The Legacy of the Glorious (Milarqui's Cut)

[Milarqui]

Part IV – Three More Regions
​

The arrival of President Cristino Martos also meant that a new thing now was going to happen: the concession of the autonomy to the Philippines. However, the actual events surrounding this took place during Cánovas' previous term.

Cánovas, then looking with apprehension to the elections, was personally opposed to the Philippines becoming a Foral Region, arguing that they were still not advanced enough to understand the democratic process, but on a political level he knew that trying to go back on the promise would turn the archipelago into something much worse than Cuba. Another thing to consider was that the huge size of the archipelago meant that it would be very difficult to control everything from one city, and that Manila was too far away to act as the seat of the regional government. Finally, a third issue was the organization of several pro-independence groups, which made some people nervous even though they were in the minority.

Francisco Silvela y de Le Vielleuze, Cánovas' Minister of Home Affairs​

Thus, a month before the elections, Cánovas sent his Minister of Home Affairs, Francisco Silvela y de Le Vielleuze, to Manila on board of the liner Reina del Pacífico. When he arrived to Manila, Silvela met with still Governor-General Carlos María de la Torre, presenting him with the plans developed by the President and himself in regards to the Philippines. De la Torre argued that it was possible to control the archipelago from Manila, but Silvela countered that the differences between Manila and Davao, the unofficial capital of Mindanao, would make ruling the entire archipelago from Manila as hard as it would be to rule Cuba from Madrid. When a telegram from now President Cristino Martos arrived to Malacañang, expressing his (and the new government's) support for the plan, de la Torre relented.

The next week, the plans were released to the public, and appeared in every newspaper: in order to better organize the archipelago, the Philippines were to be divided in three Foral Regions: Hilaga, formed by Luzón and Palawan; Kabisayan, formed by the Visayas, and Habagatan, formed by Mindanao and the old Sultanate of Sulu [1]. The arrival of the news was received with great joy by the Filipino people, as they would finally be able to decide on their local matters without having to wait for Madrid or the governor to tell them so.

Naturally, one group that felt very content was the people of Mindanao, who had only expected that the promise given to them ten years before would just be fulfilled by giving some little things to pay lip service. Instead, they not only had full autonomy, but also the Sulu archipelago and Sabah were under their control.

Back in Spain, this idea served to partially restore Cánovas' image. People knew that the Philippines were much bigger than any other of the Foral Regions, so it made sense to divide it in three parts for their better governance. Several people believed that the reasoning behind this was that, as the Filipino were “inferior”, if they had any kind of self-governance, it was better if the territory was smaller, to fit their abilities (this was said ignoring that the three regions were similar in size to the Spanish Foral Regions

A month after the news were public, the old flag of the Philippines was taken down, and replaced with new flags that now flew alongside the Spanish Flag in front of the provisional Foral Parliaments in Manila (capital of Hilaga), Ciudad Cebú (capital of Kabisayan) and Davao (capital of Habagatan). These parliaments, currently formed by the main Ilustrados and the foremost town councilors, voted in the Foral Charters approved by the Spanish government, and started to debate the first regional laws.

It had been a long travel for many of them, but finally they had managed to earn a position as equals with the rest of Spain.

[1] Hilaga means North in Filipino, Kabisayan is a slightly modified version of the name for the Visayas in the Winaray language –spoken in the eastern Visayas– and Habagatan means South in Cebuano.

 

[Milarqui]

Part V – What Happens In America Stays In America
​

As the decade of 1880 passed by, the once friendly relations between the United States and Spain slowly soured. The good feelings after Cuba and Puerto Rico gained autonomy had eroded away as Spanish influence in South America increased and as the Spanish hold over the two Caribbean islands tightened. The invasion of the Dominican Republic was seen as an insult to the United States and the Monroe Doctrine, and it was pretty much the coup de grace to Spanish-American relationships. Some politicians spoke about the possibility of declaring war on the Kingdom of Spain after the invasion, but few, if none, among the US population supported the idea of another war so shortly after the Civil War, and all talk about it became wet paper.

Instead, the government decided to send several protests to the Spanish government, and work on funding pro-independence parties in Cuba and Puerto Rico, with the aim of convincing Spain that abandoning the Caribbean was better for its interests than maintaining a presence in the Americas.

Porfirio Díaz, President (and pretty much Dictator) of the United States of Mexico​

Further to the south, in Mexico, Porfirio Díaz had recently gained an unanimous victory in the 1884 elections (which, however you put, had been a complete sham) and now looked with interest towards Spain, and more specifically to their potential as allies against Anglo influence, which he wished to push back in order to gain more control. Not to mention that their common past could help to attract Spanish capital and perhaps even skilled workers.

The Mexican democrats, opposed to Díaz's near-dictatorial rule and desiring to develop true democracy within the Estados Unidos de México, also looked to Spain with the hope that, with the Madre Patria's help, they would be able to repeat the same hard task the Spanish people had achieved, to expel a tyrant and replace him with with an actual democratic system.

Central America was mostly uninterested in Spain, and what the Spaniards were doing: it was already hard enough to keep up with the day-to-day of their nations while British and American companies did and undid at their whim. The only nation with some interest in Spain was Nicaragua: being the only Central American nation with coasts in the Caribbean and the Pacific, they thought it might be possible to build some sort of water connection between both seas, which would bring great revenue to their nation. A previous attempt by Cornelius Vanderbilt had only given them a railway-and-coach line, and the expenses involved made them realize that it was something only within the reach of the richest nations: Spain and Germany offered a possible counterpart to the Anglo-Saxon nations.

Conception of the proposed Nicaragua Canal​

Further to the south, stood the South American nations. Just like the previous decade, many tensions threatened to end the peace: Peru, Bolivia and Chile were always at each other throats, Brazil and Bolivia were disputing over the resource-rich Acre region, Argentina and Brazil tried to one-up each other in their attempts to become the main South American power, Britain and Venezuela exchanged angry words over the borders between Venezuela and Guyana... Anything could spark a great war between them, and it was only the delicate work of the best diplomats in the region and prevented such a powder keg from exploding.

In Colombia, Ferdinand de Lesseps tried to build a canal across the Isthmus of Panama, to communicate both sides through a water route, but the works started in 1884 [1] by the Societé International du Canal Interocéanique were suspended six years, 220 million dollars and 15,000 deceased workers later, leaving an unfinished canal and Colombia in search of other person or nation that could finance such enormous works. The cause was found in the complete lack, by part of the men in charge of the construction, of experience in that kind of construction and of knowledge of the region's geology and hydrology, as well as the many deaths owed to illnesses.

Excavator at work near Bas Obispo, Colombia
​

Peru and Bolivia were, thanks to many factors, able to protect themselves from Brazilian and Chilean threats. Trade with Spain and Germany had not only brought them great weaponry and ships to their armed forces, but also several instructors that were able to bring their armies up to better standards. Peruvian traders were also able to find their way to the Spanish territories in the Pacific and the Caribbean, while Spanish businessmen financed the construction of new factories in the two nations, exploiting the natural resources and bringing benefits to everyone involved.

It was also around this time that Socialism made its appearance in the South Cone: Spanish workers that had traveled to Peru to aid in the construction of those factories had decided to stay there after falling in love with local women, and they had become the nucleus of the Partido Socialista Peruano (Peruvian Socialist Party) and the Partido Socialista Boliviano (Bolivian Socialist Party), which soon entered politics.

At the east, Brazil was in the middle of one of the most turbulent periods in its history. In March 1888, Pedro II, Emperor of Brazil, proclaimed the end of slavery in his nation, becoming one of the last to put an official end to slavery. The five million black people that were slaves found themselves out of work, so they mostly chose to leave for the cities and find a job in the new industries. Thousands of farmers became broke as their crops (such as coffee or sugarcane) required intensive labor that was lost with the slaves. The economy suffered much due to this, and the army plotted a coup against Dom Pedro, which was initiated five months later. However, this ended up becoming a one month long civil war, with several generals casting their die for the Emperor and eventually winning the war.

Pedro II, some time before the coup​

The rebel generals were arrested and put through trial, where they were found guilty of treason and sentenced to death, although the Emperor commuted the sentence to imprisonment for life and expulsion from the army, so that they became examples for others of what treason to Brazil and the Emperor could bring.

Meanwhile, Chile, unable to gain in the north the territories and resources they needed, decided to go towards the south to expand and find those resources. A frenzied claiming of territories started in an attempt to cut Argentina away from the Pacific Ocean, as well as claiming the Tierra del Fuego Archipelago. The existence of gold in the latter made it all the more important that they reached an took control of the region. Argentina threatened war if Chile did not stop, but eventually an agreement was reached between both nations, supported by neutral Ecuador, dividing it in two, with the western half (the largest) for Chile and the rest for Argentina. Peace was preserved, but enmity, sadly, remained.

[1] The different social-economical situation in France pushed back the initiation of the French works in Panama.

 

[Milarqui]

Chapter VI, Part VI – Consequences Of An Ultimatum​

The results of the Berlin Conference had caused great joy to the Portuguese government: having their right to the land between Angola and Moçambique confirmed by most European nations was more than enough to be happy, but there also was the fact that it would allow them to exploit the region's resources. They had already sent explorers and diplomats ahead, to meet with the tribes and affirm their allegiance to Portugal. The British complaints had been quite jarring, but, well, if they wanted a railway, they were more than willing to let them build it... for a fee, of course.

The British would not have any of that.

It had been bad enough that they had to compromise on building part of the Cape-to-Cairo Railway through the Belgian Congo. Now, they would also have to cross Portuguese territory, and to some it was already too much, for the Portuguese claims had almost derailed (if you would pardon the pun) the grand project. Disraeli's government, in power when the Conference took place, chose to set the matter aside, hoping that the Portuguese may solve the problem by themselves by selling the terrain to Britain. Future events would eventually give them a chance to do this.

After the Conference, four years of peace were given to Portugal. Portugal was still immersed in the period known as Rotativism, in which the main political parties (the left-wing Progressistas and the right-wing Regeneradores) “rotated” in the Portuguese Government at the King's petition. By 1889, the Regeneradores had been in power for more than six years, thanks to the support of Luís I, King of Portugal and the Algarves.

King Luís I of Portugal and the Algarves​

On July 21st 1889, the peace ended: Luís I suffered a serious heart attack that left him partially disabled. Although his mind remained as sharp as before, his body did not, leaving him unable to act as a good leader for the nation. His son Carlos thus had to take charge of many of the tasks of the king. As the following months passed, Luís I's condition deteriorated, adding further weight to the heir's shoulders, up to the point that, before nine months passed, he had become de facto King of Portugal.

It was then when the British acted. Knowing Portugal's weakness, they realized this was the perfect moment to achieve their objectives. In January 1890, the British government gave Portugal an ultimatum: either Portugal renounced to the claims over the territory of the Makololo (the disputed region), with whom Cecil Rhodes had illegally negotiated to convince them to accept the protection of the British Empire, or they would have to abide by the consequences. What the “consequences” were, it was left to the Portuguese government's imagination, but the gathering of many of their ships in Gibraltar and the Cape pretty much said everything about it.

Conscious of the disaster they were unwillingly heading into, for four months Portugal tried to negotiate, offering anything that might be acceptable to both sides and allowed Portugal to keep the land connection between their two South-African colonies, as the loss of such an important territory would lead to grave consequences at home. However, the British were adamant in their position, and did not care for what could happen to their erstwhile allies if the hand-over did not take place. They didn't care either for the protests of the other signatories of the treaty that had put an end to the Conference, even though they rightfully claimed that Portugal, having established a military presence in the disputed region, was the only nation that could pursue any economical ventures there. Lord Salisbury's government brushed aside those protests and pressured Henrique de Barros' government even further. With no other choice to follow (as a war against Britain would be disastrous for them), Portugal ceded.

New map with African spheres of influence: note disputed region in lead blue, now claimed by the United Kingdom
​

On July 29th 1890, the Portuguese ambassador to the United Kingdom, as representative of Portugal, signed the Treaty of London, by which his nation renounced to the territory of the tribe of the Makololo, effectively ceding the disputed region to the United Kingdom, and defined the territorial limits between Portugal's colonies and the lost territory. In exchange, Portugal received 10,000,000 pounds, a paltry sum compared to the potential great wealth they had renounced to.

After the signing of the Treaty of London, the ambassador coldly said goodbye to Lord Salisbury and left for the Embassy, from where he only collected a few necessary things that were still there, before leaving for their nation, as the rest of the personnel that had not accompanied him to the signing of the treaty had already done.

A week later, Lord Salisbury was surprised to receive the British ambassador to Portugal in his office. The ambassador gave him a letter from the Portuguese Prime Minister, countersigned by King Luís I.

Esteemed Prime Minister of the United Kingdom,

For centuries, our nations have been friends and partners. You aided us when our nation was invaded by the Napoleonic armies, and for that we are grateful.

However, recent events have shown us that you do not regard our previous relationship like we once did. Your recent actions have bordered on the ignoble and the despicable, and it is clear to us that your alliance to us is, for you, only a way to try to force us to buckle and accept your desires, whichever are our needs as a nation.

Thus, it is through this letter that we communicate to you that we have instructed our ambassador to leave the United Kingdom, and we have expelled your own ambassador from Lisbon. Likewise, every British citizen has been expelled from Portuguese territory, and shall not be welcome until we determine that the stain in the United Kingdom's honour has been cleaned.

Finally, we wish to communicate to you that we consider that, by the actions of the United Kingdom, the Treaty of Windsor is now null and void.

Yours faithfully,
Henrique de Barros, Prime Minister of Portugal
Luís I, King of Portugal and the Algarves

Wedding between João I of Portugal and Philippa of Lancaster, daughter of John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster, renewing the Anglo-Portuguese Alliance.​

The Treaty of Windsor, the old alliance between Portugal and Britain that existed since 1386, was reduced to ashes due to the United Kingdom's greed and their inability to accept Portugal's right to the territory. Many decried Salisbury's blunder, alienating the United Kingdom's oldest ally, who had stuck with them for more than four centuries. The error would mar Lord Salisbury's career forever.

Back in Portugal, things got very hot, and it was not only the summer. Despite the immediate breaking of relations with the United Kingdom, many said the government had ashamed the nation for ceding to British demands, and even more people took to the streets to demonstrate their opinion. The manifestations were led and fed by the Portuguese Republican Party, which saw in these events the weakness of the monarchy and the chance to establish a Republic.

Without the people's knowledge, the King felt guilty for his inability to lead the nation, and the stress started to weigh on him. His weak heart and body suffered even more because of this, until it could not stand it anymore.

Luís I, King of Portugal and of the Algarves, died in the night of August 21st 1890 of a second heart attack. He would not be found until the morning after by his valet, who had arrived to start with the king's day.

The funeral for the King was held three days later. Representatives from most European nations, including the Queen of Spain and Kaiser Friedrich Wilhelm I (who had succeeded his father, Wilhelm I, two years before), arrived to Lisbon to say goodbye to the man that had led Portugal for twenty-nine years and had done his best to ensure his nation's preeminence as an European power. The only nation not represented in the funeral was the United Kingdom, as the government had barred the entrance to anyone from the country they considered the cause of Luís I's death.

The crowning of Carlos was to take place a month later. This was expected to be the return to normalcy (as much as possible, considering past events) for Portuguese society. The crowning ceremony had to go as smoothly as possible, to demonstrate that Portugal would go on, and perhaps improve, as Carlos was seen as an intelligent man that had matured much during the last year.

D. Carlos, his wife Amélie de Orléans, and their firstborn Luís Filipe​

After the Mass, Carlos was crowned as King Carlos I of Portugal and the Algarves, and his wife Amélie de Orléans (daughter of King Philippe VII of France) was crowned Queen Consort of Portugal and the Algarves. Members of most European royal houses attended the ceremony: once again, the British were excluded.

Everything started to get worse on the ride back to the Palácio de Ajuda. It would be the start of one of Portugal's most tumultuous times, which shocked the entire nation and plunged it in destruction and death.

As the newly crowned King and Queen entered their carriage, a group of pro-Republican officers took control of several carefully chosen military units and ordered them to enter the city and imprison the King. All of the soldiers had allegiance to the Portuguese Republican Party, and obeyed without discussion. With this action, they expected to be able to control Lisbon in a quick move, and then force the King to renounce to the Crown in the name of his entire family, leaving the way open for the establishment of the Republic.

It was supposed to be a bloodless coup. The officers expected to use their superior numbers to force the surrender of the Royal Couple's bodyguards, to then “escort” the King and the Queen to the Royal Palace, where the renounce would take place. The few Republican Party members in the Parliament would then use this as the catalyst for the declaration of the Republic.

Of course, as famed German general Helmuth von Moltke the Elder said, “no plan survives contact with the enemy”.

When the small army appeared in the middle of the parade, having opened their way through the cheering crowd, they ordered the Royal Guard to stand down and lay their weapons on the floor. They instead chose to ready their weapons and aim at the soldiers, while the crowd started to disperse in order to avoid the shooting that seemed to be about to begin.

The higher ranking officer in the army, Lieutenant Manuel Maria Coelho [1], gave them a last chance to surrender before they began shooting. The Royal Guard's leader's last words were only known thanks to one of the fleeing civilians.

We have sworn an oath to protect the King and the Queen, and we intend to follow it till the last! Something you should remember!

Soon after these words, the soldiers opened fire, and the Guard answered in kind. However, the higher numbers made the army's victory unavoidable, although not without a cost. Twenty minutes later, all guards and seven soldiers were dead or dying, and twelve soldiers and six civilians were bleeding after the shooting.

Tragedy had struck, however. When the soldiers opened the carriage's doors, they found the King and Queen had died in the crossfire. Not knowing what to do, the officers decided to commandeer the carriage, leading the army to the palace as fast as possible to capture the couple's two children, heir Prince Luis Filipe and Prince Manuel. Troops in many other points in Portugal and its colonies rose up, led by their pro-Republican officers, and fought the Royalist troops that had chosen to remain loyal to the Monarchy.

Manuel Maria Coelho, the man that led the troops that killed the Portuguese Monarchs​

The Portuguese Civil War had started.

[1] In RL 1891, there was a republican revolution in Porto, but it failed. Manuel Maria Coelho was one of its leaders, and eventually became a minister in one of the Republic's governments.

END OF CHAPTER SIX

A/N: well, here ends the re-writing of the entire timeline till now. I hope to be able to write chapter 7, relating the entire Portuguese Civil War and the last decade of the 19th century, including several important events that I have already detailed on paper, but have yet to write in my computer. I also hope that you liked this chapter, and please, do not forget to comment on both this chapter and my previous suggestion!

A/N2: Vote for me in the upcoming Turtledove Awards! I appear in categories New 19th Century, Flag (Spain's flag), Map (the map of Foral Spain) and Best POD (the telegram that says July 6th instead of July 26th).
​

 

[Milarqui]

Chapter VII – The End Of A Century​

Part I – Brother Against Brother

A civil war is one of the worst things that can happen to a nation. It pits brother against brother, town against town, city against city, leader against leader. A civil war is horrible, for the affected nation is fighting against itself, killing its own people, destroying its own country, all because both sides think that they have the answer to make their nation great... but the only result is that the nation becomes weaker.

That was what was happening to Portugal. The republican uprising took the monarchists by surprise, and chaos ensued. Many towns were scenes of infighting between the neighbors. Troops took strategically important positions or assaulted Army barracks in order to gain control of the weaponry kept in them. Blood was spilled in many points in Portugal. Cultural and geographical lines were drawn, separating the people and the land in two parts, lines that would eventually change.

Two weeks after the assassination of Carlos I of Portugal, those lines were stabilized. Many maps would be drawn, showing the separation between the two Portugals, and now it was time to start planning. A line that ran between Figueira da Foz in the west to Monte Fidalgo in the east was the line that separated Monarchist Portugal from Republican Portugal. Nearly every city was the scenario of fights between the two factions, but by the end of the month the redoubts had been eliminated, and soon the fight was mostly North against South. The navy, fortunately for the monarchists, fell almost entirely on their side, which was fundamental since the colonies, save for some points, were also on their side.

All in all, the Republicans knew that the revolution had been a failure. They did not expect to entirely knock out the monarchy supporters, but it was their hope that the king's abdication would make many of them stand down and accept the inevitable. However, the Royal Guard's resistance had led to the King's death, giving the Monarchists a martyr to rally their cause around. Even worse, the King's brother, Afonso, had managed to escape from Lisbon thanks to the help of his aunt Queen Antonia of Spain, who helped him cross the border with Spain.

However, it did not mean that they were going to give up. Many soldiers had joined them, most of the population in the southern regions supported them, and they still had the princes with them, which could be good hostages. If they managed to defeat the Monarchist army enough times, then victory would surely be theirs.

Meanwhile, the Monarchists had their hands full with the many problems the Royal Couple's death had caused. Fortunately, Afonso's escape allowed them to have a Regent to represent Luis Filipe, who was now the King of Portugal after his father's death. One of the main tasks the Monarchists would have to carry out would be to rescue the uncrowned King of Portugal and his brother, a task that would be very hard as long as the Republicans held Lisbon. However, with most of the navy, most generals and a good half of the army on their side, they hoped to be able to defeat the traitors as soon as possible.

