CHAP 24 PART 9 - Europe in 1933: The Empires of Iberia
The Empires of Iberia
CHAPTER 24: "Europe in 1933"PART 9
The Iberian Empires were the first true hegemons of Europe. Dominating the seas, the metropolises of Portugal and then Spain were the centres from which large, continent-spanning colonial empires were founded. Almost all of the New World fell under the combined domination of the Spanish and Portuguese realms, besides generous dominions in Africa and Asia. With the blessing of the Holy Church and the power of the Armadas, the world truly seemed theirs for the taking. It was to be only an illusion though, as with every passing decade stagnation became more and more obvious. Already by the 17th century Spanish power stopped being what it once was, and the global Portuguese trade empire suffered catastrophic blows at the hands of the nascent Dutch Republic. When the Industrial Revolution ushered in a new era in the late 18th century, the Iberians were simply left behind. Sunk in internal turmoil and lacking the economic and technical might required to make this daunting step, Spain and Portugal lagged more and more behind the prime great powers of Europe. Spain’s decline was somewhat relieved by its shared victory with the French in the Nine Years’ War, bringing some much needed patriotic fervour and a gain of prestige, if not territory. Nevertheless, the British were forced to cede a generous amount of West Indies islands to the Spanish, and London permanently relinquished its Mosquito Coast colony. With the help of the Pacte de Famille, Spain experienced a somewhat reduced variant of France’s “Glorious Century”; the Industrial Revolution finally arrived in Spain by the 1840s, and albeit with a slow progress, factories were built and railroads started lining the countryside.
The prosperity and stability of the Spanish Empire were rocked by the widespread revolts from the American colonies that happened in the 1840s, on the background of unrest that had been mounting since the days of the Nine Years’ War, and even before. New Spain and New Granada were the hotspots of rebellion, while Peru served as a loyalist stronghold, with La Plata remaining largely uninvolved. Most of the rebellions were finally subdued, but New Spain, rebranded as “Mexico”, successfully fought its War of Independence to become the second colony from the Americas to break away from their master, after the late United States. While this was a hard shock to absorb at first, the Spanish Empire survived. It was clear, however, that something had to change in the future if the Realm was to be preserved. The long reign of Isabella II would see many changes: She ended up being something in between her father and his predecessors, generally trying to play out various factions against each other to keep her power, but willingly appointing Prime Ministers to manage Spain. Firstly Leopoldo O'Donnell, then after his death, under a power sharing arrangement, Francisco Serrano and Juan Prim, and following them Antonio Cànovas del Castillo and Pràxeded Mateo Sagasa. These power-sharing partnerships were known as "the Diarchate" (El Diarcato), and generally did well in managing the country and Empire. By the end of Isabella's reign, Spain was in a better position than when she ascended on the throne. Spain was finally industrializing in earnest, the educational system had been finally reformed into a modern one, and Spain was administratively centralized (with the Fueros having been abolished, among other things). The Empire, however, had gone in the opposite direction, and the single colonies had been given more power in how they rule themselves, with the Criollos becoming the new ruling class, and some Mestizos managing to work their way up in their respective colonial governments. By the 1890s, the colonies had been given de jure “independence” as associate monarchies in a wider “Spanish Commonwealth”, but in practice they are still bound to Madrid in foreign affairs and parts of their policies.
Isabella II died in 1904, and she was succeeded by Alfonso XII on the throne. A somewhat inexperienced king, he is not very well-liked by the populace at large. Nevertheless, the situation is stable for the time being, thanks to some of the reforms brought by Alfonso’s Prime Minister, Ángel Herrera Oria. Among others, he has steered the Spanish economy away from classical liberalism and towards a pioneering form of Christian Corporatism, somewhat similar to France’s Munisme. Many eyes are pointed to Jaime (soon-to-be Jacques), Alfonso’s second son, since he is poised to inherit the French throne thanks to the Salic succession laws of the Kingdom. The question of Spain’s future relationship and position towards France, the “brother monarchy” of the Pacte de Famille, floats in the air. There is also the uncertainty of what Crown Prince Alfonso will choose as policy after his father dies. Will he keep their trusted minister Oria, or will he lend his ears to new ideas? Salvador Dalì, a popular artist and advocate for radical reform, is a well-liked public figure and is rumored to be acquainted with the Crown Prince; he claims that he seeks “to transform Spain into an integralist state, being guided by his love for King, Church and Fatherland”. Lastly, the youngest of King Alfonso’s sons, Juan Count of Barcelona, known as “Juan Carlos”, has become the poster boy of the Carlist Movement, and has some very competent associates... The Carlists idolize the reigns of the two Charles of the 19th century, which are seen as a golden age by many. They are liberals who wish for a return to what they see as “Spain's last high point”... Alfonso XII is not too preoccupied about Juan’s associates though, since his youngest son is largely kept out of the most sensitive affairs of state.
