Spain had done its best, but the situation in the Mediterranean region and West Africa’s coast was not favorable.
When they first competed with Portugal to secure territories along Africa’s western coast, things hadn’t been bad.
In fact, despite the limitations of being a union of kingdoms, they were gradually pulling ahead thanks to their population advantage over Portugal.
This led the leaders of the united kingdoms at the time to view the situation optimistically.
“It’s time to punish those Portuguese traitors!”
“We can annex Portugal again!”
However, at some point, Portugal not only caught up with Spain but began to surge ahead.
“Why?”
The Spanish monarchs and nobles couldn’t understand this development that defied their expectations.
This was the result of Portugal’s efforts combined with Spain’s inherent limitations.
***
There were several reasons behind Spain’s limitations.
-Catholic fundamentalism dominated politics and economics.
Spain’s United Kingdoms and Portugal were both nations established with Catholicism as the state religion after driving out the Muslims from the Iberian Peninsula through the Reconquista.
While both Portugal and Spain had Catholicism as their state religion, their policies toward religious minorities differed significantly.
In Portugal’s case, Muslims and Jews could continue living there as long as they pledged loyalty.
In contrast, Spain adopted the exact opposite policy.
Spain expelled all Muslims and Jews residing within its territory.
This didn’t end with simple expulsion.
As Muslims and Jews were driven out, Spain lost its capable merchant class. The disappearance of Muslim merchants and Jews severely weakened Spain’s commerce and financial sectors, and the human networks these Muslim merchants and Jews possessed vanished along with them.
Ultimately, Spain had no choice but to entrust its economic operations to Italian merchants from Genoa.
The traditional feudal nobles based on livestock farming saw no particular problem beyond having to pay high prices for luxury goods, so they ignored this issue. Later, as the importance of international trade became apparent, this became a shackle.
-Portugal preempted trade with the ‘Flower Country.’
The competition along Africa’s western coast saw Portugal and Spain trading places in the lead.
However, when the ambitious Henrique secured trade with the Empire first, it became the driving force that propelled Portugal ahead.
And this led to the next problem.
-They lost the competition for talent acquisition.
While Spain surpassed Portugal in population, its naval power was actually inferior to Portugal’s.
At that time, examining Europe’s situation, most of the key personnel operating ships from various nations—captains, first mates, navigators, and so on—were employed regardless of nationality.
Not just officers, but experienced veteran sailors frequently switched ships following better wages.
Ships carrying many capable and experienced officers and sailors had higher survival rates even in unexpected situations like storms or pirate attacks. And higher survival rates meant greater profits for ship owners.
The criteria by which capable seamen chose their ships wasn’t just wages. The safety of voyages was as important as pay.
In this regard, Portugal overwhelmed Spain.
The routes to and from the Flower Country were completely controlled by the Imperial Navy. Therefore, as long as one traveled with the Imperial fleet, all they had to worry about were storms. No, even those storms weren’t much of a problem if traveling with the Imperial fleet.
If storms seemed likely, the Imperial fleet would turn their bows to the nearest port. There were no ports that disliked the Imperial fleet making port calls.
Moreover, Portugal held national-level trading rights with the Empire. In other words, this meant the Empire guaranteed their credentials. Thanks to this, Portugal could safely enter and trade with various Asian nations.
‘Ships of a nation that can sail safe and highly profitable routes’
There were few captains who would refuse to operate ships with such conditions.
Therefore, Portugal’s naval power, possessing many capable captains and sailors, became superior to Spain’s.
-Finally, Portugal and its allies controlled the Suez trade route.
The construction of the railway connecting Suez with Prince Henrique Port in the north transformed the economic structure of North Africa and the Mediterranean region.
***
The decline of Alexandria, which had been North Africa’s largest trading port and commercial center, marked the beginning of change. And Alexandria’s decline accelerated the Mamluk Sultanate’s demise.
It wasn’t just the Mamluks.
Based on the enormous profit dividends from the Suez trade route, the Ottoman Empire’s Mehmet II greatly strengthened his military forces.
Having witnessed the success of the Empire and Portugal, Mehmet II particularly expanded his navy and utilized this strengthened naval force without hesitation.
As a result, the maritime powers from the Kingdom of Aragon, a major political force in Spain, collapsed. They had lost trading rights in the Levant region to the Ottomans.
Having successfully seized control of the Levant and Caspian Sea regions, Mehmet II finally conquered the Eastern Roman Empire.
Thus, the eastern Mediterranean fell into Ottoman hands.
These changes in Mediterranean power dynamics greatly impacted Italy as well.
***
The first to surface was the Medici family’s firm control over Florence.
While Cosimo de’ Medici had manipulated European monarchs with his vast wealth, there were also many problems.
Construction projects in Florence and various regions had failed, and he had consumed enormous funds through various wars and political interventions.
