Chapter 772: Indulgence and Ambition

Arthur's words triggered the actions of the entire cabinet government, and the biggest result was the rapid advancement of the localization of all colonies.

Even if the construction goes smoothly, there is hope that all colonies can be localized in two years.

Such a time is in line with Arthur's expectations, and Arthur couldn't help but relax. After all, according to the current situation, Tsarist Russia can still hold on for a while.

In addition, after the demise of Tsarist Russia, there will be a transition period in the middle, and two years is almost very suitable.

After relaxing, Arthur decided to spend more time with his family and let his heir to the throne William take more government work and exercise his abilities.

Now, while Arthur can still fully control the government, it is William's best opportunity to exercise. When William wants to exercise him when he controls the throne in the future, there will be no stabilizing force like Arthur to control the overall situation.

After all, there is a big difference and influence between having a backer and not having a backer.

The reason why he chose to spend more time with his family is that his mother, Queen Mother Louise, is visibly in poor health.

This is also something that cannot be avoided in life. Arthur was born in 1888 and is now about to turn 43.

Arthur's mother, Queen Louise, was born in June 1860 and is now 70 years old.

In this era, living to 70 is definitely one of the few longevity.

In history, Queen Louise only lived until 1917, which is 13 years longer than now, which is a big change.

No matter how powerful Arthur is, he can't stop his mother, Queen Louise, from aging visibly year by year.

Unless we have advanced technology 100 years later, it's only a matter of time before we part with Queen Louise.

Queen Louise obviously understands this, which is one of the reasons why she frequently urges William to get married and have children.

Elderly people want to see their offspring thrive and have many branches, Queen Victoria is like this, and so is Queen Louise.

The good news is that Princess Alexandrine has been pregnant for several months. Queen Mother Louise only needs to hold on until this time next year to see her grandson or granddaughter born smoothly.

But before that, Arthur plans to spend more time with all the family members, including Queen Mother Louise.

Anyway, William can help him deal with government affairs, and he can also let William participate in ordinary cabinet meetings, which makes him feel much more relaxed.

Time flies quickly, especially when you are with your family.

Unknowingly, time came to Christmas of 1930, and 1930 is about to pass.

This year's Christmas has become much more lively. Not only Princess Alexandrine, but also the little one in Princess Alexandrine's belly who has not yet been born.

In addition to a real-time national speech on Christmas Day, most of the rest of the things were left to William.

Including the distribution of food and other subsidies to low-income people through the Royal Relief Committee, William also made a public appearance.

Doing so did allow William to accumulate a certain reputation. At least the people were very satisfied with the heir designated by Arthur.

A mature character, not reckless, and loving the people like Arthur, this is already a qualified monarch in the eyes of the Australasians.

Time passed, and the time quickly came to 1931.

At the beginning of the year, several major events occurred around the world.

The protagonists of major events around the world are undoubtedly Germany, Italy and the island countries.

The administrative concepts of these three countries are relatively radical, and they are all taking corresponding actions.

The first major world news in 1931 should be attributed to the end of the war between Italy and the Abyssinian Empire.

This was the second war between the two countries, and it ended with Italy's successful revenge.

In this war, the Abyssinian Empire invested about 500,000 troops, and Italy also increased its troops from 100,000 at the beginning to 350,000.

From May 1930 to January 1931, the war lasted for nearly eight months, and the casualties on both sides exceeded 100,000.

Speaking of the scale of casualties on both sides, this is actually a topic that Mussolini is reluctant to mention.

Although the Italian army won the war with fewer people, the cost of the war was much higher than that of the Abyssinian Empire, and the casualties of the soldiers were not as good as those of the Western powers against the African natives.

Let's first talk about the military expenses of both sides in this war.

The Italian army deployed all three services, including the navy, army and air force, and dispatched a large number of aircraft to occupy air superiority, and mobilized a considerable transport fleet to ensure the supply of materials in East Africa.

Under such circumstances, Italy's victory in the final war can only be said to be an inevitable result. With such a huge gap in weapons and equipment between the two sides, if Italy still cannot win the final victory, then Mussolini should really consider whether this country has the hope of rising.

Although the final result satisfied Mussolini, the casualty ratio of both sides made Britain and France laugh.

