Chapter 479
With the help of Britain and Australasia, William II still got his wish and retained the throne of the King of Prussia, and he was also qualified to stand for election as Emperor of Germany.
However, in order to retain his throne, William II also paid too much.
First, the power of the German states was greatly increased. At the strong request of the French, the new German Empire would be a federal country, with each state having full rights, including complete economic and military rights.
In addition to administrative and diplomatic decisions that need to be made by the imperial government, it can be said that these small states are independent countries with their own governments, parliaments and armies.
Like the relatively powerful Kingdom of Bavaria in southern Germany, King Ludwig III also has the right to stand for election as German emperor.
The German emperor's own rights have also been weakened. Not only are they subject to the supervision of all state monarchs and can be impeached by state monarchs, but they are also subject to restrictions from the government, and their power has been greatly reduced.
More importantly, the German throne is no longer a hereditary system, but an electoral system. The monarchs of each state and the nominees of the German Emperor jointly ran for election, and the one who received the most votes became the emperor.
It is equivalent to permanently separating these states from the German emperor. After all, the dukes and kings of these states have the right to become emperors. Who will accept their fate and obey the emperor's rule?
Coupled with the checks and balances from the military government, it can be expected that the German political arena will not be calm in the future, and may be even more chaotic than the Russian political arena.
The financial and military power given to each state alone is destined to not be too strong in a short period of time.
You know, the number of German troops is strictly limited to 150,000, and the number of troops from these countries is also included in this 150,000.
This also means that the German Imperial Government will compete with all state governments for the quota of 150,000 troops. This is a major conflict flashpoint.
After all, Germany's total army during the war was millions of people, including millions of troops provided by various states.
To condense these people to 150,000, the German government and the armies of each state must be significantly reduced. As for the specific reduction ratio, it may depend on the prestige of the new Kaiser.
With each country taking its own actions, the end of 1918 passed quickly, and time finally came to 1919.
What may concern most countries is the financial situation in 1918.
The economy in the middle of the year had just seen a dawn due to the end of the war, but was soon extinguished by the flu.
It is no exaggeration to say that in 1918, the economies of most countries were in recession, and the extent of the recession was even greater than during the war.
Australasia did not suffer a major impact from the flu, but the economy suffered as a result. If it were not for preventive measures and the preparation of large quantities of masks and disinfectants in advance, I am afraid that Australasia's economy would have followed Europe's steps backward.
It is worth mentioning that despite the impact of the influenza, the number of immigrants in Australasia still reached more than one million. Even when the influenza subsided slightly, the number of immigrants increased crazily.
This can be considered a benefit that influenza has brought to Australasia. After Americans became enemies of the world, the United States seemed to have lost its status as the most popular destination for immigrants, with the number of immigrants greatly reduced.
Naturally, the one that benefits the most is Australasia. After all, Australasia is the only immigration country that can compete with the United States.
In 1918, Australasia received a total of 1.3 million immigrants. This was the result of the fact that Australasia was closed for half a year after the outbreak of the epidemic.
Coupled with the domestic newborn population of 442,000, the total population of Australasia officially exceeded 20 million, reaching 20.203 million.
The population officially exceeds 20 million, which brings Australasia to a new level. When this wave of influenza is truly over and Australasia's population begins to grow on a large scale, that's when Australasia's development will reap rewards.
In terms of industry, as of the beginning of 1919, the steel production in Australasia was 3 million tons and 4.55 million tons respectively, and the total steel production has exceeded 7.5 million tons. It is no exaggeration to say that it is an industrial power.
After the war, the previously huge military industry was split up, and a large number of military industry employees were absorbed into civilian industry employees, which alleviated the crisis caused by the substantial expansion of the military industry.
But there is also a new problem faced, that is, the Leonora Industrial Base is basically full after absorbing these skilled workers.
If Australasia's industry wants to usher in greater development, in addition to expanding the existing Leonora industrial base, perhaps the only way is to build a new industrial base.
It has to be admitted that the existing Leonora Industrial Base has become the core of Australasian industry, with up to 550,000 on-the-job workers, 1,200 large factories, 5,000 small and medium-sized factories and hundreds of large warehousing areas.
But for the large-scale immigration that Australasia is about to usher in, the scale and number of existing industrial bases are still not enough.
