The Rise Of Australasia

Chapter 925: Chapter 690: Meeting of the Three Giants (3/4 Update)

Leaving matters to be decided by Parliament was certainly safer, and also avoided the government taking the blame for anything. However, there was a huge downside: anything discussed in Parliament would be widely circulated and it was impossible to maintain relative secrecy.

In other words, the British Parliament might have just started voting on whether to declare war on the United States when the American ambassador in London would receive the news and then urgently contact the United States to prepare.

Such a scenario was simply unavoidable; after all, with so many eyes and ears in Parliament, it was impossible for any country to maintain complete secrecy.

Before submitting the proposal to Parliament, the British Government had urgently contacted many countries to confirm their opinions.

Among them, Britain valued France and Australasia the most, as these two countries were the strongest in the World Alliance apart from Britain itself.

Arthur naturally wouldn’t oppose such actions, since Australasia could also gain unexpected benefits.

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Especially after the elimination of the enemy United States, the remaining Island Nations no longer posed a threat, and Australasia’s dominance over the Pacific was essentially assured. @@novelbin@@

However, the French attitude was ambivalent; they were neither against waging war on the United States nor particularly enthusiastic about it.

After all, although the French would gain considerable benefits, the United States was Britain’s greatest competitor, not France’s.

Eliminating the United States would benefit the British the most; for the French, it was so-so and even less capable of resisting British dominance in Europe.

But France would not oppose British-initiated war against the United States, nor would it side with the United States as it did during the American War of Independence.

Not to mention the current massive power disparity between France and Britain, the anger aroused by the Influenza in the American People had determined that there wouldn’t be many allies in this war.

The United States had offended almost every country in the world during the Influenza, and by ceasing to pay compensation, it dredged up old grievances.

If Britain used this as a pretext to launch a war on the United States, could the French stand against all of Europe?

For the French government, if war between the UK and US broke out, France would immediately join Britain’s side, swapping more war achievements for richer benefits.

Rather than letting Britain and Australasia divide the United States, France preferred to partake in the partition, at least not to allow the gap between Britain and France to widen further.

As for the fate of the American People, France had already dismissed it. The United States was not a country that could be saved just by saying so, unless the French were willing to sacrifice most of their benefits and stake their entire country to help the Americans.

Unfortunately, Founding Fathers of the United States weren’t something one could simply conjure up; after all, there weren’t that many fools.

Helping the United States might allow it to maintain independence, but the price was something France could not afford.

The French understood the principle of not sacrificing themselves for the sake of others; in an economic crisis, of course, their own interests came first.

On June 5, 1928, inside a nondescript residence in London, United Kingdom.

This modest place brought together important representatives from several countries, including British Minister of Finance Winston Schmidt, French Minister of Justice and Army Louis Barthou, Australasian Envoy to the United Kingdom John, and David, the overseer of European royal family affairs in Australasia.

The real purpose of their meeting, apart from jointly deliberating on whether to wage war on the United States, was also the division of spoils after a potential war.

For major-scale wars with many participating countries, it was necessary to divide the spoils in advance.

To put it bluntly, wars were always underpinned by various interests, and interest was the most attractive lure of all.

If they didn’t agree in advance and proceed with the partition, the end of the war would also signify the arrival of another conflict.

For Britain, France, and Australasia, which could nearly decide the stance of the entire World Alliance, these three nations’ private division of the United States essentially represented the direction of American affairs after the war.

Under the auspices of these three nations, smaller countries had no room for resistance, and even the American People were no different.

The selection of representatives from the three countries highlighted one feature: those participating in this meeting were essentially proponents of war from their respective nations.

Winston Schmidt surely needed no introduction, French Minister of Justice and Army Louis was also of the aggressive and pro-war military faction.

And both David, the overseer of European royal family affairs, and John, the Australasian Envoy to the United Kingdom, essentially obeyed Arthur, whose position was clear.

It’s worth mentioning that the reason why there were so many proponents of war among the three nations was because, after defeating the United States, each country could divide up enough benefits for themselves.

With the United States bordering both the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, it meant that all three nations could carve out a substantial piece for themselves.

With the United States gone, Europe would become a true world jewel, and Britain would dominate the entire Atlantic.

The French could carve out a slice of the interests, at the least to ease the constant depreciation of the Franc for a while, and incidentally help the French people step out from the shadows of war and economic crisis.

