Chapter 379 Countries’ Reactions and the Impact of the War On
August 6, the war in Europe began in full swing. The Allies and the Entente went to war with each other, allowing six of the eight major powers in the world to join the war.
Although the outbreak of the war caught people off guard, many people did not expect the neutrality of a country.
As a member of the Central Powers, the Italians publicly expressed their neutral intentions to the outside world after Austria-Hungary declared war on Russia.
This also caused the Allied Powers, which were originally at a disadvantage in terms of overall strength, to become even wider with the Allies after losing Italy, which had good naval strength.
Unless the German army can create a huge advantage on land, the war situation will definitely be one-sided as the war continues.
The day after the declaration of war, that is, August 5, the Australasian Ministry of Defense was already urgently preparing the personnel and weapons needed for the offensive, preparing to launch an attack on the German colonies in the Pacific as soon as possible.
Those participating in the attack, including the 1st and 2nd Divisions, were the two most elite divisions in the Australasian conventional army.
Cooperating with the army's offensive was the entire Australasian navy.
Although the Australasian navy also has the task of helping the British patrol in the Indian Ocean, the war has just broken out, and it will take a certain amount of time for the British to mobilize their troops. This will give the Australasian navy some free time to help own domestic offensive.
The lethality of the navy's naval guns is huge. In addition, the German colonies basically do not have a large-scale fleet. As long as they are close to the coast of the German colonies, they are the greatest threat to the enemy.
As for aircraft and tanks that may pose a greater threat, at least for now, Arthur has no intention of exposing them.
While the offensive was being planned in Australasia, the war in Europe was already raging.
Thanks to the developed railway and road networks in Europe, especially Western Europe, German and French troops arrived at the border in a short time and have successfully exchanged fire.
From the time Germany declared war on France on August 3 to now, in just four days, millions of German and French troops have been fighting each other on the border, with rivers of blood flowing and it is too horrible to watch.
According to rough statistics from Germany and France, the casualties of the German and French troops during these four days were 27,000 and 35,000 respectively.
If it weren't for the fact that the transportation of various heavy weapons would take some time, and that many troops were urgently dispatched from other areas and had not arrived at the border for long, the number of casualties on both sides would have at least doubled.
On the Eastern Front battlefield, the fighting was equally fierce.
Germany declared war on Russia as early as August 1, and the fighting on the German-Russian border has lasted for nearly a week.
As for the Austro-Hungarian Empire, although the Austro-Hungarian Empire was the last to declare war on Russia, the Austro-Hungarian Empire was the first country to initiate a war. On the border between the Austro-Hungarian Empire and Serbia, more than 500,000 troops from both sides have assembled. , and fought fiercely.
If Franz I had not received William II's letter and retained most of the main force for the war with Russia, I am afraid that the number of soldiers in the war between Austria-Hungary and Serbia would have exceeded one million.
However, Francis I did not completely listen to William II's opinions. William II suggested that Franz I could take defensive measures against Serbia if necessary, but Austrian Prime Minister Berthold believed that the Austro-Hungarian Empire could capture Serbia even with only a small number of troops.
Therefore, the border battle between the Austro-Hungarian Empire and Serbia was not only fierce, but both sides had their own victories and defeats in the offensive and defensive battles. The Austro-Hungarian Empire could not chew this difficult bone for a while.
In addition to France, Germany, Russia and Austria-Hungary, the four countries that are already at war with each other, the United Kingdom and Australasia are not just participating in the war verbally. The corresponding strategic materials are already being frantically transported to Europe, the United Kingdom, and Australasia. The expeditionary force is also already undergoing intense preparations.
The good news is that in the previous two Balkan wars, the Russians took advantage of the opportunity of going abroad to purchase weapons in the Balkans and purchased a large number of advanced weapons and equipment for themselves.
In addition, before the war, a new batch of weapons and equipment support from Australasia had just arrived at the port of Vladivostok. This also resulted in Russia not being short of weapons and equipment in a short period of time, and the progress of military expansion was also very smooth.
Only with sufficient weapons and equipment can Russia's reputation as a European bulldozer be fully realized.
Compared with several other European powers, Russia has a larger core population, and it is not too distressing to look at the huge number of casualties.
The current war is still only the home field of the six major powers, and other small European countries have not participated yet.
According to historical progress, many small countries in Europe, including Italy, should participate in the war within a year.
But the current situation is different from that in history, and Arthur cannot guarantee that the time when these countries will participate in the war will change, or even not participate in the war directly.
Since the end of July, the war trend between the two camps has become a hot topic in news around the world.
