Rise of Australia

Chapter 591 The deadbeat German
Turkey is not a qualified ally. This has already been proven in World War I.

It is no exaggeration to say that, as a great power, Australasia cannot trust any of its allies at any time and remains wary of any country. This is in line with the pattern of today's world.

However, Arthur was more interested in Turkey's strategic position than in the alliance between Turkey and Australasia mentioned by Ali Eustafa Yusuf.

As a country that nominally spans Europe and Asia, Turkey is very close to the Suez Canal and the Strait of Constantinople, and is close to the Balkans.

Going further, Turkey's geographical location can also have a profound impact on the Middle East, which is helpful for Australasia's Middle East oil strategy.

Overall, the benefits of gaining Turkey as an ally outweigh the disadvantages.After all, the current Turkey is not the Ottoman Empire it once was. It is a new country that is undergoing reform. In theory, it is worth looking forward to.

This is not to say that Arthur is blindly confident in Turkey. Just from the Turkish reform plan listed by Vice President Ali, we can actually see Kemal's firm attitude towards reforming Turkey.

Previous wars had allowed Kemal to gain most of the power of the Turkish government, leaving almost no opposition to this modernization reform.

In Kemal's reform plan, he planned to outlaw the religious system of the Ottoman Empire, as well as polygamy that had been prevalent for hundreds of years, as well as the traditional costumes of the Ottoman Empire, etc.

This is a huge change for Turkey. The new Turkish Republic is destined to be different from the previous Ottoman Empire.

Under Arthur's instructions, the talks between Australasia and Turkey went smoothly.

In March 1924, the two parties formally reached a cooperation plan, which also represented the official start of Turkey's modernization reform.

In order to build Turkey into an advanced country, Kemal made an extremely bold decision, which was to implement comprehensive Westernization.

Kemal first abolished the traditional costumes of the Ottoman Empire and required all government personnel to wear suits and top hats when working, prohibiting all non-clergymen from wearing religious robes or religious insignias.

In addition, all independent religious schools and scholastic schools in Turkey will be closed, the long-standing imam system, and Sharia law enshrined as sacred codes will be abolished, greatly reducing the influence of religion in Turkey. .

Many European countries are very surprised by Turkey's bold reforms, because this is the first country to comprehensively learn from the West. Even its usual clothing and government systems come from Australasia and Europe.

In order to ensure Turkey's republican system, Kemal modeled the political system of Australasia and the current systems of republics in the world, established a presidential-centered republican government, and let the Grand National Assembly control legislative power.

In the astonished eyes of countries around the world, Turkey has officially begun secularization and modernization reforms. The success of the reform will also determine whether this investment in Australasia will be successful.

While Turkey is making big news, the rest of Europe is not so quiet either.

The first is Greece. Greece did not perform well in the war with Turkey, and Constantine I and his cabinet who promoted the war were deposed.

Next to succeed was King George II, Arthur's brother-in-law.But at this time, Greece had experienced the rotation of three kings in four years. The domestic political situation was unstable. The rise of revolutionaries prompted George II to lose his throne.

Arthur could only smile bitterly when he heard a telegram from his sister Charlotte stating that her husband, George II, had been dethroned.

The current outcome of the Greek royal family is inextricably linked to the radicalism of successive Greek kings.

This is also a typical example of what Arthur once warned Dmitri. It is better for the monarch of a small country not to jump around. If he is not careful, he may lose his throne.

Except for Greece, the current situation in Europe is not too peaceful.

The first is Germany’s reparations situation.It has been four years since the last three-year compensation reduction or exemption, which also means that it is time for Germany to repay in full this year.

This is naturally unacceptable to the Germans. After all, the compensation reduction and exemption in the past three years gave the German government a breath of relief. Now it has to face high compensation every year. The good days are coming to an end.

In order to gain more benefits for itself, Germany tried to delay the time of reparations and try to obtain a longer period of reduction or exemption of reparations.

But such a move quickly angered the French.The French were already very dissatisfied with reducing Germany's share of reparations within three years, so it was naturally impossible for them to agree to reduce or reduce reparations for a longer period.

What's more, France's current economic situation is not too good. Naturally, it is waiting for the reparations from Germany to restore the domestic economy, and it is even less likely to agree to reduce Germany's reparations again.

