Chapter 220 Cuban Rebellion and Colonial Replacement

In July 1877, when the development of various departments in Spain was booming, the news from across the Atlantic immediately made the Spanish government lose all its smile.

After Carlo was crowned King of Spain, the Spanish government sent an expeditionary force to Cuba to quell the rebellion.

At that time, Cuba was not only one of the only large colonies of Spain, but also a treasure trove for the Spanish government.

The land area of ​​the Cuban colony was less than 110,000 square kilometers, and the population was just over 1 million.

But it was this small piece of land that provided a large amount of fiscal revenue to the Spanish government every year.

With the development of the Industrial Revolution, the demand for sugar in Europe and the United States continued to increase. In 1840 alone, the total amount of sugar produced in Cuba exceeded the total production of the British West Indies.

And around 1860, Cuba's annual sugar production had exceeded 500,000 tons, accounting for more than one-third of the world's annual sugar production.

It is precisely because of Cuba's extremely large sugar production that it has the reputation of the world's sugar bowl. It can make a lot of profit every year just by exporting sugar, not to mention that Cuba also grows a lot of tobacco and coffee.

As we all know, the colonization of Western countries is accompanied by cruel oppression and exploitation. Spain can obtain a lot of benefits from Cuba every year, which makes the native white people in Cuba somewhat dissatisfied.

Although they also have Spanish ancestry, they do not have a deep connection with Spain. Their ancestors traveled across the ocean to Cuba, and the purpose was not to let them be exploited by the Spanish government after they finally became rich.

It is precisely because of this that the native white people in Cuba are increasingly dissatisfied with the Spanish colonial government, and they are also one of the culprits for Cuba's continuous planning of independence movements.

But the population of these white people is only over 450,000, and they are just one of the ethnic groups that oppose Spanish colonial rule in Cuba.

In addition to these white people born in Cuba, black slaves who have obtained the status of free people and Cuban natives are also opponents of Spanish colonial rule.

Except for black people who are still slaves, almost all residents of Cuba are opposed to Spanish colonial rule.

Historically, Spain spent too much energy and money in quelling the rebellion in Cuba, which not only made Spain miss the golden time of development, but also consumed Spain's national strength.

Carlo certainly knew that the complicated situation in Cuba was not just a natural evolution, but also the means of the British and Americans.

The character of the British European troublemaker is naturally beyond doubt. Cuba is a very valuable land. It is strange that the British do not pay attention to Cuba.

For the United States, Cuba is a colony located at their doorstep, and it is impossible for them not to have ideas.

It was because Spain was too strong before that the Americans did not have the idea of ​​​​going against Spain. During the reign of Queen Isabel, Spain's comprehensive strength continued to weaken, and the Americans naturally had other ideas.

Even though Spain has achieved a certain recovery under Carlo's rule, the Americans have also achieved certain development during this period.

For Americans, the land of Cuba has become a place that cannot be abandoned. When Spain falls into chaos again, it may be the time for Americans to take action against Cuba.

Although Carlo is aware of the chaotic situation in Cuba at this time, for Carlo, this is also the opportunity he has been waiting for.

What time? Of course, it is the time to exchange Cuba for other more useful colonies.

Cuba is certainly an excellent colony, and the benefits it provides to Spain every year are much greater than those of undeveloped colonies such as the Philippines and Congo.

But the bad thing about Cuba is that it is located at the doorstep of the United States. Because it is separated from the Spanish mainland by the entire Atlantic Ocean, and Spain has lost most of its colonies in the Americas, it is difficult for Spain to have enough influence on Cuba.

Both white and black people in Cuba are resisting Spanish colonial rule. Part of the reason is that Spanish colonial rule is too cruel, and the other part is that Spain is out of reach of Cuba.

For Carlo, Cuba is already a colony that is not worth investing in. With both Britain and the United States coveting Cuba, it is very difficult for Spain to keep Cuba.

Even if the Spanish-American War with the United States can be won in the future, it seems a bit unnecessary. If Cuba can be exchanged for other more valuable colonies, wouldn't it be more useful for Spain to use this time and money to invest in this more valuable colony?

Even through the exchange of Cuban colonies, some of Carlo's goals can be achieved. The United States has long coveted Cuba. If Cuba were to be given to superpowers like Britain and France, would the Americans still dare to start a war to occupy Cuba?

The answer is of course no.

What kind of superpower is the United States without colonies? At best, it is just a relatively developed upstart with a relatively developed industry and economy.

As long as the United States does not take the first step towards expansion, it will be difficult for the United States to exert its influence at the international level.

Although the current population and industrial economy of the United States far exceed those of Spain, in fact, in terms of international influence and status, the United States is far inferior to the five traditional European powers, and is only slightly better than Spain and Italy.

After learning that anti-colonial rebellion broke out again in Cuba, Carlo immediately convened a cabinet meeting and asked the cabinet ministers to come up with a solution.

The rebellion in Cuba attracted great attention from the Spanish government. After all, Cuba was still very important to Spain at that time.

