I'm playing whack-a-mole in Siberia

Chapter 800 It's still unclear who is the pit
The impact of Britain's loss of national credibility continues to ferment.

In 1920, Britain passed the "Indian Special Collection Act of 1920". The British Indian authorities required each state to hand over 60% of its fiscal revenue to support Britain's economic reconstruction. Any individual or group who refused to pay taxes would be treated as traitor.

To prevent India from resisting taxes with force, Britain recruited colonial vassal troops from its homeland, Canada, Australia, and South Africa to station in India.

In December of that year, the Indian National Congress passed the "Non-Violent Non-Cooperation Plan" drafted by Gandhi. From then on, "Non-Violent Non-Cooperation" became the guiding ideology and programmatic strategy of the Congress Party, and Gandhi became the spiritual leader of the Congress Party.

Specifically for the British Indian troops, the manifestation of non-violent non-cooperation is that they can hold their positions and never fire a single shot.

After learning of this situation, the Theotian army launched its subsequent attack with great force, and only encountered real resistance when they reached the port.

The British sailors were responsible for the defense of the port area.

Although the sailors' fighting spirit is stronger than that of Indian soldiers, they also lack heavy weapons and lack effective response methods when facing attacks from armored vehicles.

What Boswell and Dimirov did not expect was that in order to stop the attack of the Western Austrian army, the British Navy actually used naval guns to bombard the attacking Western Austrian army, causing the battle to come to a stalemate.

The battle in Perth attracted more and more attention around the world, and even Australia's representative to the League of Nations, Laurent Pegg, could not help but protest to Britain in the League of Nations.

The Royal Navy's bombardment certainly stopped the attack of the Western Army, but it also caused heavy casualties to the citizens of Perth. At least 1500 Perth citizens died in the British bombardment.

Since Britain insisted that Theo be part of the Commonwealth, the citizens of Perth were also British.

When the Western Austrian army attacked Perth, they were able to bypass civilian communities, but the British army bombarded Perth with impunity. Did they really treat the Australians as their own people?

Considering the tense situation in Perth, Laurent Peguy formally proposed to the League of Nations that League troops be stationed in Perth.

Chamberlain was attending a meeting in London during this period, and the person representing Britain at the meeting was the British Deputy Ambassador Steve Hamilton.

Hamilton firmly opposed the deployment of League of Nations troops on the grounds that the Western Austrian War was Britain's internal affairs.

"The Western Austrian people are independent and are no longer an internal affair of the United Kingdom. We must respect the Fourteen Points put forward by President Wilson and respect the choice of the Western Austrian people."

Andrei is much better than little Nicholas, at least he doesn't swear all the time.

However, Andrei's power is no less than that of little Nicholas. His style of constantly criticizing the League of Nations' initiators is full of Russian characteristics.

"If Warsaw also holds a referendum, will Russia allow Warsaw to become independent?"

Hamilton fought back.

"The Grand Principality of Yuriev was once the private domain of Grand Duke Yuriev, and now it is an independent country. Russia will respect the choice of every Russian."

Andre said righteously, open your eyes and take a good look, this is the real cooking.

The Western Austrian referendum is the demand of most Western Austrians, and the results of the referendum also prove this.

Whether Warsaw holds a referendum depends on the choice of the majority of Varsaw residents. Public opinion cannot be swayed by a minority.

"Oh, openly turning a private estate into a country and letting your own son become king—"

Before Hamilton could finish his words, a water cup suddenly flew over and hit him in the chest, causing chaos in the meeting hall.

"Shut up! You filthy bitch--"

Alan was furious and invited Alexander to be king, which was also the choice of all East Indians.

Alan's cup was full of water, and Hamilton was drenched in it, with a piece of tea leaf on his forehead, looking miserable.

"Vote, vote, show your hands!"

Von Putales enjoyed watching the fun.

"If the League of Nations votes on this, Britain will leave the League of Nations!"

Hamilton left the meeting in anger.

George was not surprised by the result, as the National League itself was an unsuccessful attempt.

Since the Royal Navy's bombardment of Perth, the Western Austrian Air Force has been launching air strikes on British warships stationed in Perth Harbor, and the British troops are accelerating their evacuation.

Although Perth is currently in a stalemate, in the long run, the British army has no chance of winning.

What George is now seeking is for the rest of Australia to join Theo in breaking away from British colonial rule.

If India is Britain's wheelchair, then Australia and Canada are Britain's crutches.

Now that Canada has clung to the United States, George sees Australia as Russia's own private territory. After Australia becomes independent, he only needs to immigrate one million people to Australia and Australia will become the next Grand Principality of Yuriev.

The British textile industry is heavily dependent on Australian wool.

Russia also needs Australian wool, and George hopes to turn Australia into a Russian farm.

