Chapter 233: Return To Italy |
The work of colonial expansion and the formation of the colonial division was proceeding in an orderly manner, but Carlo’s mood at this time was far from good.
News came from Rome that Carlo’s father Vittorio Emanuele II was critically ill, and his body could not hold out much longer.
The Italian royal family’s private doctor inferred from Vittorio Emanuele II’s physical condition that the king who unified Italy had at most three months left to live.
When they learned that King Vittorio Emanuele II was critically ill, the Italian public’s reaction was one of considerable concern.
Even many newspaper and media outlets listed Vittorio Emanuele II among Italy’s top ten most outstanding monarchs, which showed just how great the unification of Italy was to the Italians.
From the current attitude of the Italians, they were still reluctant to part with this father of the homeland. This was a silver lining in the misfortune; at least the Italian House of Savoy could continue to pass down its legacy, and Italy’s government remained stable for the time being.
At this time, the House of Savoy was still quite glorious in Europe. The House of Savoy had two kings in one generation, and both Italy and Spain, which held their thrones, were bona fide European powers.
Though there was a gap compared to the five traditional European powers, do not dismiss second-class great powers as non-great powers.
Aside from the five traditional European powers, either Spain or Italy alone could stand without fear against any nation in Europe.
Historically, Vittorio Emanuele II passed away just a few days into the new year.
To see his father one last time, Carlo decided to head to Italy after spending Christmas 1877 in Spain, to accompany his father on his final journey.
Although Carlo had transmigrated to this world, this body’s father Vittorio Emanuele II had been extremely doting toward Carlo.
Both emotionally and rationally, accompanying his father on his final journey was very necessary. No matter how the relationship between Italy and Spain developed in the future, it could not change the current fact of their close cooperation.
As if sensing Carlo’s somewhat poor mood, Prince Juan Fernando and Princess Sofia were no longer so mischievous, quietly staying by Carlo’s side and spending a somewhat quiet Christmas with him.
Of course, the one who quieted down was mainly Prince Juan Fernando. Princess Sofia was just over one year old at this time and did not yet have the ability to cause trouble.
Little Prince Juan Fernando, who was already two and a half years old, had reached the age where he should be mischievous. Queen Sophie was often annoyed by Prince Juan Fernando’s antics, but fortunately the little fellow knew his limits and would obediently apologize when he upset his mother.
Carlo took Prince Juan Fernando’s mischief to heart but did not particularly want to intervene.
The main reason was that the elite noble education Carlo had prepared for Prince Juan Fernando was about to begin. Before the noble education started, Carlo still wanted his child to have a happy memory.
Once all the courses began, little Prince Juan Fernando would no longer have enough free time to be mischievous.
Because the various courses would keep him extremely busy, and to complete all the courses Carlo had prepared for him within the stipulated time, he would need to put in real effort.
Christmas had just ended when Carlo received a telegram from Manuel.
During this time, the two colonial defense regiments that Carlo had transferred from the South Morocco Colony and the Guinea Colony had arrived in the Congo Territory, and Manuel had formally begun the work of forming the colonial division.
Manuel currently had three colonial defense regiments, nearly 7,000 troops, which was barely enough to oversee the 70,000 indigenous laborers harvested from the previous operation.
It was worth mentioning that Andrew, the deputy Carlo had found for Manuel, was still in the Philippine Colony.
Because the Philippine Colony also needed to provide more than 5,000 soldiers to the Congo Territory, Andrew had to first recruit 5,000 soldiers and then head to the Congo Territory with them.
The same logic applied to the South Morocco Colony. At the current speed of organizing personnel from the two colonies, Manuel had hope of obtaining these 10,000 troops within two months and formally completing the formation of the colonial division.
Of course, formation was one thing; to turn the 20,000-strong colonial division into a combat-effective force would require a long training period.
The reason Carlo transferred two colonial defense regiments to Manuel was not only to give him enough manpower to ensure the stability of the Congo Territory, but also to have these veterans train the recruits, allowing the colonial division to gain combat effectiveness faster.
With the formation of the colonial division, the army would have many vacancies for basic officers at the company commander and platoon leader level. Including company commanders and higher-ranking officers, these would of course be filled by Spanish officers.
Conveniently, the Royal Military Academy trained hundreds of excellent graduates each year. Selecting some military academy graduates to go to the colonial armies for training would not only solve the shortage of grassroots officers in the colonial armies, but also give these military academy graduates more opportunities for advancement.
After serving a few years in the colonial armies and being transferred back to the Spanish mainland, they would certainly be promoted. For those military academy graduates with no background who could only rise through their own efforts, this was absolutely a good opportunity.
