The Rise Of Australasia

Chapter 960: Chapter 717: Nine Nations Stand Tall in America

Prime Minister Baldwin was naturally aware that reporting to King George V was merely a formality. Not to mention Prime Minister Raul, even he himself didn’t always take King George V that seriously at times.

Although the position of the British royal family might be secure, the power of the King of the United Kingdom had long since been dismantled. Regaining it was not an easy task.

Nevertheless, the attitude of the Australasians still alerted Prime Minister Baldwin to something unusual.

Perhaps from the moment America was defeated, the relationship between the United Kingdom and Australasia was no longer the same as before.

The British were so powerful that they no longer had any rivals, or rather, all the remaining Powers were rivals of the British.

The dictates of global politics made it inevitable for Australasia and the United Kingdom to become wary of each other, and even potentially confrontational in the future.

Fortunately, the relations between countries have always been complex, and politicians found such changes easy to accept.

Once he had adjusted his mindset, Prime Minister Baldwin had someone bring a map of America, and he began to meticulously research the directions in which Britain could compromise and the directions in which it absolutely could not.

Regarding the partition of America, none of the Britain-France-Australia Three Nations wanted to annex America’s Native Land for their own.

The reason was simple. France and Britain were in Europe, Australasia in Oceania, with either the entire Atlantic Ocean or the entire Pacific Ocean separating them from America’s Native Land.

If the land in America’s Native Land were to become their own, the management issues alone could bring an entire government to its knees.

Moreover, the conflicts between Caucasians and Black People within America, the distrust Americans held towards the countries that had defeated them, and issues with American capital were the real reasons Britain-France-Australia abandoned the idea of annexing America’s Native Land.

Since it was not feasible to annex America’s Native Land, the best method was to support a country they could control, much like the Lone Star Republic that the Frenchmen supported.

The British originally planned to establish a new country in the 13 Colonies. Because it inherited the most essential areas of America, the country established by the 13 Colonies would at least be a secondary power and could play a significant role for the British Empire.

Combined with Canada, this country would be the strongest force in North America and an important logistical support for the British Empire in times of danger.

With the help of Canada and this country, the Atlantic would become an inner sea of the British Empire, which would be very beneficial for the British Empire’s control over Europe.

Unfortunately, it was clear that the French would not agree to Britain’s plan. If the complete 13 Colonies were to be controlled by the British, any war that erupted between Britain and France would result in the French arrangements in America being instantly destroyed.

Although France had weakened considerably after World War I, this did not mean that Frenchmen no longer harbored ambitions of dominating Europe.

At the very least, the French were determined on the issue of the 13 Colonies. They did not want to see the complete 13 Colonies under British control, nor did they want to see them reestablished as an independent country.

Should they back down to the French over the issue of the 13 Colonies? That became a question the British could not ignore.

While the British showed firm resolve in launching the war against America, a major reason was that the entire World Alliance stood behind them.

But should a conflict arise between Britain and France, without Australasia’s help, the British could only hope to achieve superiority at sea.

It’s best not to mention the army; the British army invading and reaching the French capital, Paris, was completely out of the question.

This actually represented the current global situation, where competition was the main theme, and war secondary.

No one wanted to start a war unless absolutely necessary, because war not only meant massive consumption of funds, but also represented significant casualty numbers.

Although World War I was over a decade ago, countries around the world had still not recovered from it.

France’s population remained at a low level for this reason, and in Europe at the time, most countries were unwilling to see the outbreak of war unless it had a guaranteed outcome.

How to reach a compromise with the French? This question also had to take into consideration the French perspective.

After much thought, Prime Minister Baldwin decided to contact the French after the negotiations the second day, hoping to reach a compromise with them. As for Australasia, they would be easier to deal with afterwards.

The second day’s negotiation still ended in deadlock, but it was clear that both British and French expressed the desire to compromise.

Dragging on the negotiations was not a solution, as it would only worsen the situation in America. This was undesirable for Britain and France, who were eager to reap substantial profits from the region. It also meant that eventually, Britain and France would still compromise.

What Prime Minister Raul did not expect was how quickly the British and French could reach a compromise.

On the fourth day of talks, which was January 18, 1929, the British and French had already agreed on certain aspects of the partition of America.

