Rise of Empires: Spain.

Chapter 563: Diverting trouble to the east
Although the trade deal between Spain and France allowed Germany to retain its land on the left bank of the Rhine, this did not mean that the two countries would allow Germany to preserve most of its strength and wait for its resurgence.

The Ruhr region along the Rhine River is an important industrial heartland of Germany. In order to limit Germany to the greatest extent possible, France proposed the idea of ​​a demilitarized zone along the Rhine River.

In short, all land within a 50-kilometer radius to the east and west of the Rhine River is designated as a demilitarized zone. Although sovereignty over the Rhineland demilitarized zone remains with Germany, Germany is prohibited from constructing any military facilities or stationing any troops within the zone.

The so-called demilitarized zone is a disgrace to Germany, but compared to the complete independence of the left bank of the Rhine, it is clearly a relatively mild approach.

This demand also reflects France's wariness of Germany, a sentiment understood by Spain and other countries alike.

The primary purpose of the Rhineland demilitarized zone is to weaken Germany's military capabilities on its western border. This ensures that even if France and Germany were to reignite war in the future, the conflict would almost certainly take place on German soil.

The circumstances of Germany and France would have been drastically different depending on where the war broke out. France had already suffered enough from the invasion of its homeland during this world war, and its current wariness of Germany was seen as quite normal by other European countries.

The good news is that, apart from military installations along the western border and both sides of the Rhine, all of Germany's defensive fortifications and other military installations along its southern and eastern borders do not need to be dismantled.

The purpose of doing this was simple: to guard against the possible rise of Soviet Russia in Eastern Europe.

Although both Soviet Russia and France were republics, their republican systems were vastly different. France was also aware of the enormous threat posed by the ideological expansion of Soviet Russia, which is why they agreed to Germany's decision not to dismantle military installations on its southern and eastern borders.

With the resolution of the German territorial dispute, the biggest point of contention in the peace negotiations, the Paris Peace Conference effectively came to an end.

The next issues to be discussed are the handling of Germany's existing navy, the ownership of German colonies, and various restrictions on Germany, which are not as important as the previous issues.

For example, the only countries that could actually take over the remaining German High Seas Fleet are France and Spain.

Even if other countries had this idea, they could not possibly outcompete Spain and France.

Regarding the German navy, Spain and France had already reached an agreement. France allowed Spain priority in selecting German factories and industrial equipment, in exchange for Spain allowing France priority in selecting German warships.

In other words, Germany's High Seas Fleet was effectively already in the hands of the French Navy.

The reason why the French valued Germany's high seas fleet so highly was quite simple: the huge casualties suffered by the French navy in the Battle of the Atlantic.

Although it was ostensibly the Allied fleet that defeated the Anglo-German fleet, the actual casualties and losses suffered by each nation's navy reveal that the French navy was in a very awkward position.

Although the French navy achieved a victory, its losses were no less than those of the British and German navies.

Now that they finally have the opportunity to rapidly expand their naval strength, the French are naturally not going to miss it.

With Spain's tacit approval, no other Allied power could rival France. This led to the Paris Peace Conference quickly passing a proposal for France to take full control of all capital ships of the German High Seas Fleet.

Although Germany's naval strength ranks only third in the world, in terms of total naval tonnage and the number of main warships, Germany and Spain are actually quite similar.

The only significant difference was in the number of dreadnoughts, but this cannot obscure the fact that the German High Seas Fleet was a very powerful fleet.

If France were to take full control of all remaining major warships of the German High Seas Fleet, its naval strength would not only not be weakened by the war, but would actually rise to become the third largest in the world.

Moreover, unlike Germany, which is third in the world, France is closer to Spain, which is second in the world, and is roughly on the same level as the British Royal Fleet.

France went to great lengths to acquire the main warships of the German High Seas Fleet. Besides agreeing to allow Spain to select German factories, production equipment, data, and skilled workers first, France also reached an agreement with the Italian government to support Italy's subsequent invasions of Albania and Abyssinia. Only then did France manage to overcome opposition and obtain the main warships of the German High Seas Fleet in their entirety.

Unlike in the past, although Britain participated in the Paris Peace Conference, it witnessed the peace negotiations as a neutral country.

This resulted in Britain having no say in the handling of German high seas fleet warships, and naturally, it could not compete with France for the high seas fleet as it had historically done.

Moreover, the historical changes were not limited to this. Because Britain was also a defeated nation, the German High Seas Fleet was not held in British ports, but was instead transferred to French ports.

