Rise of Empires: Spain.

Chapter 447 Big Order

The Portuguese army's somewhat lackluster performance was merely an episode in the Cádiz military parade, and the Portuguese performance would not affect Spain, the host country, at all.

After the Portuguese troops marched past the reviewing stand, the army parade officially came to an end, and then it was the turn of the Spanish air force and navy to take the stage.

Compared to the already concluded army contingent, European countries, especially the European superpowers led by Germany and France, were actually more interested in the Spanish air force and navy contingents that were about to appear.

The Spanish air force did not disappoint them either; just minutes after the army contingent left the reviewing stand, several airships approached from a distance.

The two leading airships each carried a flag suspended from steel cables, with sufficient counterweights below to ensure the flags could be fully unfurled in the air.

One of the two flags is the Spanish national flag, and the other is the Spanish royal flag.

Following the two lead airships were more than a dozen other airships of varying sizes. These airships flew majestically over the reviewing stand, while the surrounding crowd watched the flying objects in the sky with curiosity.

Considering that most people are still unfamiliar with these things flying in the sky, Spain thoughtfully added an explanation segment to this military parade.

Besides explaining to the public what airships in the sky are, the main purpose of the explanation session is actually to attract the attention of political leaders from various countries to the airships.

As expected, when the on-site narrator began to introduce the airships flying in the sky to the public, many high-ranking government officials and members of royal families from European countries also began to listen.

There's no way around it; airships, which can fly high into the sky, will bring about extremely significant changes to humanity.

Leaving aside the changes in civilian applications, the changes in the military field alone are enough to draw the attention of political leaders in various European countries to airships.

Whether it was the Anglo-Spanish War, which was under peaceful negotiations, or the more distant Franco-Prussian War and Austro-Prussian War, when digging trenches, the army always considered the artillery fire from distant ground enemies, never the dangers from the sky.

Imagine these airships flying overhead and easily dropping bombs on the soldiers. This would not only cause massive casualties but also damage the morale of the troops.

No army can fight fearlessly against the enemy while bombs are constantly raining down from above. Even the German army, which was known as the best in Europe, would have to seek cover from the bombing as its first thought in such a situation.

This demonstrates the immense value of airships. European countries might accept not having airships in their own armed forces, but they absolutely cannot accept other European countries possessing them.

Although many European countries, including Germany, France, and the United Kingdom, are currently developing airships, Spain is definitely at the forefront of European countries in this field.

Many European countries come to Spain with a simple purpose: to see how far Spain's airship development has progressed, and whether Spain can sell its existing airship technology to them so that their own airship technology can become the leading technology in Europe.

Regardless of the inner thoughts of the European dignitaries present, the Spanish people felt quite proud and satisfied seeing the airships flying overhead.

Before Juan Carlos became King of Spain, the Spanish people had never felt the spotlight of the world. This grand military parade not only showcased the strength of the Spanish army to all of Europe, but also demonstrated Spain's prowess in airships and the navy.

This grand military parade is also the first military parade in human history to cover the army, navy and air force. How could such a grand occasion not make all the Spanish people present feel proud and excited?

Large numbers of Spanish people turned their fervent gazes toward the two flags hanging beneath the airship. The royal flag next to the national flag was so dazzling; to the Spanish people, the two flags symbolized everything.

Compared to the army's parade, the air force's parade was much simpler. As more than ten airships slowly flew by, the air force's parade came to an end.

The naval parade will no longer be held on the reviewing stand, but will be moved to a location closer to the sea.

During the naval parade, the battleship HMS Dreadnought made only a brief appearance before the entire parade concluded.

Although the Dreadnought battleship only made a brief appearance, it was still easy for European political leaders to distinguish it from other Spanish battleships.

Because of the huge difference in tonnage, the Dreadnought battleship was a whole size larger than the other battleships, and its appearance was also completely different.

Local newspapers and media outlets are also constantly filming the Spanish Air Force and Navy, eager to showcase Spain's achievements in these areas through news reports.

Whether it's an airship that's still a novelty for the European public or the Spanish battleship that looks rather massive, as long as clear photos can be taken and related news is published, it will definitely become the hottest news story in Europe.

The newspaper reporters present were also clearly aware of this, and they kept urging the photographers around them to take clearer photos so that they could write corresponding articles based on these photos.

