Chapter 466 Reparations and Loan Repayment, Anglo-Australian Re-Covenant
Although the Treaty of Versailles was successfully signed, the diplomatic actions in Australasia had just begun.
Australasia will receive £1.7 billion in compensation from Germany alone, but no one knows how much it will ultimately receive.
At present, the government already has a loan of 2 billion US dollars from the United States, and Arthur does not pay attention to the 1.7 billion pounds of compensation that is not known when it will be received.
Rather than letting this compensation rot in your own hands in the future, it is better to realize its value early, even if you lose a little, you must exchange it for more and more useful things.
The first stop of Australasian diplomacy was negotiations with President Wilson of the United States.
The US$2 billion in aid from the United States to the five major Allied powers arrived in the last half year of the war. Even countries with huge consumption such as Britain and France did not have time to use the US$2 billion in loans, let alone Australasia.
Under such circumstances, returning this loan intact will undoubtedly significantly reduce the government's financial pressure.
Neither Australasia nor the United States has any immediate intention to call back or pay off the loan.
The United States needs to use loans to control the economies of some of the Allied countries and win over emerging countries like Australasia.
Australasia needs this loan to develop the country. After all, this is more than four times Australasia's annual income.
For Arthur, if Germany's reparations can be used to repay U.S. debts in advance, that would be absolutely good news.
Under such circumstances, negotiations between Prime Minister Kent and President Wilson of the United States continued as scheduled.
Prime Minister Kent got right to the point. After meeting President Wilson, he immediately made Arthur's request, which was to use 500 million pounds of German compensation to repay the US$2.2 billion interest-free loan in advance.
If the Americans agree, 500 million pounds of the 1.7 billion pounds of German reparations in Australasia will be transferred to the United States, but the debts of the United States and Australasia will also be written off.
If calculated according to the current exchange rate, US$2.2 billion is equivalent to almost 440 million pounds. If 500 million German compensation is used to pay off this debt, the Americans do not seem to suffer much.
After all, this was originally an interest-free loan. If it were repaid with German reparations, the Americans would have incurred a considerable 60 million pounds in interest, creating a large amount of income for nothing.
But Americans are obviously not easy to cheat. After hearing Prime Minister Kent's request, President Wilson shook his head repeatedly and said with a smile: "Prime Minister Kent, you are transferring the risk of reparations to the United States. I admit that the 500 million reparations are very important to the United States." We are very attractive, but who can guarantee that the German government has enough finances to repay these loans? The German government's debt totals 20 billion pounds, which cannot be repaid in 80 years." Americans want
to To join the First World War, the bloodshed was so great that each country of the five major Allied Powers prepared 2 billion US dollars, or 400 million pounds, in interest-free loans.
The total amount of this money is as high as 2 billion pounds, which has caused some pain in the United States that was not affected by the war, and even affected the development of some industries and economy.
President Wilson never believed that Germany, which was greatly affected by the war, could pay up to 20 billion pounds in compensation after the war, even if it took 80 years.
Looking at it this way, it is unknown whether half of Australasia's 500 million pound compensation will be recovered in the end. How can the Americans be willing to exchange 2 billion US dollars of real money?
"Your worries are completely unnecessary, President Wilson. I believe you also understand the attitude of the French in this peace negotiation. The French cannot give up this compensation, and the British will naturally not give up. With the guarantee of Britain and France, the Germans must repay This compensation. How about this, on behalf of His Majesty Arthur and the government, I promise you that Germany’s compensation will be given priority to you to ensure that you can receive this compensation truthfully?" Kent Butler said with a smile.
Although the Americans are dissatisfied with the attitude of Britain, France and the four major Allied powers in dominating the peace talks, the proud Americans have to admit that Britain and France together are the most powerful force at this time, and the Germans must pay compensation even if they grit their teeth. .
"That being said, Prime Minister Kent, the United States still has to bear high risks. If your country is willing to use 650 million pounds in compensation in exchange, I am willing to facilitate this negotiation." What Prime Minister Kent said also makes sense. After some thought, U.S. President Wilson came up with his own opinion, which was to increase money.
