Under the influence of the Paris Citizens' uprising, the French Government of National Defense swiftly signed a new set of reparations terms with the Germans.
Compared with the previous draft, these reparations terms were even more outrageous. The reparations alone had reached the terrifying sum of 5 billion francs.
In mid-April 1870, the two sides signed these new reparations terms 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 relinquish sovereignty over Alsace and Lorraine.
Within the next three years, the French government was required to pay Germany reparations of 5 billion francs. This sum would be converted at the rate of 1 Prussian silver Thaler to 3 francs and 50 Centimes.
The reason for converting it into Prussian silver coinage was to prevent the French from reducing their payment by devaluing the franc.
There was no need to doubt it—the French were absolutely capable of doing such a thing.
5 billion francs was no small figure. Even converted into pounds sterling, it still came to as much as 200 million pounds.
Two hundred million pounds—what an absurdly staggering concept was that?
The main warships of the day were Ironclads, generally costing anywhere from a hundred thousand to several hundred thousand pounds.
If all this money were used to build Ironclads, it would be enough to give Prussia several hundred powerful Ironclads.
Of course, building a navy was not so simple. Training naval soldiers, familiarizing them with warship operations, and cultivating proper combat effectiveness all required a long time.
Yet this was already enough to demonstrate the enormity of the sum. For Prussia, which had just defeated France, this money was like fuel sent in snowy weather. It could help Prussia rapidly build up its industry and thus squeeze into the ranks of the world's foremost Great Powers.
In fact, this alone showed how much effort the French had contributed to Prussia's growth into the German Empire and its rise as the world's second Great Power, behind only Britain.
Prussia's industrial foundations were weak, so the French handed over the highly industrialized regions of Alsace and Lorraine.
Lorraine in particular possessed abundant iron ore resources. Relying on Lorraine's iron ore and the Ruhr Valley's coal mines, the Germans allowed the German Empire's industry to surpass France's in a short time.
Industrial development required enormous amounts of capital, and the French thoughtfully prepared 5 billion francs for the Germans as well.
Without such considerate help from the French, Germany might still have risen, but its pace would certainly have been much slower.
Yet in some respects, this also displayed the deep reserves of old colonial Great Powers like Britain and France.
The French had to pay a full 5 billion francs in reparations within three years, which also meant that the Prussians believed France had the ability to gather 5 billion francs within three years.
On that point alone, France had already surpassed most countries in the world.
At the very least, Spain currently had no ability to gather 5 billion francs. Let alone three years—even given ten years, it might not be able to scrape the sum together.
Although he had long known that the French would have to pay reparations as high as 5 billion francs, once he truly learned of the treaty terms signed by France and Prussia, Carlo could not help but feel surprised—and envious of Prussia.
That was a full 200 million pounds in capital.
What Spain lacked most at present was capital, and that was also the sole factor constraining Primo's reforms.
After defeating the Carlists, voices opposing reform within Spain had gradually weakened. But precisely because of the shortage of funds, the reforms had progressed slowly, making it fundamentally impossible to realize Primo's expectations for reform.
Fortunately, Primo still possessed sufficient rationality. Coupled with the frequent rebellions in Spain during this period, the government's reform plans had not been overly radical. The overall trend of Spanish reform remained steady progress amid stability.
After Prussia obtained reparations as high as 5 billion francs, Carlo's desire to cling to Prussia's thigh grew even stronger.
Present-day Prussia—or rather, Germany—already possessed every condition necessary to become a top-tier Great Power, and it would remain one of Europe's foremost Great Powers for the next forty years.
If Spain could cling to Prussia's thigh and obtain Prussian support in industry and capital, Spain's reforms would proceed far more smoothly.
As for support from Britain and France, Carlo had never considered it at all.
Britain simply did not want to see Spain rise, because once Spain rose, it would inevitably seek to reclaim Gibraltar.
Gibraltar was tied to British control of the Mediterranean Sea. They could never possibly abandon their occupation of Gibraltar.
This also meant that Britain and Spain had irreconcilable contradictions. Unless one of the two countries fell out of the ranks of the Great Powers, Britain and Spain could not possibly maintain peace.
There was even less need to mention France. As France's neighbor, Spain was naturally better off being as weak as possible.
No country was willing to see its neighbor become exceedingly powerful, and the French naturally could not support Spain's reforms or industrial expansion.
Looking across all of Europe, only Germany, Russia, and Italy remained capable of supporting Spain's reforms and industrial construction.
Germany had fierce contradictions with France. Even if only to cause the French some trouble, the Germans would support Spain's reforms.
Russia had conflicts with the British and naturally wished to see Spain rise. But Russia at this time was not much better off than Spain; its own reforms were incomplete, let alone having the funds to support Spain.
As for the remaining Italy, Carlo came from the Italian Royal Family, and Italy and Spain shared France as a common enemy in North Africa, so they could come together.
But the Italian Royal Family was originally family, and the only Great Power it could marry into was Germany.
However, Carlo would not force the matter of marriage alliances. Though political interests were also a consideration, he did not wish to marry a wife he did not like.
If he could encounter a marriage partner he liked, who could also help the royal family and Spain, then everyone would be happy.
Several days passed quickly, and Carlo still gained something.
First was the situation of the financial enterprise Carlo valued greatly: Royal United Bank.
After one week of operation, the total number of depositors had already surpassed five thousand, while total deposits reached 29.13 million Pesetas, averaging 5,787.31 Pesetas per depositor.
Although the average deposit had fallen from forty thousand on the first day to less than six thousand now, this was a good thing for Royal United Bank.
Because it meant there were more and more commoner depositors, and Royal United Bank was gradually gaining credibility in the hearts of Madrid's citizens.
After all, Madrid's population was not large. Having just over five thousand depositors in such a short time already proved the people's trust.
Although the nobility had contributed more, the people's trust was an even greater encouragement to Carlo. At the very least, it proved that support among Spaniards for the House of Savoy and Carlo was gradually increasing.
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