Reborn as King of South America

Chapter 458 British Minister
For the Western powers, establishing close economic cooperation with an emerging country that is undergoing comprehensive industrialization means that they can gain access to a huge market for industrial products. Moreover, through business cooperation, they can also obtain a long-term, stable capital investment site with huge economic value while helping the emerging country establish an industrial system.

From 1868 to 1880, the trade between China and Western powers was mainly based on imports.
The Han State used the funds obtained from the treasury treasures acquired in the early days, the gold, silver and jewelry seized in the war, and the export of primary agricultural and animal husbandry commodities to purchase the machinery and equipment needed to establish a primary industrial system and some goods that could not be produced locally from the Western powers.

During this period, the Han Dynasty's foreign trade targets were mainly Prussia (Germany).

In the 1868 years between 1880 and 12, China purchased machinery, industrial products and other commodities worth about 1.2 million Chinese Yuan from Western countries through import trade. Among them, the trade volume with Prussia (Germany) reached 2.5 million marks, accounting for about % of China's total foreign import trade during the same period.

From 1880 to 1889, the industrialization of the Han Dynasty made initial progress, and the foreign trade model also changed from mainly importing machinery and industrial goods to a sustainable development model that mainly introduced industrial technology and supplemented by attracting foreign capital.

During this period, because the Han Dynasty occupied and digested newly expanded territories such as Argentina and Uruguay, and its local population and international comprehensive status were greatly improved, the objects of Han Dynasty's foreign trade also expanded from Germany to major European powers such as Germany, Austria-Hungary, France, and Italy. During this period, the relationship between Han Dynasty and Britain gradually improved, and Britain quickly became one of the countries with the largest economic and trade exchanges with Han Dynasty besides Germany.

In the 1870s, first-class powers such as Germany, France, Austria-Hungary, and the United States began to enter the stage of complete imperialism. The domestic industrial markets of each country were divided up, and the excess industrial and commercial products and capital had no outlet for release. Therefore, from the late 1870s, capital consortiums in various countries that had completed the operation of monopoly enterprises began to shift their investment focus from domestic to foreign countries.

During this period, the performance of monopoly enterprises led by American capital consortium was the most typical.

American imperialism is the product of the rapid development of capitalism after the Civil War.

The Civil War greatly promoted the industrialization process in the northern United States.

The destruction and reconstruction of the South opened up new markets for Northern products. From 1865 to 1870, the total capital of American banks increased dramatically.

During the same period, the conquest of the Western Indians intensified, and for the first time took on the characteristics of monopolistic imperialism.

Merchants and railroad owners followed pioneers who occupied the land and established an agricultural and handicraft economy.

In the decade from 1865 to 1875,
The struggle with Indians and buffalo paved the way for capitalist railroads, banks, ranchers, and land speculators.

In many cases, it was small and medium-sized farmers and herders who took up arms to resist the invasion of monopoly imperialism and the process of expropriation of their land by banks and financial groups. However, compared with the monopoly groups, their power was insignificant, so their uprisings were eventually bloodily suppressed.

After clearing out the disobedient peasants and small and medium-sized farmers, the railway construction continued.

Then, railroads quickly connected the Atlantic coast and the Pacific coast, and at the same time, various minerals were developed.

After 1875, through the bloody primitive accumulation of capital, the United States saw the emergence of banks, railways, mining and steel.
An "empire" represented by monopoly consortiums such as the United States and Germany.

The rapid development of American monopoly imperialism (brutal development, full of life-and-death struggles among business owners) has fostered its offensive mentality. The capitalists who lead economic development think they are the leaders of the people and are implementing the theory of "manifest destiny" that will make the United States the leader of all countries.

By.

The United States was intoxicated by the material achievements it had achieved in its ruthless struggle with its capitalist rivals, and this turned into an intoxication of imperialism. The conquest of the West, the plundering of Indian lands and the massacre of ethnic groups did not stop at the Pacific coast, California and Oregon, but extended across the Pacific to Japan and the Far East. In the Southwest, the United States continued to expand into Mexico, Central America and all of Latin America.

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The victorious monopoly capitalists set their sights beyond their own borders. Their expansionist ideas influenced the policies of Washington politicians and the thinking of the masses. Under the anesthesia of "Manifest Destiny" and the Monroe Doctrine, the American masses fanatically launched an anti-Chinese movement, imposing the persecution and British treatment suffered by Indians on Chinese workers in the United States. Afterwards, the American monopoly cheered the Monroe Doctrine's declaration, and in the name of protecting weak countries, they carried out brutal economic expansion outside the American borders!

The United States' expansion first appeared in Latin America. In the 1800s, the total export trade of the United States to Latin America was only US$70972. It increased to US$1880 million in 180 and to US$1885 million in 347.