Although Spain had obtained several colonies after many expansions, there were actually only two colonies with positive returns, Cuba and the Philippines.

The positive returns of the Philippines colony were obtained by the Spanish government's continuous exploitation of the local indigenous population, and this return was not much, and more of it continued to be invested in the expansion of the colonies.

Only the Cuban colony became Spain's most profitable colony by virtue of the sugar trade, which is why the Spanish government was willing to invest 700 million pesos in the Cuban War of Independence in history.

This military expenditure was as high as 27 million pounds, which could build nearly 50 ironclad ships. The Spanish government invested all this military expenditure in the Cuban War of Independence, but the result was only that Cuba was peaceful for more than ten years.

After ten years of war, the local white people in Cuba were still dissatisfied with Spain's colonial rule, and finally called for an uprising again in January 1895, which eventually forced Spain to agree to Cuba's autonomy.

Spain is now stronger and has the ability to suppress the rebellion in Cuba. But the problem is, there is only a thief for a thousand days, how can there be a thousand days of defense against thieves?

The problem of Cuba is difficult to solve. The root cause is the conflict between the white people in Cuba and the Spanish colonial government.

Unless Spain is willing to give up some of its interests and allow Cuba to achieve autonomy, Cuba may be able to calm down for a while.

But the question is, what value does an autonomous Cuba have for Spain? After autonomy, Cuba will definitely keep most of its interests in Cuba. Spain will not make money, so there is no need to continue to hold this colony.

If the black people in the colony oppose the Spanish colonial rule, then the problem is easy to solve. At most, these black people can be solved.

As long as the black people are gone, the problem will be gone.

But the problem is that it is not only the black people who oppose the Spanish colonial rule in Cuba, but also the white people born in Cuba and the local indigenous people.

Perhaps the only people who do not oppose the Spanish colonial government are the small number of contract Chinese workers in Cuba. These workers have the lowest status in Cuba. They are enslaved and oppressed by the local white plantation owners, and bullied by the local black free people and black slaves. Naturally, they do not have deep hatred for the Spanish colonial government.

It is impossible to solve all these white people who oppose the Spanish colonial government, right? Originally, the land of Cuba was coveted by Britain and the United States. If Spain made a big deal about the white population, it would inevitably cause intervention from Britain and the United States.

But if the white population cannot be resolved, the resistance of the Cuban colony to Spain will continue, which will also form a vicious circle.

As the white population in Cuba increases, Cuba's resistance to Spanish colonial rule will become stronger. Therefore, for Spain now, there is actually no choice.

If Spain has a population of tens of millions, it can dilute the population of Cuba through a large number of immigrants, allowing real Spaniards to be the masters of Cuba, thereby tampering with the will of the Cuban colony.

But the problem is that the population of Spain is less than 20 million, and it is impossible to immigrate to Cuba on a large scale.

If you want to dilute the population of Cuba that opposes the Spanish colonial government, at least millions of people must be immigrated to Cuba.

The Spanish government does not have such strength. Losing a million people will cause heavy losses to Spain, and it is not worth it even if it can control Cuba.

What's more, Spain's large-scale immigration will definitely cause hostility from the white people in Cuba. They were originally against Spanish colonial rule. If Spain continued to support immigration, they would definitely plan a larger-scale rebellion, which would make the current situation in Cuba even more chaotic.

Looking at the cabinet members in front of him, Carlo's face was solemn, and he spoke first: "Everyone, tell me, how should the Cuban rebellion be resolved?"

Archduke Serrano spoke first: "Your Majesty, please give me another chance, I will make the situation in Cuba completely stable.

Perhaps we should also strengthen the garrison in Cuba. As long as we have enough troops to guard Cuba, we don't have to worry about Cuba having problems."

The last time the rebellion in Cuba was quelled, Archduke Serrano led the army to go there. Therefore, after Cuba rebelled again this time, Archduke Serrano also took the lead in standing up and expressing his opinions.

It has only been seven years since the last rebellion was quelled, which made Archduke Serrano, who had vowed that Cuba would never have problems again when he led the army back in triumph, lose face.

For Archduke Serrano, he needs an opportunity to prove his ability again, such as quelling the rebellion in Cuba in a shorter time and ensuring that Cuba will not have any problems.

Check out the correct version in 16-9 Book Bar!

Carlo nodded. No matter what Carlo thought in his heart, the rebellion in Cuba must be quelled.

Even if the colony needs to be replaced, a stable Cuba can be sold at a high price. If Cuba continues to be so chaotic, the overall value of the colony will definitely be greatly reduced.

However, Carlo did not rush to express his opinion, but looked at Count Frank, the Minister of Colonial Affairs, who was standing aside.

Long before the cabinet meeting, Carlo had a brief meeting with Count Frank, the Minister of Colonial Affairs, and issued an order to Count Frank.

What order? Of course, it was to propose the exchange of colonies at this cabinet meeting.

