Rebirth of the Spanish Empire.

Chapter 37 British-Spanish Joint Declaration

May 1876, 5, nine o'clock in the morning.

The British Empire and the Kingdom of Spain officially launched a public diplomatic condemnation of the Russian Empire.

“The aggressive Russian Empire has now once again set its sights on the Balkan Peninsula in the Near East.

Now they are raising slogans of supporting the Slavs, trying to split the Ottoman Empire and support puppet countries that obey their orders in the Balkans.

As the British Empire is an important power in the world, we must make our due contribution to maintaining peace in the Near East.

The Ottoman Empire in the Near East was an independent sovereign state. It is an international practice that an independent sovereign country should not be invaded by other countries.

Now the greedy Russian Empire has broken this international practice and blatantly invaded the Ottoman Empire, seriously threatening the national security of the Ottoman Empire.

In order to protect the national sovereignty of the Ottoman Empire from infringement, our fleet of the Royal Navy of the British Empire will be on standby in the Black Sea to help the Ottoman Empire resist the aggression of the Russian Empire.

Prior to this, the greedy Russian Empire had invaded the Ottoman Empire nine times, which all showed that their greed for territory was engraved in their bones.

And now the various actions of the Russian Empire have indicated that they are about to start the next Near East War.

We in the British Empire hope that the Russian Empire can stop its aggression now, otherwise we will not rule out the direct use of force to participate in this war. "

Disraeli, the Prime Minister of the British Empire, delivered a public speech in central London to express his condemnation of the Russian Empire's aggression.

At the same time, the Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Spain, Canovas, also issued a condemnation of the Russian Empire's aggression.

The two countries, which have had countless confrontations at sea, are now on the same front, and their diplomatic caliber is once again consistent.

At this time, the Kingdom of Spain and the British Empire were surprised to find that with the Kingdom of Spain's support for the British Empire, the British Empire had successfully escaped from an isolated and helpless international situation.

At this time, the French Republic was silent and watching quietly.

If the goal of the German Empire in this Near East crisis is to achieve reconciliation between the Russian Empire and the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

Then the goal of the French Republic is naturally to once again shatter the Three Emperors Alliance of Germany, Russia, and Austria composed of Bismarck.

This was used to disrupt the relationship between Germany and the Russian Empire, and to win the Russian Empire to its own side.

Therefore, for France, not speaking out now and remaining silent is the best solution.

Now a lineup composed of the Ottoman Empire + the Kingdom of Spain + the British Empire to oppose the Russian Empire's aggression has been completed.

The Kingdom of Spain and the Russian Empire, one in the far east of Europe and the other in the far west, were very far apart from each other.

It can be said that two countries that had nothing to do with each other in international affairs in the past are now hostile to each other because of this Near East crisis.

…………

On May 5, the Ottoman Empire once again announced a piece of news about the weight class.

The Kingdom of Spain will sell to the Ottoman Empire a large number of Maxim light machine guns, rapid-fire guns, rifles, and active ironclad ships of the Kingdom of Spain Navy.

The Ottoman Empire will be handed over to the Kingdom of Spain: Kuwait in West Asia, Crete in the Aegean Sea, and Libya in North Africa.

The Ottoman Empire used these territories to pay for this huge military purchase, and the Ottoman Empire would repay the remaining cost with domestic raw materials.

The scale of this arms transaction between the Kingdom of Spain and the Ottoman Empire is not small.

The Royal Spanish Navy will drive an ironclad ship to escort the arms transport ship, departing directly from Barcelona in the Kingdom of Spain to Istanbul (Constantinople), the capital of the Ottoman Empire.

The arms trade between the Kingdom of Spain and the Ottoman Empire can be said to have shocked other countries in Europe.

The Russian Empire feels only anger about this arms deal between the two countries. Originally, their army had a huge advantage over the Ottoman Empire's army. But now the Ottoman Empire's army is equipped with advanced weapons and equipment from the Kingdom of Spain, which has greatly narrowed the gap between the armies of the two countries.

The use of the Maxim machine gun in the Royal Spanish Army made other European countries realize the power of this large-scale murderer decades in advance.

When the Kingdom of Spain used Maxim machine guns to quell the Catholic rebellion, the scene of people falling like wheat still shocked military observation groups from various European countries.

In this regard, many military experts have even spoken publicly: because of the emergence of the Maxim machine gun, it caused a revolution in army combat.

When one side is equipped with a Maxim machine gun, it can almost ignore the opponent's numerical advantage, so a charge launched by the army relying on courage will only become suicide.

Alfonso didn't know whether it was good or bad.

Now that people are generally aware of the huge power of the Maxim machine gun, other countries are bound to increase their research efforts on this weapon.

And due to the early appearance of the Maxim machine gun, this will also make the First World War that breaks out in the future particularly cruel.

…………

In the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg, the capital of the Russian Empire,

After Tsar Alexander II received the news, he was so angry that he threw countless expensive vases in the palace.

This tsar, who is known as the "Liberator of Serfs", succeeded to the throne in the face of public expectations after the previous tsar Nicholas I died of a stroke due to the failure of the Crimean War.

Tsar Alexander II did not care about the lives of his troops. He only cared about whether he could wash away the shame brought to the Russian Empire in the last Crimean War.

Whether it was to fulfill the regrets of his father, Nicholas I, or to wash away the shame of the Russian Empire, this ambitious tsar would not allow this God-given opportunity to slip away.

“Inform Count Ignatieff and ask him to prepare to start negotiations with the British Empire and the Kingdom of Spain regarding the crisis in the Near East.

This allowed the two countries to relax their vigilance. If possible, let Count Ignatieff bring back a batch of weapons from the Kingdom of Spain. "

Alexander II said to the servant on the side.

Count Nikolay Pavlovich Ignatiev, a staunch supporter of Pan-Slavism proposed by Alexander II.

In the Russian Imperial Government, he is the second-ranking figure under Prime Minister Prince Gorchakov. Now serving as ambassador to Istanbul, he is deeply valued by Tsar Alexander II.

“Additionally, commitments could be made to the British Empire and the Kingdom of Spain.

No Slavic states controlled by the Russian Empire were established in the Balkans. At the same time, the territory of the Russian Empire would not expand to the Mediterranean coast. "

In the original history, Alexander II also promised the British Empire and the Ottoman Empire.

But because the credibility of the Russian Empire's previous tsars has not been very good. So in the end it was the British who drove warships and forced the Russian Empire to withdraw from the Balkans.

"Yes."

The servant responded and exited the meeting hall of the Winter Palace.

At this time, only Alexander II was left in the meeting hall of the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg. The Russian Tsar, who was only fifty-eight years old, had a face that was beyond ordinary people's vicissitudes.

He has endured this for more than twenty years for this God-given opportunity. No matter what, he will do whatever it takes to achieve his goal, because he doesn't have much time anymore.

Alexander II touched the location of Constantinople on the map with his rough hands and said softly:

"Constantinople! Whether you can wash away the shame caused by the Crimean War, the success or failure depends on this."

…………

(End of this chapter)