Rise of Australia

Chapter 364 The Necessity of Language Unification

In terms of fiscal revenue, Australasia's annual fiscal revenue exceeded 1.015 million Australian dollars for the first time, reaching 5 million Australian dollars, an increase of about [-]% compared to the previous year.

This year's growth has slowed down a lot compared to the previous year, but the growth rate is not too slow.

If the Leonora industrial base hadn't been officially put into production, it might be a question of whether the fiscal revenue could exceed [-] million this year.

Of course, high fiscal growth also means high fiscal expenditure.For the construction and development of the country, in terms of funds, the Australasian government has never saved.

Throughout 1913, the total fiscal expenditure of the Australasian government was as high as 1.001 million Australian dollars, and the growth rate of expenditure was much faster than that of income.

This also led to a fiscal surplus of only 1913 million Australian dollars in 140. Compared with the fiscal surplus of millions or even tens of millions in previous years, this year's fiscal surplus made Australasia look like one of the two major military blocs. one country.

Of course, a large part of the high-growth fiscal expenditure is military growth.

In 1913, Australasia's military expenditure was as high as 4706 million Australian dollars, which was close to half of the government's annual fiscal revenue.

Although a large part of this was caused by the 30 colonial troops, it cannot be denied that because of Australasia's joining the Allies, Australasia's military spending in the next few years will only increase.

In fact, Australasia's financial situation has been considered good, at least it can maintain a fiscal surplus.

The current financial situation of the major European powers is not very good. Many countries have fallen into a debt crisis and may even go bankrupt.

The arms race in Europe has developed to the current situation, and it has become an unaffordable expense for the major European powers.

If the arms race cannot be eased due to some things, then the only thing that can be expected is to forcibly end the arms race by launching a war.

On the industrial front, Australasia is also progressing very rapidly.

In terms of steel production, the growth rate has gradually slowed down because the government has focused on other industries besides steel production, such as chemical industry and machinery industry.

However, due to the unique advantages of mineral resources in Australasia, the steel production in Australasia is still growing.

By the end of 1913, the total steel production in Australasia had reached 186.39 million tons and 307.62 million tons respectively, ranking seventh in the world.

In addition to the total amount of steel production, Australasia's iron ore and coal mining volumes are also among the top eight in the world.

At present, Australasia's industry accounts for 3.8% of the world's total industry, and it is catching up with Austria-Hungary, a traditional European industrial power.

At the foot of Australasia is Italy, one of the European powers.

To put it bluntly, at present, Italy has a clear advantage over Australasia, and perhaps only the population of Italy.

This advantage is also being frantically pursued by Australasia.If the population of Australasia can still maintain a high-speed growth, it is estimated that in a maximum of five years, Australasia will far surpass Italy in all aspects, and thus be promoted to the seventh power in the world.

Of course, if the Austro-Hungarian Empire was dismantled in World War I as it was in history, Australasia might be able to leapfrog directly to become the sixth power.

Thanks to 30 colonial troops, Australasia's total army strength has reached 52.2, ranking seventh among all countries involved in European conflicts.

If the size of the Australasian navy can be increased, speaking of Australasia, it will be able to get rid of the title of the eighth power and seek opportunities to catch up with Italy and the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

In terms of more important food production, Australasia has also experienced considerable growth.

In 1913, the total arable land area in Australasia reached 2741 million acres, and the per capita arable land area decreased to 1.98 acres.

This is actually quite normal. After all, the construction of a large number of infrastructure and industrial bases has attracted a large number of immigrants and rural population to become workers, and the agricultural population has naturally decreased.

However, due to the large-scale population growth, overall, the arable land area of ​​Australasia has increased.

At present, the annual grain output of Australasia has reached 1279 million tons, making it a veritable grain producing country.

Of course, most of the grain currently produced in Australasia is basically transported to major domestic granaries for strategic storage.

Of the 1279 million tons of grain, less than one-tenth is exported, and the export targets are still allies such as Britain, France and Russia.

How exaggerated is Australasia's food production?If you save a little food, 1279 million tons of grain is enough to feed 5000 million people for a year.

Coupled with the extremely developed animal husbandry in Australasia, the annual grain output of Australasia can feed the entire population of the country for three years, and it is still the kind that has vegetables and meat and is rich in nutrition.

The domestic agriculture of Australasia alone is enough to feed the entire population of Australasia.

If you count the black land leased from Argentina this time, after all the black land is planted for agriculture, the grain production in Australasia will increase a lot.