Moreover, compared to the Spanish mainland, Spain’s colonies were more likely to face war. Even if it was just small-scale wars at the level of indigenous rebellions, as long as they won, the merits would still be there.
As long as there were merits, whether it was promotion in military rank or obtaining land and nobility titles, there was great hope—this was also why Carlo was not at all worried about opposition from those military academy graduates.
The conditions in the colonies were of course harsh, but it depended on who was facing them. For Spaniards, the biggest drawback of the colonies was the lack of medical conditions, but this was not much better on the Spanish mainland.
The medical technology of this era was just like that; for any relatively serious illness, one could basically only leave it to fate.
Aside from the major problem of the poor medical environment, the only other drawback of the colonies was the scarcity of materials. However, the government would still ensure the army’s supply of materials, and aside from these issues, the preferential treatment Spaniards received in the colonies was quite generous.
After handling some political affairs and making proper arrangements for domestic matters in Spain, Carlo once again boarded a warship to head to Italy.
Unlike last time, this trip Carlo did not bring any family members. Whether Queen Sophie or the two little ones, they all had to stay in the Royal Palace of Madrid.
The reason for not bringing them was not only that they had already gone last time, but also that Carlo was considering the itinerary after returning from Italy.
In the few years since becoming King of Spain, Carlo had made very few diplomatic visits abroad. Taking this opportunity, Carlo decided to do a European tour, to deepen ties with several allies and, at the same time, seek cooperation with great powers like Britain, France, and Germany as much as possible, to gain some benefits from them.
The main competitive confrontations on the European continent at present were two: the confrontation between Britain and Russia, and the confrontation between Germany and France.
Leaving Britain and Russia aside for now, the confrontation between these two great powers was concentrated in the Balkan Peninsula and Central Asia, which had nothing to do with Spain.
The Germany-France confrontation was mainly embodied in the German Chancellor Bismarck’s policy to isolate France. France was surrounded by four great powers; aside from Spain, relations with the other three great powers were not very good.
There was no need to say much about Germany-France relations; Germany’s establishment had been achieved by standing on the heads of the French.
Relations between France and Italy were also not good; previously, France had firmly controlled Italy’s current capital Rome by supporting the Papal States.
If not for the outbreak of the Franco-Prussian War, Italy would have had to wait even longer to complete its unification. Even so, for Italy’s unification, Vittorio Emanuele II had painfully ceded the House of Savoy’s ancestral land, the Savoy region, which also gave European publics a joke about the Italian royal family House of Savoy: the origin of the House of Savoy’s name—the Savoy region does not belong to Savoy.
Precisely because of this, relations between France and Italy were also not good. For France to break through the encirclement created by Germany, its southern neighbor Spain became a very important link.
If Spain also joined in isolating France, France would be completely blockaded by Germany.
It was worth knowing that although Europe’s main contradictions were embodied in the Britain-Russia contradiction and the Germany-France contradiction, Britain and France had no shortage of contradictions either.
Leaving aside the rather distant Hundred Years’ War, in the Napoleonic era that the French spoke of with unmistakable pride, Britain and France were fierce enemy combatants.
Even several times the anti-French coalitions were led by the British, and the most intense contradiction during that period was the Britain-France one.
If France had not failed in the Franco-Prussian War, Britain’s greatest enemy would not have been Russia, but France.
At this time, Germany had not yet shown sufficient threat to Britain, which also meant that Germany, France, and Russia were all on the British list of defenses.
The British character and diplomatic policy had always been like this: they advocated suppressing whoever was strong and pulling in whoever was weak.
Currently, neither side in the Germany-France competition had shown an overwhelming advantage, so the British naturally would not act rashly.
The reason historical Britain formed an alliance with France against Germany was precisely because Germany’s rapid development after unification allowed its overall strength to quickly surpass France.
But at this time, Germany’s overall strength had not yet reached the level of far exceeding France. Germany and France were still superpowers of the same level, and even the reason Bismarck went to great lengths to isolate France was his fear of French retaliation.
For France to break Bismarck’s diplomatic isolation policy, it could only be done by pulling in Spain. As long as Spain did not lean toward Germany, France’s southern border would be safe.
The reason Spain’s previous application for a 500 million franc loan from France was quickly approved was that the French saw Spain’s importance.
Carlo of course understood this. Although Carlo had no intention of forming an alliance with the French, the necessary cooperation still needed to be maintained.
Although France had failed in the Franco-Prussian War, who could deny that France was an extremely powerful superpower?
Compared to the somewhat tail-end Austro-Hungarian Empire among the five traditional great powers, France’s ranking among the five traditional great powers was undoubtedly in the top three.
