Mediterranean Hegemony Road

Before the Spanish-American War began, the ending was already doomed. The declining Kingdom of Spain was no longer the world empire of the past.

This old-fashioned empire has rotted from the inside out, and the new-born America will step on its shoulders and join the ranks of the great powers!

Just like in 1895, Japan defeated the Qing Dynasty; in 1897, Bulgaria defeated the Ottoman Empire; in 1898, the United States of America defeated the Kingdom of Spain.

At the end of the 19th century, in this era of alternating old and new, three old powers have been eliminated successively, and three new countries have been replaced.

Of course, now Japan and Bulgaria are not big powers, they can only be regarded as substitutes!

It was not until after the "Russian-Japanese War" that the Japanese stepped on the Russians' prestige and joined the ranks of the foreign powers; as for Bulgaria, the future Luferdinand has already made up his mind, and it is indeed difficult to make up his mind!

Time passed quickly, and soon entered 1898, the "Maine" incident broke out as scheduled, and Ferdinand's butterfly effect had not yet affected the Americas.

Ten days after the "Maine" incident, the United States issued an ultimatum to the Kingdom of Spain, and the Spanish-American War was imminent.

On April 6, the ministers of Britain, France, Germany, Austria-Hungary, Russia and Italy in the United States handed over a "six-nation note" to the United States, calling on the two countries to resolve the Cuban issue through negotiations.

There is no doubt that this note failed. Although the note was issued together, the six major powers had different positions, and the controversy was too great to reach an agreement.

What's more, the British tend to be Americans; Italy is for the sake of soy sauce, and there is not much influence in the Americas; Germany, Austria, and Russia have too little influence in the Americas, even if they tend to Spain, Powerless to intervene; the remaining French, while also supporting Spain, did not take substantial action.

Nominally, the Kingdom of Spain has the support of the five major European powers, but in essence this support is limited to words.

The Kingdom of Spain fell into an isolated and helpless situation. As a last resort, on April 10, the Kingdom of Spain surrendered to the U.S. government and agreed to all the demands of the Americans.

But Americans have long coveted the Spanish kingdom's heritage, so how could it possibly stop now?

On April 28, the U.S. government declared war on the Kingdom of Spain, and the "Spanish-American War" officially started!

Ferdinand watched all this happen,

Except to block the Americans in terms of public opinion, they have done nothing. It's not right. Now newspapers all over Europe are scolding Americans for breaking the rules, including the London Daily.

But it was of no use, and the Americans did it anyway. European countries have declared neutrality and banned arms sales to the United States.

Ferdinand knew that this was a fig leaf, mainly because Americans would not buy weapons from abroad at all, so governments of various countries have so decisively imposed a ban on the sale of weapons to the United States. It has nothing to do with supporting the Kingdom of Spain for a dime.

It's a pity that the Kingdom of Spain is rotten in the end, and I don't know how to take advantage of such a good opportunity. If Ferdinand is to break the pot, even if he sells iron, he will have to make up another fleet, and a good American PK.

After all, the US Navy is not yet powerful enough to be invincible in the world. If the Kingdom of Spain urgently pools money to buy ships from other countries, European countries don’t mind taking the opportunity to take a chance. After all, except for the British government, Europeans do not want Americans to win. war!

The Spanish-American War was in full swing, and the ceremony that Bulgaria had been preparing for for many days was about to begin. Although some of the limelight was robbed by the "Spanish-American War", Ferdinand still didn't care.

At this time, Sofia was already in full swing. In order to celebrate the ceremony, the Bulgarian people took action spontaneously without waiting for the government to organize a city-wide cleaning.

On May 6, Ferdinand and Queen Xenia took the stage together. Ferdinand was officially crowned King of Bulgaria, known as the "Third Kingdom of Bulgaria" in history.

That's right, the king, the title of "tsar" is still forgot, Ferdinand didn't die to the same title as Nicholas II.

You must know that "Tsar" was transformed from "Caesar" in ancient Rome, and translated as "Supreme Ruler". Now Ferdinand has no strength to grab this hatred title!

