Chapter 197 European Trip

What surprised Arthur was that Australia was involved in the "German-Russian Alliance Treaty" that almost changed the world pattern before World War I. What Arthur didn't expect was that this treaty did not suffer setbacks as in history. Instead, the negotiations went smoothly, and Nicholas II also established a relatively good relationship with William II.

But no matter what, this trip to Europe is inevitable. If Australia wants to gain more benefits in the future World War I, or even gain more international status after the war, it must have frequent contacts with Europe to prove the close relationship between Australia and Europe.

On June 9, 1905, after receiving William II's invitation to visit Germany, Arthur readily agreed, and the next day he took some of his entourage and guards, boarded the convoy organized by the navy, and embarked on a journey to visit Germany and even the whole of Europe.

Of course, in order not to disappoint the British and ruin Arthur's goodwill in Britain, Arthur went to Europe this time under the name of visiting Europe, and his itinerary also covered the three countries of Britain, Germany, and Russia, which lasted at least four months.

Of course, after deducting the more than two months needed for the round trip, Arthur's stay in the three countries will not exceed half a month.

Although the other two countries visited, one has become the main rival of the British Empire, and the other is a long-time rival of the British Empire.

But Kaiser Wilhelm II and Arthur have a relative relationship and a good personal relationship. As for Russia, although not a close relative, Nicholas II married Queen Victoria's favorite granddaughter, and Nicholas II is also Arthur's cousin-in-law.

In addition, Russia reached a good arms trade cooperation with Australia in the previous war. As the ruler of Australia, it is normal for Arthur to visit Russia, which has good cooperation at the national level.

In order to express his recognition of Britain on the surface and satisfy the vanity of the British, Arthur chose the British Empire as his first stop and stayed in the UK for half a month.

From arriving in London on July 3 to leaving on July 19, Arthur returned to Buckingham Palace and lived there for a few days, visited several estates before Queen Victoria, and stayed in front of Queen Victoria's mausoleum for a while.

In any case, Queen Victoria deserves at least 90% of the credit for everything Arthur has now.

At least for Arthur, Queen Victoria is a kind and gentle grandmother, who is the warmth Arthur feels in the most difficult times.

Arthur's unintentional move once again won the favor of many British people. Although Queen Victoria has been dead for more than five years, it does not mean that the British will forget Queen Victoria's contributions and the glory of Britain in the Victorian era.

Now Britain has ushered in the biggest challenger, which also makes many British people miss the time when they had no opponents.

Arthur's reappearance has made many British people recall the glory of the Victorian era and the great monarch who once represented the British royal family.

At the same time, it also made many British people start to pay attention to the situation in Australia. As the grandson that Queen Victoria paid great attention to before her death, Arthur has also received a lot of attention from the British, and the names of Arthur and Australia are also popular in major British newspapers.

The last time the names of Arthur and Australia appeared in major British newspapers was a year and a half ago.

After the British learned that Australia had formed a federation with New Zealand, most people's reactions were just blessings and approval.

After all, this was the will made by Queen Victoria before, even if the time was much earlier, the result would not change.

After learning that Arthur's first stop was the British Empire, the British were more satisfied with this independent duke who was granted a fiefdom from the British royal family.

Even if Arthur had to visit Britain's biggest rival Germany and long-time rival Russia later, the first stop was Britain, wasn't it?

In the past half a month, Arthur also visited major shipyards and car factories in the British Empire.

As the world's first great power and the first naval power, Australia sends hundreds of naval academies and more than a dozen shipyard experts to the British Empire every year for further study and learning, and learning the advanced experience and knowledge of the British Empire in shipbuilding and navy.

Australians and British people have the same roots, and with Queen Victoria's will, these Australian naval soldiers and shipbuilding experts will learn a lot of knowledge in Britain, and the British will also teach them everything they know.

These preparations are all for Australia to be equipped with dreadnoughts in the future. Australia must not only have the ability to produce dreadnoughts on its own, but also have enough soldiers to operate dreadnoughts after they are launched.

Sending naval soldiers to learn now can speed up the process of naval formation to the maximum extent, and it is also more effective to improve the combat effectiveness of the navy.

Arthur's arrival made these naval soldiers and experts flattered. A large part of these people are actually descendants of the previous generation of British immigrants in Australia.

These people can be said to be born and raised in Australia, and their recognition of Australia is higher than that of ordinary immigrants.

