Chapter 243: 1879
The end of the Russo-Turkish War did not bring long-lasting peace to the world; instead, it intensified the competition between the two major European powers, the United Kingdom and Russia.
Russia and the United Kingdom had intense competition in the Balkan Peninsula, and there were also considerable conflicts in Central Asia.
Between the Ottoman Empire and the Indian Colony, there were two countries: Afghanistan and Iran, which were the places where the conflicts between the United Kingdom and Russia were most intense.
Originally, there were also indigenous nations like the Khanate of Khiva and the Emirate of Bukhara further north, but they had all been annexed by the Russians a few years earlier.
Although these indigenous nations still existed nominally, their administrative and military powers had been controlled by the Russians. This also meant that Russia’s actual sphere of influence had reached the borders of Afghanistan and Iran, and it could at any time seize a colony with a port between the Ottoman Empire and the Indian Colony.
This was absolutely unacceptable to the British, because the British Indian Colony was too close to this land.
If the Russians opened up an estuary in Central Asia, they would inevitably expand on a larger scale in this region. At that time, the Indian Colony would face harassment from a giant bear, and the British Empire did not want to lose its pearl; any topic about the Indian Colony was a taboo for the British Empire.
If Russia wanted to expand in Central Asia, the British naturally had to stop the Russians’ expansion.
Because the indigenous nations further north had all been annexed by Russia, the British could only turn their attention to the only two remaining countries in Central Asia, namely Iran and Afghanistan.
Because Afghanistan was closest to the Indian Colony, the British decided to control Afghanistan first and then infiltrate influence into Iran to ensure that the Russians would not gain an estuary in Central Asia.
At this time, Afghanistan was just a weak indigenous nation, having been established only 55 years ago.
For such a weak indigenous nation, the British naturally had no qualms.
In late 1878, the British Government took the lead in contacting Afghanistan, demanding that the Afghan Government receive a British delegation headed by British General Zhang Bolun and allow a small British force to accompany the delegation into Afghan territory.
Such a diplomatic visit request was actually blatant intimidation, and the Afghan Government naturally refused.
Afghan Emir Shir Ali Khan directly rejected the British Government’s proposal and stated that under no circumstances would he allow British troops to enter his territory.
The mighty British Empire’s demand was rejected by a small indigenous nation, which naturally aroused the anger of the British Government and even the public.
The British Government also took the opportunity to declare war directly on Afghanistan, and the Second Anglo-Afghan War successfully broke out.
About 40 years earlier, the United Kingdom and the Emirate of Afghanistan had already fought a war. The reason for that war was similar, mainly because the Emirate of Afghanistan leaned toward Russia, and for the safety of its own Indian Colony, the United Kingdom had to launch a war against Afghanistan no matter what.
The so-called Anglo-Afghan War was not noteworthy news in Europe at all, as a war between a powerful great power and an indigenous nation was completely a crushing situation.
The only thing worth paying attention to was the possible existence of Russia behind Afghanistan; after all, without Russia’s support, the Afghan Emir would not have so decisively rejected the British Government’s proposal.
In the view of other European countries, it was Russia that instructed the Emirate of Afghanistan to quickly reject the British proposal, with the purpose of embarrassing the British Empire, which had suppressed Russia in the Russo-Turkish War.
But unexpectedly, the subsequent development of events soon exceeded the expectations of the European countries.
After the British troops continuously invaded from the border of the Indian Colony, the Afghan Emir quickly sought aid from Russia to the north.
Shir Ali Khan originally thought that Russian troops would arrive soon, and his country could be preserved in the game between the two great powers.
But the Russian Government’s refusal was so cold that Shir Ali Khan’s heart was filled with despair greater than death, and he soon died in anger, just like Tsar Nicholas I who had been betrayed back then.
After Shir Ali Khan died in anger, his son Yakub Khan became the new Afghan Emir.
But at this time, the situation in Afghanistan was already very bad; British troops had occupied a considerable part of Afghanistan’s land, and Afghanistan’s own army was pitifully small, completely unable to compete with the British army in a head-on confrontation.
The Anglo-Afghan War was also the last major event of 1878; before the Anglo-Afghan War ended, time quickly came to
In early 1879, the Anglo-Afghan War ended with a complete victory for the United Kingdom. However, it would take some time to sign the contract, as the British Government could not fully annex Afghanistan, which would arouse more intense resistance emotions among the Afghan indigenous people and also give the Russians opportunities to cause trouble for the British.
The British’ main purpose was to incorporate part of Afghanistan’s land into India and strengthen control over Afghanistan to ensure that the Russians were blocked outside Afghanistan’s borderline.
Afghanistan had to exist at least; this place was more like a buffer zone between the spheres of influence of the United Kingdom and Russia.
Without the existence of Afghanistan, the spheres of influence of the United Kingdom and Russia would directly border each other, and the two countries’ armies would engage in even more intense clashes along the borderline, which the British did not want to see.
