Rise of Empires: Spain.

Chapter 522 The Great Victory at the Somme

Upon learning that the Royal Security Intelligence Service had contacted Gandhi and secured the consent of the Indian National Congress to launch an independence movement within six months, Carlo immediately contacted Patrick Henry Pearce of the Irish Republican Brotherhood to advise on the Irish independence movement.

Compared to the Indian independence movement, Carlo had more faith in the Irish independence movement. This wasn't to say he didn't believe India wouldn't launch an independence movement, but rather that under the current circumstances, India's independence movement would not only fail but might even be abandoned midway.

Because neither Gandhi, nor other high-ranking members of the Congress Party, nor ordinary Indians were prepared to completely overthrow British colonial rule.

What they really wanted was simply to gain autonomy, and they were incapable of completely expelling Britain from India.

Ireland, however, was different. The Irish harbored a long-standing hatred for the British, and they were determined enough to overthrow British rule in Ireland.

Carlo's purpose in contacting the Indian side was singular: to keep the British government busy suppressing the Indian independence movement and to ignore the Irish actions, thus giving the genuine Irish independence movement more time and opportunity.

Speaking of Patrick Henry Pearce's Irish Republican Brotherhood, that was Carlow's main tactic against Britain.

In preparation for this grand gift to Britain, Spain had been in contact with the Irish Republican Brotherhood for several years, during which time it helped the Brotherhood develop into the largest anti-British force in Ireland, gaining the support of hundreds of thousands of Irish people.

If it weren't for the impending outbreak of World War II, and Spain's insistence that Patrick Henry Pearce's Irish Republican Brotherhood wait for the right moment to instigate the Irish War of Independence after Britain joined the war, the situation in Ireland would probably have been out of control long ago.

Patrick Henry Pierce and other members of the Republican Brotherhood were quite excited when they learned from the Spanish that India was about to launch an independence movement.

As Ireland is part of the British Isles, the Irish are well aware of just how important India is to Britain.

Once news of the Indian independence movement reaches Britain, the British government will inevitably deploy a large number of troops to India to suppress it.

That would be the perfect time for Ireland to launch its war of independence. The British government, with its depleted military strength, would be powerless to resist Ireland's war of independence, and the Irish would have a great chance to drive all the British out of Ireland and establish a nation that belongs only to the Irish.

To Carlo's surprise, the Indians promised to launch an independence movement within six months, and in fact, the independence movement was delayed for six months.

Even after the Battle of the Somme on the western front had ended, there was still no movement of independence in India.

The good news is that the Allied Powers ultimately won the Battle of the Somme.

Compared to historical battles, the Battle of the Somme, which broke out two years earlier, was far more brutal. Five countries participated in the Battle of the Somme, all of which were major powers.

The combined number of troops committed by the Allied and Central Powers to the Battle of the Somme exceeded 500 million, with total casualties approaching 150 million, making it even more devastating than the Battle of Verdun.

France mobilized the largest number of troops, with 160 million French soldiers participating in the Battle of the Somme, suffering a total of 46 casualties.

Germany mobilized 140 million troops for the Battle of the Somme, with total casualties of approximately 32.

Spain mobilized 90 troops for the Battle of the Somme, suffering approximately 23 casualties.

Britain and Italy each mobilized approximately 80 troops, with Britain suffering nearly 26 casualties and Italy nearly 22 casualties.

At first glance, one might think that the Central Powers suffered fewer than 60 casualties in the Battle of the Somme, which was significantly better than the Allied Powers' nearly 90 casualties.

However, a closer look at the situation on the Western Front reveals that, despite suffering significant casualties, the Allied Powers had essentially achieved their strategic objectives.

The Battle of the Somme lasted for more than half a year, ultimately allowing France to almost completely recover the territory occupied by Germany. Compared to this, France's casualties, which outnumbered those of other major powers, became less important.

After all, not all of the French army's casualties came from the domestic troops; about one-third of the casualties came from the French colonial troops in Africa.

This is also the biggest difference between other countries and Germany.

Countries like Britain, France, and Spain were able to mobilize large numbers of auxiliary troops in their colonies, using these troops as cannon fodder. Although these troops were not particularly effective in combat, they could effectively reduce casualties among the home army, thus indirectly minimizing losses.

