Rise of Empires: Spain.

Chapter 631 Reopening the Investigation
When the final global rankings were released, the United States' ranking immediately sparked heated discussions among people in various European countries.

The United States, which was originally considered to be at the lower end of the world's power hierarchy and ranked after Britain, France, and Spain, was surprisingly ranked third in this ranking jointly published by newspapers and media outlets from various European countries, placing it on the same level as Britain and Spain.

More importantly, the fact that the United States ranks third in the world does not mean that it lacks the strength to become number one. It is simply that it is limited by its current military strength, and therefore ranks after the United Kingdom and Spain.

Given the United States' impressive industrial and economic scale, if it were to put in the effort to surpass Britain and Spain, it might only be a matter of time.

The top two rankings in the world allowed Europeans to salvage some pride. With Britain and Spain ranking first and second respectively, it was arguably Europe's last vestige of dignity.

France ranked fourth in the world after the United States, and after France came Germany, which lost World War II, ranking fifth.

Like the United States, Germany's ranking as the fifth in the world does not mean that its overall strength is weak; it simply means that its ranking has been appropriately lowered due to the limitations of its current military capabilities.

From an industrial and economic perspective, Germany is clearly ahead of France. However, France is, after all, a victorious nation, and even if it can't compare to Britain, Spain, and the United States, it can still secure its fourth-place position in this ranking.

Following Germany, the Austrian Empire ranked sixth in the world. This position is somewhat controversial, as other contenders for sixth place included the Kingdom of Italy, Tsarist Russia, Soviet Russia, and Japan.

However, in this ranking of countries around the world, considering that the Austrian Empire still retained its core territory of Austria and Czechoslovakia, it was ranked sixth in the world.

Italy ranks seventh in the world, followed by Japan, not the two Russias.

In theory, both Soviet Russia and Tsarist Russia had the strength to contend for the throne of the great powers. However, the Russian Civil War severely damaged the Russian economy, and industrial production declined sharply.

At its peak, Russia's total steel production surpassed that of France, but today its total steel production is only a few hundred thousand tons, a mere fraction of its peak.

Agricultural production also declined sharply due to the impact of the civil war. The combined strength of the two Russias was still that of a great power, but the overall strength of either Russia was insufficient to compete with the aforementioned countries.

In this ranking of the world's top eight, Japan has finally broken through European prejudices and made it onto the list of great powers.

In fact, as early as after the Russo-Japanese War ended in 1904, a small number of voices in Europe believed that Japan, having defeated Russia, was qualified to be ranked among the great powers.

However, Europe at that time held a high degree of prejudice against Japan, and Japan's industry was insufficient to support it becoming a great power.

In addition, there are too many powerful countries in the world, which ultimately leads to Japan rarely appearing in the top eight of European newspaper rankings. It is often regarded as a powerful country under the great powers, rather than a true great power.

Japan has benefited from this situation. The fall of the Ottoman Empire and the fragmentation of Russia meant that Europe simply couldn't muster enough powerful nations to fill the gap in the list of great powers.

The newly emerging countries after World War I, such as Poland and Romania, lacked the strength of major powers, which is why Japan was listed as one of the world's top eight countries by European newspapers.

Of course, Japan, which ranks eighth in this ranking, is not the focus of attention for people in European countries.

In this ranking, the United States not only jumped to become the world's third strongest country, but was also specifically noted that it was because its military strength was a drag on its ranking that it had to be ranked as the world's third strongest country, after the United Kingdom and Spain.

Such labeling quickly reminded Europeans of the rankings following the United States' massive expansion of its military power, suggesting that even Britain and Spain might not be able to compete with such a United States.

Such reports, if they merely illustrate the strength of American industry and military power, would not lead to widespread targeting of the United States by European countries.

The problem is that the global flu pandemic has just ended, and the United States played a disgraceful role in it.

Although the international coalition's investigation team eventually clarified for the United States that the flu pandemic had no connection with the chemical plant leak in the United States.

But how could the public easily believe such a statement? Moreover, while the League of Nations investigation team was clarifying the situation for the United States, the United States also provided an interest-free loan to all countries of the League of Nations.

Without this interest-free loan, the League of Nations investigation team's clarification would appear relatively just. However, with the backing of this interest-free loan, the League of Nations investigation team's clarification looks more like a deal with the US government.

Moreover, it wasn't just the public who thought this way; many newspapers and media outlets across Europe reported on the behind-the-scenes truth that the League of Nations investigation team had clarified for the United States, making various speculations and deepening public suspicion of the United States.

In this context, the recent revelation that the United States now possesses strength comparable to that of superpowers like Britain and Spain has caused widespread concern among the European public.

Will the rise of the United States trigger broader international confrontations? And could these confrontations escalate into a new world war?
Will the United States continue to conduct undisclosed biochemical research? Could these studies be leaked, leading to another global pandemic of influenza?
These issues are the biggest concerns Europeans have about the United States, and are also proof of the current poor reputation of the US government.

Clearly, the European public does not believe the integrity of the US government, nor does it believe the League of Nations' claim that the US flu outbreak was unrelated to the US chemical plant leak.

As news reports related to national power rankings spread to more people through newspaper sales, a wave of fear towards the United States swept across Europe.

Many newspapers and media outlets successfully seized upon trending news topics, continuously promoting the harmful effects of the rise of the United States to the European public, convincing them that the United States is a scourge to humanity.

And it must be said, such news reports have indeed garnered considerable public approval. This is because the United States is indeed a very rare exception among all the major powers.

Apart from Japan, an Asian country, all the other great powers were located in Europe. These great powers shared a common characteristic: their dominant ethnic group was white, and the rights of Black people were not recognized.

