The Rise Of Australasia

Chapter 957: Chapter 714: Expand Territory

The news of the Army’s structural reforms instantly became the front-page headline in Australasia, and even drew the attention of numerous foreign media and governments.

While the German Army was strictly limited to a hundred thousand men, the nominal title of the strongest land force had returned to the hands of the French.

But only those generals who had participated in World War I knew that the Australasian military’s combat power during the war was second only to that of the German Army.

Even the most elite Guards could now arm-wrestle with the German Armed Forces, which meant that the title of the French Army as the first major power was somewhat misleading.

If it weren’t for the fact that the size of the Australasian Army had always been small, probably some countries would not be as calm as they appeared on the surface.

Of course, regardless, the restructuring of the Australasian Army still attracted the gaze of many Powers.

When they learned about the firepower of the new divisional structure of Australasia in various ways, they all exclaimed in astonishment, “This is sheer madness!”

The increase in firepower was clearly visible, even the current Australasian Army could arm-wrestle with any German Army from the time of World War I.

However, even if the Powers saw the benefits of such a structure, there were still very few armies willing to make such changes.

Even though there’s only a difference of a thousand men per division, the difference in the number and quality of weapons and equipment is not slight.

Under such circumstances, not every country has the confidence that Australasia has.

After all, the economic crisis is still ongoing, and to emerge from this crisis, countries have to wait until they have fully absorbed America’s legacy.

Regarding the division of the United States, although the situation was somewhat unexpected, the range previously discussed by Britain-France-Australia would not change much.

On this basis, Australasia’s influence over the Western Region states of California has already begun.

If the American defeat only practically destroyed the confidence of the American people, then the abolition of the American Government psychologically defeated them.

The consequences that arose from this have had the biggest impact, with some ambitious individuals with ulterior motives beginning to vigorously promote their own ideals.

As for what those ideals are, naturally, it’s about how to establish a correct America, an America that truly cares for its people in the hearts of Americans.

Especially in those states that declared withdrawal from the war but were not controlled by the Allied Army, these areas are in far greater chaos than those controlled.

The various opinions about unification, independence, or joining other nations are diverse and have made the current situation in North America all the more chaotic.

The good news is that Australasia has almost taken control of most of the American Western Region, and these areas are not as chaotic as the Eastern Coast.

As time moved into December, Hawaii and Alaska State also announced the final results of the Referendum, which was to join Australasia unconditionally.

Such news was not surprising because both Britain and France knew that these lands, already agreed upon, were not going to be willingly relinquished by anyone, including themselves.

Although everyone understood this was the result of behind-the-scenes manipulation, the necessary surface formalities were still maintained.

On December 3, 1928, the Australasian Government welcomed the incorporation of these two areas and stated it would accept all permanent residents of Alaska and Hawaii as citizens.

On the same day, the Australasian Government announced the arrangements for the two areas:

Alaska State will become the Alaskan Royal Autonomy Territory, with Governors and Officers appointed by the royal family, the Governor’s rank equivalent to that of a governor.

The Hawaii area will become the Territory of Hawaii, similar to the Sydney Territory, with a Governor appointed by the government.

Regarding the handling of Hawaii, Arthur hesitated for a long time between a state and a territory, eventually deciding to establish the Territory of Hawaii.

The reason was simple, Hawaii was too remote from the Native Land, and managing it as a directly administered state would be too troublesome.

Instead, establishing a rather special territory could make the most of Hawaii’s central location in the Pacific Ocean.

For this reason, the permanent Population of Hawaii would not be too large, its main purpose being to serve as a military base and a tourist special zone.

Even if managed well, just the income from tourism in the Hawaii area could potentially cover the expenses of the entire Hawaii military base.

Of course, this was just the most basic plan, the real situation would only become known after the establishment of the Territory of Hawaii and the construction of the corresponding naval base.

The establishment of two new territories also propelled Australasia into the limelight.

After all, it was about the expansion of territory, and moreover, it was flesh taken from the body of the previously recognized second major power, which felt more noteworthy than taking advantage from smaller countries.

Of course, most of the glory would certainly fall upon Arthur.

