Rise of Empires: Spain.

Chapter 497 Romania Declares War
Romania ultimately made its choice.

This choice was inevitable for Romania, gratifying for the Allied Powers, and infuriating for the Central Powers.

After the Romanian government unanimously agreed that joining the Allied Powers would be more advantageous, it began preparations for war.

Neither King Carol I nor Crown Prince Ferdinand were fools; they knew that if Romania wanted to acquire Transylvania, it had to make sufficient contributions in the war.

If Romania only verbally supports the Allied Powers, let alone Transylvania, it would be quite fortunate if it didn't suffer retaliation from the Allied Powers afterwards.

Don't take sides easily; once you've chosen a side, there's no going back.

As a close partner of France and Russia, Spain was naturally aware of the alliance agreement signed between Romania and the Allied Powers.

Even the 20 rifles and other weapons that the Allied Powers promised to provide to Romania were mostly purchased from Spain.

Unfortunately, the current framework of the Entente Powers is mainly based on France and Russia, and only France has a decent military production capacity.

However, no matter how strong France's military production capacity is, it is impossible for it to take into account the consumption of weapons and equipment of the entire Allied Powers.

More than a year has passed since the outbreak of war, and Spain has sold countless weapons and equipment to the Allied Powers. Carlos's original stockpile of weapons and equipment is almost exhausted.

Fortunately, Spain's military industry has also undergone a large-scale expansion in the past year or so. Judging from the current production speed of Spanish military factories, it is still possible to barely maintain the consumption of weapons and equipment by the Allied powers.

Due to the war, the currencies of the participating countries have been depreciated significantly.

原本在战争爆发前，法郎和克朗与英镑的汇率差不多都是25:1，马克与英镑的汇率则是20:1，卢布与英镑的汇率则是10:1。

The Spanish peseta and the French franc are of equal value. Although the British pound is more valuable, currencies with lower values, such as the franc and peseta, are the true universal currencies.

The reason is simple: the face value of the pound is too high, making it unsuitable for everyday use.

Although shillings and pence are also currencies with lower value circulating alongside the pound, the different exchange rates between the pound and shillings, and between the shilling and pence, have affected the circulation of British currency to some extent.

While European countries may refer to the British pound when calculating currency values, they primarily use the French franc as the standard.

Besides France, Belgium, Switzerland, and Luxembourg also use the franc as their official currency. The only difference between the franc and the French franc is that each country prints and issues its own franc.

However, in terms of value, the francs used in these countries are all equivalent.

Besides being used by so many countries, the franc is also equivalent in value to the Italian lira, the Spanish peseta, and the Austro-Hungarian crown, which is why European countries generally prefer to use the franc to measure their economy. It's not only convenient for calculations but also for comparisons with other European countries.

Before the outbreak of World War I, the franc was the most popular currency in Europe.

However, as the French franc depreciated, it also led to European capital rejecting the franc.

Of all the great powers in Europe, only Britain and Spain remained that did not participate in the war.

Although the British pound can be used as a currency alternative, it is significantly more complicated to convert than the Spanish peseta, which has an equivalent value to the franc, and it would be a considerable change to the existing European monetary settlement system.

Compared to before the war, the value of the Spanish peseta has not decreased at all. In fact, because European countries tend to use the peseta as a measure of value, the peseta has even appreciated to some extent within Europe.

Originally, the pesetas and francs were of equal value. However, with the devaluation of the franc, the current exchange rate between the franc and the pesetas is 1.24:1, and the exchange rate with the pound is even more dramatic, at 31:1, representing a devaluation of 24%, which is quite staggering.

There are even more outrageous examples.

Originally, the exchange rate between the German mark and the peseta was 0.8:1, with the mark being more valuable than the peseta. However, after the outbreak of war, although only a year had passed, the value of the mark steadily decreased.

目前德国马克和西班牙比塞塔的汇率已经来到了1.1:1，与英镑的汇率也降低到了27.5:1，贬值幅度达到了更加夸张的37.5%。

The extent of the devaluation of the franc and the mark alone demonstrates the harm the war inflicted on Germany and France.

In fact, if we had to say something, the devaluation of the Russian ruble was quite severe, even more so than that of the franc and the mark.

The good news is that the Russian government's internal regulation of the currency is not very effective, and due to its vast territory, it is impossible to accurately calculate the extent of the ruble's depreciation.

This has led to a wide range of opinions regarding the extent of the Russian ruble's depreciation. Some European newspapers believe that the Russian ruble has depreciated by more than 50%, while others believe that the depreciation should be similar to that of the German ruble, both within 40%.

Although the extent of the ruble's devaluation is unclear, it is certain that Russia's economic situation at this time was the worst among the three major powers of Germany, France, and Russia, and it was on the verge of bankruptcy.

If it weren't for the financial relief from France and the material aid from Spain, Russia, this seemingly enormous country, would probably have collapsed completely in the war long ago.

