Chapter 523 Embarrassed Japanese

As mentioned before, the French suffered heavy losses in the war. Even in 1920, it had only recovered to about 60% of its pre-war level, which was still a long way from its heyday in 1913.

At present, the French industrial scale is not even comparable to that of Australasia. If we refer to the industrial scale, the French are actually at a disadvantage.

But if we look at the economic scale, although the French also suffered heavy losses, they were far less serious than the industrial losses.

Compared with the losses of France's real industry, the capitalists are still willing to recover the economic losses.

After all, the recovery of the French economy is also a good thing for these capitalists. Only when the economy recovers can the capitalists exploit the civilians unscrupulously.

Coupled with the reparations from the defeated countries and the United States, although the French economy is not as good as before the war, it is far less bad than in history.

In terms of economy, no matter how bad the French are, they are still the third in the world, and the size and proportion of the navy are destined not to be too bad.

But if we look at it from the perspective of industrial scale, the French industrial scale is lower than that of the United Kingdom, the United States and Australasia, which are almost at the level of Italy, so the French will naturally not be willing.

Facing the interrogation of the two great powers, the representatives of the island countries seemed a little lacking in confidence.

After all, industry and strength are relatively fair, and can better prove the comprehensive strength of a country.

Although the current military strength can also prove the strength of the country in a side way, the militaristic thinking mentioned by the representatives of Australasia is also completely existent, which is something that the island people can't refute at all.

It can't be said that the island countries maintain the current army and navy level just to protect the security of their own country!

Let's not talk about whether this is credible or not. Under the premise that Russia is in civil war and the United States and the island countries are allied, I am afraid that other powers will immediately ask the island countries to disarm. After all, the existing military strength is already fully capable of guaranteeing the security of the island countries.

There is no way, the representatives of the island countries looked at their ally, the United States, but found that the Americans looked like they had nothing to do with it and had no intention of defending the island countries.

The islanders cursed in their hearts, but on the surface they did not dare to show any dissatisfaction with the Americans. They could only refute the views of Australasia and France, saying: "This is unfair! Whether it is the economy or the industry, the island countries are at a great disadvantage. We can't accept such a proposal!"

"Why?" The Russian representative, who did not have a good relationship with the island countries, also spoke up, and contrary to his previous transparent attitude, he said with a sneer: "Is it because your country's militarism has been exposed? According to the current situation of the island countries, whether it is industry or economy, it cannot support such a large army and navy. Your country is unwilling to give up its navy scale ratio, which is nothing more than having greater ambitions."

Looking at all the countries present, their military strength is mostly linked to their own country's economic level and industry. After all, the military strength of small countries cannot be too strong.

Especially Americans. If we look at the industrial scale and economic level, the United States is definitely the world's top.

The military strength of Americans is not the strongest among the great powers, and their comprehensive military strength lags behind Britain and France, which is very different from the extreme island countries.

Under the premise that the Americans were unwilling to help the island countries, the island countries' position in this meeting became precarious. No one was willing to help them, and they seemed helpless in the face of the joint attack of several major powers.

"If the island countries are unwilling to start from the perspective of economy and industry, how about looking at the land area actually controlled by each country?" At this time, Minister Grey added the last knife, smiled and looked at the island country representative and asked.

Again, the powerful countries are basically not at a disadvantage in terms of land area. After all, in addition to their own homeland, they can also occupy a large number of colonies. In this era, colonies are also recognized.

Britain and France have a huge colonial system and are definitely the two countries with the largest land area in the world today. (Russian Civil War)

The United States and Australasia next also occupied a large amount of land, all of which are millions of square kilometers.

Even a country like Italy, which is not very prominent among the powers, has occupied some colonies, and the land area theoretically exceeds one million square kilometers.

Only the island countries, except for their own homeland, do not have any recognized colonies.

Although the island countries also have interests in East Asia, the problem is that other powers also have interests in East Asia, and East Asia naturally cannot be a colony of the island countries.

In this way, the area of ​​the island countries is one of the smallest among the powers, and the island countries are still the most disadvantaged, even lagging behind countries like Italy.

If we really look at it by land area, this is a fatal blow to the island countries.

The land area of ​​the British Empire is as high as more than 20 million square kilometers, and the area controlled by the French is as high as more than 10 million square kilometers.

