the plan to guard against a surprise attack from an island nation.

Under the personal appointment of Nicholas II, General Makarov was appointed Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Pacific Fleet and had command over all warships of the Baltic Fleet supporting the Pacific Fleet.

All Russian warships appearing in the Far East will be placed under the command of Lieutenant General Makarov.

This appointment fully demonstrated Nicholas II's trust in Lieutenant General Makarov, and it also made General Makarov determined to fully demonstrate his talents and repay His Majesty Nicholas II for his trust.

Carlo was also keeping an eye on the progress of the Russo-Japanese War, after all, it was the only large-scale war to break out in recent years, and the military strength of both sides was at the level of great powers.

Historically, this would have been the war that cemented the island nation's status as a world power. Following this war, the island nation was recognized as a global power, becoming the only one since the Industrial Revolution whose majority population was not European.

It's important to know that before island nations became powerful nations, the populations of all the world's major powers were composed of Europeans.

Although the population of the United States is not purely European, the vast majority of its white population is of European descent.

Logically speaking, if island nations could defeat Russia on the main battlefield, they could indeed become great powers.

But the world is different from history. Spain has not only not continued to decline, but has also become a superpower again.

Currently, the world's eight major powers are Britain, Germany, France, Russia, Western Austria, the United States, and Italy. Italy is probably the weakest in terms of overall national strength and military power.

But whether island nations can displace Italy and become major powers themselves is really hard to say.

There are many reasons why Spain was able to be ousted in history. One reason is that the political situation in Spain was relatively chaotic. The nobility and the church still maintained most of the political power in Spain, and the interests of the people were not cared about at all.

On the other hand, Spain's industry and economy were relatively backward, and its population was the smallest among all the great powers.

However, none of these points exist in Italy today, making it extremely difficult for the island nation to push Italy out of power.

Although Italy's industrial and economic level is at the bottom among the major powers, it is still clearly in a leading position compared to island nations.

Italy's population has exceeded 3400 million, which is less than the island nation's 4600 million, but this is clearly not enough to be the key reason why the island nation has dethroned Italy from its position as a superpower.

After all, in the industrial sector, Italy is far ahead of the island nation.

By the beginning of 1903, world steel production had reached an astonishing 3742 million tons, of which the steel production of the major powers had reached 3598 million tons, accounting for the majority of the world's total steel production.

The difference in steel production between major powers and non-major powers is quite significant. Italy is among the major powers with a relatively weak industrial scale, while the island nation is among the non-major powers with a relatively strong industrial scale. There is still a huge gap between the two.

Italy's steel production has exceeded 12 tons, and its pig iron production has reached 39 tons. In contrast, the island nation's steel production is only 0.3 tons, and its pig iron production is a mere 5.2 tons. This alone almost completely negates the island nation's hope of becoming a major power, unless it can expand its industrial scale to the level of Italy in the next few years.

If an island nation aspires to become a great power, only Italy can truly challenge it. Compared to Italy, other European powers are a level above, and a small island nation like Italy cannot easily rival them.

It is worth mentioning that in 1903, Spain's steel production finally surpassed France's again.

In 1900, France produced 160 million tons of steel, while Spain produced only 147 million tons.

After three years of hard work and development, coupled with the establishment of the Asturias industrial base, Spain's steel production has increased to 179 million tons in just three years. According to the latest news, France's steel production is around 178 million tons, lagging behind Spain's steel production by a hair's breadth.

While this lead may not be large, it represents significant progress for Spain. Furthermore, the first phase of the Asturias industrial base has only just been completed, and with the continued construction and development of the remaining industrial facilities, Spain's steel production is poised for further growth.

Currently, Spain has regained its fifth position in the world in terms of steel production. Ahead of Spain are the four major powers: the United States, Germany, the United Kingdom, and Russia. Among them, the United States has an astonishing steel production of 1355 million tons, making it the world's leading industrial power.

In fact, Britain had already lost its title as the world's leading industrial power by the late 19th century. And by the early 20th century, Britain's industrial size had gradually fallen behind Germany, relegating it to the third-largest industrial power in the world.

Fortunately, Britain and Russia, as well as Spain and France, are far behind. Although they are slightly inferior to the top, they are more than enough compared to the bottom.

Carlo has his own goals regarding Spain's current industrial situation.

