Reborn In 17th century India with Black Technology - Chapter 844

Chapter 844: Federazione Italiana 2
12th December 1670

Genoa, Italian peninsula

Doge Francisco Maria Sauli walked around the parliament room with uncertainty and hesitation. The day the Venetians warned about had finally come. A few hours ago, he received the diplomat from the Republic of Venice bearing the Unification of Italy Bill, which, upon signing, would not only put the Republic of Genoa as one of the member states of the Federazione but also, once and for all, completely cut off ties with the Spanish Empire.

Genoa, very similar to Venice’s Republic, was built on trade and ruled by the wealthiest oligarchs of the state. Because of this, the Genovese and the Venetians always had a conflict with each other. But when the time came to the 17th century, the dominance of both the Republic of Venice and the Republic of Genoa greatly reduced, making them nothing more than small principalities with relatively rich wealth.

This obviously drew the covetousness of many people in Europe, so, in order to protect itself, the Republic of Venice took the path of redeveloping its navy with the help of the Bharatiya Empire, while the Republic of Genoa followed the tested path of continuing to rely on the assistance of the Spanish Habsburg dynasty. It was not that they lacked the desire to build a navy like the Venetians, but unfortunately, they did not have a patron like the Bharatiya Empire—one who had no particular interest in the European continent, yet could still offer support. In the past, with some hope, Francisco Maria Sauli had inquired with the Qing dynasty to see if they had any interest in forming an alliance with the Republic of Genoa, but unfortunately, their temple happened to be too small for the great Buddha of the Qing. And so, to no avail, Francisco Maria Sauli begrudgingly made a decision to return to relying on someone else.

Since then, the Genoese can once again be considered a semi-vassal state of the Spanish Empire. The only reason for being a semi-vassal and not a complete vassal is that they still have some independence in their diplomacy, but unfortunately, they lacked enough cards to have strong diplomatic ties with anyone, so in the end, even the title of semi-vassal is a little shaky. The relationship between Genoa and Spain is a love-hate relationship. In the past, the Spanish Empire was instrumental in the prosperity of the Republic of Genoa, but unfortunately, it was also instrumental in its downfall.

During the time when the Americas were discovered in the 15th century and colonisation attempts were just being made toward the 15th and 16th centuries, Genoa used to be the financial power behind the colonial expansion of the Spanish and, to some extent, even the Portuguese. But unfortunately, this dependence left them a huge hidden danger they could not foresee. That is, the overreliance on silver and other rare minerals by the Spanish and the Portuguese, while not having any productive industries of their own, which made them go bankrupt several times in the span of 150 years. Not to mention, the downfall of Spanish and Portuguese nations led to the price revolution, which shot up the prices of commodities by as much as 400%.

Naturally, as the financiers behind the colonial operations, the Republic of Genoa also took a huge hit and went from one of the richest principalities in the Western Hemisphere to a state of near economic collapse. So obviously, in the recent decades, although they re-initiated contact with the Spanish, their cooperation was not as smooth as it was all those centuries ago. Not to mention, the Spanish have already made up for their financial deficiencies by learning from the financial systems of the Bharatiya Empire and have built solid financial systems like investment banks, commercial banks, insurance firms, university economic research cells, etc., as well as even a stock exchange in Valencia called the Valencia Stock Exchange, inspired by the famous Mangaluru Stock Exchange.

Despite this, Genoa still clung to the Spanish Empire—not for anything else, but because they did not have a very strong military presence both on land and sea, as they only had a troop size of 10,000 soldiers and a navy enough to defend the Ligurian Sea. This military, although enough to deter the neighbouring small city-states, is a far cry from being able to defend the homeland from large invaders like the French, who were always coveting the region, the Ottomans, the Holy Roman Empire, and others.

Francisco Maria Sauli knew that dependence on Spain could not be a long-term solution and always wondered if there was any other way out of the predicament. When four years ago, the Venetians—who can be considered rivals of Genoa—contacted him with their own volition and put forward the plan of unifying Italy in the form of an economic union called Federazione Italiana, he was stunned, shocked, a little angry, and deep in his heart, even a little excited.

However, he still had the pride of being a Genovese. After all, even though Genoa is currently in dire straits, it was once a Mediterranean hegemon right next to the Venetian Republic. So he did not immediately agree to the proposal. Instead, he pushed the proposal forward.

