Empire Rising: Spain

As it turns out, Omar Ben Ali was quite wise.

Spain could never let go of him as the Caliph; as long as he was alive, the Sokoto Caliphate would, in name, continue to exist.

Once he died, Spain could abolish the title of Caliph, and rightfully bring Sokoto into its domain of control.

As long as the entire Sokoto was under Spain’s colonial rule, no matter how brutal Spain might be, they wouldn’t completely wipe out the indigenous people of Sokoto.

After all, European countries pride themselves on being representatives of civilization, so they must maintain appearances. Historically, Belgium didn’t do well in this regard, and the eventual result was European Powers intervening forcefully, to prevent Belgium from further damaging the image of the European countries.

Examples can also be found from Spain’s rule over other colonies. Throughout Spain, there was a pervasive disdain for blacks, and blacks were the only race that could not obtain Spanish nationality.

But Spain did not engage in genocidal massacres of blacks; since Carlo’s coronation, the total number of blacks killed by Spain did not exceed a million.

Moreover, many of these so-called massacres were deaths caused by labor, a common method used by the Powers, naturally not counted in the range of massacres.

The number of those actually directly slaughtered was probably only in the tens of thousands. These figures were not even a fraction of the total indigenous populations massacred by England and France in their colonies, and naturally did not attract special attention from European countries.

After Andrew confirmed that Omar Ben Ali was the Caliph himself and had indeed died, he then had the military take over the order in Oyoibo, implementing a brief military rule.

For those Sokoto officials who had surrendered to the Spanish Army, Andrew did not execute them but ordered the military to keep them under strict supervision.

After all, these officials would be needed to help take over the order in the entire Sokoto Caliphate, and even in the future, they would be needed to rule the whole of Sokoto.

The policy implemented by Spain in the colonies was to rule the natives using the natives. Letting the local natives manage the local natives not only reduced the resistance among the natives but also allowed for more effective control of the colony.

In any case, these natives were indeed harsh on their own people. For the various benefits promised by Spain and their own future, they would not hesitate to raise their knives against their own people.

Thanks to the management by these native officials, Spanish colonies in Africa remained relatively stable.

When the news that the Sokoto Caliphate had died and the Spanish Army had already occupied Oyoibo reached Spain, it immediately attracted the attention of the Spaniards.

Different from the previous small skirmishes with native states, the Sokoto Caliphate was a vast country. The annexation of such a country represented a significant expansion of Spain’s colonial territory.

The expansion of the colonies not only signified an increase in Spain’s sphere of influence and overall strength but also represented numerous opportunities to make a fortune.

Of course, the most important thing at the moment was to confirm Spain’s actual occupation of the Sokoto Caliphate, as these nominal matters would be very important after the Berlin Conference ended.

Although Omar Ben Ali was dead, the previous Caliph still had other sons. Spain temporarily appointed Omar Ben Ali’s brother as Caliph, and after signing a colonial treaty with Spain’s Guinea Colony Government, Spain immediately abolished his title of Caliph.

Although the title of the Sokoto Caliph was abolished, the Emirs of those States were not abolished by Spain.

Of course, there are currently nearly thirty Emirs in Sokoto, and certainly, so many would not be retained in the end. Based on the area of the Sokoto Caliphate, retaining fewer than ten Emir titles could help Spain better manage this land.

Naturally, the Emirs of the three Southern States, Oyo, Ivo, and Ijebu, who aided Spain in the war, were preserved, and they would also have the opportunity to acquire large tracts of land, becoming models of cooperation with Spain and gaining benefits.

Setting such an example was also very effective. When other native States saw the benefits these three Southern States gained, without other choices, they would also try to reach out to Spain and obediently submit to Spanish rule.

After all, they had previously submitted to the Sokoto Caliphate’s rule, only switching rulers from Muslims to heretics.

Among these States, there were surely some fanatic religious elements, filled with prejudice and hatred for non-Muslim heretics.

But these people clearly could not obstruct Spanish rule over Sokoto. If anyone dared to resist Spanish rule, the Guinea Colony Government would not mind sending them to meet their Allah.

After completely controlling the situation in Oyoibo, Andrew immediately led the military north to take over the numerous States’ regimes.

If there were natives as sensible as those in the Southern States, Andrew wouldn’t mind cooperating with them, allowing them to continue as Emirs.

How could one determine whether they were sensible and willing to submit to Spanish rule? The method was simple, that is, to see if these States would be willing to hand over their military forces.