Rise of Empires: Spain.

Chapter 469 The Birth of Sound Film
In 1908, Carlo received another piece of good news: the birth of sound film.

When talking about sound films, we must also mention silent films. The only difference between the two is the sound; otherwise, they are identical.

The birth of silent film can be traced back to 1895 when the Frenchman Lumière invented cinema and it quickly spread to various European countries.

Back then, movies were silent; people could only watch them through special movie players. Both the viewing experience and the quality of the films themselves were terrible.

Movies at that time were generally short, and the black-and-white images and relatively backward technology made them somewhat choppy to watch.

If people in later generations were to watch this movie, they would probably only watch it for a few seconds before turning it off immediately.

But for people of this era, this was a rare and unique form of entertainment. Before the invention of film, people could not have imagined that a series of actions could be recorded and shown to others.

At the end of the 19th century, cinema caused a sensation throughout Europe, and various countries quickly established film-related companies to develop all kinds of film projectors.

During this period, Spain also established two film companies and produced several educational historical films that told the story of how the various ethnic groups in Spain united to drive out the infidels and how the Spanish people bravely resisted the corrupt rule of the Bourbon family.

These stories all employ a narrative technique that blends seven parts truth with three parts fiction, making it impossible for ordinary people to discern the truth. They will simply assume the stories told in the movies are entirely real, thus projecting their own likes and dislikes onto the characters in the films.

Carlo had also watched a silent film once, but the experience was so terrible that he abandoned his idea of ​​developing silent films.

However, this did not mean that Carlo had completely abandoned the film industry. After determining that silent films were not as valuable as they seemed, Carlo immediately increased his investment in Spanish film companies, ordering them to develop sound films and promoting the progress of the film industry in Spain.

The earliest sound films were not so complicated; the earliest sound film can be traced back to a film shown in Paris in 1900.

The technology used in the sound film developed in Spain is similar to that used in this film. Simply put, it involves adding a phonograph to a silent film, playing the sound from the phonograph while the film is playing, thus giving the film a sound effect.

Although this approach is somewhat cumbersome, it is indeed the simplest way to create a sound movie.

After several generations of updates to phonograph technology, Spanish film companies officially announced the commercialization of sound films and were about to begin filming Spain's first sound film.

Carlo has high expectations for sound films.

The role of film in cultural promotion is unparalleled, and it remains the most effective means of cultural dissemination in this era.

In addition to promoting Spanish culture abroad, filming related movies can also help Spain integrate all its ethnic groups.

The technology for sound films is controlled by Spanish film companies, so they have the final say on how to make movies.

These Spanish film companies were all established behind the royal family, which means that Carlos can make whatever type of film he wants.

When it comes to making movies, Carlo's biggest dream is naturally to make films about Spanish history, focusing on the integration of various ethnic groups in Spain. He envisions fictional histories of all the ethnic groups in present-day Spain, convincing all Spaniards that whether they are Spaniards, Catalans, Basques, Portuguese, or even assimilated Moroccans, they all share a common ancestor and therefore belong to the same ethnic group.

Regardless of whether these lies will be exposed in the future, at this moment, with the spread of the film, a large number of people will believe the statements in the film and endorse the idea of ​​Spain as a unified nation.

Spain itself is a product of the fusion of Castilian and Aragonese cultures, and therefore lacks a concrete definition. This presents the perfect opportunity to cram all sorts of diverse ethnic groups into the single framework of the Spanish nation. If this can be achieved, the Iberian Peninsula will one day consist only of the unified Spanish people, while other groups, including the Catalans, Portuguese, and Basques, will simply disappear.

Integrating the nation's various ethnic groups into a unified nation would also help strengthen domestic stability in Spain and reduce the risk of national division.

In the process of ethnic integration, cultural promotion is a very important means, and film plays a very important role.

Following Carlo's order, two Spanish film companies immediately began filming movies about Spanish history.

Just like the silent films they made before, all the films uniformly adopt the method of seven parts truth and three parts fiction to increase the credibility of the films and subtly make more people believe the history told in the films.

This is similar to the famous Romance of the Three Kingdoms and Records of the Three Kingdoms in later generations. One is a very famous historical novel, and the other is a true official history.

Because the former is more famous, more people will be subconsciously influenced to fully incorporate the fictional plot of the novel into the official history and believe it without a doubt.

While a small number of people who are well-versed in official history may understand the fictional nature of the novel, most people do not. When discussing this period of history, they first think of the plots in more famous fictional novels.

What Carlos is trying to do is use similar methods to make a fictional history famous throughout Spain, replacing the original history with a history that is more favorable to present-day Spain.

It's quite simple to achieve this, since the reason why people know that Romance of the Three Kingdoms is a fictional novel is because of the official historical record of the Three Kingdoms. However, Spanish films about history don't have official historical records to prove their authenticity, so people will naturally believe the content of the films more.

The history of the last few decades is relatively good, as some people have experienced it firsthand and naturally have a certain level of judgment.

However, the more distant history is a very vague past for most people, and most people have no impression of it at all. They can only learn about this history through oral stories and some written records.

As the film spreads widely throughout Spain, some movie-related details will certainly be added to the stories passed down orally among the Spanish people.