European dignitaries who watched the entire military parade returned to the hotels prepared for them in Spain with mixed feelings. Carlo also instructed the Spanish government to prepare for the next step: to find ways to sell the military technology that Spain had just displayed to other European countries.

Especially for Spain, which was developing airplanes, airships were actually not very useful.

Aside from its civilian applications of carrying passengers and cargo, airships are far less useful in the military field than airplanes. Despite being equipped with weapons, airships are completely defenseless against aircraft.

While Spain was also developing airships, this was largely to cover up its concurrent development of aircraft. As for the airship technology that Spain had already mastered, the best course of action was to sell it to European countries at a higher price before they had fully grasped its capabilities.

If airship-related technology could be used to generate substantial revenue, it would not only alleviate Spain's financial strain caused by the war but also provide more funding for the research and development of Spanish military technology.

Of course, drawing the attention of all European countries to the airship was also an important objective.

Imagine if Spain suddenly produced airplanes while most European countries were working hard to develop airships. How would the European countries respond?

And it turns out, Spain isn't the only country interested in its air force and naval technology.

The day after the Spanish military parade, on February 1, 1905, the Italian diplomatic representative made a request to the Spanish government, asking whether Spain could sell Italy the technology related to battleships and airships, or build a few battleships and airships for Italy.

Spain is certainly willing to sell airship-related technology, and could even build the Dreadnought-class battleships for Italy.

However, in order to sell these two products at higher prices, Spain certainly cannot appear to be in a hurry to sell.

After the Italian diplomatic representative made the relevant request, the Spanish government did not immediately grant the request, but stated that it would require lengthy discussions before a conclusion could be reached.

The Spanish government did indeed engage in lengthy discussions, and it wasn't until a few days later, when the Italian diplomatic team was about to leave Spain, that the Spanish government indicated it could sell the airship-related technology to Italy.

Of course, airships could also be built for Italy; how exactly that is done would depend on the Italian government's choice.

As for the Dreadnought-class battleships, Spain's trump card in defeating the British Navy, they could also be sold to the Italian government. However, the sale of the Dreadnought-class battleships could only be done as complete ships; Spain would not sell the relevant blueprints and design data.

Moreover, such a super-giant warship with a displacement of nearly 20,000 tons is extremely expensive to build. The Spanish government also specifically reminded the Italian diplomatic representative that Italy's finances might not be able to support too many battleships.

The Italian diplomatic representatives were initially unconcerned, but they were stunned when they learned that the Dreadnought-class battleships would cost a staggering 45 million pesetas, with additional expenses including personnel training and technology transfer fees. The Spanish peseta was essentially worth the same as the Italian lira and the French franc, and all these currencies were exchanged at 25 pesetas to the British pound.

This also means that owning one of Spain's latest battleships could cost close to £200 million.

£200 million—that's an outrageous figure. Considering the current cost of major battleships in Europe, a significant portion of them cost only around £100 million.

The cost of one Spanish battleship was equivalent to the cost of two battleships from other countries. Even though the Italian diplomatic representatives knew that the Spanish battleships were extremely powerful, they couldn't help but feel a little heartache.

And you know what? The Spanish government's warning was indeed correct. Considering the cost of £200 million per battleship, Italy really couldn't afford to have too many.

Even the United Kingdom, which currently boasts the highest fiscal revenue among the major powers, earns just over £1 million annually. All other major powers, including Germany and France, have total fiscal revenues of less than £1 million, while Italy, ranking near the bottom, has pitifully low fiscal revenues.

Despite being a major power, Italy still lags significantly behind established powers like Britain and France in both industry and economy.

Italy unified too late; before unification, apart from some industry in northern Italy, it had no other industrial or economic foundation.

Although Germany unified around the same time as Italy, the industrial and economic environments of the former German states before unification were also quite excellent.

This is also why Germany was able to take off immediately after unification. The German Empire, which integrated the industrial and economic strength of the various states in the German region, ranked among the top three in Europe in terms of overall strength at that time.

Looking at Italy, the level of industry in the unified Italy was the same as the level of industry in the former Kingdom of Sardinia.

The vast southern Italy could only provide the government with some agricultural base; as for industry, it was practically nonexistent.

Moreover, it's not just a matter of industrial base. Italy's relatively scarce domestic mineral resources also limit its industrial development to some extent.

The Italian government's desire to expand its colonies in Africa stemmed precisely from the scarcity of domestic mineral resources. Without sufficient mineral resources, industrial development is difficult to achieve.