With Britain and France as a guarantee, even if the Germans were dissatisfied with the compensation, they would have to repay at least 80% of it.
If the loan can be repaid with a compensation of 650 million pounds, President Wilson estimates that the United States will receive at least a final compensation of more than 500 million pounds. This is a real sure-fire deal.
"This is too much, Mr. Wilson. The idea of using 650 million pounds in reparations to pay off 440 million pounds of debt is simply crazy. The most we can accept in exchange for 550 million pounds in reparations is also His Majesty Arthur's bottom line." Prime Minister Kent pretended to be shocked and shook his head, and refused decisively.
In negotiations in a monarchy, the powerful monarch is the best excuse. President Wilson had no doubts after hearing what Prime Minister Kent said. After all, Arthur's reputation and power in Australasia were rare among all monarchies.
Subsequently, President Wilson and Prime Minister Kent had a long discussion and determined a final figure, which was that Australasia would use 615 million pounds of German compensation to repay all debts owed to the United States in advance.
Prime Minister Kent also specifically mentioned that Australasia would not be responsible for any aftermath after the formal exchange.
How much compensation the United States can receive depends on how much compensation the Germans can compensate.
However, with Britain and France at the bottom, and the scale of 615 million pounds, President Wilson firmly believed that the United States would not lose much, so he signed the treaty very happily.
After negotiating with the United States, Prime Minister Kent met with British Prime Minister Lloyd George to discuss the issue of re-cooperation between Britain and Australia after the war.
The Anglo-Australian re-cooperation, also known as the Anglo-Australian re-covenant, was an agreement between Britain and Australasia before and during the war to deal with the rise of the United States.
The previous Anglo-Australian Agreement was mainly aimed at Germany, and its provisions were basically to aid Europe and the Indian Ocean region.
Now, the new alliance negotiated by Prime Minister Kent and Prime Minister Lloyd George is mainly aimed at the Pacific region and the United States, sharing some of the pressure for Britain.
Because Australasian aircraft and tanks showed excellent combat effectiveness during the war, their design and technological leadership even surpassed those of British and French aircraft and tanks.
Lloyd George was very interested in Australasian aircraft and tank technology, and even specifically mentioned in the new treaty that Britain and Australasia should strengthen the exchange of military technology.
Prime Minister Kent also has no objections to strengthening the exchange of military technology. After all, the military technology that has been eliminated in Australasia also needs big money like the UK to purchase it. At least in the short term, Australasia still needs allies like the United Kingdom in order to better focus on development.
An agreement that Prime Minister Kent attaches great importance to is the new immigration treaty between the United Kingdom and Australasia.
Due to the impact of previous wars, the number of British immigrants to Australasia has become smaller and smaller, and even fell below 50,000 in 1917.
This is not good news for Australasia. After all, the main ethnic group in Australasia is still British Australasians, and the population proportion of this group is less than 60%.
Australasia can also accept Russian immigrants. Russian immigrants also need to undergo English training for a period of time, which will increase the cost of immigration.
Lloyd George fully agreed to Prime Minister Kent's immigration request, but said that due to the impact of the war, the British government could not ensure that enough people would immigrate to Australasia every year.
In other words, the channel for British immigrants has been opened to Australasia, but how many immigrants can really be attracted depends on the efforts of the Australasian government.
The British were thinking about Australasia's tank and aircraft technology, and Australasia was also thinking about the British's warship construction technology.
Prime Minister Kent also proposed strengthening exchanges with the United Kingdom in warship construction, especially the construction of main battleships, such as aircraft carriers that are already in the spotlight in various countries.
Australasia is completely justified in cooperating with the British in warship construction, because the British were the first country to build dreadnoughts, super-dreadnoughts, and even aircraft carriers.
Especially in this era, the military power of the United States has not risen significantly. The British shipbuilding technology is still the well-deserved number one in the world, at least for twenty or thirty years.