The land area of ​​Australasia is as high as more than 9 million square kilometers, and the Americans are not much different.

In this case, the area of ​​hundreds of thousands of square kilometers of the island countries seems very pitiful, and they are also at a disadvantage in the division of naval size.

If the British Empire, which has the largest land area, has a naval scale of 1 million tons, then what should the naval scale of the island countries with only hundreds of thousands of square kilometers be? Tens of thousands of tons or 10,000 tons?

You know, the tonnage of a battleship is as high as more than 10,000 tons, and the current super dreadnought is as high as more than 20,000 tons, or 30,000 tons.

If the naval size is really divided according to the land area, the current island nation navy can be disbanded on the spot, and only equipped with some small and medium-sized warships, perhaps the naval size of no more than tens of thousands of tons can be reduced.

In short, the conditions proposed by Britain, France and Australia are very unfavorable to the island countries, and coupled with the lack of support from the Americans, the island country representatives are somewhat angry and collapsed.

The island country representatives cannot agree to the conditions of Britain, France and Australia. If they agree, it means that the island country has no hope of rising.

Who dares to take such a huge responsibility? If the relevant agreement is really signed, I am afraid that these island country representatives will be torn to pieces by angry islanders after returning home, just like the kind in the anti-Japanese drama.

"Mr. Gray, the conditions you proposed are too harsh. I and the island government behind me can never accept it." The island country representative stood up and retorted with a little collapse.

"Oh? Why? Representatives of the island countries. Apart from you, no one opposes these proposals. Are you really fair? This is a bit too ridiculous!" Minister Grey will not indulge this former lackey at all. He directly turned on the ridicule mode, and also hit the ally behind the island country, the United States.

"Anyway, Mr. Grey, the island government will not agree with such a division. If you insist on such a proposal, we can only withdraw from this meeting. Sorry, goodbye." The representative of the island country directly threw out what he thought was a killer, which was to withdraw from this naval meeting to threaten the British to take care of the island country's emotions as much as possible.

Withdraw from the meeting?

Hearing the island people say this, Minister Grey laughed at the first time.

The representatives of so many countries gathered here is not a joke, nor is it simply to hold a meeting that has no results at all.

After all, this meeting was convened by the British, and naturally it is also related to the face of the British government.

If the island government withdraws from the meeting like this, it is simply a slap in the face of the British government.

Will the British government accept such behavior? Absolutely impossible.

"Island country representative, I hope you can be responsible for what you said. This meeting is not for the interests of a certain country, but for the peace and stability of the world, for the entire human race, and for all the countries present." Minister Gray smiled and said, but his words were not so gentle.

"I hope your country can uphold the attitude of being responsible to the whole world, instead of disrupting the order of the meeting for its own selfish interests, or even withdrawing from the meeting." Minister Gray looked at the island country representative and said meaningfully: "I allow your country to withdraw from the meeting, but if you cannot explain your withdrawal from the meeting and obtain the approval of all the countries present, then I will think that your country is provoking the British Empire and all the countries present. The sacred dignity of the British Empire cannot be violated, and I believe that other countries present will not allow such a thing to happen."

Not to mention the islanders, even the United States behind the islanders dare not openly anger the British Empire.

As the most powerful country in the world, the strength and status of the British Empire are still highly recognized, and it is fully capable of sanctioning any country.

As expected, after hearing Minister Grey's threats, a drop of cold sweat fell from the forehead of the island representative, and the steps to leave the meeting room stopped immediately.

Swallowing carefully, the island representative explained awkwardly: "I apologize for my previous reckless behavior. The island government respects this meeting and hopes that this meeting can bring stable peace to the world and all countries."

The island representative did not dare to look at the eyes of the representatives of other countries at this time. There is no need to think about it. The representatives of other countries are definitely teasing and contemptuous. After all, it is not glorious to provoke the British Empire openly and then quickly admit defeat.

However, this is also natural. The pressure of the British Empire is not something that a single country can bear, especially the pseudo-power like the island country, which has an imperfect foundation and needs the support of other countries.

"Okay, everyone, the meeting continues. This is a meeting that concerns the whole world and all mankind. I hope that when the representatives put forward their opinions, they can consider other countries more, rather than just for their own selfish desires." Minister Grey did not care about the embarrassing state of the island representative at all, and announced that the meeting would continue.

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