Chapter 769 - 352: Navy Arms Race (2)

At this time, due to the influence of the publication on naval power in various European countries, both the public and governments greatly valued naval strength.

Spain’s grandiose battleship construction greatly boosted the confidence of the Spanish public.

A few days after the commencement ceremony of the HMS Ferdinand II-class Battleship, the ceremonies for the HMS Warrior Cruiser and HMS Hero Cruiser followed promptly.

Although the commissioning of these two smaller tonnage cruisers did not attract as much attention, it sparked heated discussions among many Spaniards.

For the Spanish people, 1890 might be the happiest year. Announced this year were the construction of a battleship and two cruisers, with their combined tonnage nearing 30,000 tons, something previous Spanish citizens could hardly imagine.

In earlier Ironclad times, a 30,000-ton naval scale was equivalent to at least three Ironclads, which would take Spain at least 5 years to construct.

Now Spain completed a 30,000-ton naval construction in just one year. Does this signify that Spain’s naval power will continuously grow in the coming years?

Like the Spanish public, many European countries have expressed concern over Spain’s grand naval construction efforts.

Especially the British, eager to probe news about Spain’s battleship construction. Although British discussions on battleship construction have long been underway, their first battleship, Monarch, began construction by the end of September last year, expected to launch early next year for maritime testing.

But clearly, the British will not be content just because they started their battleship construction earlier than Spain. Britain wants to maintain its naval supremacy and does not allow any country to challenge its naval power.

Due to Spain’s secrecy about the battleship construction, the British have not been able to gather detailed information on Spain’s battleships.

To be cautious, Britain accelerated its own battleship construction and further increased its naval expenditure.

Britain’s increase in naval expenditure sparked a minor naval arms race across Europe.

At this time, heightened emphasis on naval strength wasn’t limited to the British; almost all major European powers were accelerating their naval build-up.

In mid to late 1889, the Triple Alliance led by Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy held secret meetings to discuss naval development and future plans.

After the publication of Alfred Thayer Mahan’s book "The Influence of Sea Power Upon History, 1660-1783," the Triple Alliance responded decisively and reconvened, reaching a consensus to accelerate naval build-up.

At this time, the King of Italy was still Umberto I, Carlo’s brother, a nationalist and imperialist, who placed considerable importance on Italy’s military power.

Under his reign, Italy’s army scale almost doubled. During Carlo’s father, Vittorio Emanuele II’s rule, the Kingdom of Italy’s regular army exceeded just 200,000.

When Umberto I became King of Italy, the army rapidly expanded, now reaching a staggering level of nearly 400,000.

Keep in mind, before the war, both Germany and France maintained regular armies of only 400,000, with their populations, industries, and economies far surpassing Italy.

Italy’s maintenance of an army exceeding 400,000 posed a massive challenge to its finances. However, during Umberto I’s reign, Italy acquired two small colonies in Tunisia, somewhat justifying the military expansion.

After European countries focused heavily on naval power, Umberto I immediately shifted his attention to naval development.

Previously, he already boosted Italy’s navy into the world’s top five, totaling 242,000 tons, surpassing Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Spain.

Of course, in this 242,000-ton naval estimate, there were some discrepancies. Spain’s naval tonnage lagged behind Italy mainly because decades-old sailing warships were almost entirely phased out, leaving only Ironclads built in recent years as the main warships.

While Italy continued building Ironclads on one hand, it also retained previous sailing warships, combining to a total tonnage of 242,000 but lagging behind Spain in Ironclad numbers.

The current world naval rankings are: United Kingdom first, France second, Russia third, Spain fourth, Italy fifth, Germany sixth, United States seventh, Austria-Hungary eighth.

This aspect also reveals why the Triple Alliance fervently develops its navy; compared to the Franco-Russian alliance, their naval strength falls far short.

If they do not develop their navy, the Franco-Russian joint fleet would dominate the Mediterranean, destabilizing the coasts of Italy and Austria-Hungary.

Germany’s coast wouldn’t face French fleet disruptions, but if Italy and Austria-Hungary fell into chaos due to coastal losses, even Germany couldn’t persevere for long.

While Britain and Spain were aggressively building their navies, Italy also announced its naval plan.

Though Italy’s army wasn’t particularly strong, its navy was noteworthy. More importantly, Italy excelled in shipbuilding, hence Italy’s navy ranking among the world’s top five.

The era had shifted from Ironclads to Pre-dreadnought Battleships, and though the concept of battleships hadn’t yet spread globally, conceptualization of such warships wasn’t secret.

In the development of main warships, every country aimed to design stronger ships. Britain was the best in this regard, leading not only the battleship era but also the subsequent dreadnought era.

For Italy, boasting considerable shipbuilding prowess, it had ambitions for its own battleships.

Upon learning Spain’s battleships came from open bidding costing Carlo greatly, Carlo’s brother Umberto I announced open bids within Italy, declaring that whoever could design ships satisfactory to the Italian Navy would receive substantial financial rewards and other subsidy policies.

This open bidding attracted much attention from Italian shipyards, sparking competition among major yards.

In October 1890, Italy announced plans to construct at least 5 battleships within 5 years, investing 2 billion Lira into naval expenditure.

Italy’s Lira was equal in value to Spain’s Pesseta, indicating that the Italian Government’s naval investment didn’t greatly differ from Spain’s.

Given that Italy alone did so, not to mention Germany and Austria-Hungary.

Regarding naval development, the German Government placed great emphasis.

Germany had entered the era of William II, and its foreign policy no longer aligned with Bismarck’s era of isolating France while asserting control over Europe.

Several years prior, Germany had continuously expanded colonies. After William II became Emperor of Germany, Germany’s focus on colonies heightened, making navy a vital component of German military build-up.

Back in October 1889, the German Government announced plans to invest at least 1.5 billion Marks over 5 years in developing a powerful German Empire navy.

In March 1890, the German Government further announced an additional 500 million Marks, expanding naval development funding to 2 billion Marks.

The Mark was more valuable than the Pesseta. 2 billion Marks equaled 2.5 billion Pesseta, symbolizing that Germany’s naval investment didn’t differ much from Spain’s.

As for Austria-Hungary, the remaining party of the Triple Alliance, their naval investment was less.

This was not because Austria-Hungary undervalued the navy, but rather its limited finances couldn’t sustain large-scale naval development alongside its army.

Moreover, Austria-Hungary’s relatively short coastline concentrated in the Adriatic Sea bay, an internal Mediterranean bay between the Balkan and Apennine Peninsulas, with a narrowest point of just over 70 kilometers.

This also meant, should Austria-Hungary conflict with France, its fleet might be directly blockaded in the Adriatic, unable to venture into the Mediterranean, let alone conduct oceanic warfare.