Loan Dispute

President Wilson's thinking was correct. The League of Nations was indeed not a solid monolith. To put it somewhat exaggeratedly, the League could be divided into three factions: the Pro-British Faction, the Pro-French Faction, and the Pro-Spanish Faction.

Britain and France naturally needed no further explanation. As long-established European Great Powers, Britain and France each had a large number of supporters, and after these countries joined the League of Nations, they naturally became assistance to Britain and France respectively.

Although Spain had only recently risen again in modern times, thanks to Carlo's various arrangements, it had already established connections with many European nations.

Besides the Austrian Empire and Italy, the European nations close to Spain also included the Kingdom of Belgium, the Grand Duchy of Finland, and the Kingdom of Estonia.

Italy stood somewhere between the Pro-Spanish Faction and the Neutral Faction. The countries other than Italy were comparatively steadfast members of the Pro-Spanish Faction.

Carlo had long anticipated Italy's fence-sitting behavior. First of all, Italy was, after all, one of the Four Permanent Council Members of the League of Nations, and its status far surpassed that of other ordinary European nations.

Secondly, both the Italian government and King Vittorio Emanuele III harbored ambitions of their own. They were unwilling to remain beneath Spain and become Spain's loyal little brother.

Moreover, Europe's current situation was still relatively stable, so Carlo let Italy continue its fence-sitting. After all, having Italy firmly stand behind Spain was not necessarily a good thing. In the eyes of Britain and France, that would magnify Spain's threat, making the gains not worth the losses.

After the United States signaled its willingness to make concessions, Britain and France also quickly relented and no longer insisted that the United States pay a huge sum in compensation.

On one