Rise of Empires: Spain.

Chapter 555 Division of Territory
Although it has been determined that Germany needs to pay the Allied Powers 570 billion pesetas in war reparations and 115 billion pesetas in war compensation, this does not mean that negotiations on war reparations have ended.

After all, the Allied Powers still needed to determine the proportion of compensation each country would receive, which was much more than the British reparations. Each 1% share represented a huge sum of 6.85 million pesetas.

Such a huge sum of money could not be ignored by the Allied powers. Even superpowers like Spain and France tried every means to increase their share of the reparations.

Under these circumstances, some less important negotiations have been suspended. The Allied powers are now completely focused on the division of the war reparations, with many countries arguing fiercely over even a fraction of a percent.

Unlike the peace negotiations with Britain, Russia will have more say in the distribution of German reparations.

Although Russia did not achieve many victories on the Eastern Front, it mobilized tens of millions of troops and suffered the heaviest casualties among all the major powers, so it could still take a large share of the reparations.

The same was true for France. In the first two years of the war, France was the main force resisting Germany.

Although Spain eventually won the war with tanks and aircraft, the Allied Powers could not have held out for so long without France's resolute resistance in the early stages.

Spain, France, and Russia played a crucial role in the war against Germany. The contributions of the other Allied powers, including Italy, were significantly less than those of these three major powers.

This also means that of Germany's share of the total 685 billion pesetas in reparations, Spain, France, and Russia will take a large portion, with only a small portion being divided among Italy and the other Allied powers.

Although the distribution ratios are somewhat disproportionate, this is precisely the fairest approach. After all, Italy and the Balkan countries didn't really contribute much to the war effort against Germany; only Belgium had a say in terms of suffering losses.

After all, Belgium was the only Allied power whose entire territory was occupied by Germany. France and Russia, though in dire straits, only had parts of their territory occupied by Germany, and the majority of their territory remained under their control.

Everyone tacitly agreed that the majority of the reparations would be divided among Spain, France, and Russia. This led to a unique understanding at the meeting: smaller countries would compete for their smaller share of the reparations, while Spain, France, and Russia would vie for the majority of the remaining reparations.

Although Russia has made significant contributions, given its current internal situation, its influence is clearly less than that of Spain and France.

Russia's lack of confidence was also evident in its struggle over the proportion of reparations. Although Russian diplomatic representatives wanted to secure a larger share of the reparations, Russia was unwilling to break with France and Spain, and ultimately had no choice but to back down.

There was a fierce competition between Spain and France, with Spain ultimately having a slight advantage and winning 26.2% of the payout.

France's payout ratio is slightly lower than Spain's, but it is still 24.3%.

Russia, which conceded a smaller percentage of reparations, still received 20.1%, which was barely on par with the reparations percentages of France and Spain.

Following this, Belgium received 6.7% of the compensation, the highest percentage among all countries except Spain, France, and Russia.

Italy and the United States, who followed, received 6.1% and 5.5% of the compensation respectively.

The remaining shares are divided among the other countries. Although most countries receive a small share, it is still more than one billion pesetas, which is almost equivalent to the government's total annual revenue for most countries.

The proportion of war reparations divided among the Allied powers also shows that the United States was truly unpopular within the Allied powers at this time.

Although US President Thomas Woodrow Wilson actively advocated for the establishment of an international alliance to maintain postwar European and world order and peace during the Paris Peace Conference, such advocacy still failed to increase the United States' influence within the Allied powers.

Almost all European countries share a consensus that the current Allied Powers are dominated by Spain and France, and even Russia's voice has been greatly diminished, not to mention the United States, which is far across the Atlantic.

Of course, part of the reason is that America's problems have not been completely resolved.

Although peace negotiations between the Allied Powers and Great Britain had ended, the United States was extremely dissatisfied with the agreements reached by the Allied Powers, which led to the US government not signing a peace treaty with Great Britain.

In other words, although Britain had withdrawn from the World War, the war between Britain and the United States was not over.

Unlike Germany, which was forced to surrender after nearly a third of its territory was invaded and occupied, Britain's mainland, except for Ireland, was not invaded by the Allied powers.

Even the British Royal Fleet managed to preserve its main force. Under such circumstances, Britain's overall strength was actually not much different from that before the outbreak of the World War.

If we disregard the tanks and aircraft that Spain used in World War II and only consider overall national strength, then the United Kingdom should currently hold the top spot.

The implications of this are self-evident. The United States occupied Britain's Cuban colony and the Bahamas, and even if Britain was merely trying to save face, it had to respond to the American invasion.

Moreover, the situation in the Americas is of great importance to Britain.

Unless Britain voluntarily relinquishes its chance to compete for global hegemony, it cannot stand idly by and watch problems arise in the Americas.

Today, the most influential countries in the Americas, besides the United States, are the United Kingdom. This actually means that even if the United States hadn't declared war on Britain in a world war, conflict between Britain and the United States would have arisen sooner or later.

Now, with this ongoing war, the United States and Great Britain have an opportunity to decide who truly holds sway in the Americas.

With the United States still facing significant challenges, European countries naturally don't pay much attention to it.

After the reparations ratio was negotiated, the most crucial moment of the Paris Peace Conference arrived: the handling of German territory.

There is only one confirmed fact so far: Alsace and Lorraine will return to France.

In addition, a portion of Germany's vast territory was destined to separate from Germany.

Both France and Russia harbored great ambitions regarding Germany's vast territory.

Russia hoped to fully occupy the Polish territories of Germany, merge them with Russian-controlled Poland, and establish a Polish kingdom dominated by Russia.

France, on the other hand, hoped to annex Upper Silesia and Danzig to Poland, along with West Prussia, to establish a Greater Polish Republic.