Even the Tsarist Russia of Nicholas II was waiting for Germany's war reparations to alleviate the more serious domestic debt disputes.Under such circumstances, the French are still very firm in their attitude towards Germany's debt repayment.It even said forcefully that if the Germans are unwilling to repay their debts, France will use its own methods to urge Germany to repay its debts.

The good news is that such a threat has indeed been conveyed to the German government. The bad news is that the German government itself is currently in chaos, and no one has the ability to deal with this threatening telegram.

Speaking of which, we have to mention the current complex political system in Germany.Due to the influence of Britain and France, Germany currently has a military government and monarchy, as well as the influence of states and political parties. The political system is extremely chaotic.

Neither Kaiser Wilhelm II nor Hindenburg under the military government had enough say, which made Germany's unification more nominal than practical.

Especially Bavaria, a relatively powerful state in South Germany. On the premise that it has an army not much smaller than the government, the autonomy of the Kingdom of Bavaria is already quite high, and even the imperial government does not pay attention to it.

Under such circumstances, it became natural for the Germans to want to delay the reparations.

After all, obtaining tax revenue from various states is a troublesome matter. Even Bavaria has not submitted tax revenue to the imperial government for more than two years.

The economic independence of these powerful states also exacerbated Germany's economic crisis in disguise.

At present, the German government does not have the money to repay the compensation. After thinking for a long time, the German government decided to temporarily default on the debt. Anyway, the government really has no money to repay the compensation, and the French cannot do anything to themselves.

As time entered 1924, many countries that had signed the contract also received requests from Germany to delay the 1924 reparations until 1926 to alleviate Germany's serious domestic financial crisis.

If this was before reparations relief occurred, countries might have held a negotiating conference about it.After all, Germany's financial situation after the defeat was indeed bad, and some concessions were inevitable.

But when is it now?
It has only been four years since the reduction of Germany's reparations and the reduction of the proportion of reparations in the previous three years. This year is the time for the first payment of the reduced reparations. The Germans applied for a delay. Isn't this treating all countries like monkeys? ?

Even if Germany's financial situation did have problems before, it has been relieved for four years, at least it has improved, right?

If even a reduced reparations cannot be paid, then it is necessary to consider the German attitude towards war reparations.

As one of the major contributors to Germany's reparations, Australasia naturally received Germany's request to postpone the reparations.

When Roger's men asked about his attitude, Arthur gave an ambiguous answer: "If Britain and France agree to extend the reparations time again, we will have no problem. Most of our debts have been mortgaged to Britain and France, and we will follow in terms of reparations." Just the actions of Britain and France.”

Australasia's reparations ratio was originally relatively small among the Allied countries. After the last reduction of the reparations ratio, there was not much left.

In the development of the past few years, Arthur has more or less transferred these loans to Britain and France. The remaining share of German reparations in Australasia is about [-] million pounds, which is far less than the share of Germany held by Britain and France. share of reparations.

Whether due to delayed repayment or repudiation, Australasia's losses will be far less than those of Britain and France.

This is also the real reason why Arthur asked the government to follow the actions of Britain and France. After all, there are people taking the lead, and some people will be more anxious than Australasia.

Compared with Australasia's temporary wait-and-see attitude, the French's attitude is very determined.

Because it has warned the Germans before, the French government has publicly stated that it will not accept any delay in compensation in any way or for any reason, and requires the German government to pay off this year's compensation as soon as possible and within the specified time, and fulfill the contract signed at that time. responsibilities.

The French's request has been supported by a considerable number of small and medium-sized countries. After all, these small and medium-sized countries are not that confident when facing the former great power Germany.

Britain and France can be cold-blooded and directly demand payment, but when they face German diplomats, they also have to have a good relationship with German diplomats.

After all, restrictive treaties cannot always restrict Germany. Germany's size is still within the scope of the great powers, and it cannot be offended by an ordinary small or medium-sized country.

Besides, even with only an army of 15, Germany's military strength currently far exceeds that of some small and medium-sized countries. This is why those small and medium-sized countries are unwilling to directly offend Germany.

France's ability to directly stand up against Germany's demands is like a ray of light in the dark night for these small and medium-sized countries. It seems so just and so eye-catching.

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(End of this chapter)