In such a way, years passed, and he got a deeper understanding of what the power of the member states would be once the Federazione Italiana is formed and also about the powers of Federazione Italiana, which made him very envious and excited.

As a Doge, Francisco Maria Sauli’s growth has reached a ceiling, and he no longer has any room for growth. But if Genoa becomes a member state of the Federazione Italiana, then by him becoming the Federation’s leader, he could peak at the Supreme Glory of being one of the most powerful leaders in Europe. In his opinion, if the Italian peninsula is truly unified in an economic alliance, with the alliance controlling the military of the Italian Peninsula in a unified manner, then the leader of the alliance can definitely be compared with the emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, the king of France, the emperor of Portugal, Spain, the Ottomans, and Russia.

The plan of the Venetians was so tempting that his waning desire was reignited. He held several meetings and briefings with the oligarchs of Genoa, namely the Durazzo, Doria, Spinola, Oddone, Della Piane, and Pallavicino families.

Some were tempted by the prospects, some were disdainful. But in the end, the idea of forming an economic alliance with Venice and other states was still agreed upon by the majority of the people. The only contention was that Genoa should take the lead in the alliance, not the Venetians.

It is due to the disagreement that despite having continuous talks for the last four years, a consensus has not been reached, and it has currently reached the point where the Venetians have started to act without even giving them a chance to choose.

When Francesco Maria Sauli was in a dilemma about what to do, Andrea Doria broke into his room with a grave expression on his face.

“Your Excellency, Doge, I just received a piece of emergency news from Corsica. Sixteen 2000-ton battleships of the Republic of Venice, as well as 8 1500-ton battleships of the Savoy Dynasty, have encircled Corsica. Although they haven’t attacked yet, we are in a very dangerous position.”

“What!!”

Francesco Maria Sauli was taken aback. He knew that the Venetians were planning a very big game in order to unify the peninsula under a single organisation, but he did not expect that the House of Savoy, one of the most powerful families in Italy, would actually join the Venetians so quickly.

“Damn it, is this forcing us to make a decision immediately?”

He gritted his teeth in hatred.

Just then, another burly middle-aged man walked in with an ugly expression. “Your Excellency, the troops of the Savoy family are at our border.”

“They have already put up an offensive formation, as if they are ready to attack at any time.”

Francisco Maria was so angry that his face turned red, and his eyes became bloodshot.

“Damn, DAMN DAMN! Is this putting a gun to my head and asking me what I would do? Then, alright, I will make the decision.”

“General Luca IV Spinola, inform the Marquess of Ayamonte, Antonio de Guzman, about the situation and request reinforcements from him. Also, inform him that the Venetians are making a very big plan, and have him inform the Spanish royal family.” Since the Venetians are forcing him to make a move as if he is a chess piece, then he would directly flip the board and see how they would react.

But the next moment, he felt a little regretful, because the benefits for the Republic of Genoa existing within the economic alliance of a unified Italy are visible to all. By being a member state, although they have to give up the privilege of having their own army and navy and the privilege of having their own diplomatic voice, what they will gain is ten, or even a hundred or a thousand times more valuable. Not only will Genoa have access to all the resources of the Italian peninsula without any unreasonable tariffs, but it will also be able to trade goods to all parts of the world using the channels of the Venetians, who have opened up several trade routes to Asia and America recently.

In fact, the conditions to join the economic union might be harsh for a large state like Tuscany, but for Genoa, it is actually not that harsh. As a state built on trade, they were never renowned for their military. Even in their heyday, they were only known for their naval strength, and that too not because of their battleships, but because of their armed merchant ships, which won in terms of quantity. As for giving up diplomacy, this did not affect them either, because for the last few decades, they only had proper diplomatic relationships with a few countries, and their whole diplomatic mission was to stay neutral and independent as much as possible. Although this way they did achieve the goal of staying independent, their stance was not enough to earn them opportunities for business that would enable them to grow. Not to mention, their expansion was also completely blocked in Italy, with it being surrounded by Piedmont, Parma, Milan, and Modena.

But now that he had made a decision, he could not regret it. However, to his utter disbelief, what he saw was the depressed expression of Spinola.

“Your Excellency, I’m sorry to inform you that the Marquess of Ayamonte, Antonio de Guzman, has encountered a rebellion from all the cities surrounding Milan.”

“His army is already in a fierce fight to quell the rebellion. He will have no ability to send reinforcements to us.”

To Be Continued…

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