Chapter 229 Declaration of War

On July 31, 1907, the Kingdom of Portugal officially responded by deciding not to hand over any Portuguese fishermen and insisted that the Portuguese fishermen had no responsibility in the conflict.

This decision of the Portuguese government also caused an uproar among the European people.

Europeans couldn't believe that the Portuguese, with all the evidence, still refused to admit the responsibility of the Portuguese fishermen in the conflict, and even arrogantly shielded the criminals.

Even Arthur didn't expect that the Portuguese would be so tough. Under the premise that European public opinion was obviously not in their favor, they resolutely insisted on their position.

However, this is a good thing for Australasia. If the Portuguese government compromises quickly, then Australasia will have no excuse to reach out to Portuguese Timor.

Now the Portuguese government's hard mouth just gives Australasia an excuse to intervene in Portuguese Timor, which may also become an opportunity for Australasia to expand again.

Arthur originally thought that the opportunity for Australasia to expand would be in the Dutch East Indies, but he didn't expect the Portuguese to sit still first.

On August 1, 1907, Arthur expressed his shock at the attitude of the Portuguese government in a public interview, and firmly declared that the Australasian army would seek justice for the citizens of Australasia, and no country or force could override the Australasians.

On August 3, 1907, the Australasian government gave the Kingdom of Portugal an ultimatum, demanding that the Kingdom of Portugal immediately accept the compensation demands of Australasia and apologize to the attacked Australasian fishermen.

The Australasian government also declared that if Portugal firmly believed that their fishermen did nothing wrong, then they should produce the necessary evidence instead of just talking about it in the newspaper.

This request of Australasia once again won the recognition of the European people.

Even after the initial request was rejected, Australasia still only asked the Portuguese government to apologize to the attacked fishermen and compensate all the affected fishermen.

This was a very reasonable request and condition in the eyes of most European people.

Referring to the completely different attitudes of Australasia and the Kingdom of Portugal after this conflict, many Europeans even believed that such conditions would make Australasia suffer.

What surprised the Europeans was that the Portuguese government, or the absolute monarch Carlos I, once again rejected Australasia's request.

In fact, Carlos I soon felt the great prestige that tough protection of the people brought to the royal family and himself.

Although Portugal's prestige and reputation have been declining among the European people. But in Portugal, Carlos I's prestige has increased instead, and many media and individuals have spontaneously expressed their support for King Carlos I's decision.

You know, since Carlos I implemented a high-pressure policy, many opposition parties and media have not had any good comments.

This time, being able to publicly support Carlos I is enough to show how great the response to Carlos I's decision this time has been in Portugal.

At the stage where things have developed to the present, even if the purpose is only to maintain his own rule, Carlos I has to stick to his decision, that is, to be tough and protect his people at all costs.

This conflict also attracted the attention of many European countries, including Germany and Russia, which have close ties with Australasia.

Britain's attitude was very ambiguous. Although it expressed its concern about the situation, it did not clearly support either side.

After the Kingdom of Portugal once again rejected the request of the Australasia government, William II was surprised to speak publicly, expressing his dissatisfaction with the arrogant attitude of the Portuguese government and his support for Australasia.

The Russians' actions were even more decisive. They not only criticized the Kingdom of Portugal directly, but also ridiculed Carlos I as a coward who dared not admit his mistakes.

The battle and dissatisfaction of the two major European powers also made Carlos I a little frightened.

Fortunately, the British Empire soon contacted Carlos I secretly, expressed its concern about the matter, and declared that the British Empire would work with France to peacefully resolve the conflict.

In this way, Carlos I gradually felt relieved. As long as there is the guarantee of Britain and France, Australasia will not pose a big impact on the Kingdom of Portugal.

On the contrary, he could also use this conflict to accumulate a lot of reputation in Portugal.

When the time is almost ripe, at most he can push the fishermen at that time as scapegoats and package himself as a king who was deceived by the fishermen and had a heart of love for the people. He can get out of this incident perfectly and retain a lot of reputation.

But is it really that simple? Or Carlos I underestimated the ambitions of the Australasians and Arthur's ambitions.

On August 5, 1907, after the last 48-hour notice issued by the Australasian government to the Portuguese government ended, the Australasian government held a public meeting. The then Prime Minister Walter announced with great regret: "Due to the extremely arrogant and unreasonable performance of the Portuguese government, there is no mercy for the injured Australasian fishermen, but it also spread rumors and made trouble in an attempt to discredit the injured fishermen and the Australasian government. After research, the Australasian government decided to sever diplomatic relations with the Kingdom of Portugal and announced that the whole of Australasian was in a state of war preparedness."

