Chapter 300 Major expansion of the armies of various countries (please vote for me!)
According to the Naval Act announced by Wilhelm II, Germany will build three battleships and one battlecruiser every year from 1912 to 1914, striving to let the The German Navy had more than 17 dreadnoughts and super-dreadnoughts, 5 battlecruisers, 22 pre-dreadnoughts, 32 cruisers, 114 destroyers and 30 submarines.
This naval bill has four more battleships than in history. This also means that in the next three years, Germany will build 1.33 more battleships every year than in history.
The naval supplementary bill announced by the Germans and officially launched in early 1912 quickly attracted the attention of the British who attached great importance to German news.
Shortly after the Germans announced the Naval Expansion Act, on October 25, 1911, Churchill, who had just exchanged positions with Admiralty McKenna, became the new Lord of the Admiralty of the British Empire.
This politician who once obstructed the Navy's budget increase as Secretary of Commerce, now faced the Germans' naval supplementary bill and proposed tit-for-tat: for every main battleship the Germans built, the British would build two.
Churchill did indeed do this in history, which also led to the British naval budget from 1912 to 1913 being twice that of Germany, a terrifying 44.08 million pounds.
Churchill publicly stated that if the Germans built three main battleships every year, the British Empire would build four main battleships and two battlecruisers to maintain all-round superiority over the German navy.
The two most powerful countries in the world are competing in terms of naval power, which has also brought the naval competition in Europe into its hottest state.
France, Italy, and the Austro-Hungarian Empire have announced their own naval expansion plans. In addition, the Tsarist Empire, which had already placed orders for warships in Australasia, European powers have taken action one after another, and warships are like dumplings.
In addition to these European powers, there are actually two other powerful countries that are also focusing on the development of dreadnoughts.
The island country’s dreadnoughts have already begun to take shape. Their first dreadnought design was named the Hanoi-class dreadnought.
But even if the earliest battleship Hanoi is to be completed, I am afraid it will have to wait until early 1913.
In fact, the island country has been unable to possess its own dreadnoughts, which has also allowed the island country, which once barely obtained the status of a great power due to the Russo-Japanese War, to almost give up its status to others.
Many Europeans are even more willing to regard Australasia as a great power. After all, Australasia is also a Western country with three dreadnoughts.
Of course, Australasia's military strength is not yet worthy of the status of a great power. The reason why some Europeans say this is nothing more than national and racial discrimination.
But it cannot be denied that the current Australasian navy has reached the level of the great powers. The main battleships have even surpassed the crane tail like Italy, and the number of dreadnoughts is second only to the United Kingdom and Germany.
In corners that many European countries don't pay much attention to, the development of American dreadnoughts has begun to take shape.
The United States' South Carolina-class battleships are the same warship design as the Intrepid battleship era.
However, it took too long to finalize the design plan, which also resulted in the two South Carolina-class battleships being built about three years later than the Intrepid battleship.
The USS South Carolina and USS Michigan battleships were completed in January and March last year respectively, and have officially joined the US Navy this year.
However, the design of the South Carolina-class battleship is not so amazing compared to the Dreadnought battleship.
The power of the South Carolina-class battleship is only 16,000 horsepower, which also results in the speed of this class of battleship being only a little more than 18 knots, which is far less than the 20 to 21 knots of the Intrepid battleship.
Therefore, the South Carolina-class battleship can also be regarded as an old-fashioned battleship with enhanced firepower and armor. There is still a long way to go in terms of speed from a real dreadnought.
The second American dreadnought design, the Delaware-class battleship is the true American dreadnought. It is also the first battleship in the U.S. Navy to receive a budget without specifying a displacement.
The USS Delaware and the USS North Dakota were both completed in April last year, and both have joined the U.S. Navy.
The speed of the Delaware-class battleship can already reach 21 knots, which is also the current standard speed of the dreadnought.
Of course, American dreadnought design does not stop there.
The Florida-class battleships are powerful American battleships that were improved upon the Delaware-class battleships.
The United States plans to build a total of two battleships. The USS Florida and the USS Utah were both completed in early September this year and have already begun the sea navigation test phase.
Of course, the battleships planned to be built by the United States include the latest Wyoming-class battleships.
There are also two Wyoming-class battleships planned to be built, namely the Wyoming and the Arkansas.
The completion time of these two battleships will not be until around September next year. If nothing else happens, this should also be the last dreadnought design of the United States.
