Rise of Empires: Spain.

Chapter 481 Comparison of the Powers
The years 1910 and 1911 were just ordinary two years for Spain. Apart from the large-scale construction of the navy leading to a continuous increase in fiscal expenditure, everything else was not much different from the previous years.

But for other European countries, especially the members of the two major military blocs, the years 1910 and 1911 were particularly difficult.

The reason for the hardship is simple: with Britain and Spain declaring neutrality one after another, the confrontation between the two military blocs became more intense. This led to the Allied and Central Powers, led by Germany and France, continuously expanding their military numbers, and naturally, the military expenditures of various countries continued to rise.

Based on intelligence data currently available to Spain, it can be concluded that military spending in both Germany and France has at least doubled compared to ten years ago.

Doubling military spending is no joke. Take Spain's fiscal situation as an example: Spain's military spending has generally remained at around 30% of total government spending. If it were to double, the proportion would reach a staggering 60%.

Not all countries can afford such enormous expenditures. If this continues in the long run, European countries will face unimaginable financial burdens.

Indeed, according to intelligence estimates from various sources, the financial situations of the two major military bloc member states have reached a critical point, with a very high probability of triggering financial collapse.

Currently, the British Empire still has the largest government revenue. In addition to relying on taxes from the UK, Britain also invests heavily overseas, accounting for more than a quarter of its national wealth.

In 1911, Britain's total fiscal revenue had reached £1.92 million, which was very close to the £2 million threshold, far ahead of all the world's major powers.

Despite its relatively high income, the UK's total fiscal expenditure is £1.9 million, of which military spending alone reaches £6500 million, higher than Italy's total fiscal revenue.

Germany and the United States have the closest fiscal revenue to Britain, both at £1.45 million. Germany and the United States are quite similar; with few colonies, their fiscal revenue is primarily driven by domestic industry and the economy. This actually means that the prosperity of Germany and the United States is no less than that of Britain.

Although Germany and the United States have similar total fiscal expenditures, unlike the United States, a large portion of Germany's total fiscal expenditure is for military spending, reaching a staggering £8200 million. It can be said that the entire country is almost entirely focused on military operations, to the point of sacrificing other industries.

France's total fiscal revenue ranks fourth in the world, at approximately £1.32 million. France also derives a significant amount of revenue from its colonies, which contribute about one-sixth of its total income.

France's military spending is also extremely extravagant, exceeding £7000 million, and like Germany, it is constantly allocating resources to the military.

Russia followed closely behind, with its total fiscal revenue also reaching £120 million. Although Russia's economic situation was not good, its vast territory and large population meant that, despite the small gains, Russia's fiscal revenue exceeded £100 million.

Of course, this is not good news for Russia either. Due to its vast territory and population, Russia also faces substantial fiscal expenditures.

Despite Russia's total fiscal revenue of £1.2 million, its annual fiscal expenditure is actually no less, resulting in a fiscal deficit almost every year. This is why they need loans and capital assistance from France.

Russia's military spending is not much less than France's, after all, they have a real army of over a million. If Russia hadn't built its navy at a slower pace compared to France, its military spending would probably have surpassed France's, ranking third in the world.

Russia's total military spending of £6500 million also exceeds half of its total fiscal expenditure.

Spain's total fiscal revenue ranked sixth among the great powers, reaching 19.302 billion pesetas in 1911, equivalent to £7721 million, slightly ahead of Austria-Hungary.

Compared to the countries mentioned above, Spain's military spending is much lower. Spain's total military expenditure is only £3125 million, or 7.812 million pesetas, and its overall fiscal situation is still able to continue to be maintained.

The Austro-Hungarian Empire had a fiscal revenue of only £6900 million, but its total fiscal expenditure was over £8000 million, resulting in an annual fiscal deficit of £1100 million for the government.

The reason why the Austro-Hungarian Empire's finances were in such a bad state was simply their military spending of £3800 million.

With less fiscal revenue than Spain and more military spending, if the Austro-Hungarian Empire could still maintain a relatively good financial situation, it could only mean that the Spanish government was extremely incompetent.

The Italian government ranked last among the major powers, with total annual revenue of approximately £4000 million. Like Austria-Hungary, Italy's government expenditures far exceeded its revenues, with military spending making up the majority.

