Rise of Australia

Chapter 348 The Second Balkan War and the South American Conflict

As time entered May, the public exhibition of white herding deer and Xiaobai officially began.

As one of the few wild white herding deer, Xiaobai is treated like a national treasure at the Royal Sydney Zoo.

The food and drink are looked after by special zoo personnel, for fear that there will be any problems with Xiaobai.

What they eat is specially harvested fresh grass, twigs and leaves.What they drink is the flowing river water drawn from the river to ensure that the water source is clean.

The sale of tickets for the Royal Zoo in Sydney has also been noisy recently.

Because many people asked to open the pre-sale in advance to avoid the hard work of going to the zoo. Not only will they not be able to see Xiaobai, but they may not be able to see it the next time they come.

As a result, the rush to buy tickets has become even more frantic for the Royal Zoo, which allows pre-sale of tickets.

Perhaps because white deer are rare to see, the recent Sydney can be described as a sea of ​​people, very lively.

Not only the citizens of Sydney, but also tourists from all over the country and even from all over the world came here, making Sydney, which was already crowded, even more crowded and full of traffic.

However, this has made Sydney's GDP develop more rapidly.Since last year's Sydney Olympic Games, tourism has become a major economic pillar industry in Australasia, especially the cities around Sydney and Melbourne.

Because the southeastern region of Australia is the core part of Australasia, this region also receives the most tourists.

Not only were two large cities with a population of one million born, but there was also a tendency to give birth to the urban agglomeration in southeastern Australia.

In order to limit the current wave of pre-purchased tickets for the Royal Zoo in Sydney, the Royal Zoo has also issued regulations that only pre-sell tickets for a maximum of three days.

If it were not for the restriction of this regulation, I am afraid that tourists from other places will face an exaggerated situation that when they come to the Royal Sydney Zoo, the tickets will be sold out within one or two months, and the tickets after two months will even have to queue up to buy .

However, this has increased the ticket revenue of the Royal Zoo.Previously, the daily ticket fee was only a few thousand Australian dollars during the peak period.

The current ticket revenue can easily exceed [-] Australian dollars, and the Royal Sydney Zoo is also expected to enter a state of profitability.

However, all of this is temporary.

As the Kent steward buys more wild and rare animals from all over the world, the daily operating costs of the Royal Sydney Zoo will also increase.

You must know that each rare wild animal needs a different living environment.

Especially for rare animals from all over the world, they not only have strict requirements on the living environment, but the environment of each ethnic group is also very different.

Even just arranging the living environment of these creatures is enough to make the Royal Zoo enter a state of loss for a long time.

Fortunately, the Royal Zoo is the property of the royal consortium after all, and it is backed by the arrogant royal consortium. These expenses are only small figures.

With the successful exhibition of the white herding deer in the Royal Zoo, various reports about the white herding deer have been reported by major media around the world.

Yes, although only a few days have passed, the hunting of the white herd deer is definitely a big news. Therefore, foreign media also don’t care about the airship ticket which is as high as thousands of pounds, and they bring camera equipment and organize people to arrive in Australasia West Asia.

Fortunately, Australasia is the country that initiated the round-the-world voyage of airships, and it was also the first country to establish an airship airline to operate around-the-world voyages.

Coupled with the fact that Australasia's airship technology is world-leading, airship companies from various countries will also consider stopping in Australasia when planning airship routes around the world.

Since then, Australasia has carried out better inspection and maintenance of airships. These technologies are not properly mastered by airship companies in other countries.

Especially after a major problem, it can only be sent to Australasia for repairs, which also makes the current round-the-world flight indispensable to the participation of Australasia.

Don't underestimate the stops of global voyages. They basically choose large cities and capitals in all countries in the world, so that they can be used by big capitalists and dignitaries. The main customers of airships are basically these people.

Because of Xiaobai, there are many more tourists in Australasia than before, which has also had a certain impact on Sydney's urban security.

But this is not what Arthur needs to worry about now, because shortly after Xiaobai entered the Royal Zoo, the world situation became chaotic again.

The London agreement signed more than half a year ago was eventually torn up by the Balkan alliance signed.

The Balkan Alliance, which originally fought against the Ottoman Turk Empire together with the enemy, was finally divided into two camps under the influence of uneven distribution of benefits.

Of course, one of the camps is only Bulgaria, who made Bulgaria the most profitable in the last Balkan war.

Moreover, another camp also joined the Kingdom of Romania, which also turned the situation in the Balkans into a joint fight against Bulgaria, that is, the Anti-Bulgarian Alliance.

Logically speaking, in the face of several enemies, Bulgaria should be the weak side, and it should try its best to avoid war or seek outside help.

In fact, Bulgaria did the same.Because Serbia, the main country of the anti-Bulgarian alliance, has good relations with Russia, and Russia is one of the four major powers of the Allied Powers.

