Chapter 445 Cultural Propaganda

Although Russia has agreed to continue the war, the country's diplomatic relations are complicated.

On the one hand, after receiving a lot of aid from Britain and France, Russia did not withdraw its troops from the front line.

On the other hand, Germany and Russia are also maintaining certain contacts, and there seems to be a possibility of reaching a certain peace treaty between Germany and Russia.

Up to now, both the Allies and the Allies have been exhausted.

The troops deployed by both sides in the war have reached nearly 20 million. After the Battle of Verdun and the Battle of the Somme, the number of casualties has skyrocketed.

According to the current situation revealed by various countries, the total number of casualties caused by World War I to the participating countries has reached nearly 12 million, of which the confirmed number of deaths has exceeded 5 million.

This number of casualties is very exaggerated. Although it seems that only a quarter of the total number of troops deployed by various countries has been used up, before the war, the combined troops of several major European powers did not exceed 5 million.

What does this mean? The elite troops of European countries before the war have basically been exhausted, and most of the troops currently participating in the war were temporarily recruited after the war.

Russia is the first country to have civil unrest because of the war, but it will definitely not be the last.

The war has had a great impact on European countries. The increase in working hours, the reduction in material distribution, and the large number of adult males forced to participate in the war have made many European people increasingly tired of the war.

As early as half a year ago, Germany proposed a comprehensive peace proposal. But Germany is currently the country that occupies the most territory and seizes the most benefits. Naturally, Britain and France cannot end the war in the current situation.

The hope of peace talks ended, and the civil unrest in Russia also gave the Germans a chance to negotiate again, so they frequently contacted the Russians.

In fact, there are more diplomatic activities during the war. In addition to European countries, Asian island countries and the United States across the Atlantic are always paying attention to this war.

In history, the United States once competed with island countries for the Pacific and Far East during World War I, and extremely sharp conflicts broke out.

But now, these areas are basically all taken over by Australasia, and there is no conflict between the United States and the island countries.

Even the US-Japan Alliance Treaty signed a few years ago has a great intention to jointly target Australasia and jointly occupy the Far East and Pacific islands.

But unfortunately, the relationship between Australasia and the major powers of the Allied Powers has always been very close. The small US-Japan alliance is simply not a match for the entire Allied Powers, and I am afraid that it will be during and after the war.

Unlike the island countries that conspired with Germany's East Asian colonies, the Americans obviously have greater ambitions.

When World War I just broke out, US President Wilson declared that the United States would strictly maintain neutrality. But this does not mean that the United States should be kept out of the war or even not participate in international affairs.

According to President Wilson's original words, this is to retain sufficient strength in the early stage of the war and directly adjudicate the war as an arbitrator in the middle and late stages of the war.

Obviously, instead of working hard to directly participate in this war, the Americans would rather retain sufficient strength to join the victorious side in the late stage of the war and win the war with minimal casualties.

This is indeed the case. The United States and Australasia should be the only two powers that were not greatly affected by the war.

When other European countries were facing a wave of strikes and anti-war waves, the economies of the United States and Australasia were still booming.

Compared with the US economy, the Australasia economy is actually growing faster.

Although there is still a certain gap between the total economic volume and the United States, Australasia has earned enough money in the war because of a large amount of trade with the Allies, and has also gained a lot of resources, gold, minerals and technology.

In the trade with the Russians alone, Australasia has obtained gold worth up to 20 million pounds.

Although it seems to be only 20 million pounds, according to the previous ratio of pounds to gold, the weight of this batch of gold is as high as 146 tons.

You know, this is pure gold, not a gold mine rich in gold. Whether it is the current gold standard or the future monetary system, the reserves of gold are very important for a country.

This not only represents the value of the currency, but also guarantees the credibility of the currency.

It is precisely because of the influx of a large amount of gold from Europe that the Australian dollar has not actually depreciated significantly, and the value of the Australian dollar is still very strong.

Because of the currency's value preservation, the lives of Australasia people are much better than those of European countries, and the country's life is still stable.

While European countries are experiencing waves of strikes, demonstrations and revolutions, Australasia remains calm, and the public's support for the government and the royal family remains high.

Of course, although the current situation is very stable, it is not a bad thing to increase public support for the government.

Australasia has never stopped promoting the war and improving national cohesion. While European countries generally produce cultural works calling for support for the war, various literary works and films in Australasia are also being broadcast in the country.