At this time, Xenia had been pregnant for more than eight months, and she was already pregnant. For the safety of the child, Ferdinand once planned to postpone the ceremony, but Xenia tried to stop it.

If the founding ceremony was postponed because she was pregnant, what would happen to her reputation after it got out? Besides, if the prince is born, and with this stigma, why should he convince the public in the future, and why should he establish a foothold in Bulgaria?

Then, under the fear of Ferdinand, he hurriedly completed the most important coronation ceremony.

Then, Ferdinand forcefully interrupted Xenia's desire to watch the excitement and sent her back to rest.

After all, it was a ceremony for the establishment of the Kingdom of Bulgaria. It should not be too hasty. After the coronation ceremony is completed, there are still many things that need to be presided over by Ferdinand himself.

The first thing that started was the military parade. The infantry and artillery phalanxes appeared neatly in front of Ferdinand, waiting for him to review.

After the review was completed, Ferdinand personally awarded the titles to the officers of General Jingsheng. After all, this ceremony also included a celebration ceremony.

Under the attention of thousands of people, it is also an indispensable work for Ferdinand to confer titles to ministers of merit.

Bulgaria is a monarchy, and in addition to titles, there are also titles. Even for the vast majority of people, the latter is the key!

Compared with the Guarding War, Ferdinand was much more generous this time. With a wave of his hand, he sealed seven earls, eighteen viscounts, more than one hundred barons, and thousands of knights.

In addition to military personnel, the knights also include government officials, as well as scientific and technical personnel and engineers who have made great contributions to the development of Bulgaria.

Of course, the military still dominates, and military merit is always the easiest to be knighted, and Bulgaria is no exception.

Of the seven counts, the military accounted for five, which is now the five giants of the military. There are two cabinets, Prime Minister Konstantin and Chekov.

There is nothing controversial about this. In terms of ability and contribution, both of them meet the requirements.

The 18 viscounts also accounted for the majority of the military, but also included the palace minister Karl and the intelligence chief Fuhu, as well as the chief engineer of the arsenal, and the chief engineer of the railway company.

Not much to say about other titles. Ferdinand had to sigh, the 19th century knighthood is a damn good thing!

In order to win over a few external engineers and researchers, Ferdinand tried to find a way, but it didn't work much.

When Ferdinand wanted to confer a knighthood against those who had done great things, these people did not hesitate to join the big Bulgarian family. Of course, the title can't be low, and people who are not hereditary don't look down on it.

Ferdinand also knew that now Bulgaria has been upgraded to a kingdom, and its strength has been recognized by everyone. Otherwise, like the kingdom of Montenegro next door, the title awarded by Nicholas I would be much less popular.

The title of title is not all attractive in any country. For example, if an African chieftain is awarded, even if it is a prince, few people will take it to heart.

After the award was completed, it was another commendation meeting, this time for the martyrs who died in the Balkan Wars. Needless to say, the dead man, with Ferdinand's integrity, it is infinitely elevated, anyway, to say a few good words, and do not want money.

...

After the ceremony is completed, it does not mean that Ferdinand's work is over, the trouble is just beginning.

Many guests, relatives and friends from all over the world need to be received by Ferdinand in person. There is no way that there will be no more important men in the Bulgarian royal family.

Now that the queen is pregnant, it makes sense for the queen mother to come forward to receive the female relatives, but the main task is still to Ferdinand personally.

The most important thing for aristocrats is to have face. This time everyone gave Ferdinand enough face. All the major European nobles sent important figures to participate. In line with the principle of reciprocity, Ferdinand was surprised to find that only he was satisfied in Bulgaria.

There are no old nobles in Bulgaria at all, so it is impossible to use the newly appointed earls to receive the dukes and princes, right?

That is no longer a reception, it is a complete indifference. Of course, if these counts are from veteran nobles, then none of this is a problem.

Therefore, Ferdinand had to go to battle in person at the dinner party and greeted them separately, in order to be polite.