The French government was already drooling over this fleet, which was even more powerful than the French navy, and naturally could not allow it to fall into the hands of other countries.

Since the German fleet arrived at the French port, the French government has kept a tight watch on the German warships and the German naval officers and men on board.

France cut off all communication between the German High Seas Fleet and the outside world, and the naval officers and men on the High Seas Fleet could only learn about the outside world by reading newspapers from a week earlier.

To prevent the Germans from sabotaging their own ships, the French government closely monitored the German soldiers and ensured a smooth handover by transporting supplies to the vessels daily. After the Paris Peace Conference determined that France would acquire these ships, the French went all out and forcibly took control of all the main warships of the German High Seas Fleet.

Only six light cruisers, four destroyers, and six torpedo boats were returned to Germany as part of the postwar German naval force.

Because of Germany's enormous industrial scale, the Allied Powers imposed not only restrictions on the size of Germany's army, but also on the size of its navy.

The first thing that was made clear was that the German Navy was not allowed to possess capital ships and submarines. Capital ships here included not only dreadnoughts and battleships, but also ironclads from decades ago.

The largest warships in the German Navy are strictly limited to 5000 tons, and they are also prohibited from possessing submarines.

Although submarines are generally not large in tonnage, they have fully demonstrated their capabilities and role in this world war.

Given the right opportunity, submarines can even destroy enemy capital ships. Besides posing a significant threat to warships, submarines can also easily destroy transport ships and blockade sea lanes.

This is also why the Allied Powers restricted Germany from equipping itself with submarines; even the slightest danger was unacceptable to any country.

Ironically, it was precisely because France placed such high importance on German warships that the historical incident of the German High Seas Fleet being scuttled did not occur.

France's acquisition of so many capital warships at once made the British green with envy. But there was nothing they could do; the British government knew its current predicament. Forget about competing with France for the German High Seas Fleet; it didn't even have the right to sit down at the negotiating table.

The good news is that Britain can profit handsomely from the Anglo-American War. Having already gained the upper hand in a naval battle, if Britain manages things well, it can at least force the US to pay a large sum in reparations to help Britain develop its navy, if not lose several American warships.

Although the main warships of the German High Seas Fleet look appealing, the British government is also quite confident.

Given time, Britain could build a fleet even more powerful than the German High Seas Fleet. Battleship technology is constantly evolving, and while the French takeover of the German High Seas Fleet may have made it seem formidable, the technological advantage of these warships ultimately lasted only a few years.

Unless France can acquire the relevant technology through these German dreadnoughts, the future naval competition will remain a battleground between Britain and Spain.

France took over the German High Seas Fleet in just a few days, making quite a stir. Prime Minister Andrew had been closely monitoring France's actions and Britain's reaction, and he breathed a sigh of relief upon learning that Britain was also paying close attention to the French movements.

Spain's willingness to give all of Germany's main warships to France was not because it did not value naval development, nor because it thought Germany's High Seas Fleet was weak.

The main reason was that they wanted to use France to divert the trouble eastward, so that the British would focus their attention on France instead of Spain.

Logically speaking, since the Spanish navy had defeated the British Royal Fleet twice in succession, it should have been difficult for them to divert the blame eastward. Britain would have focused its attention on Spain, which had defeated them twice in succession.

But anything is possible, especially given that the German Navy is the third largest in the world, it is entirely possible that they could divert the trouble eastward.

Even if the British don't value the future of the French Navy, they will certainly be wary of its present state.

This fleet is a combination of most of the main forces of the French and German navies. While it may not be the world's number one, it is certainly no weaker than the Spanish navy on the surface.

With Spain having already occupied Gibraltar, the conflict between Britain and Spain had actually eased considerably.

Aside from the humiliation of defeating the Royal Fleet twice, the only remaining competition between Britain and Spain now lies in the naval arena.

If it were only Britain and Spain competing in the naval arena, then there would be nothing to say; the two sides would inevitably fight to the death.

But now there is another country, France, and the French navy is clearly no weaker than Spain's, and may even be able to rival Britain.

Under such circumstances, even if Britain wanted revenge, it had to consider the outcome of the two sides fighting, with the third party reaping the benefits.

This is the situation Spain wants to achieve: by easing tensions between Spain and Britain, Spain can completely disappear from the larger European landscape.

Spain is not yet confident enough to claim the position of European or even world hegemon. It would be better for it to relinquish the world stage and temporarily let established powers like Britain and Germany perform.

It's not too late for Spain to compete and vie for it when they have enough strength.

(End of this chapter)