From the perspective of world history, in modern times, it was the era of Europe, because under the influence of the Industrial Revolution, there were many powerful countries and great powers in the whole of Europe, and there were more than a dozen modern powers alone. From the perspective of level, the first echelon is Britain, France, Germany and Russia, of which Russia is the strongest, the other three countries are similar, and Britain and France are still permanent members. In addition, there are second-tier countries, mainly Spain and Italy, which are two countries. The two countries are actually similar in terms of territorial area and overall size. But what many people don't understand is that these two countries, which is more powerful? You might not think of it.
Italy has a land area of more than 300,000 square kilometers and a population of more than 60 million, while Spain has a land area of more than 500,000 square kilometers and a population of 50 million, and the basic conditions of the two countries are similar. And the average person sees these two countries, the first time will feel that Spain is stronger, because, in World War I and World War II, Italy's weakness and performance on the battlefield made its reputation in the world discredited.
Because of World War I and World War II, the Italian army did not do anything, did not eat enough, basically fled and surrendered, for this reason it is called the country of the five scum of the European war. And in the colonial era, even Ethiopia in Africa could not defeat it, which was extremely weak. There is no way to match the overall national strength, so many people have always thought that Italy is very weak.
In ancient Spain, it was the level of hegemony, and the entire Spanish Empire in modern times once covered an area of more than 20 million square kilometers, and the area was also very huge. So on the surface, everyone must think that Spain is more powerful. But in fact, this is completely wrong, for the comprehensive force, Italy is now definitely much stronger than Spain, why say so? Mainly three points.
First, Italy's industry is strong.
As the saying goes, if industry is strong, the country is strong, and this is the foundation of national strength. And Italian industry is famous in the world. In the world, Italy's industrial brands, that is innumerable, from the advanced automobile industry, to the machinery industry, to the electronics industry and even the military industry, it is all impressive to the world. Industry was very powerful, in Europe even after Germany and France, and stronger than England.
And this point in Spain is no match, Spain's industrial structure is basically low-end industry, and even energy-based industry, we basically find it difficult to hear Spanish industrial brands, this is very obvious. Therefore, in terms of national strength, Spain cannot be compared with Italy at all, and the difference between the two countries is too far.
Second, militarily.
Many people may say that Italy is not militarily strong, because the whole of World War I and World War II is enough to explain the problem. But in fact, Italy can't beat more powerful countries such as Britain, France and Germany, but if it wants to fight with Spain, then it can basically defeat Spain. On the one hand, because Spain has basically maintained peace for hundreds of years since modern times, and did not even participate in World War II, its own Gibraltar was occupied by the British, even at the doorstep of the family, it did not dare to move, and its army combat effectiveness can be seen how weak it is.
Moreover, the long-term experience of fighting against the powerful countries makes its combat ability also highly questionable, so this is not as good as Italy. Italy, on the other hand, was defeating Spain in terms of military industry and armament. Italy has advanced fighters, warships and other production capacity, and even become the world's munitions power, its army equipment level is also very high, showing great strength. Spain is different, Spain's military technology is backward, weapons and equipment are also very poor, and it is not good in army equipment, so this is also Italy's win.
Third, the help of the great powers.
From the perspective of a country's national strength, whether there is a strong backing is also very critical. Although Italy is not good, it has very close relations with European powers such as Britain, France, Germany and Russia. Moreover, Britain, France and Germany are all supportive of Italy, which makes Italy have a strong power base, and if there is danger, then these three countries will immediately support it.
But Spain is different, Spain has been excluded from the core circle of power in Europe, especially in Britain, France and Germany, which is a strong rejection of Spain, even the G20 does not allow Spain to enter, which shows the extent of exclusion. So Spain is not supported by a big country, which is far worse than Italy. We can see that although Italy's influence in the world is very poor, it is actually more than enough than the top and the bottom, not as good as Britain, France and Germany, but it is still much stronger than Spain.
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References: History of Europe, History of Italy.