In terms of population alone, the newly unified Italy was already not inferior to France, and in aspects like industry, Italy had already surpassed countries like Spain, becoming the sixth ranked country in Europe's overall strength.
Since the end of the last century, Spain has been the doorkeeper among the great powers; in recent years, it has still been the slowest developing, and even to put it bluntly, it has been living off its past glory.
Therefore, Italy, having only initially completed unification, has already surpassed Spain to become the sixth most powerful country in Europe, and after Benito formally integrates Italy's resources, the gap between Spain and Italy will likely widen further.
Currently, the ranking of the European great powers is Britain, Germany, Russia, France, Austria-Hungary, Italy, and Spain. However, compared to the first five traditional European powers, both Italy and Spain have certain controversies.
