5 Billion Compensation Freshly Baked

Under the influence of the Paris Citizens' uprising, the French Government of National Defense quickly signed a new compensation agreement with the Germans.

Compared to the previous draft, this compensation clause was even more extreme, with the sheer scale of reparations reaching a terrifying 5 Billion Francs.

In mid-April 1870, the two sides signed this new compensation agreement in Frankfurt, also known as the "Treaty of Frankfurt."

The treaty stipulated that France would cede Alsace and Lorraine, along with the Fortress of Metz, to Prussia, and voluntarily renounce sovereignty over Alsace and Lorraine.

Within the next three years, the French government was required to pay Germany 5 Billion Francs in reparations. This sum would be converted at the rate of 1 Prussian Thaler to 3 Francs 50 Centimes.

The reason for converting to Prussian silver coins was to prevent the French from devaluing the Franc to reduce their payments.

Make no mistake, the French were absolutely capable of doing that.

5 Billion Francs was no small sum; converted to Pounds, it still amounted to 200 Million Pounds.

200 Million Pounds—what an astonishing concept that was!

The main warships of the time were Ironclads, costing anywhere from over a hundred thousand to several hundred thousand Pounds each.

If all this money were used to build Ironclads, it would be enough for Prussia to possess hundreds of powerful warships.

Of course, building a navy wasn't that simple; training sailors, familiarizing them with ship operations, and cultivating effective combat capability all required a long time.

But this already demonstrated the enormity of the funds. For Prussia, which had just defeated France, this money was like a timely gift, helping Prussia rapidly advance its industrial construction and thus rise to become a top-tier world power.

In fact, from this perspective, it was clear that the French had made a significant contribution to Prussia's growth into the German Empire and its status as the world's second-greatest power after Britain.

Prussia's industrial foundation was weak, but the French handed over the highly industrialized regions of Alsace and Lorraine.

Especially Lorraine, which held vast iron ore resources. The Germans, leveraging Lorraine's iron ore and the Ruhr Valley's coal, enabled the German Empire's industry to catch up with and surpass France in a short time.

Developing industry required massive capital, and the French thoughtfully prepared 5 Billion Francs for the Germans.

Without such considerate help from the French, Germany might still have risen, but the pace would have been much slower.

However, this also revealed the depth of old colonial powers like Britain and France.

The French needed to pay a full 5 Billion Francs in reparations within three years, which meant the Prussians believed France could scrape together 5 Billion Francs in that timeframe.

Just this fact alone put France ahead of most countries in the world.

At least, Spain currently had no ability to raise 5 Billion Francs. Not in three years—even if given ten years, it might not be possible.

Although he had long known that France's reparations amounted to 5 Billion Francs, Carlo was still somewhat astonished and envious of Prussia when he actually learned the terms of the treaty signed between France and Prussia.

That was a full 200 Million Pounds.

What Spain lacked most right now was capital, and that was the sole factor hindering Primo's reforms.

After defeating the Carlists, opposition to reform within Spain had gradually weakened. But due to the lack of funds, the pace of reform had remained very slow, making it impossible to achieve Primo's expectations for reform.

Fortunately, Primo still had enough sense. Coupled with the frequent rebellions in Spain during this period, the government's reform plans were not too radical, and the overall trend of Spanish reform remained steady and progressive.

After Prussia obtained the massive 5 Billion in reparations, Carlo's desire to latch onto Prussia's coattails grew even stronger.

Prussia, or rather Germany, now possessed all the conditions to become a top-tier great power and would remain a top-tier power in Europe for the next 40 years.

If he could secure Prussia's support, gaining assistance in industry and capital, Spain's reforms would proceed much more smoothly.

As for support from Britain or France, Carlo never even considered it.

The British had no desire to see Spain rise, because once Spain did, it would inevitably seek to reclaim Gibraltar.

Gibraltar was crucial to British control of the Mediterranean, and they would never give up their occupation of it.

This meant an irreconcilable conflict between Britain and Spain; unless one of them ceased to be a great power, peace between them was impossible.

France went without saying. As Spain's neighbor, the weaker Spain was, the better.

No country wanted to see its neighbor grow very powerful, so the French would naturally never support Spain's reforms or industrial expansion.

Looking across Europe, the only countries that could support Spain's reform and industrial construction were Germany, Russia, and Italy.

Germany had intense conflicts with France; even just to cause trouble for the French, the Germans would support Spain's reforms.

Russia had conflicts with the British, so they would naturally welcome Spain's rise. But Russia at this time wasn't much better off than Spain; its own reforms were incomplete, let alone having funds to support Spain.

As for Italy, because Carlo came from the Italian Royal Family, and because Italy and Spain shared a common enemy in France in North Africa, they could come together.

But the Italian Royal Family was already a branch of the same house, and the only great power available for marriage alliance was Germany.

However, Carlo wouldn't force such a marriage. Even with political considerations, he didn't want to marry a wife he didn't love.

If he could find someone he liked who also benefited the royal family and Spain, that would be ideal.

A few days passed quickly, and Carlo did make some gains.

First was the situation of the financial enterprise he valued highly, the Royal United Bank.

In the first week of operation, total depositors had already exceeded five thousand, with total savings reaching 29.13 Million Pesetas, and an average savings of 5,787.31 Pesetas per person.

Although the average savings had dropped from 40,000 on the first day to less than 6,000 now, this was a good thing for the Royal United Bank.

It meant that more and more commoners were becoming depositors, and the bank was gradually gaining credibility among the citizens of Madrid.

After all, Madrid's population wasn't large, and having over five thousand depositors in such a short time proved the public's trust.

While the nobility contributed more, the trust of the common people was even more encouraging for Carlo, at least showing that Spanish support for the House of Savoy and Carlo himself was gradually increasing.

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