Germany, however, clearly could not do that. Although Germany had a larger native population, it was obviously struggling to cope with the extensive use of colonial troops in other countries.

Although the German government is still mobilizing troops nationwide, it is clear to everyone that the original elite German army has been almost completely wiped out. While the current German army is still powerful, it is significantly weaker than the original German army.

The victory at the Battle of the Somme greatly boosted the confidence of the Allied powers in winning the war.

This is not only reflected in the three major powers of Britain, France, and Spain who participated in the Battle of the Somme, but also in the Balkan countries.

After learning of the victory at the Battle of the Somme on the Western Front, the morale of the Allied forces in the Balkans also saw a slight increase.

The victory in such a large-scale battle had a significant morale-boosting effect. It's important to remember that the enemies in the Battle of the Somme were the then-powerful Britain and Germany.

If the Allied Powers could defeat Britain and Germany in the Battle of the Somme, they could certainly defeat Austria-Hungary in the Balkans.

With this boost in morale, the Allied powers' offensive against Austria-Hungary in the Balkans became much more aggressive.

Compared to the jubilation of the Allied powers, the morale of the Central Powers was significantly lower after learning of their defeat in the Battle of the Somme.

For Germany in particular, the defeat at the Battle of the Somme was a pivotal moment. It meant that Germany had no hope of victory on the Western Front and was forced to devote all its energy to the Eastern Front, adopting a completely defensive posture on the Western Front.

This is completely different from Germany's previous strategic shift eastward. Germany's previous strategic shift eastward was only because it could not break through on the western front, and it hoped to achieve some results on the eastern front before turning its guns back to the western front.

Now, after the defeat at the Battle of the Somme, Germany's only hope for victory lies on the Eastern Front.

The situation on the Western Front was beyond saving. Not to mention the remaining small parts of French territory and Belgium, even Germany itself might face a fierce attack from the Allied forces.

For Germany, the war has now become a race against time. Either Germany achieves a major victory on the front lines before the Allied powers reach its homeland, forcing Russia and even the Balkan states to withdraw from the war.

Alternatively, the Allied powers could have conquered Germany before Germany achieved a major victory on the Eastern Front, and Germany's territory could have been gradually eroded by the Allies, ultimately forcing Germany to surrender.

Even with British assistance, Germany is essentially left with only these two options in the current war.

Britain's assistance was primarily in the form of funds and supplies, as well as a naval blockade of the seas. While the navies of Britain and Germany could blockade France's Atlantic coast, France and Spain could also unite to blockade the Mediterranean.

In this way, France could still obtain a large amount of supplies from Africa through the Mediterranean and was not afraid of being outmaneuvered by Germany.

Despite receiving substantial material aid from Britain, Germany was unable to stem the rise in prices of everyday goods and food.

More importantly, the casualties caused by the war were what truly worried Germany. If this war continued to drag on, even if Germany managed to win, it would never be able to dominate Europe.

After all, there is still the true world hegemon, Britain, outside of the European continent. Britain's casualties so far are not many, and for Britain, they are far from being crippled.

In fact, during this world war, instances of allies betraying each other were quite common among the Allied and Central Powers.

Just as Spain wanted to trick France, causing both France and Germany to exhaust themselves, there was also a similar mentality between Britain and Germany, with each side hoping to outmaneuver the other.

The reason is actually quite simple: Britain's fear of a rising Germany.

Historically, Britain chose to join the Entente Powers precisely because of the threat posed by Germany's rampant naval expansion. Similarly, in today's world, Britain's decision to join the Central Powers is also aimed at countering Spain's massive naval buildup.

Although Britain joined the Central Powers, this did not mean that Britain was without any fear of Germany. On the contrary, Britain's fear of Germany never disappeared; rather, it increased as the war progressed.

The defeat at the Battle of the Somme was not inevitable for the Allies; in fact, it was the result of Britain betraying its allies.

Aside from the period when Spain used tanks, the Battle of the Somme was mostly a war of attrition between the two sides, with the Allied advance yielding little success.

If Britain had been able to mobilize all its forces, including one or two million troops, to participate in the Battle of the Somme, the Allies would have had a very high probability of holding the Somme front.

