Chapter 116: Friends are surprised, and the impact is extremely bad
……
Ferdinand's strategy for North Africa was another truly bold and imaginative plan put forward by the Christian countries of Europe to the pacifistic world after the defeat of the Crusades - to establish the rule of European Christian monarchs on a vast land of millions of square kilometers and stretching for more than 1,000 kilometers. Unlike the short-lived Latin Kingdom, this would lay the groundwork for the establishment of a permanent Spanish territory in North Africa.
Now, however, Ferdinand could not take direct revenge on the Moroccan Wattas dynasty. Not even in 1497.
If it were true, even if it was an expedition to the New World, Ferdinand was able to teach the Moroccans a profound lesson in 1496, but what was the purpose? What's in it?
Overthrowing the Moroccan Wattas dynasty? Ruling the land of Morocco?
Spain does not intend to do so, at least not for 30 years. The Moroccans can still take advantage of it, they can add trouble to the Portuguese. And the occupation of Moroccan territory has no other benefit than apatite, and from Tunisia, Spain has also received rich apatite resources. Western Sahara, a sparsely populated land, also has easy access to apatite.
The Berbers of Morocco are not so easy to rule than Algeria and Tunisia, they are more numerous and more stubborn than their compatriots in the east.
There are such easy-to-pinch persimmons as the Hafs dynasty of Tunisia and the Zayanid dynasty of Algeria, and there is no need to fight to the death with Morocco, just guarantee the city of Melilla.
And then there was the problem of the Ottoman Turkish Empire, which could not be allowed to take advantage of the situation and annex Tunisia and Algeria, and then the Spanish garrison in North Africa would collapse - these are the consequences of history. By 1707, even the city of Oran had been swallowed up by the Ottomans, and at that time, Britain and France could already slap this former peaceful empire in the face.
However, the fact that he could not do it also made Ferdinand very uncomfortable, and of course, he would not take irrational measures just because he was uncomfortable. But this time, he found an excellent object for imperialist aggression.
As the first imperialist country in the history of mankind in the future, how can Spain be worthy of the modifier of imperialism if it does not invade and expand everywhere? Especially in the case of being provoked on its own initiative.
Russia suffered a loss in the Crimean War, and in a turn it annexed more than one million square kilometers of territory of the Qing Empire, and obtained the territory of the Heilongjiang River basin and the good port of Vladivostok in the Far East.
Now that Spain has been attacked by the Berbers in the city of Melilla, which has caused the surprise of its friends, the impact is very bad, and it is natural to take some measures to compensate for the losses and recover the field.
At the same time, it can also allow some surplus goods in Sardinia to obtain a suitable dumping channel. It also allows Spain's civilian-reformed civil service in Sardinia, Sicily and even Valencia to shine in a wider world......
So, Tunisia, was lucky enough to win the lottery!
It was time for Spain to establish a garrison in Tunisia as well as a colony, and build a strong fortress to protect against possible attacks by the Ottoman Turkish Empire in the future.
"Well, let's do it first. Send more troops to Melilla, and then the Aragonese army will move troops from Sicily, force the Tunisians, and allow us to enter the region of Ragulit! "Ferdinand has only used such simple tactics against the Berbers of Northwest Africa for now. His main focus was also on the development of the New World.
The Spanish (Aragonese) army gathered troops from Valencia, Sardinia and the Kingdom of Sicily, and concentrated more than 80 transports and warships, including 60 new Galen ships.
Since Aragon became the suzerainty of Tunisia, Nidhog had a growing intelligence network in Tunisia, and the Spanish side collected all kinds of military intelligence from Tunisia and decided to make a surprise attack directly on the capital of Tunisia.
On February 8, 1495, the Spanish Mediterranean Fleet carried 2,500 men from Sicily and brazenly shelled the outer port of Lagulet, the capital of Tunisia, and then landed at the port of Lagulet and captured the port area.
The Spanish army attacked in a big way, crushing the resistance of the Tunisians and besieging the royal palace.
Tunisia's Hafs dynasty has been frightened, and now there is no one to help it, and it is much weaker than the Moroccan Vatas dynasty, and Spain can even destroy the country by sending a few thousand soldiers. Occupying Lagulat and then seizing the capital is not a problem.
Subsequently, Spain added 1,500 troops to repel a counterattack by a small number of Tunisian troops.
For the trembling King of Tunisia, this confirmed the gloomy predictions of him and his ministers, who had long felt that it was impossible for the Christian armies of Aragon to be mobilized for a mediocre ore. Now, "indeed" the Christians have shown their hideous faces and are beginning to covet the land of Tunisia.
