Rise of Empires: Spain.

Chapter 508 Italy's Debut
Compared to Spain's declaration of war against the Allies, the speed of Spain's mobilization shocked European countries even more.

With a standing army size far smaller than that of Germany and France, the time it took Spain to expand its army to one million was almost the same as the time it took Germany to expand its army to one million.

This alone is already quite exaggerated, after all, the mobilization of the army requires the participation of all parties, the logistics and transportation must keep up, and the state governments must respond actively to provide the army with enough personnel.

Of course, the most important thing is that it requires a high degree of public support for the war.

If the public does not support the war, naturally not many people will be eager to participate in conscription, and it will be impossible to expand the army quickly.

Spain and France, as if they had been trained beforehand, coordinated their transportation departments perfectly, and the first batch of Spanish troops arrived at the western front in just a few days.

The arrival of a large number of Spanish troops brought a sigh of relief to the French. Regardless of the actual combat effectiveness of Spain's reserve forces, the combat capability of Spain's existing hundreds of thousands of standing troops was certainly commendable.

While not necessarily the best in Europe, they were at least on par with the elite armies of Germany and France. The deployment of these troops to the Western Front would be an extremely valuable supplement to the ongoing Battle of Verdun.

If Spain's role was primarily in the army, then Britain's role was primarily in the navy.

After Britain joined the war, the Allied powers held naval superiority in both the Atlantic and the Mediterranean.

Britain is the world's leading naval power, and Germany is the world's third leading naval power. Together, these two countries possess nearly 100 battleships, and their total naval tonnage reaches an astonishing 3 million tons.

On the Allied side, the combined navies of France and Spain numbered only 60 battleships. Even including the Russian navy, their total naval tonnage was just over 200 million tons.

Even in terms of dreadnoughts, which were the main warships, the Allied Powers had far fewer dreadnoughts than the Central Powers.

The good news is that the British and German navies can only threaten the Atlantic coast, not the Mediterranean coast of France and Spain.

Before Spain joined the war, Carlo neither supported nor opposed the Allied powers' efforts to win over Italy.

However, after Spain joined the Allied Powers, Carlo changed his attitude. At present, the only disadvantage of the Allied Powers was their navy, and although the size of Italy's navy was not enough for the Allies to completely make up for the naval gap, it was almost enough to compete with the Central Powers.

At least in terms of dreadnoughts, if Italy had joined the Allied Powers, the number of dreadnoughts controlled by the Allies would have been comparable to that controlled by the Central Powers, and the Mediterranean would have been completely controlled by the Allies.

On March 25, 1914, Carlo personally invited the diplomatic ambassadors of France, Russia and Italy to a meeting that lasted for several hours at the Royal Palace in Madrid.

The Allied Powers, led by France, Russia, and Spain, offered Italy the most sincere terms of courtship.

If Italy agrees to join the Entente Powers and declares war on the Central Powers, France and Spain will jointly provide Italy with a war loan of at least £1 million and promise that Italy can expand toward Austria-Hungary.

Trentino, Trieste, the Istrian Peninsula, and Dalmatia were all territories that Italy could expand into.

Spain and France may have allowed Italy's African colonies to continue expanding eastward, encroaching on parts of British Egyptian colonies.

Italy would also have exclusive colonial rights to the Abyssinian Empire, and the Allied Powers would support Italy's expansion in the region and help Italy resist colonial interference from Britain.

Compared to the terms offered by the Central Powers, the Allied Powers offered significantly more generous terms. While Britain could provide Italy with more financial support, the Central Powers were unwilling to sacrifice the Austro-Hungarian Empire to win over Italy in terms of land.

For the Italian government, the decision of whether to choose land expansion or more financial support was actually made long ago.

Whether it was the continuous expansion of the army and navy or the frantic expansion of colonies in Africa, Italy's desire for land was evident.

Although the area of ​​land that the Allied Powers permitted Italy to expand was not large, most of it was European territory, which was more valuable than African colonies.

Furthermore, the Abyssinian Empire, located in Africa, was a vast country with an area of ​​hundreds of thousands of square kilometers. For Italy, the benefits of joining the Entente Powers were indeed visibly greater than those of joining the Central Powers.

