Chapter 340 Discussing Needs
Originally, Prime Minister Kent intended to prepare a welcome banquet for Minister Grey and the British delegation, but Minister Grey refused on the grounds that they were exhausted from the long journey.
In fact, this was indeed the case. Even though the British delegation was on the most luxurious cruise ship in the UK and was escorted by British warships, it still took more than a month to reach Australasia.
During this period, the delegation also stopped in the Suez Canal and India, which indirectly extended the time on the road.
After staying on the cruise ship for more than a month, even Minister Grey, who thought he was used to such bumps, couldn't help but feel tired and exhausted.
After giving a simple order to his subordinates, Minister Grey lay on the big bed of the Victoria Royal Hotel and fell asleep comfortably.
On February 22, 1913, the day after the British delegation arrived at Sydney Port, Arthur received the British delegation at Sydney Palace, accompanied by the cabinet government headed by Prime Minister Kent.
After the British delegation greeted them, Arthur smiled and looked at Minister Grey, who was in charge, and said, "Minister Grey, how was your rest yesterday?"
"Very good, Your Majesty. Sydney doesn't have the bad environment of London, and the air is much better than London." Minister Grey smiled and nodded, and answered respectfully.
The name of British Foreign Minister Grey is now well-known in Europe.
Of course, all this depends on the series of diplomatic attitudes that Minister Grey has taken towards European countries during his term of office.
Minister Grey is one of the candidates in the British Empire Cabinet Government who firmly advocates toughness against Germany and is hostile to Germany.
If you want to choose the most hostile to Germany in the British Cabinet, then Minister Grey deserves it.
During Minister Grey's term of office, Britain signed treaties with France and Russia successively, and single-handedly promoted the real confrontation between the two major military groups in Europe.
Such a person with a clear attitude came to Australasia. In addition to winning over Australasia, it also released a message to the outside world, that is, Australasia and Britain are getting closer.
This actually tied Australasia to the British chariot in disguise. After all, after receiving Minister Grey with extremely high standards, even if Australasia did not express its attitude to the outside world and did not release any news of entering Britain, it would naturally be classified as close to Britain by the outside world.
In this way, Australasia's previously strictly observed neutrality would also be broken.
Unless Australasia can immediately reiterate its neutral position and re-emphasize its decision not to join any party.
But in this way, it is obvious that it will damage the relationship with the British. After all, judging from the special relationship between Australasia and Britain, it is not a good alliance relationship, but a weakened relationship.
Since Arthur has already decided which side to choose between Britain and Germany, he will naturally not hesitate.
Although joining the Allied Powers and becoming an enemy of Germany obviously hurt the feelings between William II and the Germans.
But for national interests, what can personal feelings count for?
At worst, Arthur tried his best to ensure the safety of William II's family and the German royal family during the war, which was also a compensation for William II.
I hope that William II can get rid of his historical fate and not lose the German throne because of his power being stripped away in the later period of the war, which will cause the Hohenzollern family to decline from the altar.
In fact, the class that suffered the most damage in the First World War was the monarchs and nobles who are currently deeply rooted and very powerful.
The royal families of the powerful countries that directly lost their thrones after World War I include the Russian royal family, the German royal family and the Austro-Hungarian royal family.
There are even more countries where the monarchs have lost part or even most of their power.
The weakening of monarchy around the world is not a good thing for Arthur. As one of the monarchs of a European faction, the stronger the European royal family is, the more benefits Arthur can enjoy.
Therefore, preserving the royal families of as many countries as possible in the war is also one of the goals Arthur wants to achieve.
"Your Majesty, on behalf of the British government and royal family, I would like to say hello to your Majesty and the Australasian royal family, as well as the government and all the people of Australasia. We look forward to further exchanges with Australasia. We are natural allies and closer blood relatives." As an experienced foreign minister, Grey played the emotional card right from the start, talking about the good relationship between Australasia and Britain.
In fact, just relying on the relationship between Australasia and Britain, Australasia cannot stand on the opposite side of Britain.
Currently, more than half of the more than 12 million people in Australasia, nearly 8 million people, are British immigrants.
This also means that British immigrants are the foundation of Australasia. In Australasia, the government and the royal family have to consider the opinions of British immigrants.
Perhaps Arthur can rely on his own great prestige and popular support to go against the will of the people and join the German side.
But this will also hurt the feelings of British immigrants and have an adverse impact on the rule of Australasia.
Under these circumstances, Minister Grey believed that Australasia would at worst remain strictly neutral and there was no possibility of joining Germany or the Allies.
Although Australasia's geographical location was very important and could pose a threat to the British Empire's colonies in India and Africa.
But Minister Gray confidently stated that Australasia would only be its own people and that India and Africa would still be safe.
"Of course. Although Australasia is very far away from the British Empire, the blood relationship between our two countries will never change." Arthur nodded matter-of-factly and replied.
In Arthur's view, the reason why the British gave a large amount of aid to Australasia was that the close relationship between the two countries had a very important impact.
Moreover, Australasia is far away from Europe and will not affect the status of the British Empire in Europe. Even if it is just to take care of the sentiments of the domestic people, it is impossible to directly join the anti-British camp.
This also means that it is basically impossible for Australasia to stand on the opposite side of the British Empire. This is already determined by the close relationship between the two sides.
Unless the immigration structure of Australasia changes, the majority of British immigrants will become a small, or even a very small, minority.
Only such a situation can change Australasia's policy. Before that, it was impossible for Australasia to be hostile to Britain, even if it was just for the sake of Queen Victoria.