International reactions to the events were swift. Spain was one of the first nations to be informed of the events, and very soon the government had declared its support for the Monarchists, promising to do anything in their hands to help put down the Republican rebellion short of direct military action in Portugal. Under the orders of President Moret, Admiral Cervera set several squadrons along the coast of Portugal, to collaborate with the Monarchist navy in putting down the few ships that had sided with the Republicans and then establish a blockade of the Republican-held coast. Both RESA and its filial CESA (Cañones Españoles, Sociedad Anónima) sold much armament in the form of rifles and cannons to the Portuguese government, and not a few youngsters and veterans joined the Portuguese Monarchist army as the Brigada de Voluntários Estrangeiros.

Germany followed suit in their declaration of support for the Monarchists. In said decision weighed their friendship with Spain, the relation of the Hohenzollerns with the Portuguese Royal family through Queen Antonia of Spain, and also a bit of a desire to stick it to the British, because it was quite clear that their actions were what had led to the current situation.

The Empire of Brazil was also one of the most outspoken supporters of the monarchy. Emperor Pedro II and his daughter and heir Isabel were distant relatives of the murdered King (Pedro II's father, Pedro I, was Carlos I's great-grandfather), and this, combined with the recent pro-Republican coup that had attempted to oust Pedro II, was more than enough to convince them to help their relatives.

In France, the feelings about the issue were divided. On one side, supporting the Republicans was basically supporting someone that opposed the Spaniards, something that the French, who still held some hatred for their southern neighbors, clearly relished. However, on the other side, a Republican victory could easily give wings to the minority Republican parties that still existed despite the unpopularity of the Third Republic. It took them two weeks to reach a consensus, but in the end the government of Premier Pierre Tirard decided to remain neutral in the issue: when the dust settled and it became clear who would win the war, they would recognize that side as the legitimate one, saving themselves the headache of supporting one side that could run against their wants.

In the Americas, most nations chose to remain aloof of the events taking place in Portugal, as their distance to Europe and the blockade made it almost impossible to do anything worth at all. The only ones to choose a side, besides Brazil, were Peru and Bolivia through their alliance with Spain, although their aid was only testimonial.

In the United Kingdom, the final act of the drama that had begun with the ultimatum to Portugal resulted in the fall of the Salisbury government. At the petition of Queen Victoria, Chancellor of the Exchequer William Ewart Gladstone took the reins of the government provisionally, and Gladstone had the Foreign Office initiate an outreach towards both sides of the civil war in order to aid in finding a peaceful resolution, partially because they felt guilty about it, and partially because they hoped to regain some sort of influence over Portugal if they helped to stop the war, but to no avail. The former ambassador to Portugal, sent to Lisbon by ship, didn't even manage to arrive there because of the blockade, and the ambassador to Spain, sent to meet with the provisional Portuguese Council of Ministers, was actually threatened with a gun by one of its members.

As front-lines stabilized in Portugal, both sides managed to fortify their bases and launch initial probing attacks to ascertain how to take the other side's territory, while in the colonies fighting also took place: in Angola and Moçambique, the situation was solved soon at the satisfaction of the Monarchists, but in Guinea, Macao and Goa it was the Republicans who won. Whichever side won in Portugal, it would have to take care of the other hold-outs very soon.

The first proper attacks of the next phase of the war were launched by the Republican army, an attempt to advance along the coast to reach and take out Porto, the Monarchists' biggest city and currently its provisional capital, due to its port and its nearness to the border with Spain. The Republicans managed to take the cities of Coimbra and Aveiro despite nearly fanatical opposition to their advance and the navy's support for the defenders, but the advance petered out two months after the beginning of the war in Maceda, where Monarchist troops held off the Republican attack and pushed it back with heavy losses on both sides. The First Royal Army then used the Republicans' overstretched supply lines to their advantage, launching an attack into Águeda, which reached Aveiro five days later, and a second one towards Marinha das Ondas by Miranda do Corvo and Soure, cutting off the Republican troops that had survived the Battle of Maceda in two isolated pockets. From then on, initiative was owned by the Monarchists.

The Second Royal Army crossed the Tagus on Vila Velha de Rodão and advanced slowly but surely towards Portalegre, while the Third Royal Army traveled along the river and took Abrantes five weeks later. A week after the fall of Abrantes, the last Republican brigades in the north surrendered in Figueira da Foz. Portalegre had already fallen by then, victim of the new weapons deployed by the Monarchist army: the RESA R-5 rifle, the Spanish Army main service weapon, and the CESA CC88 field gun, both of which were being sold to them thanks to the Spanish government's collaboration.

The Third Royal Army took Entroncamento some time later, continuing their travel along the Tagus. The First Royal Army, meanwhile, did one of the most daring attacks when they boarded several ships and landed in the south, taking Marinha Grande and Leiria. The Republican Second Army attacked, hoping to dislodge them and destroy a good part of the Monarchist army. The Battle of Barosa ended in a stalemate, as the Republicans remained there, but were unable to expel the First Royal Army out of Leiria.

Monarchist advance was inexorable, unfortunately for the Republicans. The Second Royal Army reached Elvas, and the Third changed directions and took Nazaré, which allowed them and the First to catch the Republican Second Army in a pincer, destroying its battle capabilities. The First was divided in two, with one half advancing towards the east and clearing up central Portugal and the other reinforced Entroncamento, while the Third advanced towards Lisbon.

Two months later, everything between Gentias and the Estuário do Sado was isolated from the rest of Republican Portugal. As most of the Republican industrial force was there, this move became fundamental, as by isolating the region they prevented military supplies from reaching those Republicans out of the region. Then, while the First and Second Royal Armies advanced towards the south and the east, intent on wiping out all other possible Republican bases in Portugal (an advance that managed to reach its objective in mid-June with the takeover of Faro), the Third concentrated on slowly whittling down the Republican stronghold in the Tagus Estuary. A direct attack against the capital was not tested, because they feared that the Republicans might kill Luis Filipe and Manuel if desperate enough.

Setúbal fell in April, followed by Quinta do Conde in Early May and Almada almost a month later. The Republican leaders were sent messages almost regularly, promising them safe passage to any foreign country in exchange of their surrender and the return of the children to the custody of their uncle, Regent Afonso. The messengers either were not accepted inside or were answered negatively, and the fight continued.

By July, the last stronghold outside of Lisbon fell, and the armies prowled around the capital, preparing an assault. This assault took place on July 21st, when the First Royal Army entered the city covered by intense artillery fire, killing any soldier or officer that resisted and imprisoning those that surrendered. The Republican Army folded then and there, and most soldiers dropped their weapons and let themselves be taken away.

When they finally reached the Palácio de Ajuda, which had become the headquarters for the Republican leadership, they found out that several of them had committed suicide, a few others had been killed either during the war or as they tried to offer resistance to the Royal Armies. Only two men survived to be interrogated about the whereabouts of the Princes.

In the end, the saddest possibility became the truth: the two princes had died around April of illness, probably pneumonia, and the few doctors that were in the city were not able to heal them due to their lack of medical supplies.

When news of the victory reached Porto, the celebrations were curtailed by the fact that the Princes had died just a few months before, but nonetheless they took place, because they had finally finished the threat to the nation and things could return to normal. Thus, the court and the government started to move to the capital in order to restart their work as soon as possible, while the Army was directed to put down the Republicans in Guinea, Goa and Macao.

The fall of Goa in August 24th 1891 was the official end of the Portuguese Civil War.

 

[Milarqui]

Part II – Consequences of a War

As soon as the government settle down in Lisbon, the first task to be carried out was to judge the surviving politicians and military leaders that had led the Republican Coup. Five of the politicians were condemned to death by hanging, a few more were imprisoned in Lisbon after it was proved they had only joined the coup after its beginning, and most of them were condemned to prison for life in Angola and Moçambique.

As for the army members that had sided with the Republicans, they were harshly judged in very strict military courts. The surviving generals and ninety percent of the commissioned officers were stripped from all decorations, demoted to the rank of private and dishonorably discharged from the army in humiliating ceremonies, and for some of them this was followed by a condemn to death by firing range. Soldiers and non-commissioned officers were demoted and lost any honors they may have gained, but were allowed to join the Army again as long as they gave a personal oath to serve the Kingdom of Portugal and to never take arms against anyone if they weren't ordered to do so. Most of them accepted the offer, but some of them decided to leave the army and travel to Latin America or Indochina, joining the armies there and making a new life for themselves.

One of the war's political casualties was the Portuguese Republican Party, which became the pariah of European politics, especially after the fate of Luis Filipe and Manuel became widely known. Even if their deaths had been of illness that could not be prevented, the new Portuguese government used it as a propaganda weapon against the PRP, hanging on them the mark of monstrous child-killers that had no mercy nor heart for a pair of defenseless orphans. The two were crowned posthumously as Kings of Portugal, with Luis Filipe becoming Luís II after his grandfather, and Manuel becoming Manuel I. They would also become the symbols of the Civil War, and martyrs in the eyes of public opinion, of a conflict they had not been old enough to understand in the six months between their parents' deaths and their own. Other European Republican parties, even if they had nothing to do with the PRP, suffered similar treatment by part of the people, just because of their similar ideologies.

Slowly, Portugal recovered its normality. Fields were worked on to ensure that the harvest was not affected, buildings were repaired after the destruction from the fighting, and people returned to their homes and towns. Spain became a great support for its neighbor nation, using their own experience with such events to aid with the reforms that were needed to prevent something similar from happening again. A true democratic system replaced Rotativism, and a constitution, based on that of Spain, started to be written down for its approval in the future.

It was also under the suggestion of their Spanish counterpart that the Portuguese government started to plan several reforms to make Portugal a more efficient and egalitarian nation: the differences had pulled Portugal into the war, the similarities would bring it together. The reforms would not be sudden, though: sudden change could be a recipe for a bad situation. Better to make it relatively slow, so that the people could get used to the changes.

The foreign representatives that had left Lisbon when King Carlos I died were able to return to the Portuguese capital in order to retake residence and represent their nations to Portugal. Again, the United Kingdom was excluded from this: if anything, the hatred the Portuguese felt for their former allies had only grown, because they still put the blame of everything that had happened in the last year on the British shoulders, and even in Britain people knew the Portuguese were not entirely wrong.

The restoration of normal activities by part of the government eventually lead to the restoration of the Crown. The death of Luís II and Manuel I had left their uncle, current Regent Afonso, as the only male direct candidate to the Crown and Throne of Portugal. He had gained great popularity thanks to his leading the Monarchists through the Civil War, and many thought he might be a good replacement for his brother.

The crowning ceremony took place on September 24th 1891, a month after the end of the war and the anniversary of Afonso's brother crowning and death. This date had been chosen specifically for that meaning: one year before, it had been the end of an era, but now it would be the beginning of a new time of prosperity for Portugal and its people.

At least, that was what everyone was hoping for.

One month and a half later, those hopes were shattered.

The Congress was going to debate on the approval of the new economic laws that would change the tax system, and the King had chosen to ride there to be present. He only intended to be witness to the debates, and demonstrate his support for the democratic system, as he intended to be as apolitical as possible.

It would never be known whether the entire thing was actually planned, or if it was completely improvised. It was ignored whether it was all made by a group, or if only one person acted in it. Not even the name of the main actor became known. This lack of knowledge of the events would lead to many people making up all sorts of conspiracies to point out at someone or something as the reasons and guilty party between the event.

When the King arrived to the Congress and came down the horse, a man managed to make it through the protective cordon and knelt before the king. The guards ordered the man to move away and pointed their weapons at him, but the King waved his hand, as if to stop them from shooting the man right out.

It didn't matter. The kneeling man put his hand in a jacket pocket and pulled a sharp knife out of it. Before anyone could react, the man jumped on the King and stabbed him twice in the gut and once on the chest.

A second too late, two bullets hit the unknown man on the back, and other six on the head, killing him instantly and destroying his brain and his face.

The King was taken away on a carriage to the nearest hospital. Surgery – the rudimentary surgery that existed in the time – was practiced on Afonso VII, in order to stanch the wounds. It was not enough.

King Afonso VII of Portugal, the man who had led the country through one of its most trying times – probably near the level of the Napoleonic invasion at the beginning of the century – died at 5 PM on November 12th 1891, leaving the Kingdom of Portugal in great sadness over such a great loss, and the government with the problem of finding a new King for the second time in a year. Or, rather, a new Queen. Because, right now, the eldest heir to the throne of Portugal was none but Queen Antonia of Spain, wife of Leopoldo I, King of Spain.

Queen Antonia was, legally, the heir to the throne, leaving her and Portugal in a thorny situation. There were three possibilities about what could be done now, possibilities that depended on what the Queen chose and the people wanted.

• In the first place, the Queen could abdicate her rights to the Portuguese Crown to her sons. Prince Guillermo would then become the King of Portugal unless he chose to cede his rights to either the Spanish or the Portuguese Crown to his brother Fernando, who could do the same.
• There was also the possibility of Antonia becoming Queen of Portugal, while King Leopoldo became King Consort of Portugal. This situation was quite similar to what the Catholic Monarchs had done in their time, but there would be problems unless Guillermo and Fernando made a deal.
• Lastly, there was a possibility, which was to have Leopoldo and Antonia become King and Queen of both nations, and Portugal and Spain would unify into one nation.

It was a difficult thing to choose, for each option had its advantages and disadvantages, both in local and international terms. The international part, they did not care much, but it was still potentially problematic, so, after consulting with the Spanish monarchs, the Spanish and Portuguese governments decided to leave the choice to the people.

It was an strange thing to do, asking the people to make that choice, but it was also true that it might be the best way to keep things acceptable for those nations that might be opposed to the idea, which was favored by both governments.

After negotiations, it was announced that the choice would be made through a referendum that would be held on March 27th 1892. While both governments and the Spanish Royal Family stated their willingness to accept the results, whichever they were, there was an undercurrent of support for unification, which was seen by many as the possibility of increasing their nations' status in the modern world. For example, one day saw the Industry Minister of Portugal speak with several businessmen, showing them the great potential of investment in Spain were tariffs to be completely slashed if unification was achieved; another, the Prince of Asturias met with several important people in Galicia to speak about the brotherhood between the Iberian people; and perhaps a few days later it would be the mayor of Olivenza (a town that had for years been disputed between Spain and Portugal) who talked about both Iberian nations' common past.

The idea of Pan-Iberism was as old as the Romans. The Kingdom of the Visigoths had ruled over the entire Peninsula, as well as parts of northern Africa and southern France, and the Moors had managed to unify nearly all of the Peninsula save for the Christian redoubts in Asturias and the Pyrenees, the germ of the Reconquista. Portugal's independence in 1139 broke the Christian kingdoms even further than they had been, and further attempts to unify Iberia under one crown failed, such as the 1383 Crisis or Felipe II's inheritance of Portugal through his mother. The last one had happened twenty-two years before, when one of the potential candidates to the Spanish crown was former King Fernando II of Portugal.

The last years of successful policies carried out by the successive Spanish governments, the fortification of democracy in the country, as well as the friendship between both Iberian nations thanks to the efforts of Queen Antonia and the recent support for the Monarchists in the Civil War made it likelier that unification might not only be peaceful, but also lasting.

The voting started at 7 AM on March 27th under heavy security measures, which proved correct when people tried to spark riots in some cities, as well as attempts by people to vote twice that were caught by sharp-eyed workers. After the urns were closed at 10 PM, the votes were counted and the results were sent by secret courier or codified telegram to Madrid and Lisbon, to ensure no one would learn the results before it was the correct time. About 91.03% of the Portuguese people and 87.02 % of the Spanish people that could vote made use of that right.

The results were the following:

• Unification: 82.27% in Spain, 81.65% in Portugal.
• Personal union and later separation: 11.45% in Spain, 6.22% in Portugal.
• Independence: 6.18% in Spain, 13.13 % in Portugal.

The results were made public on the Boletín Oficial del Estado (which had replaced the Gaceta de Madrid as the vehicle of publication of all laws and government proclamations) on April 1st 1892, and it was that same day when, in front of a feverish crowd of people carrying Spanish and Portuguese flags, that President Segismundo Moret went to the balcony of the Governance Ministry to the Puerta del Sol, and said, full of pride, ¡Queda proclamada, por mayoría absoluta, la unificación de España y Portugal!

Soon, the streets became full, with much of the population joining the celebrations and enthusiastic about the fact that now all Iberian people (save for Gibraltar) would live under the same flag, and could put their weight around in the new world!

 

[Milarqui]

Part III – El Imperio de las Españas

While the streets were full of people celebrating the unification, the Spanish and Portuguese governments started to work in order to determine how to organize the new nation, the laws that would control it, how to ensure that joining the two nations in one did not cause any problems. A middle point had to be found to ensure all things were acceptable, a task that would not be easy at all.

The first decision taken by the joint council was that a new constitution had to be written, to take into account the unification and the many changes brought in the last years. The source of the new nation's fundamental laws would be the Spanish 1869 Constitution, which, although only twenty-two years old, had proved strong in several tests and rising to the challenges put in their way. However, before creating the new Constitution, there was the question of the Constituent Courts that had to meet to vote on whether it would be accepted or not, as well as directing the nation in the meantime.

New elections were called in August 1892, and many parties were formed or restructured to admit Portuguese people in them. The two main parties of the Spanish democracy, the Liberal-Conservative and the Democrat-Radical, merged with their Portuguese counterparts. The Republican Party reformed as the Partido Republicano Ibérico (Iberian Republican Party), even if they knew that the chance of getting any votes in Portugal was almost nil. The PSOE accepted the few Portuguese socialists in their party, but held off changing its name until it became necessary. Other parties appeared, such as the Portuguese People Party, opposed to total unification and advocating the independence of Portugal as soon as possible, although it was clear that support within Portugal would be limited, at least in the coming years.

The Constituent Courts were a clear Democrat-Radical victory, which gained a majority in both chambers. Despite this victory, however, they made sure that the Constitutional Convention was formed by people from the main parties, to make sure that everyone had a voice in the making of the new text of the fundamental law of the kingdom. The writing of the Constitution took but two months, since most of the work had been done already twenty-three years before.

The only parts that were modified were those that would directly be affected by the unification. Titles I (About Spaniards and their rights), II (About the Public Powers), IV (About the King), V (About the succession to the Crown and the Kingdom's Regence), VI (About the Ministers), VII (About the Judiciary Power) and IX (About the Contributions and Public Forces) remained unmodified, with only a few small changes to denote the Portuguese and Spanish people becoming part of the same nation.

Title III (About the Legislative Power) was modified to add a suggestion made by Democrat-Radical Senator Ramón de Campoamor, to enforce elections to take place roughly on the same weekend, in a system similar to that of the United States, and which would ensure that the elections were an actually regular affair. After some time, it was determined that elections would take place on the first Sunday of April every three years, something that was accepted by most of the Convention.

There were also modifications to change the size of the Congress and the Senate. Congress was now formed by more than 500 members, in accordance to the terms that established there was to be 1 Deputy for each 40,000 people, and even with 500 deputies each deputy was representing nearly 60,000 people. Meanwhile, the Senate would have to be diminished in size, because, at the rate of four senators per province, more than 300 would have to be crammed in the chamber. A debate ensued, and in the end an agreement was reached: the Congress would have its size fixed at 450 deputies, with each province having a number of deputies proportional to their population, and the Senate would have 2 senators per province, plus one more per Foral Region.

Title VIII (About Provincial Councils and Town Halls) was modified to include Foral Regions as part of the structure of the nation, with the two levels (Administrative and Political) included. It also defined the powers the Foral Regions had, and about the fact that those regions with political powers could have them superseded by the national government.

It was through Title VIII that the position of the Portuguese colonies in India, Macao and East Timor was determined. Being too far away from Europe, yet too small to become autonomous on their own, they were not fit for attaining Foral Region status. A suggestion by Fernão Pereira, one of the Portuguese representatives to the Constitutional Convention, was accepted: Portuguese India would eventually become its own political Foral Region, with its capital in Goa, while Macao and East Timor became part of the Philippines, much like Andorra had become part of Catalonia.

More changes were brought by the new constitution. Spanish and Portuguese became the nation's official languages. The Ministry of Public Instruction would have its hands full designing a new school curriculum that would include both languages for the entire territory, as well as history lessons, not to mention the hiring of new teachers, the construction or repairing of schools in Portugal, and many more things. Several editorials would make a killing by printing and selling Spanish-Portuguese dictionaries for schools, the bureaucracy and the general population. The proviso of regional languages was also done: regions where there was a second, widely-spoken language, would also be allowed to declare said language a co-official language, although, of course, it would be limited to said region.

Title X (About the Overseas Provinces) was changed completely: since Cuba and Puerto Rico already had their own autonomous government structures, as well as the Philippines, that part of the Constitution would be completely modified: now, Title X would be About the Symbols of the Nation.

The national flag was described as “red, yellow and blue, each stripe the same size”, a flag that combined the colors for Castile, Aragon and Portugal in one flag. It also detailed the dimensions the flag would have when it was hung in official buildings.

The coat of arms was described as “first quarter, quarterly Gules, a three towered castle Or, masoned sable and ajouré azure, and Argent, a lion rampant purpure crowned Or, langued and armed gules; second quarter, Argent, five escutcheons Azure, each charged with five plates Or, crosswise, a bordure Gules with seven Golden Castles; third quarter, Or, four pallets Gules; fourth quarter, Gules, a cross, saltire and orle of chains linked together Or, a centre point vert; enté en point, Argent, a pomegranate proper seeded gules, supported, sculpted and leafed in two leaves vert; overall inescutcheon, mullet of eight points, quarterly sable and argent; all surrounded by the chain of the Golden Fleece; helm, Or and precious stones, with eight rosettes, five visible, and eight pearls interspersed, closed at the top by eight diamonds also adorned with pearls and surmounted by a cross on a globe; supporters, Pillars of Hercules with a top of supporters, dexter a Nao, sinister a Caravel; placed on a double-headed eagle sable; placed on an armilar sphere; upper crest, tape Gules with Spain written in Hebrew, Latin and Arabic; lower crest, tape Vert with five Argent mullets of eight points; motto Plus Ultra.”