In contrast, the United States recognized the rights of Black people during the Civil War, and it is also the only country among all the great powers with a complex racial composition.

The United States is home to three major races: Black, White, and Asian. The white people, as the dominant ethnic group, have diverse origins.

To the European public, such a cobbled-together nation was undoubtedly an anomaly. It's only because the US is separated from Europe by the entire Atlantic Ocean that the pressure it faces from public opinion would be far greater. The "American threat" theory, which instantly sparked heated discussions among the European public, has undoubtedly created an environment in which many European countries could take action against the US.

In any case, if a group of countries are to unite to dismantle the United States, a plausible reason is still needed.

The "American threat" theory is the best excuse. The League of Nations could use the pretext of reinvestigating the American chemical plant leak to force the United States to break with the League, thus providing a sufficient pretext to invade the United States.

If the United States agrees to an international coalition investigation, that would be easy to handle; the investigation team could be used to frame the United States.

Given the current situation in the United States, it is extremely difficult, if not impossible, for them to gain the upper hand in public opinion.

As long as the international coalition controls the narrative, the United States cannot reverse the situation. Moreover, the domestic situation in the United States is in complete chaos, and even if an attack were launched against the United States now, the US government would be powerless to resist.

Clearly, now is the best time to target the United States. Carlo doesn't want to miss this opportunity, and other European countries obviously don't want to miss this golden opportunity either.

On January 27, 1921, at a time when the American threat theory was gaining momentum, the League of Nations also officially launched a discussion on the American threat theory.

The Spanish diplomatic representative to the League of Nations has requested that the League reopen its investigation into the United States to determine whether the threat posed by the U.S. chemical plant was related to the flu outbreak and whether the original conclusions of the League's investigation were due to covert manipulation by the United States.

The German diplomatic representative to the League of Nations also requested the League to investigate the United States to determine whether the United States had treated German-American immigrants unfairly during the World War.

After the Spanish diplomatic representative put forward his request, the proposal immediately sparked heated discussions within the League of Nations.

Clearly, both the British and French governments underestimated Spain's fear of the United States, as well as its determination to dismantle the country.

It is clear that Spain intends to be the instigator of the dismemberment of the United States. And the British and French governments obviously also have their own ideas about this bold proposal.

The proposal put forward by the Spanish diplomatic representative was initially supported by only a small number of countries, but as the League of Nations conference progressed, more and more countries began to support the proposal, including Britain and France.

The UK, France, and Spain all supported the proposal, and Italy, another of the four permanent members of the Security Council, naturally did not oppose it.

With the support of the four permanent members of the Security Council, the proposal was quickly adopted at the League of Nations conference, which also meant that the League of Nations officially restarted its investigation into the United States.

Because the United States was not a member of the League of Nations, the League member states had no qualms about voting on the proposal.

No one wants to offend the four permanent members of the Security Council, so naturally, they can only choose to offend the United States. Anyway, the United States is currently in dire straits, so offending the United States won't do any harm.

The proposal put forward by the German diplomatic representative was quickly adopted in subsequent meetings.

The proposal put forward by the German diplomatic representative was not the idea of ​​the German government, but rather a cooperation agreement reached between the Spanish and German governments.

Spain traded a grain deal and a low-interest loan in exchange for German government support at the League of Nations conference and for the German ambassador to the League of Nations to initiate an investigation into the United States.

For Spain, both food and low-interest loans are readily available resources.

The proposal put forward by the German ambassador at the League of Nations conference was also very important to Spain.

If only Spain proposes reopening the investigation against the United States, it inevitably appears that Spain is targeting the US. If other countries also make similar proposals, it would seem like multiple countries in the international coalition are dissatisfied with the US's handling of the matter, rather than it being a single country targeting the US.

The reason for mentioning the unfair treatment of German immigrants in the United States during the war was actually to incite British dissatisfaction with the United States.

After all, in addition to German immigrants who have suffered unfair treatment, British immigrants have also suffered unfair treatment from the US government.

Especially during the Irish War of Independence, the US government stood firmly on the side of the Irish government, which was a major source of conflict between Britain and the United States.

The British government took Wilson's tough stance to heart. Their subsequent large-scale attack on the Americans during the Anglo-American War can be seen as a response from the British to the United States.

Given this contradiction, even if the British government did not actively participate in the plan to dismember the United States, it would be impossible for it to openly oppose it.

Moreover, the British government also harbored enormous ambitions. They could not afford to miss out on the League of Nations' support for the United States, and even wanted to take a dominant position in the entire plan in order to gain more territory and benefits for themselves.

Following the adoption of the resolution at the League of Nations conference, the League of Nations quickly notified the US government that it would reinvestigate the chemical plant leak in the United States to ensure that the leak was unrelated to the US flu pandemic.

Although the US government was in a state of considerable turmoil at the time, this did not mean that the US government would accept all the demands of the League of Nations.

Clearly, the US government viewed the League of Nations' demands as quite unreasonable. The US government and the League of Nations investigation team had already reached an agreement, both acknowledging that the leak at the US chemical plant was unrelated to the US flu pandemic.

To want to reopen the investigation without any evidence is clearly a sign of distrust and disrespect for the United States.

The United States is not a backward country, and it is impossible for the League of Nations to allow it to make such unreasonable demands on it.

After President Wilson's wife relayed the League of Nations' request to him, the bedridden President Wilson quickly responded by rejecting the League's demands and refusing to accept the League's so-called reopening of the investigation into the cause of the flu outbreak. The United States also refused to accept the speculation by European media that the leak at the American chemical plant was related to the American flu pandemic.

　Third update of 4,000 words, please vote with monthly tickets!
　　I still owe one more 10,000 votes a day, please vote with monthly tickets!
　　
　
(End of this chapter)