Rise of Australia

Chapter 445 Cultural Propaganda
Although Russia has agreed to continue the war, the country's diplomatic relations are complicated.

On the one hand, Russia did not withdraw its front-line troops after receiving a large amount of aid from Britain and France.

On the other hand, Germany and Russia are also maintaining certain ties, and it seems that there is a possibility of reaching a certain peace treaty between Germany and Russia.

Now that the war has been fought, both the Allies and the Entente have been exhausted.

Nearly 2000 million troops have been put into the war by both sides. After the Battle of Verdun and the Battle of the Somme were launched successively, the number of casualties has skyrocketed one after another.

According to the current situation disclosed by various countries, the total number of casualties caused by World War I to the countries participating in the war has reached nearly 1200 million, and the confirmed death toll has exceeded 500 million.

This number of casualties is very exaggerated.Although it seems that only a quarter of the total number of troops invested by various countries is present, before the war, the combined troops of the major European powers did not exceed 500 million.

What does this mean? The elite troops of European countries before the war have basically been exhausted. Most of the troops currently participating in the war are temporarily recruited after the war.

Russia was the first country to experience civil strife due to war, but it will definitely not be the last.

The current war has had a great impact on European countries. The increase in working hours, the reduction in material distribution, and the forced participation of a large number of adult men in the war have made a large number of European people more and more tired of this war.

As early as half a year ago, Germany put forward a proposal for a comprehensive peace.However, Germany is currently the country that occupies the most territory and seizes the most benefits. It is naturally impossible for Britain and France to end the war in the current situation.

Hopes for peace talks ended at this point, and the civil strife in Russia also gave the Germans a new opportunity for peace talks, so they frequently contacted the Russians.

In fact, the diplomatic activities during the war did not stop there.In addition to European countries, Asian island countries and the United States on the other side of the Atlantic are always paying attention to this war.

In history, the United States once competed with island countries for the Pacific Ocean and the Far East during World War I, and extremely sharp conflicts broke out.

But now, these areas are basically all taken over by Australasia, and there is no conflict between the United States and the island countries.

Even the United States-Japan alliance treaty signed a few years ago had the intention of jointly targeting Australasia and jointly occupying the Far East and Pacific islands.

But it is a pity that the relationship between Australasia and the major powers of the Allied Powers has always been very close. It is impossible for the small US-Japan alliance to be the opponent of the entire Allied Powers, perhaps during and after the war.

Unlike the East Asian colonies where the island countries conspired with Germany, the Americans obviously have greater ambitions.

When World War I just broke out, US President Wilson announced that the United States would strictly observe neutrality.But this is not to keep the United States out of the war, or even out of international affairs.

According to President Wilson's original words, this is to retain sufficient strength in the early stage of the war, and directly adjudicate the war as an arbitrator in the middle and late stages of the war.

Obviously, instead of directly participating in this war, the Americans want to retain enough strength to join the winning side in the later stages of the war and win the war with the least casualties.

The fact is indeed the case. The two countries of the United States and Australasia should be the only two powers that are not affected much in the war.

While other European countries faced waves of strikes and anti-war waves, the economies of the United States and Australasia continued to boom.

Compared with the US economy, the Australasian economy is actually growing faster.

Although there is still a certain gap with the United States in terms of economic aggregate, Australasia has earned enough funds in the war because of the large amount of trade with the Allies, and it has also harvested a lot of resources, gold and minerals and technology.

In trade with the Russians alone, Australasia has acquired gold worth as much as £2000 million.

Although it seems that there are only 2000 million pounds, according to the previous ratio of pounds to gold, the weight of this batch of gold is as high as 146 tons.

You know, this is pure gold, not a gold mine rich in gold.Whether it is the current gold standard or the future monetary system, gold reserves are very important to a country.

This not only represents the value of the currency, but also guarantees the credibility of the currency.

Because of the inflow of a large amount of gold from Europe, the Australian dollar has not actually experienced a large depreciation, and the value of the Australian dollar is still very strong.

Because of the value preservation of the currency, the life of Australasians is much better than that of European countries, and the life of the country is currently relatively stable.

When European countries ushered in waves of strikes, demonstrations, and revolutions, Australasia remained calm, and the people's support for the government and the royal family remained high.

Of course, although the current situation is very stable, it is not a bad thing to increase public support for the government.

Australasia has never stopped promoting war and improving national cohesion. When European countries generally produced cultural works calling for support for war, various literary works and movies in Australasia were also broadcast in China.