Both France and Russia set their sights on Poland for two main reasons. Firstly, Poland's geographical environment is extremely advantageous, with most of its land consisting of vast plains. Secondly, its strategic location is crucial; it can contain Russia to the east and penetrate German territories to the west, making it vital to both France and Russia.

If France could control what is called Greater Poland, its influence would completely penetrate into this large part of Central and Western Europe, making France a true European hegemon.

If Russia could control the Kingdom of Poland, it could also extend its reach into the German territories, exploiting them to salvage the Russian Civil War.

By shifting most of the contradictions abroad, internal contradictions in Russia could be alleviated to some extent, thus making the Soviet Russian government, which was based on the workers' union, less inspiring.

With France and Russia deeply divided over the Polish question, both sides hoped to resolve their differences by courting Spain.

This is where Spain's importance becomes apparent. Firstly, because Spain does not border Germany, these issues concerning the treatment of German territory rarely involve Spain.

On the other hand, because Spain's overall strength is very strong, whichever side, France or Russia, can win over Spain will basically be able to achieve its own goals.

France and Russia went to great lengths to win over Spain.

Russia is willing to sign an alliance treaty with Spain to jointly defend against forces that threaten European peace and stability. Such an alliance treaty would be aimed directly at France, giving the impression of forming another anti-French coalition.

France, on the other hand, was willing to sign a Mediterranean treaty with Spain, with both sides jointly managing the situation in the Mediterranean to completely eliminate British influence in the Mediterranean.

Once France and Spain reach a compromise on the situation in the Mediterranean, even a naval power like Britain will not be able to extend its reach into the Mediterranean.

If both sides work together, even the Suez Canal could be brought under their control.

Having complete control of the Mediterranean effectively meant controlling Russia's lifeline. Russia had long coveted Constantinople, all for the sake of access to the Black Sea.

But if France and Spain join forces to block the Mediterranean, what good will it do for Russia's Black Sea Fleet to enter the Mediterranean through the Dardanelles? It still won't be able to enter the Atlantic or Indian Ocean.

The Polish question severely impacted relations between France and Russia, leading to the direct breakdown of the Franco-Russian alliance. Both sides, in their efforts to win over Spain, viewed the other as an enemy.

This is actually good news for Spain, since Carlos doesn't want to see France and Russia unite against Spain.

Regardless, Spain could only choose one side. Considering the enormous threat posed by Red Russia, Carlo preferred Poland as the first line of defense against Russian infiltration into Central and Western Europe; therefore, Poland was destined to be out of Russian control.

Of course, it wasn't so easy for France to control the so-called Greater Poland.

First, the proposed Greater Poland by France would not be adopted. Even if Spain were to facilitate the formation of such a Greater Poland, the Poles would only be grateful to France, which made the proposal, not Spain, which pushed for it.

Furthermore, if France and Poland were to jointly control the situation in Europe, France's influence in Europe would be greatly enhanced, which is something Spain is unwilling to see.

Therefore, Spain rejected Russia's proposal for a Polish kingdom, and also rejected France's proposal to annex Upper Silesia and Danzig, instead merging West Prussia and the existing German Poland to establish an independent Polish kingdom.

With France and Russia interfering in German territory, Spain naturally could not remain indifferent.

Although Spain does not border Germany, Belgium, which has a good relationship with Spain, does border Germany, and Belgium did indeed suffer huge losses in the war, with its entire territory being invaded by Germany.

This alone is enough for Spain to support Belgium's demands for huge benefits. Although Belgium can't swallow an elephant whole, it can certainly annex some of the land bordering Germany.

In this regard, Carlo has already had the government contact the Belgian side and has informed King Albert I of Belgium in advance.

Regarding the demand for German territory, it is up to the Belgian government to initiate the proposal. Spain can only support Belgium's proposal; it is impossible for Spain to voluntarily offer to cede any German territory to Belgium.

The Belgian government clearly also has its sights set on acquiring a portion of German territory. The land bordering Germany and Belgium is largely plains with immense development potential.

More importantly, Belgium is a very small country, so it naturally cherishes this hard-won opportunity to expand its territory.

As mentioned before, Belgium is located in a strategically important area, making expansion in any direction difficult.

It was only the World War that gave Belgium the opportunity to expand its territory; otherwise, it could only expand its territory overseas through colonies.

With Spain's support, Belgium also raised its territorial claims during the peace talks.

Because it was a diplomatic negotiation, Belgium initially had very high expectations, even hoping to completely annex the German territory on the left bank of the Rhine.

However, this proposal was quickly rejected by France and Russia. After all, Germany's land area on the left bank of the Rhine was almost equivalent to that of Belgium, and neither France nor Russia would allow Belgium to directly double its territory.

Belgium was well aware that such a huge appetite could not be satisfied, so it gradually reduced its demands.

Ultimately, the Allied Powers unanimously agreed that Belgium would receive Morlesna, Oppenheim and Malmedy, as well as temporary administration of nearly 10,000 square kilometers of surrounding land.

Although the Allied Powers did not pass a resolution to establish the so-called Left Bank Republic of the Rhine, they did pass a proposal to separate the German territory on the left bank of the Rhine and place it under the control of the Allied Powers for 15 years.

Fifteen years later, the people on the left bank of the Rhine can hold a referendum to decide the ownership of their region.

This also means that if Belgium manages these lands well, it is possible that in the next 15 years, it will be able to bring the nearly 10,000 square kilometers of land currently under its control into its own domain.

Whether the Belgian government can actually achieve this is not something Carlo should concern himself with. Giving Belgium an opportunity to significantly expand its territory is already quite generous; whether it can seize this opportunity depends on the Belgian government's ability to perform.

(End of this chapter)