Chapter 340 Everyone talks about their needs.
Originally, Prime Minister Kent planned to prepare a welcome banquet for Minister Gray and the British visiting team, but Minister Gray refused because of the long journey.
In fact, this is indeed the case. Even though the British visiting team took the most luxurious cruise ship in the UK and was escorted by British warships, it still took more than a month to arrive in Australasia.
During this period, the visiting team also stopped at the Suez Canal and India, which indirectly extended the time on the road.
After staying on a cruise ship for more than a month, even Minister Gray, who thought he was used to such bumps, couldn't help but feel tired and tired.
After giving simple instructions to his subordinates, Minister Gray lay down on the big bed of the Royal Victoria Hotel and fell into a deep sleep with a comfortable look on his face.
The day after the British delegation arrived at Sydney Port, on February 22, 1913, Arthur received the British delegation at Sydney Palace, accompanied by the cabinet government headed by Prime Minister Kent.
After greeting the British delegation, Arthur smiled, looked at the leader, Minister Gray, and said, "Minister Gray, how was your rest yesterday?" "Very
good, Your Majesty. Sydney does not have the bad environment of London. Compared with the air, London is much better." Minister Gray nodded with a smile and replied respectfully.
The name of British Foreign Minister Gray is now well-known in Europe.
Of course, all this depends on the series of diplomatic attitudes adopted by Minister Gray towards European countries during his term.
Minister Gray was one of the candidates in the British Empire cabinet government who firmly advocated being tough on Germany and hostile to Germany.
If one were to choose one person in the British cabinet who was most hostile to Germany, it would be Minister Gray.
During Minister Gray's tenure, Britain signed ententes with France and Russia, single-handedly precipitating the current real confrontation between the two major military groups in Europe.
When such a person with a clear attitude comes to Australasia, in addition to wooing Australasia, he also sends a message to the outside world that Australasia and the United Kingdom are closer.
This actually tied Australasia to the British chariot in disguise. After all, after receiving Minister Gray with a very high standard, even if Australasia does not express its attitude to the outside world and does not release any news about entering the UK, it will naturally be classified as being close to the UK by the outside world.
As a result, Australasia's previously strictly guarded neutrality will also be broken.
Unless Australasia can immediately reaffirm its neutral position and re-emphasize its decision not to join any force.
But doing so will obviously damage relations with the British. After all, judging from the special relationship between Australasia and the United Kingdom, if it is not a good alliance, it is already diluted.
Now that he has decided which side to choose between Britain and Germany, Arthur will naturally not hesitate.
Although joining the Allied Powers and becoming an enemy of Germany obviously hurt the feelings between Wilhelm II and the Germans.
But what do personal emotions count for the national interest?
No matter how bad things were, Arthur tried his best to ensure the safety of William II's family and the German royal family during the war, which could be regarded as compensation for William II.
I hope that Wilhelm II can escape his historical fate and not lose the throne of Germany and let the Hohenzollern family decline because he was emptied of power at the end of the war.
In fact, the class that suffered the most damage in World War I was the monarchy and aristocracy that are now deeply entrenched and very powerful.
The royal families of the powerful countries that lost their thrones directly after World War I included the Russian royal family, the German royal family and the Austro-Hungarian royal family.
In countries where the monarch has lost some or even most of his power, there are even more.
The decline of monarchies around the world is not a good thing for Arthur either. As one of the monarchs of the European factions, the more powerful the European royal family is, Arthur will also be able to enjoy some benefits.
Therefore, one of the goals Arthur wanted to achieve was to preserve the royal families of as many countries as possible during the war.
"Your Majesty, on behalf of the British government and royal family, I would like to say hello to your majesty, the Australasian royal family, the government and all Australasian people. We look forward to further exchanges with Australasia, and we are natural allies. , and a closer blood relative." As a seasoned foreign minister, Gray played the emotional card from the very beginning, telling the story of the good relationship between Australasia and the United Kingdom.
In fact, relying solely on the relationship between Australasia and Britain, it is impossible for Australasia to stand against Britain.
Currently, more than half of the more than 12 million people in Australasia, nearly 8 million people, are British immigrants.
This also means that British immigrants are the foundation of Australasia. In Australasia, the government and the Crown also had to consider the views of British immigrants.
Perhaps Arthur can rely on his huge prestige and popular support to defect to the German side against the wishes of the people.
But this would also hurt the feelings of British immigrants and have a negative impact on the rule of Australasia.
Under all circumstances, Minister Gray believed that at worst, Australasia would strictly maintain neutrality, and there would be no possibility of joining Germany, the Allied side.
Although Australasia's geographical location is very important, it can pose a threat to the British Empire's Indian and African colonies.
But Minister Gray confidently stated that Australasia would only be its own people and that India and Africa would still be safe.
"Of course. Although Australasia is very far away from the British Empire, the blood relationship between our two countries will never change." Arthur nodded matter-of-factly and replied.
In Arthur's opinion, the reason why the British gave a large amount of aid to Australasia was that the close relationship between the two countries had a very important impact. Moreover, Australasia is far away from Europe and will not affect the status of the British Empire in Europe. Even if it is just to take care of the sentiments of the domestic people, it is impossible to directly join the anti-British camp.
This also means that it is basically impossible for Australasia to stand on the opposite side of the British Empire. This is already determined by the close relationship between the two sides.
Unless the immigration structure of Australasia changes, the majority of British immigrants will become a small, or even a very small, minority.
Only such a situation can change Australasia's policy. Before that, it was impossible for Australasia to be hostile to Britain, even if it was just for the sake of Queen Victoria.