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Now, any Australasian can’t help but boast about Arthur’s achievements; some have even begun to brag that Australasia will become the next United States under Arthur’s leadership.

Yes, the next United States.

Although people around the world don’t have much affection for the United States, which caused the great influenza outbreak, no one can deny that everyone envies the economic scale the United States once created.

In terms of industrial and economic scale, even the British Empire could not compete with the United States.

Now, Australasians are also fantasizing that under the leadership of Arthur, their beloved country could also develop into an economic and industrial superpower like the United States.

Arthur naturally heard such talk. However, in addition to pride and satisfaction, he also felt a bit helpless about these words.

If the economy and industrial scale of Australasia really developed to the stage once reached by the United States, I fear the British might go to any lengths to target Australasia, even if it meant triggering a world war.

There’s only one throne for the world’s hegemon, which is why every struggle for world domination becomes so bloody and brutal.

Whether it’s hundreds of years ago with the Netherlands or Spain, or now with the insurmountable British Empire, they were all doing their utmost to eliminate any potential threats to themselves.

I believe the upcoming peace talks will prove Arthur’s guess; even if the British can’t completely annex the United States East Coast, they will certainly divide the Eastern Coast into several countries and try to bring these countries into their sphere of influence.

Especially New York, the British would probably want to bring under their rule no matter what. A state with a population of over ten million has considerable economic value, not to mention it has an urban city like New York that could almost rival London.

If not for the economic crisis erupting in New York, it might have caught up with London within ten years.

But it is precisely because of this economic crisis that London is still London, but New York is no longer New York.

Time is like the fine sand that can’t be grasped in one’s hand, no matter how desperately squeezed, it still flows away like a murmuring stream.

Having just happily celebrated Christmas, the time quietly moved on to 1929.

The annual report meeting for the new year became very grand, after all, it concerns the expansion of territory, and all cabinet members could share in the accomplishments.

The people also rejoiced in this, who wouldn’t want to see their country getting better and better?

What Arthur focused on the most were the population issues of Australasia.

If including Hawaii and Alaska, the total population of Australasia had already surpassed 36.6 million.

Hawaii and Alaska together contributed over 400,000 to the population, but these people had to go through a certain selection.

Although Arthur had sworn to accept all the populations of these two regions, this did not mean he would be indifferent to the black population they possessed.

Keep in mind, Black people were recognized in the United States. Although it has only been a few decades since Black people were liberated, both Alaska and Hawaii already have a certain number of Black people.

Other populations aside, Black people were definitely to be excluded from these two regions. Of course, because of Arthur’s previous statement, the selection of Black people definitely could not be too harsh.

This is also the work for the governors of Hawaii and Alaska to come, how to transfer these Black people to other areas of the United States in a way that they could accept.

However, the good news is that the number of Black people in Hawaii and Alaska is not large, and it is entirely possible to relocate them.

In California, with a population of over 5 million, the task of completely driving out the Black population becomes much more difficult.

After all, the surrounding regions of California are sparsely populated and remote areas, and Black people are not fools; naturally, they would not want to move to these surrounding regions for no good reason.

Is living in flourishing San Francisco and Los Angeles not good? Joining a gang could result in easy money, and even due to the chaotic situation in the United States, there have been several instances of Black people engaging in ‘zero-dollar shopping.’

The so-called zero-dollar shopping is actually just blatant robbery from some shops.

This era’s zero-dollar shopping is different from that of future generations. Currently, the discrimination against Black people is still quite severe, and without the use of force, most Caucasians are not willing to accept such provocative robbery by Black people.

Even if California becomes a new country in the future, Arthur would still want to help his son sort out the Black population issue in California in advance.

The simplest method would be cruel suppression. After all, Black people currently don’t have many rights, and suppressing them to gain the favor of Caucasians could actually benefit the future rule of California.

As for whether suppressing Black people would result in scorn from the rest of the world’s nations?

Take note, this is the 20th century. Apart from the United States, which has a large Black population due to special historical reasons, other powerful nations all reject Black people.

For European nations, what are Black people? Through the lens of history, Black people are the slaves of manor houses; from the current perspective, they are livestock of the colonies.

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