The Rise of Australia

The negotiations between Arthur and William II went very smoothly. New˙ɔoɯ Of course, this time the German Empire asked for help from Australia and Arthur, so William II readily agreed to most of Arthur's requests.

In the next few days, William II personally took Arthur to visit the daily training of the German Army and the exercises of the Navy. After personally experiencing the powerful navy and army of the German Empire, he and William II went north to the Tsarist Russian Empire. .

The Russian Empire was the last stop of Arthur's trip to Europe, and it was also one of the main purposes of Arthur's trip to Europe.

Regardless of whether the German-Russian alliance has any hope of being realized, Australia can obtain sufficient benefits and make sure that it does not lose anything.

The eastern part of the German Empire and the western part of the Tsarist Empire were adjacent to each other, but William II and Arthur chose to take a warship to the Tsarist Empire.

Of course, this is also related to the two people’s primary destination. The first meeting place between Wilhelm II and Nicholas II regarding the German-Russian alliance was on Björk Island in the Gulf of Finland. Although the official meeting was on a warship rather than on the island, Wilhelm II and Nicholas II Shi still had a very tacit understanding and chose York Island as the meeting place for the negotiations.

After a three-day sea voyage, the two fleets of William II and Arthur arrived near Bjork Island.

Not long after, the Baltic Fleet sailed by Nicholas II also arrived belatedly.

Different from the first negotiation, this time because of the participation of Australia, everyone officially chose the location of the negotiation to be on Bjork Island.

With the joint efforts of the entourage and servants of the three parties, a temporary discussion place was quickly set up.

Because the atmosphere is not that serious, the makeshift kiosk looks more like a vacation spot.

The servants took out various foods and fruits from their respective boats, as well as the drinks that had been prepared.

An important talk related to the future situation in Europe started in this way. new

Among William II, Nicholas II and Arthur, William II was the oldest and also assumed the role of initiator of this negotiation.

Because Arthur was the youngest, in this negotiation, he was more of a listener, learning the conversational skills of the two monarchs, and also taking in the progress of the current negotiations between Germany and Russia.

After the three of them greeted each other, the negotiation officially began.

William II first reiterated the attitude of the German Empire, stating that the German Empire was willing to provide large loans to the Russian Empire and supported the Russian Empire's Far East policy.

Nicholas II nodded repeatedly after hearing this, and some of the proposals made by William II really spoke to his heart.

The reason why the Tsarist Empire failed in the last Russo-Japanese War was not only the decay of the Tsarist Empire itself, but also the lack of international support compared with the island countries.

Although France, the only ally, chose to support the Russian Empire, such support was limited compared to Britain's support for the island countries, and was completely insufficient to change the situation in the Far East.

Moreover, at the request of France, most of the main forces of the Russian Empire in Europe were not dispatched, and most of the military structure in the Far East consisted of new recruits with less than a year of training.

This also led to the Tsarist Empire suffering heavy casualties in the last Russo-Japanese War, with more than 200,000 dead soldiers, and even as many as 300,000 indirect deaths.

Although most of these are temporary recruits, they will not have much impact on the military strength of the Russian Empire.

However, such a death still dissatisfied many people in the country. The defeat of the war was also one of the important factors in the domestic instability of the Tsarist Russian Empire.

If the Tsarist Empire could mobilize one-third of its European troops to the Far East, the outcome of the Far East War would most likely change.

This also made some people in Russia somewhat disappointed with France. They believed that the ally they had high hopes for had become a burden to them in the war. new

Germany's attitude and commitment are completely different from France's. If the Russian Empire had not already had an alliance with France, Nicholas II would have even wanted to agree to William II's conditions on the spot.

When talking about the Far East issue, Nicholas II and William II both looked at Arthur.

If Australia can strongly support the Tsarist Russian Empire in the future Far East War, at least half of the Tsarist Russian Empire's logistics problems in the Far East can be solved.

This is the advantage brought by distance. In the Far East, the influence Australia can exert is even comparable to that of the second most powerful countries in Europe. If only weapons and resource support are counted, it is even equivalent to that of a great power.

Arthur naturally nodded repeatedly to this. There is no harm in Australia's support for the Tsarist Empire's actions in the Far East.

Even a large amount of arms trade will drive the development of Australian industry and military industry, which will also be beneficial to Australia's future military expansion.

The Russian Empire's Far East policy will actually usher in desperate resistance from island countries and opposition from the British Empire and the United States.

