Rise of Empires: Spain.

Chapter 630 The American Threat Theory

Getting Britain and France to jointly plan an attack on the United States required skill; it certainly couldn't be done by directly proposing an attack on the US to Britain and France.

After all, no one is stupid. The fact that Spain took the initiative to propose this means that it would be beneficial for Spain.

We must get Britain and France to take the initiative to consider the plan to partition the United States. This will not arouse their suspicion and will also make the coalition against the United States more united, rather than a disorganized mess.

How can we get Britain and France to voluntarily propose a plan to dismantle the United States?
The method is actually quite simple: continuously promote America's current strength. The achievements the United States has made in industry and the economy are unparalleled globally, something no European country can match.

In terms of total steel production, the United States produced 3645 million tons in 1920, while Germany was the highest steel producer in Europe, producing only 1157 million tons. Spain was the highest producer of pig iron, producing only 1057 million tons.

Just how massive was the scale of American industry? In 1920, the United States produced more steel and pig iron than the combined total of Great Britain, France, Germany, Spain, Russia, the Austrian Empire, and Italy.

If it weren't for the damage the flu caused to American industry, the United States might now be able to compete with the rest of the world in terms of industrial output.

This alone is enough to significantly increase European countries' wariness of the United States. More importantly, the United States has also far surpassed Britain in the speed of naval construction.

If the US government hadn't chosen to keep a low profile, the US Navy's total tonnage would probably have been the world's largest long ago.

If these factors are not enough to unite Britain and France against the United States, then the United States' growing global ambitions are enough to be the final straw that breaks the camel's back.

No matter how advanced its industry became, the United States did not pose a significant threat to European countries. After all, the US government had always pursued a policy of splendid isolation and had not paid much attention to things outside the US.

However, after President Wilson took office, the United States shifted its national policy from splendid isolation to globalization, attempting to expand its influence around the world and truly become a global superpower.

This is something that Spain, Britain, and even other European countries are unwilling to see. After all, the United States' advantages are far too obvious compared to European countries.

The United States has a land area, population, economy, and industrial scale that far exceed those of European countries. In fact, only Russia can rival the United States in terms of land area and population.

Russia's economy and industry are far smaller than those of the United States, enough to allow European countries to unite and cause Russia to split and engage in a protracted civil war.

Today, the United States is comparable to the entire European Union in terms of economy and industry. Carlo simply does not believe that Britain and France are not wary of the United States.

Since Britain and France are not yet sufficiently wary of the United States, Carlo can only add fuel to the fire for them, making European countries truly understand the strength and threat posed by the United States.

How to do it? Of course, by using the power of public opinion held by the Spanish royal family to conduct a fair, just and open international power ranking across Europe.

On January 16, 1921, major Spanish newspapers, including the Spanish newspapers El Soleil, El País, and El Iberia, joined forces with several other prominent European newspapers and media outlets to announce that they would release data on the comprehensive strength rankings of countries around the world, which they had been investigating for a long time, within the next month.

People across Europe are quite curious about which countries are stronger and which are weaker, as well as the overall strength of countries with similar rankings.

With so many official newspapers and organizations collaborating on rankings, it's impossible for it not to attract public attention.

If it were only an official Spanish newspaper, the fairness of the ranking would ultimately be limited. However, with the participation of numerous newspapers and media outlets from across Europe, the possibility of any individual newspaper engaging in favoritism or fraud has been significantly reduced.

Not only ordinary people, but also governments and officials in many European countries are very interested in the ranking of the world's comprehensive strength.

To ensure the fairness of the ranking of countries' comprehensive strength, the participating newspapers also announced that they would publish the specific data of each country after the rankings were released, thus ensuring the fairness and impartiality of the rankings.

There are many factors that influence a country's overall strength, such as its land area, population, mineral resources, economy, industry, and military strength. These are all criteria for evaluation.

To ensure the fairness of the rankings, the newspaper conducts thorough investigations of countries around the world before compiling the rankings, and also publishes the specific data from each country's investigation for the public to refer to in order to verify the accuracy of the rankings.

Because there are so many countries in the world, ranking all of them at once would be a huge undertaking.

Therefore, the first countries to be ranked are the top eight most powerful countries in the world, and the top eight are generally defined as the great powers.

The ninth to sixteenth ranked countries are defined as the second strongest countries, meaning they are strong countries below the great powers and have a significant influence in their respective regions.