Under the premise that domestic life is relatively stable, watching movies has become very common for Australasia people.

Although it is just a simple black-and-white movie with sound, it is a rare leisure time for Australasia people of this era.

Whether it is free movies played on National Day and holidays or paid movies that require tickets on weekdays, they will attract a large number of viewers.

Among all the movie categories, Australasians like patriotic propaganda films the most.

These are scripts carefully selected by Arthur, and the careful production of major film studios, combined with the propaganda methods of later generations, can easily attract these unworldly Australasians.

As long as there is a sense of identity with the country, under the propaganda and propaganda of patriotism, there will naturally be a sense of patriotism.

It is precisely because of this patriotism that the support of Australasians for the war has reached an unprecedented high. The strikes and anti-war marches that are already common in Europe are completely invisible in Australasia.

After all, the reason why Europeans marched is because their lives have been troubled by war.

Not only do they have to face longer overtime, the government also restricts the supply of materials, and even a large number of civilians are forced to go to the battlefield.

Various factors have made European civilians very dissatisfied with this war. Even in the British Empire, there have been dozens of strikes and marches this year, and the cumulative number of workers and civilians participating in strikes and marches has reached more than 300,000.

The Australasians are in no such situation. Before the outbreak of the war, this has called on Australasians to reserve a year's worth of food in advance.

The Australasian government has opened up 500 kilograms of food reserves per household to residents twice, which has also allowed most Australasian families to have nearly 1,000 kilograms of food reserves.

This is not over yet. The Australasian government's strategic food reserves are as high as more than 6 million tons, which is enough for all Australasians to live for more than a year and a half without any food output.

In addition to the extremely developed animal husbandry in Australasia, Australasians do not even have any food crisis. The daily food and calorie intake per person before and after the war has not decreased, and even the meat intake has increased.

It is precisely because of Australasia's developed food production and excellent animal husbandry that Australasia is the only participating country that has not implemented a material rationing system.

Although food prices rose to a certain extent after the outbreak of the war, under the control of the royal consortium, the price of food in Australasia remained at a reasonable figure, a figure that was enough for all Australians to afford food.

Moreover, the Royal Relief Committee did not stop working during the war, and still distributed food and medical supplies to low-income and no-income people for free.

Australians can proudly declare that they are definitely the best among all the countries involved in the war.

Of course, although he lived a good life, Arthur had no intention of showing off, and even his external image has always been very simple.

In order to better let the public understand the royal family and make the public have a higher liking for the royal family, the Royal Film Studio made a movie about the Australasian royal family, which included Arthur's work content for a whole day and the royal family's food, clothing, housing and transportation.

In this movie that is similar to a propaganda film, Arthur and the royal family have a very simple diet. Breakfast is a piece of bread and a glass of milk, as well as a vegetable soup.

At noon, a steak, a portion of mashed potatoes and a grilled sausage, as well as a glass of red wine produced from the winery.

Dinner was even simpler, a Spanish-style fried rice, a very light stir-fried vegetable, and some fruit.

Although this kind of life is a little better than that of the common people, it is almost at the same level.

If the Australasians want to live a more luxurious life, they can eat a diet similar to Arthur's.

This is also what Arthur wants to promote, the simplicity and frugality of the royal family. When the people see that the food of the royal family is not much different from their own, even if the war has an impact on them, their dissatisfaction will disappear.

However, these civilians obviously don't know that the chefs in the palace are naturally different from those outside, and the food they make is actually different in essence.

For example, the steak that Arthur eats is selected from the best source of meat, and is cooked to the second, plus seasonings and careful production from all over the world. It is definitely a luxury in the future.

Of course, showing frugality and simplicity is not the only one. After the outbreak of the war, the royal family members have not traveled in a high-profile manner, nor have they visited any streets and shops in Australasia, nor have they purchased any luxury goods.

In the eyes of the people, the royal family's food, clothing, housing and transportation have become very simple, which makes the people love the royal family even more. After all, there are not many nobles who can share the joys and sorrows with the people, not to mention Arthur, who has to spend a lot of money every year to help the poor.

Although there is no large purchase of clothes and luxury goods on the surface, in secret, the royal family's private tailors and jewelers will customize clothing and jewelry products for all members of the royal family every year.

For all members of the European royal family, private customization is the best. The cost price of any of Arthur's private custom dresses is more than tens of thousands of Australian dollars, not to mention the specific price after the time cost and labor cost are calculated.

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