Why didn't Britain do that? One reason was that it wanted to deplete Germany's military strength and prevent Germany from becoming too powerful after the war.

On the other hand, it was hoped that all the participating powers, except Britain, would fight fiercely in the Battle of the Somme, with the best outcome being that they would all suffer over a million casualties.

War was inevitable, but the post-war situation also needed to be planned in advance. What Britain wanted was not to help the Allies win the war, but to ensure that after the war, powers like West Asia, France, and Germany would no longer have the strength to challenge British hegemony.

This is actually why Britain chose to betray its allies. In the British view, none of the European powers were true allies, but merely temporary partners.

With limited British support, the Somme front remained in a rather awkward situation. The Central Powers were outnumbered, but being on the defensive, they were able to hold their own against the Allies.

The British forces were just enough to barely defend the front lines, ensuring that the Allied powers gradually eroded the front, while both the Central Powers and the Allied Powers suffered continuous casualties.

For Britain, this would be the perfect ending. As for the casualties on its own, the British government wasn't particularly concerned.

After all, nearly half of these were colonial troops, while the casualties of the home army were only a little over 100,000. Although more than 100,000 casualties is not a small number, in this world war, Britain's casualties were definitely at the bottom and would not have any impact on industrial and economic production.

To some extent, Britain and Spain made similar choices during the war. This doesn't mean that France and Germany didn't want to harm Britain and Spain; it's just that the war broke out on the Franco-German border, leaving France and Germany with few options.

The German government has tried every possible means to urge its ally, Britain, to contribute.

After the Battle of the Somme, the German and British governments held lengthy discussions, and the British government agreed to increase the number of British troops on the Western Front to 150 million and to send at least 20 troops to the Western Front every month.

This would significantly reduce the pressure on Germany on the Western Front. With Britain providing 20 troops to the Western Front each month, Germany would not only need to send fewer troops to the Western Front, but could even redeploy some troops from there, leaving it with fewer than 70 men.

This also put pressure on the British government. If Britain didn't want Germany to be defeated so quickly, it had to withstand the attacks from France and Spain on Germany's behalf.

While it was risky to hand over most of the pressure on the Western Front to the British, it was still better than Germany fighting on two fronts and bearing the pressure alone.

Since Britain chose to join the Central Powers, it naturally had to contribute to them. Judging from the troops Britain has provided to both the Eastern and Western fronts so far, Britain may not have even utilized 30% of its strength.

Germany naturally hoped that Britain could mobilize more troops to the battlefield. This would not only greatly alleviate the pressure on Germany, but also appropriately weaken Britain, thus avoiding a situation where Germany winning the war would benefit Britain instead.

The German government's thinking can't be considered sabotaging its allies; it's more like hoping its allies will step up. After all, in the two and a half years since the outbreak of World War II, none of Germany's allies have performed remarkably well.

Today, Britain is the only one among all of Germany's allies that has the potential to perform well. Germany still has high expectations for Britain, hoping it won't end up like the embarrassing Austro-Hungarian Empire.

The Austro-Hungarian Empire's performance in this world war can only be described as mediocre.

To say that the Austro-Hungarian Empire performed poorly wouldn't be entirely accurate. At least it helped Germany resist pressure from Russia and also prolonged its involvement in the Balkan campaign.

The problem is that the Austro-Hungarian Empire has not had any particularly outstanding military achievements so far.

Aside from their excellent defense against Italy, the Austro-Hungarian army's performance was only mediocre, failing to even conquer tiny Serbia, which was clearly not the performance expected of a powerful nation.

This mediocre performance not only prevented Austria-Hungary from achieving anything in the war, but also indirectly dragged down Germany.

Because the Austro-Hungarian Empire failed to resolve the Serbian conflict in time, the situation in the Balkans changed dramatically after Romania joined the war.

Not only did the Central Powers' advantage vanish, but even several important allies, Bulgaria and the Ottoman Empire, were forced to surrender under the siege of the Entente Powers.

Now, Austria-Hungary is also under siege by the Allied powers, which has forced Germany to mobilize hundreds of thousands of troops to fight alongside Austria-Hungary under the immense pressure of fighting on two fronts.

If Britain, also an ally, didn't step up its game, then Germany would have no choice but to surrender in despair.

