Chapter 855 Dissolution of the World Alliance

While Australasia was busy producing military equipment, Spain on the other side of the earth had already reached the final stage of the war.

As Germany and Italy gradually showed their ambitions, the balance of the Spanish Civil War completely tilted towards Germany, Italy and the Spanish National Army.

After Germany and Russia divided Poland, Russia withdrew its aid to Spain, which also made the Spanish Republican government isolated.

Although there was some assistance from Australasia in terms of weapons and equipment, how could Spain alone defeat the combination of Germany and Italy?

Poland, with an army of up to one million, could not resist, let alone the Spanish Republican government, whose army was less than 400,000.

Since the end of last year, the German and Italian air forces have launched indiscriminate bombings on cities controlled by the Spanish Republican government.

Although the army of the Spanish Republican government was effectively attacked, it also caused a large number of casualties to Spanish civilians.

According to data released by the Spanish government, in the bombing of Germany and Italy, about 70,000 people were injured in the army, but 20,000 people were injured in civilians.

Germany also tested its newly developed tanks and aircraft on the battlefield in Spain, and finally gained valuable experience, which was used in the development of its own weapons and equipment.

On February 2, 1936, Britain and France announced their recognition of the Franco regime and severed diplomatic ties with the Spanish Republican government.

On February 3, the Spanish Republican government withdrew from the World League and angrily denounced Britain and France for only ignoring the wishes of all countries in the world for their own temporary interests.

On February 5, a rebellion broke out at the Spanish naval base, and the naval generals announced their surrender to the Spanish National Army.

On February 7, Colonel Casado, commander of the Spanish Central Front, launched a coup, announced that he would take over the Spanish Republic regime, and surrendered to the rebels the next day.

On February 9, the Spanish National Army and the German Italian Army jointly took over the army of the Central Front and began to hunt down democratic figures in the Spanish Republican government who supported the war.

On February 11, the Spanish National Army completely occupied the entire Spain, and the civil war ended.

With the support of Germany and Italy, Franco held a victory parade in Madrid, and announced the reconstruction of Spain amid cheers. He appointed himself as the Marshal of the Three Armies of Spain, the Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Spain, and the Regent of Spain, and announced that the Spanish Falange Party under his control was the only legal political party in the country.

It is worth mentioning that the Spain rebuilt by Franco was neither the Kingdom of Spain in the monarchical era nor the Spanish Republic in the republican era.

To be more precise, what Franco established was the Spanish State. This is a national political system with Franco characteristics between the monarchy and the military dictatorship.

In name, the Spanish State is still a monarchy. But Franco did not intend to find a king for Spain, nor did he intend to welcome Alfonso XIII back.

Franco announced that the King of Spain was vacant, and Spain did not have a real king, only the Regent Franco.

Restoring the monarchy without restoring the monarchy has also caused speculation at home and abroad, speculating whether Franco would make himself the new King of Spain.

The high position of Spanish regent and general marshal of the three armed forces has ensured Franco's supreme position in the new Spanish state.

Even if he really wants to become the new king of Spain, it will not be difficult with the support of Germany and Italy.

It's nothing more than whether he can get the support of Britain, France and many European monarchies. But after he has surrendered to Germany and Italy and implemented military dictatorship, will Franco still care about the attitude of Britain, France and other European monarchies?

After the demise of the Spanish Republican government, small and medium-sized European countries were completely disappointed with Britain and France.

On February 15, 1936, King Leopold III of Belgium issued the "Declaration of Neutrality", declaring that the Kingdom of Belgium will remain absolutely neutral in the international situation and withdraw from all alliances and treaties that Belgium has joined before, including the World League.

Obviously, Belgium's actions have proved that compared with the World League, they are more willing to believe in the sense of security that maintaining neutrality brings to themselves.

This also means that with the continuous concessions of the appeasement policy of Britain and France, their prestige in European countries has become lower and lower.

Although Arthur did not believe that Belgium's declaration of absolute neutrality would allow them to remain unscathed in the next war, such a move did set a precedent for small and medium-sized European countries.

On February 23, Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands issued a "Letter to the People", publicly stating that the Netherlands would adhere to neutrality and become a truly permanent neutral country.

