Rise of Empires: Spain.

Chapter 436 Supporting Irish Independence

At the Royal Palace in Madrid, Patrick Henry Pierce finally met Carlos, the famous King of Spain.

He was very respectful, and only after Carlo gestured for him to sit down did he carefully sit down and then explain his purpose.

"Your Majesty the King of Spain, on behalf of all members of the Irish Republican Brotherhood, I extend my highest respect to you."

Upon receiving your invitation, we immediately set off from Ireland and rushed to Spain in the shortest possible time.

Upon arriving in Madrid, we witnessed a prosperity in no way inferior to London, and clearly recognized that Spain's strength far surpasses that of England. We hope to gain the support of Your Majesty the King and the Spanish government to confront the British government, which has long colonized Ireland.

According to Patrick Henry Pierce, the British role in Ireland became that of colonizers, and the Irish Republican Brotherhood's goal changed from simply Irish independence to Irish colonial liberation.

The purpose of this statement is quite simple: to place himself and the Irish Republican Brotherhood completely against Britain, thereby gaining support from Carlos and the Spanish government.

Carlo, of course, understood Patrick Henry Pierce's purpose. The reason he had the Royal Security Intelligence Service invite them to Spain was actually to support their efforts in promoting the war of independence in Ireland.

As things stand, the Irish Republican Brotherhood certainly has the resolve to start a war, which is enough for Carlo.

"I have deep sympathy for the plight of all the Irish people. The Irish famine has demonstrated the inaction of the British government towards the Irish people, a practice that is completely contrary to the principles of a civilized nation."

As a truly civilized nation, Spain certainly doesn't want to see any other people in the world suffering from oppression like the Irish.

Therefore, I can support you and support Ireland's independence from the United Kingdom.

But escaping the colonial rule of the world's leading superpower, Great Britain, is not so simple. Spain can provide you with substantial funds, weapons, ammunition, and other supplies such as food, but everything else, including Ireland's independence, will require you to fight for it yourself.

"If we were to launch a war of independence now, tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of Irish people might sacrifice their lives. Are you really prepared to completely sever ties with Britain?" Carlo looked at Patrick Pierce with a smile, still having some goodwill towards this politician.

Ireland was able to gain independence under British rule for two main reasons: firstly, Britain did not want to experience another war after World War I; and secondly, the Irish people were determined to achieve independence, with many even willing to sacrifice themselves for it.

As a key leader of the Irish Republican Brotherhood, Patrick Henry Pearce was undoubtedly one of the pioneers worthy of recognition.

He and his Irish Republican Brotherhood jointly led the Easter Rising of 1916, which, although ultimately failed, ignited the determination of all Irish people to achieve national independence and freedom.

It was this determination that forced the British government to back down, because under such overwhelming public opinion, the British government only had two choices.

They must either be forced to recognize Ireland's independence or forcibly eliminate all Irish people in Ireland who support independence and subject the remaining Irish people to rigorous assimilation and brainwashing in order to prevent a greater crisis from breaking out in Ireland.

Ireland at the time had a population of millions, making it virtually impossible to choose a second option; no British prime minister would be willing to take such a huge risk.

This can be considered a drawback of the British political system, namely that the position of each cabinet government is not stable and the prime minister's term of office is not very long.

Most prime ministers do not have such an enterprising spirit; they only want to smoothly transition through their term of office and enjoy this supreme power for a longer period of time.

In such circumstances, the British government would do everything in its power to avoid significant risks. This is why the British government was able to forcibly suppress the Irish, but ultimately had no choice but to give up.

In fact, this problem is common in governments around the world and is one of the main reasons affecting the development of various countries.

Whether it's a prime minister or a president, these government rulers all have term limits. Some governments are even forced to step down due to various reasons, unable to complete their terms peacefully.

In this situation, most people prioritize the stability of their ruling position, which requires a relatively stable environment to support it.

If a relatively stable political environment is desired, then all risks that could cause instability must be eliminated. Under such circumstances, conservative thinking will continuously replace progressive thinking, ultimately leading governments to become complacent and only concerned with comfortably passing through their terms, regardless of the risks and crises that will be faced by the prime ministers and presidents who take over power afterward.

Patrick Henry Pierce's expression remained unchanged after hearing Carlo's question. He certainly understood how difficult it was to push for Irish independence, and that the British government wouldn't simply allow Ireland to become independent without a reason.

This also means that Ireland and Great Britain will definitely have a war later on. As for whether Patrick Henry Pearce and his Irish Republican Brotherhood had the courage to fight Great Britain, they certainly did.

Without such courage, the Irish Republican Brotherhood would not have been able to travel all the way to Spain.

Therefore, Patrick Henry Pierce nodded almost without hesitation and said, “Your Majesty, I understand how difficult it is to push for Irish independence.”

But as an Irishman, I am willing to give everything for Ireland's independence, just so that my homeland can achieve independence and freedom as soon as possible and no longer have to endure the oppression and exploitation of the British government.

If we can obtain your country's support, we can easily arm an army and formally launch the Irish War of Independence.

For your country, the outbreak of the Irish War of Independence also had its advantages. As long as the British government did not want to see Ireland become independent, they would have to send a portion of their troops to Ireland.

This also means that we can help your country alleviate some of the pressure on Britain and help your country win this war more easily.

Of course, I believe that even without Ireland's help, Spain, with its strength, could easily defeat England.

But Ireland's assistance would allow your country to win this war with fewer casualties, and I believe Your Majesty would still be willing to support us.