As for the hymn, it was decided that the music would be that of the Spanish hymn, the Royal March, but the lyrics were to be chosen through public contest, with people sending their lyrics and a jury formed by the King, a deputy from each Spain and Portugal, and six more people from the world of literature and music from each Spain and Portugal, forming a 15-strong committee that would pick the best lyrics. The contest would begin a month after the Constitution became official, and thousands of people from the entire nation would participate. In the end, the winning lyrics were an unlikely collaboration between two poets: Cuban José Martí and Granadino Ángel Ganivet, two men that had met in Seville during the Cuban War, symbolizing the union between all the Spanish people and the role the Cuban people (and, after them, the Puerto Ricans and Filipinos) had earned after many years. The lyrics themselves also sang to the nation's history, their role as a Great Power in the past and the rebirth of Spain after Leopoldo I's accession to the throne.

Las Españas / Están orgullosas
Del pueblo español / Que vuelve a resurgir
Gloria a la Patria / Que supo seguir
En orbe, tierra y mar / Sol, grandeza y libertad.
Las Españas / Luchan en unidad
Contra el invasor / Y el traidor a la nación.
Viva la Patria / Que en una unión
Juntó a mil grandes gentes / Y dio luz a muchas más.
Era Al-Andalus / Hispania o Sefarad
Ahora es Iberia / Águilas del cielo azul
Con la bandera / Roja, gualda, azul
Marchamos todos ya / Hacia un futuro mejor

(The Spains / Are proud
Of the Spanish people / That surges again
Glory to the Fatherland / That knew how to follow
In orb, land and sea / Sun, greatness and freedom.
The Spains / Fight united
Against the invader / And the betrayer of the nation,
Long live the Fatherland / Which in an union
United a thousand great people / And gave birth to many more.
It was Al-Andalus / Hispania or Sefarad,
Now it is Iberia / Eagles of the blue sky
With the flag / Red, yellow, blue
We march together / Towards a better future)

With this important part finished, the last thing to be decided was the name of the new nation. There were many possibilities, but each possibility had its own supporters and detractors. United Kingdom of Spain-Portugal was somewhat too long, and reminded the Portuguese too much of the British. Kingdom of Spain was a possibility, but it did not take into account the reality of Portugal having a different culture from Spain. Iberian Kingdom, or Kingdom of Iberia, did not sound as grand as it should be. Either way, using Kingdom as a name ignored the fact that the nation was born out of two previous nations, each with its own crown, so a more correct term would be Empire.

In the end, a choice was made, and, on October 12th 1892 (a date chosen for its historical importance, especially because that year was the fourth centenary of the discovery of America by Christopher Columbus), President Segismundo Moret, for the second time in that year, appeared on the balcony of the Governance Ministry in Puerta del Sol, and, like the previous time, many people welcomed him with cheers and applause, but this time Moret awaited for the people to calm down before starting his speech. Before that happened, Moret observed how it looked like a group of people were waving Spanish and Portuguese flags together, making him smile.

“Mis muy amados compatriotas. Hace cuatrocientos años, un grupo de marineros liderados por Cristóbal Colón descubrió un nuevo y misterioso continente al otro lado del océano Atlántico. Este nuevo mundo dio pie a uno de los más grandes periodos de la historia de España y Portugal, pues en America fue donde los dos países encontraron el punto de partida de sus imperios. Fue una desgracia el comportamiento de ambos países con los nativos, pero también fue una desgracia que ambos acabaran perdiendo sus imperios, hasta quedar reducidos a una parte de lo que antaño fueron.

“Hubo intentos en esa época de unificar las dos patrias, pero fueron todos infructuosos, ya que ninguna de ellas estaba preparada para tal cambio, y la gente de ambos lados cometió errores y tuvo equivocaciones, llevando a la separación una vez más.

“Sin embargo, hace seis meses, las gentes de España y Portugal decidieron, de mutuo acuerdo y por propia voluntad, que ambas fueran a partir de entonces por el mismo camino, unidas e iguales. Y ha sido hoy, Doce de Octubre de Mil Ochocientos Noventa y Dos, que este hecho se ha convertido en oficial. El Congreso de los Diputados acaba de votar, por unanimidad, a favor de la aprobación de la nueva Constitución de nuestra nación.

(My well beloved compatriots. Four centuries ago, a group of sailors led by Christopher Columbus discovered a new and mysterious continent at the other side of the Atlantic Ocean. This new world gave birth to one of the greatest periods of Spanish and Portuguese history, for it was in America where the two nations found the starting point of their empires. It was a disgrace, the way both nations dealt with the natives, but it was also a disgrace that both nations ended up losing their empires, until they were reduced to a small part of what they were then.

There were attempts, in that time, to unify the two nations, but all of them were unsuccessful, as neither of them were ready for the change, and people in both sides made mistakes and had equivocations, leading to separation once again.

However, six months ago, the people of Spain and Portugal decided, by mutual agreement and of their own volition, that both of them would go hence along the same path, united and equal. And it's been today, Twelfth of October of Eighteen Ninety-Two, that this fact has become official. The Congress of Deputies has voted, by unanimity, in favor of the new Constitution of our nation.)

“¡Viva España!”

“¡Viva!” said everyone in Plaza del Sol.

“¡Viva Portugal!”

“¡Viva!”

“¡Viva el Rey!”

“¡Viva!”

“¡Viva el Imperio Unido de las Españas!”

“¡Viva!”

The celebrations over the proclamation lasted the entire day.

 

[Milarqui]

Part IV – What Says The World?

The results of the unification referendum had an immediate reaction in many parts of the world.

Germany was one of the first nations to answer. Kaiser Friedrich III and Chancellor Otto von Bismarck signed a joint telegram for King Leopoldo I and President Moret, congratulating them for the success of the consult, wishing them good luck and presenting them the support of Germany in any event that may transpire out of the unification. They were soon followed by Romania, whose king, Carol I, was Leopoldo I's brother, and was glad to count on having a more powerful ally.

Italy soon joined Germany and Romania in congratulating the United Empire of the Spains. King Umberto I was keen on helping unified Iberia to preserve itself, and also to prevent the advance of Republicanism, which he had begun to feel hatred for since the murder of his sister, the previous Queen of Portugal. This, combined with his total disgust with anarchism, one of whose members had tried to murder him fourteen years before, had made Umberto a solid enemy of any anti-monarchist ideas. Belgium and Netherlands soon sent their congratulations as well, followed by the Nordic nations, which were looking at the united nation with interest, especially as a greater trading partner.

In the Americas, while nations such as Brazil, Peru and Bolivia issued congratulatory messages, some were a little more reluctant in doing so, such as Chile, still somewhat upset with Spain's support for its northern rivals during the Second Pacific War. The United States was not keen on the idea of recognizing the united nation: on one side, a stable Spain was a great potential partner, but, on the other side, a stable, unified Spain would be, not only unwilling to give up Cuba and Puerto Rico, but would also have the political, economical and military power to stop any attempts to force them to do so. Not being sure of what to do, the Americans decided to dither on the matter until such a time that it became clearer what should be done. In the meantime, they unofficially accepted the Spanish ambassador as representative of the new nation.

If there was, however, one place where the news of the unification were not received warmly, it was actually two: the United Kingdom and France. Since, in both nations, April 1st was the April Fools Day (or Poisson d'Avril), the day where practical jokes are played, many newspapers referenced the date with editorials where they called the unification “the best April Fools joke of the century”. However, Prime Minister Gladstone's and Premier Tirard's governments did not see as a joke, but as something that could destroy the delicate balance between the European nations that had held up since the Congress of Vienna of 1815, even after the coughs of the several European wars of the nineteenth century.

Thus, one of their first actions was to send a joint communique in which they demanded that the referendum was ignored, and that Portugal's independence became official and recognized by Spain, adducing that their demands were in consonance with the Quadruple Alliance of 1834, to help maintain the statu quo in the Iberian Peninsula. However, the Spanish diplomat corps (now formed by Spanish and Portuguese people) cleverly argued that the Quadruple Alliance had not existed since the marriage of Isabel II to Francisco de Asís, not to mention the French declaration of war and invasion of Spain in 1870 and Britain's actions that had led to the Portuguese Civil War.

Irked by this (mostly because it was true), the two nations kept their pressure during the following months, trying to enlist others to their attempt to dislodge Spain and Portugal. Russia, immersed in Aleksandr II's project to expand the franchise to every person in his nation, finally build the Trans-Siberian Railway and trying to cut off the nobility power, nonetheless agreed to send diplomats to join the British-French venture.

However, Spain was not alone in this. Germany and Italy imitated Russia, and sent representatives to what was fast becoming an international conference over the matter. The Americans also sent a representative, as well as Austria-Hungary. Others were not as interested in the matter, and thus did not attend the meeting.

In the city of Santiago de Compostela (where the temperature was fresh enough to hold meetings without sweating), representatives from the nations involved in the crisis met to determine a course of action to follow. Naturally, soon two camps were formed. On the one side, the pro-unification camp, formed by Spain, Italy, Germany and Austria-Hungary, which argued the legality of the voting and that the entire affair had been blown out of proportion by the French and English governments. On the other side, France, United Kingdom and Russia, stating their previous argument that the Spanish-Portuguese unification was the recipe for disaster in Europe, as it unbalanced power in the continent. In the middle, the United States tried not to get drawn into any of the two sides.

Initially, neither side was willing to cede at all (although the Russian representatives were not that interested in the whole thing). However, as time passed, it became clearer that the position of the pro-unification side was firmer, especially as it became clear to French and British agents that unification was becoming quite accepted in Spain, and there were not problems save for a few discontents in both sides of the old border.

The French and British representatives, with the support of their governments, decided that, if they couldn't stop the unification, they could at least gain something out of the negotiations. Thus, they tried to reach a backroom deal with the Spanish: France and the United Kingdom would recognize the unified nation if they ceded former Portuguese India and Sabah to the United Kingdom and Gambia and Oran to France.

In the next official meeting of the Santiago Conference (as it had been dubbed in the international press) the Spanish representative politely declined the French-British offer, and then sardonically offered another deal: Spain would recognize France's absorption of Burgundy if they gave up Senegal, and the United Kingdom's formation if they ceded the land between Angola and Moçambique they had extorted out of Portugal through the Treaty of London.

There was much anger among the French and British representatives, although the others had a good laugh at what had been clearly a joke on the part of the Spanish representative. Only when the latter explained the reason behind his “offer” (to point out that the initial offer was not acceptable, although he could have said so with less polite words) did they calm, although they still felt insulted by the Spanish answer. When the British government demanded an apology for this, the Spanish replied that the British-French team had insulted Spain first, and thus they had replied in kind.

Among some minds in London had already circled the idea of bluffing, like they had done with Portugal two years before, on the possibility of declaring war on Spain, in order to prevent unification from taking place, while offering the Portuguese people political and military support for leaving the union. However, the last action by the Spanish representatives had sparked some anger in the politicians, and they were more willing to carry on with the idea. They sent orders to the fleet in Gibraltar to prepare for any possibility, and gave the Spaniards several veiled threats over the matter, in order to force Spain to back down.

This event backfired: instead of accepting the offer, Spain readied itself for war. The event was highly publicized, and soon most of Europe knew that the British had hypocritically threatened war despite their supposed claims of trying to avoid it. Diplomatic pressure from many points in Europe, as well as from inside, was what finally made cooler heads prevail among the British government, and they slowly backed off, as it became clearer that both Spanish and Portuguese desired the unification, and the latter were too ticked off with the British to even think about the idea of accepting their help for any reason, much less to prevent something they wanted.

It would still be several months until the French and the British gave up, even after the proclamation of the Constitution of 1892, but, finally, in February 1893, the two governments gave up their demands, although in their official communications to their people they made it look like they were making a big favor to the newly unified nation by allowing them to exist.

Unfortunately, the move did little to help reduce the tensions within Europe. If anything, the Iberian Crisis had not done much but to increase them, slowly pushing most European nations into two blocks, the British-French-Russian-led Entente against the Austro-German-Italian-Spanish-led Alliance. It was clear to everybody that a war was brewing in Europe: now, it was just a matter of when and why this war would happen.

 

[Milarqui]

Part V – Secret and Public Deals

King Napoleon IV of Corsica, and would-be Emperor of France, saw the events in continental Europe with great interest. The last years had been kind to the small island: they had managed to keep their independence against the French, keep their economy under check, establish a trading relationship with other nations (even a few French traders that did not care much about their government's claims of Corsica being a “province in rebellion” visited the Corsican ports) and managed to create their own army, which, although small, was well trained. Its hour of glory had been the invasion of Tunisia, led by the King himself, to establish a colony, small as it was, in the African continent.

Personally, Napoleon IV was happier with the fact that him and his wife, Maria del Pilar, were parents of three children: Isabel, the eldest, was now ten years old; Louis, the heir to the throne, was seven, and Letizia, the youngest, had just become three. He wanted, more than anything, to ensure that the three of them enjoyed the standing of being European princes, and for Louis to inherit the crown. For that, Corsica could either attempt to remain neutral – a chimera, considering France's ambitions and demands – or to ally with France's enemies to be protected. Ironically, this meant that Corsica's best chance of survival was to gain the support of those that had killed his father in battle, the Germans.

When he was younger, he hated those he held responsible for his exile: the Germans and the Spaniards for fighting the war, and the French for forcing him and his family to abandon their homeland. Age had, however, tempered him, and now, while he still held dislike for the three nations, he was able to push that aside when it was a matter of keeping his family, his crown and Corsica safe, none of which would be safe if France invaded. He truly desired for his nation to maintain a stance of neutrality in international affairs, like Switzerland or Sweden, but it was increasingly clear that it was going to be an impossible task.

It was, thus, a surprise, when Pío Gullón Iglesias, Spanish Minister of Foreign Affairs, received the visit of Sampieru Padovani, who was the unofficial Corsican ambassador to Spain – Corsica's status being still in a sort of limbo between formal independence and “rebelling province of the Kingdom of France” – and brought with him an offer from his government: the possibility of establishing closer ties between Corsica and the Alliance.

Minister Gullón replied that he could not make such an important decision without consulting the President and their German allies, but internally he knew of the importance of this: if Corsica became an ally, they could be the place of another possible naval base if there was another war with France, and it would pretty much allow them to dominate the Western Mediterranean Sea, especially when combined with the support of Italy. However, the mere act of accepting Corsica into the Alliance would certainly anger France, and, as much as the Alliance governments disliked the French, they did not want to risk a war in a moment when it was not exactly advisable to do so.

Understandably, none of the governments felt very enthusiastic about the idea. They could see the advantages of accepting such an alliance, but at the same time they were not keen on sparking a war that was completely inadvisable in the current situation. They did, however, know that, if the current French feelings of revenge remained for too much time, they would eventually crystallize into a desire for war, so, if they had more support, they could not ignore it.

Thus, they stroke an agreement with Corsica, an agreement that would remain secret for as long as possible. The Alliance nations were willing to sell weapons to Corsica for a good price, as well as provide training for Corsicans that could, eventually, fulfill the role of advisors for the Corsican Army.

Corsica was not the only nation interested in the recent happenings. Japan was currently in the middle of a war of influences with Russia over China, trying to take control of the resource rich region of Manchuria. Japan desired to control this territory as the means to feed its growing empire. They had already begun steps to take control of Korea, which they had recently signed several treaties with that they expected would be the first step towards control of the region.

However, they knew that Manchuria would be a tougher nut to crack, especially due to Russia's expansion in the Far East thanks to the efforts of the government, which, at the instance of Aleksandr II and his son Aleksandr III, had made one of its priorities the construction of a railway line between Saint Petersburg and the young, but important, town of Vladivostok, the center of Russian expansion in the region. The Trans-Siberian Railway had yet to be finished, but it was believed that it would be finished before the end of the century.

Thus, it was of interest for Japan to gain a permanent presence in the continent before Russia could cut them off. And their chance came soon.

In Korea, a peasant rebellion began, and the number of people uprising against the Korean Emperor made it possible that they could topple the government down, so the Koreans asked the Chinese to send troops to help put the uprising down. The Beiyang Army was sent to Korea in order to take care of the problem.

In a treaty that Japan and China had signed several years before, both nations had compromised to warn each other if they sent troops to Korea. Although the Chinese government had indeed sent a message to their Japanese counterparts to tell them about the troop movement, the Japanese decided to claim that this message had never been received and thus Japan was perfectly within its rights to send an army to “help” the Koreans against the invading Chinese.

However, this army was issued a set of orders that was not what the Japanese had claimed: they marched onto Seoul and captured the Emperor and the government, replacing the latter with one formed by pro-Japanese Korean nobles. The new government decided to break off all deals and treaties they had made with China and placed upon Japan the role of protector of Korea, asking the Japanese to expel the Chinese Beiyang Army from Korea. There began the Sino-Japanese War.

Over the following nine months, the Japanese troops showed their superiority over the Chinese armies, smashing them in several battles where the latter showed even more problems than those they had had a decade before, during the Sino-French War: lack of collaboration between armies, lack of modern weaponry (owed mostly to the corruption and embezzlement of the funds required for the buying of said weaponry), almost endemic low morale...

Even with everything set against them, the Chinese were able to inflict thousands of casualties to the Japanese, as well as prevent them from advancing as fast as they would like to, but it was impossible for them to totally stop their enemy.

One incident marred Japan's image in front of the whole world. The First Army, when they moved for the city of Lüshunkou in the Liaodong peninsula, taken a few weeks before, in order to take a ship in order to be transported to another place, found the city to be again in the hands of the Chinese. To their fury, it turned out that the many injured soldiers that had been left behind, as well as the small garrison that had been there as well, had been ignominiously killed by the locals, who had then taken over the city once more.

The locals were not used to actual combat, though, and they were defeated by the Japanese soldiers in only a few hours. What came after was the most horrible moment of the whole war: the Lüshunkou Massacre. The Japanese First Army, in a frenzy over the murder of their injured companions, chose to answer this affront to their honor with a ferocious attack upon the local population, killing more than three quarters of it and subjugating most of the rest to humiliating punishments. Although the practice of killing civilian hostages for the resistance of soldiers acting outside the laws of war was not unknown in Europe, the brutality of the massacre became a stain on Japan's honor that would take years, if not decades, to erase.

Still, this did not stop Japan from continuing with their advance. Seven months into the war, with the Japanese navy reigning supreme in the Yellow Sea, and the army advancing into Manchuria without a problem, the Chinese government had no other choice but to ask for peace terms.

The terms were quite harsh. In the Treaty of Fukuoka, China was forced to recognize Korea's independence (which, in practice, meant transferring vassalage of Korea to Japan), cede the Liaodong and Shandong peninsulas to Japan in perpetuity (giving Japan almost complete control of ship traffic into, and out of, the Yellow Sea), pay 200 million Kuping taels (approximately 7.5 tons) of silver in concept of war indemnities and open five ports to Japanese trade, which was also to be subjected to smaller tariffs.

This treaty scared the Russians, because it threatened their position in the east. With the Trans-Siberian railway still unfinished, and colonization of the Pacific coast still ongoing, the Japanese victory and the treaty placed Japan in a privileged position, threatening their own chance to take advantage of China's weaknesses for their own resource needs. They started, then, to search for ways to pressure the Japanese into abandoning their territorial gains, especially the Liaodong peninsula, which could become a strategic port for the Russian Pacific Navy, thus reducing the potential problems of concentrating on a port in Vladivostok, the only warm port Russia laid claim to in the Pacific Ocean.

Through the treaty they had signed three years before, the Russians were able to ensure the French government supported them on the matter, even if the French were not interested in the territory (as their interests in China laid in their southern territories). The United Kingdom was only interested in preserving its current spheres of influence within China, and chose to remain neutral in the affair. No other European nation decided to side with the Russians in the matter, because, for most of them, Japan was either too far to affect them, or they simply were not interested in supporting the Russian demands.

When the Russian ambassador met with the Japanese government, though, it was with the surprise of encountering the fact that both Germany and Spain, friends and allies of Japan since the 1870s, were supporting Japanese control over Liaodong and Shandong, as Japan had agreed to support German and Spanish territorial concessions in the weakened China. Germany, especially, was quite interested in the Jiaozhou Bay, which was near to, but not within, Japanese territory in Shandong, and hoped to be able to use it as a naval base and trade port to introduce its products into China.

The intervention was quite unfruitful for Russia, which had expected to be able to force the Japanese navy to evacuate the Liaodong peninsula only for them to then use their Pacific fleet to occupy the city of Lüshunkou and force the Chinese to accept it as a Russian naval base. Instead, they got two nations whose navies could destroy theirs, and then some, even after the reforms passed by Aleksandr II. However, the Japanese were willing to negotiate with the Russians.

In exchange of Russia accepting the Treaty of Fukuoka, Japan would acquiesce with supporting Russia's sphere of influence in Manchuria. In another deal, Japan also agreed with Germany to support a claim in Jiaozhou in exchange of their support. Spain would also eventually gain concessions in China, to be added to Macau, although such a place had yet to be decided.