On the same day, the Netherlands announced its withdrawal from the World League and abolished any non-peaceful treaties.

The withdrawal of two European countries from the World League in a row dealt a huge blow to the prestige of the World League, and also made other countries have the idea of ​​withdrawing from the World League.

In other words, it is impossible for Belgium and the Netherlands to declare neutrality and withdraw from the World League without the Germans behind them.

They must have reached an agreement with the Germans, otherwise Belgium and the Netherlands would not have given up the World League so easily and gave up the independence guarantees given to them by Britain and France.

But there is no definite answer as to whether the Germans can keep their promise.

According to historical results, the absolute neutrality pursued by the Netherlands and Belgium is just a piece of waste paper that can be torn at will by the powerful powers.

But no matter what, the actions of Belgium and the Netherlands to declare neutrality and withdraw from the World League completely disintegrated the order of the World League.

On February 27, 1936, the World League held its last regular meeting and successfully passed the proposal to dissolve the World League with a proportion of more than 3%.

The international organization that was established after World War I and guaranteed world peace for 20 years finally completed all its missions with the rise of Germany and Italy.

This also means that since 1936, when the World League was dissolved, the world order will become more unpredictable.

How the world situation will develop can only be decided by a very small number of the most powerful countries.

On March 3, 1936, Arthur successfully arrived in London, England, accompanied by Queen Mary and Crown Prince William.

The purpose of coming to the UK this time is very simple, that is, to attend the funeral of the former British King George V.

Although the general situation in the world has changed, George V's physical condition has not been greatly affected.

Speaking of which, George V, who was born in 1865, is now 71 years old.

George V died at such an age, which is a good ending for a monarch.

Of course, if it was just George V's funeral, it would be enough to send only Prince William.

After all, Arthur and George V were peers, and theoretically there was no need to come to George V's funeral in person. What's more, Arthur and George V were not so close, and their blood relationship had long been alienated.

But if you think about the current world situation, you can understand why Arthur came to London in person.

The current European situation is very unfriendly to Britain and France. Arthur feels it is necessary for Britain and France to unite early and prepare for possible wars.

If the Germans catch them off guard again and the French only hold on for a month or two before they perish, then this European war will be difficult to fight.

The current situation is not very good for Britain and France. The international influence of the French has been declining again and again, and they seem to have established their reputation as cowards.

Britain has not been greatly affected because of its neutral policy. But the problem is that Britain is about to usher in a very famous monarch in history, Edward VIII, who loves beauty more than power.

If the crisis of the British throne meets the Second World War, it will make the already bad situation worse for Britain and France.

Of course, Arthur does not intend to directly interfere with the succession of the British throne.

Although Arthur does have a considerable reputation in the UK, this reputation is not enough to support Arthur's interference in the British throne.

George V's funeral is expected to be held on March 5. As a monarch who ruled the British Empire for 26 years, the British still have a relatively high favorability for this king.

George V succeeded to the throne in 1910 and led the British to win the First World War. During the term of George V, although the British Empire faced multiple challengers in succession, it eventually defeated them and allowed the British Empire to remain on the throne of world hegemony.

Now, the British Empire is once again facing the challenge of the Germans. This makes the British look forward to the next monarch to lead them to win the war and let the British Empire continue to stay on the throne of world hegemony.

In London, Arthur also met Prince Albert and Princess Elizabeth.

Speaking of which, Princess Elizabeth is almost ten years old. As Princess Elizabeth's godfather, the last time Arthur saw Princess Elizabeth, Elizabeth was still a child who couldn't speak.

It is precisely because of their godparent status that Arthur and Queen Mary are still quite kind to Elizabeth.

At this time, Prince Albert and Princess Elizabeth did not know that Princess Elizabeth would become the longest-serving monarch in British history and break Queen Victoria's record in one fell swoop.

This also makes people sigh that in European history, the length of the queen's reign is generally longer than that of male kings.

But compared to Queen Victoria, although Queen Elizabeth also has a high status in the UK, her prestige and power are far behind.

During the reign of Queen Victoria, although she did not intervene in political affairs for a long time, Queen Victoria still had a certain control over the government.

By the time of Elizabeth, the British government had long been controlled by political parties and other forces, and the British royal family was more of a mascot, with very little power.

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