Chapter 460: The Rise of the New Nobility and the Granting of Land for Military Merit

Before the peace talks representatives of various countries arrived at the negotiation site in London, each country was also systematically counting its own casualties and war consumption.

Compared with the more chaotic Russia, other European countries were the fastest to count.

The Allied forces mobilized a total of 29.14 million troops, with a total of 14.21 million casualties and 5.11 million deaths. The total civilian casualties were 15.15 million and the death toll was 4.11 million.

The Central Powers mobilized a total of 15.32 million troops, with a total of 9.4 million casualties and more than 4.1 million deaths. The total civilian casualties were 9.75 million and the total death toll was 2.32 million.

Although there are certainly some differences between the figures counted by various countries and the actual situation, according to the severity of World War I, it should not be much less.

It can also be seen from the data that the largest casualties in the war are the military, but it also has a great impact on civilians.

Even most countries did not count the number of citizens who died of hunger. After all, such a thing is not glorious for the government.

Anyway, the war is won, who cares about the non-war deaths of civilians in the war?

According to the casualties counted by various countries, the country with the most tragic experience in World War I should be France, with a total of more than 1.2 million soldiers killed and more than 4 million wounded. It can be said that there are not many uninjured soldiers in France.

The civilian casualties in France are about 600,000 to 700,000. After all, a large amount of French territory was occupied during the war, and the attitude of German soldiers towards the French people is bound to be not very good.

The second highest casualties were in the Russian Empire, with more than 1.8 million soldiers killed, more than 5 million wounded, and civilian casualties between 2 million and 3 million.

It is worth mentioning that more than 1 million Russian troops were captured, and these people were not counted in the casualties. In addition, Russia's statistics are actually quite chaotic, and there are still a large number of casualties and civilians who have not been counted, which makes France the country with the largest casualties.

According to the real data, Russia's casualties are far more than France, even if they are just starving to death, they are definitely more than one million.

The next two countries with the largest casualties are Germany and Austria-Hungary, both of which have more than 5 million casualties.

Among them, Germany had more than 2.2 million dead soldiers and 4.5 million wounded soldiers. German civilian casualties were relatively small compared to France and Russia, after all, the war only spread to Germany in the last few months.

Germany's civilian casualties were only about 150,000, of which more than 100,000 were injured or killed on the Eastern Front.

The casualties of the Austro-Hungarian Empire were not much different from those of Germany. After all, the Austro-Hungarian Empire was defeated by Russia in the early stages of the war, and even several army groups were annihilated.

The death toll of the Austro-Hungarian Empire was as high as 1.35 million soldiers, and the casualties of soldiers were as high as 4 million, and almost all soldiers were injured. The civilian casualties of the Austro-Hungarian Empire were about 800,000 to 1 million, making it the second largest civilian casualties country after Russia.

Next was the British Empire, with a death toll of about 1 million soldiers and a wounded number of about 1.9 million. The civilian casualties were very small, after all, the war did not affect the British mainland.

Australasia is the sixth country with the most casualties, and Italy ranks seventh, with more than 300,000 soldiers killed and more than 600,000 injured, lagging behind Australasia by 20,000.

Except for the five major powers of Britain, France, Russia, Australia and Italy, the remaining Allied countries, including the United States, actually did not suffer too many casualties.

The average casualties in the Balkan countries were around 100,000, and Belgium's casualties also exceeded 100,000.

In addition, the casualties of other countries did not exceed 100,000, and they were destined not to receive too many benefits.

This list of casualties was initially counted by various countries. It was originally given to the outside world for verification, and later it was to strive for more benefits at the peace negotiation table.

But in fact, many of the casualties in this list are not taken seriously by various governments, such as the indigenous troops of Australasia, who will not receive the pension policy of Australasia.

Of course, Arthur will also fulfill his promise to send these soldiers and their families to other areas and give them a certain amount of severance pay.

This severance pay is about 50 to 200 Australian dollars, but they will settle some items in their new living place to make themselves live a stable life.

The only ones who can really enjoy the pension policy are the 8,000 soldiers who died in the regular army, and the 17,000 soldiers who were injured, who will also receive corresponding compensation and rewards.

From the casualties of the regular army in Australasia, it can be seen that it was the indigenous soldiers who bore the suffering of this war for Australasia.

In addition to Australasia, the situation of the British Empire is the same as that of Australasia. More than half of the casualties are indigenous soldiers. Although there are also casualties of the real British main force, they account for less than one-third of the total casualties.

According to the pension system of Australasia, the total casualties of 25,000 will require the government and the royal family to pay nearly 7 million Australian dollars as pensions.