This marked the beginning of the Invasion of China, a period of time in which the foreign nations would bully the once powerful empire into “allowing” them to administer certain regions. Chinese initial attempts to prevent this were unfruitful, but, with time, and as the people's consciousness over their national identity began to grow, things would begin to change... although that was still in the future.

 

[Milarqui]

Part VI – South of the Straits

Back in Spain, the unification process was in its last stages by 1896. The reforms brought to Portugal had been slowly changing the territory. New factories were being built, bringing jobs to the unemployed. Trade across the former border increased with the disappearance of tariffs. The cities of Lisbon and Porto, among others, saw the growth of their ports as more ships, coming from all parts of the empire, as well as southern and central America. The army was merged with the Spanish Army, trained up to better standards, and given better weaponry. The navy followed suit. There was even a source of pride for the Portuguese when the first full-Portuguese Tercio Especial, the Rei Afonso, in honor of the assassinated king.

Of course, other changes had been brought that were not as liked by the Portuguese. For example, the loss of Lisbon's status as the capital, which meant that most of its power was lost to Madrid as it was the capital of the Empire, although it still kept several administrative powers because it was the capital of the region of Portugal (the central third of the territory of Portugal). It did gain the role of biggest port of the Empire, which was an economic boon many expected would last for a lot of time.

Other parts of Portugal also became important. For example, Angola, Moçambique and Goa became fundamental points in trade with Goa and the Philippines, as well as in any potential military strategy that made it impossible for the Navy to use the Suez Canal. Plans were made, and funds allocated, to the construction of a naval base in São Miguel, the Açores' biggest island, akin to what Bermuda was to the United Kingdom. A telegraphic network also connected the archipelago to the mainland, both to communicate daily and as an advanced base/warning station in case of war.

That was not to say that Spain had been left untouched. Cadiz, Ferrol and Cartagena, the main Spanish shipyards, were improved with the most modern tools and machines, allowing the construction of new ships with which to replace the last wooden ships of the Spanish Navy, with the last of them to be retired in 1898. Railroads connected the bigger towns and cities, and dirt roads were created to connect the smaller towns to them. Factories, big and small, gave jobs to many people. Victory, in 1895, of the Democrat-Radical Party, assured that reforms would continue.

The peace was not to last forever, unfortunately.

It all began in North Africa, within the Sultanate of Morocco. Although nominally independent, Morocco had, under the terms of the Conference of Berlin, fallen within the sphere of influence of Spain. For the Sultanate, it pretty much meant that any foreign trading agreements had to go through the Spanish government, a situation that was quite disliked by their government, but, given the Spanish superiority in arms and economy, there was little that could be done. The trade was not completely one-sided: some of the most progressive members of the Spanish business circle decided to work with local rich men in the exploitation of natural resources, employing locals and, following the example of Manuel Agustín Heredia, funding schools for their workers, who would slowly become the core of a pro-Spanish faction in Morocco.

However, the events that destroyed the peace took place near the Mediterranean coast, in the Rif, a mountainous region that was populated by the Riffians, nomads that resisted any attempt to control them, and that were quite able in the art of guerrilla warfare. Slavery was still legal in Morocco, despite efforts by the Spanish Ambassador to convince the Sultan to outlaw the practice and trade, and thus the Riffians also followed the practice. Thus, when, in March 1896, they captured a party of Spanish merchants that was traveling from Melilla to Al-Hoceima, they acted as typical and took the entire group away with the intention of selling them into slavery.

However, one of the women, called Nadia Martínez [1], a local woman that was married to one of the captured Spanish merchants and converted to Catholicism, managed to escape, and survived for long enough to return to Melilla, where she was able to warn Governor Jaime Illescas [1] about the attack.

The political storm soon did what was though nearly impossible: to unite the entire Congress of Deputies behind the same idea. A resolution to demand the Sultanate of Morocco to punish the Riffians for their kidnapping of Spanish citizens and make restitution of the goods lost in the attack was approved by unanimity by the Congress. Francisco Maura [2], who had become the Foreign Affairs Minister after the 1895 elections (as part of the government led by his brother's brother-in-law Germán Gamazo), instructed the Spanish Ambassador to Morocco, Martín Granollers [1], to give the Moroccan government an ultimatum: either the Moroccan attacked the Riffians and allowed Spanish troops to enter the Rif to search for the kidnapped people, or Spain would declare war.

Some of Sultan Hassan's advisors assured him that Morocco could easily win the war, as Allah would surely be by their side, and Moroccan numbers would be superior to whatever technology the Spanish could use. However, the Sultan knew that it was a classic damned-if-you-do-damned-if-you-don't situation: if he chose to reject the Spanish demands, they would bring a war that Morocco was ill-prepared to fight, but, if he accepted, it would mean that Spain would further interfere in Morocco's affairs. He chose to cave in, for once choosing what would mean the least damage to his nation and his people.

A month after the incident, the Royal Moroccan Army was sent to the Rif, with orders to find the main cabilas in the region and begin a punishment attack against them. Meanwhile, two divisions of the Spanish Army, and four platoons of the Tercios Especiales, were sent to Melilla, and were soon on the warpath towards the last known position of the kidnappers. The support of the Tercios, as well as that of a few locals that had also suffered attacks by the cabilas, was important. Squad 2 of the Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar was fundamental in the deployment, for it was them that found the few traces that remained from the Riffians.

The next three months were a long drawn affair, a punishment expedition in which many men of the cabilas died in fruitless attacks against the Spanish positions, although these battles between Riffians and Spaniards also took several Spanish lives. Nevertheless, the Spanish advance was inexorable, and they eventually managed to capture the cabila that had attacked the merchants. Unfortunately, not all of the merchants had survived: three men and two women had been killed, and the rest had been tortured since their capture.

Most of the men in the enslaving cabila were killed on the spot for what they had done, and the others were arrested and taken away for their role. Women, children and the elders were offered a chance at living in Melilla, probably as a way to compensate for the deaths of the men. A few rejected the offer, preferring to join other cabilas, at least those that had not been punished in the Moroccan Army's incursions.

The influence exerted by the Spanish government on the Moroccans slowly began to increase after this event. In 1 Muharram 1314 AH [3] in the Islamic calendar, the Sultan approved a decree that established the manumission of all slaves in Morocco would happen within three years, a measure that was not welcomed by the nobles and the most traditional members of society, who saw it as a weak man being manipulated by a group of foreign heathens. A few months later, the situation worsened after the lowering of tariffs against Spanish products was implemented, and the appointment of Spanish General Antonio de Sanz Figueroa [1] as advisor to the Royal Army for its modernization, and the nobles started to conspire together. They had to get rid of all foreign influence on the Sultan, so that he could retract from the changes he had been forced to carry out and return Morocco to its previous prosperity (or, rather, return them to their previous prosperity and power, although, of course, none of them stated that part in public).

It was not a difficult task to find other nobles that would join their conspiracy: no, the difficult thing was in finding soldiers to carry out the intended attacks against Spanish objectives and to occupy the Sultan's palace to “protect” him from such undue influence. They did easily find several officers that had been downgraded by the Spanish general and some soldiers that were fanatic enough to do it, but it would take a lot of time until there were enough people. The fact that the conspiracy was able to reach the final stage was because both the care the nobles took and because the Spanish spy network in the region had become complacent and sloppy, and important details escaped their attention or didn't but were not brought to the attention of the higher echelons.

The day chosen by the nobles to begin their attack was 1 Shawwâl 1315 [4]. They expected to use the small confusion in the first day after Ramadan ended to achieve their objectives, and they ensured everyone in the conspiracy stayed ready and prepared for starting their attack on the dawn.

The occupation of the Sultan's palace was easy. Given their status as nobles, it was easy for the conspirators to enter. They then rushed towards the Sultan's chambers with a few of their soldiers, telling the Sultan that they had heard there was a conspiracy aimed at killing him, and that they were there to protect him with their lives, if it was needed. The Sultan, grateful for this, but worried nonetheless, sent a messenger to General Sanz de Figueroa, to prepare the army, but the nobles stopped the messenger and gave him a different message that ordered Sanz de Figueroa to abandon his position and give it to one of the conspirators. By the time the Sultan realized he had been duped, he was a prisoner in his own palace and the nobles had the control of most of the capital and of many other cities.

The Spanish embassy, Spanish houses and factories and some ships that were docked in ed-dār el-Bidā (better known as Casablanca) were attacked by frenzied mobs led by traditionalist clerics, that had inflamed them with speeches that decried the growing Spanish influence as the work of Shaitan (the Arabic word for Satan) and that it was their job to destroy them so that Allah once more blessed Morocco. The ambassador himself was brutally murdered by stoning, and some businessmen died in other, equally horrible ways. The few survivors were so because they happened to be away from their homes, or because they were protected by the workers that had been given jobs and an education through their efforts.

Unfortunately for the conspirators, they were unable to succeed in every front. Sanz de Figueroa, suspecting something was amiss after he read the message, chose to put the infantry and cavalry within Fez on alert, and made sure that telegrams were sent to other cities and army posts to place them on alert as well. During the last two years, he had made sure to instill in most of the soldiers and officers loyalty towards the Sultan and himself, never looking down at them, as he saw them not as inferior people, but as soldiers that simply lacked good training and weaponry. Within the day, the army was ready and alert to prevent further problems, and, although several units deserted to join the nobles, most of it stayed loyal.

The nobles tried to counter this by directing mobs towards arsenals, expecting that they would be able to overwhelm the soldiers with numbers, but tactics that they had either learned themselves or through the advisors brought by General Sanz de Figueroa proved better most of the time, forcing the people away from the arsenals. Only in a couple of occasions did the rioters enter the arsenals, allowing them to be armed, although the nobles did not realize that possession did not equal mastery, and soon formed armies with the rioters, commanded by the officers that had joined the conspiracy.

The Moroccan Civil War lasted a month, pitting the Moroccan Royal Army against the rebels. Ironically, both sides claimed to fight in the name of the Sultan, who was/had been imprisoned by the other side of the war. There were few pitched battles, and all of them fell to the side of the better armed and led Royal Army, which was also supported by Spain. The nobles were only able to gain weapons by stealing them or thanks to smugglers that traveled from French Algeria – the French were quite willing to do things that might destabilize Spanish control of their territories in Africa, but not that willing to do something that might spark a war for which they were not prepared.

In the end, the overwhelming might of the Moroccan Royal Army and the support of the Spanish forces was too much for the nobles to face. Many cities fell to both external pressure and internal insurrection, particularly as news of what the nobles had actually done spread around. One particular instance saw the city Jews work together with people from the rising Moroccan middle class to open the gates to the army.

The last city to fall was Marrakesh, where the nobles had fortified themselves, hoping that something – divine intervention, a war declared against Spain, insurrection by the people in the cities held by the Spaniards – would give them a second wind to finish what they had begun. But it was in vain, and by the time Dhū al-Qaʿda [5] started, the city had fallen and the nobles had been imprisoned. The nobles were then judged for their crimes of treason and uprising against the Caliph and condemned to death by stoning, while most of their possessions were expropriated to pay to the victims of their crimes.

The consequences of the Moroccan Civil War were many. For example, Spanish influence in the Sultanate increased even more, as the people were grateful for the intervention of the Spanish army and navy in ensuring that the war was short, and also when, in a decision that had had little precedent before, the government decided to aid in the reconstruction and improvement of the lost infrastructure. The Sultan, grateful for the fact that they had saved him, allowed these moves.

It was also a victory for those that had argued in favor of taking the long term approach to Morocco, as the improvement to Morocco's industry had aided in establishing a pro-Spanish base within the Sultanate, and the inclusion of General Sanz de Figueroa as part of the Moroccan Royal Army had ensured that most of it would be opposed to the coup.

Another consequence was that, as the role of the Jewish community in the war became better known, an undercurrent of support for the Jew people became bigger, especially in light of several events that were taking place in France, where a wave of antisemitism had poisoned many people's view of the Jews within, particularly after the accusation that a Jew officer called Alfred Dreyfus had been accused of spying for Germany and passed them important military secrets. Consequently, many Jews left France, either because of the pressure put on them by neighbors or because they felt nauseated by what was happening.

The Liberal-Conservative government led by Francisco Silvela, elected in the 1898 elections, really liked the idea of pulling one over the French, so they decided to support the Jews in France and, with the support of the Democrat-Radical opposition, passed the Ley del Retorno, which opened the way for all Sephardi Jews to not only return to Spain, but also to gain Spanish nationality in account of their ascendency.

Thousands of Jews in Levant, north Africa and Western Europe traveled to Spanish territories, hoping to either escape persecution in their birthplaces, to make a name for themselves in the resurgent Spanish nation or simply because they had always dreamed to be able to return to their ancestors' land. One small factor in this change was the fact that the Spanish flag had included a reference to its Jewish past in the coat of arms, something that was loved by those that made the travel.

Reactions in other parts of Europe did not wait much. In France, particularly, the fact that so many Jew people were leaving to go live in more tolerant Spain was not well received, as some extremist politicians even accused them all of being traitors and of collaborating with Spain during all the misfortunes that had hit France in the last years, many times forgetting that the French Jews had many times supported the nation during those misfortunes.

They were welcomed in Spain, though, and many of them, and their descendants, would indeed become important to Spanish society, as part of the legacy they had inherited from the Jews that had been expelled in 1492 became once more part of the Spanish culture.

[1] Invented names.
[2] Antonio Maura's brother. In TTL, Antonio Maura became a lawyer and ended up marrying Constancia Gamazo (as in RL), but he never followed Germán Gamazo into politics. Francisco was, in RL, a painter, but in here he becomes a politician as part of the Democrat-Radical Party. Interestingly, in RL both Antonio Maura and Germán Gamazo started as part of the left-wing Liberal Party, but moved towards the right later in their lives.
[3] June 12th 1896
[4] February 23rd 1898. I would have chosen February 15th as a joke (you know, USS Maine), but that date was in the middle of the Ramadan, and I doubt the nobles would have risked their plot failing because their soldiers couldn't eat nor drink while they were in a fight.
[5] The eleventh month of the Islamic calendar, directly after Shawwâl.

END OF CHAPTER SEVEN​

Author Notes: I'm not very happy with this chapter, particularly with the new Spanish hymn. When I first wrote it, I thought it was quite good, but time changes things, and now I think it is a bit awkward, particularly the last verses. Also, I have the feeling that I have left a lot of things unattended due to each chapter concentrating on only a few issues. For example, I haven't written about the USA, or the Boer colonists, or how the Ottoman Empire is dealing with the Balkans, or northern Europe... many things have been left unsaid.

The next chapter, hopefully, will help in putting some of those things back in the story.

It will not be a chapter like the others, but, as I said before, a "Where Are They Now", but not only for people, but for nations, culture, science, etcetera. I suggest you that you tell me which people you would like to read about. So far, I have planned to write about Winston Churchill, Bismarck, Alfonso de Borbón (would-be Alfonso XII), Tsar Aleksandr II and his heir, Napoleon IV, Cánovas, Theodore Roosevelt, Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov...

I hope that, in spite of the missing things, you like this chapter!
​

 

[Milarqui]

An End Of The Century Summary​

In the last thirty years, since the proclamation of Leopold zu Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen as King of Spain, many things have changed, some for the better, some for the worse, but nonetheless changed. In this summary, we will speak about the current status of the world: its most powerful nations, people that were or will be influential in the coming century, cultural and scientific developments of the end of the century, and, of course, Spain.

Part I: The Nations that Control the World​

Europe

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland is still the most powerful nation in the planet. Ruling over territories in every continent that account for a quarter of Earth’s landmass, a robust economy thanks to the many resources they have access to, and a large population that accounts for nearly a fifth of the world population, they can certainly boast without lying about that. This, combined with the powerful force that is the Royal Navy, the largest navy of the world, means that their capacity to project power anywhere is certainly powerful. However, if there is one weakness to be pointed out, it is the British Army, much smaller than that of their fellow European powers, but this gets partially compensated thanks to their intense training. While their diplomatic power remains strong, it has weakened in sight of the events that have taken place in the last decade, particularly the Portuguese Civil War, but also the still on-going Boer Wars, where the British have used scorched-earth tactics and internment camps to defeat the Boers’ guerrilla campaigns. Although successful, the many deaths caused by this system among the civilian population that was interned in those camps have been met with great criticism abroad and at home. As Victoria’s time as Queen of the United Kingdom approaches its end (at age 81, even she knows her death is nearby), the United Kingdom looks towards the 20th Century as the time where their power may either remain uncontested or be challenged by up-and-coming nations.

One of these nations is the German Empire. Although it is the second youngest nation in Europe (just behind the United Empire of the Spains), Germany is probably the most influential nation in the continent due to the dual victories of the Hohenzollerns’ War of 1870 and the Berlin Conference of 1885, both of which placed the nation, and Otto von Bismarck with it, at the center of European diplomacy. Currently, Germany boasts of having the most technologically advanced, most powerful army in the world, capable of fighting any enemy in the world, although this does get compensated with the lack of a great navy capable of fighting their rivals in the west, that their Spanish and Italian allies are more than capable of helping with. Their economy, although having suffered some downturns in the last decade, remains strong and capable of working for the good of the country. The influence of Emperor Friedrich III has been widely noted in most spheres: in the time since his crowning, the Emperor has worked to turn the German Empire into a more liberalized country, taking advantage of Bismarck’s retirement in 1892 to lead the reform of the Imperial Constitution and turn the German government into a British-style cabinet, thus reducing his role in politics to that of constitutional monarch, as well as championing for the increase of rights for the main population of the Empire. This has made him very popular among the low and middle classes in the Empire, although some in the most conservative sectors of society fear that this might eventually fire against them. Meanwhile, The German Empire does now face the 20th Century with the conviction that becoming the most powerful nation in the world is at their hand.

Opposed to them remains the Third French Kingdom. Revanchism remains part of the French psyche, even after two coups and subsequent changes of type of government. The loss of territories that they consider theirs to their neighbors has heavily weighed in their minds, even three decades after the end of the Hohenzollerns’ War, particularly because it also indirectly caused the loss of Corsica in a rebellion. However, this, fortunately for the French people, has not meant that the government is concentrated exclusively in that issue. While the economy has slowed down in the last years, it is still going strong, a collateral effect of the economic policies France had to carry out in the 1870s. The expansion of the colonial empire has been a source of national pride for the French people, although the de facto independence of Corsica remains a large affront to their pride, along with the Dreyfus Affair, that has divided society and all but drove the Jewish people out of France. Still, the presence of King Philippe VIII at the helm of the nation has kept things relatively stable, and with everyone doing their best to work for the improvement of their nation, they hope to see, in the 20th century, how their enemies may be defeated and France restored to its former glory.

One nation that has a very uncertain future is the Dual Monarchy of Austria-Hungary. The attempts of past years of keeping the Empire together through the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867 have slowly eroded away any sense of unity between its two halves, with Austria and Hungary now joined only by the figure of the Emperor and its joint economic, foreign and military policies, while keeping everything else separate, something many politicians understand may cause great trouble in the times that are coming, particularly considering Emperor Franz Joseph's authoritarian nature. While their economy grows quite well, thanks to their industrial development, it remains behind that of other nations due to the lateness of its initiation. One important matter that has surged in the last years is the appearance and growth of a new political faction that seeks the integration of the Empire into one political entity by looking at the successful efforts carried out by the Spanish government in integrating the Spanish and Portuguese people in the framework of a newly unified nation, not to mention what has been done to ensure the permanence of such disparate elements as Cuba, Puerto Rico and the Philippines within their empire. The new century may be either the death of the Dual Monarchy or its salvation.

A country that would love to see such a thing happening is the Kingdom of Italy. Although, nominally, they are allied to Austria-Hungary, the Italians see their continued possession of Trieste and the Trentino as an insult to their national pride, particularly in the eyes of the Irredentists, who also look towards Savoy and Nice with the wish that the Count of Cavour had not had to allow referendum to take place in both cities. They see their relation with the German Empire and the United Empire of the Spains with warmer eyes, though, as both nations have supported her in important matters such as the colonization of Africa, and they, in turn, have returned that support, which was seen especially in the Santiago Conference of 1892 that saw the recognisance, by the United Kingdom and France, of the United Empire of the Spains' legitimacy. Looking towards the Ottoman territory of Tripolitania and the Kingdom of Ethiopia with avid eyes, they hope to be able to continue expanding their colonial territory in Africa and increase their status in the eyes of the world. With King Umberto at the helm, they enter the 20th century between the eagerness for a war that may return Italy to the glory that was Rome.

The last three decades have been most kind to the Russian Empire. The reforms initiated by Tsar Aleksandr II, nicknamed “The Liberator” and “The Great” by the Russian people, have transformed the old Empire of the Rus into a nation that none of his ancestors would recognise. The Duma, created in 1881 as a consultive body, by the end of the century has become the parliament of all Russians and the minorities, some of which have also been granted autonomy by the Tsars, such as Finland or Poland. Industrialization has brought modernity to many parts of the Empire. The political power of the nobles has been severely curtailed by the reforms of 1889, and their economic power, although still strong, has been challenged by the rising bourgeoisie and the former serfs. The democratization of the country has allowed the legalization of many political parties, such as Narodnaya Volya, which, even after the attempt to kill Aleksandr II by one of its extremist wings, has survived to become a powerful political force. The colonization of Siberian lands has allowed for easier communication with the Pacific coast and the city of Vladivostok. However, tensions remain with other powers, such as Germany in the west and Japan in the east. With their entrance into the 20th century twelve days later than in the Western world, will Russia continue to be great or will it end up dying in spite of the efforts of so many people?