In order to seek protection, Bulgaria quickly hooked up with the lack of allies, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, to be precise, who wanted to extend its hand to the Balkans.

The Austro-Hungarian Empire was worried that the previous Balkan alliance would unite together, and could only sit back and watch Russia take control of the Balkan situation.

Seeing Bulgaria coming to their door, the Austro-Hungarian Empire naturally had no excuse to refuse.

After the anti-Bulgarian alliance among the Balkan countries emerged, Bulgaria signed a sovereignty defense treaty with Austria-Hungary without hesitation.

According to the treaty, Austria-Hungary provided loans to Bulgaria to help Bulgaria maintain its armaments and domestic order.

And when Bulgaria's national security was seriously threatened, troops were sent to protect Bulgaria's independence and territorial integrity.

This treaty gave Bulgaria enough confidence. Bulgaria's high-level officials confidently believed that with the help of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and the guarantee of Bulgaria's security, Bulgaria could sit back and relax and even take the initiative to attack the Balkan countries.

In fact, Bulgaria did exactly that.

On May 1913, 5, after obtaining the consent of Germany and Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria took the lead in attacking Greece and Serbia.

The 35 Bulgarian army was divided into 15 combat troops against Greece, [-] combat troops against Serbia, and [-] reserve troops, launching a mighty offensive.

In order to fulfill the covenant and at the same time take a share in the war, Romania declared war on Bulgaria on May 5, on the pretext that Bulgaria caused damage to the Romanian border when it mobilized its troops.

On the same day, Montenegro also declared war on Bulgaria. After just one year, the Balkan Peninsula fell into a brutal war again.

But this is not over. The Turkish government, which thought it was waiting for an opportunity, also declared war on Bulgaria at the end of May, demanding to regain the country.

All of a sudden, except for the Bosnia area occupied by the Austro-Hungarian Empire and Albania, which is jointly managed by many countries, the Balkans were all caught in the dark clouds of war.

At this time, the Austro-Hungarian Empire originally wanted to fulfill the agreement signed with Bulgaria at that time.

Even the Austro-Hungarian Empire has prepared enough troops to attack Serbia to ease the military pressure on Bulgaria.

You must know that at this time Bulgaria has been under the siege of the Anti-Bulgarian League and the Ottoman Turkish Empire. It has repeatedly suffered setbacks and retreated across the board.

If support is not given in time, Bulgaria's defeat is almost certain.

But the problem is that Russia stood firmly behind Serbia and expressed support for the war provoked by Serbia.

Russia has the help of Britain and France behind it. If the Austro-Hungarian Empire acts rashly, it is very likely to directly provoke a war between the Allies and the Entente.

Russia's firm support for Serbia is actually beyond doubt.Because Serbia has been a staunch ally of Russia for a long time, and it is also the guarantee of Russia's interests in the Balkans.

The reason why Russia can easily control the Balkan countries is due to Serbia.

Britain and France also have a firm attitude towards Russia's support. They even called Arthur directly to ask Arthur's attitude, and even his overt and secret intentions.

Britain and France's statement is actually asking Arthur's attitude.

After all, Australasia, as one of the four major powers of the Allied Powers, is impossible to be independent under the premise of the conflict between the Allied Powers and the Allied Powers.

Unless Arthur wants to change jobs midway like Italy did, he must firmly support Britain, France and the Allied Powers in order to protect his status as the four major powers of the Allied Powers and the distribution of interests after the war.

After receiving the inquiry telegram from the British and French governments, Arthur responded quickly, saying that Australasia was ready to fight at any time, and would do everything possible to support Britain, France, Russia and the entire Allied Powers.

The firm attitude of the four major powers of the Allied Powers made the three major powers of the Allied Powers, especially the most powerful country, the German Empire, feel strong pressure.

Although the Austro-Hungarian Empire has sharpened its sword towards Serbia, the German Empire finally decided to stop the actions of the Austro-Hungarian Empire after thinking for a long time.

In June 1913, a letter from Wilhelm II to Emperor Franz sent from Berlin to Vienna showed Wilhelm II's attitude: "It is true to support Bulgaria, but if you do not hesitate to launch a peace The war between the Allied Powers is not worth the loss. It is not that we are afraid of them, but at present, the military preparations for launching a world-class war have not yet been completed. We should suspend hostile military operations with the Allied Powers and wait until the military Let’s talk after the preparations are complete.”

Even William II, who was a little proud and eccentric, had to admit that when he faced the four major powers of the Allied Powers, he faced extremely huge pressure.

France and Russia are located on the east and west sides of Germany, which also means that if Germany wants to fight the Allies, Germany will have to face the pressure of a two-front war.