From the U.S. warship construction plan, it can also be seen that the current ambitions of the United States are not small.
Barely counting the South Carolina-class battleships, the United States currently has a total of six completed dreadnoughts and two planned dreadnoughts. The current number of main naval forces is already the third in the world.
If Germany were not too close to Britain and the United States was too far away from Britain, I am afraid that the most important conflict in World War I was the conflict between Britain and the United States. The potential currently displayed by the United States is actually greater than the threat Germany poses to the United Kingdom.
But there is no way. Compared with the United States, which is far away across the Atlantic Ocean, Germany, which is just under the British's skin, is what the British consider to be a serious problem.
After the British understood the ambitions and potential of the Americans, the United States at that time was no longer able to resist the United Kingdom, which had been seriously injured in two world wars.
This also led to the colonial order maintained by Britain and France for hundreds of years to be easily eliminated by the United States and a new country.
Under the indoctrination of liberal democratic concepts, the colonial order collapsed instantly, and various ethnic groups in the colonies demanded independence. Britain and France were instantly knocked back to their original shape.
For Arthur, the enemy of Australasia was not the British Empire and the German Empire, which were currently very powerful.
Arthur has always been clear that even though European countries are powerful, with the development of time and the two world wars in Europe, Europe's decline is inevitable.
The potential displayed by the United States and its superior geographical location have destined the United States to be Australasia's biggest enemy.
Among other things, the United States' liberal democratic concept of dismantling the British and French colonial systems also caused certain harm to Australasia.
No matter how fiercely European countries fight, after all, they are related to each other. To put it bluntly, everyone is one family.
But Americans are different. They are not a monarchy, and their relationship with the major royal families in Europe is not very good.
Letting such a country become a world hegemon is not good news for the European royal family.
When necessary, unite the post-war European monarchies to form a monarchy alliance to fight against the United States. This can limit the development of the United States, and at least prevent the colonial system from collapsing so quickly.
In early October 1911, at the request of cabinet officials, the Australasian cabinet meeting was officially held.
What this meeting discussed was actually the more intense warship race and arms race that broke out in European countries at the end of September.
To put it bluntly, the arms race among European countries is already preparing for war.
All countries understand that war is inevitable, which is why they still persist in the arms race despite huge costs.
"Your Majesty, are we also going to carry out a new round of naval expansion plans?" Defense Minister Raul asked expectantly at the conference table.
Although the Ministry of Defense's previous request to expand the navy was rejected by Arthur, the army was expanded not long ago. The Ministry of Defense believes that the opportunity has come. Now it is to raise Australasia's armaments to the level of the great powers and seek the status of a great power. when.
"Let's talk about the situation in Europe first! In addition to the naval expansion plans of various countries, do you have any information on their army expansion plans?" Arthur did not directly reject Minister Raul's proposal, but jumped to another topic, asked.
As the monarch of a country, although Arthur can actually say some things, it is better to avoid saying them directly.
If the naval expansion proposal is directly rejected in front of Minister Raul, it will dampen the enthusiasm of the radicals and offensive factions.
Although there is no plan for a large-scale expansion of naval strength for the time being, if the Australasian government is led to isolation and pacifism, it will be somewhat outweighed by the gains.
After all, if Australasia wants to achieve its real rise, it will inevitably have a huge conflict with the pseudo-powerful island countries and its biggest enemy, the United States.
Therefore, the enthusiasm of the government is very necessary. Let others in the cabinet government reject proposals put forward by cabinet ministers!
"Your Majesty, according to the information released by other countries, currently, all major European countries are plotting to expand their armaments. Russia has publicly announced that it will expand its military by 500,000 people. Although Russia's progress has been very slow, if you count They already have a standing army of one million, and their army will reach a terrifying number of more than 1.5 million. I'm afraid the Germans will feel a little uncomfortable." Foreign Minister Andrew reported with a respectful look.
Arthur clicked his tongue and couldn't help but feel envious of the Russian's actions.
To expand the army of 100,000 people in Australasia, we have to carefully calculate the domestic population and funding situation, and also take into account the reserves of officers and weapons and equipment.
The Russians are better off. They originally had a standing army of up to one million, and now they have directly expanded it by 500,000. The number of troops has even reached that of the United Kingdom, France and Germany combined.
If we talk about the number of troops alone, Russia is really the number one in Europe.
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(End of chapter)