Italy also suffers annual fiscal losses of tens of millions of pounds, with military spending alone exceeding £2500 million and continuing to increase.

Besides these eight great powers, it is worth mentioning the financial levels of the island nation and the Ottoman Empire, two relatively strong countries below the great powers.

After the Meiji Restoration, the island nation experienced some industrial growth and a significant economic boost.

According to intelligence gathered by Spain, the island nation's total fiscal revenue in 1911 was approximately £4600 million, which was higher than that of Italy.

Of course, due to the large size of the military and the scarcity of local mineral resources, the island nation's fiscal expenditure far exceeds its income, with total fiscal expenditure exceeding £5000 million.

After losing most of its European territories, the Ottoman Empire's fiscal revenue was halved. According to the latest data, the Ottoman Empire's total fiscal revenue for the entire year of 1911 barely exceeded £2000 million, thanks in large part to industrial investments from Germany and Austria-Hungary.

In fact, this data on the income and expenditure of the major powers clearly shows that a world war would definitely break out much earlier than it did in history, and it would not have been delayed until 1914 due to an accident.

The reason is simple: neither Austria-Hungary nor Italy could afford such a huge military expenditure for an extended period of time.

However, the size of the armies of the two major military groups can only be increased, not decreased. After all, the enemy is expanding its army at an alarming rate, and we can't very well cut back on our own troops.

The only result of doing this is that the enemy will launch a proactive invasion.

The finances of Austria-Hungary and Italy were in dire straits, and those of Germany and France were not much better off.

Germany had Austria-Hungary and Italy as burdens, and France also had Russia as a burden, both of which required a lot of money to help their allies maintain a balanced budget.

Although Germany and France are in relatively good financial condition, they also have more funds to invest in military expansion.

However, both Germany and France have limited government budgets. When the annual increase in fiscal revenue becomes insufficient to meet the significantly increased military spending, they must find ways to alleviate the financial burden.

War was inevitable; this was not only Carlo's deduction, but also the thinking of the German and French governments.

Besides the increasingly fierce confrontation between the two major military blocs, another important reason is that internal conflicts within European countries are also intensifying.

The situation in Russia is quite bad, and the situation in France and Germany is probably not much better.

Various class contradictions have led to numerous problems, large and small, within the country. These problems, because they involve so many people, are often not so easy to solve.

Only war, and only by diverting contradictions to the outside world through war, can the various problems at home be effectively solved.

War can draw people's attention back to national hatred, allowing them to temporarily forget about class hatred within the country, which is quite important for both Germany and France.

This is why both Germany and France are frantically expanding their military, ready to ignite a war at some point in the future and make the other side bear the enormous military expenditures for them.

Because Britain did not join the Entente Powers, the gap between the Central Powers and the Entente Powers at this time was not large, and could even be described as minuscule.

This applies to fiscal matters as well as demographic matters.

By the end of 1911, the total population of the Central Powers was 1.75 million, including 6397 million in Germany, 4792 million in Austria-Hungary, 3608 million in Italy, 410 million in Bulgaria, and 2295 million in the Ottoman Empire.

The total population of the Allied Powers was 2.083 million, with Russia having the largest population at 1.62 million, followed by France with 4087 million, Serbia with 456 million, and Montenegro with 92.

Although the Allied Powers had a slightly larger population than the Central Powers, the difference wasn't significant. More importantly, the Allied population was mainly concentrated in Russia and France, especially Russia, whose population was approaching that of the Central Powers.

Besides the three great powers, the Central Powers also had Bulgaria and the Ottoman Empire, one with a relatively strong army and the other with a population of over 20 million, so they could still play a certain role.

On the Allied side, Serbia's role was at most equivalent to that of Bulgaria, and Serbia was surrounded by both Austria-Hungary and Bulgaria, so how long it could hold out was a question.

Montenegro, needless to say, is a small country with a population of less than one million; it's just filling a quota.

A key characteristic can be seen from the population figures of the Central Powers and the Entente Powers: the Entente Powers were basically composed of France and Russia, while the Central Powers, in addition to the three major powers, also had other countries playing a role.

This is why public opinion in other neutral European countries is relatively optimistic about the Central Powers. Although the Central Powers are at a disadvantage in terms of population, if a war were to break out, the 1.6 million Russians would most likely be less effective than Germany's 6000 million.