"Your Majesty, on the orders of His Majesty the King and the Cabinet, I have come to discuss with your country a plan to bring the two countries closer. To be honest, in addition to Germany, I think the British Empire and your country also have something in common. Your enemy is the United States on the other side of the Pacific Ocean." Secretary Gray said with a smile.
"Although Germany is currently the main enemy, the growth of Americans cannot be underestimated. Because of the unique geographical location of the United States, perhaps this is our biggest enemy. Although the United States is located on the other side of the Atlantic of the British Empire, it is also located in your country on the other side of the Pacific. Now that Europe is so powerful, if the United States wants to expand, it can only start from the direction of the Pacific. In fact, they do exactly that. If your country wants to continue to expand in the north, sooner or later it will end up with the United States People bump into each other directly.”
From what Minister Gray said, Arthur analyzed one piece of news, that is, the British government is not opposed to Australasia's continued northward expansion.
This actually means that, to a certain extent, in order to win over Australasia, the Dutch East Indies was an area that the British thought they could abandon.
Anyway, it is not a British colony. Using the Dutch land to win over their allies is not a bad deal for Minister Gray.
Seeing Arthur nodding and seeming to agree with what he said, Minister Gray struck while the iron was hot and continued: "Your Majesty, if you agree, on behalf of the British government, I am willing to sign an agreement with your government on joint defense against the U.S. government. Entente. If you agree, the British Empire will support your country's expansion in the Dutch East Indies. And if a conflict breaks out between your country and the United States in Southeast Asia, the British Empire will be willing to lend a helping hand at the first possible moment and stand firmly on the Australian side. Behind Asia."
The British government still attaches great importance to allies like Australasia. Especially after the policy of supporting Australia and resisting the United States was formulated, Australasia became the third most important ally of the British Empire after France and Russia.
Ranking third does not mean that Australasia is unimportant, but France and Russia, as the top powers, have too strong military strength, and Britain also relies on these two countries to defeat Germany.
Secondly, although Australasia's own military strength is enough to qualify as a great power, it is only the lowest level of power.
In addition, Germany is still Britain's most important enemy, and the United States is only its potential biggest enemy.
As a result, the importance of Australasia will naturally fall behind France and Russia, ranking only third.
"Of course, if His Majesty is willing, we are also very happy to see Australasia join the Allied Powers. If Australasia can join the Allied Powers, then we will have the four major powers of Britain, France, Russia and Australia, regardless of Whether it is the military strength or the foundation currently displayed, they far surpass the three great powers of Germany, Austria and Italy." In order to win over Australasia, Minister Gray directly and openly spread the rumors among European people and some governments that Australasia The rumors about the position of the eighth power in West Asia were made clear.
Minister Gray believes that the position of an eighth power recognized personally by the British Empire will definitely be attractive enough to the Australasian government and royal family.
After all, only after becoming a great power can one truly reach the top position in the world.
All the great powers are ants. This saying is not just a saying in this era. For the eight major powers, these eight countries control almost most of the world's regions and wealth, and have enough say in anything that breaks out around the world.
The strength of one major power may not be strong enough, but if several major powers have discussed it among themselves, then even if the remaining countries oppose it, it will be absolutely useless.
"Of course we understand what Minister Gray said. In fact, we are also looking forward to cooperating with the British Empire. But unfortunately, based on our current level of development and military preparations, it is difficult to be helpful to the British Empire." Se did not speak, but glanced at Prime Minister Kent. After receiving Arthur's signal, Prime Minister Kent smiled and spoke.
Although cooperation between Australasia and Britain is a foregone conclusion, Arthur has to strive for more benefits for Australasia and more British assistance.
However, there is no need for Arthur to ask for such a thing personally, as his subordinates will handle it very well.
"This is natural, Prime Minister Kent, Your Majesty. Apart from the potential common enemy of the United States, Germany is currently the greatest enemy of the British Empire. If Australasia can join the Allied organization and make some contribution to the future resistance to the Germans , we are willing to provide more support to Australasia and help Australasia have more strength." Minister Gray smiled and nodded, saying it matter-of-factly.
Now that the British government has decided to win over Australasia and support Australasia to fight against the United States.
Then support for Australasia is inevitable. After all, the United States is now a top power in industry and economy.
Coupled with the natural disadvantages among the Australasian population, if you want Australasia to resist the expansion of the United States in Asia, or even directly become the first front line against the United States, you must make Australasia stronger. The gap in power between China and the United States must be at least smaller.
After hearing what Minister Gray said, the members of the Australasian cabinet and government present here were obviously interested, and they couldn't wait to put forward their own conditions.
Although Australasia can develop on its own, with the help of the British Empire, the world's most powerful country, it can avoid detours and develop more rapidly.
It is vital for ministers in these departments to have access to British talent and technology to help their departments develop.
In just a few minutes, the ministers of various departments put forward their needs for talents, technology, equipment, etc. The scale of the needs was so exaggerated that even Minister Gray was a little surprised.
In the descriptions of these cabinet ministers, Australasia is like a baby waiting to be fed, requiring a lot of talent, technology and equipment in all aspects.
But this is obviously inconsistent with the intelligence that Minister Gray knows. According to what Minister Gray knows, although Australasia still has shortcomings in some aspects, some advanced technologies and industries are fully capable of rivaling lower-tier powers like Italy.
Because the matter was so important, the negotiations between the two parties also fell into a tug-of-war. Arthur is also happy to do this. If more aid can be obtained for Australasia, it will be very important for the development of the country.
Please support!
(End of chapter)