Chapter 297: Population Issues
After the cabinet report meeting, Carlo also gained a relatively clear understanding of Spain’s current development.
In terms of industry, although Spain’s industrial scale cannot compare to great powers such as Britain, France, and Germany, it can still be mentioned in the same breath with old great powers like the Austro-Hungarian Empire and Russia, and its comprehensive strength should not be underestimated.
In terms of population, Spain’s total population is also continuously climbing. Although the total population scale cannot compare to European powers, it is slightly ahead in population growth speed, and it will sooner or later be able to further close the gap with European powers.
It is worth mentioning that Spain’s several colonies in Africa have also shown their own attractiveness.
The population of the West African Colony, Gold Coast, and Congo Territory are all continuously growing, with tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of immigrants arriving in these regions every year, seeking more opportunities to get rich and survive.
These colonies have gone all out to attract immigrants, offering various conditions to introduce population.
All Europeans willing to go to these colonies can receive a large piece of land for free. As long as they continuously cultivate the land they receive for three years, they can obtain sovereignty over this land.
Of course, they can also choose not to take the land and convert it to other conditions. In addition to welcoming ordinary immigrants, the colonies also welcome the entry of domestic and foreign capital and various companies and enterprises.
In addition to agricultural planting on land in Africa, Spain is also extensively planting tobacco, sugarcane, rubber, and other crops on land in Africa.
Tobacco and sugarcane naturally go without saying. Back when in Cuba, these two things were Cuba’s characteristic industries, and they also made Cuba one of the most developed regions in America.
The rubber industry has now taken initial shape. Because the Royal Mercedes-Benz Automobile Company has sold to various great power countries in Europe, the rubber consumption in various countries has significantly increased.
Currently, various countries mainly rely on natural rubber trees to obtain rubber, but in the future, as rubber demand increases, it will also be necessary to artificially plant rubber trees and establish rubber industrial parks.
After the report on the third Five-Year Development Plan ended, the Spanish Cabinet Government was also discussing the goals for the fourth Five-Year Development Plan.
In addition to conventional domestic development, the development of Spain’s various colonies also has its own tasks.
The West African Colony focuses on developing agriculture, Guinea plants tobacco, and the Congo Territory harvests rubber.
These three industries are all needed by Spain, and they are also basically guaranteed to be profitable for colonial planting.
Carlo also participated in the cabinet government meeting on formulating the fourth Five-Year Development Plan and put forward several of his own requirements.
The first is population. Carlo hopes that Spain’s population can be further improved in the next five years, preferably crossing the threshold of 25 million.
25 million people is not much compared to other European countries, but it is definitely not few. Even if a war breaks out with other European powers, 25 million people can allow Spain to mobilize nearly 2 million troops, and an army of this scale is sufficient for participating in a world war.
Moreover, in addition to the army that native Spaniards can arm, Spain can also form colonial armies from the colonies.
If the usable indigenous people in the colonies are included, the army Spain can mobilize will reach 3 to 5 million, which is almost the level of the number of troops dispatched by various countries during World War I.
This also means that even if a conflict or even war breaks out with other European powers, Spain has sufficient confidence to win the war.
Unless facing a one-against-two or even one-against-three situation, current Spain is not afraid of any great power.
Of course, in terms of naval battles, the powerful navy of the British Empire still needs to be considered. But if it is on land, Spain is not afraid of either Britain or France.
Carlo’s second requirement is to hope that the cabinet government can enrich Spain’s industries, comprehensively build an industrial system, and comprehensively promote Spain’s economic improvement.
Building industry is not just about developing heavy industry; light industry and chemical industry must also be improved simultaneously. Steel output represents heavy industry, but this is not all of industry.
Spain’s arable land has a large gap in yield per mu compared to countries with vast plains like Britain, France, and Germany. To make up for this gap, Spain can only make more efforts in fertilizer and mechanization.
Carlo’s requirement for the Spanish government is to make full use of fertilizer as much as possible to increase Spain’s grain yield per mu and indirectly increase the income of Spanish farmers.
Plus Spain’s agricultural layout in the West African Colony, it can ensure that Spain will never lack grain under any circumstances.
In the future, whether it is war or economic crisis, as long as there is sufficient grain, the Spanish government can cope calmly.