As the Prime Minister of Russia, Pyotr Arkadyevich Stolypin was well aware of the country's dire economic situation.

As a precaution, after consulting with Nicholas II, Stolypin implemented a wartime economy in Russia and provided relief to many people with a large amount of supplies from France and Spain, which allowed Russia to continue to maintain its precarious existence.

Although he knew this was not a long-term solution, Stolypin had no other choice but to hope that the war would be won soon, and that reparations from Germany and Austria-Hungary would allow the Russian government to survive.

Knowing that the war could not be delayed, Pyotr Arkadyevich Stolypin contacted the French government to win over Romania and devised a plan with Romania to rescue Serbia and invade Hungary.

According to the agreement between Romania and France and Russia, Romania will expand its army to 50 men within one month and deploy at least 40 men to the war.

If Russia were to mobilize another 40 troops, combined with Serbia's remaining 10 or so, they could barely muster a combined force of one million.

Since the majority of its forces are composed of Balkan countries, the fighting capacity of this coalition can still be guaranteed.

If they could seize the opportunity to invade Hungary, it would not only throw the Austro-Hungarian Empire off balance, but also throw Germany into disarray, forcing it to divert troops from both the eastern and western fronts to rescue its ally.

The closest forces to Hungary were the German troops on the Eastern Front. If Germany were to withdraw troops from the Eastern Front, Russia's deployment in the Balkans would successfully alleviate some of the pressure on its main battlefield.

If Germany were to withdraw troops from the Western Front, that would be good news. After all, the Western Front was much farther from Hungary, giving the Allied forces more time to occupy Hungary and allowing the French army a breather to seek an opportunity to win the Battle of Verdun.

Not only did the Allied powers consider the Battle of Verdun extremely important, but the Entente Powers also viewed it as a preliminary step towards victory in the war.

If Verdun falls, the situation on the Western Front, which has been painstakingly maintained, will completely collapse, and most of France will fall.

Once most of France falls to the Russians, even if the French government is wealthy, it will have no resources to aid the Russian government.

At that point, the defeat of the Allied Powers would be inevitable, and based on this alone, it was certain that neither France nor Russia would be able to abandon the Verdun fortress.

If the Battle of Verdun could be won, the situation for the Allies on the Western Front would be completely reversed.

Although the war between France and Germany had reached a stalemate, the Germans played the offensive role for most of the time on the Western Front, forcing the French army to defend and hold the area north of Paris. A victory at the Battle of Verdun would not only inspire the French people and military to resist the German invasion, but also create a wonderful start to the war.

Although the situation in Russia was not good, both Nicholas II and Stolypin knew that France was the most important thing to the Entente Powers.

Russia's economy could collapse, but France absolutely could not. Even if Russia's economy collapsed, with French aid, the country wouldn't descend into chaos, and war would still be fought.

But if France were to collapse, Russia would be unable to maintain its own stability. Let alone winning a war, simply maintaining domestic stability would be extremely difficult, given that the revolutionary parties within the country were not to be underestimated; they would not let any opportunity to overthrow the Tsarist regime slip by.

Although the mobilization within Romania was not carried out in a grand manner, and was even intentionally concealed from the German and Austro-Hungarian governments.

But Romania is, after all, a small country, and it was sandwiched between Austria-Hungary and Bulgaria, so it was inevitable that the news would leak out.

When news of the quiet mobilization within Romania reached Germany and Austria-Hungary, it goes without saying that both governments understood the Romanian government's choice.

While they understood this, it didn't mean that the German and Austro-Hungarian governments accepted the Romanian government's choice so easily.

In particular, the paranoid Kaiser Wilhelm II couldn't understand why Carol I of Romania, who also belonged to the Hohenzollern family, would choose to side with the Allied Powers.

It's important to understand that before the Balkan Wars, Romania barely maintained its independence from Russia's covetousness thanks to a secret alliance with Germany and Austria-Hungary.

If it weren't for the constraints imposed on Russia by Germany and Austria-Hungary, how could Romania, a small Balkan country, have remained unscathed in the face of such a behemoth as Russia?

Wilhelm II believed he had treated the Romanian royal family well, and even went so far as to join forces with Austria-Hungary to make various promises to Romania.

In Wilhelm II’s view, both the good relations between the two royal families, which belonged to the Hohenzollern family, and Romania’s own situation in the Balkans should have influenced Romania to side with the Allies.

It's important to know that Serbia is a Balkan power that was supported by Russia, and it gained the most territory and population in the two Balkan wars.

Even without considering the threat from Russia, Serbia should be Romania's biggest rival in the Balkans.

Romania is caught in a pincer movement between Serbia and Russia. Under such circumstances, any Romanian ruler who is not foolish should understand what the most reasonable choice is.