The Ottoman Empire, as much as some people within would like to think otherwise, remains the “Sick Man of Europe” with great reason. The timid attempts of reform at the beginning of Abdul Hamid II's reign in the Empire had been crushed by the suspension of both the Ottoman parliament and the Kanûn-u Esâsî (“Basic Law” in Turkish) of 1876 by the Sultan, who has reigned as an absolute monarch since 1878. The few steps taken by Abdul Hamid II to modernize its nation, such as the reform of the bureaucracy or the first steps to connect Istanbul with Mecca by railway, have been unable to help the Ottomans recover from the large territorial losses they have suffered in the Balkans. The improving relationship with the German Empire has helped in the improvement of the army and the navy, although this has not corresponded by the appearance of a great local industrial sector that would signify an actual modernization of the Ottoman economy. The massacres of people belonging to Armenia or to other minorities have also done great damage to the Ottoman Empire in the international sphere, which looks at them with horror at the brutality by which the people who sought equality within the Empire were instead killed without remorse. The many disturbances that have hit the Ottoman Empire do not seem to have an ending, and it is an expanded belief that, unless something happens that drastically changes the situation, the Ottoman Empire will die at some point, but soon, within the 20th Century.

Other European nations continue with their lives, falling into either the British-French or the German orbits, or simply trying to remain independent in the middle of what some think is the unavoidable approach to another great war in Europe, on the level of what happened during the Napoleonic Wars. Corsica’s attempts to fortify its independence from France are becoming successful, as trade with Spain and Italy are bringing in everything Corsica cannot produce internally, and the conquest of Tunisia was finalized by an army personally led by Napoleon IV in 1896. In the Balkans, Serbia remains committed to the possibility of joining all Slavic nations in the south under a same flag, and has sought the support of Russia, while Romania remains tied by links of friendship and family (as its king, Carol I, is Leopoldo I of Spain's brother) with the Alliance formed by Germany, Austria, Spain and Italy, especially considering the Russian bear looking at them as a possibility to continue expanding towards Constantinople. Elsewhere, nations such as Belgium or the Swedish-Norwegian Union remain neutral to the alliance system that has started to develop in the continent, while benefitting from that by selling natural resources to both sides.

Asia

The last few years have shown the Qing Empire of China to be a weak nation, in spite of its great size and glorious past. The recent defeats in wars against European nations (the Opium Wars and the Sino-French War) and against the Japanese have opened the way to other nations to enforce unequal treaties on the Chinese government. All nations with power projection into the Pacific, have managed to gain enclaves and ports in China, allowing them to sell the products of their factories to the Chinese people at lower prices. However, winds of change are blowing through the nation. Following the death of Empress Dowager Cixi in strange circumstances in 1895, the Guangxu Emperor, allied with a growing progressive faction in the Grand Council and the most moderate conservatives, has started a series of reforms aimed at modernizing the nation, ensuring that, eventually, it might be able to stand up to the foreign invaders, perhaps at some point in the next century (by European standards, of course).

The Empire of Japan, as if a mirror to China, remains the most powerful Asian nation, and almost a Great Power by itself. Its powerful army and navy are not only capable of defending their land, but also of projecting beyond the Home Islands. Korea, for example, is slowly falling further and further within their sphere, as Japanese companies exploit the peninsula's resources and Japanese advisers control their armed forces. Japan remains a friend and ally to the Spanish and the Germans, a friendship still going strong after several years, although there have been some friction over the fact that several factions within the Asian nation regard Spanish and German territories in the Pacific as necessary for the further development of their nation. This, and the Japanese ambitions to become the most powerful nation in Asia, ensure that they will eventually have a struggle with an European nation within the next century.

Other Asian nations, the few that are not colonies, are nonetheless affected by the ambitions of the Great Powers and their allies. Afghanistan and Persia have been the main battlegrounds of the Great Game for decades already between the British and Russian Empires, which, in spite of being nominally allied, still desire to have the most influence over both nations, particularly Persia thanks to its strategical position and the potential sources of petroleum therein. The Emperor of Siam, knowing that it was but a matter of time before an European nation became interested in them, decided to cut through the chase and get support from the Empire of Spain, the one nation with power in the region that had proved able to fight back against the French that took over Vietnam: Siam has become a Spanish protectorate, although on better terms that other protectorates due to their willingness to accept such position.

America

The United States of America, the most powerful nation in the Western Hemisphere, is clearly interested in the events that have taken place, not only within their own sphere of influence, but also elsewhere in the world. Although isolationist, the most recent events have awakened their leaders to the dangers of remaining so. Already in 1897 they had annexed the Republic of Hawaii at the behest of its leaders and the orders of newly elected President Thomas Brackett Reed and Vice President Henry Cabot Lodge, who desired for the nation to become more powerful. Under their direction, the United States Navy has begun to build new ships, knowing that they might have to enter a war in the future in order to fulfill their Manifest Destiny. As the British Empire remains one of its biggest trading partners, they are eying the Caribbean and Mexico, both to their south, as potential paths to expand towards, and each of them have their advantages and disadvantages. What is clear, though, is that they intend to make sure that the 20th Century is when the United States of America proves its mettle to the world.

In the United Mexican States, there is unrest and danger. Porfirio Diaz's rule, more than twenty years old by now, has clearly become a full-on dictatorship. While it is true that Mexico has prospered as a whole on the economical and the cultural levels, this has not spread to the general population, as the economic inequality between the high class terratenientes and the lower classes has become more pronounced, and the political repression has reached levels unseen as more and more people realize they deserve better. It is but a matter of time before their feelings coalesce in a rebellion that might last for years into the new century.

The Empire of Brazil has also seen changes in it. Emperor Pedro II's reforms, while well-meaning, caused several problems to the Empire, starting with the Republican Rebellion of 1889, but also the large concentration of former slaves in the outskirts of the industrialized cities, while the plantations where they came from became unfeasible as costs rose. Several economic reforms, as well as the opening of new markets, became the salvation for the latter, while the former was solved by trying to get them to return to their former jobs (but being paid) or dispersing them towards other cities. Friendship with Spain provided also a trading partner in its allies, with Germany and its main businessmen having new factories built. The wealth brought by this has also allowed them to expand their control and influence in South America.

The Argentine Republic is right now just coming from the hard civil war that resulted from the Revolution of the Artillery Park, initiated by a sector of the Armed Forces and associated civilians agglutinated in the Civic Union that wished to put an end to the practices of the Partido Autonomista Nacional, which controlled the government and kept itself in place through the use of many systems, such as electoral fraud or intimidation of the voters. After two years of war, the two sides signed an agreement that would ensure the amnesty for soldiers and civilians on both sides of the fighting, and instituted many of the reforms demanded by the Civic Union. Faced on the north with the power of Brazil, and on the west with a resurgent Chile and Bolivia, Argentina must now ensure that the 20th century means the establishment of their dominance in the Cone.

For Chile, the defeat in the Second War of the Pacific meant a hard hit to their national consciousness. Losing almost direct access to the mineral resources in Antofagasta had also become a hard thing for the Chilean industries to eat, although they are still efficient and work well, and the copper deposits in the Andes have ensured a great source of revenue in this time when electricity is becoming more widespread with time. Still, the Chilean people wish that the shame brought to their country due to the defeat be washed up, and as such they are gearing towards what might be, undoubtedly, another war in South America, one that, considering the many changes brought by the passage of time, might be even more cruel than the previous one. Still, Chile, entering the 20th Century, intends to make sure that they are given their due.

Peru and Bolivia have seen much change in their nations. The victory over Chile, giving Bolivia control over the phosphates in the region of Antofagasta, has allowed both nations to prosper, particularly as both Spanish and local factories keep spreading, and new roads are built. The use of phosphates also helps prosper in the agricultural front, thanks to the greater number of fertilizers available to the farm laborers, and mining of other resources in the Andes and exploitation of rubber trees in the region of Acre also helps in the diversification of the economy. This prosperity, and the benefits of their alliance, have meant much to the people, so much that there is talk between both governments to revive the short-lived Peruvian-Bolivian Confederation, increasing their influence in the region and becoming more capable of defending themselves against others as the new century begins.

The rest of America keeps on, trying to live their lives while standing either the warlord of the day or trying to stave off as much foreign influence as possible. Venezuela, in the middle of a civil war between the pro-democracy Constitutionalists and the Gomecistas (the supporters of dictator Juan Vicente Gómez), can barely pay attention to what’s going on outside its borders. Colombia is currently looking for potential investors for the Panama Canal left untouched since Lesseps’ failed attempt several years ago, while in Nicaragua a Spanish-German team is currently working to ascertain the best path a possible canal could follow, after the Liberal Revolution of 1891 established a new constitution based on the United States' and Spain's Constitutions. In the Dominican Republic, the damage caused by the war against Spain has been reversed, and the stability of the region has improved thanks to them, but this has been balanced by the greater influence the Motherland now has, and many rightfully fear that the referendum imposed by the Treaty of Santiago might spell the end of their independence, or perhaps even war...

Africa

Africa remains mostly controlled by the European powers and the Ottoman Empire. The only independent nation in the entire continent, Ethiopia, is currently struggling to maintain its independence from Italy, whose attempts to get them to accept a protectorate status have so far been unsuccessful. The British colony of South Africa is in the middle of the Second Boer War, an attempt by the Dutch-origin settlers to preserve their independence from the British Empire, although it seems that their efforts are bound for failure. The Belgian Congo prospers, thanks to the efforts of Belgian settlers that attempt to ensure civilization reaches the local people, although this is not without compensation, for the rubber plantations have easily become a large source of this material in a growing market, among other of the great resources the territory contains. British control over the protectorate of Egypt still allows them to control the Suez Canal, although nationalist movements that have begin to spread around the land have started to become a headache for the government, both the British and the Egyptian government. The Ottoman Empire's situation has made their last territory in Africa, Libya, look like a very appetizing colony for the Italian Empire. And, in Madagascar, French rule has brought many plantations, reforms and the exile of the Malagasy Royal Family to Réunion after the French-Malagasy War where the latter tried to avoid becoming a protectorate of France.

 

[Milarqui]

Part II: Spain

Official Name: Imperio Unido de las Españas (in Spanish), Império Unido das Espanhas (in Portuguese), United Empire of the Spains (in English)
Capital: Madrid
Other important cities: Lisbon, Barcelona, La Habana, Manila
Demonym: Spanish
Government: Unitary parliamentary constitutional monarchy

• King: Leopoldo I
• Prime Minister: Francisco Silvela (Partido Liberal-Conservador) (since 1898)
  • Deputy Prime Minister: Francisco Maura
• Legislature: General Courts
  • Upper House: Senado
  • Lower House: Congreso de los Diputados

Languages:

• Official: Spanish, Portuguese
• Other: Arabic, Catalan, Cebuano, Euskera, Galician, Tagalog, Winaray

Formation:

• Visigothic Kingdom of Toledo: 507
• Muslim Invasion: 711
• Dynastic union between Castile and Aragon: 1479
• De facto union between Castile and Aragon: 1516
• First Unification between Castile, Aragon and Portugal: 1581
• Portuguese Independence: 1640
• De jure union between Castile and Aragon: 1715
• Nation State of Spain: 1812
• Current democracy: 1869
• Restoration of Rosellón and the Oranesado: 1870
• Second Unification between Spain and Portugal: 1892

Population: 45,027,956
Area:

• Total: 2,866,763 km2 (Europe: 599,702; America: 118,988; Africa: 1,774,412.5; Asia: 373,660.5)
• Water: 0.88 %

Density: 15.707 inhabitants/km2
Currency: Peseta

While it is true that it is not as powerful as the Spanish Empire was during Philip II of Spain and I of Portugal's reign, the United Empire of the Spains can certainly say that they are, at least, half the way towards regaining part of that power. Even if they still are under the shadow of other powerful nations, such as the United Kingdom or Germany, any Spaniard can be sure that it will not be long until their homeland becomes a power of its own in the international scene.

Governance

Branches of government

Spain is a constitutional monarchy, with a hereditary monarch. The current monarch is sixty-five-year-old Emperor Leopoldo I, from the House of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen, married to Empress Antonia of Braganza, who was the one that inherited the Portuguese Crown, allowing the unification of Spain and Portugal.

The legislative branch is formed by the Cortes Generales, made up of the Congreso de los Diputados, formed by 450 deputies representing the different provinces of the Empire in terms of proportionality of numbers, and the Senado, formed by 2 senators elected per province by popular vote and 1 per Foral Region by appointment, thus numbering around 150 senators.

The executive branch is formed by the Consejo de Ministros de España presided by the Presidente (the equivalent to the Prime Minister), who is formally nominated and appointed by the monarch and confirmed by Congress after legislative elections that, by law, take place on the first Sunday of April every three years. However, de facto, the nominee is always the candidate presented by the party with the plurality of seats in the Congress.

The judicial branch is formed by an independent judicature whose members have to pass an exhaustive exam to demonstrate their ability to be impartial and apply the Civil and Penal Codes of Law.

Territorial Organization

Spain's current territorial organization owes much to the Treaty of Baraguá that put an end to the Cuban Revolutionary War in 1873. This treaty conceded Cuba autonomy to deal with local matters, an event that had already been foreseen in the 1869 Constitution, but that had yet to be implemented due to the chaos of the war and the problems taking place at home. Upon expanding this autonomy to Puerto Rico, and later to the Philippines, the Spanish government realized that this could be also taken to the Metropoli, as it would reduce the pressure of the administrative tasks government had to handle.

The current system has the territories of the United Empire divided in four groups:

• Political Foral Regions: these are regions that have their own parliament and regional government. They are allowed to pass their own legislation and to decide on all local matters, but the central government in Madrid supersedes them, and may overturn any legislation that oversteps their boundaries. Currently, Cuba, Portuguese India, Habagatan, Hilaga, Kabisayan and Puerto Rico are the only political foral regions, although it is expected that others may join in the future.
• Administrative Foral Regions: these regions have administrative autonomy to deal with local matters, such as tax collecting, the allocation of money towards local projects and other powers. Politically, they still depend on Madrid to determine legislation, although several of them might intend to take steps towards political autonomy. The sixteen metropolitan Foral Regions (Algarve, Andalucía, Aragón, Atlántico, Beja, Bética, Castilla La Nueva, Castilla La Vieja, Extremadura, Galicia, León, Levante, Lusitania and Vascongadas) and the Oranesado (in northern Africa) are at this level.
• Colonies: these territories are not developed enough to support a local, autonomous administration. Although there is a Governor that is allowed to make choices, and can decide what to do in emergency events, most things are left to the Ministerio de Ultramar in Madrid to decide. Heavy military presence in these regions ensures the protection of both the settlers and the locals who have sworn allegiance to the Spanish Crown. Spain's colonies are Angola (south-western Africa), Guinea (central Africa), Moçambique (south-eastern Africa) and Río de Oro (western Africa).
• Protectorates: although they are actually not part of the Empire, they can be treated, more or less, as this. The protectorates are independent nations that, nonetheless, have accepted, voluntarily or by force, Spain's guidance in international and commercial affairs, as Spain is the only nation they can – or will – make deals with. Spanish officials are quite influential in these nations' governments, trying to lead them towards taking actions that will benefit Spain, and Spanish businessmen are allowed to establish factories or make trading deals with the locals at low tariffs. The main protectorates are the Dominican Republic, Morocco and Siam, the former of which is slated to offer its citizens the chance to vote for reunification with Spain in 1903.

International Relations

Spain's main ally in the diplomatic sphere is, undoubtedly, the German Empire. Forged in the fires of the Hohenzollerns' War, and kept alive thanks to the many diplomatic, cultural, military and trading exchanges, many a Spaniard looks to Germany as a friend, perhaps even a sibling, in the trying times that currently exist. This, coupled with the familial link between Emperors Leopoldo of Spain and Friedrich Wilhelm of Germany, has all but ensured that the relationship will remain strong, especially after Germany began its political transformation that liberalized the government. In the case either were to get involved in a war, it is clearly assumed that the other would soon follow.

Another ally of Spain is the Kingdom of Italy. Old grudges put aside with the passage of time, Italy has indeed welcomed Spain as a friend. The death of King Umberto's sister in the event that sparked the Portuguese Civil War had easily cemented this alliance, for it had brought with it the unification of Spain and Italy's support in the Santiago Conference where the United Kingdom and France finally accepted the fait accompli of the unification.

Peru and Bolivia are Spain's best friends in America, the relationship going strong since Spain's aid during the Second Pacific War. The extent of Spanish investment in the two nations has only grown since then, and it has been the pleasure of many to visit each nation, with several people actually encountering relatives that either went to the Americas or returned to the Motherland for one reason or another.

Japan, Spain's main partner in Asia, can count itself to be glad of such friendship, for all it has done is to help reinforce their position in the region thanks to the trade with both them and Germany. Several Spaniards, mainly from those that reside in either the Philippines, Macao or the Spanish embassy in Tokyo, have actually adopted some of Japan's cultural mores, and in turn a few Japanese have acquired not a few Spanish customs.

Meanwhile, Austria-Hungary is, at most, a fair-weather ally to Spain. Aging Emperor-King Franz-Joseph is not exactly glad of having Spain as a member of the alliance group he has formed with Germany, not to mention the influence they have with the opposition to his “God-given” right to rule. Still, he is capable of standing them, if only because of those nifty submarines built in Spanish drydocks and sold to the k. u. k. Kriegsmarine.

Back to the Americas, the United States is keeping a cold relation with the Empire, the warm feelings from directly after La Gloriosa have been disappearing as Spanish control over Cuba and Puerto Rico strengthened, not to mention Spain's increasing influence over Peru, Bolivia, Nicaragua and Santo Domingo. Many of the most hawkish members of Congress and the Senate are pushing for a war against Spain, to “liberate” Cuba, Puerto Rico and Santo Domingo from Spanish control and enforce the Monroe Doctrine, cries that are starting to be heard by the President and the government.

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland has yet to forget the slight to their honor that was the Santiago Conference, as their “sensible suggestions” were rejected out of hand by the Spanish government. After all, what they want is to preserve the balance of power in Europe! However, when they are reminded that they were, in essence, the catalysts for the Portuguese Civil War, they remain strangely quiet. Any mention of the British within the Algarve, Beja or Lusitania is bound to extract an angry torrent of insults towards Perfidious Albion from any group of people.

Finally, just like Germany is Spain's greatest ally, France is Spain's greatest enemy. Still bitter over the many losses caused by Spain's mere existence – the Roussillon, the Oranesado, Alsace-Lorraine, Morocco, Corsica... – many of France's military plans have as its goal the destruction of Spain's military capabilities before turning to Germany, and Spain's support for the Jewish people that have left France in the wake of anti-Semitic attacks after the Dreyfus Affair became known have only increased these ill feelings towards their southern neighbors.

Armed Forces

The Spanish Royal Armed Forces, whose Commander-in-chief is Emperor Leopoldo I, may be divided in three branches: the Army, the Navy, and the Air Force.

The Army

The Army is the biggest group of the SRAF, mostly formed by conscripts around a medium-sized core of professionals. Conscription requires all Spanish males to spend a whole year, training in a military camp, upon the age of 18, with only few exceptions, such as the sons of widows or those who have a disability that prevents them from fulfilling the military service. This training consists of learning how to use weaponry from handguns to rifles, and, depending on which part of the Army they train with, specific tactics or special training: while Infantry learns how to make use of the terrain to better attack the enemy, Cavalry works on ambushes and fast attacks and Artillery practices shooting at far-away targets. At the end of the twelve months, they are given a certificate that states their completion of their military period and reminded that, in case of war, they might be required to join the army.

Those soldiers that desire so may join the Army full-time, becoming professional soldiers. This option tends to be offered to any conscript that proves to be good enough at the task, but they will accept anyone capable of doing a good job. Upon joining as professionals, they are given greater training than what they had as conscripts. Any that shows brilliance in the use and development of tactics and strategy may be invited to one of the four Escuelas de Oficiales del Ejército that exist in Spain (La Habana, Manila, Zaragoza and Sevilla), while those that prove to be excellent at the task are encouraged to apply for the Tercios Especiales, the elite unit of the army trained in asymmetrical warfare, infiltration and other things that are not easy to carry out with a normal-sized army.

Currently, the Spanish Royal Army's main service weapon is a RESA R-7 rifle, a bolt-action rifle with an 8 round stripper clip in internal magazine that uses 7x57mm smokeless gunpowder rounds, fired at a speed of approximately 815 m/s, with an effective range of 460 m when using iron sights. Some units, like the Tercios, use specially modified rifles that have a greater range, and others (such as the Cazadores regiment in the Cavalry) use a carbine that descends from the model designed by the already deceased Cosme García Sáez back in the 1870s. Another development that has spread out is the use of the RESA A-2 machine-gun, a weapon based on the designs for the Maxim gun, but well improved, capable of firing about 500 rounds per minute, with an effective firing range of 1.8 km.

Meanwhile, the Artillery divisions carry several types of weapons, the most powerful one being the CESA CC-99 cannon, a regimental artillery field gun capable of firing 80x350 mm shells (weighing between 5.5 and 7.5 kg) at ranges surpassing 7 kilometers. Other weapons include the CO-98, a heavy howitzer capable of shooting 50 kg shells with an effective fire range of 5.2 kilometers; the CI-97, a light gun used to support infantry; and the CM-99, a mortar that can be used to fire on entrenched positions.