Although Prime Minister Walter did not formally declare war on the Kingdom of Portugal, the fact that Australasia had entered a state of war preparedness had already explained everything. The Australians were ready for war.

After entering a state of war, Australasia was indignant, all temporary conscription offices were full, and a large number of Australians were looking for various ways to donate money to the government.

The whole country was united. At this moment, all Australians had only one enemy, the Kingdom of Portugal, which had hurt the feelings of Australasia.

After being severed from diplomatic relations by the Australasia government, Carlos I was a little flustered.

But Carlos I's solution to the problem was not to compromise with Australasia, but to seek support from the British Empire and France, which had promised to provide assistance before.

The British did provide assistance, or more precisely, to provide assistance in solving the conflict.

To be precise, after the British made a decision in Australasia, they clearly expressed their attitude: to advise both sides to remain calm in this conflict, and to be willing to provide a professional team to find the truth of the conflict for both sides.

In fact, this is normal. Considering the British character of being a troublemaker, it is understandable to make such a decision.

More importantly, Arthur has good support and goodwill in the UK. In addition, the special relationship between Australasia and the UK makes the British closer to Australasia.

What's more, no matter how you look at it, the victim of this conflict is Australasia. Whether it is helping the right or helping the relatives, isn't it obvious to support Australasia?

Under such an attitude of the British people, if the British government makes a decision that goes against the British, the turmoil caused by the British people can be imagined.

Even Edward VII, who was extremely dissatisfied with Arthur, would not stand up to be the first bird at this time, let alone British politicians who had no grudges against Arthur.

Being able to express a neutral attitude is already risking offending the British people. If it weren't for Edward VII's very subtle attitude, I'm afraid British politicians would have announced their support for Australasia long ago.

After all, their official careers also rely on the support of parliamentarians and the public. A government that offends the British people is doomed to not go far.

The attitude of the French was similar to that of the British. They just said that they hoped both sides would remain calm and restrained, and were willing to participate as a neutral party in investigating the causes and process of the conflict and resolve the dispute peacefully.

If such words could solve regional crises, then there would be fewer wars in world history.

Unfortunately, such words were just a pretense after all. They could not avoid war or save any losses.

On August 8, 1907, Prime Minister Walter appeared in public again and announced the final decision of the Australasian government and Arthur's instructions: the Australasian government declared an immediate state of war with the Kingdom of Portugal and dispatched troops to forcibly meet the demands of Australasia.

Prime Minister Walter smiled and said that the purpose of the Australasian government was only to meet the previous requirements, that is, to hand over the culprit of the conflict, the Kingdom of Portugal apologized to the injured fishermen, and compensated all Australasian fishermen affected by the conflict.

According to the time of the conflict and the number of fishermen affected, the Kingdom of Portugal should pay at least one million Australian dollars in compensation to tens of thousands of fishermen in Australasia, and at least one million Australian dollars in compensation to injured fishermen.

Although the total compensation amount is only two million Australian dollars, Carlos I knows that at this stage, the national sentiment of Portugal has been fully mobilized.

If the government agrees to this compensation at this time, even if it is only 10,000 Australian dollars, it will make the Portuguese people very disappointed with the government.

The one who is most affected is naturally Carlos I, who has successfully established his image of loving the people and not fearing power in this conflict.

If he surrenders before fighting, I am afraid that the anger of the Portuguese will be transferred to Carlos I.

Therefore, after Australasia declared war, the Portuguese government responded decisively: Portugal and Australasia are in a state of war.

The Kingdom of Portugal is separated from Australasia by 108,000 miles, and the most vulnerable area in this war is Portugal's Asian colonies.

In order to express his attitude, Carlos I decisively announced that 40,000 troops would be transferred from Portugal's European mainland to East Asia. These soldiers would arrive in East Asian colonies in batches within three months.

On the other hand, Australasia.

Since the beginning of the conflict, Australasia has been preparing for war.

Although the preparation time is not sufficient, fortunately, there are not many troops in Australasia, so the time for assembly is sufficient.

On the day the government declared war, more than 10,000 troops had assembled at Sydney Harbour, ready to board transport ships and go to Portuguese Timor under the protection of the fleet to capture Portugal's important stronghold in Asia.

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