Under the influence of the Parisian citizens' uprising, the French Government of National Defense quickly signed a new reparations agreement with the Germans.
This reparations agreement was even more exaggerated than the previous draft, with the scale of reparations alone reaching a terrifying 5 billion francs.
In mid-April 1870, both sides signed this new reparations agreement in Frankfurt, also known as the Treaty of Frankfurt.
The treaty stipulated that France would cede Alsace and Lorraine, along with the fortress of Metz, to Prussia, and voluntarily relinquish sovereignty over Alsace and Lorraine.
Within the next three years, the French government was required to pay Germany 5 billion francs in reparations. This payment would be calculated at an exchange rate of 3 francs 50 centimes per Prussian silver thaler.
The reason for converting the value to Prussian silver coins was to prevent the French from paying less by devaluing the franc.
There's no doubt that the French were capable of doing that.
5 billion francs was not a small sum; converted to pounds sterling, it still amounted to a staggering 200 million.
How exaggerated is the concept of 200 million pounds?
The main warships at the time were ironclads, typically costing between tens of thousands and hundreds of thousands of pounds.
If all this money were used to build ironclads, it would be enough to give Prussia hundreds of powerful ironclads.
Although building a navy is not that simple; training naval personnel, familiarizing soldiers with operating warships, and cultivating qualified combat capability all require a long time.
But this already demonstrates the vastness of this sum. For Prussia, which had just defeated France, this money was like receiving charcoal in the snow, helping Prussia to quickly build its industry and thus join the ranks of the world's top powers.
In fact, from this perspective, one can see that France played a significant role in Prussia's growth into the German Empire and becoming the world's second-largest power, second only to Britain.
Prussia's industrial foundation was not strong, and the French handed over the industrially powerful regions of Alsace and Lorraine.
Especially the Lorraine region, which possesses vast iron ore resources. The Germans relied on the iron ore of Lorraine and the coal mines of the Ruhr area to enable the German Empire's industry to quickly surpass France in a short period.
Developing industry requires a large amount of capital, and the French thoughtfully prepared 5 billion francs for the Germans.
Without such considerate help from the French, Germany might still have risen, but the speed would have been much slower.
However, this also demonstrates the foundation of old colonial powers like Britain and France in a certain way.
The French had to pay a staggering 5 billion francs in reparations within three years, which also meant the Prussians believed France was capable of raising 5 billion francs within three years.
On this point alone, France already surpassed most countries in the world.
At least, present-day Spain would not be able to raise 5 billion francs. Let alone three years, even if they took ten years to raise it, they might not succeed.
Although he had long known that the reparations France had to pay amounted to 5 billion francs, Carlo couldn't help but feel a little surprised and envious of Prussia upon truly learning the terms of the treaty signed by Prussia and France.
That was a full 200 million pounds.
What Spain currently lacks most is funding, which is the only factor hindering Prim's reforms.
After defeating the Carlists, the voices of opposition to reform in Spain had gradually weakened. However, precisely because of the lack of funds, the progress of the reforms had been very slow, making it impossible to achieve the reform expectations Prim had in mind.
Fortunately, Prim still possessed sufficient rationality. Coupled with the frequent rebellions in Spain during this period, the reform plan formulated by the government was not too radical, and the overall trend of Spanish reform was still stable and progressive.
After Prussia received the high reparations of 5 billion, Carlo's idea of clinging to Prussia's leg became even stronger.
Present-day Prussia, or rather Germany, already possessed all the conditions to become a top power and would remain a top power in Europe for the next 40 years.
If he could cling to Prussia's leg and gain Prussia's support in industry and funding, Spain's reforms would also proceed more smoothly.
As for support from Britain and France, Carlo didn't even consider it.
The British absolutely did not want to see Spain rise, because once Spain rose, it would inevitably develop the idea of reclaiming Gibraltar.
Gibraltar was crucial to British control of the Mediterranean, and they would absolutely not give up their occupation of Gibraltar.
This also means that Britain and Spain have irreconcilable conflicts; unless one of the countries is no longer among the great powers, peace between Britain and Spain is impossible.
Naturally, there's no need to say more about France. As Spain's neighbor, the weaker France was, the better.
No country wanted to see its neighbor become very strong, so it was naturally impossible for the French to support Spain's reforms and industrial expansion.
Looking across Europe, the only countries that could support Spain's reforms and industrial development were Germany, Russia, and Italy.
Germany and France have intense conflicts, so even if just to cause trouble for the French, the Germans would support Spain's reforms.
Russia has conflicts with the British and is naturally willing to see Spain rise. However, Russia at this time was not much better off than Spain; its own reforms were not thorough, let alone having funds to support Spain.
The remaining Italy could align with Spain due to Carlo's origin in the Italian royal family, coupled with Italy and Spain having a common enemy, France, in North Africa.
But the Italian royal family is already family, and the only great power they could marry into is Germany.
However, Carlo would not force matters like marriage alliances. Although there were considerations of political interests, Carlo also did not want to marry a wife he did not like.
If he could find a marriage partner he liked and who would be helpful to the royal family and Spain, then that would naturally be a happy outcome for everyone.
A few days passed quickly, and Carlo did have some gains.
First was the situation of the financial enterprise Carlo greatly valued, the Royal United Bank.
Within one week of opening, the total number of depositors had exceeded five thousand, with total deposits reaching 29.13 million pesetas, and the average deposit per person was 5787.31 pesetas.
Although the average deposit per person decreased from forty thousand on the first day to less than six thousand now, it was a good thing for the Royal United Bank.
This is because it means there are more and more civilian depositors, and the Royal United Bank is gradually gaining credibility in the hearts of the citizens of Madrid.
After all, the population of Madrid is not large, and having over five thousand depositors in a short period already proves the public's trust.
Although the nobility contributed more, the public's trust was even more encouraging for Carlo, at least proving that the support for the House of Savoy and Carlo among the Spanish people was gradually increasing.
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