Chapter 300: Large-Scale Military Expansion of Various Countries (Please Give Me a Monthly Ticket!)

According to the naval bill announced by William II, Germany will build three battleships and one battlecruiser every year from 1912 to 1914, and strive to have more than 17 dreadnoughts and super-dreadnoughts, 5 battlecruisers, 22 pre-dreadnoughts, 32 cruisers, 114 destroyers and 30 submarines before the end of 1914.

This naval bill has four more battleships than in history, which also means that in the next three years, Germany will build 1.33 more battleships every year than in history.

The naval supplementary bill announced by the Germans, which officially started in early 1912, quickly attracted the attention of the British who attached great importance to German news.

Shortly after the Germans announced the naval expansion bill, on October 25, 1911, Churchill, who had just exchanged positions with the Secretary of the Navy McKenna, became the new Secretary of the Navy of the British Empire.

This politician, who once served as Minister of Commerce and hindered the navy from increasing its financial budget, now proposed a tit-for-tat to the German navy supplement bill: for every main battleship built by the Germans, the British would build two.

In history, Churchill did this, which also led to the British navy budget in 1912-1913 reaching twice that of Germany, a terrifying 44.08 million pounds.

Churchill publicly stated that if the Germans built three main battleships every year, then the British Empire would build four main battleships and two battlecruisers to maintain its all-round advantage over the German navy.

The two strongest countries in the world competed in the navy, which also brought the European naval competition to the hottest state.

France, Italy, and the Austro-Hungarian Empire followed suit and announced their own naval expansion plans. In addition to the Russian Empire, which had already placed warship orders with Australasia, the European powers took action one after another, and warships were like dumplings.

In addition to these European powers, there are actually two other powerful countries that are also focusing on the development of dreadnoughts.

The island nation's dreadnoughts have already taken shape, and their first dreadnought design was named the Hanoi-class dreadnought.

But even the earliest battleship Hanoi would probably have to wait until early 1913 to be built.

In fact, the island nation has been slow to have its own dreadnoughts, which has almost made the island nation, which once barely gained the status of a great power due to the Russo-Japanese War, give up its status.

Even many Europeans are more willing to regard Australasia as a great power, after all, Australasia is also a Western country with three dreadnoughts.

Of course, Australasia's military strength is not yet worthy of the status of a great power, and the reason why some Europeans say this is nothing more than ethnic and racial discrimination.

But it cannot be denied that Australasia's navy has now reached the level of a great power. The main battleships have surpassed the tail of Italy, and the number of dreadnoughts is second only to Britain and Germany.

In corners that many European countries don't care about, the development of American dreadnoughts has also begun to take shape.

The South Carolina-class battleships of the United States are designed in the same way as the Dreadnought battleships.

However, because the design was delayed for too long, the two South Carolina-class battleships were about three years later than the Dreadnought battleship.

The South Carolina and Michigan battleships of the United States were completed in January and March last year, respectively, and have officially joined the US Navy this year.

However, the design of the South Carolina-class battleships is not as amazing as that of the Dreadnought battleship.

The power of the South Carolina-class battleships is only 16,000 horsepower, which also leads to the speed of this class of battleships being only a little more than 18 knots, far from the level of 20 to 21 knots of the Dreadnought battleship.

Therefore, the South Carolina-class battleships can also be regarded as old-fashioned battleships with enhanced firepower and armor, and there is still a long way to go in terms of speed compared to the real Dreadnought.

The second dreadnought design of the United States, the Delaware-class battleship is the true dreadnought of the United States. It is also the first battleship that the US Navy has obtained a budget without specifying the displacement.

The Delaware-class battleship and the North Dakota-class battleship were both completed in April last year and have both joined the US Navy.

The speed of the Delaware-class battleship can reach 21 knots, which is also the standard speed of the current dreadnought.

Of course, the US dreadnought design is not limited to these.

The Florida-class battleship is a powerful battleship improved by the United States based on the Delaware-class battleship.

The United States plans to build two battleships in total. The Florida-class battleship and the Utah-class battleship were both completed in early September this year and have now entered the sea navigation test phase.

Of course, the battleships planned to be built by the United States include the latest Wyoming-class battleship.

There are also two Wyoming-class battleships planned to be built, namely the Wyoming-class battleship and the Arkansas-class battleship.