The Navy

Before the Hohenzollerns' War happened, the Spanish Navy was the fourth most powerful in the world. Thirty years later, the efforts carried out by the drydocks and naval engineers have all but ensured that position remains firmly in their power, perhaps even nearly tying France for the third place.

One of the best additions to the Navy has been the battleship, which has contributed to increasing the power the Navy has, and allowing it to project it anywhere in the world where Spain is involved in a war. The greatest among them is the Spanish Navy's flagship, the Hispania, and the current Hispania-class battleship has five completed ships (Hispania and Lusitania in the Home Navy, Juana and San Juan Bautista in the Caribbean and Filipina in the Philippines) and two more, which are to be finished in 1901 (tentatively named Don Pelayo and Rey Leopoldo, the former of which will join the growing African Fleet in Luanda). There are two other battleship classes in the Spanish Navy: the Tenerife-class, with five ships (Tenerife, Gran Canaria, Lanzarote, Fuerteventura and Gomera), and the Emperador Carlos I-class with three ships (Emperador Carlos I, Rey Felipe II and Rey Fernando V).

The next ships in size in the navy are the cruisers, of which there are two kinds, armored and protected.

• The best armored cruisers at this time are the Blas de Lezo-class, which has five ships: Blas de Lezo, Méndez Núñez, Francisco Gravina, Manuel Pessanha and Vasco da Gama. There are two other armored cruiser classes in the Navy: the Don Henrique-class, with four ships, and the Lepanto-class, with five ships.
• As for protected cruisers, the main class is the Isla de Cuba-class, that has four ships: Isla de Cuba, Isla de Puerto Rico, Isla de Luzón and Isla de Mindanao. The previous classes are the Cartagonova-class, with three ships, and the Atlántico-class, with three more ships.

Then go the destroyers. An invention developed by Spanish admiral Fernando Villaamil, then an officer in the Ministry of Navy, in response to the torpedo boats other nations were starting to build, it has proven to be a very welcome addition to the navy. The first ship of this class, the Destructor (after which all ships of this type are called), was built in 1888 in the El Ferrol shipyards. It was after this ship that many more were build. Currently, Spain can boast of having sixteen destroyers: five Destructor-class, six Valiente-class and five Churruca-class destroyers.

The patrol gunboats number twenty-five in the Spanish Navy: ten from the Rayo-class, eight from the Neptuno-class and, finally, seven from the Ebro-class.

Finally, the submarines. The advantage of having the best submarine engineers in the world, thanks to the efforts of the Escuela de Ingenieros Navales, one of whose groups is fully dedicated to learning the workings of submarines and presenting new ideas for development of more submarines to add to the navy. Right now, twenty-seven submarine boats have joined the navy: the Poseidón-class has seven submarines, the Delfin-class nine, the Peral-class nine and the Tempestad-class has two. Several mini-submarines, of small size and tripulation, intended for use in shallow waters and patrols, have also been developed, forming part of the Rana-class.

The Air Force

The newest of the Armed Forces, the Air Force is ground-based and their uses are limited, due to the fact that they are formed by globes that can only go with the wind. However, 1901 is to see an expansion of the navy thanks to the construction of a few zeppelins and dirigibles in a collaboration between Spanish and German industries: many have seen in the skies the weapon that can fully change the sign of how war is to be fought. The future flagship of the Air Force is the zeppelin Iberia, which should take off on October 12th 1901.

Heavier-than-air flight remains a pipe dream for the moment, although, much like everywhere else in the world, engineers are working to develop this idea. However, they are not anywhere near to achieve it.

Culture

Literature

The resurgence of Spain as a world power has greatly increased people's moral and belief in their nation, and the unification with Portugal has also been welcomed with open arms by writers and poets. The changes in policy, the regeneration of the nation and the bright look towards the future have infused many a book.

Ramiro de Maeztu, a member of the group of writers that is being called the Generación de la Regeneración and journalist for El País, has, after traveling for three years across Spanish Africa (Morocco, Río de Oro, Guinea, Angola and Moçambique) as part of his job, written a book called Viajes de un Español por África. This book, telling much about the current status of the colonies and protectorates, has brought great interest for the Dark Continent in the Peninsula and the Caribbean, as they learn about the customs of the native people, who Maeztu, although calling them out on some ideas, does praise them for the simple, communal lives they have, urging people to adopt at least parts of these ideals to improve the sense of community within Spain.

A new genre called ficción científica, based on the writings of Jules Verne and a young Hugh Shelley, has also spread in Spain, divided in two currents: brillante, that optimistically looks to the future and the changes it can bring, and oscura, which believes that the unchecked progress of technology will, eventually, bring humanity down to war unless drastic changes take place. In the former group stands out Los Cien Años de Marte, which tells the story of the one hundred years since the first Earth people (a motley of people from all nationalities) arrive to the Red Planet until they manage to become fully independent, the main group that leads the conquest of the stars.

A smaller genre is the genre of ucronía, which some people use to say what could have happened if certain historical events had evolved in different ways. The two most sold books of this genre are Cuatro Siglos de Buen Gobierno, which begins with the tale of Miguel de la Paz, a grandson of the Catholic Monarchs that could have joined the crowns of Castile, Aragon and Portugal but died at the age of two, and works out how a Spain fully united by a living Miguel de la Paz could have changed in the four posterior centuries; and El Reino de la Cruz Blanca, which posits the idea that, had the French got wind of King Leopoldo's candidacy before the vote, Spain would have ended up having Amedeo di Savoia as the new King of Spain, and, while it does not do as well as in reality (there is no war with France, the Carlist and Cuban Wars last longer) it manages to survive more or less intact, even repelling an unwarranted attack by the United States into Cuba, sparking a war between several European nations and the United States of America, an event that is to take place in the unpublished sequel to that book.

Poetry has also taken off among the Generación de la Regeneración, with its greatest exponents being the Machado twins (Roberto and Antonio), the former becoming known for his uplifting writing about Spain, and the latter for his work in social realism, particularly talking about the factory workers that toil daily, sometimes for a pittance, in the nation's factories, and trying to bring change to their situations.

The multitude of languages spoken in Spain has also sparked similar movements for each language. For example, famed Filipino politician and writer José Rizal has popularized Tagalog literature in the Philippines, thanks to, among other works, Noli Me Tangere, that relates the effects of the Spanish government's reforms in the 1870s and the hard opposition of the oligarchs, represented in the story by fanatic Fray Dámaso, lustful Fray Salví and greedy Peninsular Linares, all of which conspire to ruin protagonist Juan Ibarra's life and prevent him from both gaining justice for his father's death (indirectly caused by Fray Dámaso) and marrying his betrothed, María Clara de los Santos (who Salví lusts over and Linares wants to marry in order to be able to take over María Clara's inheritance), but the aid of Elías, another Peninsular married to a Filipina, Ibarra manages to ruin their plans and bring about the successful construction of a school that had once been planned by his father (a symbol of Spain's reforms, which had started in the schools), which becomes inaugurated on the same day he finally marries his beloved.

Kinematography

The art of kinematography, invented barely a decade ago, has started to gain some influence in the Spanish cultural sphere. So far, Madrid, Barcelona, Lisbon, Santiago de Cuba and Manila are the only places where studios have started to appear, what with their importance to the national economy, but they are nonetheless starting to make good films that last for a few minutes – so far, the longest, a comic encounter between two circus clowns, barely reaches ten minutes – for the enjoyment of the people that can afford to pay for the entrance. The foremost Spanish film directors are Eduardo Jimeno and Víctor Aurelio Chomón.

Sports

Many are the sports enjoyed by the Spanish people in this time and age. One of the most popular sports is pelota, in which two people or couples must hit a ball against a wall in such a way that the other cannot do the same before it bounces twice on the ground. Pelota games are so popular that even the Royal Family attends games when they are held in Madrid or when they travel somewhere where a game is taking place. In the most recent Olympic Games, held in Paris, a pelota tourney was held, and Spain won the gold medal, to the anger of the French spectators that expected an easy victory for their country's pelotari.

Many sports also practiced in the Olympic Games are spreading, as well. Athletics, at least in part, has been a part of the teachings in many schools, following the mens sana in corpore sano motto for teaching, and swimming was quite common in cities near the sea or with deep enough lakes and rivers.

Another sport that has also spread out to Spain is football, although no one knows it by that name at all. If you go to the Spanish-speaking regions, they will tell you it is called balompié, and in Anglo-phobic Algarve, Beja and Lusitania, it has become quite popular as balompé. Teams have appeared in the main cities of Spain, particularly in the industrial regions, but by the end of the century every capital of province has at least one team. The first team that was officially constituted as a football team was the Recreativo de Huelva in 1878, the first recorded game between teams of different cities was a Madrid – Getafe in 1880, and a game was celebrated between Spanish and Portuguese players in 1892, as part of the celebrations for the Unification. The Federación Española de Balompié was founded in 1895, organizing the first tournament between teams in 1896, named Copa de España, a competition won by the Cañoneros de Getafe in its first edition. The Caribbean and the Philippines are also seeing the slow spread of the sport thanks to the travels of many Spaniards that wish to play their games even there, with the Habaneros de La Habana being established in 1887 and the Indios de Manila in 1888, with each island or archipelago starting their own internal competitions. There are talks of starting a tournament that teams from all of the Empire of the Spains can join in, with tentative marking of 1902 for such an event.

 

[Milarqui]

And, finally, eight months and a week after it started, here is the last part of the End of the Century intermission. Enjoy!

Part III: The People that Make the World​

Francisco Serrano and Juan Prim, two of the main makers of Spain, died many years ago, before the Unification with Portugal: Serrano died in December 1885, while Juan Prim followed him just a few weeks later. Both of them were interred with full military and civilian honors in the Panteón Nacional de Hombres Ilustres, in ceremonies attended by the Royal Family and the Government in recognition of the great role they played in the formation of Spain.

Leopoldo the First, Emperor of the Spains, is 65 years old, and, although his health weakens, it does not diminish his compromise with the people of the Empire of the Spains. An agreement ensured that his official residence would change every six months, so he spends half the year in Lisbon and the other half of the year in Madrid. He cannot help but feel proud of how his country of adoption has not only accepted him, but greatly prospered with him as Head of State, and the smooth unification of the Spanish and Portuguese crowns and nations has proven to be one great idea, making him regret that time in 1870 when he renounced the throne of Spain. He can only hope that his son, Prince of Asturias Guillermo, will be up to the task of leading the nation into the Twentieth Century that looms before them.

Antonio Cánovas del Castillo has managed to recover a position close to the leadership of the Liberal-Conservative Party, although nowhere near to being able to become President of the Council of Ministers again. He currently holds the portfolio of the Ministry of Interior, where he is introducing reforms in the National Police Corps and in the prison network, trying to improve their efficiency and suitability to the new times. However, time stops for no one, and 72-year-old Cánovas seems to be bound for retirement after the next elections, which are to take place in 1901.

Alfonso de Borbón, he who for a few days was named Alfonso XII during the Hohenzollerns' War, is currently a high-ranked officer in the British Royal Army. Now a 43-year-old, he married in 1888 with Blanca of Borbón y Borbón-Palma, the daughter of Carlos, Duke of Madrid and Carlist claimant to the Spanish throne, thus pretty much unifying both claims upon the same person. This person is their first son, Juan, born in 1889. Juan was followed by Isabel (1893), María (1895) and, finally, Francisco (1898). He has mostly forgot about the idea of returning to Spain and taking back the crown, although there are still some fleeting ideas about the possibility.

Leonardo Torres y Quevedo is one of the foremost engineers and inventors Spain can boast of. His analogue calculating machines, capable of doing complex calculations within seconds, have started to spread around, particularly in the Navy, for use in shooting artillery, while the Army has requested whether it would be possible to make a smaller device for field artillery. His work with dirigibles has added many improvements to the project for their control and stability. And his work following Tesla's invention of the radio has pointed him towards the idea of controlling projectiles from long distances, something that has become a secret research project of the Spanish Navy. He also has ensured that a young engineer by the name of Mónico Sánchez Moreno can travel to the United States and further study the developments in the field of electricity to bring them to Spain.

Francisco Joaquim Ferreira do Amaral is an Admiral of the Spanish Navy. He is currently the man in charge of the African Fleet, headquartered in Luanda. With his varied background as governor in several of Portugal's colonies, he has also become an important advisor for the governor of Angola, and has also been one of the main supporters of the expansion of the franchise in there for the natives.

Winston Churchill is a young journalist, working for the newspaper The Morning Post as a war correspondent. He has been present in the Moroccan Civil War, the Second Boer War and several expeditions by the British Army into Sudan, which he also joined as an officer. However, right now his eyes are looking towards Parliament, as he intends to become a member of the House of Commons in the next elections, to take place in 1901. His American inheritance notwithstanding, he even dreams with possibly becoming the United Kingdom's Prime Minister, but that is too far in the future for him to be considered a possibility.

David Lloyd George is the Liberal MP for Carnarvon Boroughs, having held that position for eight years running despite a small scare after the failure of the Young Welsh organization he led for a few years. He also combines his position as a Member of Parliament, where he has harshly criticized the Government's actions in the conflict with the Boer rebels and the costs derived from it in both human and monetary capital, with his job as a solicitor, a position in which he has defended many a client.

Friedrich III is the German Emperor, and, even though he is close to the age of seventy, still in good form. Seeing the great revitalization that democratization brought to Spain, he has sought the gradual transformation of Germany's political scene, bringing it closer to the same system used in Spain and the United Kingdom. Thanks to the rewriting of the Constitution that he fully supported, he has lost a good part of his power, but still remains the theoretical most powerful person in Germany.

Otto von Bismarck has been deceased for a year already. Although somewhat disappointed with the direction Frederick III took Germany towards after his retirement, undoing part of his work, he could not help but notice how Germany flourished under the Emperor's rule, and he could be glad to say that his foreign policies were still followed by his successors in the chancellorship. It was also thanks to him that the German social programs took off, which many of his successors worked on, securing the vote away from the growing German Socialist Party.

Napoleon IV continues ruling over his small kingdom with quite a lot of pride, both in himself, his family and his people. His rapproachment with Spain and Germany has paid off, and the Corsican Army, while relatively small, is quite capable of defending the island and the territory of Tunis, the colony in northern Africa they managed to take control of in a daring campaign led by the King himself. However, with the political climate becoming strained, it is possible that the Corsican dream may yet die...

Jean Jaurès is a founding member of the French Socialist Party (born in 1898), and has been a member of the National Assembly for twelve years already. One of the foremost anti-militarist people in the Assembly, he has been arguing for years in favor of doing the best to dispel the revanchist feelings that pervade French society towards Spain and Germany, arguing that such a move can only lead to war, death and destruction. He has been far more successful in his efforts to support Alfred Dreyfus, unjustly accused of spying for Germany during the Hohenzollerns' War, through his constant speeches and demands that he be exonerated, since there is proof of his innocence. He is also working to introduce important social reforms to give workers the many rights they have been denied so far.

Georges Clemenceau is the owner of L'Aube, a relatively important newspaper, particularly between the voters of left-wing and centre parties. Formerly part of the National Assembly as a Deputy for many years, a defeat in 1891 for his seat prompted him to return to journalism, as he had done for years before representing the people as a politician. It was as part of his job as a journalist that he approved the publication of the highly controversial article “J'Accuse!”, written by Émile Zola, arguing in favor of Alfred Dreyfus' exoneration and pointing at the General Staff for incompetence, anti-Semitism and covering up evidence that proved the guilty party was someone else, among other crimes.

Marie Skłodowska-Curie has become the main proof for why women should not be restricted from attending and teaching at universities. Possessing a frightening – to some – mind, Madam Skłodowska-Curie has been able to work on many tasks related to chemistry and physics. Her research on the strange properties of uranium and other similar chemical elements, which has been dubbed “radioactivity”, have opened a new field of work, as well as many potential applications. Of course, that will require work to understand the properties of radioactivity, but there is little doubt that she will be able to unearth and show them to the world.

Theodore Roosevelt is the very popular 41-year-old Governor of the State of New York, a fervent persecutor of corruptive practices within the state and the main representative of the Progressive wing of the Republican Party, after two years as New York City Police Commisioner and another year as Assistant Secretary of the Navy. His great efforts in that task, as well as forwarding other Progressive policies, however, prevented his candidacy to the Presidency, as the main GOP leadership saw him as a threat to their interests. Some Republican leaders actually suggested to nominate him for the vice-presidency, which would have put him out of business (so to speak) for four years, but Roosevelt replied that it was either the Governorship or the Presidency, so there went that. He does plan to present himself as a candidate for the 1904 elections, even if it is as a third-party candidate.

Aleksandr II died in 1893, at the age of 75, and he was cried for by pretty much everyone in the Empire of Russia, being called “The Great” and “The Liberator” by them for his efforts to liberalize and modernize the nation, casting away the chains of the Ancién Régime. His son, who reigned as Aleksandr III, a far more conservative man than his father, could do nothing to prevent the liberalizing turn Russia was taking after the reforms carried out by his father, lacking the power to revert those changes, although his death in 1898 might have prevented further problems. The current Emperor of Russia is Nikolai II, who, although somewhat naïve to some matters of state, has proved to be a good balance between the policies of his grandfather, who took upon himself to help his grandson learn the trappings of leading the nation, and his father.

Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov is a lawyer and one of the leaders of Narodnaya Volya, the second main left-wing party in the Duma, Imperial Russia's Parliament. Despite his youth (he is barely 30 years old), he has proved to be an able orator and savvy politician, as witnessed by several people during the many labor-related trials he has acted in (which have led to him being nicknamed Stalin, “man of steel”, for his unbreakable spirit in helping the poor and the workers) and during the last two years, ever since he was voted in by the people of Nizhni Novgorod, whom he represents. For the moment, he is content with his current role and with his wife Nadezhda Krupskaya, with whom he has one daughter, named Maria Elizaveta after their mothers, although there are rumors that he might consider the possibility of being the next candidate to Prime Minister for Narodnaya Volya.

Pavel Miliukov, founder of the Constitutional Democratic Party (Конституционная Демократическая партия, nicknamed Kadets), is the current Prime Minister of the Russian Empire. While a young party (it was created in 1883, after all), it managed to surpass Narodnaya Volya in terms of importance within the Duma in the 1893 elections and win the elections in 1897, as they provided the people with a centre-left party they could vote to. Most of his policies – industrial development, introduction of social reforms and workers' protection – have been welcomed by the lower classes of Russia, for too long oppressed by the nobles, who are funding the main opposition party, the Union of the Russian People (Союз Русского Народа) in an attempt to stop the “attacks” against them.

Nikola Tesla lives in his house in New York, and works in his main laboratory in South Fifth Avenue. His work with Westinghouse, developing the Alternate Current motor for his company, saved both Westinghouse and him, and provided him with enough money to fund most of his experiments. In mid-1895, he was able to publish the first image of a hand's bones (rumor has it that it was Mark Twain's hand), taken thanks to something that was later associated to the radioactivity discovered and studied by French scientist Henri Becquerel and the Curie-Skłodowska matrimony. Currently, the field of work in which he is concentrating is that of radio, trying to improve on the initial designs he patented a few years ago, in order to eventually create a new means of communication for mankind to use.

END OF INTERMISSION
CHAPTER VIII WILL COME SOON (OR, MORE LIKELY, AS SOON AS POSSIBLE)​

 

[Milarqui]

A/N: Against what I normally do with this story, I am going to put up Chapter VIII in piecemeal. It is going to have 5 parts, of which I have parts 1 to 3 done, part 4 half-done and part 5 planned. Please, enjoy!

Chapter VIII – The Beginning of a New Century​

Part I – 1901: The Cornerstones​

The first issue of the leading Spanish newspaper, El Noticiero Universal, for the year 1901, had a prolonged interview with several of the leading Spanish figures in many fields: politicians, writers, poets, religious leaders, scientists, businessmen... all of them to ask about what the new century would bring to Spain and to the world.

Some of them pointed that the then current socio-economic issues meant that, sooner or later, a war would break out between the Great Powers of the world, unless great efforts were made to fix the main political issues between them. Others stated that one of the greatest dangers was the influence of unchecked, rampant capitalism, which would make the lives of all workers almost unbearable and cause social upheaval. The Archbishop of Toledo, Monseñor José Ramón Quesada y Gascón, mentioned that the declining spirituality of a world centered in material goods was the main threat humans would have to face. And a few of the scientists claimed that the inability to progress and the damages caused to the environment by the growing pollution were a potential danger for humanity if nothing was done. Only the most optimistic said that the new century would be one without wars, without hunger, without tyranny, and in which all the nations of the world would be able to finally embrace each other like siblings.

No one knew what the future would bring for sure, but many could read between lines and see that few expected things to be good forever.

Still, time stopped for no one, and it was clear that everyone would have to adapt to the changing times. The greater power of the masses, the technology that was being invented day after day, the spread of new ways of communication... all of those changes to people's way of life forced those in charge to consider ideas they would not have thought about before.

The 1901 elections became a contested set because of this, and the Partido Demócrata-Radical managed to earn 276 seats in the Congreso de los Diputados, as well as enough senators to hold a comfortable majority of 87 seats in the Senado. 1901 was also the year veteran politician Antonio Cánovas del Castillo retired from politics, disappointed that he was not able to become President of the Government one last time.

The new President of the Government, Germán Gamazo, knew that he and his ministers would have to engage in a very long path to fulfil all the promises made during the electoral campaign.