Therefore, as soon as the Suez War showed signs of becoming a protracted conflict, Cosimo’s vassals—the merchants—sought him out.
“It would be wise to withdraw from Suez!”
“Indeed! Enormous funds are already being poured in! If we’re not careful, we’ll go bankrupt!”
“Other families are already hoping for our family’s downfall! The Pazzi family is particularly baring their teeth!”
Mentioning the Pazzi family, owners of a prominent Florentine bank and the Medici family’s strongest competitor, the vassals strongly urged withdrawal from Suez.
“You fools! Don’t just look at what’s right in front of you—look further ahead!”
However, Cosimo de’ Medici didn’t heed his vassals’ warnings. Rather, he actively invested more funds in Suez.
Cosimo’s gamble paid off several times over.
Though superficially holding the smallest share, he held the crucial casting vote between the Empire and the Alliance. To prevent Cosimo from joining hands with the Empire, the allies secretly handed over a significant portion of their profits to him.
It wasn’t just profit dividends.
Most of the war funds the Alliance consumed in the Suez War were ‘loans’ from Cosimo.
Thanks to this, a substantial portion of the enormous profits the Alliance earned from Suez came to Cosimo as loan repayments and interest.
Based on these incoming funds, Cosimo once again began to dominate European politics, and the Pazzi family was pressed down to second place.
The complete domination of Florence by Cosimo’s Medici family was just the beginning.
***
While Cosimo’s Medici family and Florence were gaining momentum, Genoa, Florence’s strongest competitor, was gradually declining.
When Spain and Portugal entered full-scale competition in Africa, Genoa actively supported Spain.
For Genoa, which already gained much profit by controlling Spain’s economy, this was an opportunity for even greater gains.
The fact that Portugal’s economic sponsor was Florence was also problematic. As Genoa competed for economic supremacy in Italy and Europe, they couldn’t back down.
The proxy war between Genoa and Florence, fought through Portugal and Spain, reached its climax through the Suez War.
They couldn’t miss out on the enormous economic benefits from trade with the ‘Flower Country.’
To defeat the visible enemies—the Alliance—and Florence lurking behind them, Genoa also lit a counter-fire.
They orchestrated the union between Spain and the Mamluks and tried to tie down France by mobilizing the Habsburg Holy Roman Empire and England.
But this was only a partial success.
England was embroiled in civil war and in chaos, while the Habsburgs, preoccupied with suppressing rivals for the Holy Roman Empire’s throne, only made token gestures.
Therefore, Genoa provided considerable funds to the Eastern Roman Empire, which was like a kite with its string cut.
This was to tie down the Ottomans’ feet even a little.
Though Genoa did its best to win at this gambling table with enormous stakes, they ultimately lost the gamble.
The Alliance had drawn the strongest card—the ‘Empire’—first.
Having lost the gamble, Genoa could only decline.
They couldn’t replenish the enormous stakes they had blown in the Suez War.
Selling slaves and spices that Spain acquired from Africa alone would take far too long.
To make matters worse, Mehmet II’s destruction of the Eastern Roman Empire became a fatal blow.
They had lost the Levant region, the main market for slaves and spices.
***
Thus cornered, England, Spain, and Genoa became desperate to find a way out.
For those desperately trying to escape the crisis of destruction, rumors about the ‘unknown southern continent’ were like a ray of salvation.
“If we just find it, we can escape this crisis!”
“We must find it!”
Just like with the ‘Western Route,’ a fever related to the ‘unknown southern continent’ began spreading in England and Spain.
No, it wasn’t just a fever—it was a frenzy.
Not just nobles and merchants, but intellectuals and common people talked about the ‘southern continent’ whenever they met.
Of course, there were quite a few who showed negative reactions and worried about this.
“Aren’t we being too confident without any solid information?”
“It’s just rumors circulating among the natives, isn’t it?”
To such objections, the believers countered:
“It’s not just one or two natives saying the same thing, is it? That means it’s likely to be true!”
“Look at the Empire’s new territories! While evidence of unknown continents is lacking, there’s no proof they don’t exist either!”
After fierce debates between the two camps, the ‘Empire’ was dragged into it.
“The Empire must have heard these rumors too, but they’re not moving! That means it doesn’t exist!”
The skeptics’ words left the believers at a loss. Then, new rumors arrived from Suez.
-The Empire isn’t refusing to act—they can’t!
-The Imperial Navy desperately petitioned, but the Empire’s emperor and ministers refused. The reason: they’re already stretched thin with just the new territories!
European intellectuals who heard the rumors realized the hidden truth within:
-If the Empire had the capacity, they would have explored!
-That means the Empire judges these rumors likely to be true!
-Considering the Empire’s damned ships, they must have already investigated to some extent and given weight to it being real!
Having analyzed this far, Europeans simultaneously jumped to their feet.
The Empire had poured oil on Europe’s spontaneous combustion.
“The unknown southern continent exists!”