Of course, France had vast colonies, and the population of these colonies is not included in this figure. If the population of these colonies were included, France's population would barely exceed 100 million.

However, the role these people can play is even more limited. Apart from serving as cannon fodder in wars, it seems that their only function is to fill the gaps in the data.

Aside from economics and population, the gap between the Central Powers and the Allied Powers was not significant in terms of total coal and steel production.

In terms of coal production, the United States ranks first in the world, producing 4.74 million tons of coal annually, which is almost close to the combined output of the second and third largest coal producers in the world.

The world's second largest coal producer was the British Empire, which produced 2.92 million tons of coal in 1911 thanks to its vast colonial coal reserves.

Germany ranks third in the world in coal production, with 2.515 million tons. As the leading member of the Allied powers, Germany ranks first in both coal and industrial output among the two major military blocs.

Russia ranks fourth in the world thanks to its abundant coal reserves, producing 2.2 million tons of coal annually. In terms of coal production, Russia was the only Allied power that could boast a significant output; France's coal production was only 3900 million tons, less than one-sixth of Germany's. Of course, one reason for France's lower coal production was that Germany seized the important coal-producing region of Alsace-Lorraine during the Franco-Prussian War.

This region not only possesses vast coal mines but also extremely rich iron ore deposits. This is precisely why the struggle between Germany and France over Alsace and Lorraine lasted for over a century, and is one of the main reasons for Franco-German conflicts.

Before France, the Austro-Hungarian Empire ranked fifth in the world in coal production. Mineral resources are often associated with mountainous areas, and the Austro-Hungarian Empire was characterized by numerous mountains, which contributed to its relatively abundant mineral resources.

The Austro-Hungarian Empire's coal production reached over 5000 million tons, higher than France's, which is one of the few respectable figures they could boast about.

France ranks sixth in the world, followed by Spain.

Spain's coal production is not high, totaling less than 2000 million tons. There are many reasons for this low production, the most important being the scarcity of domestic coal reserves.

Spain certainly has coal reserves, but the total reserves are significantly smaller compared to other European countries.

The combined coal reserves of the Iberian Peninsula and Morocco are even less than the land area of ​​countries like Russia and Germany.

Although there were coal mines in Spanish colonies, unfortunately, these were all small mines with limited reserves.

This has led to Spain's reliance on foreign coal imports, with Brazil and Argentina being the main sources of imported coal.

In this respect, Carlo still greatly admired the British Empire.

Although the British Empire itself is not rich in mineral resources, Britain can still maintain its position as one of the world's top three coal producers by relying solely on Australia.

Australia not only has abundant coal reserves, but also extremely rich iron ore reserves, making it naturally suitable for industrial development.

Unfortunately, due to insufficient population in the UK, Australia has always been a penal colony for British prisoners, and its population remains very small to this day.

It's such a pity that such a prime location has been wasted. If it had been developed earlier, Australia might have had the potential to become a superpower.

For Carlo, owning a colony like Australia was a dream come true. Although Australia has vast deserts and wastelands, its immense land area also means that millions of square kilometers of land are available for development.

With enough land to support hundreds of millions of people, plus extremely rich mineral resources, it already possesses the foundation to become a superpower.

Of course, Australia has absolutely no chance of becoming a major power. Starting too late, coupled with its small population, Australia will ultimately only be an ordinary regional power.

The good news is that although Spain's coal production is only half that of France, it still manages to maintain its position as the world's seventh largest coal producer.

The countries that follow are even worse off than Spain; the island nation's coal production is less than 1000 million tons, and Italy's coal production is less than one million tons.

In terms of steel production, the United States also ranks first in the world, with a steel output of 2657 million tons.

Germany remains the world's second-largest steel producer, with a production of 1479 million tons.

Britain's steel production was less than half that of Germany, at only 694 million tons. This also reflects Britain's weakness after the Second Industrial Revolution, as Germany and the United States had already surpassed Britain in terms of industrial scale and were about to overtake it economically.

If it weren't for Britain's large colonies maintaining high fiscal revenue, Germany and the United States would probably have surpassed Britain economically long ago.

Spain ranked fourth in the world in terms of steel production, with a total output of 446 million tons in 1911.