Counting the entire land area of ​​Australasia, even with the current level of agriculture, Arthur is confident to feed a population of 5000 million.

Not to mention that with the development of population and technology, agricultural production will undergo earth-shaking changes.

After listening to the reports of the Prime Minister and ministers of various departments on the status quo of the country's development, Arthur is generally very satisfied.

According to this development trend, as long as the First World War is won, Australasia can completely become the top five powers in the world after the First World War.

Even if something happened to Russia in World War I, Australasia would directly become the fourth power in the world after Britain, France, and the United States.

At that time, Britain and France will need to recover blood from the colonies, and the heavy responsibility of fighting the United States will fall on Australasia.

Although this is a challenge, it can also obtain more assistance from Britain and France, which is also good for the development of Australasia.

After all, Britain and France do not want the United States to provoke trouble at this time.The weak Britain and France are not necessarily the opponents of the United States. Whether Australasia can resist the United States has become the most important topic after World War I.

After a simple annual report, Arthur shifted the topic to the newly received colonies and asked the cabinet government about the policies of the new colonies.

"Your Majesty, in order to control these colonies and territories in the long run, in addition to military control, some changes in education are also required. I think that throughout Australasia, English as the official language will be mandatory. In addition, to increase the supervision and restrictions on non-English schools, only when the people speak English uniformly can better bring the people together." Minister of Education Stefan stood up first and proposed.

As the saying goes, books have the same text, and cars have the same track.In order to better unify a region, it is necessary to have the same text and the same system.

"Well, Minister Stefan's proposal is very good. Do you have any other suggestions?" Arthur nodded and said with a smile.

"Your Majesty, in addition to controlling education, you should also send a large number of missionaries to convert the entire Australasian faith to Protestantism, at least Christianity. Only by putting yourself in the arms of God can you become a A loyal Australasian," suggested Archbishop Steed.

The official religion of Australasia is Protestantism, specifically Australian Protestantism.

Australian Protestantism has its own supreme archbishop, and the archbishop is loyal to the king of Australasia.

Except for some relatively small differences, Australian Protestantism is no different from British Protestantism, but Arthur made a more detailed division for the convenience of his own rule.

Although the official religion of Australasia is Protestantism, there are different religions that Australasians believe in because of different immigrants from all over Europe.

Among them, the largest number of believers are naturally Protestantism, Catholicism and Orthodox Church, which belong to Christianity.

Both English and German immigrants believed in Protestantism, while Russian immigrants believed in Orthodox Christianity.As for other European immigrants, there are Protestant, Orthodox, and Catholic.

In any case, these three religions belong to Christianity and are within the acceptable range of the Australasian government.

Religions other than Christianity are not popular in Australasia and are mostly practiced by Aboriginals and descendants of Aboriginals and immigrants.

A unified country must have a unified language and a unified belief. Archbishop Steed is right, at least the majority of Australasians must believe in Christianity.

The gap brought about by belief is huge. Even in modern times when religion has lost its power, there are still many people who are obsessed with religious belief.

All those in power in Australasia believe in Protestantism, which also means that Australasians must also believe in Protestantism, or its close Catholicism and Orthodox Church.

When conflicts arise between high-level officials and civilians, it is often the civilians who change, not the high-level people.

Of course, the current situation in Australasia is fine, but a small number of colonies and regions need to send missionaries to preach.

Arthur also attached great importance to religious issues.After Archbishop Stead made the proposal, Arthur nodded and said: "The proposal to send missionaries is very necessary, Bishop Steed, and I will leave this matter to you. The task of the Ministry of Education is to A large number of schools that only teach English are opened in the colonies of the country, and the task of the church is to send a large number of missionaries to these areas."

After hearing Arthur's order, Archbishop Stead nodded solemnly and said, "Your Majesty, don't worry, the missionaries of the church will march to the new colony within a few days to complete your majesty's mission."

Although Archbishop Stead comes from the Church of England, in the political environment of Australasia, he has already understood who he really is loyal to.

When the mystery of religion gradually recedes, religion also has to bow its head in front of secular power.

Archbishop Stead is obviously a smart man. He understands that although his rights come from the church, the power of the church is given by Arthur.

If Arthur is not satisfied, he can be replaced at any time.Therefore, after coming to Australasia, Archbishop Stead thoroughly regarded himself as the bishop of the Australasian Church, rather than the previous bishop of the Church of England.

　The third update of 3200 words, asking for a monthly ticket, asking for support!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)