Chapter 60 Immigration
"Your Highness, the British government has agreed to support us with funds or other industrial equipment worth 55 million pounds. This fund will be paid in ten years, with an annual share of 5.5 million pounds." Minister Andrew smiled. Explained: "Prime Minister Robert agreed that we can choose how to pay for funds or industrial equipment and resources at will. Theoretically, in addition to British strategic technology and industrial equipment, any industrial equipment and resources can be equally exchanged with these support funds. "
Can the naval technology we need be exchanged?" Arthur asked with slight interest.
British naval technology is one of the major factors that make the British navy leading the world. Another major factor is the huge investment in the navy and the two-power policy.
I have to admit that even the German Empire, which has the second-largest overall strength in the world, still lags behind the British Empire in terms of navy. Except for submarines, it can be said that it lags behind the British in terms of naval technology.
Although Germany started to catch up with Britain in terms of navy after its rise, it will take a long time to slowly make up for the gap accumulated over a long period of time.
"The vast majority of naval technologies are available, Your Highness. However, Prime Minister Robert specifically stated that the drawings of all battleships and large warships in service in the UK are not within the scope of support." Defense Minister Kanter said helplessly.
Even though the two sides had been discussing this for a long time, the British government did not agree to include drawings of battleships and large warships in service within the scope of support.
Although having drawings does not mean that Australia can produce warships, drawings are also the most important thing for warships.
With the drawings, the weaknesses of warships can be easily studied. Especially for potential enemies of the British Empire, drawings of warships in service are definitely a good thing.
In fact, during the period of confrontation between the two major military groups, especially after Britain joined the Allied Powers, the number of spies dispatched by European countries rose sharply. Among them, stealing the blueprints and data of warships was one of the important tasks of these spies.
"It doesn't matter, Minister Kent." When he heard that Britain was unwilling to share the drawings of warships, Arthur not only didn't look angry, but also laughed.
"Your Highness, if we want to build a navy, we can only buy warship drawings from Germany. However, compared to British warships, German warships are still slightly inferior in performance. Minister Kent frowned and said helplessly.
The British were stuck with Australia in terms of naval drawings, which made Minister Kent a little dissatisfied.
The navy is willing to teach everything about technology, but it is unwilling to share the blueprints of warships. Isn't this equivalent to the chef buying all the cooking utensils for his apprentices, but not teaching them the recipes? Isn't this a fool's errand?
"That's fine, Minister Kent. Australia's industrial strength is also limited. In a short period of time, our navy will still be dominated by small and medium-sized warships. Our shipyards are capable of producing such warships. We just need to familiarize the workers with them." Once you are familiar with the shipbuilding equipment, you can start work by groping around." Arthur smiled and said comfortingly: "Our shipbuilding industry is still very weak. Even if the British give us the drawings, we will not be able to digest them in a short time. I think Germany The design of warships is very suitable. Compared with the United Kingdom, Germany's support for us is greater, and we can master its technology more quickly. Can we use British naval technology to build warships on the German warship drawings? Will the performance be even better?"
Arthur's words comforted Minister Kent, and the unhappiness about the British warship drawings quickly dissipated.
In fact, compared to what he explained, the real Arthur didn't care about those warship drawings. In fact, it was the dreadnought that would be born in a few years.
The gap between the dreadnoughts and the main battleships before these dreadnoughts, to use an exaggerated saying on the Internet, is that all the former dreadnoughts will be reduced to scrap metal after the birth of the dreadnoughts.
Although the reality is not so exaggerated, the pre-dreadnought ship basically has no ability to resist in the face of the dreadnought. Whether it is based on surface data or actual combat capabilities, the dreadnought ship can crush the pre-dreadnought ship.
The difference between dreadnoughts and pre-dreadnoughts does not lie in one aspect, but in their all-round crushing. For a warship, its combat performance is determined by sailing speed, armor thickness, firepower intensity, flexibility, soldier quality, etc.
Apart from the external factor of soldier quality, whether it is sailing speed, armor thickness, vitality strength and flexibility, the dreadnoughts crushed the former dreadnoughts.
To use a more appropriate word to compare, the combat effectiveness gap between a dreadnought and a pre-dreadnought is like that between a college student and an elementary school student.
After the birth of the dreadnought, the current drawings of these British warships are basically useless.
By then, the naval arms race among various countries will be dominated by dreadnoughts. What determines the strength of the navy is no longer these backward warships, but the number and combat effectiveness of the dreadnoughts.
These active warships will not last long, which is the real reason why Arthur doesn't care about the drawings of these warships.
"What about the issue of immigration? Immigration should be said to be one of the most important issues in Australia, and it is urgent to introduce immigrants." Arthur said.
Europe is currently in a relatively chaotic period, and coupled with the increase in the European population, major European countries are in the stage of immigration waves.
According to rough statistics from later generations, from the early 19th century to the early 20th century, approximately 60 million people across Europe immigrated overseas, of which a full 35 million people immigrated to the United States.
As the most powerful country in Europe, Britain has immigrated more than 8 million people in about 100 years.
Especially as the two major European military blocs confront each other and the arms race becomes more and more serious, the number of European immigrants has gradually increased since 1890. Every year, approximately 7 to 8 million Europeans choose to immigrate overseas permanently.
Although more than half of these immigrants chose to go to the United States, after all, the United States is one of the great powers comparable to European countries. Although it is not outstanding in the military, its industry and economy have surpassed many European powers.
But Arthur is not greedy either. It is impossible to absorb huge numbers of immigrants like the United States in a short period of time.
However, with Arthur's popularity in the UK and immigration support from Britain and Germany, coupled with Australia's publicity, it is still possible to account for one-tenth of the European immigrants.
"On the issue of immigration, the British government said it would try its best to help. They promised that they would never oppose immigration to Australia in the UK and would try their best to help Australia publicize various immigration policies." Foreign Minister Andrew said: "Although the British will not object to us attracting Immigrants, but if we want them to help us directly, there is no hope."
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(End of chapter)