Rise of Australia

Chapter 199 The European Edition

The negotiations between Arthur and William II went very smoothly.Of course, this time it was the German Empire that asked Australia and Arthur, so most of Arthur's requests were readily agreed to by William II.

In the next few days, William II personally took Arthur to visit the daily training of the German Army and naval exercises. 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 this time.

Regardless of whether there is any hope of realizing the German-Russian alliance, it will allow Australia to obtain sufficient benefits and make sure that it will not lose money.

The eastern part of the German Empire is adjacent to the western part of the Tsarist Russian Empire, but William II and Arthur still chose to go to the Tsarist Russian Empire by warship.

Of course, this is also related to the primary destination of the two.William II and Nicholas II chose Bjork Island in the Gulf of Finland for the first meeting on the German-Russian alliance. Although the official meeting was on a warship instead of the island, William II and Nicholas II Shi still very tacitly said that Bjork Island was chosen as the meeting place for the negotiation.

After a three-day sea voyage, on August 1905, 8, the two fleets on which William II and Arthur arrived near Bjork Island.

Not long after, Nicholas II's Baltic Fleet also arrived late.

Different from the first negotiation, this time because of the participation of Australia, everyone officially chose Bjork Island as the location for the negotiation.

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

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

The servants took out all kinds of food and fruits from their respective ships, as well as the drinks that had already been prepared.

An important meeting concerning the future situation in Europe started in this way.

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

Because Arthur is the youngest, in this negotiation, he is more of a listener, learning the conversation skills of the two monarchs, and also receiving the progress of the current German-Russian negotiations.

After the three greeted each other, the negotiation officially started.

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

Nicholas II nodded when he heard it, and some of the proposals that William II said really touched his heart.

The reason why the Tsarist Russian Empire failed in the last Russo-Japanese War was that apart from the decay of the Tsarist Russian Empire itself, compared with the island countries, it also lacked international support.

Although France, the only ally, chose to support the Russian Empire, such support was limited compared to Britain's support for island countries, and it was not enough to change the situation in the Far East.

Moreover, at the request of France, most of the main force of the Tsarist Russian Empire in Europe was not dispatched, and most of the military structure in the Far East consisted of recruits who had been trained for less than a year.

This also led to the heavy casualties of the Tsarist Russian Empire in the last Russo-Japanese War. The number of dead soldiers was as high as 20, and the number of soldiers who died indirectly was even as high as 30.

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

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

If the Tsarist Russian Empire can mobilize one-third of the European troops to the Far East, then the outcome of the Far East War is likely to change.

This also made some people in Russia a little disappointed with France. They believed that the ally they had high hopes for became their burden in the war.

Germany's attitude and commitment are very different from France's.If it weren't for the fact that the Tsarist Russian Empire had already made an alliance with France, Nicholas II 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 wars in the Far East, at least a small part of the Russian Empire's logistics problems in the Far East can be solved.

This is the advantage brought by distance. In the Far East, Australia's influence is even comparable to that of the second-largest European country. If only weapons and resource support are counted, it is even equivalent to a great power.

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

Even a large amount of arms trade will drive the development of Australia's industry and military industry, which is also good for Australia's future military expansion.

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

Judging from the current internal and external troubles of the Tsarist Russian Empire, it is not easy to do something in the Far East.

Although supporting Russia will cause Australia to lose the arms market of the island country, the island country mainly relies on the British Empire and the United States, and only these two countries will provide a large amount of loans to the island country.

After receiving Arthur's support and guarantee, Nicholas II nodded in satisfaction, which was regarded as 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 Russia-France alliance, a large amount of French capital has poured into the Russian market, and Russia is also very dependent on France for its own financial support and loans.

If the agreement with France is terminated hastily, it will also be a huge harm to the Tsarist Russian Empire itself.

What's more, there are not many strikes in Russia at present.If the loan cooperation with France is suddenly cut off, even if there is an influx of new German loans, the damage to the market will definitely not be alleviated in a short while.

This will cause a large number of workers to lose their jobs, and it will also make the turmoil in Russia even bigger in disguise.

This is the reason why a considerable part of Russian officials are currently opposed to the German-Russian alliance.Russia's current domestic environment cannot afford much change. If it suddenly lost the support of French capital, a bigger domestic crisis would have erupted in Russia before German capital poured in.

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

The first day of negotiations ended in such indecision.Although Germany, Russia, and Australia all have the willingness to reach a cooperation, it is obvious that Nicholas II is still too hesitant, or the current opinions in Russia are not unified.

After Nicholas II left in a hurry, Arthur did not return to the warship in a hurry, but looked at the thoughtful William II, and said with a smile, "Cousin William, are you in a bad mood?"

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

Even though William II offered a lot of conditions favorable to Russia, Nicholas II was still hesitant.

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

"You seem to have entered into a misunderstanding, Cousin William. Rather than becoming allies, I think Germany and Russia are better off in neutrality." Arthur did not answer William II, but said something meaningful.

"Oh? How do you say it?" William II suddenly became interested and asked with a little surprise.

"From a geographical point of view, Germany and Russia are adjacent, and both are one of the hegemons of the European continent. However, Russia and France are far away, and the German Empire is separated in the middle, 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 and Germany can carve up France's land, what about Russia? This is not the era of the Middle Ages, when territories were exchanged The set is no longer feasible.”

Even in the European continent, the diplomatic concept of far-reaching and close-attack is still applicable.

Although Russia attaches great importance to its Far East policy, its basic market is in Europe after all, so it has to pay attention to the development of the situation in Europe.

As allies, France and Russia can obtain German territory to supplement the country after winning the war.

And 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 without popular support.

So let Germany grow bigger?Germany has acquired the land of France, and its comprehensive strength will definitely become stronger.

After defeating France, didn't another potential opponent of Germany naturally become Russia?
Russia is not the opponent of Germany now, and naturally it cannot be the opponent of Germany after acquiring more land and territory.

This kind of development will also give birth to more thinking in Russia. Is the German-Russian alliance really more suitable than the French-Russian alliance?

In addition to the obvious 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 hesitate.

William II was silent for a moment, nodded, and said: "It is indeed the case. The purpose of the French-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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(End of this chapter)