Although Carlo wanted to exchange the Cuban colony for the interests of Spain, it is undeniable that the Cuban colony is still the most valuable colony of Spain at this time, and the value of other colonies is far less than that of a small Cuba.

At this time, the exchange of the Cuban colony was proposed. In the eyes of ordinary people, isn't it giving up the Spanish colonial system with your own hands?

Is Spain still the third largest colonial empire without the Cuban colony? Does it have to rely on colonies such as the Philippines, South Morocco and Guinea to act as a facade?

It is no exaggeration to say that the income of the three colonies of the Philippines, South Morocco and Guinea combined is not as much as that of a small Cuban colony.

The first person to propose the exchange of colonies will definitely suffer from the storm of public opinion in Spain. Even if it is not handled well, the person who proposed the proposal is likely to be resisted by the people, thus completely cutting off his political career.

For Carlo, of course, he cannot be the one who proposed this proposal. Even if the colony to be exchanged in the end has great value in the future, its value at this time is definitely not as high as that of the Cuban colony.

Before the truth comes out, whoever proposes to exchange colonies may be attacked by public opinion.

Even if it was Carlo, the king, who proposed the exchange of colonies, he might be attacked by angry people.

Therefore, for the stability of the throne, the proposal to exchange colonies can only be proposed by other officials.

In the cabinet department, there are three cabinet ministers that Carlo can issue orders to, namely Canovas, the deputy prime minister and minister of industry, Jovillar, the minister of agriculture, and Count Frank, the minister of colonial affairs.

Why did Carlo finally choose Count Frank?

First of all, Canovas is the next prime minister selected by Carlo, and he is definitely not suitable for proposing the exchange of colonies.

If the people are dissatisfied with the proposal to exchange colonies, Carlo’s layout in the cabinet will be completely invalidated. And Carlo does not have a candidate for the next prime minister with sufficient qualifications. If the new prime minister cannot suppress the cabinet and other parties, Spain is likely to fall into chaos again.

Why not let Minister Jovillar propose the exchange of colonies? Because Minister Jovillar is the minister of agriculture and has no connection with the Cuban colony.

As the Secretary of State for Colonial Affairs, it was natural for Count Frank to propose proposals related to colonies.

Even if he was affected by the public's anger because of his proposal to exchange colonies, he could at least defend himself from the perspective of focusing on the interests of Spain.

The Secretary of State for Colonial Affairs was a position added to the cabinet by Carlo during the interim cabinet period. The original Secretary of State for Colonial Affairs was a department minister under the Prime Minister and was not eligible to join the Spanish cabinet.

For Count Frank, his ability to join the Spanish cabinet was entirely due to Carlo's promotion, which was why Carlo decided to let him propose the proposal to exchange colonies.

If the proposal to exchange colonies failed in the end, Carlo would not treat Frank unfairly. It was nothing more than hiding Frank for a while, waiting for the public's dissatisfaction to disappear, and then transferring Frank to other important positions.

Moreover, Count Frank's standing up for Carlo was not without reward. During the brief meeting before, Carlo had promised that as long as he proposed the proposal to exchange colonies at this cabinet meeting, regardless of whether the exchange of colonies was successful in the end, he would get the title of duke in the future.

A dukedom in return, which also made Count Frank finally agree to Carlo's proposal.

Seeing Carlo's eyes, Count Frank, the Minister of Colonial Affairs, knew that it was time for him to show his ability.

Count Frank slowly stood up, glanced at the cabinet ministers, and then slowly said: "Everyone, I have an idea.

The Cuban colony is very important to us, but is it worth it for us to invest a lot of military funds to quell the rebellion in Cuba every time?

It has only been seven years since the last Cuban rebellion was quelled, and the military expenditure last time exceeded 50 million pesetas.

If we cannot ensure the long-term stability of the Cuban colony, I'm sorry to say that the Cuban colony is not that important to us."

Count Frank's words were shocking. After hearing his words, the cabinet ministers looked at Count Frank with surprised eyes.

Regardless of the cabinet ministers' attitude towards Count Frank's words, Count Frank's ability to say such words on such an occasion was enough to surprise the cabinet ministers.

This was a meeting of the Spanish cabinet government, and Carlo, the king of Spain, was also participating. It is no exaggeration to say that if you say anything wrong at such a meeting, it is very likely that your political career will end.

And what Count Frank said was not just to end his political career, but it might even make him the public enemy of all Spaniards.

It goes without saying how important the Cuban colony is. If the Cuban colony is not important, doesn't it mean that other colonies are wasteland-like garbage?

"Minister Frank, what are you talking about?" Archduke Serrano couldn't help but stand up and asked.

Everyone is also a member of the nobility, Archduke Serrano does not want to see Minister Frank say something shocking in such an occasion.

After all, the cabinet meeting is not full of aristocrats, there are also members of the Progressive Party and the Liberal Party. Even if Carlo does not blame him for this, won't these members of the Progressive Party and the Liberal Party launch an impeachment?

As a cabinet minister, how can Minister Frank not even be careful in his words and deeds?

5100 words two-in-one chapter, please support!