On the premise that domestic life is fairly stable, watching movies has become very common for Australasians.

Although it is only a very simple black and white film with sound, it is already a rare leisure time for Australasians in this era.

Whether it is a free movie broadcast on National Day and holidays or a paid movie that requires ticket purchase, it will attract a large number of viewers.

Of all the film categories, Australasians love patriotic propaganda films the most.

These are Arthur's carefully selected scripts, coupled with the careful production of major film studios, combined with the promotional methods of later generations, they can naturally easily attract these Australasians who have never seen the world.

As long as there is a sense of identity with the country, under the propaganda and propaganda of patriotism, there will naturally be a sense of patriotism.

It is precisely because of this patriotism that Australasians' support for the war is unprecedentedly high. Strike demonstrations and anti-war demonstrations that are already common in Europe are completely invisible in Australasia.

After all, Europeans march because their lives have been plagued by war.

Not only have to face longer overtime, the government also restricted the supply of materials, and even a large number of civilians were forced to go to the battlefield.

Various factors have made European civilians very dissatisfied with this war. Even in the British Empire, there have been dozens of strikes and demonstrations this year, and more than 30 workers and civilians have participated in strikes and demonstrations.

Australasians are not in that position at all.This had called on Australasians to stockpile a year's worth of food in advance, before the war broke out.

The Australasian government has opened up the grain reserves of 500 catties per household to the residents twice, which also made the grain reserves of most Australasian families reach nearly [-] catties.

This is not over yet, the strategic grain reserves of the Australasian government are as high as more than 600 million tons, which is enough for all Australasians to live for more than one and a half years without any food output.

Coupled with the extremely developed animal husbandry in Australasia, Australasians do not even have any food crisis. Before and after the war, the daily food and calorie intake per person did not decrease, and there was even an increase in meat intake. .

Because of Australasia's developed grain production and excellent animal husbandry, Australasia was the only participating country that did not implement a material rationing system.

Although food prices have also risen to a certain extent after the outbreak of the war, under the control of the royal consortium, the price of food in Australasia is still maintained at a reasonable figure, a figure that is enough for all Australasians to afford food .

Moreover, the Royal Relief Committee did not stop working during the war, and was still distributing free food and medical supplies to low-income and no-income people.

The Australasians can proudly declare that they were absolutely the best of all the warring nations.

Of course, a good life is a good one, and Arthur has no intention of showing off, and even his external image has always been very simple.

In order to better let the public understand the royal family and make the public have a higher opinion of the royal family, the Royal Film Studio made a film about the Australasian royal family, which included Arthur's whole day's work and The basic necessities of the royal family.

In this promo-like film, Arthur and the royal family are on a humble diet.A piece of bread, a glass of milk, and a vegetable soup for breakfast.

A piece of steak, a piece of mashed potatoes and a piece of sausage at noon, and a glass of red wine from the winery.

Dinner is even simpler, a Spanish-style fried rice, with a very light stir-fried vegetables, and some fruits.

Although this kind of life is a little better than that of the common people, it is almost at the same level.

If the Australasians wanted to live a little more luxuriously, they could have a diet similar to Arthur's.

This is what Arthur wants to promote, the simplicity and frugality of the royal family.The people saw that the royal family's food was not much different from their own. Even if the war had affected them, their dissatisfaction would disappear.

However, these ordinary people obviously don't know that the chefs in the palace are naturally different from the chefs outside, and the food they make is actually different in nature.

For example, the steak that Arthur eats is selected from the best source of meat, and it is cooked with precision to the second, coupled with seasoning and careful preparation from all over the world, it will definitely be a luxury in later generations.

Of course, showing frugality and simplicity is not the only thing.After the war broke out, members of the royal family had no high-profile trips, visited any streets and shops in Australasia, and did not buy any luxury goods.

In the eyes of the people, the royal family's clothing, food, housing and transportation have become very simple, which also makes the people love the royal family more. After all, there are not many nobles who can share the joys and sorrows of the people, let alone Arthur who spends a lot of money every year to help the poor.

Although there is no big purchase of clothes and luxury goods on the surface, secretly, the royal family's private tailors and jewelers also customize clothing and jewelry products for all members of the royal family every year.

For all members of the royal family in Europe, private customization is the best.The cost of any of Arthur's custom-made dresses exceeds tens of thousands of Australian dollars, not to mention the specific price after including time and labor costs.

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(End of this chapter)