For example, one of the main issues faced during the election was the growing support for the expansion of the franchise to women. This point had a large support, and it was a spiny and difficult matter to deal with, considering its magnitude and influence. The level of support between the different political parties ran the spectrum from full opposition to full support. Thanks to their victory, the Demócrata-Radicales would be able to apply their suggested plan: 30-year-old or older married women would vote in April 1904, younger married and older non-married women on April 1907 and, finally, women would be able to vote on 1910 on the same conditions as their masculine counterparts.

Some of the first members of the Spanish sufragette movement​

Another matter that also affected the electorate was the future status of Santo Domingo. The peace treaty in the aftermath of the Merchants' War stated that 1903 would see a referendum in the nation over whether they would prefer to join Spain or remain independent, and opinion in the land had become strong enough to vote on favor of reunification with the Motherland, thanks to the efforts to restore the land after so many civil wars. Again, there were diverse opinions, but only the Socialists were opposed to the referendum going through.

Still, the Demócrata-Radicales had won, and they had in their hand many ideas to bring to life. For example, providing electricity for the main cities for illumination, and thus being able to reduce consumption of gas. This would also help create jobs for several years, as hydroelectric dams would be the main producer, but other possibilities, like coal power plants or wind turbines, were also being considered. Some believe that the energy from the Sun might be harnessed to produce power, but technology was not up to the task for the moment.

The construction of telecommunications towers, based on the discoveries and inventions of Leonardo Quevedo and Nikola Tesla, was also going to be of the utmost importance, particularly for the Navy, which would clearly benefit from the ability to communicate between ships at longer distances and in shorter times. And, talking about Torres Quevedo, the Navy was also mighty interested in his telekinesia system, which would play an important role if there was war, so as to direct torpedos towards their intended targets.

Assembly and first tests of the Telekino​

The Spanish industry benefited greatly from the advances brought on by science, as well as the economic changes. Many new industrial poles appeared in places such as Huelva or Avila, and those that already existed had either risen in strength or resurrected, like it happened with the siderurgical industry in Málaga. This also tied with the newest market, that of transatlantic voyages. Three companies with drydocks in El Ferrol, Cadiz and Cartagena competed for passengers in travels to the United States, South America and, most importantly, the Imperial Route, a travel that began in Cuba and ended in the Carolinas after passing by every part of the Empire.

A grand effort of engineering was taking place in Nicaragua. A Spanish-German consortium called Granarbeit had managed to gain the rights to the construction of the naval connection between the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean. The works began on April 14th, mainly in the western arm of the future canal, and slowly the excavation grew, lengthened, and acquired the form it should, while engineers traveled along San Juan River's northern shore to ascertain if it would have to be moved to facilitate the travel of ships upriver.

The United States Government, increasingly irritated by the Spanish tight control over two islands in the Caribbean and possibly a third, decided to raise a “polite” question to the Nicaraguan government, “asking” why was an European company in charge of building such a masterpiece of engineering when an American one might do so even better. The Nicaraguans politely replied that the Americans had their chance and lost it, so, please, if they would kindly stop trying to meddle in what did not concern them, thank you.

Obviously, the US Government did not look kindly at this, but it would not do to start sending gunboats to the shores in the current situation, so, at best, they could seek an alternative and make sure it was that alternative what became successful. As such, they approached Colombia and suggested the possibility of building a canal across their province of Panama, in an attempt to complete what the French left half-done nearly twenty years before.

Meanwhile, in Spain, several great events took place in the year 1901, events of different importance, but all of them important in the eyes of the Spanish people.

July 7th saw the first balompié game ever between teams of the Peninsula and the Caribbean. The Águilas de Madrid welcomed the Habaneros de la Habana to the Club de Campo de Madrid, and after 90 minutes of the best play most people had ever seen, the score ended in a 3-3 tie. This game was to act as the forerunner for next year's Copa del Emperador, as planned by the Federación Española de Balompié, where the best teams from the Peninsula, the Caribbean, the African territories and the Asian territories would meet and play against each other.

A photography of the Águilas de Madrid several days before the game​

On August 24th, the Portuguese people celebrated the tenth anniversary of the end of the civil war that asolated their lands for more than a year, after the murder of their king. It was a solemn occasion, attended by the Royal Family, the Council of Ministers and many political, economic and religious leaders, both from the Spanish and Portuguese halves of the Empire, as well as people from Brazil and Germany, but, still, a cause for celebration in the memory of those who fought, for good or for ill.

September 22nd saw the sixty-sixth birthday of Emperor Leopoldo. Although a relatively low-key event, people still celebrated it, sending well wishes to their monarch that has done so much good for the people.

Finally, on October 12th, the Spanish people celebreated the anniversary of the Discovery of America. In Palos de la Frontera, the first stones to a monument dedicated to Cristobal Colon's first travel across the Atlantic Ocean were placed. The School Ship Juan Sebastián Elcano arrived to Cuba after following the same route used in that same first travel. And the Retiro Park became home to a new bronze statue that represented the three ships – the Pinta, the Niña and the Santa María – that did such great travel across the ocean.

But the highlight of the day was the unveiling of the FAE Hispania, the greatest dirigible to ever fly over Spanish skies, and which was to become the flagship of the nascent Spanish Royal Air Force, so far formed by a few dirigibles and globes, although there was hope that a heavier-than-air craft might be able to join them within a decade.

As the year closed, and the bells in the Puerta del Sol marked the beginning of the year 1902, many wondered about the future, about what the rest of the century would bring to Spain, and if it would be ready for the task.

 

[Milarqui]

Part II – 1902: The Lead-up​

1902 started strong: the establishment of the Compañía Española de Telégrafos y Teléfonos Sin Cables. The brainchild of Leonardo Torres Quevedo and engineer Julio Cervera, this company would be the first in Spain to start designing and building radio sets, as well as getting in the business of building radiocommunication towers. Their first test, between the cities of Valencia and Palma de Mallorca, was a great success, as it proved beyond any doubt the feasability of using it as a way to communicate. With the support of the government, they rapidly made the system a permanent fixture, and also aided in its expansion to the other isles in the archipelago.

It was not fast, though. As a relatively new technology, it still had its problems, and it had to fight against the still omnipresent telegraph, but no one could deny the great potential the invention had. It was expected that, before 1905, the Caribbean Islands would also be communicated with radio, and 1906 for the Philippines. Africa would take longer, for supplies and materials would have to come from outside, but the government intended to make sure that each territory had always one link to the rest of the Empire that did not rely on the state of the sea.

The company also became involved in the telekinesia project, with the first tests being carried out in secret in the Açores archipelago. The tests proved that the technology had yet to clean up all the kinks – out of sixteen torpedos, only six managed to strike their objectives, and attempting to use two torpedos at the same time caused confusion in the system – but nonetheless the Navy had great trust in this invention, which they hoped would be able to become the newest weapon in their arsenal.

An arsenal that included the newest in submarines. The Rana-class had joined in force, and, although it was only expected to work on shallow waters (for coastal patrols) it could easily become a force to be reckoned if an enemy navy closed in on home waters. There were also designs at work with submarines that would include telekinesia systems and many other modern features, but, of course, that would not happen until they worke correctly, which would take a bit of a time.

Not only these sciences – military and those related to radio – achieved advances in that year. Between February 21st and March 1st, the most reputed doctors and medical researchers met in the city of Barcelona for the International Congress of Medicine, to report on medical discoveries, illnesses and cures of all kinds. One of the guests, Dr Johann Smith, an American doctor, spoke about the use of the X-Rays discovered by Nikola Tesla, and mentioned that it could cause damages to the body if people were exposed too much to them – which prompted a few of the assistants to decide to work on that issue. Dr Carlos Finlay, from Cuba, talked about the successful efforts being carried out in his native island to eradicate yellow fever: the yearly cases of this illness in the main cities had been reduced in more than two thirds, and out of them in about a third, ever since, in 1897, the government initiated a program to drain the swamps and other humid places where flies, which he considered the propagators of the illness, lived.

Carlos Finlay​

Some after the doctors left Barcelona, intent on spreading their acquired knowledge around the planet, Madrid became host to the first-ever Copa del Emperador, the first time a tournament between teams from different continents was ever held. Sixteen teams from all parts of the Empire of the Spains came to the capital, intent on proving who was best:

• From the Peninsula: Águilas de Madrid, Navegantes de Lisboa, Guerreros de Barcelona, Herreros de Bilbao, Recreativo de Huelva
• From the Caribbean: Habaneros de La Habana, Pastores de San Juan, Liberadores de Santiago, Taínos de Camagüey
• From Asia: Fénixes de Manila, Moros de Davao, Jefes de Ciudad Cebu, Vascos da Goa
• From Africa: Elefantes de Luanda, Costeiros de Maputo, Fernandinos de Bata

With a knock-out format, fifteen games were played between March 15th and April 1st, the last game being the finals between the Habaneros (who had defeated the Jefes, the Liberadores and, in one of the biggest upsets, the Águilas) and the Fénixes (who had beaten the Pastores, the Navegantes and the Herreros). The final game was attended by about 3,500 people, among them the Emperor and the players of all teams, who enjoyed a thrilling game that ended in 5-3 in favor of the Habaneros, who received the small trophy from the hands of the Emperor. Many would consider this competition a show of how integrated Spain had become ever since the Emperor accepted the Crown.

First Copa del Emperador​

Elsewhere in the Americas, as preparations for next year's referendum in Santo Domingo – which would be held in April 6th, one year before the general elections – began, Magnarbeit reported the successful installation of the first lock of the Nicaragua Canal, close to the Lake, as excavations continued. This, among other things meant pressure was put on the negotiations between the United States and Colombia over the potential status of the region of Panama, where they intended to build another canal to answer to the Nicaraguan one.

Meanwhile, a bit further to the north, Mexico was starting to suffer a series of riots in many cities, the most important one in Ciudad de Mexico in June. With Porfirio Díaz in power for almost twenty one years, with only a four year period between 1880 and 1884 without him in charge, the people were slowly becoming fed up with the dictator, and were losing their fear to make that known. Porfirio asked Spain for armaments for self-defense, but CESA dithered, not wanting to be associated with the massacres of civilians that were bound to happen soon in the Aztec country unless something was done to reduce tensions within. As the year came to an end, riots continued to unsettle the nation, and it was obvious the smallest spark might initiate a chain reaction.

Back in the eastern side of the Atlantic, the Angolan governor, João Silva Mónica, sent a request to the central government: the population in Angola, he believed, was large enough to warrant transition towards self-government. This was an issue that, while expected, was still somewhat surprising: Angola would be the first overseas territory to become a Foral Region ever since the Philippines did so in the 1870s. In order to determine whether this was right, the government ordered a special census to take place in Angola, so that a decision may be taken by 1904.

More to the north, Morocco, largely recovered from the destruction caused by the civil war of the previous decade, had seen how Spanish influence increased within the country. Factories were spreading around the main cities thanks to Spanish capital and Moroccan working force, either Spanish or Spanish-Moroccan companies were granted the construction of the railway and telegraph system... but the Moroccans were also gaining some influence in Spain through both the Spanish industrialists that traveled north and south of the Gibraltar Straits, the workers that went to Spain to learn everything they needed for their jobs and the people that crossed the border between the Spanish African cities (Ceuta and Melilla) and Morocco proper.

There were even inventions developed in the region: for example, a learned Moroccan, who had read about Archimedes and his inventions, upon thinking about the legend of how the Syracusians sunk a ship by concentrating the light of sun on it, wondered if it was possible to do something similar on a small scale, an experiment that worked. However, if it were not for the complaints of his house's cook that there was not enough fuel for the kitchen, he would have never thought of trying to harness the light of the sun to cook. And, thus, the first solar oven was created in November 1902, and, even though it was still quite imperfect, it was a good first step that might lead towards other tecnologies of great importance.

In the Far East, in China, Spain had managed to wrestle one port from Chinese control – Taizhou – and was busy using it to use it as its way into China and its large markets. This would, however, become a sad repetition of the many ills that pervaded most of the foreign-controlled territories: even if some of the people who came were well-intentioned and tried their best to help the locals, the measures put into place by the government to avoid problems were not enough to stop the corrupt from taking a piece of the cake for themselves.

It was this last insult, combined with every misfortune suffered by the once great Empire of China, that prompted the start of a conspiracy by several cunning and powerful Chinese people to, they hoped, free their country from foreign claws. Infiltrating the cities with people loyal to the cause, smuggling Western weapons, gaining money from legal and not-so-legal ventures... everything they could do to strengthen their position and remain hidden in the eyes of the world, they did.

They were aided in this by many events, one of which stood out from those that had already taken place during the year: on December 9th 1902, in the plains of Fairfield, Connecticut, the No. 25, a plane designed by German-born American Gustave Whitehead, managed to take off and fly one kilometre at sixty meters from the ground, piloted by its inventor. Although some tried to claim it was all a montage by a German trying to take claim of a title that belonged to a proper American, there were more than enough witnesses to the event to corroborate its truth. And, besides, Gustave would promptly repeat the feat with many more people as witness.

Image of Whitehead's first flight​

The event, which finally proved that heavier-than-air flight was possible, prompted the swift answer of many around the world. Every government would try to convince Whitehead to design planes for them, but in the end it was the US Government that managed to get the engineer to work for them: awarded $22,000, he was asked to develop a plane that could be used for scouting and exploration, for the United States Armed Forces.

The loss of such a chance would eventually prompt others to attempt to find and copy the means by which Whitehead's plane had managed to work while others' had not, but now it was clear that human flight had become a reality.

 

[Milarqui]

Part III – 1903: The Vote​

The first three months of 1903 were relatively uneventful for the people of Spain. Of course, “relatively” was the important word in here. While people were interested in the first balompie games of the year, the resolution of the labor conflict surrounding the Spanish railway network or the tour Guillermo, Prince of Asturias, his wife and his children gave through the Spanish Empire on board of the FAE Plus Ultra – one of the newest dirigibles in the Spanish Air Force – Spanish diplomats were involved in the difficult task of settling down American concerns – or rather, demands – regarding the soon-to-happen Dominican referendum and the effects it might have in the Western Hemisphere.

After months of preparations, the people in the Dominican Republic would choose their future – whether to retain their independence or to merge with the Empire of the United Spains as a Foral Region – on April 6th 1903. And in the United States, with President William Bryan facing many problems for his pacifist attitude towards the European nations trying to meddle in American affairs, it is not something that can be taken lightly.

William Jennings Bryan, 25th President of the United States of America​

Then again, as one of the diplomats said, why should the Americans be allowed to meddle with Spain's internal affairs? The deal the Dominicans got was actually a lot better than it might have been, and they still had the possibility of leaving with everything Spain had brought to them.

Knowing that, might, indeed, end up being the case, was not something the Spanish government wanted to lose, and a campaign, similar to those that had started to happen in the elections, took steam during those first three months of the year, showing the people of Dominica the advantages that joining the Empire would have for them, while diminishing any disadvantages it had to the minimum. Meanwhile, the American government funnelled thousands of dollars in propping up the figure of pro-independence politicians and trying to paint the idea of rejoining Spain as going back in time, and that the motherland would go back on its word as soon as it became convenient, sucking Dominica dry and leaving everyone in the dust.

The pro-unification politicians took some time to actually laugh at that idea. Had not Spain funded the reconstruction of the island after the devastation of so many wars? Had they not invested to create a strong industry? Had they not secured trade agreements to continue bringing what Dominica needed and buy what Dominica sold? Why, even the Emperor had come twice to the island, to see the efforts done on restoration over the years, and had also promised to come again after the referendum took place, whichever the result! Would not it be far better to welcome him to a new part of the Empire of the Spains?

As the campaign raged, events in the United States, namely in the state of New York, were also evolving. Spanish engineer Mónico Sánchez, had managed to finish his studies in Electrotechnical Engineering, and had, in the process, become friends with an unlikely person: Nikola Tesla, now co-owner of the Tesla-Westinghouse Corporation. Tesla offered Sánchez the chance to remain in New York, working in the company, but Sánchez replied that he desired to return to Spain. He also extended an invitation for Tesla to visit Spain at any time: he knew that Torres Quevedo, his soon-to-be boss, was interested in meeting with Mr Tesla, and probably in all pearls of wisdom he may be able to deliver. Tesla replied that he would consider his words, and perhaps take advantage of that offer in the future.

Upon returning to Spain, Mónico Sánchez joined the Compañía de Telégrafos, where he soon began to apply all the knowledge he had learned during his time in the United States. The implementation of the Spanish telephone network increased tenfold thanks to new developments that decreased the prize of the phone terminals, and he even had the time to make the first design for a better X-Ray machine, one that could even be taken into the field thanks to its low weight.

Finally, the referendum took place. Journalists from all over the world traveled to Santo Domingo, the capital of the Dominican Republic, to watch the referendum in its origin. The United States Government sent several agents to ensure there was no attempt to rig the outcome, and so did several other nations, including the Spanish, who thought that it would be likely for another nation to attempt to negatively mess with the results.

In the end, with about 92% of the Dominican voting population coming to the booths, the result was that 81% of the votes were in favor of annexation.

The American government immediately issued a protest, claiming that the result was a sham. However, the Dominican government, obviously not glad about it, did accept the result, and initiated the negotiations with the Spanish to initiate the transition from national to foral government, since they would have the same “rights” as the Cubans and Puerto Ricans. There were several other issues to solve, some minor, some mayor, such as the new flag and, of course, a name for the region.

In the end, the region would be officially known as Quisqueya, after the Taino name for the island. The flag would be the Republic's, but with the coat of arms erased. The current government would act as a provisional government, as the laws of the Empire were applied to Quisqueya, and, on 1904, the Quisqueyans would vote for their first foral government as well as their first representatives to Parliament and Senate – which had to be modified yet again to account for the new change.

The United States did not accept this change: to them, the entire referendum and all the following process was illegal and a sham, and, as such, continued to maintain their Embassy in Santo Domingo open and tried to continue with business as usual, openly ignoring all requests by the Spanish government to re-negotiate the commercial treaties that dealt with the island and considering those to still be the same as when the Dominican Republic was independent. The Spanish press treated the matter by accusing the Americans of immaturity and inability to accept that the Dominicans had freely chosen their destiny. In the end, all the Americans managed to do with their attitude was to turn the already lukewarm relations with Spain into outright frosty.

People from all over the Empire would come to Santo Domingo two months after the referendum took place, most important of all the Emperor, Leopoldo, who, in spite of being 67 years old, willingly undertook the long sea travel across the ocean to be present in the ceremony, and he was warmly welcomed by the local population, whom he thanked for putting their trust in Spain, and hoped that this trust would be fulfilled, much like Spain's trust in him in 1871 did back then.

The success of this vote led to the Governor of Angola, Simão Almeida, to request a change in Angola's status: in his opinion, the Angolan population, both settlers and natives, were more than capable of voting for their own representatives in Congress. As it was, the government was not so sure about it, but they sent a message back mentioning that, after the next elections, a committee would be formed and travel to Angola to ascertain whether the claims were true. If they were so, the people of Angola would vote on the 1907 elections, and so would the people of Moçambique, after their Governor stated that, perhaps, it was time the franchise was expanded.

In July, the Spanish Royal Air Force managed to get its hands on something their mouths were watering at ever since they heard about it: an aeroplane. Or, rather, blueprints for one. Studying them for all details took many days, and as the engineers were finally managing to solve the main kink of how to make them powerful enough to propel the aeroplane, they hoped to make the first test in the following year.

Until such a time, the dirigible would be the strong arm of the air cavalry, so to speak. Even if it could not go fast, it still had great potential. As a scout, as long as it had someone in the gondola and a radio, it was incredibly useful. It was also a possible way to distract the enemy, making them think the attack would be somewhere else. And some were even proposing its potential use as a way to bomb enemy positions from the air, which would be far more precise than using artillery pieces. However, there were people already arguing that, with the advent of the aeroplane, it would not be long until dirigibles became vulnerable.

The expansion of the Armed Forces was also brought to the field of submarines: a new submarine, the Orca-class, had started to make its first tests in the waters of the Canary Islands, and proved to be well up to the standards requested by the Navy. This, combined with the newest torpedo model, the first that could be telekinetically controlled, meant a new age in the use of submarines in the Spanish Navy. This torpedo would soon begin production in a CESA factory, with higher-than-normal security to prevent spies from getting to their invention, but, no matter what was tried, news of it started to filter back towards other countries, particularly those in Europe, which were quite interested in the issue of this new weapon.

 

[Milarqui]

Part IV – 1904: Foundations of a Fall​

The aftershocks of Quisqueya's reunification with Spain would be felt in many places, particularly in the United States. President Bryan, a devout pacifist, had yet to carry out any activity against “Spain's unlawful grab at our American brothers” beyond formal protests and unwillingness to recognise the change, and a good part of the public was being whipped into a frenzy by the sensationalist press, which was inventing several stories about the fate of Quisqueya in the aftermath of the vote. This, combined with his inability to push through several of his promised policies, such as Free Silver or Prohibition, due to the opposition of the Republican-dominated Senate, ensured that his earlier popularity would start to drop as the year passed.

Meanwhile, the people of Quisqueya were ignoring the American yellow press inventions and concerned with far more pressing matters, such as the election of their governor, their first foral parliament and their first deputies and senators in Madrid. It was not a surprise when the first Governor of Quisqueya was Juan Tapia de la Riba, of the Partido Demócrata-Radical, given that it was them that had made the greatest mark in the island, but the situation in everything else was pretty balanced between the two main parties, with the addition of several members of the Quisqueyan Regionalist Party to the foral parliament.