If the Russian army is enough to contain the German army, then the combined British and French fleets can also crush the German high seas fleet.

After Australasia joined the Allied Powers, the improvement in the overall strength of the Allied Powers was not obvious.

Of course, this does not mean that Australasia is not strong.In fact, the overall strength of the Allied Powers is too strong. Even if they join Australasia, the percentage of improvement is actually not high.

Although the current overall strength seems to be that Italy is stronger than Australasia, William II, who has visited Australasia many times, understands that the overall strength of the army and navy is stronger than that of Italy in Australasia.

More importantly, the mainland of Australasia is not in Europe. As long as the mainland is not damaged, it can be consumed in comparison with the Allies.

Although the other three major powers of the Allied Powers have their homeland and core interests in Europe, they all have a large land area and a larger population.

If they fight against the Allied Powers, the final outcome for the Allied Powers will be defeat.

The Austro-Hungarian Empire was Germany's most staunch ally. After receiving a letter from William II, Emperor Franz could only terminate domestic military operations even if he was unwilling.

Bulgaria's biggest hole card gave up Bulgaria. Facing the siege of several other countries, Bulgaria retreated steadily, and the land harvested in the first Balkan War was almost lost.

On June 1913, 6, Bulgaria, which had been unable to wait for the military support of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, finally understood the seriousness of the matter.

The Bulgarian army's overall offensive has been changed to a comprehensive defense. Their goal has changed from winning the war at the beginning to defending the country.

On June 6, accompanied by a battle between the Greek army and the Bulgarian army, the Greek army finally won, which also established the final style of this war.

Bulgaria's defeat has already appeared. Even if Ferdinand wants to persist, he may not be able to last for a month.

The wise abandonment of Germany and the Austro-Hungarian Empire made Britain, France and Russia very satisfied, and Arthur was temporarily relieved.

If the First World War broke out early, it would not be good news for Arthur.

First, Australasia's domestic preparations are not very sufficient, and it is difficult to guarantee sufficient military strength after the war.

Secondly, the complete change in the world situation may also make Arthur lose the opportunity to predict everything.

After all, the war broke out ahead of time, which also means that everything in the original world has been changed ahead of time.

Arthur's advantage as a traverser will also be wiped out, which is not good news for Arthur.

Before Britain, France, Russia and other powers stopped for a while, at the end of June 1913, conflicts broke out in South America again, and soon attracted the attention of major powers and the world.

This region of South America is home to three major powers, Brazil, Argentina, and Chile.

The overall strength of these three countries is similar. Apart from the obvious gap in land area, the size of population, economy and industry are also not much different.

This has also led to the fact that although these three countries have territorial disputes, it is basically unlikely that a large-scale war will break out.

If you want to win the war, you must gamble on the fate of the country and do everything you can.

None of the three countries has such courage and courage. After all, losing the bet means falling behind the other two countries.

The previous vigorous South American naval race also represented conflicts and disputes between these three countries.

In addition, Chile has the largest saltpeter mine in the world, and is an important saltpeter mining area in the British Empire and the world.

Therefore, after the conflict broke out in this area, it soon attracted the attention of the British Empire, the Allied Powers and the whole world.

This conflict has nothing to do with Brazil, the largest country in South America. The main protagonists are Chile and Argentina, two major countries in the south of South America.

Neither Chile nor Argentina had such a large land area decades ago.

During these decades of expansion, they expanded a large amount of land to the south, and these lands were all adjacent to each other.

Facing the very narrow and long national borders, it is impossible not to have any problems.

This has also led to the fact that the relationship between Argentina and Chile has not been very good for a long time, and the two sides have considerable conflicts between the national borders.

Both countries were formerly under Spanish colonial rule. After independence, the Andes Mountains formed a natural dividing line.

But the problem is that this is just a simple dividing line on land, and the boundary of the offshore strait has not been determined.

This has also led to constant disputes over the ownership of the three islands at the border of the Beagle Channel, Picton and other Lennox Islands and Nueva Islands.

Although the combined area of ​​these three islands is only more than 300 square kilometers, the Beagle Channel where the three islands are located has a very important geographical location and rich seabed resources.

Whoever can occupy the strait between the two countries can gain some advantages over the other country.

For the two countries that are evenly matched, this is the key to breaking the balance.

In 1902, Argentina and Chile signed the General Arbitration Treaty, entrusting the arbitration of their conflicts to the British Empire.

However, because Chile has a good relationship with the British Empire, Chile has taken ownership of the three islands as a matter of course and has become the winning party in the conflict.

But that doesn't mean the conflict is over.On the contrary, the Argentines were not satisfied with the arbitration, and the conflict with Chile did not end because of the arbitration, but intensified, and the two countries even had a tendency to form hatred.

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(End of this chapter)