Rise of Empires: Spain.

Chapter 456 The United Kingdom of Spain and Portugal

The formation of a personal federation with Spain is a major event for Portugal, and regardless of the outcome, the Portuguese government does not want to bear the blame from the public in the end.

If they don't want to take the blame, it's simple: just make it seem like this whole Portuguese affair was driven by the people of Portugal. If forming a personal union with Spain is something all Portuguese people are willing to do and are working towards, then whatever the future of this union may be, the current Portuguese government will bear no responsibility whatsoever.

Gaining public support is simple: conduct opinion polls in major Portuguese cities and let the public choose whether to unite with Spain to form a personal federation or to continue Portugal's independent status.

On February 7, 1906, the government of the Portuguese Democratic Republic officially announced that it would hold referendums in major Portuguese cities to let the Portuguese people choose their own destiny.

All Portuguese citizens can participate in this vote. If the number of people supporting the formation of a personal union with Spain exceeds 55% of the total number of voters, the Portuguese government will officially launch the process of forming a personal union with Spain.

If more than 55% of the voters wish for Portugal to remain independent, Portugal will retain its independence and completely reject any proposal to form a personal union with Spain.

If neither of these two options receives more than 55% of the vote, Portugal will hold another referendum a year later, until one of the options gains popular support.

The referendum will officially begin on February 12 and continue until March 11, taking a month to decide Portugal's final fate.

When they learned that the government had decided to use a public referendum to decide Portugal's fate, most Portuguese people were quite satisfied with the decision.

At least in this respect, the Portuguese government has indeed kept its promise made when establishing the republic: to create a Portuguese republic where the Portuguese people themselves are in charge.

Although it was used in a choice that could have ended the history of the Portuguese Republic, it was at least a step forward for Portugal.

After the Portuguese government officially announced its referendum plan, in addition to the Portuguese people paying close attention to the upcoming referendum, people in Spain and other European countries are also paying close attention to it.

With five days to go before the referendum, Portugal, a country with a relatively small population, has enough time to carry out all the necessary preparations.

Essentially, ballot boxes were set up in major cities across Portugal, where people could collect one ballot per person and cast their votes for the option they supported.

To prevent cheating, everyone must register in their city when receiving a ballot. Each city will also screen those who receive ballots to ensure that there is no fraud or multiple ballots being received.

On February 12, 1906, the referendum in Portugal officially began.

Because this referendum determined the fate of a country, this rare moment attracted newspapers and media from all over Europe to come and visit, and they also took many pictures of the voting site.

The Portuguese government prefers as many foreign newspapers as possible to attend. Their presence helps the Portuguese public monitor the fairness of the referendum, ensuring that the government bears no responsibility for the outcome, as it is ultimately the people's choice.

The number of people participating in public opinion referendums in various cities also shows that the Portuguese are quite interested in this moment when they can personally decide the fate of Portugal.

To ensure the fairness of the referendum, the Portuguese government invited some Portuguese citizens and domestic and foreign media to act as supervisors while counting the votes.

Thanks to the joint efforts of many people, the vote count for the first week of the referendum has finally been tallied.

在民意公投的第一周，也就是2月12日到2月18日这7天的时间里，葡萄牙政府一共统计出了87.16万票，投票的人数占葡萄牙总人数的16.44%。

Of the 87.16 votes cast, 60.07 votes were in favor of forming a personal federation with Spain, accounting for 68.92% of the total votes.

Although the first week's votes do not represent the final referendum results, the choices of the Portuguese people show that a large number of people are willing to support forming a personal federation with Spain.

Subsequent voting results also proved this point.

The number of people participating in the referendum in the second week was much smaller. The Portuguese government counted a total of 75.62 votes, of which 46.28 votes supported forming a personal federation with Spain, accounting for 61.21%.

Although the percentage has decreased, the voting results still far exceed the 55% threshold set by the Portuguese government.

The number of people participating in the referendum decreased in the third and fourth weeks, with the Portuguese government counting only 52.12 and 59.46 votes respectively.

The votes from the last two days were also counted in the fourth week's votes, which is why the fourth week's votes were able to surpass the third week's.

According to the Portuguese government's statistics and calculations, a total of 274.36 million Portuguese people participated in this referendum, accounting for approximately 51.77% of Portugal's total population, which can be described as a nationwide vote.

After all, there are still a large number of elderly people and children in Portugal who are unable to participate in the voting process.

It can be said that most of Portugal's adult citizens participated in this vote, and the results fully reflect the Portuguese people's attitude toward the formation of a personal federation with Spain.

