Empire Rising: Spain

Although in Europe, both kings and emperors are the highest rulers of independent countries, and there is not much difference in their status.

But it is undeniable that in most people’s minds, the status of an emperor is always a notch higher than that of a king. A kingdom may be a powerful country, but an empire is certainly a powerful country.

In this regard, the attitude of the British Government and Queen Victoria has instead become consistent.

Although a female king, Queen Victoria is very special in British history and is definitely one of the greatest monarchs of the United Kingdom.

The famous Victorian Era was established by Queen Victoria, and during the Victorian period, Queen Victoria enjoyed supreme influence and prestige in the British Government, capable of having a significant impact on the constitutional monarchy of the British Government.

This is also the most unique aspect of the British constitutional monarchy system, which is that the king’s power is not too strictly limited.

A king with means can still, through his own various efforts and the support of the people, grasp a certain degree of power and even deeply influence the government.

Especially after the decline of the United Kingdom, the king instead became more important. Why is the United Kingdom still a constitutional monarchy country in later generations? The biggest reason is that the British Government wants to maintain control over the Scotland Region and the Northern Ireland Region, of course, including Wales.

On this issue, the United Kingdom faces the same problem as Spain.

The United Kingdom seems powerful, but the word “United” is its fatal weakness. Being united is indeed strong, but it also depends on whether other countries are willing to unite.

The United Kingdom is composed of four major regions, namely the Kingdom of England, the Kingdom of Wales, the Kingdom of Scotland, and Northern Ireland.

Of course, if it is now, Northern Ireland should be replaced with Ireland, after all, Ireland has not yet become independent from British rule.

But the fact that Ireland could become independent from the once mighty British Empire already demonstrates the UK’s own issues, which is that non-English people, led by the Scottish and Irish, are not so satisfied with English rule.

When the British Empire was strong, naturally these grievances had to be endured even if they were dissatisfied. But with the decline of the British Empire, the disintegration of the kingdom is only a matter of time.

In such a situation, the king instead becomes very important. Once the Kingdom Government ceases to exist, the legality of the United Kingdom also ceases to exist.

The reason why the United Kingdom and Spain in later generations are still kingdoms is precisely because of this reason. Because only with the existence of a king will there be a legal basis for the union of the country. If the country becomes a republic, the sole reason for national unity would vanish.

Queen Victoria was very supportive of the establishment of the Indian Empire because doing so was beneficial to her as well.

Although the status of Empress of India was not very high, at least she was called an emperor. Moreover, the Indian throne could strengthen British rule over India, which was the most important thing for the United Kingdom.

After all, it is the crown jewel, and if the jewel is lost, the crown would be tarnished.

It was precisely because of the United Kingdom’s focus on India during this period that such minor incidents in Kalimantan did not attract much attention from the British.

Unless Spain and the Netherlands officially went to war over the colonization of Kalimantan, or Spain had already occupied most of Kalimantan, these were minor affairs, at least before the establishment of the Indian Empire.

In any case, the British did not cause trouble, which was a good thing for Spain.

After fully controlling the Magindanao Sultanate and the Sulu Sultanate, the East Indies Colony Government began its further actions.

First, a T-shaped railway was constructed on Mindanao, connecting the east, west, north, and south of Mindanao, to strengthen control over Mindanao.

Secondly, on the island of Borneo. The territory controlled by the Sulu Sultanate was indeed small, at least relative to the island of Borneo.

But the problem is, the area of Borneo is not small. Even if the Sulu Sultanate controls only a small portion, the total area is several tens of thousands of square kilometers.

More importantly, once Spain gained a foothold on this land, there was hope to continue expanding south and extending into the Brunei Sultanate.

Although the Dutch also had activities in the Brunei Sultanate, the overall strength of the Dutch could not compare to that of Spain, and the East India Colony Government was not too concerned about this.

Therefore, the railway constructed on the island of Borneo was not oriented east-west, but a north-south railway was chosen instead, so that it could be later connected to the Brunei Sultanate.

What the Dutch think is not something for the East Indies Colony Government to consider. After all, the Dutch didn’t have the courage to engage in colonial warfare with Spain, at most they would just engage in a colonial competition regarding the Brunei Sultanate, would Spain fear this? Of course not.

When the news that the colonial wars of the East Indies ended in a total victory reached Spain, Prime Minister Prim and Carlo both breathed a sigh of relief.

This war brought tremendous uplift to Spain, and the importance of the East Indies Colony to Spain increased without limit.