Chapter 342 The Four Great Powers of the Allied Powers

At this time, the Triple Entente of Britain, France and Russia had not yet reached the close connection as in the war, and the three parties had different progress in their preparations for the war.

Minister Grey had nothing to say when Australasia proposed to have command over its participating troops.

Because according to the current situation, even if the war broke out, Britain, France and Russia would at most cooperate in combat, and it was impossible for them to hand over their troops to other countries for command.

Under such circumstances, it was reasonable for Australasia to demand independent command of its own army. After all, no one was so kind as to hand over the command of their own army to others, which was equivalent to handing over the lifeblood of the army.

As for the issue of military expenditure, under the proposal of Prime Minister Kent, Minister Grey also made some changes to this.

Once the Australasia army embarked on the journey to Europe, the British government would provide half of the soldiers' salaries and bear all the expenses of the Australasia army during the war.

This also meant that after the Australasia army arrived in Europe, various weapons could be fired unscrupulously because the British, who had a strong family background, would back it up.

The Australasian government only needs to provide half of all the additional soldiers, which can not only achieve the purpose of training troops, but also meet the British requirements for sending troops to fight.

Of course, the British did not pay for nothing. Minister Grey also put forward a new requirement, that is, once the European war breaks out, the Australasian combat troops in Europe must be maintained at a scale of more than 200,000.

Once the reduction of personnel is caused by various reasons, Australasian needs to continue to send troops to Europe to keep the number of combat troops in Europe above 200,000.

This also means that taking into account various casualties, Australasian may need to mobilize at least 500,000 troops to join the European war in order to meet the British requirements.

However, the condition proposed by Minister Grey does not rigidly require the number of Australasian main forces.

This is also acceptable to Arthur. After all, after World War I, it is necessary to reduce the number of indigenous people to avoid possible ethnic problems in the future.

As for the hidden dangers of manpower problems brought about by the reduction of indigenous people, in fact, most of the physical labor that indigenous people can do can be gradually replaced by machinery.

Moreover, the population of Australasia is also growing. According to the current number of new population added each year, if World War I breaks out as it did in history, before the outbreak of World War I, the population of Australasia will have the hope of exceeding 13.5 million.

Before 1920, the population of Australasia will at least exceed 20 million, and the problem of manpower shortage will no longer be so serious.

Even for a long time after the end of World War I, there will be a stage when Australasia will receive a large number of immigrants.

If the operation is good and the position of the United States is successfully replaced in World War I, then it will face millions or even tens of millions of immigrants every year.

In addition to absorbing the foundation of the defeated countries, before the outbreak of World War II, Arthur even has the hope of turning Australasia into a top power with a population of 30 to 40 million, the top three military strength in the world, and the top five comprehensive strength in the world.

In addition to these military agreements, there is another more important topic in this negotiation, which is the issue of post-war interest division.

This is a topic that can never be avoided. If the alliance of Germany, Austria and Italy was to break the original colonial order, Germany to obtain more colonies, the Austro-Hungarian Empire to expand in the Balkans, and Italy to obtain new territories, then the Allies also had their own goals.

Although the Allies were originally intended to jointly resist the expansion of Germany, as long as the war was won, the defeated countries would definitely have to give a lot of benefits to compensate for the military expenses and consumption of the victorious countries.

Britain, France and Russia were fine. Whether it was accepting the colonies of the Allies or obtaining the territories of the Allies, in short, there were many ways to obtain benefits and expansion.

But Australasia was different. Australasia was located in remote Oceania, and the sphere of influence of the Allies and the area adjacent to Australasia was only a small German New Guinea.

But German New Guinea certainly could not satisfy Australasia's appetite. Arthur agreed to send a large number of combat troops, and it was definitely not for this piece of land that could be taken over immediately at the beginning of the war.

Around Australasia, except for the land of German New Guinea, the other lands are either the Pacific Islands of Britain and France, or the Dutch East Indies in the north.

But the strength of the Netherlands is too weak compared to Australasia. Australasia does not even need the support of any country to obtain any land in the Dutch East Indies it wants.

This also means that in order to satisfy Australasia's appetite, Britain and France must make some trade-offs between the Pacific Islands.

Especially the British Solomon Islands, French New Caledonia, the New Hebrides Islands, British Fiji, the French Wallis and Futuna Protectorate, the British Gilbert and Ellice Islands Protectorate, the British Tokelau Islands, the British Phoenix Islands, etc., which are closer to Australasia.

These islands and archipelagos are not far from Australasia, but are very far from the British and French mainland.

In addition, because it is located in Oceania, it is impossible for Australasia not to obtain these lands.

You know, these islands and archipelagos are all islands in the Pacific Ocean and are an important line of defense for Australasia.

If these islands can be obtained, Australasia can build several complete island defense chains in the southwest Pacific.

With a large number of coastal defense guns, powerful warships and air forces, any enemy from the Pacific Ocean can be blocked in the Pacific Ocean, and the enemy cannot get close to the mainland of Australasia at all.

More importantly, these islands completely include the core part of Australasia (Australia, New Zealand and New Guinea), which is also a solid barrier for the defense of Australasia.

If Australasia wants to confront the United States, these islands must be taken. Only in this way can it have sufficient confidence and trump cards to compete with the United States before its industry and economy cannot catch up with the United States.

With these islands as defense, the mainland of Australasia is safe at any time.

But all this depends on whether Britain and France are willing to give up these islands in the Pacific Ocean in order to completely tie Australasia to the chariot.

Minister Grey and the British government actually anticipated Australasia’s request a long time ago.

For Australasia, these islands in Oceania are like fat meat on the pillow. As long as there is ambition, it must be eaten.

Judging from Australasia's expansion in Southeast Asia several times, Arthur's ambition is not small, and it is expected to make demands on the islands in Oceania.