Currently, Spain ranks fifth in the world in steel production and sixth in pig iron production, but there is a significant gap between it and the world's superpowers.

Carlos is not satisfied with fifth and sixth place; he hopes that Spain can elevate its industrial scale to the top four in the world, ideally aiming for third.

This also means that Spain's future benchmark in terms of industrial scale has become Britain. Britain is currently the world's third-largest industrial power, and if Spain wants to achieve its goal of finishing fourth and striving for third, it must match Britain's industrial scale.

The UK currently produces around 680 million tons of steel and 958 million tons of pig iron, bringing its total steel production to over 1600 million tons.

Although it had been surpassed by the United States and Germany, this did not mean that Britain's industrial scale was not enormous. On the contrary, Britain's industrial scale at that time was enormous compared to Spain's, and it would be difficult for Britain to surpass it in a short period of time.

Currently, Spain's annual steel production is only 179 million tons, its annual pig iron production is 286 million tons, and its total annual steel production is only 465 million tons, slightly exceeding a quarter of the UK's total steel production.

Given the current growth rate of Spain's total steel production, it will be very difficult for it to match or even surpass the scale of the British industry.

However, it doesn't matter. For Carlo, it's not important whether Spain can surpass Britain in terms of industrial scale; what matters is whether Spanish officials have such confidence.

With Carlo's support, Spain's industrial sector set the goal of "catching up with France in five years and matching England in ten years," aiming to fully emulate Britain and France in heavy industry, machinery manufacturing, chemical industry, petroleum industry, and power industry.

Whether Spain could surpass Britain was not important, but whether it could surpass France was crucial. If it could exceed France's industrial level, it would play a much more significant role in World War I, regardless of which side it joined.

Not just in the steel industry, but across almost every other industrial sector, Spain has now caught up with France. For the Spanish government, surpassing France in various industrial fields is no longer just a slogan, but a reality that will soon be achieved.

As for catching up with England, it may have been an ambitious goal when the slogan was first proposed, but if Spain can catch up with France, why can't it continue to pursue an even more ambitious goal?

When the Russo-Japanese War broke out, Carlo had a plan in mind: to sell the Spanish Navy's warships, which were about to be decommissioned, to the Russians.

This is possible because, given the current situation, it would be difficult for Russia to maintain naval superiority on the battlefield, even if they diverted a large number of warships from the Baltic Fleet to support the Far East.

The island nation's surprise attack ignited the war, and also severely damaged or sank several battleships and cruisers of the Russian Pacific Fleet.

The heavy losses suffered by the Pacific Fleet were the reason why Nicholas II ordered the Baltic Fleet to provide support, which also meant that the Russian Pacific Fleet would be unlikely to take any action before the Baltic Fleet's support arrived.

After withdrawing warships from the Baltic Sea, Russia's naval defenses in the Baltic Sea will be weakened.

However, if warships are to be rebuilt, it would be difficult to get them into service in less than three years.

If Spain were to offer to sell a fleet of battleships and cruisers currently in service at a lower price, the Russians would likely be interested.

Although Russia had little money due to the war, their ally France was very wealthy.

If the funds were to be used for wars in the Far East and island nations, the French might not be willing to spend the money. However, if the funds were used to purchase warships to fill the gaps in Baltic Sea naval defenses, the French would likely be quite happy to pay for them.

After all, for France, the stronger Russia's military power in Europe, the more German military power they could attract.

This is not only true for the army, but also for the navy. More importantly, the Baltic Sea, where the Baltic Fleet is located, is a very important part of Germany's eastern coast.

Germany’s entire northern coast is divided into two parts by the Jutland Peninsula: the eastern part is the Baltic coast, and the western part is the North Sea coast.

For Germany, the most important coastline was undoubtedly the Baltic Sea coast to the east. The North Sea coast to the west had a relatively short coastline, and due to its proximity to Britain and France, it was not a major base for the German navy.

The Baltic coast not only has a longer coastline, but it is also safer than the North Sea coast due to the protection of the Jutland Peninsula.

Although Russia, a naval power, also occupies the Baltic coast, Germany and Russia had a relatively good relationship for a long period of time.

Although relations between Germany and Russia have gradually deteriorated due to the confrontation between the two major military blocs, Germany has been increasingly emphasizing naval development, and the Baltic Fleet in the future will not be considered a formidable enemy for Germany.

(End of this chapter)