Empire Rising: Spain

After the conclusion of the report meeting on the Second Five-Year Plan, the information mentioned by various government departments immediately became the most talked-about news in Spain.

The majority of Spaniards felt proud about it. They were quite excited about the progress their country had made over these five years and were more confident in the nation’s future.

Carlo, as the King who proposed making Spain great again at that time, was thus fervently adored by the populace.

If previously there were still many Spaniards who did not believe in Carlo’s ability to lead Spain to greatness, now the majority of Spaniards believed that making Spain great again was not just a simple slogan but a reality that would soon be realized.

With the public gaining confidence in the country’s future development, they were naturally more willing to contribute their efforts for the country’s future.

After the meeting concluded, the streets and alleys of various cities in Spain were filled with titles related to "Make Spain Great Again!" Smart factory owners even set up such slogans and banners within their factories to encourage workers to contribute their efforts for the country’s future.

For those factory owners who were not too outrageous, the Spanish Government generally adopted a "see no evil, hear no evil" attitude. After all, Spain’s population is limited, which also means the number of workers in Spain is limited.

To effectively increase Spain’s industrial output, Spanish workers still had to endure some hardship temporarily.

Of course, Carlo was also measured. Early last year, under Carlo’s indication, the Spanish Worker’s Party was rapidly established and recruited many workers in a short period.

The main purpose of the Worker’s Party was to safeguard the interests of Spanish workers, acting as a substitute for the worker class in their struggle against capitalists.

Such a party that could utilize the political power of the worker class was naturally founded by Carlo to guide the workers.

On the surface, there was no connection between the Spanish Worker’s Party and the Royal Family and Carlo, but the party leader and some key members were dispatched there by Carlo.

The main task of these people was to reasonably utilize the political power of the workers while deepening the conflict between capitalists and workers.

Of course, by capitalists here, it refers to private capitalists, not state-owned capital.

The income and welfare benefits of employees in Spain’s state enterprises and royal enterprises were relatively good, ensuring that workers would not direct their dissatisfaction towards state and royal-established enterprises but would instead resent those private enterprises that exploited workers’ interests, i.e., enterprises established by capitalists.

Due to the elections in the various district assemblies having ended long ago, otherwise, the Spanish Worker’s Party could also have gained some seats and thus qualify to enter the Parliament.

Even with just one parliamentary seat, the political power of the party would far exceed those parties without any parliamentary seats. After all, only by entering the Spanish Parliament does one have the qualification to be nominated as a cabinet member. A party that can’t even enter the Parliament has no presence in Spain.

Currently, judging from the proportion of seats occupied by various parties in the Lower House, most members of the next cabinet government will still be selected from Spain’s three major parties.

However, unlike the last cabinet election, the Conservative Party has become the largest party in Spain, squeezing some of the survival space of the Progressive Party and the Liberal Party.

If it weren’t for Carlo deliberately protecting the Progressive Party and the Liberal Party, perhaps the Liberal Party would soon be exiting the stage of history. Advocating for freedom and civil rights in a monarchy is practically going against the Spanish Government.

If it weren’t for those radical republican democracy advocates having already been purged, Carlo would absolutely not allow the continued existence of the Liberal Party in Spain.

Once the Worker’s Party gains parliamentary seats, Carlo will stop protecting the Liberal Party.

At that time, the Liberal Party will have only two choices: either be collectively squeezed out of the Parliament by other parties or completely abandon the ideas of liberal democracy, transforming into a mildly conservative reform faction like the Progressive Party.

The Spanish Government in 1879 was exceptionally busy. The summary report meeting of the second five-year development plan had just ended for less than a month, and a new round of elections for the Spanish Cabinet Government had already arrived.

The good news was that the performance of various departments in the second five-year development plan was quite good, and the department ministers had all increased their sense of presence in the Parliament.

Of course, these cabinet ministers also knew where the key to their re-election lay. Currently, the Conservative Party has become Spain’s largest party, and as the leader of the Conservative Party, Deputy Prime Minister Canovas also had a good chance of becoming the next Prime Minister of the Spanish Cabinet Government.

This also meant that the re-election of most cabinet members depended on Canovas’ attitude. As long as Canovas became Prime Minister, whether or not the members could be re-elected was just a matter of Canovas’ word.

As early as last year, the cabinet ministers had already strengthened their relations with Deputy Prime Minister Canovas. They weren’t foolish and naturally knew the reason for Canovas’ appointment as Deputy Prime Minister.

In the situation where Duke Serrano was already elderly, the probability of Canovas succeeding as Prime Minister wasn’t 100%, but at least 90%.

The cabinet ministers also didn’t have enough qualifications to compete with Canovas for the position of Prime Minister. If they wanted to stay in the Spanish Cabinet, they could only continue in their positions by gaining Canovas’ trust.