Chapter 365 Battleship Hope

This era was different from later generations in that private education was not widely available to the general public.

Although there were already many private schools in Europe at this time, Australasia also had private schools of all sizes.

These private schools generally carry the name of aristocrats. Those who can attend these private schools are either aristocrats or capitalists with a lot of money.

Even in some more traditional aristocratic schools, even top capitalists with millions or even tens of millions do not have the right to study in such schools.

Such schools are generally only open to the descendants of high-ranking aristocrats, and are dedicated to cultivating outstanding descendants for the aristocratic class.

Such schools not only provide top-notch education, but also provide excellent connections for the descendants of nobles.

You must know that in such a top traditional aristocratic school, every student's parents and family are powerful aristocrats with considerable power.

The nobles are connected in this way, which also makes the entire noble class more united.

This actually means that it is difficult for ordinary people to receive other forms of education other than public education established by the state.

The content taught in public schools is actually decided by the Australasian government.

Australasia's unified language policy was implemented a few years ago when Archbishop Steed first came to Australasia. It not only clarified the status of English in major schools, but also established the Victorian Language School among the private sector. .

In the mainland of Australasia, all public schools currently only teach English as a language. Only when you go to university and enter the corresponding literature department can you take other languages ​​as electives.

This also means that all Australasian students are now able to communicate effectively in English.

These students include a large number of British ancestry, as well as German, Russian, Italian and so on.

For a country like Australasia, which is made up of a majority of immigrants, the importance of a unified language is unparalleled.

"Minister Stefan, tell us about the current situation of our English popularity!" Arthur looked at Education Minister Stefan and asked with a smile.

Although the Victorian Language School is jointly established by the Australasian Government and the Church of Australasia, the main funder is the education department.

There is no other way. The current strength of the Australasian Church simply cannot afford to spread language schools across Australasia.

Moreover, because of the importance of popularizing English, most language schools are free of charge, and the education department and churches cannot make any profit from them.

Therefore, the way for the establishment of Victoria language schools has always been that the Ministry of Education provides funds, and the church and the education department jointly provide talents.

The reason why Bishop Steed took the risk of losing money to establish the Victoria Language School was actually to use the opportunity of popularizing English to gain more missionary opportunities among the vast number of non-English speaking immigrants.

After all, only when more people believe in Protestantism can the Protestant church and Archbishop Steed himself gain higher status and benefits. Therefore, the new version of the Victoria Language School is a win-win for the Australasian government and the church.

"Yes, Your Majesty." Minister Stefan stood up after hearing this and responded with some respect.

"Your Majesty, Victoria Language School has spent nearly five years since its establishment. Considering the importance of popularizing English, it has been our goal to popularize Victoria Language School in many places during these five years. .

So far, there are more than 100 Victorian language schools in eight states and territories in Australia and New Zealand, training a total of nearly 700,000 short-term trainees and nearly 200,000 long-term trainees.

Our next goal is to train at least 300,000 people every year so that more immigrants can communicate proficiently in English.

Because it is for the private sector, Victoria Language School is divided into half-year and one-year courses, corresponding to short-term training and long-term training respectively.

Generally speaking, after half a year of studying in a language school, you will be able to communicate in most simple English, which will no longer hinder your life in Australasia.

At present, the training method chosen by most non-English speaking immigrants is short-term study, which is mainly half a year.

In fact, the cabinet government has also proposed a way to quickly increase the popularity of English, which is to set up a requirement to speak English in major factories and high-paying jobs.

If we do this, it will easily make immigrants who don’t speak English dissatisfied, which is not a good thing for the stability of the country.

You must know that Australasia currently has a large population of Russians and Germans. If such restrictions are blindly added, it will easily make these people dissatisfied.

Therefore, after many considerations, Arthur chose a relatively mild approach, which was to open free English education schools like Victoria Language School in the private sector.

In order to make a living and to live better in Australasia, these immigrants always have to contact, learn and understand English.

At present, Australasian language schools can teach more than 200,000 immigrants every year, and the popularity of English in Australasia has also increased widely.

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Arthur is very supportive of the popularization of English. After providing sufficient funds to the education department, Arthur also set a new goal, which is to increase the number of people receiving English training each year to more than 500,000 within three years.