In addition, after Australasia broke away from the British Empire, the British control over these Pacific islands has weakened a lot.

In fact, this is normal. After all, the British Empire has vast colonies, and these scattered islands in the Pacific are not so important to the British.

But after all, these islands also involve French territory. Even if the Anglo-French Agreement closely links Britain and France, Britain cannot directly make decisions for France.

But in principle, Minister Grey agreed to Australasia's request, that is, after the outbreak of the war, Britain will directly transfer all the above-mentioned islands to Australasia in exchange for Australasia's direct participation in the war.

At the same time, because Australasia was at war with Germany after joining the war, German New Guinea was Australasia's spoils of war.

As long as Australasia is capable, it can even take over this land on the day the war breaks out.

As for the French islands in Oceania, Minister Grey also promised to do his best to negotiate for Australasia and try to get France to agree to transfer these islands directly.

But I think the French will not refuse. After all, for France, these islands in Oceania are not that important.

France's most core colonial areas are still in Africa. On the premise that the African colonies are not lost, several islands and archipelagos in the Pacific will be used to exchange for the support of hundreds of thousands of combat troops in Australasia, so that the French will sacrifice less. This deal is not a loss.

What's more, as long as the war is won, the French can completely obtain some land from Germany. Is the land in Europe not as important as the islands in Oceania?

In order to express the sincerity of himself and the British government, Minister Grey sent a telegram to the British government on the day Australasia put forward the conditions, and requested the British government to negotiate with France to reach a consensus on these islands as soon as possible.

Minister Grey received the reply from the British government on March 19, several days later.

As expected, neither Britain nor France paid much attention to these islands in Oceania.

Both sides agreed to transfer these islands in Oceania to Australasia in exchange for Australasia's direct joining of the Allied Powers after the outbreak of the war.

The French were very interested in Australasia's joining and the plan to send 250,000 combat troops, and even wanted to invite Australasia to participate in the Allied Powers Conference in 1913.

The Allied Powers Conference and the Allied Powers Conference have become a tradition of the two major military groups since the last meeting.

If there are no special matters, they will be held once a year.

The content and purpose of the meeting is to discuss the response after the outbreak of the war based on the latest situation.

At this time, the major European countries have already understood that this European war is impossible to avoid.

Up to now, the major European powers have paid countless funds for the competition between each other.

Many countries have already had financial problems. Even if the arms race is stopped now, it will cause irreversible damage to the development of the country.

The only way to solve this situation is to use a hearty victory to improve the national cohesion and support in the country, and at the same time, use a large amount of spoils and war reparations to save the government's finances.

"Only war can end the current situation." This sentence has been said by many military leaders of European powers.

No matter how the war preparations of various governments are going, the military of various countries is eager to try.

Since it has been decided to join the Allies and use military efforts in exchange for more benefits for Australasia in World War I, then the next Allied Conference must also be participated in.

Minister Grey also invited Arthur, and Arthur naturally nodded in agreement and agreed to attend this year's Allied Conference.

Since the Allied Conference was held in 1911, the place where it was held also has certain political significance.

The first Allied Conference was held in London, England. As the core of the Allies, it is understandable to hold the conference in London.

The Allied Conference last year, that is, the 1912 conference, was held in Paris, France.

France is the bridgehead against Germany, and France has to bear most of the military pressure of Germany.

Therefore, holding the second Allied Conference in Paris, France, not only highlights the status of France as the second strongest country in the Allied Powers, but also tells all French people that Britain and Russia will be closely united behind France.

According to convention, this year's Allied Congress was held in St. Petersburg, Russia, which is also the treatment that Russia, the third power of the Allied Powers, deserves.

In addition to this very necessary Allied Conference, Arthur also plans to visit Britain, France and Russia when he attends the conference in the future, taking the opportunity to build good relations with these three countries, and shamelessly taking more benefits in future wars.

Although Arthur has always had a good relationship with Russia, Arthur dare not guarantee that the Tsarist Empire, which is in better condition than in history, will disappear in this war.

If the Tsarist Empire, a close ally in law, is lost, then Australasia can only rely on Britain, a close ally.

Therefore, it is very necessary to take this opportunity to interact with Britain and France.

Moreover, as the weakest of the four major powers of the Allied Powers, it is not too much for Australasia to take the opportunity to ask Britain and France for some benefits!

You know, as the old top powers, Britain and France naturally have countless resources.

If you can get a little bit of various military technologies and warship technologies, it will also be a big improvement for Australasia.

More importantly, after building good relations with these two countries, Australasia can completely replace the original position of the United States in World War I with the status of the four major powers of the Allied Powers.

Even if the United States is stronger than Australasia, as long as it does not participate in the war at the beginning of the outbreak of World War I, it will not be recognized by Britain and France.

Arthur also planned to do so in the early stage. He wanted to sell arms to both sides in the early stage according to the American way, and directly join the advantageous side in the middle and late stages to completely end the battle.

But after talking with Prime Minister Kent and Kent Butler, Arthur finally figured it out.

If Australasia and the United States adopt the same approach, the United States will definitely have a higher advantage with its more developed economy and industry.

In this case, Australasia will not be able to prevent the rise of the United States at all, and it is easy to lose the trust of the British government and the British people after the war because of its early support for Germany.

But if Australasia joins the war at the beginning of the war and experiences this world war as one of the four great powers of the Allied Powers, its identity and status will be very different.

Compared with the United States' way of making profits in the early stage and picking peaches in the middle and late stages, Australasia is obviously the "own people" of Britain and France.

In addition to the British government's existing defense against the United States, if the United States wants to get the huge profits and benefits in history in the next World War I, it depends not only on whether Australasia agrees, but also on whether the British and French governments are so stupid.

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