There’s no need to mention Australasia. After defeating the Americans, Australasia became the hegemon of the Pacific Ocean, the most powerful country in the Southern Hemisphere.

Faced with such rich interests, even the French, who were well aware that it might empower Britain further, couldn’t help but be somewhat tempted.

The battle for interests often determines whether a war will break out or not. If the spoils of war cannot be distributed peacefully, then there is no need to fight at all.

Knowing this, as soon as the representatives of the various countries met, they immediately got down to business, which was the division of American interests.

French Army Minister Louis was the first to speak up, “Gentlemen, France doesn’t mind joining this war, but we need interests that can match the cost of the war.

If we can rebuild New France, we are willing to assemble an army of over 300,000 to join this battlefield.”

Representatives from Britain and Australasia frowned upon hearing this. Australasia was fine for now and maintained their silence.

But the British were straightforwardly displeased. Winston Schmidt directly refused, “That’s simply impossible, Minister Louis. The area of New France stretches from the north to the south of the entire United States, nearly comprising one-third of the total land area of the United States.

Are you trying to partition the United States directly? Not to mention the opinions of other countries, the internal issues within the United States alone are enough to give us a headache.”

Although the Central Region of the United States is relatively barren and not as developed as the Eastern Coast,

The vast area of New France also means that Britain and Australasia would have to receive equivalent areas to achieve fairness in a relative sense.

If that were the case, it would evolve into a direct partitioning of the United States by the three countries, naturally turning American hatred towards the Britain-France-Australia Three Nations.

The United States is not like those Indigenous Peoples in the colonies; its Population reaches up to hundreds of millions. Even if it were to be divided into three parts, it wouldn’t be easy to digest.

More importantly, the British would not accept letting France acquire such a vast area as New France, because France too would rapidly emerge from the economic crisis with the numerous American population, becoming the next threat to British rule.

“Then there’s nothing to discuss, Mr. Schmidt.” French Army Minister Louis shook his head with a smile, giving off a helpless demeanor.

“Louisiana, Mississippi, Arkansas, and Oklahoma,” Winston Schmidt looked towards Louis with a serious expression and said, “Of course, if you have the capacity, acquiring Texas is also possible.

The British Empire can only agree to these. If that isn’t acceptable, we would regret to lose France as an Ally in this war.”

As long as France doesn’t join the opposition, even remaining neutral in this war, Winston Schmidt could completely accept that.

Because the only advantage the United States could rely on was its navy, but the navy of Britain combined with Australasia was already more than enough to crush the United States.

For the British, the wealthiest Eastern Coast of the United States was undoubtedly to be in their hands.

The West Coast is closer to Australasia, and even with Los Angeles, which had developed, the British had no intention of competing with Australasia.

After all, apart from Los Angeles in California, other places like Washington (the state, not the city), Oregon, and Nevada were still as poor as the West coast of the United States decades ago.

These areas, except for their size, had no use and were far inferior to the Eastern Coast of the United States, with its population of several tens of millions.

Apart from the East and West Coast, the only region left to offer France was the Central Region of the United States.

The French would definitely not be happy to only gain the Central inland of the United States, which also meant that coastal areas like Louisiana would surely be ceded to a few states.

After looking at a map of United States administrative divisions for a long time, Louis then turned his gaze to Winston Schmidt and the others, “How about adding Alabama and Florida State to it? France’s army and navy can be mobilized at any time for this war.”

Even though Louisiana, Mississippi, Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Texas make up five states, these are still far too barren compared to the Eastern United States.

However, if Alabama and Florida State were included, France would also have gained possession of the southern coast of the United States, forming a situation where Britain-Australasia divide the coastal states of the United States with France.

The addition of seven states was a sizable complement for the French, and their combined population was enough for France to tide over the economic crisis and even make a large profit.

The French capitalists would be satisfied, for the profit generated by these seven states was certainly to be measured in the billions, if not tens of billions.

With the support of capitalists, there would be no lack of funds for the war. As long as there were ample funds, France’s military could also be mobilized for it.

“That is clearly not possible,” Winston Schmidt refused Louis’s request with a frown, but still offered another condition, “At most, New Mexico can be ceded, but we also have to provide some benefits to other countries, don’t we?”