Chapter 66 Christmas Warship Visit

The negotiation between Arthur and William II went very smoothly. In less than three hours, the framework of the aid treaty was determined, and the purchase of relatively important technologies including the military industry was also negotiated.

No matter what William II's purpose was, this treaty was only good for Australia, not bad.

With the help of Germany and the aid from Britain, Australia's economy and industry will usher in an explosive stage.

Although some military agreements were also clarified with the signing of the aid treaty.

But the good news is that William II did not explicitly ask Australia to participate in future wars.

Australia only needs to provide resource support to Germany within half a year after the outbreak of the war, and take the opportunity to find opportunities to harass the major colonies of France.

This is completely acceptable to Arthur. Without directly falling into the quagmire of this war, it is not bad for Australia to make the war in Europe more violent.

After all, war will also create a lot of wealth opportunities. Australia's military industry comes from the support of Britain and Germany, and naturally it is more acceptable to Britain and Germany.

After all, when there is a choice, the same standard equipment is more proficient than different equipment, and the burst of combat power is naturally higher.

December 19, 1900, this was the day after Arthur and William II negotiated.

After the monarchs of the two countries determined the framework of the treaty, the officials also began to get busy and finalize the details of the contract.

Because the general framework has been determined, the progress of the negotiations is still very fast. The original more difficult problems have been solved by Arthur and William II, and the officials of the two countries only need to discuss the type of aid and the specific share.

However, after all, it is a huge aid plan with up to 75 million pounds of funds, various advanced technologies and excellent workers. Even if the progress of the negotiations is very fast, it still took about five days to completely negotiate.

It was lucky for Australia. Because William II decided to completely end the negotiations on the treaty before Christmas, on December 23, the day before Christmas Eve, some issues that were originally in dispute were quickly resolved by officials of the two countries, and the solution was that Germany compromised.

This is also a helpless solution. For the two countries that really want to conclude a treaty, they can only let Germany, the aiding party, suffer a little.

December 24, 1900, Berlin, Germany.

Before Christmas Eve, Germany and Australia finally negotiated all the details of the treaty, and printed out the formal treaty, which was signed by the monarchs of both sides and officially came into effect.

The official name of the treaty is "Germany and Australia in Berlin on Various Assistance and Cooperation Plans", referred to as the German-Australian "Berlin Agreement".

Because part of the content of the agreement is about military operations and diplomatic support during the war, out of consideration for both parties, this agreement will only reveal part of the content to the outside world. In addition to some aid plans, other cooperation plans will not be disclosed to the outside world.

Under the spotlight of the media, William II and Arthur smiled and raised their respective treaty backups, and smiled and took a group photo.

After the political affairs were resolved, the remaining few days left for Arthur and the diplomatic visit team were for rest and entertainment.

After a short Christmas holiday, Arthur had to prepare to return to Australia to attend the government's annual report meeting and New Year's plan meeting.

It has been nearly two months since he left Australia, and most of the time was spent on the sea journey.

Not to mention, Arthur really missed the Australian manor and the free life.

In order to express his apology for the previous poor hospitality, William II specially held a large banquet on Christmas Eve and invited Arthur and all members of the diplomatic delegation to attend.

Of course, for Christmas Eve, the banquet is very traditional. However, it is still very beneficial for Australia's development in a short period of time to get to know many German nobles and senior officials through the opportunity of the banquet.

Because of William II's extensive recommendation, Arthur still attracted a lot of attention at the Christmas Eve banquet.

Especially as a duke with real power and the grandson of the late Queen Victoria, Arthur's popularity is not low.

Many of them also wanted to marry Arthur, but they were all rejected by Arthur one by one.

The free life now is very beautiful, and Arthur does not want to get married so soon. Of course, perhaps it was also because they did not want to be too close to Germany.

After all, after World War I, the German nobility would be overthrown. Whether it was the Hohenzollern family or the dukes and counts of various states, they would eventually lose their titles and become ordinary rich men.

But Arthur did not refuse to have a good relationship with them. Traditional German military families, including Krupp and Mauser, were all targets of Arthur's wooing.

When Germany failed, it was not impossible to win over these military enterprises that were to be liquidated and attract some talents to join Australia.

After the huge banquet on Christmas Eve, the Christmas holiday followed.

As a traditional Christian festival, the German Empire would naturally have a holiday on this day, and William II was no exception.

However, in order to entertain Arthur, William II specially invited Arthur to visit a Brunswick-class battleship to feel the power of the German Navy.

It has to be said that the small warships owned by Australia are nothing compared to this huge battleship.

Today's battleships are the strongest warships. As the mainstream main warships of countries around the world, battleships represent the proof of a country's strong navy in terms of both size and combat effectiveness.

You know, even in 1900, there were not many countries in the world with battleships, only less than 20.

Among them, there are even fewer countries with battleship production capabilities. Except for a few major powers, few countries can master the construction technology of battleships, even if they are battleships that are outdated.

There are even many regional countries that dream of battleships. The Ottoman Empire once dreamed of two battleships, and even launched a large number of fundraising nationwide for this, attracting the enthusiasm and donations of basically the people of the country, which is enough to show how important battleships are to these countries in this era.

And Britain's default on the delivery of these two battleships was also one of the important reasons why Ottoman Turkey chose to join Germany in World War I.

After all, these are two battleships that caused a sensation across the country. The fact that Britain delayed delivery and even denied delivery in public made the Ottoman Turkish leaders and the people very angry.

In this era, a battleship can greatly and qualitatively improve the combat effectiveness of the navy.

The current Australian Navy is not at all mainstream, but if it has a battleship of the current level of the great powers, then the Australian Navy will directly become one of the top 30 in the world.

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