"Your Majesty, on the orders of His Majesty the King and the Cabinet, I have come to discuss with your country a plan to bring the two countries closer. To be honest, in addition to Germany, I think the British Empire and your country also have something in common. The enemy is the United States on the other side of the Pacific Ocean," Minister Gray said with a smile.
"Although Germany is currently the main enemy, the growth of Americans cannot be underestimated. Because of the unique geographical location of the United States, perhaps this is our biggest enemy. Although the United States is located on the other side of the Atlantic of the British Empire, it is also located in your country On the other side of the Pacific. Now that Europe is so powerful, if the United States wants to expand, it can only start from the Pacific direction. In fact, if your country wants to continue to expand in the north, it will sooner or later. People bump into each other directly.”
From what Minister Gray said, Arthur analyzed a piece of news, that is, the British government is not opposed to Australasia's continued northward expansion.
This actually means that, to a certain extent, in order to win over Australasia, the Dutch East Indies was an area that the British thought they could abandon.
Anyway, it is not the British's own colony. Using the Dutch land to win over their allies is not a bad deal for Minister Gray.
Seeing Arthur nodding and seeming to agree with what he said, Minister Gray struck while the iron was hot and continued: "Your Majesty, if you agree, on behalf of the British government, I am willing to sign an agreement with your government on joint defense against the U.S. government. Agreement. If you agree, the British Empire will support your country's expansion in the Dutch East Indies. And if a conflict breaks out between your country and the United States in Southeast Asia, the British Empire will be willing to lend a helping hand at the first opportunity and stand firmly on the Australian side. Behind Lasia."
The British government still attaches great importance to allies like Australasia. Especially after the policy of supporting Australia and resisting the United States was formulated, Australasia became the third most important ally of the British Empire after France and Russia.
Ranking third does not mean that Australasia is unimportant, but France and Russia, as the top powers, have too strong military strength, and Britain also relies on these two countries to defeat Germany.
Secondly, although Australasia's own military strength is enough to qualify as a great power, it is only the lowest level of power.
In addition, Germany is still Britain's most important enemy, and the United States is only its potential biggest enemy.
As a result, the importance of Australasia will naturally fall behind France and Russia, ranking only third.
"Of course, if Your Majesty is willing, we are also very happy to see Australasia join the Allied Powers. If Australasia can join the Allied Powers, then we will have the four major powers of Britain, France, Russia and Australia, regardless of The military strength and foundation currently displayed far exceed the three major powers of Germany, Austria, and Italy. "In order to win over Australasia, Minister Gray directly and openly spread the rumors among European people and some governments. The rumors about the position of the eighth power in West Asia were made clear.
Minister Gray believes that the position of the Eighth Power recognized personally by the British Empire will definitely be attractive enough to the Australasian government and royal family.
After all, only after becoming a great power can one truly reach the top position in the world.
All the great powers are ants. This saying is not just a saying in this era. For the eight major powers, these eight countries control almost most of the world's regions and wealth, and have enough say in anything that breaks out around the world.
The power of one great power may not be strong enough, but if several great powers have discussed it among themselves, then even if the remaining countries oppose it, it will be absolutely useless.
"Of course we understand what Minister Gray said. In fact, we are also looking forward to cooperating with the British Empire. But unfortunately, based on our current level of development and military preparations, it is difficult to be helpful to the British Empire." Se did not speak, but glanced at Prime Minister Kent. After receiving Arthur's signal, Prime Minister Kent smiled and spoke.
Although cooperation between Australasia and Britain is a foregone conclusion, Arthur has to strive for more benefits for Australasia and more British assistance.
However, there is no need for Arthur to speak personally about such a matter, as his subordinates will handle it very well.
"That's natural, Prime Minister Kent, Your Majesty. In addition to the potential common enemy of the United States, Germany is currently the biggest enemy of the British Empire. If Australasia can join the Allied Powers and make some contributions to resisting the Germans in the future, we are willing to provide Australasia with more support and help Australasia have more strength." Minister Grey smiled and nodded, saying as a matter of course.
Since the British government has decided to win over Australasia and support Australasia to fight against the United States.
Then support for Australasia is inevitable. After all, the current industry and economy of the United States are already a top power.
In addition to the natural disadvantages of Australasia's population, if Australasia wants to resist the expansion of the United States in Asia, or even directly become the first front line against the United States, Australasia must have a stronger force, at least the gap with the United States must be smaller.
After hearing what Minister Grey said, the members of the Australasian cabinet government present were obviously interested, and they couldn't wait to put forward their own conditions.
Although Australasia can develop on its own, it can take fewer detours and develop faster if it has the help of the world's first superpower, the British Empire.
For the ministers of these departments, if their departments can have the help of British talents and technology, it will be crucial for the development of their departments.
In just a few minutes, the ministers of various departments put forward their demands for talents, technology, equipment, etc. The scale of the demand was even more exaggerated, which even surprised Minister Grey.
In the description of these cabinet ministers, Australasia is like a baby crying for food, and a large number of talents, technology and equipment are needed in all aspects.
But this is obviously different from the intelligence that Minister Grey knows. According to what Minister Grey knows, although Australasia still has defects in some aspects, some advanced technologies and industries are fully capable of being on par with the inferior powers such as Italy.
Because the matter is of great importance, the negotiations between the two sides have also fallen into a tug-of-war. Arthur is also happy with this. If more assistance can be obtained for Australasia, it will be very important for national development.
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