Compared to cold Siberia, Australia is the chosen place.

Don’t be fooled by the rapid development of Siberia in recent years. This is because Siberia’s foundation is too poor, and anything it does is considered an achievement. New immigrants in Siberia can only meet basic living needs. If they want to further improve on the basis of survival, it is extremely difficult.

The conditions in Siberia are too harsh, and improving infrastructure is a huge challenge for Russian governments at all levels.

If the investment is too small, there will be no effect; if the investment is too large, it will not be cost-effective. In the past two years, the controversy over the Siberian Railway in Russia has been growing. The reason is that the cost of maintaining the Siberian Railway is too high.

During the Imperial Russian era, the Trans-Siberian Railway had to be built in order to strengthen the connection between St. Petersburg and Vladivostok.

During the World War, the Trans-Siberian Railway did play its due role and completed its historical mission.

Now, in addition to railways and sea routes, there is also a more convenient air route connecting St. Petersburg and Vladivostok, and the importance of the Trans-Siberian Railway is declining.

Last year the Russian government spent 1.2 million rubles on maintaining the Trans-Siberian Railway.

This is the net expenditure after deducting the profit.

"Most of the materials of the Grand Duchy of Yuriev are transported to Crimea through the Suez Canal, and the dependence on the Siberian Railway is decreasing. If we can learn from the Americans to build a large number of airports, it will not only promote the development of the aviation industry, but also greatly improve efficiency."

The proposal of Transport Minister Peter Milinkovic was supported by most ministers.

"The significance of the Siberian Railway lies not only in the economy, but also in national defense and security."

George directly stated that he did not want to discuss this issue.

"——There are more than 150 stations along the Siberian Railway. More than one million Russians work on the railway, and nearly ten million people are affected by it. The development of Siberia is also carried out around the Siberian Railway. If the Siberian Railway is left to fall into disuse, Siberia will eventually become a stagnant pool."

George believes that Milinkovic's suggestion was definitely well-intentioned.

However, any decision made by leaders cannot be based solely on economic perspectives, but should be considered more comprehensively.

Airplanes are indeed good, fast and efficient, and there are indeed many benefits to vigorously developing the aviation industry.

But if you want to transport timber from Vladivostok to St. Petersburg, it is not cost-effective to use airplanes.

Considering the benefits brought by Siberia, it is completely worth spending more than 100 million rubles each year.

The words of the uncrowned tsar are still very authoritative.

After George finished speaking, the controversy about the Trans-Siberian Railway disappeared instantly, and Milinkovic had nothing to feel embarrassed about, as George did not completely reject his proposal.

After the end of World War II, Russia continued to make efforts in the aviation industry. Currently, most of the passenger planes and transport aircraft in Europe are provided by Russia.

With George's encouragement, Russia's first-mover advantage was fully utilized. This spring, France's Bleriot Airlines declared bankruptcy, becoming the 11th airline to go bankrupt in the past two years.

During the world war, France and Britain produced a total of more than 10 aircraft, and airlines sprang up like mushrooms after a rain.

Bleriot Aviation was one of the earliest airlines established in France. It produced more than 1000 aircraft for France during the World War. Its founder, Louis Bleriot, was the first to fly across the English Channel in an aircraft he built.

After the end of World War II, the demand for military aircraft in various countries dropped sharply, and Bleriot Aviation turned to the civilian market. However, due to poor management, it was acquired by Amur Airlines in March this year.

With the support of the Russian government, Amur Airlines has a monopoly in the civil aircraft market.

"The Americans have violated the agreement with us and are bypassing it to dump goods into the UK at low prices—"

Felix was very angry. Ansa was indeed untrustworthy.

Russia signed a trade agreement with the United States last year to jointly reap the benefits of Europe.

Due to factors such as transportation costs, the profits of American goods in Europe are relatively low. So some smart people in the United States circumvented the "Trade Agreement" signed between Russia and the United States and dumped their products to Europe at low prices through shell companies registered in Canada.

George was not surprised at all.

"We can also sell it to Europe at low prices through the Grand Duchy of Yuriev."

Guchkov responded with an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.

"No, no, no, we don't want to do anything."

George is very satisfied with Russia's current industrial structure.

The root cause of the economic crisis lies in overproduction. The United States' clever dumping will eventually backfire on the U.S. economy, and by then the European market will still belong to Russia.

"why?"

Guchkov didn't understand. Shouldn't there be a first day for Americans and a fifteenth day for Russians?
Let’s not talk about the Imperial Russian era.

Now Russia has never suffered any loss when dealing with other countries.

"It's not like we're doing nothing. We need to control the scale of industry and focus on improving productivity."

Compared to the American agreement, what George was really worried about was the Great Depression.

(End of this chapter)