After all, Germany alone could not shake the power of the multiple Allied powers. Britain needed to demonstrate strength comparable to, or even exceeding, that of Spain for Germany to win the World War.

The Allied Powers were not very clear about the discussions that took place between Britain and Germany after the war.

Of course, the Allied Powers also convened a meeting after their victory at the Battle of the Somme, and expanded the meeting to every member state of the Allied Powers.

When discussing cooperation among multiple countries, the United Nations is probably the most frequently mentioned example in later generations. The United Nations was established in 1945, but it was only established in the later stages of World War II.

However, similar global organizations began to emerge as early as World War I. The League of Nations can be considered the precursor to the United Nations. Its framework was established during World War I, and it became an international organization after the war.

Although the development of world wars has changed significantly since then and in history, the League of Nations clearly follows the historical trend.

The Allied Powers had established relatively good cooperation during the war, and their goal, in addition to winning the war, was naturally to jointly safeguard the fruits of the Allied victory after the war ended.

Before the outcome of the battle on the Western Front was decided, even if some countries within the Allied Powers had their own ideas, they would not choose to raise them during the Allied Powers' conference.

After all, only the victorious nations are qualified to establish international organizations; the defeated nations have no rights whatsoever and can only be at the mercy of the victorious nations.

The Allied Powers now hold a significant advantage on the Western Front, which has given some Allied nations confidence that they can begin to discuss the postwar world situation.

This is why an organization similar to the League of Nations established after World War I was proposed and recognized by many Allied countries.

The League of Nations was established primarily to safeguard the spoils of the victorious powers and to prevent a world war as much as possible.

Even if a nation ultimately emerges victorious in a world war, it must acknowledge the immense devastation it caused to all countries.

Even countries like Spain and Italy, which joined the war midway, have suffered hundreds of thousands of casualties so far.

Not to mention France and Germany, where the fighting was most intense, military casualties have reached millions, not to mention the harm the war has caused to civilians.

It is no exaggeration to say that this war destroyed Western Europe's industry and economy, setting back Europe's industrial and economic level by decades.

Such immense damage was something the Allied powers certainly did not want to experience again. Establishing a global international organization could not only prevent the outbreak of a world war, but also prevent the defeated nations from rising again and retaliating against the victors.

Perhaps because the victory at the Battle of the Somme gave many Allied countries hope of winning the world war, after some countries proposed the establishment of an international organization, extensive discussions took place within the Allied Powers, and they unanimously agreed that it was quite reasonable to establish a world organization after the war.

It is worth mentioning that Italy is quite interested in this potential post-war world organization.

Italy's diplomatic representatives not only actively participated in discussions regarding the establishment of this global organization, but also carefully explored its basic framework, such as the roles that various countries should play within it.

The reason for Italy's proactive approach is actually quite obvious.

Although Russia's current situation is much worse than Italy's, in terms of war performance, Italy is clearly the worst performing of the great powers.

This also means that even if the Allied Powers were to win, Italy wouldn't gain much. They might even renege on some of the territories the Allied Powers promised Italy before the war.

To prevent this from happening, the Italian government will certainly make active efforts to ensure that its voice in the postwar period is not shaken.

The potential establishment of such an international organization presents a significant opportunity for Italy.

If Italy can assume a significant role in this international organization, it would mean that Italy's international influence in the postwar era will not only remain unaffected, but may even be strengthened with the establishment of this organization.

This has further excited the Italian government, which is eager for this international organization to be established immediately, with Italy playing a very important role in it.

However, the Italian government was destined to be disappointed. Not only was Russia, burdened with domestic problems, uninterested in this international organization, but even France and Spain showed little interest in discussing it at this time.

France and Spain are now sitting comfortably, with no need to worry about their voice after the establishment of this international organization.

It is no exaggeration to say that even if France and Spain did not actively participate in the discussions of this international organization, it would be impossible for it to escape the control of France and Spain after its establishment.

Even if Italy actively promoted the establishment of this international organization, France and Spain are destined to have a higher status and greater influence within it than Italy.

This is the confidence that national strength brings to France and Spain, and it's also why France and Spain aren't in a hurry at all.

After all, winning the war is the prerequisite for everything. The division of the spoils of victory depends on victory in the war, and the defeated country has no say in the post-war world order.

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(End of this chapter)