Chapter 561 Final Naval Ratio
The naval ratios proposed by various countries are basically based on their own interests. Even the naval ratio of Australasia is actually a proposal to strengthen Britain, France and themselves, maintain the gap between Britain and the United States, and the gap between Australasia and the island countries.
Although each country clearly knows that the ratio they proposed is not reasonable, it is actually related to their own national interests. These diplomats have no other advantages. They are really thick-skinned and unwilling to make any concessions.
This also made the talks last for more than half a month. In the end, Britain and the United States proposed a killer Cambodia to intimidate the island countries that refused to make concessions on the naval ratio: "If the island countries continue to insist, for every main battleship built by the island countries, Britain and the United States will build four."
Such a threat is not exaggerated. Britain's investment in the navy is huge, which can maintain its naval advantage over Germany, not to mention a small island country.
The development of the island countries is currently sponsored by the United States. It is almost impossible for the island countries to compete with the United States in terms of funds.
After resolving the disputes on the island countries, the most important issue at present is the naval ratio between the United States and Britain.
In this dispute, the United States and the island countries support the United States and the United Kingdom in the same proportion, while the United Kingdom and Australasia support the United Kingdom slightly more than the United States.
This also makes the French opinion more important. All countries began to win over the French representatives and put forward their own conditions.
At the end of November, the negotiations between the countries were still in a stalemate.
At this time, the British representative approached the French representative and tried his best to win the support of the French representative.
After taking a sip of red wine produced in France, the British representative Thomas smiled and said: "Mr. Tirek, the British Empire needs your support. For the sake of the friendship between Britain and France, please help at all costs."
The French representative Tirek did not respond directly, but changed the subject: "The British Empire is the most powerful country in the world. Even a major crisis like the Irish War of Independence can be easily resolved. How can it need the help of France?"
There is no doubt that Tirek only cares about what conditions Thomas can come up with, and he sneers at the friendship between Britain and France mentioned by Thomas.
Although Britain and France did cooperate closely in World War I, in the history of Britain and France, the time of friendly relations is far less than the time of war. Britain and France are real neighbors with hundreds of years of origin, and their relationship is not necessarily much better than that of France and Germany.
Compared with the relationship between Britain and France, perhaps the relationship between France and the United States is closer. After all, France at that time single-handedly promoted the independence of the United States. Without the support of the French, the 13 colonies of the United States at that time would not be a match for Britain.
If the relationship between the British Empire and Australasia is a bit like that of mother and son, then the relationship between France and the United States is similar to that of father and son, but Americans do not agree.
"France is still strong, and I believe that the Moroccan crisis will be resolved soon. Mrs. Li may be able to withstand the attack of the Spanish army, but she will definitely not be able to withstand the attack of the French army." Thomas, the British representative, said with a smile.
Although there is no open promise, Thomas and Tirek, as senior diplomats, naturally understand the meaning of this passage.
Rather than saying that the British Empire believes that France can quickly resolve the Moroccan crisis, it is better to say that the British Empire supports France in resolving the Moroccan crisis.
This is also one of the conditions set by the United Kingdom, supporting the French to quickly pacify Morocco and avoid a war of attrition.
"Mr. Thomas, you know. France is one of the most powerful countries in the world, and we deserve a larger proportion of the navy. In view of the damage to France, we agree to the same proportion as Australasia, but we will never allow the proportion of the island countries to exceed or be equal to that of France." Representative Tirek smiled and stated his second condition.
France was still a top power before World War I, and after World War I, it had already opened up a gap with Britain and the United States.
In this allocation of naval proportions, in addition to fighting for their own interests, countries are also fighting for a little face for themselves.
If the proportion of the French is equal to that of the island countries, what will tens of millions of French people think? An island country that was still a backward country decades ago has climbed over France in a short period of time. Isn't this an insult to the European hegemon France?
Especially after World War I, the French believed that their country had become the most powerful country on the European continent, but they would not allow France's proportion to be lower than that of the island countries.
As for Australasia, although it is also a country that has risen in a short period of time, after all, most of its citizens are Europeans, and it is not so shameful to be criticized by Europeans.
What's more, the United States and the island countries do not support France's naval ratio exceeding that of the island countries, but in the naval ratio proposed by Australasia, France's ratio is to exceed that of the island countries.
Comparing the two, it is obvious which side is more in line with their own interests, and the French naturally do not mind huddling together with Australasia.
"Well, this is natural. Regardless of other considerations, France is also the most powerful country in continental Europe and should have a naval ratio far exceeding that of the island countries. Europe is still the most developed region in the world, and a barbaric country like the island countries has no qualifications to be compared with us." Thomas nodded, agreeing with the French proposal.