On March 26, 1914, in Rome, the capital of Italy, the Allied Powers, led by Spain, France and Russia, formally signed the Treaty of Rome with Italy, ending the dispute over which side Italy should take.

To demonstrate their goodwill, on the very day the Rome Agreement was signed, France and Spain provided Italy with an interest-free loan of up to 50 million pounds.

In return, Italy declared war on Britain that same day and announced the abrogation of the Tripartite Pact.

There are reasons behind Italy's decision to first declare war on Britain and then tear up the Tripartite Pact.

If Italy were to break the treaty first, it would become a complete traitor, abandoning its allies. A subsequent declaration of war against the Allies would only further confirm this claim, a point that would naturally be used against it by the Allied nations.

However, if Italy had declared war on Britain first, and then had to tear up the Tripartite Pact due to the alliance between Britain and Germany and Austria-Hungary, it could have mitigated Italy's inaction throughout the World War to some extent.

Since the Tripartite Pact had already been torn up, it became only natural to subsequently declare war on Germany and Austria-Hungary.

In this way, Italy neither violated the alliance treaty nor betrayed its allies during the entire World War, and can be considered to have remained completely innocent.

As for Italy's actions during the war—constantly negotiating with both the Central Powers and the Allied Powers, wavering between the two major military blocs in pursuit of more sincere and generous terms—these can only be considered minor flaws that do not overshadow its merits and cannot tarnish the reputation of the Italian government.

Things turned out exactly as Italy had predicted.

After Italy declared war on Britain and announced the abrogation of the Tripartite Pact, Germany and Austria-Hungary declared war on Italy, and Italy was "forced" to declare war on its two former allies.

Those unaware of the details might assume that Italy was forced to declare war on Germany and Austria-Hungary.

But those who are actually aware of the process understand that after making its choice, Italy had already betrayed its ally, and it was only natural that the two sides became enemies.

Unlike the four countries of Germany, France, Russia, and Austria, which had been fighting for almost two years, Italy, which had just joined the war, was quite looking forward to it.

The good news is that, because of the alliance between Italy, France, and Spain, Italy currently only has one enemy neighbor: the Austro-Hungarian Empire, which was once a close ally.

Unfortunately, most of the Austro-Hungarian Empire's main forces were concentrated on the Eastern Front and the Balkans, leaving very few troops in the western border regions.

From the Italian government's perspective, the lack of troops on the western border of the Austro-Hungarian Empire was an opportunity that Italy could not afford to miss.

The vast majority of the territories that the Allied Powers permitted Italy to occupy were concentrated in the border region between Austria-Hungary and Italy.

If we can seize these lands first, we can not only confirm and annex all the territories that the Allied Powers have permitted Italy to occupy, thus gaining the spoils of victory in the war ahead of time, but also effectively increase domestic public support for the war and completely divert public attention.

The people most bewildered by Italy's shift in allegiance are probably not Germany and Austria-Hungary, but rather the tens of millions of Italian citizens.

The history of the alliance between Italy and Germany dates back to the Prussian era. At that time, Italy, like Prussia, aspired to unify its region and shared the same enemies: France and Austria-Hungary.

Germany defeated Austria-Hungary and France in succession, and Italy also benefited from this, unifying the Italian region with almost no effort.

It was from that time that two countries with short histories of unification forged an indissoluble bond. The alliance between Italy and Germany has lasted until now, and Austria-Hungary was added along the way, forming the famous Triple Alliance.

For Italians who are now in their twilight years, Germany has been an ally of Italy throughout their lives.

For Italians who are now in their prime, the Triple Alliance has been the subject of Italian government propaganda since they were old enough to understand.

Now the Italian government is telling them that they have to tear up the Tripartite Pact because of their declaration of war against Britain, which sounds like a complete fantasy.

It is precisely because of the government's decisions that some Italians have questioned the government, believing that its wavering foreign policy is leading Italy into an abyss.

For this reason, both King Vittorio Emanuele III of Italy and the Italian government hoped that Italy could gain enough rewards in the early stages of the war to make the people understand that the Italian government's choice was correct.

After Germany and Austria-Hungary declared war on the Italian government, Italy stopped pretending altogether.