In addition to giving tasks to the Ministry of Education, Arthur also issued specific tasks to each department, covering all aspects of Australasia.

Time is about to enter the new year, and no one can guarantee whether the next year will be peaceful or war.

In this case, Australasia must be prepared to face war at any time, and major factories and enterprises should also mobilize for this.

At the cabinet meeting, Arthur rejected the proposal of some cabinet ministers to hold a military parade of the navy and army.

First, there are still ten days before the National Day, and there is definitely no time for temporary preparation.

Second, Australasia’s grand military parade will inevitably have a certain impact on the current tense situation in Europe.

Even if the Germans will not misunderstand, what will the Australasia think? As a member of the Allied Powers, Australasia’s large-scale military parade at this time will inevitably be seen as provocative by others.

However, the National Day activities that should be held are still indispensable. This may be the last peaceful National Day event for Australasians before World War I. Arthur plans to make a speech to stabilize the domestic mood and vaccinate all citizens. Australasians may be involved in a huge European war at any time.

After the cabinet meeting, time quietly came to January 1, 1914.

On New Year's Day, Australasian also ushered in good news, that is, two Hope-class battleships, Hope and Dream, are about to start construction.

Because of the experience of building Hope-class battleships for Chileans, Hope and Dream battleships have also been modified to some extent, and their performance has become more advanced.

The main improvements are in armor and power. The two Hope-class battleships in Australasian are more solid in armor, which also makes the standard displacement of the two Hope-class battleships reach 23,000 tons and the full load displacement reaches 27,100 tons.

In order to match the increased weight, two mixed-fired water boilers were added to the power system, allowing the Hope-class battleship to reach a power of about 35,000 horsepower and a speed of 21.5 knots.

Of course, the improvement in artillery is not great. Because the 45-caliber MK V-type 13.5-inch main gun that the Hope-class battleship is expected to carry is currently the most advanced, largest caliber, and most powerful main battleship gun in the British Empire.

As for the more powerful 15-inch main gun, let alone Australasia, the British Empire is conducting intensive research.

However, the good news is that the construction period of the Hope and Dream battleships is about one year, and the British Empire was equipped with 15-inch main guns in history in 1915.

This also means that the two battleships have the hope of being equipped with 15-inch main guns, and as long as either the British Empire or Australasia develops a stable 15-inch main gun, they can be replaced immediately.

Even if it is not equipped with a 15-inch main gun, the 45-caliber 13.5-inch main gun of the former British Empire is definitely one of the most powerful main battleship guns in the world.

Especially the two upgraded Hope-class battleships, they will represent the highest level of shipbuilding in Australasia, and also symbolize the strength of Australasia.

Arthur attached great importance to the start of construction of the Hope and Dream battleships, and on January 1, the second day of the cabinet meeting, he personally attended the groundbreaking ceremony of the two battleships and delivered an important speech.

In his speech, Arthur compared the Hope and Dream to the bridge of Australasia's rise, and the important trump card for Australasia to protect itself and the people's safety and safeguard its own and the people's interests.

The entire 1914 naval construction plan was based on these two Hope-class battleships. If the construction goes smoothly, the two Hope-class battleships are expected to be completed in early 1915 and enter the naval test, and officially serve from the end of 1915 to the beginning of 1916.

It has to be admitted that the Hope-class battleships. As one of the most powerful battleship designs in the world, it is also very expensive.

Even if the price offered by the Royal Dockyard to the Ministry of Defense is basically only slightly higher than the cost price, the cost of each Hope-class battleship is nearly 4.6 million Australian dollars.

This also means that the Ministry of Defense has spent nearly 10 million dollars in its fiscal budget at the beginning of this year, and the result is only these two battleships, which will not be put into service until the end of next year.

From this aspect, we can also see how exaggerated the funds consumed by the current naval arms race in European countries are.

Australasia has only built two super dreadnoughts, and the cost alone has consumed one-tenth of the government's annual fiscal revenue.

If the cost of subsequent testing, training and maintenance is taken into account, Australasia's finances cannot afford too many super dreadnoughts.

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