Whether in industry or economy, the French foundation far surpassed the Austro-Hungarian Empire. While paying Germany 5 billion francs in indemnity, France could still lend 500 million francs to Spain, which already showed how exaggerated France’s economic scale was.
Not to mention the former Spain; even now, it would be utterly impossible for Carlo to come up with 5 billion francs in funds in a short time.
For Spain to scrape together 5 billion francs would take at least ten years, and would require drastic cuts to the fiscal budgets of various departments.
This would absolutely have a huge impact on national development, and could even cause Spain to decline from then on.
In contrast, after repaying Germany’s indemnity, France’s economy was still thriving—this was quite exaggerated.
Clearing away the complex thoughts in his mind, as he waited for the warship to gradually dock, Carlo spotted Crown Prince Umberto and Prince Amadeo waiting at the port.
Carlo smiled and walked forward quickly, exchanging greetings with his two brothers.
Returning to the suburban manor where Vittorio Emanuele II lived, it was still the same as when he arrived a few months ago.
Only now, Vittorio Emanuele II lying in bed looked even more frail, and was even in a coma most of the time.
The old king was skin and bones, his once sturdy arms now just skin and bones, enough to show the torment the illness had inflicted on him.
Sigh!
Carlo let out a slight sigh, powerless against it.
The medical environment of this era was really too poor; unless he could transmigrate to posterity right now, symptoms like Vittorio Emanuele II’s could not be saved at all.
Even current medical methods could not diagnose what illness the old king had, and could only helplessly watch him tormented by pain before leaving the world at some near or distant point in time.
God was still fair to people. No matter one’s identity, in the end of life, everyone had to face death.
Vittorio Emanuele II had been so high-spirited when he unified Italy, but now he too had to face the outcome of death.
Worse still, it was death by constant torment from illness, ultimately dying in pain. Such a death outcome was the worst for anyone, and Carlo did not want his own final outcome to be the same.
“Is there no way to alleviate Father’s pain?” Carlo asked.
Crown Prince Umberto shook his head, also sighing, and said, “The doctors have tried every method they could, but none had any effect.
Perhaps this is God’s test for Father; after the pain, Father will ultimately be led by God to heaven.”
After some unknown time, Vittorio Emanuele II’s cloudy eyes opened a slit, and in a very hoarse and trembling voice he said, “Has Carlo come?”
“I have come, Father.” Carlo walked forward quickly and sat by Vittorio Emanuele II’s bedside.
“I originally thought death was still far from me, but I didn’t expect it to be so close. But this is something everyone must eventually experience, and I am not afraid of it.
Oddone（ Carlo’s brother who died young） has gone through this before me; perhaps he is waiting for me in heaven.” Vittorio Emanuele II said with difficulty.
“Father, your body will get better. If there are no experts in Europe who can cure you, I will search the entire world; there will surely be undiscovered expert doctors who can cure your illness,” Carlo comforted.
Vittorio Emanuele II shook his head. At this time, Europe was the world’s most civilized and developed region; if Europe’s medical technology could not cure his illness, he did not think medical technology in other parts of the world could treat his disease.
Vittorio Emanuele II struggled to sit up, looking at his three sons before him, a satisfied expression in his eyes.
Before he inherited the throne of the Kingdom of Sardinia, the House of Savoy was just an ordinary royal family in northern Italy, with insufficient foundation and status among the European royal families.
But with his unification of Italy, and his son Carlo being selected as King of Spain, everything changed.
The House of Savoy suddenly became a massive dynasty holding the thrones of two great power nations, and the House of Savoy also became a relatively strong presence among the European royal families.
Achieving this step, Vittorio Emanuele II was quite satisfied. He only hoped that after his death, the House of Savoy’s glory could continue to be passed down.
As long as the thrones of the two great power nations Italy and Spain could be held, the House of Savoy would forever be among the top ten in the European royal families.
The reason it was top ten was mainly that some European royal families with long histories had foundations that were simply too intimidating. The Habsburg, Hohenzollern, Romanov, House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, and other noble families were still prominent, and the House of Savoy could only rank below them.
In particular, the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha would usher in true glory after Queen Victoria’s passing.
According to the European noble rule of sons taking their father’s surname, although Queen Victoria belonged to the House of Hanover, her son Edward would, upon inheriting the throne in the future, start a new dynasty named after his father’s surname: Saxe-Coburg and Gotha.
The reason it was said to usher in glory after Queen Victoria’s passing was that aside from ruling the British Empire, the most powerful great power in the future, the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha also ruled Belgium, Portugal, Bulgaria, and the duchy from which the family name originated—Saxe-Coburg and Gotha.
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