The elections themselves were another watermark in the history of Spain, for women were allowed to vote in them for the first time. In a world where most democratic nations completely restricted women access to the political system – of course, dictatorships and absolutist monarchies had no access at all – Spain was a shining light for all the suffragist movements around the world, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States, where women started to protest for the lack of rights.

The important event of the year, though, took place elsewhere: May 22nd, Vienna. Karlskirche was hosting Pentecost Mass, and Emperor Franz Josef, as expected, would attend it with his family, including his nephew and heir, Archduke Franz Ferdinand. Ever since his wife's death five years ago, giving her last breath in her rooms in Schönbrunn Schloss – some said she had died of a broken heart after her only son's suicide – one of the few refuges he had had from his sadness over so many losses was religion, and he attended mass every Sunday. And, as with all other important festivities, he did so at the Imperial Church, Karlskirche.

However, this time would be completely different from all others. As the Austrian Emperor started to walk the way between his royal carriage and the church's gates, several gunshots rang out and bullets flew across the air. One of the Emperor's personal guards was struck in the shoulder, a second on the ear and, to the horror of everyone, the Emperor himself on the chest.

For a second, the entire square went silent, and then panic as the people's minds caught up with what had just happened. While the Emperor's personal guard tried to stop the bleeding in the Emperor's chest, several of the soldiers and constables that had been present started to seek the shooter, who had obviously hid himself among the public to carry out his execrable attack. It was one sharp-eyed constable that saw a man carrying a rifle while running away along the rest of the civilians, and several men gave chase, trying to capture the attacker and ensure he was punished. It took an hour and a half, and when they reached the man a shoot-out ensued: two more men died before the kingslayer was finally apprehended.

Because that was what he had become: already a difficult thing to survive if he had been a youth full of life, the Emperor's 74 years of age weighed on him too much, and he was unable to resist the shock of the attack and the loss of so much blood: Franz Josef I of Austria died before his personal doctor was able to act in such a way that might have saved his life.

The kingslayer turned out to be Edvárd Kovač, a Hungarian nationalist that formed part of a group of like-minded people that had decided striking against the Emperor and his heirs would be enough to prod his compatriots into an attempt to become independent. However, as Franz Ferdinand's carriage had run with some delay, he had decided to strike before the Emperor entered Karlskirche, hoping that it would be enough to bring the Dual Monarchy down and finally allow Hungary to become a nation on its own.

Franz Josef I of Austria (18 August 1830 – 22 May 1904)​

The Emperor was buried three days later in the Imperial Crypt, next to his wife Elisabeth and his son Rudolf, after a solemn requiem mass that was attended by representatives of all the Crowns of Europe, and, most important of all, Franz Ferdinand, the heir to the Imperial Crown. A week later, after the period of mourning ended, he was crowned Emperor of Austria in Vienna, and three days later, King of Hungary in Budapest. Soon, Franz Ferdinand I of Austria-Hungary started to work on his plans for the Empire he ruled over. Much like his northern cousins, he decided that it was time to finally put an end to the absolutist reign that Franz Josef had upheld for his entire life. Unlike his uncle, Franz Ferdinand had understood that absolutism was at an end, and that if he did not listen to the people, he would end up losing everything. He would also start to plan for a way to change the circumstances of his marriage so that it would not be considered as morganatic any more, so that his wife Sophie would be able to be named Empress of Austria

He also started to lay the first bricks of what he hoped would finally put an end to what he thought was the great mistake of 1867, the compromise that had partially restablished Hungary's sovereignty, putting it on the same level as Austria. His antipathy for the Hungarians, now increased by the fact that they had murdered his uncle – not that he had shed many tears for him, given their great differences – and that they would have murdered him as well, ensured that he had the drive to push forward his project to federalize Austria-Hungary, which his counselor Aurel Popovici had nicknamed “United States of Greater Austria”.

The United States of Greater Austria plan​

The first efforts to carry this out involved a meeting between the Austrian and Hungarian governments, two months after Franz Josef's death, where Popovici, at the behest of the Emperor, presented the plan. Naturally, the Hungarians were completely opposed to this plan, as it would curtail a good part of the power they held. Many arguments were held, with positions for and against the plan, and the discussion soon turned ugly. In the end, the Emperor called for a stop to the argument, telling the Hungarians that he cared not for their whining: he was their ruler, and if they did not want to collaborate, then he would appoint a new government that would do so.

The troubles of Austria-Hungary went mostly unnoticed by the other nations in Europe, and only at the highest levels of government was the crisis known, thanks to well-placed spies and moles in Vienna. The Germans were worried about this, as their neighbors to the south were in danger of suffering a catastrophe, and such a problem could not be allowed to happen. The Italians were mixed, for a collapse might allow them to claim Trento and other lands that they considered part of their country, but it also left them without a potential ally in a war. France and Russia, in the meantime, not only did they look towards it, but they were even considering the possibility of starting to send people to capitalize on it, wishing to take down one of the Germans' allies. Because war was close, any fool could see that, and any advantage they had, they would take gladly.

Meanwhile, at the other side of the ocean, the problems in Mexico, which were already big, exploded into rage: Porfirio's rule had been too long, and the people were fed up with the fact that all the good he had brought only benefitted a few people at the top of the food chain, while the rest of the people continued to live as they had years before, and at some points even worse. Thinking they had nothing to lose, they had started to organise, buying weapons in the United States or from other foreign nations, and, taking Porfirio by surprise, they started a rebellion in the north.

Ignoring the troubles to their north, the construction of the Nicaragua Canal continued unabated. The second lock had been finally installed after several delays and problems, but it was all good, and the expectation was that the canal would be finished within three years, at worst four.

This sparked the hastening of negotiations between the United States Government and Colombia: for 11 million dollars plus a yearly lease of $250,000, the United States would have control of the land for the canal and the chance to build it. They then spent even more money in buying everything the French had left behind, and the men behind the new project started to study the problem before them while making a calling for all men interested in this to join them in the “greatest work of engineering since the Pyramids”, as one journalist called it.

The canal soon became one of the issues in the incoming elections. Some considered it a complete waste of time and money that could be better spent on other issues, while others wondered if it might not have been better to find a way to make it cheaper to buy, and a few war hawks had even considered aloud that, perhaps, going to war might have worked better to ensure the canal became American. The Nicaragua Canal, Quisqueya, the start of an economic depression... all of it was piled up on President Bryan, and it became clear that, unless he managed to pull a rabbit out of his hat, he was done with.

That did not mean things were easy for the Republicans, either. Like sharks at the smell of blood, several politicians had jumped in the chance to oust Bryan from the Presidency. At least five candidates managed to make it to the national voting, and in the end it was Theodore Roosevelt, the most popular of the five, that was chosen, even though a good part of the Republican party leadership was wary of him due to his anti-corruption crusading and other issues that had kept them from allowing that to happen before. Henry Clay Evans was chosen as a way to balance the ticket.

On November 8th, the American people had to choose between the Republicans Theodore Roosevelt and Henry Clay Evans on one side, and the incumbent President and Vice-President, William Bryan and Arthur Sewall on the other side. In that day, Roosevelt and Evans end up getting 343 EV and 33 states over Bryan's 133 EV and 12 states, winning the Presidency, which he would be sworn in on the following March 5th.

Theodore Roosevelt, 26th President of the United States of America​

The accession of Roosevelt to the White House promised not a few problems in the future: given his patriotism, he was unlikely to actually to take any insult – or anything that might be construed as such – laying down... and that did not bode well for Spain.

 

[Milarqui]

Part V – 1905: The Boiler Explodes​

At the beginning of 1905, anyone with any political sense knew that the world was a boiler at the edge.

Early in 1905, the world was shocked when the British unveiled a ship that threatened to put everything that had ever been built in the seas: the HMS Juggernaut, so-called because it was believed it would be unstoppable, was an enormous mass of steel and iron armed with more cannons than anything else in the planet, and that could make shadow on any warship ever made before. Based on ideas developed by several naval engineers and theorists, the Royal Navy expected the Juggernaut to utterly dominate in any naval conflict it might get involved with, and it showed.

Immediately, this sparked the interest of the other navies in the world. If these “juggernauts” were that capable, allowing the British Empire to have a monopoly on this kind of ship would be tantamount to suicide if there was a naval war with the British at some point in time. So, France, Germany, Spain, Russia, Austria-Hungary... all of them did what they could to get their hands on anything that might lead them to being able to build a ship of the same characteristics. In Spain itself, a first design was finished by the end of September, although several more would follow as the government tried to consider which was the best one to engage with: it would not be until early 1907 that the first hull was laid.

However, Austria-Hungary would not be one of those lucky nations, able to make their own juggernauts. The troubles started with Franz Josef's murder the previous year were starting to spill into the following one. Austria and Hungary had had many things in common, but their differences, the ones that had sparked the transformation of the Austrian Empire into the Dual Monarchy were there, and starting to make the country come at the seams.

It all started in February, when Franz Ferdinand met the Hungarian government to tell them the ultimatum: either they accepted the changes to transform Austria-Hungary, or they would be seeing the door. When the Hungarians rejected the proposal, calling it blackmail of the worst order, the King-Emperor carried out his threat, and the Hungarian government was replaced by another, led by Franz Ferdinand's advisor, Aurel Popovici, who would ensure the program was carried out.

However, the Hungarian half of the government had the slight problem that it did not answer to the King, but to the Parliament, and as such the Hungarians considered the King's actions illegal: the new government became known as the “Kiszabott Kormány”, the Imposed Government, and chose to ignore them: the previous government was the only one considered legitimate by the Parliament, and the first time the Kiszabott Kormány tried to speak to the Parliament, all of its members – save for those that supported Franz Ferdinand's objectives – left the building.

Protests would begin to hit the Hungarian half of the Dual Monarchy, as the minorities began to understand that their monarch wished to give them a say in their own future, but their parliament was opposed to the idea. Several propagandists were able to spark even more protests and demands for the Vereignten Staaten von Gross-Österreich. It was the beginning of a cold war between the Austrian and Hungarian halves of the Dual Monarchy.

Alarmed by this turn of events, Germany would begin to aid Austria in order to bring an end to the mess, sending diplomats to the Hungarians to convince them to drop the attitude and accept the possibility of change, but the Hungarians, not wanting to lose their power over the minorities within their half of the country, barely accepted the diplomats and mostly dismissed their points. It would be hard to attempt to find a way to reconcile both sides of the matter, and not even the best German diplomats believed they would be able to act and save the day.

To their east, Tsar Nikolai II saw the situation with ambivalent eyes. Ever since the alliance with France started, the air in the western border had started to rarefy, and the idea of one of their neighbours and potential future enemies going down was good, particularly considering that territory such as Galitzia that was populated by people of Polish extraction: a collapse of Austria-Hungary might allow them to gain such territory, not to mention become closer with the southern Slav nations; on the other side, though, were Austria-Hungary to fall, the situation may actually become too chaotic, particularly if it broke down in a civil war. So, Russia would wait and see what happened.

At the other side of the Atlantic, the United States of America celebrated the swearing in of Theodore Roosevelt to the office of the President of the United States. One of Roosevelt's first actions was to order a build-up of the Army and the Navy, as well as increasing the size of the Air Cavalry, seeing that there was a likely chance of armed conflict within his term.

Of course, this wound up making its neighbours nervous. Porfirio Díaz assumed that the United States might try to invade, taking advantage of the current chaos caused by what foreign journalists imaginatively called “the Mexican Revolution”, and asked for help to anyone that could listen, but few paid attention when it was obvious that he was done for. The British government, while not worried about it – the large border between the United States and Canada was too long for the United States to protect, and they had the most powerful navy in the world – still made sure to take care that Canada had enough protection for any eventual attack by the US.

It was Spain, though, that realized that they were at the greatest danger: no one there had lost sight of the enmity the United States now held for Spain, after becoming so much stronger and because they controlled Cuba, Puerto Rico and Quisqueya. They carefully started to expand what they had in the Caribbean, increasing the size of the Caribbean Fleet and recruiting soldiers in the region. Of course, this did not exactly help the US Government trust in Spain, so the arms race continued in the sea.

The same kind of problem was taking place in East Asia: Japan's possession of Korea had them facing off with Russia and China over the territory of Manchuria, rich in resources and people that China wished to keep, and Russia and Japan wanted to take over, or at least turn into a protectorate for them to take advantage of those resources. Both empires pretty much ignored China's protestations, considering them weak and unworthy of holding that land, and as such it was pretty much an attempt at showmanship between them. No shots were fired, but those who were there knew it was a matter of time.

Even South America was starting to pick on the smell of trouble. While the alliance between Peru and Bolivia remains as strong as ever, things around them are not going that well. For example, Chile was rearming itself, and was also trying to find allies in the region: Brazil, for example, had their eye on the Acre region, populated by many Brazilians but actually controlled by Bolivia, and Ecuador sought to solve in their favor the current border dispute with Peru.

Not everything that happened around the world in this year was a threat against humanity, though: for example, in the Institute Pasteur de Lille, physician Albert Calmette and his colleague Jean-Marie Guérin managed to create the first working immunization for tuberculosis; German-Swiss scientist Hans Einstein produced several papers that explained several issues that people had yet to find an answer for, such as the photoelectric effect or the random movement of particles within a fluid; cars powered with electric batteries started to become as common as gasoline-powered cars; the first cycling Grand Tour de la France took place during the month of July; Lisbon University celebrated its ten-year anniversary; the International Football Confederation was formed by football associations from all of Europe, in order to consider the possibility of organizing international tournaments in the future...

But peace was not to be held, and the pressure kept building until the boiler could not stand it anymore.

The USS New York armored cruiser was going from the West Coast to the East Coast, as the Secretary of the Navy ordered it to be redeployed to the Atlantic Fleet in case a war with Spain ensued. Their last stop for coaling before reaching the United States was the port city of Santo Domingo, now capital of the Foral Region of Quisqueya, on September 9th.

While there, several sailors went ashore on leave, in order to attempt to enjoy some time at land before the last days of travel. A group of ten of them, drunk after visiting several taverns, assaulted a group of five young women that were walking through the streets, enjoying the festivities of the Día del Descubrimiento: the two old ladies that were accompanying the girls were thrown aside and gravely injured, and it took the intervention of twenty people, including five police officers, to stop the sailors before they could rape the ladies.

The group of sailors was imprisoned in wait for the trial to take place. The USS New York captain attempted to get them out on bail, but this was prevented by the judge in charge, since it was clear that they would be jumping bail before the sun set. Trying to get the American consul – still styled as “Ambassador” in official American communications – in Santo Domingo involved did not work, either. In the end, being well behind schedule, the captain was forced to continue the travel to Newport, Rhode Island. Upon arriving there, they were all met with a growing scandal over the “injustice of the Spaniards' actions at imprisoning our brave boys”.

It turned out that the American consul had immediately sent word to Washington D.C. about the sailors being imprisoned, and the journalists for the main newspapers of the United States – among them Joseph Pulitzer's New York World and John Roll McLean's Washington Journal – reported on the events. However, all reports were "slightly" changed from reality, particularly those of the newspapers, where the articles written from the reports barely made mention of the victimized women and tried to portray the sailors as unjust victims of “Spanish rampant tyranny over our Caribbean brothers, who claim for liberation from their oppressors every day”.

Admittedly, what was being published was, at best, an exaggeration, and at worst pure lies. But such was the mood among the American public, and the American newspapers happily fed that fire with what was being called “yellow journalism”. Telegrams and letters started to be sent to the capital, demanding immediate action to free the sailors and bring them home. Protests took place in front of the Spanish Embassy, with people throwing stones and calling the ambassador every evil name under the sun.

Theodore Roosevelt saw here the perfect chance to finally put an end to the Spanish adventures in the United States' backyard, and fully open the Caribbean to them. Plus, they could even plan for the possibility of taking over what they are doing at Nicaragua, and that way they would be able to control both canals in the future. To that effect, he sent for the Spanish ambassador, and during the meeting 'requested' him that he work to liberate the prisoners.

Ambassador Antonio Quesada Pinares [1], however, was not moved by the 'request', and politely asked the President if he believed that his men were above the law. When Roosevelt replied that they were not, the Ambassador asked him why, then, he made that demand, and he also stated that, if the sailors were truly innocent – which did not look likely, given the many witnesses – then they had nothing to fear.

However, this answer was not to the liking of the American people, who were reading articles about the sailors being held in the most horrible of prisons in Quisqueya, or the squalor most families were supposedly living in at the three islands held by Spain, or even rumours of pro-independence people being shot daily. Most of it lies, of course, but the American people did not know that, trusting their newspapers' words.

As the situation between both sides started to heat up, Spain considered the need to send troops to the Caribbean: given the mood in the region, it was likely that a war may take place sooner or later. The troop movements, though, gave the United States the impression that Spain was planning to attack, and thus decided to answer accordingly.

President Roosevelt decided to send a small flotilla to Nicaragua, in order to engage in some gunboat diplomacy with the Nicaraguans and secure their “support” for the incoming conflict, but the Nicaraguan government decided to call for Spanish support, and a week later several Spanish ships were sailing into the port of Bilwi. When the American Rear Admiral John Storm [1] demanded that the Spanish leave, Rear Admiral Juan Casas de la Reina [1] replied that, unlike the Americans, they were there at the invitation of the local government, so, if anyone had to leave, it was them.

Tensions were increasing, the boiler was a hair's breadth away from exploding... and it did.

On November 12th 1905 at 2 AM, boiler no. 3 of the protected cruiser USS Clarksville exploded, taking the ship out of commission and killing thirty-five crewmen. Captain Calvin Johnson [2], paranoid, half asleep and remembering the words of the Rear Admiral to expect a traitorous attack from the Spanish at any moment, believed they had been attacked by the Spaniards, and ordered to shoot back at their opponents and to warn the rest of the fleet the event.

Ten minutes later, the Spanish were surprised when the Americans started to shoot towards them, and Rear Admiral Casas de la Reina ordered an inmediate counter-attack.

The subsequent fight ended with heavy losses for the less trained Americans, but the Spanish fleet did not leave unscathed, losing two of their six ships and variable damages to the other ships. As the surviving Americans limped back home, news flew far and wide across the world, and by the time they arrived to Pensacola, the American public had been whipped into a war frenzy by the yellow press.

It was then that President Roosevelt issued the ultimatum that would forever bear his name: among the demands were “ending the illegal occupation of the Dominican Republic and restore its freedom”, selling all claims to the Nicaragua Canal to the United States, a great compensation for their “willful, malicious attack on our gallant ships and sailors”, for Rear Admiral Casas de la Reina to be given up to face American justice for his murder of American citizens and a boatload more of demands, while also including a few “recommendations” such as selling or leaving Cuba and Puerto Rico. If these demands were not accepted by the Spanish government, the United States “would be forced to declare war”.

The Spanish answer was quite clear: the fault for the attack clearly laid in the American fleet, which clearly struck first – which many Nicaraguans would be able to attest to – and, if anyone was to pay compensations, it was the American government.

Finally, on December 12th 1905, a month after the Roosevelt Ultimatum was issued, Theodore Roosevelt requested the joint session of House and Senate to vote in favor of declaring war on Spain. Two hours later, after the House voted 341-45 and the Senate 75-15 in favor of declaring war, the United States of America had officially declared war on the United Empire of the Spains.

[1] Invented names.
[2] Yes, it's the same as Skye's dad's name in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., but I did not pick it because of that.

END OF CHAPTER EIGHT​

OK, first things first: I really, really did not want to repeat the USS Maine incident. I actually told myself several times that I would not go the easy way. Actually, the initial idea was to use the incident with the sailors as the spark, but I realised it would have been the most idiotic excuse for such a war to happen (probably around the same level as the War of Jenkins' Ear) and decided to just use the issue to heat up the atmosphere between the USA and Spain. But then, when it came down to the spark, I saw that there was no way one side would attack the other without a reason, and I did not have Tocomocho's excuse of Venezuela's war to bring the initial smackdown, so... strange explosion + paranoid navy = "OMFG, we are being attacked!". Yes, it is a bit weak, because someone with enough sense should have done like Stanislav Petrov and realised that there was no way the Spanish ships would have shot just one shell.

Ugh. Trying to find a way to start a war is not easy.

Anyway, onto other issues.

The name for TTL's dreadnoughts has, obviously, changed. The original Dreadnought was, as you can imagine, named after the belief that its sailors would "dread nought", dread nothing. Here, they are called juggernauts, the unstoppable force.

About the Austria-Hungary issues, I fear I may have considered the Crown's powers in Hungary much greater than they were, because the information I could find stated that the Hungarian government was appointed by the King-Emperor but answered to Parliament, which meant that, either it played like in current parliamentary monarchies (the appointed government is actually the one chosen by Parliament) or it was directly picked by the monarch (as it happened in still-absolutist Austria). If it was the former, I apologize for this utter screw-up, but then the ideas I am having for A-H would not work.

Also, the little things. Sure, having Albert Einstein's ATL brother being responsible for a good part of his discoveries is too easy, but it makes for a good alternative to bringing in a completely unrelated guy. And we don't have FIFA anymore: instead, it is the IFC/CIF. Electric cars are more common since several countries (among them Spain) are quite rich but do not have easy access to petrol, which tends to be saved for the Navy.

For those who wonder, military planes are still a bit away. They definitely do not have the range to reach from Florida to Cuba. They will in a few years, but not during the Spanish-American War.

Hope you have liked this chapter, and keep close for the next!