In order to meet the job needs of new immigrants, it is necessary to create more jobs.
After research, Arthur decided to launch the fourth phase of the Leonora Industrial Base construction plan to build the Leonora Industrial Base into a super industrial zone that can accommodate millions of workers and will be the future industrial core of Australasia.
In addition, new industrial bases must also be established in New Zealand, New South Wales and Victoria. Although not as large as the Leonora Industrial Base, it is still a super industrial zone that can accommodate at least tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of workers, further meeting the needs of Australasia's industrial development.
In addition to industrial development, Arthur's next plan is to restore the per capita cultivated land area to more than two acres.
At present, the total cultivated land area of Australasia has reached 38.77 million acres, and the per capita cultivated land area is approximately 1.92 acres.
This is just the tip of the iceberg for the vast land of Australasia. When the development of the Murray River Delta starts, Australasia will not only have one more urban agglomeration, but also one more excellent agricultural, animal husbandry and industrial development area. .
To restore the per capita cultivated land area to more than 2 acres, the total cultivated land area must be expanded to more than 40 million acres.
This also means that the next task of the Australasian government's agricultural department is to reclaim more land, firstly to reward new immigrants, and secondly to sell it to Australasian farmers at low prices to expand Australasian land. agricultural scale.
In previous wars, Australasian grain exports had generated substantial profits for the government.
It goes without saying how important it is for a country to have enough food. It is no exaggeration to say that the food crisis in the middle and late stages of the war was an important reason for the outbreak of civil strife in Russia.
An important reason why Germany was defeated was also because the Allies lacked food supplies.
Especially after the surrender of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Germany lost the Austro-Hungarian Empire as an important food exporter, and the domestic food crisis became more serious.
In 1918, the annual grain production in Australasia was approximately 18 million tons, while the amount of grain consumed by the domestic people was only about 5 million tons.
Of the remaining 13 million tons of grain, more than 8 million tons were sold to Europe and other regions, and the remaining 5 million tons were used as strategic grain reserves to replace old grain in grain storage.
The old food that was replaced was exported to the major colonies of the great powers.
In terms of grain production, Australasia's grain production is completely sufficient, and even one year's production can meet the consumption of the entire domestic population for about three years.
Coupled with Australasia's developed livestock industry, this is also an important reason why Australasia can guarantee domestic food supplies during times of war and influenza.
The reason Arthur promised to provide free supplies during the flu was because of Australasia's huge annual production of grain and meat.
Although the cost of providing these supplies during the Arthur Flu had already exceeded tens of millions of Australian dollars, plus the cost of free treatment for all people, the royal family and the government spent at least about 20 million Australian dollars.
Although the cost seemed high, Arthur was able to make money from trade with other countries.
What's more, Australasia controls more than this amount of reparations from the defeated countries every year, so there is no need to worry about the government's financial problems.
What's more, such a small amount of expenditure can make the people in the country have a higher favorable impression of Arthur. Even if there is no compensation from the defeated country, Arthur is absolutely willing to be funded by the royal family alone.
Free treatment was also a means for Australasia to attract immigrants during the flu.
Just imagine, immigrants who contract influenza in their original country not only have to face rising prices for various supplies, but also bear the cost of influenza treatment.
But if they only spend a ferry ticket to come to Australasia, all supplies during their quarantine will be free, and as long as they are willing to join Australasian citizenship, they will be eligible for free flu treatment.
Of course, the price is that they are not allowed to change their nationality again within five years, but this is not a price for Europeans who originally wanted to immigrate abroad.
Free influenza treatment is only required for immigrants, which is extremely attractive to most European people.
Especially in Russia, which has a relatively large population. In the past, some Russian immigrants were forcibly transported to Australasia by the government. Now a considerable number of Russians are willing to voluntarily immigrate to Australasia. After all, working as cattle in Russia and living in Australasia are There are still fundamental differences between West Adam people.
Although Australasia has its inevitable shortcomings, the attitude of the Australasian royal family and government towards the people is well known.
Living in a country like Australasia is a luxury for the people of this era, and even a fantasy for the people of many countries in later generations.
The second update of 3000 words, please vote for me and support!
The writing is serious, so I’ll just update 2 to 6,000 words today, just to be lazy.
(End of chapter)