Russia and France followed closely behind, with steel production of 422 million tons and 409 million tons respectively.

The Austro-Hungarian Empire ranked seventh in the world, with steel production barely exceeding 200 million tons.

Apart from Austria-Hungary, no other country has ever produced more than one million tons of steel.

Italy is the closest, but their steel production is only 78.2 tons.

Compared to previous economic, population, and coal production figures, the Central Powers achieved a significant lead over the Allied Powers in steel production for the first time.

Germany's steel production alone far exceeded the combined steel production of France and Russia, not to mention that Austria-Hungary also had a considerable amount of steel production.

Italy was merely a supporting player in this regard, but fortunately, its two allies had strong enough industries, which made up for the shortcomings of Italy's industry.

After comparing the economic, population, and industrial data of the various powers, the next important topic is the situation of the armies and navies of European countries.

Russia's army currently has more than 125 million personnel, making it the world's largest army power.

France's army has surpassed Germany's in size, boasting 88.2 personnel, ranking second in the world.

Germany follows closely behind, with a total army of 85.7, ranking third in the world.

Next is the Austro-Hungarian Empire, with an army of 79.2. The Italian army has 58.6 personnel, ranking fifth in the world.

The Spanish Army has 46.2 personnel, ranking sixth in the world.

The British Army has fewer than 40 personnel, yet it still ranks seventh in the world.

The army personnel of other countries are not included in the statistics because their army personnel are already significantly smaller than those of the countries mentioned above.

In terms of total naval tonnage, the United Kingdom ranks first in the world with 212 million tons, Germany ranks second with 105 million tons, and Spain ranks third with 96 tons.

Although the total tonnage of the German Navy exceeds that of Spain, because they have fewer dreadnoughts than Spain, European countries still consider Spain to be the world's second-strongest navy, while Germany ranks only third.

The United States Navy has a total tonnage of 92 tons, but because it is located on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean, the U.S. Navy is not taken seriously by European countries.

The French Navy, with a tonnage of 80 tons, ranks fifth in the world. Following it are Russia with 56 tons, the island nation with 52 tons, Italy with 39 tons, and Austria-Hungary with 21 tons.

Because Germany and Italy have been building dreadnoughts continuously in recent years, the total tonnage of the Allied navies has exceeded that of the Allied navies by nearly 30 tons.

This is not the scale of industry, which often involves millions or tens of millions of tons. A naval tonnage of 30 tons is equivalent to the tonnage of 15 battleships of 2 tons each. This also means that the naval gap between the Allied Powers and the Central Powers was already very large, which was another major weakness of the Allied Powers.

Based on a comprehensive ranking of various countries around the world, the following ranking list is provided:
1.British Empire
2. Germany
3. France
4. Spain

5. Russia
6. Austro-Hungarian Empire
7. United States
8. Italy

9. Island Nation
Most of the country rankings are generally accepted, with the only controversial ones being the rankings of France and Spain.

Some argue that France's army is far larger than Spain's, and given that the two countries have similar industrial scales but France has a larger economy, France is certainly the world's third most powerful nation, far stronger than Spain.

However, some argue that since Spain has surpassed France in population, the size of its army cannot determine the ranking of Spain and France, given that the Spanish army's combat capabilities are recognized by various countries.

Spain's navy surpasses France's in both total tonnage and combat capability. Given the strengths and weaknesses of their respective armies, Spain is fully capable of leading France by a significant margin through its navy.

Spain should be considered the rightful third strongest power in the world, while France can only be the fourth, unless their navy surpasses Spain's or their industrial scale falls far behind.

The debate over how Spain and France should be correctly ranked has occurred in almost every European country.

However, the prevailing view is that France and Spain are roughly equal in overall strength, and are considered to be superpowers of the same level.

Carlo wasn't concerned about whether Spain was third or fourth, because he knew that Spain wasn't aiming for third place in the world, but rather second or even first.

If Spain's current tank and aircraft technology were made public, it would be no problem for Spain to firmly hold its position as the world's third-largest tank and aircraft manufacturer. However, this is not what Carlo wants, and Spain will certainly not be satisfied with its current achievements. It needs to take advantage of the upcoming world war to strive to push its ranking even higher.

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(End of this chapter)