At the meeting, Minister of Colonial Affairs William also raised a problem, which is how to deal with the countless African indigenous people in Spanish colonies.
If following the old tradition of Spanish colonialism before, for these indigenous people who are neither obedient nor assimilable, the priority would definitely be to adopt the method of massacre.
But the problem is that Africa is an extremely vast continent, and there are countless indigenous people on this land.
It is difficult to completely solve the indigenous people in the colonies just by massacre, and it will also fill the Spanish people and these indigenous people with hatred, arousing more intense resistance emotions from local indigenous people.
It is best to find a way that will not cause serious dissatisfaction among local indigenous people, while also reducing these indigenous people as much as possible.
After discussion by the cabinet ministers, the Spanish government ultimately adopted the method of population export to solve the indigenous problem in the colonies.
The so-called population export is actually to use all means to transport these indigenous people out.
Where to transport them? There are many destinations. Whether it is other regions on the African Continent or regions outside Africa, they are all options for Spain.
Anyway, as long as they are not in Spain’s colonies, no matter where these indigenous people are, Spain can accept it.
Because Carlo had long expressed disgust for black people, it also led to all ministers of the Spanish government uniformly holding an anti-black attitude.
After proposing the population export plan, not a single cabinet minister opposed it, and all agreed to the method of transferring these African indigenous people to other regions.
Of course, population export cannot be rushed all at once. Some colonies still need to retain a large amount of indigenous labor to ensure that colonial development is not restricted by lack of labor.
Then, after fully utilizing these laborers, they can be massacred or driven to farther places.
Anyway, no one cares about the life and death of these indigenous people. As long as it is not done too excessively, other countries will not offend the Spanish government for these indigenous people.
Like King of Belgium in history who was forcibly intervened by European countries, in addition to what he did being truly too cruel, Belgium itself was not powerful, which caused intervention by European countries.
King of Belgium Leopold’s rule in Congo was extremely cruel. Not only did he not treat local indigenous people as human beings at all, but without ever setting foot in Congo in his lifetime, he massacred millions of Congolese people and cut off the hands of millions of Congolese people.
In the short few years after Belgium obtained Congo, Congo’s population sharply decreased by one-third, which was also the reason for intervention by European powers.
After all, as Europe gradually developed, the great powers all pretended to have a gentlemanly face. The cruel behavior of Belgians would remind people around the world of the equally cruel side that European powers once had. Isn’t this destroying the pretense of other countries?
After determining the immigration plan for population export, Carlo proposed an idea, which is to export population to the United States across the ocean.
Compared to other European countries, the United States is definitely a relatively special existence. After the civil war ended, the United States has nominally recognized the human rights of black people, and all black people living in the United States are also Americans.
This has also led many black people to yearn for the United States, only to realize after arriving that the so-called human rights are just empty words.
All high officials in any organization and institution are white people, and even most black people are racially isolated in a small area, and they cannot set foot in cities where white people are at all.
The reason Carlo proposed exporting a large number of black people to the United States is also to thoroughly disrupt the situation in the United States.
At this time in the United States, white people still firmly hold the right to speak. But as the black population increases, conflicts within the United States are bound to become more intense.
It must be known that black people are not an easy ethnic group at all. This race is lazy and always wants to obtain income in more convenient ways.
The so-called convenient way is robbery and theft, which is also an important reason why black people are unpopular even in posterity.
Once the number of black people in the United States increases, similar robbery and theft incidents will also increase. As an immigrant country, the United States gathers three major races: black, white, and yellow, and each race has considerable numbers.
Once conflicts between black people and white people trigger more intense racial discrimination, this is very likely to be the arrival of another civil war.
No matter whether the United States will erupt in civil war because of this, as long as the political situation in the United States becomes worse because of this, it is quite worthwhile for Carlo.
Although the British do not regard the United States as a confidant threat, if the United States itself erupts in civil war, the British probably wouldn’t mind taking advantage of the fire.
If Americans give the opportunity themselves, Carlo will use all means to promote intervention war against the United States, striving to split the United States into several countries.
Of course, even if no split or civil war occurs within the United States, the chaos in the political situation alone will make them have no time for other things.