Starting from number seventeen, these are mostly ordinary countries with relatively weak industrial economies, so there's no real need for precise ranking. The top eight will be announced first, which is certainly good news for people around the world. Everyone is most interested in the top eight powers; everyone is curious about who is truly the strongest country in the world, and which countries are undeserving of their ranking.
To demonstrate their fairness and impartiality, newspapers and media outlets from participating countries released industrial and economic data of some major nations before the final ranking of national comprehensive strength was conducted.

Contrary to popular belief among Europeans, the United States has achieved a significant lead in industry. According to reports from major newspapers, the total industrial output of the United States has surpassed that of all of Europe combined—something most Europeans never even imagined.

Europeans may accept the fact that American industry has surpassed that of any other country, but they would never believe that the total industrial output of the United States has exceeded that of Europe combined.

What does this mean? The mighty British Empire, the emerging Spanish Empire, and the once-dominant German and French Empires all appear so pitifully weak in the face of the United States today.

The United States maintains its position as the world's leading industrial power, with an industrial scale exceeding the combined output of all other major powers. Germany ranks second globally, while Spain trails Germany by a narrow margin, ranking third.

The UK ranks fourth in the world, Austria fifth, and France sixth. Italy surpasses Russia to rank seventh, and the eighth-ranked country is not Russia, but Japan in the Far East.

In terms of economic size, the United States remains firmly in first place.

The economies of European countries are better than their industrial economies; at least the gap with the United States is not that large.

But this is by no means good news, since in the minds of Europeans, the United States' overall strength ranking is definitely not in the top three.

In terms of industrial and economic scale alone, the United States is undoubtedly the world's number one power, far surpassing countries like Britain, Spain, and France.

Such news reports immediately sparked skepticism among many Europeans. Most simply couldn't believe the data was accurate; had the United States become so powerful that it could crush other European countries?
Faced with skepticism from many Europeans, and in order to ensure the authenticity of the published data, the major newspapers and media outlets participating in the evaluation all presented the relevant data they had collected.

Firstly, regarding US industry, such data is entirely accurate. Major newspapers have conducted detailed investigations into the scale of US industry and compiled statistics on its development over the past few decades.

These data also suggest that the growth of American industry is genuine, not based on fabricated figures.

There are reasons why the scale of American industry far exceeds the combined industrial scale of all European countries.

Due to the World Wars and the impact of influenza, the industrial scale of many European countries is not at its peak level.

France's total steel production has decreased by nearly five million tons compared to its peak. Russia's total industrial output has decreased by more than eight million tons compared to its peak.

Although British industry did not experience a major decline, it did decline to some extent compared to its peak.

The only country that did not decline was Spain. Compared to before the outbreak of the World War, Spain's industrial scale has nearly doubled, and it is the only European country that can rival the United States in terms of growth rate.

However, it is clear that the growth rate of Spanish industry alone is insufficient to make Europe's overall industrial growth comparable to that of the United States.

If it weren't for the significant impact of the flu on American industry, the scale of American industry today would far exceed the combined scale of European industry.

Looking at the growth of American industry in recent years, it's clear that American industry experienced a significant decline after the flu outbreak.

In early 1918, total U.S. steel production exceeded 4000 million tons. However, by 1920, U.S. steel production had fallen to 3645 million tons, a decline ranging from several million to several million tons.

However, even a weakened camel is still bigger than a horse. The declining industrial level of the United States still far surpasses that of European countries, a figure that is enough to shock the people and governments of European countries.

When major newspapers and media outlets presented the evidence they had collected, even if the European public was unwilling to believe the data, they were unable to produce any compelling evidence to refute it.

While the news reports only sparked widespread discussion and questioning among the public, European governments have already reacted with tremendous force.

Although the British and French governments were aware of the sheer size of American industry, they never imagined that American industry would become so extraordinary, comparable to the whole of Europe on its own.

How are other European countries supposed to participate in this?
Europe cannot compare in terms of land area or population, and even lags far behind the United States in terms of mineral resources. Considering the growth rate of the United States in industry, economy, and population, if the United States were given more time to develop, the whole of Europe would likely have an insurmountable gap and chasm compared to the United States.

If the United States were to truly recover, how would other European countries compete? After confirming that the relevant data was indeed accurate, the governments of European countries, led by Britain and France, unanimously came to the same conclusion: to completely restrict the United States, just as Russia had done, to ensure that the United States would not recover and would not pose a threat to Europe.

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(End of this chapter)