But Tunisia could not afford to refuse Aragon's demands, and Spain had besieged the king of Tunisia in his palace and was about to send him to a prisoner of war camp.
……
In the first half of 1496, the Aragonese army, with a total of 8,000 men, landed in the area of Raghulet and began to garrison. Ferdinand would not follow the same path as history, and he murderously intimidated the Tunisians to force them to agree to supply the Spanish army. Since they agreed, the Spanish army would also graciously provide compensation of 15% of the total military expenditure.
During the war and negotiations, Spain held the king hostage, dictated orders, and extended its control. In March, Spanish troops made a forced landing at Bizerte, and in April they occupied Annaba and Tripoli.
On May 6, 2,000 Spanish people landed on Djerba. The island was still sparsely populated and peaceful, not the sad place where pirates gathered decades later, leaving Spain unable to conquer for a long time and suffering heavy casualties.
……
During the negotiations, Spain made a large number of unreasonable demands, and the king of Tunisia expressed his protest, but the Spanish negotiators did not feel guilty and rebuked Tunisia for indulging the hostile attitude and hostile behavior of its bureaucrats and people towards Spain, which surprised and caused great harm to the friendly countries.
Spain, in turn, forced Tunisia to recognize the occupied territories controlled by Spanish troops and set up its own "concessions" in Tripoli to conduct commerce.
In view of the tragic death of his father (frightened to death by the Aragonese people), the new king could only sign the humiliating peace treaty.
The Treaty of Lagulaite was signed on July 12, 1496, with 13 articles, the main contents of which were:
The end of the war was declared. Relations between the two countries have changed from a state of war to a state of peace.
The two countries each released the other's military and civilians.
The Tunisian government opened Annaba, Bizerte and La Qulaat as treaty ports, allowed Aragonese ("Spain" to be referred to in the treaty) as consuls, and allowed Western merchants and their families to live freely.
Monetzing. The island of Djerba, the Gulf of Gabbès, and Tripolitania were ceded to Aragon, and the Spanish army withdrew from the cities and ports of Tunis, Annaba, and Bizerte. But Tunisia has designated a 60-square-kilometre area of La Gulaat as a permanent garrison for Spanish troops.
As "compensation", Spain "reluctantly" increased the proportion of compensation for Tunisian supplies to 45 percent, a "burdensome" figure, and the Tunisian king was "very grateful" and "very enthusiastically invited" the Spanish adviser Fonseca (another member of the Fonseca family) to help manage their customs, and Spanish civil servants began to "help" the Tunisians to keep their customs in order.
The taxes to be paid by Western merchants on the import and export of goods must be agreed between Tunisia and Spain; Tunisia's tariff autonomy began to be lost......
Naturally, the tariff on Spanish goods is a very favourable price of five percent. Of course, fat sheep should not be slaughtered too thinly, and the Spaniards suggested that Tunisians raise Tunisia's universal import tax on other countries from 15% to 25% and then to 50%...... Furthermore, the Tunisian commodity market was completely monopolized by Spain!
The modern cotton textile factories in Sardinia produced a large number of high-quality cotton cloths, which were digested in Sardinia and supplied to the army to make military uniforms, quilts, tents, etc., and these products then entered Aragon and Sicily. Then there is Castile. It is also sold in European countries.
This brought Ferdinand a lot of profits, but overseas markets could also be lucrative, and it could also help prevent leaks (better than nothing).
Tunisia and other places, which are not places with developed handicraft industries, have to be imported from Europe and the Middle East. Soon, Sardinia's cotton yarn flooded the Tunisian market, and men's and women's robes, women's veils, etc., could be marked "made in Spain".
In the case of civil litigation between the two countries, Western merchants shall be at the expense of Spain; Tunisia's judicial sovereignty began to be violated.
The consular jurisdiction that Spain had acquired in Tunisia in the Treaty of Lagulet emboldened Christians and strengthened Spanish suzerainty. In addition to commercial dumping, the Spanish Church also sent a large number of clergy to establish churches in Tunisia, Bizerte, Annaba, Tripoli, and Gabès to promote the missionary cause, and many Tunisians converted to Christianity through coercion and semi-coercion within the Spanish land and concessions.
Although the Peace Religion in North Africa did not prevent Spanish rule in North Africa, and at some stage the stable pacifist population was conducive to the stability of Spanish rule, attempts to promote Christianity in some areas were still to be carried out. It would be best if, fifty years later, the whole of Northwest Africa could be Christianized. Fifty years is not enough, but it can take a hundred years to implement it......
……
Back at the end of 1495, for Ferdinand at the time, the matter was still a matter of story. He is also working on some technical research......