As long as the United States does not experience intervention in World War I and World War II, Carlo will have enough time to layout World War I. Without United States intervention in World War I, Spain will become the biggest winner.
After all, compared to the great power countries of the two major military blocs in history, Spain is the existence that has no intense conflicts with both sides.
This also gives Spain more possibilities. For Carlo and Spain, the best situation is to remain neutral in the early stage, first make a fortune by selling grain and arms, then stand on the side that is about to win in the later stage of the war, and enjoy the fruits of victory.
Although doing so is somewhat inglorious, it can guarantee that Spain obtains the greatest harvest in the war.
In the situation where European countries suffer heavy losses, as long as Spain’s losses are not great, it is natural for Spain’s right to speak to increase.
This is simply a perfect script, now just waiting for France and Russia to react to the formation of the Three Emperors’ Alliance, then under the pressure of the Three Emperors’ Alliance, conclude the Franco-Russian Alliance, forming the situation of confrontation between Europe’s two major military blocs.
Speaking of the indigenous problem in Africa, Carlo also raised a question he was more interested in, which is the assimilation situation of Moroccans in the South Morocco Colony.
When the South Morocco Colony was just established, the entire colony still had nearly one million population. These populations were all Moroccans, that is, white people.
After clearing out the extreme resistance elements among the Moroccans, the rest are all targets for Spanish assimilation.
Now that so many years have passed, Carlo is also curious about the situation in the South Morocco Colony and where those remaining Moroccans have gone.
Hearing Carlo’s inquiry, Minister of Colonial Affairs William clearly had prepared in advance and answered without any hesitation: “Your Majesty, our assimilation of Moroccans in the South Morocco Colony is going quite smoothly.
More than 500,000 Moroccans have left the South Morocco Colony. These people have joined our nationality in various ways, they generally master Spanish language, and believe in Catholicism.
Among them, nearly 100,000 have been transferred to the mainland and dispersed in various regions. The remaining 400,000 have been transferred to various colonies, of which the Congo Territory received more than 200,000 Moroccans.
According to our attention to these Moroccans who have obtained nationality, after entering new lives, they have not shown any posture or thoughts of resistance.
From this, it can be inferred that our assimilation of Moroccans is quite successful. When these Moroccans give birth to the next generation, those children will be pure-blooded Spaniards.”
Carlo nodded, quite satisfied with this data.
After clearing out those extreme resistance elements, the population of the South Morocco Colony was left with less than 800,
Among these 800,000, 500,000 have already been assimilated, such results are quite good. If according to this data, of the remaining millions of population in the Morocco Kingdom, Spain can at least assimilate half.
This is actually one of the reasons Spain wants to colonize Morocco. In addition to obtaining large tracts of land in Morocco, it can also obtain millions of Moroccans.
As long as they are taught Spanish language and forced to believe in Catholicism, they are not much different from real Spaniards.
Then disperse these Moroccans who have converted to Catholicism to Spain and the colonies. Even if they still have resistance emotions, they cannot have any impact on Spain’s situation.
“How is our population introduction plan in the America region being implemented?” Carlo continued to ask.
At that time, because Spain lacked population, two major plans were formulated to increase the native population.
The first plan was to assimilate as many as possible of the hundreds of thousands of Moroccans in the South Morocco Colony, and the second plan was to extensively introduce Spanish descendants and mixed-race population immigrants to Spain from America where Spain had once colonized.
Mexico, Argentina, Chile, and other medium and large countries in America were once all Spanish colonies. Even the United States has some places that once belonged to Spain, and these places also have a large number of Spanish descendants and mixed-race population.
As long as relatively generous conditions are offered, some of these people are still willing to return to Spain’s embrace. After all, after independence from Spain, although some countries have indeed taken the path of rapid development, some countries’ economies are a complete mess, and the political situation is quite chaotic, not necessarily much better than during Spanish colonial period.
The population introduction matter is also handled by Minister of Colonial Affairs William. William continued to report: “Your Majesty, up to now, we have introduced approximately 200,000 immigrants from the America region.
If including the Cuba region, the number of immigrants we have obtained from the America region has exceeded 400,According to the willingness of populations in various America countries to immigrate to Spain, we can still continuously obtain immigrants from various America countries, which will also be an important source of our population growth.”