After final tallying, out of the 274.36 votes, 162.42 votes supported forming a federation with Spain, accounting for a high percentage of 59.19%, which met the 55% threshold set by the Portuguese government.

After confirming that there were no errors in the voting and counting process, the Portuguese government officially announced on March 17, 1906, that it would initiate negotiations with Spain to form a personal federation in accordance with the final results of the referendum.

On the same day, Carlos received an invitation from the Portuguese government to personally travel to Lisbon for his coronation ceremony and become the new King of Portugal.

In Europe, there is no such process as three resignations and three concessions. Carlo's own ability and prestige are already sufficient, so there is naturally no need for any vanity projects.

Upon receiving the invitation from the Portuguese government, Carlos immediately agreed to be crowned King of Portugal and summoned the Portuguese ambassador to Madrid for a meeting that lasted several hours.

The Portuguese government has fully accepted the idea of ​​forming a personal federation with Spain, and the Portuguese ambassador to Madrid is quite respectful to Carlos. It can be said that the Portuguese government already regards Carlos as the new King of Portugal.

As agreed by Carlo and the Portuguese ambassador to Lisbon, Portugal will hold a coronation ceremony for Carlo in the near future, and Carlo will be officially crowned as King of Portugal.

Once Carlos was crowned King of Portugal, there was sufficient legal basis to establish this personal federation. It could be said that Portugal was now completely under Carlos's control. Since he was destined to rule Portugal, Carlos was willing to offer the current Portuguese government more benefits to ensure they would work for him.

Following the referendum in Portugal, negotiations between Spain and Portugal regarding a personal federation were brought into full view.

After more than a month of negotiations, the Portuguese government finally reached a compromise with Spain on the federal issue, and the two sides agreed to formally promote the formation of the new federation after Carlos is crowned King of Portugal.

The new nation was named the United Kingdom of Spain and Portugal, in order to respect the two parts that make up the new country, Portugal and Spain.

Both the Spanish and Portuguese governments are accepting of this new name.

After more than a month of preparation by the Portuguese government, on April 15, 1906, a grand coronation ceremony was held for Carlos in Lisbon, the capital of Portugal, where he was officially crowned King Carlos I of Portugal.

On April 16, the governments of Spain and Portugal issued a joint statement announcing that they would form a united kingdom ruled by the same monarchy. The political and economic affairs of Spain and Portugal would be managed by their respective governments, while the military and foreign affairs would be managed by the unified government of the united kingdom.

Carlos officially transitioned from King of Spain to King of the United Kingdom of Spain and Portugal, expanding his territory from Spain to the entire Iberian Peninsula and extending into large swathes of Africa. Following the formation of the new kingdom, both the Spanish and Portuguese governments were extremely busy.

Although the new nation was established after the two governments made their declarations, the formation of the United Kingdom government and the transfer of diplomatic and military responsibilities between Portugal and Spain would take a long time to complete.

On April 17, Spain and Portugal fully opened their borders, and tens of thousands of Spaniards and Portuguese crossed the border that day, laying a solid foundation for the formation of the United Kingdom.

On April 18, a large meeting was held in Lisbon. This meeting included not only members of the Spanish Congress of Deputies, but also members of the Portuguese Parliament.

During this meeting, members of parliament from Spain and Portugal finalized a plan for the construction of the new political structure of the United Kingdom.

First, Portugal will be divided into four cantonal administrative regions: Porto, Coimbra, Lisbon, and Beja. These four cantonal administrative regions together form the larger administrative region of Portugal.

The Greater Administrative Region of Portugal has a total of 52 parliamentary seats, which are elected by the four administrative regions according to their population ratios.

Spain still consists of the original fourteen state-level administrative regions, which together form the larger Spanish administrative region. This larger region has a total of 298 parliamentary seats, elected separately according to the population of each state-level administrative region.

The 52 parliamentary seats of the Portuguese Greater Administrative Region and the 298 parliamentary seats of the Spanish Greater Administrative Region together form the United House of Representatives of the United Kingdom, which has 350 seats and can also be called the United Lower House.

The affairs of Portugal and Spain are handled by the parliaments of their respective major administrative regions, while the affairs of the United Kingdom are handled by a joint lower house formed by the merger.

Although Portugal has only 52 parliamentary seats, far fewer than Spain's 298, the population difference between the two countries must be taken into account; it's impossible for them to be on the same level in terms of parliamentary seats.

The allocation of parliamentary seats generally takes into account the population of each administrative region. If the population difference between Spain and Portugal were taken into account, Portugal probably wouldn't even get these 52 parliamentary seats.

