Sunday, 9:12 am.
It was early in the morning, not long before government work started.
Portuguese Foreign Minister Toni reported to Emperor Pedro III that Spain's new Prime Minister and the new leader of the Liberal Party, Alvaro Figueroa Torres Romanones, sought peace negotiations.
"Your Majesty, Ambassador Williams in Madrid has forwarded a request from Spain's new Prime Minister Alvaro. They hope to restart peace negotiations with us."
When Tangning heard the news, she had no expression and said calmly.
"Oh, Spain finally has a new prime minister who can take charge. I thought Spain was ready to fight to the end?"
"Your Majesty, Spain does not have this intention. Before, they were just criticizing each other and shirking responsibility. Even the leader of the Liberal Party does not want to be the prime minister of the cabinet."
Since Portugal captured Talavera in Japan, the Spanish government has been in turmoil. The parliamentary cabinet is full of politicians attacking each other and trying to defend themselves.
The first unlucky ones are, of course, Defense Minister Antonio and Prime Minister José Canalejas Méndez. As the top leaders of the government presiding over the war, he must bear the responsibility for the failure of the decisive battle.
Although Antonio was severely attacked, he was luckier than Jose, the Prime Minister and the top leader of the government.
Although Jose, as Prime Minister, did everything he could in response to the war, who allowed the war to fail, so there is nothing wrong with being a sinner.
When news of the war came, the leader of the largest opposition party, the Conservative Party Eduardo Dato Inradier, fiercely attacked the Liberal Party in parliament.
Under his instigation, the angry Spaniards regarded Jose as Spain's number one criminal, and Jose was forced to resign under pressure.
After resigning, Jose was protected by the Spanish army because there were many angry Spaniards who wanted him dead.
The prime minister resigned and the Spanish government fell into chaos.
As the leader of the Conservative Party, Eduardo Dato Inradier, of course, did not jump out to compete for prime minister at this time, because he knew that there was a huge pit waiting for his successor.
Spain, as the defeated party, would definitely sign a treaty with Portugal that would humiliate the country and cede territory and pay indemnities. Therefore, although the conservative party made a fuss, they did not come out to form a cabinet.
If Prime Minister Jose resigns and the Conservative Party refuses to form a cabinet, then the Liberal Party Cabinet will still exist, but at this time, the senior leaders will certainly not take over.
But the Spanish government is in civil strife, and Portugal will not wait for them.
In the Battle of Talavera, although Portugal was backed by black servants, the imperial army still suffered heavy losses. Coupled with the losses in a series of previous wars, the imperial army suffered more than 50,000 casualties.
Portugal was exhausted after the Battle of Talavera, and the Ministry of Defense ordered three days of in-situ repairs.
In the three days since the Portuguese army rested, Spain's Liberal Party cabinet has not yet elected a leader.
After three days of repairs, the Japanese and Portuguese troops set out. Two days later, on the 18th, after an easy battle, they defeated the Spanish resistance and occupied the important city of Toledo.
The fall of Toledo greatly shook the capital, and the Spanish government fell into further impatience.
Alfonso XIII, who couldn't bear it any longer, arranged his escape plan and appointed Alvaro Figueroa Torres Romanones, whom he considered the most reliable among the quarreling Liberal Party bosses, as prime minister.
The unlucky Alvaro Figueroa Torres Romanones gritted his teeth and assumed this important responsibility out of patriotism.
Alvaro knows that he can't delay it now. If he delays it any longer, Madrid will be gone. Then Portugal's conditions for negotiations will be even more stringent. The most important task at the moment is peace talks.
One day after accepting the cabinet, Alvaro initiated peace talks with Portugal and gave his own terms for peace talks.
"Tony, Alvaro, what terms did you offer for peace talks?"
Tangning smiled and said: "Our troops will advance to Alcorcon quickly. I believe Prime Minister Alvaro knows what to do?"
“Your Majesty, the Spanish government is willing to recognize the sovereignty of Galicia, Asturias, Leon and other places proposed by Portugal.
Regarding the ethnic conflicts and local power issues in Aragon, Navarre, Lusitania and other places, Spain believes that they can be turned into autonomous regions and allowed to govern themselves. If the three places want to be independent, they must go through European countries
Spain can recognize it only after it has been recognized and passed a local referendum.
The Spanish government does not recognize or discuss the rights relationship between Aragon and Murcia, and Navana and Cantabria.
Murcia, in the history of Cantabria, was recovered by Castile, and the Spanish government has indisputable sovereignty."
Tony single-handedly pulled Spain's bottom line out.
"Your Majesty, there is a very important message here.
Prime Minister Alvaro emphasized that if Portugal is willing to recognize Spanish sovereignty over Murcia and Cantabria, they are willing to give up all colonies and pay reasonable war reparations."
Before the attack on the Talavera Fortress, the Portuguese and Spanish governments had actually been in back-and-forth negotiations.
After conquering Seclavun, the troops were directed towards the hinterland of Castile. Out of self-confidence and tired of this fearless and time-consuming behavior, Tangning directly issued the final conditions to the Spanish government.
Under this condition, if the conditions for the alliance between Portugal and Imbilia are not agreed to before the war breaks out in Talavera, then the territorial claims to Spain will be included in Aragon vs. Murcia, Navarre vs. Cantab.
sovereignty of Leah.
The reason for proposing this harsh condition was naturally that Tangning wanted to intimidate Spain into surrendering as soon as possible and end the war as soon as possible.
Since the outbreak of the war, Portugal's economy has been greatly affected. Portugal's population is not large, and coupled with the battle losses on the front line, this is a big loss for Portugal.
Unfortunately, things didn't work out as expected.
Portugal's intimidation policy did not succeed.
There were already many people in Spain who opposed the peace negotiation, and the opposition Conservative Party in the parliament was also acting like a monster. The ruling Liberal Party did not want to be what people said was a traitor, so Spain refused and pinned the fate of the country on Fortress Talavera.
, so Portugal’s plan failed.
But now, the Talavera Fortress has fallen, and Spain is in a huge diplomatic dilemma.
The new Prime Minister Alvaro is certainly aware of Spain's predicament. He previously rejected Portugal's final peace talks conditions, but now it is even more difficult to break through and protect Spain's greater interests.
However, the country's territory must be divided and must be fought for, and it should be kept as much as possible. Therefore, Alvaro placed his hope in Castile's legal principles and possible intervention from European countries to offer Portugal a peace negotiation that would preserve national interests as much as possible.
condition.
Spain will give what Portugal wants; Aragon, Navarre, and Lusitaria. Spain is willing to respect their rights and may not interfere in these areas, but on the issue of independence, it needs recognition by European countries. As for Murcia,
Cantabria seized on the legal principles of the Reconciliation Act, but Spain refused to let go.
Spain attaches great importance to Murcia and Cantabria in the terms of peace talks.
It is not surprising that Spain attaches great importance to these two places, because if these two places are lost, Spain will become a landlocked country and will no longer be able to communicate between the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea.
Nowadays, sea power is prevalent and the coastline is very important. If Spain loses its coastline, its economy will be locked up by Portugal and there will be no development potential.
This chapter has been completed!