Judging from the current situation of internal and external troubles in the Tsarist Russian Empire, it is not easy to make a difference in the Far East.

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Although supporting Russia will cause Australia to lose arms markets like island countries, island countries mainly rely on the British Empire and the United States, and only these two countries will provide large amounts of loans to island countries.

After receiving Arthur's support and guarantee, Nicholas II nodded with satisfaction, agreeing with William II's proposal to support Russia's Far East policy.

However, there are still a large number of people and officials in Russia who are unwilling to give up the alliance with France, because during the period of the Russo-French alliance, a large amount of French capital poured into the Russian market, and Russia also relied heavily on France for its financial support and loans.

If the entente with France is hastily ended, it will also be a huge harm to the Russian Empire itself.

What's more, there are currently quite a few strikes in Russia. If loan cooperation with France is suddenly severed, even if there is an influx of new German loans, the damage to the market will definitely not be alleviated in a short time.

This will cause a large number of workers to lose their jobs, and will also make the unrest in Russia even greater this time.

This is the reason why a considerable number of Russian officials currently oppose the German-Russian alliance. Russia's current domestic environment cannot afford major changes. If it suddenly loses the support of French capital, Russia may have a greater domestic crisis before German capital pours in.

Nicholas II himself knew this. Although he was very excited about William II's proposal, he was still in a state of hesitation.

The first day of negotiations ended in such hesitation. Although Germany, Russia, and Australia are all willing to cooperate, it is obvious that Nicholas II is still too hesitant, or that the current opinions in Russia are not unified.

After Nicholas II left in a hurry, Arthur was not in a hurry to return to the warship. Instead, he looked at William II, who was a little thoughtful, and said with a smile: "Cousin William, are you in a bad mood?"

Although Arthur knew what he was asking, William II was not angry. Instead, he explained helplessly: "I really don't know what those French people have provided to Russia to make Russia reluctant to give up the treaty with France. .”

Even though William II provided a large number of conditions that were beneficial to Russia, Nicholas II was still hesitant.

Compare the completely different attitudes of Germany and France towards Russia in the early days of the Russo-Japanese War. William II even felt that Nicholas II had been kicked in the head by a donkey.

"You seem to have entered a misunderstanding, Cousin William. Rather than becoming allies, I think a better destination for Germany and Russia is mutual neutrality." Arthur did not answer William II, but said with a deeper meaning.

"Oh? How do you say it?" William II suddenly became interested and asked slightly surprised.

"From a geographical perspective, Germany and Russia are adjacent and both are one of the hegemons of the European continent. However, Russia and France are far apart, with the German Empire in between, so there is no land conflict." Arthur explained.

"As allies, France and Russia can obtain German land and continue to retain Germany as a buffer. But if Germany and Russia are allies, Germany can carve up French land, but what about Russia? This is not the medieval era, when territories were exchanged. It won’t work anymore.”

Even on the European continent, the diplomatic concept of diplomacy at a distance and attack at home still applies.

Although Russia attaches great importance to its Far East policy, its basic base is in Europe after all, and it must also pay attention to the development of the situation in Europe.

As France and Russia are allies, victory in the war can gain German territory to supplement the country.

Moreover, the two countries are separated by Germany as a buffer, so there will not be too many conflicts.

But Germany and Russia are different. If Germany and Russia are allies, the only enemy on the European continent is France.

But the distance between France and Russia is too far, and Russia will naturally not be stupid enough to occupy an enclave that has no popular support.

So just let Germany grow bigger? Germany has obtained French land, and its overall strength will definitely become stronger.

After defeating France, wouldn't Germany's other potential opponent naturally become Russia?

Russia is not the opponent of Germany now, and naturally it cannot be the opponent of Germany after gaining more land and territory.

Such a development will also give Russia more thoughts. Is the German-Russian alliance really more suitable than the French-Russian alliance?

In addition to the fact that Russia cannot lose French capital for the time being, the potential crisis of the German-Russian alliance is also the reason why Russian officials and Nicholas II hesitated.

William II was silent for a moment, nodded, and said: "That's true. The purpose of the Franco-Russian alliance is actually to fight against the German Empire."

"So, I think the best relationship between Germany and Russia is neutrality. Of course, how to be neutral and the diplomatic bottom line of the two countries have to be defined by your country's officials." Arthur said with a smile.

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