The Rise Of Australasia

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Free from Austria's troubles, Germany and Italy could concentrate on attacking France. In fact, once the British-French-Austrian balance in Europe changed, Spain might also decisively join the war and carve up the enormous "cake" that was France.

What attracted Spain, apart from France's vast native land, was the large swath of African colonies occupied by France.

As an old colonial power, France's colonies were second only to the British Empire, ranking second in the world.

For Spain, most of the French colonies in Africa were desirable.

Especially Northwest Africa, which was a deadly temptation for Spain. If they could acquire a large portion of Northwest African land, Spain's comprehensive national power would receive a tremendous boost, potentially becoming a super empire with native lands across two continents, like the Ottoman Turkish Empire.

By coincidence, the Ottoman Empire occupied the critically important Strait of Constantinople, and between Spain's European and African territories lay the equally vital Strait of Gibraltar.

This also meant that at this time, Spain naturally stood in opposition to both the United Kingdom and France.

If Spain wanted to become stronger, it had to seek more territory in Northwest Africa. But this land was within the French sphere of influence, and to gain more territory from the French, Spain had to confront them head-on.

Once Spain became powerful, it might very well control the Strait of Gibraltar, perhaps even reclaim Gibraltar itself.

This was something the British Empire could not tolerate. The emergence of a superpower in the western Mediterranean that the British Empire could not control posed a threat as great as Germany to the British.

Therefore, with Spain naturally opposed to France and Britain, if the European war put the British and French at a disadvantage, Spain might very well join the fight.

If Spain's participation in the war could not be stopped, in addition to Germany and Italy, France would face the variable factor of Spain.

Although Spain's overall national strength was far inferior to Italy's, the Spanish Military's combat effectiveness was decent. Especially after the baptism of civil war, most of the soldiers of Spain were qualified.

These soldiers, when entering the battlefield, would naturally have an advantage over new recruits who had not experienced large-scale wars.

Add to that Spain's strategic position, and suddenly whether Spain would join the war became a factor that could affect the balance between the British-French and German-Italian sides.

So the question arises, does Spain want to join this war?

If it were before the outbreak of the war, Franco, the commander of Spain, actually had a negative attitude.

The reason is quite simple: at the time, Spain had been fatigued by the civil war, continuous Carlist wars, and various kinds of turmoil that had persisted from the past century until now.

In terms of territory, Spain's land area was not inferior to France's and was even far larger than Britain's. But Spain had already completely lost its status as a power fifty years ago.

Even before the outbreak of the Spanish-American War, before Spain possessed a certain number of colonies, in the hearts of European citizens, Spain was no longer a power.

The once-glorious Spanish empire had its time of greatness and even established one of the earliest colonial empires that never saw the sunset.

However, compared to other European Nations' focus on industry and technological development, Spain, from the top down, clearly pursued a life of luxury and decadence.

From the royal family to the people, everyone enjoyed the vast wealth and supplies brought by the Age of Great Navigation and the Colonial Empire, never thinking of growing stronger to protect these assets.

Such a Spain was doomed to fall, and this is why Spain, even in later generations, never became one of the major powers in Europe.

For present-day Spain, the country is very famous, being one of the European Nations with a dazzling history.

But in terms of comprehensive national power, population, military strength, and economy, Spain could not rank within the top five in Europe no matter how you listed them.

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Even up-and-comers like South Slavia and Romania had surpassed Spain in terms of population and economy.

If it weren't for Poland being annexed by Germany, it's likely that Spain's overall strength wouldn't even rank in the top eight in Europe.

What does this signify? The newly formed countries after the disintegration of the United States, more than half of them possess overall strengths comparable to or even exceeding that of Spain.

Considering the overall strengths of different nations, Spain could barely make it into the top 15 of the world ranking, and compared to its former colony Argentina, it seemed to fare not much better.

This was also why Franco was wholeheartedly seeking stability and peaceful development. There was no choice, for if Spain continued its chaos, it might be overtaken by even more countries in the future.

In that case, the glorious history of Spain would become a joke, further highlighting the incompetence of the modern Spanish state.

However, as the war progressed, Franco's thoughts did indeed start to shift.

Looking at the current trajectory of the war, the British and French were clearly at a disadvantage in this conflict, even struggling to cope with Germany.

In the grand scheme of the war, the British and French had not achieved any significant victories yet, and they seemed unlikely to halt the German Army's charge across the European Continent.

After consecutively annexing Poland, Lithuania, the Czech Republic, Belgium, and Slovakia, Germany became the second-largest power in Europe in terms of territorial area, closely trailing after Russia.

More importantly, the total population of all lands controlled by Germany was almost equal to that of Russia, and even more than the combined population of the native lands of Britain and France.

With the assistance of Italy, it seemed that winning this war was just a matter of time.

Consequently, Franco, who commanded Spain, had to consider Spain's future.

If Germany and Italy were to emerge victorious from this war, the position of Spain would become rather awkward.

Although Spain had once signed an alliance with Germany, they hadn't joined this war, naturally not qualifying as a friend of Germany or Italy.

Once Germany fully annexed France, it was very likely that they would turn their attention towards Spain, possibly even swallowing the whole of Europe.

This was an achievement even Napoleon had not accomplished; should the Germans become able to achieve it, the German government would definitely not let Spain off hook.

Compared to the disadvantages of not joining the war, Franco was clearly more tempted by the advantages of joining it.

Firstly, by helping Germany and Italy win this war, Spain would naturally become a member of the German-Italian Alliance and would also gain rights to territorial distribution.

Secondly, with Spain's help, Germany and Italy would naturally have a greater assurance of victory in this conflict.

Lastly, for Franco himself, joining and winning this war could considerably elevate his prestige in Spain and solidify his ruling position over Spain.

If he could secure vast Colonial territories in Northwest Africa for Spain, Franco would become a hero to all Spaniards, and the civil war he sparked would then be seen as Spain's righteous war to overthrow a wicked and corrupt government.

Of course, another point that was particularly attractive to Franco was that after winning this war, there was a high probability that Spain could recover the Gibraltar Area.

The importance of Gibraltar to Spain goes without saying. In no exaggeration, anyone who could help Spain recover Gibraltar would immediately become a hero to the Spanish, revered and adored by all of them.

Even in later generations, the fact that the Spanish Government still had some disputes and arguments with the British Government over Gibraltar could prove that the Spanish desire for Gibraltar has always been there.

Faced with the possibility of reclaiming Gibraltar, even Franco had to admit that he was indeed tempted.