Arthur gave a speech in the crowd, and after comforting and encouraging all the soldiers and experts, he embarked on a journey to Germany.

Arthur's European trip this time will go through three European powers in total.

Whether it is Britain, Germany or Russia, they are all currently one of the hegemons in Europe, and compared with other countries, they are obviously more advantageous.

The only European country that can be compared with these three countries is France, which has just concluded an agreement with Britain.

But France is a republican country, and Australia and France have no interests.

In addition, Australia has a good relationship with France's old enemy Germany, so France is not the target of Arthur's trip, and Arthur has no intention of winning over and making peace with France.

France is one of the countries that was most affected in the two world wars. From the former European hegemon, the invincible Napoleon Empire, to the country that was ridiculed in the future that the national flag could be quickly made into a surrender symbol-the white flag, the French only took a short 100 years.

Especially in World War I and World War II, France went from desperate resistance to rapid surrender, and the time span was only 20 to 30 years.

Although there is a joke that you can never capture Paris before the French surrender. But from this sentence, we can also see how huge the consumption of World War I was for France.

If the Germans after World War I generally had a desire for revenge, then the French after World War I generally had a fear of war.

What's even more outrageous is that in order to make up for the large population loss caused by the war, France introduced a large number of blacks in its colonies.

This also led to a surge in the number of black people in France in the future, and even dyed such a France with excellent white blood black.

France is still the France of the French, but France is no longer the France of white people.

On July 23, Arthur successfully arrived in Berlin, the capital of the German Empire.

The last time he came to Berlin was the last time, and Arthur couldn't even remember it after a long time.

But Arthur could still feel the changes in Berlin.

With the popularity of Benz One around the world, vehicles throughout Europe and America have become very common.

Especially in Berlin, the capital of the German Empire, cars have become very common.

Because there are many states in the German region, there are countless local nobles. These nobles have one thing in common, that is, they are very rich.

With the popularity of cars around the world, owning a more luxurious car has become one of the ways to show the noble heritage.

Of course, Benz Automobile Factory actually also undertakes car modification, not only limited to interior and exterior decoration, more luxurious materials, but also can comprehensively upgrade the configuration and protection capabilities of the car body.

Arthur's arrival has attracted the attention of the German side. Of course, it is not ruled out that it is because the German-Russian negotiations currently need Australia's participation.

William II specially prepared a guard of honor and welcome music for Arthur, and many Germans lined the road to welcome him.

Regardless of whether these Germans came voluntarily, at least from the scale of the guard of honor and the treatment of the welcome, William II has regarded Arthur as the leader of an important country.

When he met William II again, Arthur found that William II was obviously in a good mood at the moment, and he was very happy to see Arthur, and smiled and greeted him.

"Long time no see, Arthur!" William II spoke first.

"Long time no see, His Majesty the German Emperor." Arthur responded.

"Let's go, I have prepared a welcome banquet for you at the Berlin Palace. Take a good rest first, and we will talk about business another day." William II said with a smile.

The current German-Russian negotiations are going very smoothly, and what is lacking is the east wind of Australia.

The happiest person when Arthur arrived in Europe this time was William II. Because he saw the hope of the German-Russian alliance, and saw the future of the German Empire becoming the new world hegemon after getting rid of the troubles on the Eastern Front, concentrating its main force on the Western Front, and quickly solving France.

Arthur accepted it with pleasure. The current mode of long-distance cross-sea transportation is still only by ship.

But most of the current ships are slow, and even the shortest journey takes longer.

It takes more than a month to travel from Australia to Europe, and it takes several days to travel from Britain to Germany.

In addition, there are relatively few entertainment facilities in this era, and there are no TV programs and novelties.

Arthur spent most of his time on the ship taking private tutors to ensure that Arthur's knowledge in politics, psychology, history, military and other aspects is sufficient.

Of course, military knowledge cannot be discussed on paper. Arthur also clearly understood this, so Australia's military was basically handed over to a dedicated person who Arthur trusted enough to manage, and Arthur basically would not personally command.

Arthur doesn't want to experience the embarrassment of an amateur leading an expert. Wrong leadership will make soldiers lose confidence in the ruler and commander.

This is why Arthur frequently sends students to major military academies in Europe. Arthur wants to use these military academies to train Australia's own military talents to meet the shortage of high-end military talents in Australia.

At present, this action has been very effective. Australia already has the first batch of graduates from European military academies, and they have entered the army to hold important positions.

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