Chapter 467: World Alliance and Enfeoffment Ceremony
The news of the renewed alliance between Britain and Australia spread quickly throughout Paris, attracting the attention of many European countries.
After the four major powers of the Entente became the largest power in the world, Britain only concluded a new alliance with Australasia, which seems a bit meaningful.
Before the European media could report this too much, another piece of news immediately appeared in the newspapers of the European media.
In April 1918, after friendly negotiations among many countries, all the Allied countries that signed the Treaty of Versailles joined the newly established World Alliance.
Many European media even regard the establishment of the World Alliance as a signal to end the war, because from now on there will be no more wars in the world, and all conflicts will be mediated by the World Alliance.
Unsurprisingly, the four major Allied powers became permanent members of the World League, possessing a right named the veto.
Many Allied countries, including Italy, are ordinary member states and only have the most basic one-vote right.
To take care of the mood of countries like Italy, the World League also has a special position in addition to the permanent members, its name is the elective member.
As the name suggests, the World Alliance will hold elections among the non-permanent members. The country with the highest votes becomes an elected member for a two-year term and is responsible for assisting the four permanent members in handling World Alliance affairs.
Although they do not have the most powerful veto power, the elected members still have considerable rights and status compared with ordinary member states.
Of course, this must be approved by the permanent members of the Security Council. Permanent members, who have veto power, can actually veto elected members.
This also means that the so-called World Alliance is still under the control of the four major powers of the Entente, and it is also the most satisfactory way of handling it for Britain, France, Russia and Australia.
This also led to the fact that although the seat of the World Alliance is located in Geneva, Switzerland, where the famous Geneva Convention was signed, the rights of the World Alliance are controlled by the four major powers of the Entente, and the overall world situation has not changed.
The United States, which was the first to propose a system similar to the World Alliance, did not enter the World Alliance because the U.S. Congress did not agree with the Treaty of Versailles.
This also caused the only country that had a chance to compete with the four major powers of the Entente to lose its right to compete in the World Alliance, and also left other small and medium-sized countries in the World Alliance without any room for resistance.
After all, if Britain and France join the World Alliance, Britain and France may be more fair in terms of face.
But if it is a non-World Alliance country, even if it is invaded by any major power, it can only consider itself unlucky.
With the establishment of the World League, representatives from various countries also returned from Paris. According to the agreement of the World Alliance, all member states will hold a meeting in Geneva every three months and must attend unless unexpected.
This also led Prime Minister Kent to immediately decide to send a diplomatic team to be stationed in Geneva so as to participate in meetings held in Geneva at any time.
After all, Australasia is not close to Geneva, and a round trip takes at least more than two months.
If you come to Geneva from Australasia, you are probably either in a meeting or on your way there.
Throughout the peace talks at the Paris Peace Conference, Australasia was also nervously preparing for the enfeoffment ceremony and the victory parade.
In order to celebrate the victory of this war, the government and the royal family will also hold a large number of activities and distribute free materials, striving to achieve the effect of national celebration.
When Prime Minister Kent's diplomatic team returns to Australasia, it will be time for the enfeoffment ceremony and activities to be officially held.
Perhaps this was also the last event held in Sydney as the capital. With the victory of the war, it was decided to put the plan to move the capital as early as possible. The early development of the Murray River Basin would also be conducive to the development of Australasia.
The current environment of the Murray River Basin is much better than it will be 100 years ago, and it is also the last opportunity for development in this area.
If it is delayed for a while, it will only become more and more difficult to develop this area, and the consumption of the government, manpower and materials will also become more and more serious.
In May 1918, as the diplomatic team led by Prime Minister Kent was about to arrive in Sydney, the enfeoffment ceremony was also in the intense final stage of preparations.
On May 15, Prime Minister Kent arrived in Sydney and met Arthur immediately to report the results.
Just three days later, on May 18, 1918, the Australasian noble enfeoffment ceremony and the war victory celebration ceremony officially began.
"All my people, I am very happy to stand here and celebrate the victory of this war with you.
All of you have made a huge contribution to this war. After more than three years of hard work, , we finally ushered in this great victory.
And you, my beloved people, you are the biggest contributors to this victory, Australasia is proud of you!"
In the victory of the war and the war After sighing with emotion for the sacrifices made, the celebration finally reached its climax, which was the enfeoffment of all meritorious people.
Unlike the complicated and luxurious enfeoffment ceremonies of the traditional old nobility, the enfeoffment ceremony of the new Australasian nobility pays attention to frugality and openness.
Arthur's purpose is to let everyone see the enfeoffment of the new nobles, which will not only inspire the new nobles' confidence, but also make those watching become fanatical.