The well-prepared armies advanced in two directions, northeast and northwest. The former attacked the Austro-Hungarian Empire, while the latter went to France to support the western front.

Although it ultimately did not join the Central Powers, during the period when the Tripartite Pact was in effect, the Italian government followed the advice of the German government, increased the number of its standing army to nearly 70, and propelled the Italian navy to the seventh largest in the world.

According to the agreement with the Allied Powers, the Italian government was required to send at least 30 troops to the western front.

This also means that Italy currently has only 40 troops available for deployment. After deducting troops that need to be stationed throughout the country, the actual number of troops that can be deployed to fight against Austria-Hungary is less than 30.

The good news is that Austria-Hungary had even fewer troops stationed along its borders. Only in the two days following Italy's public alignment did Austria-Hungary begin to reinforce its western border.

However, only a few days had passed, and given the mountainous terrain along the western border of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the total number of Austro-Hungarian troops stationed there was currently less than 20. For the Italian government, 30 against 20 was clearly the advantage.

As King of Italy, Vittorio Emanuele III expressed an extremely keen interest in this war.

He was Carlo's nephew and had naturally heard of Carlo's story. As the ruler of the country, Vittorio Emanuele III was quite envious of the reputation and status Carlo enjoyed in Spain.

Although the House of Savoy was one of the driving forces behind the unification of Italy, Vittorio Emanuele II is even hailed as the father of the nation.

But only the family knows the truth of its own affairs. The power of the Italian royal family is constantly being weakened, and its position is not as stable as it once was.

The course of Italian history also shows that the Italian monarchy has not received full recognition in Italy.

During World War II, Italy was ruled by the dictator Mussolini, and Italy's diplomatic decisions and military actions were all initiated by Mussolini.

However, when Italy was ultimately liquidated, the Italian monarchy was also on the list of those to be purged. Italy subsequently became a republic, and there were not many supporters who wanted to restore the monarchy.

Whether the royal family has support or not can be seen from this point alone.

As the current ruler of Italy, Vittorio Emanuele III was certainly aware of this situation.

He also understood that the most important thing to change the current status and situation of the Italian royal family was to achieve some victories and make the people believe in the government and the royal family.

In this respect, Carlo did what the Italian royal family failed to do.

In terms of the situation of royal families, the Spanish Savoy royal family was originally in a worse situation than the Italian Savoy royal family.

Even without his achievements as the unifier of Italy, Vittorio Emanuele II was still the king of the powerful Kingdom of Sardinia in northern Italy and enjoyed considerable prestige.

Carlo was a complete outsider to Spain at the time, lacking both the support of loyal nobles and the trust of the Spanish people.

It was through winning the Carlos War and the changes brought about by reforms that the Spanish people gradually gained the trust and support of the monarchy.

Vittorio Emanuele III was confident that he could follow in his uncle's footsteps and achieve the same great feat in Italy.

This was not only to prove that he was no less capable than his uncle, but also to gain more power and become a true king without any constraints.

With the expectations of the Italian government and King Vittorio Emanuele III, 300,000 Italian troops, after completing their mobilization, marched north to invade the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

Italy's northern expedition attracted the attention of several European countries.

Once the Italian army tore a gap in the western border of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the empire would have to draw troops from the eastern and Balkan fronts to defend its western border.

The reason is simple: the west was the core region of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. If the western border fell, the Italian army would likely take the opportunity to move north and threaten Vienna, the capital of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

Conversely, Hungary in the east was not as important. Although Hungary was an extremely important grain-producing region, if the Austro-Hungarian Empire had to choose one, it would certainly choose to protect Austria.

With the attention of European countries, the Italian army soon began fighting against Austria-Hungary.

As early as the Italian unification wars, the Italian government seized the opportunity to take South Tyrol, achieving something that had never been accomplished in history.

Carlo thought that Italy's early acquisition of South Tyrol might change Italian history, but after personally seeing the battle reports of the Italian army fighting against the Austro-Hungarian army, he immediately dismissed such a thought.

30 Italian troops and 20 Austro-Hungarian troops clashed fiercely along the Trento-Udine line. The Italian army, with the idea of ​​capturing Vienna in three months, launched a fierce attack on the Austro-Hungarian troops on the border as if bullets and shells were free.

However, the result surprised all European countries.