The completion time of these two battleships will be around September next year. If nothing unexpected happens, this should be the last dreadnought design of the United States.

From the US warship construction plan, it can also be seen that the current US ambitions are not small.

Barely counting the South Carolina-class battleship, the United States currently has a total of six built dreadnoughts and two planned dreadnoughts. The current number of main naval forces is already well-deservedly the third in the world.

If Germany was not too close to Britain and the United States was not too far away from Britain, the main conflict in World War I would probably be the conflict between Britain and the United States.

The potential shown by the United States at present is actually a greater threat to Britain than Germany.

But there is no way. Compared with the United States, which is far away from the Atlantic Ocean, Germany, which is right under the British face, is the biggest threat that Britain considers.

When the British understood the ambitions and potential of the Americans, the United States at that time was no longer something that Britain, which was seriously injured in the two world wars, could resist.

This also led to the colonial order maintained by Britain and France for hundreds of years being easily eliminated by the United States and a new country.

Under the indoctrination of the concept of freedom and democracy, the colonial order collapsed instantly, and the various ethnic groups in the colonies demanded independence, and Britain and France were instantly beaten back to their original form.

For Arthur, the enemy of Australasia is not the currently very powerful British Empire and the German Empire.

Arthur has always been clear that even if European countries are powerful, with the development of time and the two world wars in Europe, the decline of Europe is inevitable.

The potential shown by the United States and its superior geographical location destined the United States to be the biggest enemy of Australasia.

Apart from other things, the liberal democratic concept of the United States to disintegrate the British and French colonial system has also caused certain harm to Australasia.

No matter how fiercely European countries fight, they are relatives after all, and everyone is a family.

But Americans are different. They are not a monarchy, and their relationship with the major European royal families is not very good.

Letting such a country become the world hegemon is not good news for the European royal family.

When necessary, unite the post-war European monarchies to form a monarch alliance to fight against the United States. This can limit the development of the United States, at least the colonial system will not collapse so quickly.

In early October 1911, at the request of cabinet officials, the cabinet meeting of Australasia was officially held.

What this meeting discussed was actually the more intense warship race and arms race that broke out in European countries at the end of September.

To put it bluntly, the arms race among European countries is already preparing for war.

All countries understand that war is inevitable, which is why they still insist on the arms race despite the huge cost.

"Your Majesty, should we also carry out a new round of naval expansion plans?" Defense Minister Raul asked expectantly at the conference table.

Although Arthur had rejected the Defense Department's request to expand the navy, the army had just been expanded not long ago. The Defense Department believed that the opportunity had come, and now was the time to raise Australasia's armaments to the level of the great powers and seek the status of a great power.

"Let's talk about the situation in Europe first! In addition to the naval expansion plans of various countries, is there any information about their army expansion plans?" Arthur did not directly reject Minister Raul's proposal, but jumped to another topic and asked.

As a monarch of a country, Arthur could say some things, but it was better to avoid saying them directly.

If the proposal to expand the navy was directly rejected in front of Minister Raul, it would dampen the enthusiasm of the radicals and the offensive factions.

Although there is no plan to expand the navy's strength on a large scale for the time being, if it makes the Australasia government move towards isolation and pacifism, it would be a bit of a loss.

After all, if Australasia wants to achieve a real rise, it is bound to have great conflicts with the pseudo-great powers and the biggest enemy, the United States.

Therefore, the government's enthusiasm is very necessary. Let the other people in the cabinet government reject the proposal made by the cabinet ministers!

"Your Majesty, according to the news released by other countries, at present, major European countries are already conspiring to expand their armaments. Russia has publicly announced that it will expand its army by 500,000. Although Russia's progress has been slow, if you count the million standing troops they already have, their army will reach a terrifying 1.5 million. I'm afraid the Germans will feel uncomfortable." Foreign Minister Andrew reported respectfully.

Arthur smacked his lips and couldn't help but envy the Russians' actions.

To expand the army of 100,000 people in Australasia, they had to carefully calculate the domestic population's tolerance and funding, and also take into account the reserves of officers and weapons and equipment.

The Russians are good. They already have a standing army of up to one million, and now they have directly expanded by 500,000. The number of troops is even more than the sum of Britain, France and Germany.

If we only talk about the number of land forces, Russia is really the current well-deserved number one in Europe.

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