If the French can support him, then the naval ratio of the five countries will be Britain>USA>France=Australasia>island countries.
Even if the French navy ratio is increased, it is impossible to threaten the British navy position.
On the contrary, France supports Britain and makes the island country's navy ratio the lowest among all countries, which will naturally be resented by the island country.
Let the French stand on the opposite side of the island country, which is equivalent to standing on the opposite side of the United States, which is beneficial to the strategic interests of the British.
In the conversation between the two representatives, a naval tonnage ratio that is enough to determine the world situation was also determined.
At the meeting on the second day, France, contrary to its usual behavior, clearly supported the proposals of Britain and Australasia.
This also caught the United States and the island countries off guard. In the case of being at a disadvantage, they finally had to make further compromises.
In the end, after more than a month, a preliminary framework for the ratio of the naval size of the five countries was finally formed.
Britain still gained a slight advantage over the United States, with the tonnage of its main battleships limited to 600,000 tons.
The United States followed closely behind, with the tonnage of its main battleships limited to 550,000 tons.
Next is France and Australasia, each with a tonnage of 350,000 tons of main battleships.
The least ambitious is the island country, whose main warship tonnage is limited to 300,000 tons, but the gap with France and Australasia is not too huge.
This is also the result of mutual compromise. Although Britain has an advantage over the United States, Australasia and France have maintained advantages over the island countries, the advantages are limited to 50,000 tons, which is the tonnage of a main battleship.
If there is only one main battleship difference, the gap in naval strength is not so great, and there is still hope to try to turn a bicycle into a motorcycle.
After the naval proportions of these five more important countries are determined, the only thing left is the division of the Italian navy.
The Italian government asked for a sky-high price and directly asked for 350,000 tons, which was naturally rejected by the five countries.
Just kidding, such a naval tonnage is the compromise result that the five most powerful countries spent more than a month to reach, and it is naturally impossible for a country like Italy to shake it.
After some bargaining, the Italians' naval tonnage was limited to 175,000 tons, directly cutting the Italians' demands in half, reflecting the dominance of the five countries united.
Together with Italy's naval tonnage, the naval tonnage of these six countries has determined the naval tonnage of countries around the world.
Because other countries can no longer threaten these countries in terms of navy, Germany and Austria-Hungary are restricted in naval development, and Russia is busy with civil war and has no time to develop its navy, so there is no need for corresponding restrictions.
However, this does not mean that the naval restriction treaty has been formally reached.
In addition to the restrictions on the main warships, various auxiliary warships, including submarines, have become the focus of the next discussion.
Because of the impact of World War I, the British are very afraid of submarines from other countries.
This is no joke. During World War I, the elusive German submarines made British warships and merchant ships suffer enough, which has become an unforgettable memory of the British Navy.
But it is obvious that other countries have different opinions on the development of submarines.
Submarines can pose a huge threat to some warships, and are also the only means for countries with relatively weak navies to resist powerful navies.
If submarines are banned, it is equivalent to destroying the hope of weak navies to resist powerful navies, which is something many countries do not want to see.
Especially island countries, which originally have the smallest naval scale among all countries, naturally do not agree with the British proposal to completely ban the development of naval submarines.
It also put the naval limitation treaty, which should have been reached quickly, into a stagnation period. It is impossible to complete the discussion on small and medium-sized warships and submarines without a few months of work.
This is actually a good thing for Australasia. Because the construction of the three R108 battleships has entered the final stage, it is expected that they will be completed one after another within half a year, and the official launch test will be carried out.
As long as the time can be delayed for another half a year, the three battleships of Australasia can be completed before the signing of the naval limitation treaty, and it will not be considered a violation of the naval limitation treaty.
In order to give the shipyard enough time, the diplomatic representatives of Australasia received instructions from Arthur to join the debate on small and medium-sized warships and submarines, and to confuse the water as much as possible, so that the countries could argue for a longer time.
The good news is that the maximum standard displacement of a single main warship and the total tonnage limit of aircraft carriers need to be negotiated, which will also delay the time for reaching the naval limitation treaty again. Overall, it not only meets Arthur's requirements, but may even exceed expectations.
However, there is still a subsidiary treaty that was quickly determined.
This subsidiary treaty has nothing to do with the size of the navies of various countries, but only concerns the fortresses on the islands occupied by various countries in the Pacific.
According to regulations, in addition to the legal territories of various countries, other Pacific islands are not allowed to build new naval bases and fortresses, reducing conflicts and contradictions between countries in the Pacific region.
This is good news for Australasia, because the military division of Australasia has been completed long ago, and the naval bases have been built long ago, and this subsidiary treaty has no impact.
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