In general, Prime Minister Lloyd George and Prime Minister Kent were quite satisfied with this new alliance. Both sides got what they needed, and both of their faces were full of satisfied smiles.
Before signing the alliance, Prime Minister Kent also made his final request, which was the exchange of colonies in the Middle East with the British Empire.
The scope of the exchange is on the Persian Gulf coast. Currently, the British Empire controls Iraq, the United Arab Emirates and Yemen, and Australasia controls the Saudi Arabian Gulf coast, Qatar and Bahrain.
Although it seems that Kuwait's areas are more suitable for development and have a larger population. But Arthur knows better that the UAE region, which is now the truce states, has richer oil resources.
Compared to Kuwait, which is right next to Iraq and is tasteless and a pity to abandon, the truce states that are vaster and have more oil resources are what Arthur really wants.
If Kuwait is exchanged for the United Arab Emirates, Britain can acquire the entire Mesopotamian plain and expand the development potential of the Iraqi region.
Australasia can also achieve Arthur's goal of occupying more oil areas along the Persian Gulf and competing for more oil reserves for Australasia.
It is no exaggeration to say that the Middle East accounts for more than 60% of the world's oil, and the Persian Gulf coast accounts for more than 60% of the Middle East's oil.
After hearing Prime Minister Kent's request, Lloyd George did not nod or refuse in a hurry, but raised his own question: "Kuwait has plains and a larger population. Why do you want to exchange it for the truce states?"
The truce states have no advantage over Kuwait. The only advantage may be that it is close to the Strait of Hormuz and can control the Persian Gulf more effectively.
But the problem is that Prime Minister Lloyd does not believe that Australasia's purpose is to control the Persian Gulf. After all, there are only three countries and forces along the Persian Gulf: Britain, Australasia and Iran.
To put it bluntly, the only two major powers are the United Kingdom and Australasia, and they are both allies. Australasia cannot be stupid enough to forcefully control the Persian Gulf coast.
In this way, Australasia's request for a replacement colony becomes somewhat meaningful. Prime Minister Lloyd did not dare to make decisions without knowing the true purpose of Australasia.
Of course, such an important matter as changing the colony cannot be decided by Prime Minister Law and George alone.
It would require at least the nod of approval from the British government, the House of Lords and the House of Lords, and ostensibly the approval of King George V.
"Although the colony of Kuwait has greater development potential, Australasia currently does not have the energy to develop this area. As you know, Prime Minister George and His Majesty Arthur have plans to move the capital. The construction and development of the new capital can be It is far more important than the development of colonies. Because of this, we want more stable colonies, and truce states with smaller populations are very suitable." Prime Minister Kent explained calmly.
"At the same time, to show the sincerity of our allies, we are also happy to let your country control the entire Mesopotamia Plain to dominate the situation in the Middle East. Please rest assured that our goal has never been the Strait of Hormuz. Your country We can still retain some islands in the Strait of Hormuz, and the entire Persian Gulf belongs to Australasia and the British Empire." After hearing
Prime Minister Kent's explanation, Law and Prime Minister George nodded and said, "This is indeed true. It is beneficial to both our countries. You know, this is not my decision alone. Please rest assured that I will try my best to obtain your Majesty's consent to promote the exchange of colonies." As a qualified politician, Foreign Affairs Lloyd
George The Prime Minister still gave George V a lot of face.
Although most people know that George V no longer has much power in Britain, Lloyd George is still talking about gaining the consent of George V, not the government and Parliament.
"This is natural, Prime Minister George. Regardless of whether the exchange of colonies will be achieved or not, it will not affect the good relations between Australasia and the United Kingdom. We are eternal allies." Prime Minister Kent nodded naturally and smiled. said.
The two prime ministers of the kingdom raised their wine glasses amid laughter, touched each other lightly, and drank from each other.
For a politician of this level, the fate of a colony with an area of hundreds of thousands of square kilometers and a population of hundreds of thousands is just a matter of words.
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(End of chapter)