The only issue was with the state of Georgia, which was the southernmost territory of the 13 Colonies. The British wanted to bring it under their rule.

However, the French also wanted to bring this region of more than two million people under their rule, and ultimately it was the British who expressed a willingness to compromise.

Of course, the price for France’s acquisition of Georgia was that Michigan, which was originally supposed to be jointly managed as part of the Great Lakes Region, became a territory of Canada.

It is worth mentioning that the British and French did not forget the interests of Australasia while making compromises with each other.

According to the division method reached by the new compromise between Britain, France, and Australia, a whole America would be split into at least nine countries, with two more regions to be annexed by Canada in the north and Mexico in the south.

This was also a benefit for the two countries close to the United States, being able both to annex a part of the land into their own territory rather than establishing trust-based countries like Britain, France, and Australia did.

Following the reached compromises, the theoretical situation in America was as follows (Native Land):

Australasia took control of California State, Nevada, Washington State, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Colorado, and Utah.

France took control of Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Florida State, Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee, and Kentucky.

Britain took control of Maine, New Hampshire, New York, Vermont, Rhode Island, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Washington D.C., Maryland, Delaware, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and West Virginia.

Canada annexed Michigan.

Mexico annexed New Mexico and Arizona.

The remaining Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, Missouri, Kansas, Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio formed the Great Lakes Joint Administrative Region to be jointly managed by all belligerent countries.

Among them, the territories acquired by the Britain-France-Australia Three Nations (limited to the United States only) were not to be annexed as their Native Land and could not be merged into one country.

This also thwarted the British desire to re-establish the 13 Colonies, as the loss of Georgia turned the envisioned 12-state Colonial system into at least two countries instead.

Under the influence of the Britain-France-Australia Three Nations, the countries participating in the talks reached an agreement: because the Great Lakes Joint Administrative Region inherited America’s most important industry, the region would assume the debt of the United States.

What did this mean?

Once the Great Lakes region was managed by the belligerent countries, a large portion of its annual tax revenue would be distributed evenly among all the countries involved. Only after the compensation was fully repaid would management of the Great Lakes Joint Administrative Region conclude.

Although a large part of America’s debt had been paid off previously, the war had burdened the United States with an additional debt.

All these debts were transferred onto the Great Lakes Joint Administrative Region, which was why the British were so generous in giving up the remaining Great Lakes area, including Illinois with a population exceeding 7 million, to other small and medium-sized countries.

After totaling all debts, the Great Lakes area was to pay 8.5 billion pounds in compensation to the World Alliance.

The area of the Great Lakes Joint Administrative Region was approximately 1.28 million square kilometers, with a total population exceeding 30 million.

Even if only a third of America’s fiscal revenue was considered, the Great Lakes region could generate around 1 billion US dollars a year in revenue, which was equivalent to 258 million pounds.

This was before the economic crisis, and following the outbreak of the crisis, the industrial area of the Great Lakes had also suffered a devastating blow.

This meant that even with only 8.5 billion pounds in compensation, the industrial region of the Great Lakes would need over 50 years to repay the debt.

If a few more provinces were taken from the Great Lakes industrial region, it might take over 100 years to settle the debt.

Although they did not acquire any land, the countries were still pleased to have a stable Great Lakes region to repay the compensation.

Moreover, the Great Lakes region had numerous factories; while the countries could not blatantly relocate these factories, purchasing some industrial equipment was not an issue.

Many countries saw this as an opportunity to develop their own industries, effectively leeching off the American people.

Getting a share of the bounty satisfied the small and midsize countries, and the plan to divide the United States received approval from most nations.

The remaining countries dared not overtly oppose the plan, which led to its smooth passage and public declaration of implementation.

In the peace talks, no one spoke out for the American Government, which had become a military government. Indeed, it was just so; even if the United States had changed hands, it remained the losing party. The vanquished have no rights.

Nevertheless, the British magnanimously gave MacArthur, who considered himself the President of the America, a choice: to head to the Great Lakes region and become its interim President.

Apart from the Great Lakes region, no other American areas would be connected to the United States in the near future.

Even the nominally joint-managed Great Lakes Industrial Area was essentially going to form a new republic and sever all ties with the United States.