For Afghanistan, this might be the only good thing; at least this country would still exist and would not become a nation that only existed nominally like the Khanate of Khiva controlled by Russia.
The United Kingdom had gains in Central Asia, and Spain also had gains in Southeast Asia.
As mentioned before, the Philippine Colony under Spain had two directions of expansion: expansion on Borneo and expansion on New Guinea.
The United Kingdom and Russia needed a buffer zone because the British were also wary of the Russian Army. Although the Russian Army’s combat effectiveness was poor, its numbers were unrivaled first in all of Europe.
The indigenous army in India alone could not resist Russia; mobilizing domestic troops would disrupt the balance situation maintained by the United Kingdom in various regions.
But Spain did not need to worry at all. Spain had only one enemy in Southeast Asia, which was the Netherlands, a country with small territory and sparse population.
The Netherlands was similar to Portugal, both being weakened nations that had once been great powers.
However, the Netherlands’ overall strength was still much stronger than Portugal’s, whether in industry or economy; the Netherlands could rank at the forefront among all small European countries, even second to none.
Unfortunately, the Netherlands’ opponent was Spain.
In a situation where the distance from both countries’ homelands to the colony was about the same, the overall strength of the homeland became particularly important.
Although the Netherlands was strong, it had no resistance against Spain. The current consensus among European countries was that Spain had restored its status as a great power and generally ranked 6th to 7th among the world’s eight great powers.
Such a ranking was already quite high. After all, the status of the five traditional great powers of Europe was hard to shake; Spain’s current overall strength, in the view of European countries, was only second to the five great powers of Europe and stronger than the United States across the ocean.
The mainstream view of major newspapers and some key officials in European countries was that the world’s eight great powers were the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Russia, Austro-Hungarian Empire, Spain, United States, and Italy.
There was no doubt that the British Empire was the most powerful country, followed closely by Germany, which had defeated France on the frontal battlefield.
If there had been no Franco-Prussian War, the second place in the world would definitely have been contested among France, Germany, and Russia, with the French being the most likely to become the world’s second strongest country.
But unfortunately, Prussia defeated France head-on in the Franco-Prussian War, so France naturally withdrew from the competition for the world’s second strongest country.
Russia was of course also very powerful, but it first suffered a crushing defeat in the Crimean War and was then blackmailed by the United Kingdom and the Austro-Hungarian Empire in this Russo-Turkish War, so it could only settle for being the world’s fourth strongest country.
France relied on its foundation to rank third in the world; the United Kingdom, Germany, France, and Russia were the first tier and were also jokingly called first-class powers by many European newspapers and the public.
After Russia, the Austro-Hungarian Empire gained the reputation of being the world’s fifth strongest country due to its comprehensive advantages in various aspects. But the Austro-Hungarian Empire was slightly declining compared to the four first-class power countries, so it could only settle for second-class power status.
Although there was some controversy over the top five rankings in the world, they were generally not much different.
The rankings further down were more controversial, with the biggest controversy being the ranking between Spain and the United States.
However, because the United States had not yet demonstrated its powerful industrial strength at this time, and its navy was too weak, most European countries still ranked Spain sixth in the world and the United States seventh.
After all, Spain also had an army of over 100,000 plus the world’s fifth-ranked navy; ranking sixth in the world was not exaggerated.
Ranking eighth in the world, at the bottom of the great powers, was naturally Italy.
The Austro-Hungarian Empire, Spain, United States, and Italy were called second-class powers; compared to the first four first-class powers, these four countries had significant gaps in industrial economy or military strength, and their international status and influence were far inferior to the first four countries.
But having said that, second-class powers were still great powers and still had huge advantages over ordinary countries.
The Netherlands’ industry and economy were of course also quite excellent, but due to limitations in territory area and population, the Netherlands could ultimately only be a small country.
As long as there was no intervention from great power countries in the colonial competition between Spain and the Netherlands, Spain had a completely overwhelming advantage.
Taking advantage of the Russo-Turkish War and the Anglo-Afghan War attracting the attention of European countries, Spain also accelerated its colonial plan on Borneo and New Guinea.
In June 1878, the troops stationed by Spain in the Philippines openly invaded the Sultanate of Brunai to the south and occupied all the land of the Sultanate of Brunai in less than two days.
The large number of indigenous people here were captured back to the Philippines as labor or handed over to the Lanfang Republic to the west.
As mentioned before, the Lanfang Republic had prospered through gold mining. Gold mining required a large amount of labor, and these indigenous people were exactly natural excellent laborers.
After occupying the Sultanate of Brunai, Spain formally bordered the Kutai Sultanate controlled by the Netherlands.
Spain also dispatched some soldiers to garrison the borderline but did not strictly defend it.
For the Spanish Government, it even looked forward to the Dutch actively attacking Spain’s colony. If Spain declared war on the Netherlands first, the British, that troublemaker, might intervene in this war.
But if the Dutch declared war on Spain first, Spain would have sufficient reason to fight a great war with the Netherlands.