Wilhelm II couldn't understand why Romania would choose to join the Entente Powers. On the night he learned the news, he was so angry that he couldn't sleep all night. He stared at the Balkan map with bloodshot eyes, wishing that the German army could crush Romania the next day, capture that hateful old King Carol I and bring him back to Berlin, and ask him what he was thinking and whether he still had any sense of being a member of the Hohenzollern dynasty.

Compared to the furious Wilhelm II, Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria-Hungary, though surprised by Romania's betrayal, did not react much.

The old emperor, after all, was a man of the world and knew that so-called secret alliances were not a safe bet. Nations are inherently driven by self-interest, and since Romania had betrayed its allies, it meant the Entente Powers had offered Romania even more lucrative terms.

As for what the conditions were, the old Emperor Franz Joseph I could guess.

Romania only had two allied nations bordering it, and its losses were either inflicted by Bulgaria or by Austria-Hungary—it was that simple.

Although one could roughly guess the conditions the Allied Powers offered to Romania, this did not mean that the old Emperor Franz Joseph I would simply surrender.

In Franz Joseph I’s view, while Romania’s geographical location was important, it was not indispensable.

Romania's entry into the Entente Powers was not entirely bad news for Austria-Hungary. If Austria-Hungary had won the war, it wouldn't have been Romania cutting flesh from Austria-Hungary, but rather Austria-Hungary cutting flesh from Romania.

After its victory in the war, the Austro-Hungarian Empire was not only able to annex Serbia, but also to join forces with Bulgaria to partition Romania, achieving results no less than those of Germany.

Even if the Austro-Hungarian Empire could not grow into a superpower, it would certainly be a strong contender for European hegemony and would not be underestimated by any other country.

If he could achieve this, Emperor Franz Joseph I would have no regrets.

After experiencing the immense grief of losing his son in middle age, Emperor Franz Joseph I's only remaining thought is that the Austro-Hungarian Empire will not perish in his hands.

The Habsburgs' glorious history can be traced back to the Holy Roman Empire, and Franz Joseph I was unwilling to see such a splendid dynasty fall into ruin under his rule.

Victory in the war would be ideal, but if victory is not achieved, then efforts must be made to preserve the Habsburg family's position, or at least to safeguard Austria as their most fundamental base.

As both Germany and Austria-Hungary became aware of Romania's unusual activities, the Central Powers also began to take precautions against Romania.

Seeing that its secret mobilization had been discovered, Romania stopped pretending and began to mobilize openly.

While the Romanian government was conducting a nationwide general mobilization, it also announced the alliance treaty signed with the Allied Powers and declared war on Bulgaria to the south.

On the day the war was declared, more than 20 Romanian troops marched across the border and launched a fierce attack on Bulgaria to the south.

Although the Bulgarian army was fierce in battle, at that time Bulgaria had the smallest land area and population among the Balkan powers.

Not to mention Romania and Serbia, Bulgaria's current size is not even comparable to Greece, which shows how badly Bulgaria was targeted in the Second Balkan War.

Having experienced defeating the Bulgarian army in the previous battle, the Serbian and Romanian armies were naturally no strangers to fighting the Bulgarian army.

Romania's entry into the war was good news for Serbia. With the help of the Romanian army, Serbia could escape being surrounded by a powerful enemy and obtain supplies from Russia that were passing through Romania.

This is not good news for Bulgaria.

Although Germany and Austria-Hungary had long been aware of Romania's unusual activities, they also alerted the Bulgarian government.

However, this back-and-forth took a long time, and by the time the Bulgarian government received a reminder from the German and Austro-Hungarian governments, Romania's declaration of war had already arrived.

Because Austria-Hungary and Germany were still courting Romania, Bulgaria's defenses against Romania were not adequate.

By the time the Romanian army launched a massive invasion of Bulgaria, it was too late to mobilize troops for a counterattack.

Bulgaria is not a large country to begin with, and after being attacked by Romania, nearly a quarter of its territory was lost in just a few days.

Faced with Romania's well-prepared offensive, the Bulgarian government was completely unable to resist. At this time, half of the Bulgarian army was fighting on the front lines against Serbia, while the domestic troops were either newly trained soldiers or troops that had just withdrawn from the front lines and were resting. Naturally, their combat effectiveness was inferior to that of the main force fighting on the front lines.

In order to avoid being quickly destroyed like Belgium, the Bulgarian government had no choice but to seek help from Germany and Austria-Hungary, hoping that the two great powers could lend a hand.

Faced with Bulgaria's plea for help, the German and Austro-Hungarian governments naturally had little to say. Bulgaria was an important member of the Central Powers and therefore required assistance.

Three days after the Romanian army invaded Bulgaria, Germany declared war on Romania, and Romania followed suit by declaring war on all the Central Powers, officially joining the World War.

　First update of 5000 words, please support!
　　There will be another update later; today's chapter is 10,000 words.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)