Italy dispatched a total of 350,000 land forces, with an estimated death toll of more than 10,000 and a cumulative number of wounded of more than 30,000.

In addition, there were about 50,000 non-combat casualties or injuries, and the cumulative casualties were close to 110,000, which was already a very high scale.

On the Abyssinian Empire side, about 170,000 of the 500,000 troops were killed (estimated), and the casualties were incalculable.

But considering that the Abyssinian Empire had very few reserves of hot weapons, the high casualties were justified.

After all, the weapons of the Italian army can be called excellent in Europe, while the weapons of the Abyssinian Empire are still in the era of cold weapons.

The end of this war was not the signing of the peace treaty, but Mussolini's unilateral announcement.

On January 17, 1931, Mussolini publicly announced that the entire territory of the Abyssinian Empire would be incorporated into the Kingdom of Italy, and stated that he would send garrisons within the new territory to help the new territory restore order faster and re-enter production.

Although it was said in a grandiose way, the real purpose was to guard against the resistance of the Abyssinians.

The Abyssinian Empire was quite fierce in its resistance to colonization, which was why the first war between the Kingdom of Italy and the Abyssinian Empire failed.

If there were not enough garrisons, it would not be impossible for the Abyssinian Empire to rebel again and even drive out the Italians.

It is worth mentioning that although there was no expression in the war between Italy and the Abyssinian Empire, the British still accepted Haile Selassie I, the last emperor of the Abyssinian Empire, and allowed him to live in London as a VIP.

This is actually the British strategy in diplomacy. At least it can reflect the British Empire's dissatisfaction with Italy's land in the Abyssinian Empire and draw a clear line with the Italians.

But in fact, although under the leadership of Britain and France, the World Alliance imposed economic sanctions on Italy.

But this economic sanction can only be said to be painless. Although it includes food and many other materials, there are no regulations on the two most important sanctions, namely the embargo on oil and the blockade of the Suez Canal.

You know, there are no large oil fields in Italy, and domestic oil consumption basically relies on overseas imports.

If an oil embargo is imposed on Italy, most of Italy's tanks, aircraft, and even warships will be paralyzed.

Needless to say, the blockade of the Suez Canal. Italy is a pure Mediterranean country, and all its outlets are located in the Mediterranean.

As long as the Mediterranean is blocked, if the Italian Navy wants to get close to East Africa, it must pass through the Strait of Gibraltar and bypass the entire Africa to reach East Africa.

Let alone whether the Strait of Gibraltar will be blocked after the blockade of the Suez Canal, even if it can be passed, the logistical advantage of the Italians will disappear with such a long detour.

From this aspect, it can be seen that Britain and France do not want to promote sanctions against Italy.

It is precisely because of this that Mussolini was very confident throughout the war, and quickly announced the occupation of the entire Abyssinian Empire after the war, without considering European public opinion.

Putting aside European public opinion, many Italians in Italy are still very satisfied with Mussolini's expansion of the country by hundreds of thousands of square kilometers.

Even in World War I, Italy's expansion was not large. Even if it was just a colonial country, it was enough to make many Italians with radical ideologies enter a state of fanaticism.

Because the power of the Italian king had been hollowed out, the only object of the people's fanaticism was the dictator Mussolini.

The public opinion in Italy made Mussolini very satisfied, and he felt that there was nothing wrong with his policies. Italy was on the road to revival and rise.

Italy's success in this colonial war made other countries see opportunities and breed greater ambitions.

Britain and France may not have thought that their indulgence of Italy for various reasons made other crazier countries have crazier ideas.

If there is a regret medicine, perhaps the current leaders of the British and French governments want to buy a box in the future.

But now, they simply think that the situation is still under their control.

After Italy successfully expanded its territory by hundreds of thousands of square kilometers, Hitler admitted that he was tempted.

But Germany suffered more restrictions, and the most important thing at present is to gradually lift the restrictions on Germany.

Considering the connivance of Britain and France towards Italy in this war, Hitler decided to test the attitude of Britain and France towards Germany to decide what strategy he should adopt.

At the beginning, Hitler was still cautious. Among the many trial plans, Hitler chose a more moderate one, that is, to quietly study heavy weapons and equipment to test the attitude of Britain and France.

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