The government and the royal family each pay half, which is about 3.5 million Australian dollars. For the finances of the government and the royal family, the expenditure is not large and is completely acceptable.

Although most of the soldiers have not returned home safely, Arthur ordered the government and the royal consortium to urgently prepare this pension fund and strive to distribute it to all soldiers as soon as possible.

In addition, the Ministry of National Defense will also provide certain subsidies to all soldiers who participated in the war, with an average subsidy of about 50 to 60 Australian dollars per person, which is also an expenditure of up to five or six million Australian dollars.

Of course, the rewards from the government and the royal family are far more than that. Soldiers who have made meritorious contributions will also receive more rewards such as fields, titles, medals, etc., which can be regarded as the Australasian version of military merit granting land.

Anyway, there are a lot of undeveloped land in the mainland of Australasia and the major colonies. It is a waste to leave these lands vacant. It is better to give them to these soldiers who have made meritorious contributions to develop.

These people will also be the military merit beneficiary class under the nobility, similar to the knights in medieval Europe, who are in disguise to protect the royal family and the aristocracy.

In order to make better choices for soldiers, the pensions and rewards given to soldiers can also be flexibly replaced.

For example, the rewarded fields can be replaced with funds equivalent to the fields, and the funds can also be replaced with fields of equal value.

And military merit is cumulative, because the reward will be cleared after this time. As long as the accumulated military merit reaches a certain level, the title will be granted.

According to the military merit land granting scheme given by the government and the Ministry of Defense, on average, each soldier can get about 3 acres of land, which is just over 1.2 hectares.

This is only a reward for soldiers who participated in the war. After making military merits of varying sizes, the area of ​​land obtained will also increase rapidly.

When the accumulated land reaches about 150 to 200 hectares, the military industry has reached the point where the title of knight can be awarded.

1,000 to 1,500 hectares can be awarded the title of baron. 8,000 to 10,000 hectares can reach the title of viscount, 30,000 to 50,000 hectares can be awarded the title of earl, and 100,000 hectares can be awarded the title of duke.

The duke is basically the highest noble rank that an ordinary soldier can reach by accumulating military merits. In theory, there is also a prince, but this rank can only be obtained by the royal family.

In fact, 100,000 hectares is definitely not small, that is, 1,000 square kilometers, which is equivalent to a smaller county.

Moreover, the land obtained by these military merit land grants is permanent. An aristocrat who obtains a duke through military merit can become a tycoon with his own land.

Although honorary nobles like knights will not be inherited, the land is permanent. This is Arthur's reward for all those who have contributed to the country and the royal family.

Because it is a reward, there is great flexibility in granting land for military merit. The royal family and the government generally choose a large area for collective enfeoffment to ensure that the land obtained by the soldiers is connected to avoid embarrassing scenes of pieces in the east and west.

In theory, people who receive land rewards can apply to the government for land exchange every 15 years and try to gather their land together.

Of course, changing the address can exchange land of the same price and area to avoid some people taking advantage of the government.

In order to better cultivate the new nobles in Australasia, after enfeoffing the soldiers, Arthur will establish a noble school to educate the descendants of the new nobles, so that they can become pillars of the country and the royal family, rather than waste who only seek pleasure.

The noble school can also unite the descendants of the new nobles, and form a complex network of relationships between the nobles. All the new nobles are attached to the rule of the royal family, becoming a powerful but obedient noble class.

In order to improve the rights and status of the new nobles, Arthur also specifically stipulated that except for treason and crimes against the interests of the royal family, all other crimes can only be imposed on the nobles themselves, not the noble titles.

In other words, except for these two crimes, all other crimes can only be executed by the nobles who committed the crime, and the title cannot be directly revoked.

This also means that as long as the interests of the country and the royal family are not harmed, even if the new nobles violate the law, their titles can be inherited by their descendants, rather than their titles being revoked because of the crime.

But if treason and crimes against the interests of the royal family are violated, Arthur will not hesitate to abolish the titles of the new nobles. After all, the interests of the country and the royal family are the most important.

Under normal circumstances, these new nobles will not be stupid enough to violate the interests of the royal family. After all, all their rights and status come from the royal family. Who would be stupid enough to dig their own foundation?

And as the king of Australasia, it is still very simple for Arthur to deal with the new nobles he has enfeoffed.

After all, treason and endangering the interests of the royal family are just titles, which can be attached to any noble at any time, as long as Arthur is willing.

It is also a means for Arthur to control the new nobles. After all, there are all kinds of birds in the forest, and there must be a final trump card to deal with fools.

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