The initial overseas expansion of the American monopoly consortium was concentrated in economically backward countries and regions such as North America, Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean, where the government lacked its own financial resources. However, after entering the 1880s, as the total industrial output of the United States quickly surpassed that of Britain and the domestic industrial market became increasingly saturated and oversupplied, the emboldened American monopoly consortium quickly shifted its targets to South American countries such as Colombia, Venezuela, and Brazil.

The American monopoly consortium, which pursues economic interests like sharks, is a natural expansionist. Under the early concessions and compromises of Britain, the Americans advanced step by step, first taking away half of Mexico's territory, then exerting influence on Cuba, and intervening in Central and South America.

Throughout the Americas and everywhere American capital could reach they came into conflict with Britain's established colonial interests and influence.

After the 1880s, in South America, Britain was no longer as restrained as before. It first expanded its direct colonial rule in British Guiana, and accelerated its political and economic control over Venezuela, Colombia and Ecuador, attempting to build a barrier in North America to prevent US invasion.

Subsequently, Britain quickly changed its hostile diplomatic policy towards the Han Dynasty and took the initiative to reconcile with the Han Dynasty.
Under the threat of the common enemy, the United States, Britain and China not only increased their economic and trade cooperation, but also joined forces in the political field to undermine the United States' attempt to establish an American international alliance, successfully curbing the American expansion outside northern South America.

Before Germany fell out with Britain, the struggle between Britain and the United States for international hegemony was all-encompassing. From the vast Pacific Ocean, the Far East, Africa and even mainland Europe, capital competition was being staged all the time. However, in North and South America, the region where the competition between the two sides was most intense, Britain, whose economy and national strength were gradually reaching their limits, felt increasingly powerless in the confrontation with the Americans.

None of the regions such as Mexico, Brazil, and Spanish-controlled Cuba could directly confront the United States. The only South American country that had any value was the Han Kingdom, but because of the brutal expansionism of its emperor and his army, the British felt difficult to deal with. They did not dare to completely let go of the Han Kingdom and push it to the front line against the United States.

Britain does not have many political and economic interests in Paraguay. In order to win over the Han Kingdom, Britain can allow the Han army to intervene in the Paraguayan civil war. As for the Republic of Brazil, although Britain has invested a lot of money in it, facing the challenge of the Americans' interference in the Republic of Brazil, giving up the Republic of Brazil is not an unacceptable option when necessary. Apart from Paraguay and the Republic of Brazil, the only country that British politicians cannot give up is Chile.

Chile's annual export of saltpeter accounts for more than 60 percent of the world's saltpeter production. If the Han Dynasty is allowed to expand its territory in South America, then after Paraguay and the Republic of Brazil, Chile, which is rich in mineral resources, will find it difficult to avoid being occupied by the Han Dynasty.

It is not in the interests of Britain for Han to control Chile's saltpeter supply. However, in order to bring Han into confrontation with the United States, Britain's expansion needs must be met to a certain extent. As a diplomat, it is very difficult to accurately grasp the balance between the two.

The British Empire is the country that controls the largest territory in the world. With lands in various regions of the world, Britain has no shortage of land to settle its citizens. The expansion of the territory of the Han Empire in South America will not directly harm the economic interests of Britain.
On the other hand, although Western powers ostensibly recognized the reality of Latin American independence, in reality, Western countries did not regard Latin American countries with a very low proportion of pure white people as part of the white ethnic group.
During this period, the South American countries had not yet welcomed the large-scale immigration of white people from Europe, so the proportion of pure white people in each country was not high. Take Chile, where white people later became the majority, for example. The proportion of pure white people was only 6% of the total population, the proportion of Indo-European mixed races was 60%, and the proportion of Indians reached 34%.

The Western powers, which follow the law of the jungle and believe in the survival of the fittest, do not care about the living conditions of a small number of white people in South America. If the international situation changes and sacrificing Chile can bring favorable conditions to Britain, the gentlemen of the British government will decisively make the decision to abandon Chile.

South America is like a big whirlpool. Countries such as the United States, Germany, and France have joined it one after another, and for the sake of interests, they have to compete fiercely with British capital and consortiums. From the perspective of the United Kingdom, not only are competitors such as the United States, Germany, and France difficult to deal with, but also allies that can be used temporarily, such as the Han Kingdom, Chile, and the Republic of Brazil, are also worrying. Not to mention the conflicts between the Han Kingdom and the Republic of Brazil, Chile, which was originally the most submissive to Britain, has become increasingly alienated from Britain because of the coming to power of President Balmaceda, and the disputes and contradictions between the two countries over the ownership of saltpeter mine resources are also becoming increasingly greater.

All these problems were entangled together, and Williams felt a headache when he thought about it. However, the reality would not change because of Williams's personal subjective perception. Just when Williams was planning to temporarily put aside the complicated South American affairs and enjoy the leisure time in the afternoon, the arrival of several uninvited British consortium businessmen quickly turned his original beautiful plan into a bubble.

(End of this chapter)