Whether it was a homeland war or a colonial war, Spain had enough confidence to crush the Netherlands. If the United Kingdom still wanted to intervene even after the Netherlands declared war first, the alliances Spain had signed were not signed in vain.
Not to mention anything else, just France and Russia would be very willing to trip up the British.
If the Austro-Hungarian Empire and Italy were also willing to support Spain, even if the United Kingdom was the world’s number one power, it could not face such diplomatic pressure.
In addition to annexing the Sultanate of Brunai on Borneo, Spain also had colonial action on New Guinea.
The shape of New Guinea was quite special, looking more like a standing dinosaur.
The area of this island was even larger than Borneo, making it the world’s second largest island, second only to Greenland, most of whose land was uninhabitable.
In other words, New Guinea was the world’s largest island with a large area of habitable land, and with its abundant mineral resources and other natural resources, it was no wonder it was targeted by other great powers.
Currently on this dinosaur-shaped island, there were colonial teams from multiple European countries including the Netherlands, Spain, Germany, United Kingdom, France, and Portugal.
The colonial teams of Spain, the Netherlands, and Portugal were generally concentrated on the upper half of the dinosaur, namely the dragon head and upper dragon body.
The colonial teams of the United Kingdom, France, and Germany were mainly concentrated on the lower half of the dinosaur, namely the dragon tail and dragon claws, as well as a small half of the dragon body.
In addition, several large islands around New Guinea were also stepped on by these European countries, and for a time, there was a trend of European great powers partitioning the New Guinea Peninsula.
However, the colonial teams of each country had only simply established colonial outposts, and no country had announced large-scale occupation of New Guinea.
This actually meant that these European countries that dispatched colonial teams all hoped to occupy this island, or at least partition part of the land to establish new colonies.
Precisely because of this, even though the colonial competition on New Guinea was quite intense, the countries participating in the colonization did not give up; instead, they intensified their colonization efforts step by step.
If we were to say the three countries most convenient for colonizing New Guinea, they would perhaps be the United Kingdom, Spain, and the Netherlands.
The British Queensland Colony, that protruding area in the northeast corner of Australia, was very close to New Guinea, which gave the British a significant advantage in colonizing New Guinea.
The Dutch were no worse. The closest point from the Dutch East Indies to New Guinea was only 200 kilometers away, and the troops and indigenous population of the East Indies could quickly reach New Guinea; the speed of establishing colonial outposts was also the fastest among these European countries.
And then there was Spain.
The closest point from Spain’s Philippine Colony to New Guinea was about 1,000 kilometers away, which was not much of an advantage compared to the United Kingdom and the Netherlands.
But Carlo attached great importance to colonizing New Guinea; under Carlo’s instructions, the Philippine Colonial Government also strengthened its colonization of New Guinea, which made Spain’s colonization progress on New Guinea not inferior to that of the Netherlands and the United Kingdom.
Of course, there was also support and cooperation from the Portuguese.
Portugal also had a colony in Southeast Asia, but it was small in scale, named Timor.
Yes, it was the East Timor of posterity.
In fact, Portuguese colonists were the first to come to Timor for colonization, and it was these colonists who established Portugal’s Timor Colony.
But the Dutch followed closely; they discovered and colonized Timor and drove the Portuguese to the east side of the island. This made Portugal’s Timor Colony look like a pitifully small piece.
Although the area of the Timor Colony was small, Portugal also had troops garrisoned there, after all, it was an official Portuguese colony.
It was worth mentioning that the closest point from the Timor Colony to New Guinea was only about 800 kilometers, even closer than the distance between Spain’s Philippine Colony and New Guinea.
This was also one of the reasons why Portugal joined the colonization of New Guinea; they also had a chance to get a share in this colonial competition.
In addition, before that, Carlo and Portuguese King Louis had raised the issue of colonial cooperation, so Spain and Portugal joining hands indeed established many colonial outposts on New Guinea.
Although both Spain and Portugal had experienced weakness, when it came to colonization, Spain and Portugal were still leaders in this field.
The main reason was that the colonial history of Spain and Portugal was too glorious; together, these two countries had occupied most of America.
Colonizing a small New Guinea was absolutely simple for the Iberian duo, which also allowed Spain to have colonization progress not weaker than the Netherlands and the United Kingdom despite the greater distance.
There would definitely be related conflicts among immigrants from European countries; it was impossible to gain ownership of the colony just by peaceful coexistence.
Because only the Netherlands, Spain, and Portugal were on the west side of the dinosaur-shaped New Guinea, the Iberian duo had a huge advantage in the colonial competition, beating the Dutch back steadily, even squeezing their colonial outposts to more distant positions.
To ensure the safety of Spain’s colonial outposts on New Guinea, the Philippine Colony dispatched an entire Colonial Defense Regiment to New Guinea.
This also intensified the colonial conflicts on New Guinea; the Dutch did not yield at all and dispatched some troops to New Guinea, with the purpose of defending against the Spaniards.
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