Written records can be directly modified by the Spanish government, and even school history textbooks can be revised, allowing the next generation of Spanish children to learn new history directly.

In this way, the Spanish government can completely rewrite the history related to national integration and promote national unity. The Spanish government attaches great importance to sound films, which has led to two Spanish film companies vying to be the first to produce a sound film.

The reason behind this is quite simple: both companies have royal capital backing them, and they are competitors.

The company that first produced a sound film will undoubtedly have its name on Carlo's desk. If they can gain the King's favor, the film company will have no worries about funding in the future, and its development will naturally flourish.

If the film company fails to secure first place, its future development will certainly be at the mercy of others. It will not only fall behind in every aspect, but it will at least be at a significant disadvantage.

The good news is that both film companies have previously made several silent films and are quite familiar with the filmmaking process.

Sound films are simply silent films with the addition of a phonograph to record sound. In other words, the filming process of silent films is slightly more complicated, but the general process and framework remain the same.

In February 1908, the Madrid Film Company and the Barcelona Film Company in Spain announced that they would be producing sound films and planned to officially screen the films for free to all Spaniards on November 23.

The reason for planning to start showing the film on November 23 is that on November 23, 1869, Carlos was officially crowned King of Spain, beginning the House of Savoy in Spain.

Since its inception, Spain has had only four official dynasties: the Habsburg, Bourbon, Bonaparte, and Savoy dynasties.

The Habsburg dynasty, with the purest bloodline, lost its throne due to the extinction of its heir. The Bonaparte dynasty was also very short-lived. Because of Napoleon's forced conquest of Spain, the Bonaparte dynasty did not receive the support of the Spanish people, which is why the Bourbon dynasty, which already had a very bad reputation, was able to be restored.

As for the Bourbon dynasty, it goes without saying that under Queen Isabella's corrupt rule and Carlo's repeated propaganda, the Bourbon dynasty had become infamous in Spain.

All three dynasties lost their foundations of rule in Spain, which has resulted in the current House of Savoy being the most legitimate and unchallenged ruling family in Spain.

Carlo's reason for painstakingly smearing the Bourbon family was simple: to make the Savoy family the sole ruling family in Spain and ensure that the Spanish throne would continue to be passed down within the Savoy family.

This ensures that, regardless of how the Spanish throne is passed down in the future, the future king of Spain will be a descendant of Carlos.

The people naturally did not object to this; they were quite supportive of the Savoy dynasty and believed that Spain under Carlos's rule had reached the glory of the Habsburg era.

During the Habsburg dynasty, Spain relied on external forces; Charles V was not only the King of Spain but also the Holy Roman Emperor.

Aside from its alliance with Portugal, Spain now relies entirely on its own strength. Portugal's power is negligible, and the reason why European powers fear and respect Spain is not because of its alliance with Portugal, but because of its own capabilities.

Europeans of this era still placed great importance on the status of their countries, a sentiment that persisted in later generations.

Any normal person would want their country to become stronger and stronger, ideally one of the top superpowers, or even the only superpower.

As Spain becomes increasingly powerful, the Spanish people's sense of national identity and national pride are also growing stronger.

In Spain today, Carlo has gained immense personal prestige, and a personal cult of personality has emerged within the country.

Spain is not a republic, and this kind of personality cult of the ruler is actually an advantage for a monarchy.

As long as Carlos can ensure that his orders are reasonable and conducive to Spain's development, then under the impetus of this personality cult, Spain's development and construction will become incredibly rapid, and government orders will be implemented extremely quickly without any obstacles from the public.

Under an extremely high level of personality cult, the Kingdom of Spain was molded into a unified whole, and national power was effectively consolidated, which would also greatly enhance Spain's military strength.

The performance of the Spanish army on the battlefield also shows that personality cults do have a certain effect on war, and the effect is not small.

It is no exaggeration to say that if Carlo ordered an army to launch an attack at all costs, that army would never retreat an inch, even if it was on the verge of disbanding.

This is the effect of a personality cult, and one of the reasons why the Spanish army's combat effectiveness is among the best in Europe and even the world.

Upon hearing that both film companies were setting the screening date for November 23, and that their films would be shown for free as a public service, the Spanish public immediately realized that the reason the films were free was because His Majesty the King wanted everyone to be able to watch them for free.

With the public's imagination running wild, their admiration for Carlo deepened, and they believed that the charity film was another people-benefiting policy devised by Carlo, allowing people to enjoy one of the most cutting-edge technologies without spending any money.

As for the story told in the film, needless to say, it's all true. A film company wouldn't spend a huge amount of money and manpower to make a fictional movie, would it? What would be the point?

Based on the imaginations of the Spanish public, even without revealing the film's story and plot, the Spanish people unconditionally believed the story in the film.

They were also incredibly grateful to Carlo, always believing that it was because of Carlo's orders that the two film companies were willing to show the films to the Spanish for free.

Carlo was naturally delighted with this and made no attempt to explain. The public unconditionally believed that the film's content was excellent, enabling Spanish-made films to be accepted and recognized more quickly and effectively.

As for the cost of making the film, it is negligible compared to the cultural promotion effect of the film, and it is just a drop in the ocean for Carlo's wealth. He wouldn't care how many more films he made.

(End of this chapter)