As for whether the too simple enfeoffment ceremony would dissatisfy the enfeoffed nobles, Arthur smiled and said that he was overthinking it. The vast majority of people who were enfeoffed were commoners or the middle class. They were overjoyed to become new nobles, let alone being enfeoffed by Arthur himself in front of tens of thousands of civilians.
As for the old aristocrats who pay attention to tradition and ceremony, well, except for Arthur, it seems that there are none in Australasia.
"In view of your significant contributions to the country and the royal family, I declare that Ludwig Cole, Hunter and Andrew will be knighted. You will become the glorious knights of Australasia and guard this country in your new capacity. Your courage and honor will be an example to all, and you will become heroes of the country." As the lowest noble title that cannot be inherited, the knighthood has the lowest threshold of all noble titles.
According to statistics, the number of people who have been awarded knighthoods is close to two hundred, which is enough to show how exaggerated the scale of this enfeoffment ceremony was.
Of course, this was the reason why Arthur was eager to expand the size of the Australasian nobility. If the size of the Australasian nobility was not too small, Arthur would not have exaggerated to more than 200 knights at one time.
"I will fight for your Majesty and the royal family, I will fight for the country, and I will fight for the people. Please God witness my oath. I am willing to dedicate my life to your majesty and the royal family, and use sword and blood to forge the glory of the knight. !"
All the people who were entrusted came forward with a tacit understanding, knelt down on one knee in front of Arthur, and said their oaths neatly.
The title of knighthood is a unique title of nobility in Australasia and is also a representative of the new nobility in Australasia.
Therefore, the oath of the knighthood is also relatively unique. It was adapted by Archbishop Steed based on the oath of knights in the Middle Ages, and it is in line with the factors of the knighthood in Australasia.
Arthur's gift to these new nobles was a special dagger with the name of each knight engraved on one side and the time when he was awarded the knighthood.
The other side is engraved with five words: loyalty, bravery, passion, fearlessness, and justice, which are also Arthur's expectations for these new nobles.
After the title of knight, there is the title of baronet, which is a higher level.
Although barons are theoretically only the lowest level of true hereditary nobles in Australasia, there are not many people who have obtained the title of baron this time, and there are only a dozen people at full count.
Director Teodor, who was responsible for developing the aircraft, and Diesel, the general manager of the engine factory, were also awarded the title of baron, which is also the highest title currently awarded to scientific researchers.
Of course, many scientists and researchers who have contributed to Australasia, such as Benz and Ludwig, have also received knighthoods.
The knighthood has been awarded to nearly 200 people in total, and more than 30 of them are scientific researchers, which shows that Arthur attaches great importance to scientific research work.
In fact, this has indeed gained the gratitude and enthusiasm of many scientific researchers. After all, being able to obtain a country's noble title through scientific research is something that many people would never dare to dream of.
In addition to these scientific researchers, including the commanders of several divisions, the three prime ministers since Arthur became the monarch, and the six colonial governors during the Australian colonial period, all also received the title of baron.
Several division commanders have also served as commander-in-chief of the Australasian Expeditionary Force. Their performance during their tenure was considered good, which gave them hope for promotion in the military.
Needless to say, the three prime ministers have made indelible contributions to the development of Australasia for more than ten years, and it is natural for them to receive a rewarding title.
As for the remaining prime ministers of the colonial period, giving them titles was also an attempt to win over them. After all, their ability to give up the opportunity to return to the British Empire and continue to stay in Australasia was a sign of trust in Arthur.
Moreover, these six prime ministers (including Prime Minister Evan) have not caused any trouble to Arthur so far, but they have followed Arthur's orders very seriously, whether on the surface or behind the scenes.
Allowing these people to obtain the title of baron also gives hope to those with seniority. Even if the ability is not too strong, as long as they are loyal to the royal family and the country and work hard for the royal family and the country for a lifetime, Arthur and the royal family will never forget the contributions of these people.
Except for knights and barons, no one at the higher level of earl has obtained it yet. After all, Australasia did not perform much in World War I, and no one's contribution was great enough to be awarded the title of earl.
Of course, there is another important reason, that is, the earl has almost reached the top of the civilian aristocracy.
But in theory, civilians can also be promoted to the title of Duke, but such difficulty is too high, and it is basically impossible to do it without Arthur's appreciation.
Unless it can allow Australasia to obtain an unexpected large amount of land, or save Australasia from the crisis of national annihilation, both of these requirements are currently unrealistic.
The direction in which Australasia can currently expand is the Arabian Desert in the Middle East and the remaining Dutch East Indies.
It is not difficult to occupy these two areas, but it is laborious and laborious, which is not in line with Arthur's current development plan.
The rule of Australasia is also very stable, without any crisis of national annihilation.
At present, it seems that unless there is a very outstanding contribution to science and technology, or until the future World War II.
Before that, it was not easy to become a duke based on merit.
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(End of chapter)