Industry represents everything for a country, and a country's strength is largely measured by its industry.

After Spain informed them of the prices of the airships and battleships, it was the Italian diplomatic representatives who hesitated.

Although Italy is keen to purchase the Spanish airships and battleships, the prices of these items are simply too high, and the final decision rests with the Italian government.

With no other option, the Italian diplomatic representatives could only report the news to their home country by telegram, awaiting the decision of the Italian government and King Vittorio Emanuele III.

At this time, Britain's failure to join the Franco-Russian alliance had a certain impact on the situation in Europe.

Historically, although Italy remained a staunch member of the German-Austrian alliance, its relationship with Britain, France, and Russia was not as bad as it seemed. This is why Italy ultimately betrayed the German-Austrian alliance during World War I, choosing to join Britain, France, and Russia and declaring war on Austria-Hungary.

However, at this time, because Britain did not join, the Franco-Russian alliance did not have as much of an advantage as the German-Austrian-Italian alliance.

This has made the Italian government very compliant; they currently have no other ideas, and their main decisions are following those of Germany and Austria-Hungary.

The Tripartite Alliance also held several meetings, agreeing on different methods of military expansion for each of the three countries, taking into account their varying military strengths.

As the most industrially and economically powerful nation, Germany focused its development on both its army and navy. In contrast, Austria-Hungary primarily developed its army, with its navy serving only as a supplementary force to Italy.

Italy primarily provided the alliance with sufficient naval power to join forces with the Austro-Hungarian navy, ensuring that the Triple Alliance possessed adequate naval strength in the Mediterranean to counter the Franco-Russian alliance.

The German navy will need to confront the Russian fleet in the Baltic Sea, which is why Germany is constantly developing its navy, given that the Russian navy is quite large.

Because Italy's main role in the Triple Alliance was to provide naval power, after several days of consideration, the Italian government finally decided to import airship technology from Spain and purchase several battleships.

This is a big deal. A single battleship costs as much as 4500 million pesetas, and with other expenses, it comes close to 5000 million pesetas.

The complete airship technology was priced at a staggering 1.5 million pesetas, enough to buy two more Dreadnought-class battleships.

The Italian government ultimately decided to purchase the complete airship technology plus three battleships. The total cost of this order will reach an astonishing 2.45 million pesetas, close to ten million pounds, which is almost half of the Italian government's annual fiscal revenue.

Italy's contacts with Spain were hardly a secret to Germany and Austria-Hungary.

In fact, the contacts between the Italian diplomatic representatives and the Spanish government were also facilitated by the German government.

Germany was actually quite envious of Spain's airship and battleship technology. However, if Germany were to negotiate, firstly, relations between Germany and Spain were not particularly good, and the Spanish government might not necessarily sell these important military technologies to Germany.

Furthermore, France will certainly be closely monitoring the German government's every move. Even if Germany manages to acquire these technologies from Spain, it will inevitably have to spend significantly more money.

If Italy were to take the lead, given the good relationship between the Italian and Spanish royal families, Italy would be more likely to acquire these technologies.

Spain understood this as well. Selling airship technology to Italy was, in effect, selling it to the Triple Alliance.

Once Italy mastered Spain's airship technology, they would certainly share it with Germany and Austria-Hungary in exchange for a share of the revenue.

It's even possible that the money Italy used to purchase airship technology came from Germany, on the condition that this technology be shared within the trilateral alliance.

This is why Spain has increased the price of its airship technology. The technology itself wouldn't cost 1.5 million pesetas, but if sold to three countries, it could fetch that much money.

While the Spanish and Italian governments were negotiating the details of the order, the French government also approached Spain, hoping to acquire technology related to airships and battleships.

Spain would certainly not refuse the French government's request, but because the French are wealthier, this trade deal would definitely rip them off, or at least they would make more money off the French.

At this point, France really had no other choice. Although Germany had not taken any action, the French government was aware of the negotiations between the Italian and Spanish governments.

Once the Italian government acquires the airships and battleships from Spain, these technologies will certainly be shared with the Tripartite Alliance.

If Germany had airships and new battleships while France did not, it could be a disaster for France.

Therefore, when Spain announced that it was in talks with Italy about trade in airships and battleships, the French government had no choice but to acquire Spanish airship and battleship technology, even if it meant paying more money and incurring greater costs.

(End of this chapter)