And when the war actually broke out, the whole world was shocked. All news reports in Europe, America, Asia, Africa, and Australia are about this war.
At this time, even if the president of the United States breaks a scandal, it cannot take away the heat of this war at all. After all, this is a war about the situation of the entire world and a war about the fate of all countries in the world.
Perhaps the only country on the other side of Europe and the Pacific that seems more relaxed about such news is the United States.
As the only two major powers that did not participate in the war, because the United States was far away from the European battlefield, as long as the United States did not actively participate, this war would basically not affect the United States.
This has also led to Americans having a relatively relaxed attitude towards this European war. Even many news items are not too big a deal. Many expert sections have been opened to publish various experts' assessments of the odds of winning by both sides in this war, attracting the American people to buy own newspaper.
I have to say, this trick is really effective. According to unsourced reports in the United States, newspaper sales in the United States have almost doubled since the end of July.
This war not only attracted the attention of Americans, but also attracted the attention of a large number of countries in Asia, which had nothing to do with the war.
If the country in Asia is most concerned about this war, it should be the island country that has recently lost its status as a great power.
Although this war does not seem to have much to do with the island country, after all, the only participating country that has relations with the island country, the United Kingdom, also gave up its alliance with the island country because of further cooperation with Russia.
But this does not prevent the islanders from paying attention to this war. There is no other reason. Germany also has colonies in Asia. This colony is of great importance to the island country. If it can obtain this colony, the power and strength of the island country will also usher in considerable growth.
As for why the island countries are eyeing German colonies instead of Russia, there is no way. The four major powers of the Allied Powers are now too popular. Even if the island countries have reached an alliance with the United States, they still dare not offend Russia before the Allies weaken.
Unless the Russians get into chaos, the island country has no intention of taking action against Russia under the current situation.
However, there are also other actions taking place within the island country. After all, the chaotic situation in Russia is igniting at once, and it is impossible for the people of the island country not to take some small actions.
At present, every government meeting in the island country must discuss the situation of the European war.
It is precisely because many countries are paying attention to this European war that many people seem to be unable to keep up with the times if they do not talk about this war.
If anyone did not know about the outbreak of this war, then there is no doubt that this person would be laughed at by everyone around him.
This is actually determined by Europe's status. As the most developed region in the world, Europe is not only the center of the world, but also determines the world situation.
The combined GDP of Europe alone accounts for more than half of the world's GDP.
Excluding the two exceptions of Australasia and the United States, Europe definitely occupies the majority of the world in all aspects, and even if all other countries are added together, it is only a small part.
It is precisely because of Europe's relatively important strategic position that once the European war broke out, commodity prices around the world, including in Europe, rose a lot.
Among them, Europe has been the most severely affected. According to statistics from various European countries, the price increase of goods in countries affected by the war is about 15%, and the price increase of goods in countries affected by the war is more than 5%.
You know, less than ten days have passed since the war broke out. If it continues, the impact of the European war on countries around the world can be imagined.
In addition to Europe, the United States and Australasia have also been affected to a certain extent. Fortunately for Australasia, Arthur has already stocked up some industrial equipment in advance. As for other mineral resources and materials, Australasia can basically produce and sell them on its own.
There is a lot of trade between the United States and European countries, which has also caused the prices of some American goods to rise by about 5% to 10%.
If it were not for the suppression by various governments, I am afraid that reports of rising prices in various countries will continue. Under the premise that people are panicking and buying supplies, prices will rise even faster.
The impact of rising prices on Australasia is not great. After all, under Arthur's advance layout, Australasia is in a state of overcapacity in the more important food production, medical supplies, etc.
Even rising prices are good news for Australasia. Even if trade with the Allied Powers will reduce prices to a certain extent because of alliances, after prices rise higher and higher, Australasia's trade with Britain, France and Russia will You can also get more profits from China, and these funds can be used for national development and war.
Arthur's royal consortium can also take advantage of this to make a fortune. You know, military factories and medical groups currently have excessive production capacity. If Arthur hadn't spent a large amount of money every year to make up for the losses caused by large-scale stockpiling, I'm afraid the military factory and the newly established medical group would have collapsed long ago.
And the reason why Arthur worked so hard to hoard a large amount of supplies was just to sell them to Britain, France and Russia during the war?
Although it is unethical to take advantage of rising prices to sell to allies at high prices, compared to the situation in history when Britain, France and Russia, especially Russia, had money and could not buy supplies, Australasia can provide enough supplies of all kinds. For Britain, It is also good news for France and Russia.
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(End of chapter)