The smaller Austro-Hungarian Empire not only maintained its defenses intact, but even managed to occupy Trento, which was under Italian control.

All of this happened in just one week. The Austro-Hungarian Empire not only successfully defended itself, but also routed the Italian army.

In the first encounter between the two armies, the Italian army suffered 8.75 casualties, while the Austro-Hungarian army suffered 4.62 casualties, a casualty ratio of nearly 2:1.

The defeat at the front caused a huge uproar among the Italian people. In order to satisfy the public, Vittorio Emanuele III not only replaced the commander-in-chief of the front-line army, but also dismissed several generals and replaced all the commanders of these armies with his own people.

It must be admitted that Vittorio Emanuele III did have some skill.

Although the defeat at the front was bad news, it would actually be a good thing for the Italian royal family and Vittorio Emanuele III if they could take the opportunity to place their own confidants in the army.

The Italian public was, of course, unaware that the king was taking the opportunity to place his own cronies within the army. In their eyes, although the army's performance was somewhat poor, the king's timely replacement of the frontline commander-in-chief was still somewhat prudent.

The Italian people certainly did not think that the Italian army was incompetent. They believed that the poor performance in the front-line battles was the fault of the commanders, and that changing the commanders would change the situation of the battles on the front lines.

As for the generals who were dismissed, since they had lost the battle, who would care about their lives?
While placing his trusted confidants in the army, Vittorio Emanuele III ordered the government to expedite mobilization and send more troops to the front lines.

After several days of fighting, the numerical disadvantage of the Italian army was gradually made up, and the Austro-Hungarian Empire continued to send more reinforcements to the western border.

Under such circumstances, the Italian government had no other choice but to send more troops.

If the Italian army doesn't produce some results soon, Italy may really become a laughing stock in Europe.

At the urging of Vittorio Emanuele III, the Italian government quickly mobilized nearly 20 troops and sent them to the battlefield.

Italy's reserve system is relatively backward compared to other European countries.

After all, since its unification, Italy has neither experienced any significant battles nor had any particularly powerful enemies.

The continuous increase in the standing army was due to Italy's strategic ambitions and the advice of its ally, Germany.

However, in terms of reserves, Italy's reserve force usually remained around 30, which was the limit of Italy's mobilization capacity a month before the war.

After sending an additional 20 troops to the front lines, Italy now has 43 troops on the front lines.

On the Austro-Hungarian side, although the Viennese government was also continuously reinforcing its troops on the border, the pace of reinforcement was very limited because most of the Austro-Hungarian army was on the Eastern Front and the Balkans.

With the Italian army growing to 43 men, the Austro-Hungarian army could only maintain around 20 men, and the gap in numbers was widening further.

Just when the Italian government thought there would be some progress on the front lines, the Italian army once again surprised the rest of Europe.

In the border city of Cobalide, the Italian army launched a fierce attack on the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The Austro-Hungarian Empire had only a few thousand troops stationed there, while the Italians had two divisions totaling 3 men to carry out the attack.

Behind the Italian army lies the border city of Udine, which has ample ammunition and supplies, so there is no need to worry about logistical support.

The Austro-Hungarian Empire had no supply depots behind it, and its weapons, equipment, and supplies had to be continuously transported from Vienna by the government.

Under these circumstances, the Italian army should theoretically have been able to capture Cobalid quite easily. Without worrying about ammunition consumption, they could have taken this small border town in a very short time.

But reality played a cruel joke on the Italian army.

This border town, defended by only a few thousand people, not only failed to be quickly captured by the Italian army, but instead became a graveyard for Italian soldiers.

The Italian army paid a heavy price simply by gradually capturing the various defensive strongholds outside the town. These Italian soldiers who went to the battlefield, no matter how long they had been in the army, had little experience in warfare and lacked extensive battlefield experience.

These Austro-Hungarian troops, positioned on the outermost edge of the defensive line, inflicted heavy losses on the Italian army using a variety of traps.

Although each small defensive outpost was defended by only a few Austro-Hungarian soldiers, the Italian army had to pay the price of dozens of men to capture each one.

After eliminating all the small defensive outposts around Cobalid, the Italian army suddenly realized that its casualties had reached several thousand.

(End of this chapter)