Hearing what Patrick Henry Pierce said, Carlo smiled, not denying his intention to use Ireland to force the British army to fight on two fronts:

"You're right. My willingness to support Ireland stems from the fact that Ireland's war of independence would tie down a portion of the British army. Of course, the outcome of our war with Britain will not affect our support for Ireland. Once you have control of Ireland and declare the establishment of your own state, Spain will be the first country to establish diplomatic relations with Ireland."

In reality, this cooperation was purely a matter of mutual exploitation. Spain hoped to distract the British government and create trouble for the British through the Irish War of Independence.

The Irish Republican Brotherhood, on the other hand, hoped to arm more troops with Spanish support and take advantage of the war between Britain and Spain to promote Irish independence.

Although it was a mutual exploitation, neither side felt there was anything wrong with it. After all, the most fundamental relationship between nations is the exchange of interests, and not being exploited by the other side essentially means one has little value.

After both sides went straight to the point in their negotiations, the process became much smoother.

Carlo had always intended to use Ireland to cause trouble for the British, so naturally he wouldn't set any restrictions or requirements regarding cooperation.

When Patrick Henry Pierce learned of Spain's terms of cooperation, even though he was prepared, his eyes widened immediately, and his face showed joy and excitement.

He couldn't help but be excited; the terms offered by Carlo were simply too tempting.

What are the specific conditions?

Firstly, regarding the weapons and equipment that the Irish Republican Brotherhood currently lacks most, Spain will sell a large quantity of weapons and equipment to the Irish Republican Brotherhood at below-market prices.

The main equipment included 1000 rifles, 300 artillery pieces, and 100 machine guns, along with 20 million rounds of rifle ammunition, 500 rounds of various artillery shells, and 5 million rounds of machine gun ammunition.

This batch of weapons and equipment alone is enough to arm an army of 5. Although 5 is not a large number, it is enough to cause the British a great deal of trouble in the early stages.

Don't be fooled by the fact that European countries mobilized hundreds of thousands of troops when the World War broke out, and millions or even tens of millions of troops were not uncommon.

However, before the outbreak of the world war, the standing forces of European countries were still very small.

Apart from Russia, a country with a population of over 100 million and a standing army of over one million, the standing army personnel of other European countries are all less than one million.

According to information revealed by various European countries and intelligence from the National Security Intelligence Service, after Russia, France has around 70 standing army personnel, Germany around 60, Austria-Hungary around 40, and Italy and the United Kingdom both have less than 30 standing army personnel.

Looking at this data, Ireland's ability to field an army of 5 is actually quite substantial. After all, European countries need to maintain their armies in various parts of their homeland, and the number of ground troops they can mobilize is much smaller than their standing army size.

Take Spain as an example. On the surface, Spain's standing army numbered around 33, but in reality, this included nearly 14 colonial troops and 1.5 guards, all of whom were not easily mobilized.

The only troops that can be mobilized are the 17.5 troops of the Royal Army, and they cannot be mobilized all at once, but only in batches. A portion of the troops need to remain on the mainland to maintain domestic stability.

This is why the troops that Spain and Britain sent to Portugal were tacitly kept at around 5. Any more would have multiplied the financial and logistical pressures and would have also affected the stability of their home countries.

Of course, the British standing army mentioned in the data actually refers only to the standing army on the British mainland. Britain has countless colonies, and a large number of troops are stationed in these colonies as well.

However, these troops generally have their own missions, and the British government does not easily mobilize them, so they are not counted in the standing army.

If the armies of the various colonies are included, the total British army would exceed 60 men, a rather staggering number. Only Germany, France, and Russia had a larger army than Britain, which explains why Britain could suppress the Boers in South Africa while simultaneously sending troops to fight against Spain.

If another war of independence were to break out in Ireland, it would not be good news for the British.

Despite only being able to arm 5 Irish troops, the fighting strength of the Irish would be somewhat enhanced by the buff of the colonial liberation war.

If the British army wanted to suppress these Irish people, it had no choice but to send its elite local army to quell the rebellion.

The British Army originally had only about 25 men, and with nearly 6 already deployed to Portugal, less than 19 remain.

Given the intense nature of the war in Portugal, Britain needed to maintain a reserve of tens of thousands of troops to support Portugal at any time. In this context, if an Irish War of Independence broke out, could Britain still send tens of thousands of troops to Ireland to quell the rebellion?

The answer is, of course, yes. However, for Britain, its domestic military strength would be stretched thin, and it would have to continue mobilizing more troops to cope with the dual pressure from Ireland and Spain.

Carlo only truly valued the British home army. Once those 20-plus British home troops were exhausted, neither the newly mobilized army nor the colonial army posed such a significant threat to Spain.

More importantly, because Britain prioritizes naval development, its domestic reserve system is in complete disarray.

The UK has only 25 standing troops and just over 30 reserves. The total number of standing and reserve troops on the UK is only 55, which is less than the number of standing army troops on the UK.

Although Spain's domestic army numbered only 17.5, its reserve force was quite substantial. The number of reservists in Spain alone reached 70, and with the addition of 80 reservists from its colonies, the total reserve force reached 150 million.

Even considering only the troops on the mainland, Spain could easily mobilize nearly 90 troops, far exceeding Britain's 55 troops.

If the British were to successfully provoke the Irish War of Independence, they would need to completely break with Spain and mobilize for war at all costs to defeat Ireland and Spain.

Otherwise, at some point in the future war, when the British government can no longer afford the large number of casualties, they will still be the first to choose to back down.

After all, war is just one tool of diplomacy. If war cannot achieve its objectives, then why continue it?
(End of this chapter)