As for Portugal, the 19th century was probably good in more ways than it was bad. Staying neutral during the Nine Years’ War, Portugal avoided the potential destruction it could have suffered had it entered on the side of their old British allies, but the victory of the Pacte de Famille in the war also saw the entrenchment of a powerful Spanish Empire with an even stronger French ally. Portugal would see war though, as in 1867 skirmishes between the Dutch-owned VOC and the Portuguese garrisons in the Portuguese East Indies would turn into a war between the two. To win this war however, the Portuguese realized they wouldn’t be able to just sit idly and use the colonial garrisons; without the further conscription of the Brazilian population and a shift into a more war-centred economy, the Portuguese risked losing this colonial war. The central government in Lisbon knew however that such demands would not be able to be meet without concessions, and that forcing them would simply result in a larger independentist movement taking a grasp of the Brazilian population, thus the government passed the Act of Representation where the Brazilian population and nobility got further representation in the Portuguese Court. Such an act would prove to work wonders for the Portuguese war effort, as the conscripted divisions and further improved and increased navy was able to completely overwhelm and defeat the VOC forces, taking back Flores and Timor. Things, however, would take a turn for the worse as in 1869 the King’s health finally crumbled. In the turmoil, a Brazilian independence movement backed by the VOC rose, the so-called “Males Revolution”; the revolution called for the expulsion or outright execution of all whites in the region and the establishment of an Islamic Republic centred in the region of Bahia. This, and pressure from the Dutch Estates-General on the VOC, would convince the Portuguese and VOC to reach a peace agreement, allowing the freed Portuguese forces to crush the Brazilian revolution. Throughout the 19th century, the relation with the Brazilian colony constantly evolved, but a major breakthrough in representation of equality within the Empire is yet to be reached. The Portuguese Metropolis still dominates all other dominions politically, but in reality the power balance has dramatically shifted. Brazil outproduces metropolitan Portugal by entire orders of magnitude, the population is 10 times bigger; in short, Brazil is truly the crown jewel, nay, the lifeline of the Portuguese Empire and its continued relevance on the world stage. Should something bad happen in the Transatlantic Lusitanian relationship, it is unlikely that Portuguese Power would survive.
The 20th century began with a great moment for Portugal and its Empire where, in 1903, Portugal and the other colonial powers meet in Copenhagen, in what would be known as the Copenhagen Conference, to decide on the colonization of Africa and, thanks to its influence in the areas, the Portuguese Empire became the second-largest African colonizer, behind only the French Empire. This served as an incredible boost to the Portuguese trust and support of the King, something that was needed ever since the Brazilian revolt of 1889, but at the end of the day, things would not be as good as they seemed on paper, with such a large swath of land to keep a hold of the Portuguese authorities found themselves incredibly undermanned and forced to introduce conscription in both metropolitan Portugal and Brazil to keep up with the enormous area they now had to keep a hold on, since not even with help of willing natives were the administrations able to keep a stable hold on their territories. The conscription, however, would incredibly sour the Portuguese youth, who would be forced to go on tours of Portuguese Africa to squash rebellions against the Crown; this, in turn, turned many of these former soldiers who witnessed and performed terrible acts into republican extremists, seeing the King and his Empire as evil and that in order to save the African people who were being brutally oppressed, both would need to be toppled. These sentiments were, of course, brutally suppressed by the Portuguese secret police, forcing the movement further underground and further into extremism. The unwise involvement of Portugal into the Dreadnought Race that started in the 1910s and the King’s unrelenting ambition to overtake both the Dutch and the Spanish in naval might led the Portuguese Empire to near bankruptcy and economic exhaustion. The Portuguese would continue on these lines for the rest of the next 20 years, healing themselves from the wounds of the economic collapse and attempting to re-strengthen their economy. However the Empire is still under threat in 1933: the African peoples are getting more and more restless as the exploitative policies implemented to heal the Portuguese economy are staying in place even after recovery. The Brazilian “Middle Income Trap” has not been truly solved and instead civil stability is kept with stopgap policies.In mainland Portugal, the underground republican extremists gain more and more support from the youth, especially the ones who have gone to study in Britain to escape the conscription and came back with ideas about revolution and socialism, leading many to wonder if these groups were being supported by the British. But alas, only time will know what the future will bring to Portugal: will it continue as a world power or will it collapse and disappear into the halls of history? Indeed, only time can tell what the future of the Empire will be.
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