“It’s New Year’s Day again, and the year 1914 begins, which is an extremely important year for the great Portuguese Empire.
This year marks the conclusion of the first Five-Year Plan and the foundation year of the Second Five-Year Plan.
At the beginning of the new year, His Majesty the Great Pedro III mentioned in his radio speech "Portugal is Great" that the past five years..."
——"Grape United News"
“South America is the foundation of the Portuguese Empire, and if South America is strong, the empire will be strong!
His Majesty His Majesty Pedro III once again mentioned the importance of Brazil and South America in his New Year's speech "Portugal is Great" and in the second five-year plan, which fully demonstrates the foresight of His Majesty the Emperor..."
——"Brazil Daily"
"His Majesty Pedro III, in his speech "Portugal is Great", focused on the particularity and importance of Iberia.
The Iberian Peninsula is an important fulcrum of Portugal, Iberian culture is the cultural source of the Portuguese Empire, and the development of the Iberian Peninsula is an important national policy of the empire.
In the next second five-year plan, the empire will be in the Iberian Peninsula..."
——"Lisbon News"
…
In 1914, for other countries in the world, if there was no foresight of World War I, it would be another ordinary new year for them.
No European country could have expected the war in Europe to come so soon. The poor and weak Ottoman Turkey had sacrificed itself in the past few years to allow many European countries to expand their territory and share their interests.
In the entire Europe, no country is currently eager to expand its European territory. The dissatisfied Italy and the ambitious small countries in the Balkans have cut off the flesh from the Ottoman Turkey. Although other European powers have not started a war, they are sitting on the throne.
Harvesting the fishermen's profits has led to a deeper penetration and exploitation of the Ottomans.
If there had not been the Sarajevo incident in 1914, the Balkans would not have caused World War I at all.
Although the small countries in the Balkans admire their own big country plans, they have greatly expanded their territory during the two Balkan wars and need time to digest it. This time will take at least five years.
Even if Bulgaria lost the Second Balkan War and did not maximize its interests, there is still a lot of land that needs time.
Small countries have no enthusiasm for provoking wars, and big countries will not act rashly to start wars. The confrontation between them is at most between colonies and semi-colonies.
Mainstream public opinion in Europe believes that peace will be the mainstream in Europe for at least the next five years. No one thought that 1914 would be the year that changed Europe.
The year 1914 was different from other countries, but it was definitely an important year for the Portuguese Empire.
The "Five-Year Economic Grand Plan" was questioned at the beginning, then turned around due to its huge role in the implementation process, and finally attracted world attention when it was successfully concluded in the fifth year.
Since Pedro III restored Brazil, he has boldly announced to the world that after the first five-year plan, the country's economic strength will surpass Japan and Italy, approach the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and become a member of the world's great powers.
In the past five years, under the leadership of Pedro III, Brazil and Portugal have reunited dreamily, and their position as a great power has been widely recognized.
This kind of economic development was also smooth. In 1912 and 1913, it surpassed Italy and Japan, but it was still far behind Austria-Hungary.
Most of the goals of the first five-year plan have been achieved. Now the Portuguese are most concerned about which year in the new second five-year plan can Portugal surpass Austria-Hungary.
"Hey, my dear brother Tangning, our people are so confident.
Look at the Portuguese Economic News and the Rio de Janeiro Daily News, which dare to boldly predict that Portugal will surpass the Austro-Hungarian Empire in three or four years and become the sixth largest economy in the world.
The Austro-Hungarian Empire had about 53 million people and an economic volume of 77.26 million pounds. How could it be so easy to surpass?
Our Portuguese population is 48.63 million. If we include the Mozambique Protectorate, our population is similar to that of Austria-Hungary, but our economy is only 58.02 million pounds, a difference of nearly 20 million pounds.
According to authoritative economic experts from the UK, France and Germany, although Portugal's economic stimulation method of government intervention has merits, it is also an overdraft for the country and will affect the further development of the country's economy.
The reason why the Portuguese Empire is still experiencing rapid economic growth is because the country was incompetent during the Brazilian Republic and its economic potential was not released.
Portugal's current economic growth actually has little to do with the five-year plan. If it develops according to normal free economic development, it will grow even more.
Now Portugal needs to make changes, relax its market, and actively join the global free economy and trade.
Only in this way can Portugal's economy get rid of deformity and develop healthily. In the next ten years, the economy of the Portuguese Empire will also surpass that of the Austro-Hungarian Empire."
Tangning. Pedro's quirky sister Helen came to bother her brother who rarely rested on the first day of the new year.
The second South American tour ended, the Cuban crisis entered peace talks, and the first five-year plan was completed. After the country and the international community generally entered the preset track, Tangning Pedro gradually became less busy.
Starting from January 1914, Tangning Pedro was preparing to embark on a trip abroad in search of the emperor.
During this trip, while relaxing, I was also warming up for the upcoming World War I. I wanted to see for myself what conditions various countries could offer to win over Portugal.
He wanted to see the current weight of the Portuguese Empire in the minds of other countries.
In this era, kings traveling is not a new thing. Many kings have done it, especially if they are crown princes.
The former King of Brazil, Pedro II, was famous for his love of traveling abroad.
The current Russian Tsar Nicholas II rarely went out after becoming emperor, but he liked to go out for walks when he was a prince. When he and the Greek prince visited Japan, they really came into contact with the blades of the Meiji expansionist samurai.
It was almost made into a blade sashimi.
This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! Tangning was in high spirits arranging the travel itinerary, but before lunch time arrived, Helen came over with nothing to do.
"Ha! Helen, don't you still believe in my ability to govern the country?
Don't listen to the nonsense of those foreign experts about free economy. When the global economic crisis hits, one of them will show their true colors, and then each one will be more selfish than the other.
Portugal is now dominated by the Greater Portugal market, and a relatively open economic policy with friendly countries is the best. Don't pay attention to anything that is irrelevant, otherwise you will cause a lot of trouble!
Britain, France, the United States, Russia, and to a lesser extent Austria-Hungary, Italy, Japan, and Belgium, the capital expansion of these countries is too crazy, and if they don't impose strict restrictions on each one, something will happen sooner or later."
"I have no doubts about your ability to govern the country, and I believe in Portugal's market economic system.
It’s just that I feel that we Portuguese people are a bit too arrogant now. Can we really think of overtaking the Austro-Hungarian Empire in three or four years?
The quality of our Portuguese citizens is much worse than that of Austria-Hungary, and our economic vitality is not comparable. Austria-Hungary is closely connected to Germany and has the Balkan market, so its economic development is not slow.
To be honest, brother, I think our current citizens are a little too fanatical. You should limit public opinion and guide it correctly.
If one day a certain war fails, I am afraid that a dangerous situation like Napoleon III will occur. The national self-confidence will be shattered, and people can do anything in anger!"
Helen still trusts her brother very much, but now she feels that something is wrong with the current situation in the country, and the people are somewhat abnormally fanatical and confident.
Since the United States demanded peace talks with Cuba, the Portuguese people's fanatical self-confidence has reached a climax again, and they all shout that Latin America is Portugal's Latin America!
"Helen, it is a good thing for the people to have self-confidence, and there is nothing wrong with being fanatical.
I have always attached great importance to Portuguese public opinion. The current situation is very good. Although it is somewhat inflated, it has not yet reached the point of mindless military expansion.
The vast majority of citizens are relatively wise and hope that the war will target stumbling blocks like Chile and Argentina!"
This chapter has been completed!