Furthermore, the joint parliament will not interfere in Portugal's internal affairs, which are still handled by the parliaments and governments of the major administrative regions of Portugal. This is why the Portuguese people have not raised any objections.

The United Kingdom's Senate was formed in the same way. The fourteen administrative regions of Spain and the four administrative regions of Portugal each contributed three seats to the Senate, forming the basic structure of the joint Senate.

There is no fixed number of seats in the joint Senate. In addition to the three Senate seats provided by each state, Senate members can also be appointed by King Carlos.

There is no limit to the number of appointments Carlos can make; he could appoint hundreds of senators if he so chooses.

Of course, neither Carlos nor the future king would likely appoint senators so recklessly.

Carlo usually only gathers around one hundred people, and those he appoints are mostly nobles with high status and influence.

Although Spain and Portugal formed a united kingdom, this kingdom did not have a unified government; instead, the Spanish and Portuguese governments handled their respective affairs separately.

The joint parliaments are both located in Madrid, not to favor Spain, but mainly because Madrid is located in the heart of the Iberian Peninsula, making it convenient to travel to any part of the peninsula and a natural political center.

Of course, the new capital of the United Kingdom will also be in Madrid, where the royal family and the main government departments of the United Kingdom will also be located.

After the formation of the United Kingdom, the biggest changes occurred in the diplomatic and military aspects between the two countries.

First, in foreign affairs, Portugal and Spain will abolish their respective foreign ministries and jointly form the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the United Kingdom.

The United Kingdom's diplomatic actions also represent those of Portugal and Spain, and the two governments will maintain a high degree of consistency in diplomatic matters.

The Spanish and Portuguese embassies in various countries will also be merged, which will reduce diplomatic expenses.

The Spanish and Portuguese colonies would also be renamed, and internal cooperation among the colonies would be promoted.

The most significant changes will occur in the military sphere. Because the military domain will be unified under the United Kingdom government, Spain and Portugal will abolish their respective defense departments and establish a United Kingdom Ministry of Defense and General Staff to manage the Spanish and Portuguese army and navy.

The armies of Spain and Portugal will be integrated into the United Kingdom army and will obey the orders of the United Kingdom government, instead of fighting separately for Spain and Portugal.

This was something the Spanish army could easily accept. Whether it was the Kingdom of Spain or the United Kingdom, their loyalty was always to King Charles.

The United Kingdom is essentially just a different name compared to Spain; most of the faces of the top government officials remain the same, as does the king who rules the government.

The Portuguese army should adapt quickly. As mentioned before, most of the Portuguese army is currently trained with the help of the Spanish army, and the two sides have a long history of cooperation and a relatively close relationship.

In this scenario, integrating the Portuguese and Spanish armies to form the United Kingdom Army would likely prevent any mutual antagonism and allow for a swift merger.

Carlo actually looked down on Portugal's paltry contributions. After the war, the Portuguese army had been reduced to tens of thousands, a fraction of the size of the Spanish army.

The Portuguese army was equipped with a wide variety of weapons, with about half of them equipped with various weapons provided by Spain during the war, and the other half equipped with weapons captured from the Portuguese Republic and Britain.

If Spain wanted these Portuguese troops to be effective, it would have to equip them all with standard Spanish rifles and subject them to months of training.

The main purpose of integrating the two countries' militaries was to allow the Spanish army to take over the defense of the Portuguese region and, incidentally, to gain complete control of the country.

Having learned from past experiences, Carlo will not let Portugal, this seemingly easy prize, slip away this time. Once Portugal's armed forces are consolidated, it won't be so easy for Portugal to secede from the United Kingdom again.

More importantly, Portugal does not have much say in the new United Kingdom. Although Portugal still retains considerable autonomy, including control over its finances.

However, things may not be the same in the future. A sudden takeover of Portugal would have to be done gradually and subtly. It's impossible to expect the Portuguese government to completely relinquish its power right away, nor is it possible to expect the Portuguese people to accept the fact that their country has been annexed.

Like a frog being slowly boiled in water, by the time the Portuguese government and the Portuguese people realized something was wrong, the situation had already become irreversible, and they could only accept the fact that Portugal had been annexed by Spain.

Carlo was never satisfied with the United Kingdom. What Carlo wanted was a centralized state with a unified government, not a loose federation of separate powers.

Starting with the integration of the military, Spain will comprehensively penetrate Portugal in the cultural, economic, and military fields, striving to one day transform the United Kingdom into the Spanish Empire.

If the Portuguese objected to the name "Spanish Empire," they could change it to "Iberian Empire." But whatever the future name of the country, the Spanish must be the majority, and the country can only allow one voice: the Spanish.

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(End of this chapter)