The Rise of Australasia

At this point, the United Kingdom, France, and Russia, the allies, had not yet reached the tight relationship they would have during the war, and each had different degrees of preparation and progress for war.

At this time, when Australasia proposed that it should have command over its own combat forces, Minister Grey had nothing much to argue against it.

Because considering the current situation, even if the war broke out, Britain, France, and Russia would at most only coordinate their efforts, and it was impossible for them to hand over command of their own army to other countries.

Under such circumstances, it was reasonable for Australasia to demand independent command of its own army. After all, no one is so generous as to hand over the command of their country's army to others, which would be equivalent to handing over the lifeblood of the army.

As for the issue of military expenditure, under the recommendation of Prime Minister Kent, Minister Grey also made some modifications.

Once the Australasian troops set out for Europe, the British Government would provide half the soldiers' salaries and bear all the military expenses during the combat period.

This meant that, once the Australasian troops arrived in Europe, they could fire their weapons freely, backed by the deep pockets of the British.

The Australasian Government only needed to cover half of the increase in personnel, which would not only satisfy their military training objectives but also meet the requirements of the British for combat duty.

Of course, the British were not just providing financial support for nothing. Minister Grey also imposed a new requirement that once the European war broke out, Australasian combat forces in Europe must maintain a scale of no less than 200,000 men.

If, for any reason, there were reductions, Australasia would need to continue to dispatch troops to Europe to maintain the size of combat forces at over 200,000.

This meant that, counting casualties, Australasia might need to mobilize at least 500,000 troops to join the European war to meet British requirements.

However, the condition proposed by Minister Grey did not explicitly require any specific number of Australasian main force troops.

This was acceptable to Arthur, because after World War I, it would be necessary to reduce the number of native people to avoid possible ethnic problems in the future.

Regarding the potential manpower issues caused by the decrease in native people, the majority of heavy labor they did could gradually be replaced by machinery.

Furthermore, the population of Australasia was constantly increasing. Based on the current annual population growth, Australasia's population was expected to exceed 13.5 million by the outbreak of World War I, if it occurred as it did historically.

Before 1920, the population of Australasia could at least exceed 20 million, and the issue of labor shortages would not be as serious as it is now.

Even for a considerable period after the end of World War I, which included the stage when Australasia would acquire a large number of immigrants.

If managed well and successfully replaced the United States' position during World War I, Australasia would be facing millions, if not tens of millions, of immigrants annually.

In addition to absorbing the resources of the defeated countries, Arthur could even hope to turn Australasia into a major power with a population of thirty to forty million, with military strength ranking third globally and comprehensive strength ranking fifth.

In addition to these military agreements, another important topic discussed during this negotiation was the division of interests after the war.

This is a topic that can never be avoided. If the alliance of Germany, Austria, and Italy aimed to disrupt the existing colonial order, with Germany obtaining more colonies, Austria-Hungary expanding in the Balkan Peninsula, and Italy acquiring new territories, then the Allies also had their own goals.

Although the establishment of the Allies was originally intended to jointly resist German expansion, should victory be achieved in the war, they would certainly demand many benefits from the defeated nations to compensate for their military expenses and consumption.

The UK, France, and Russia were still okay. Whether it was receiving colonies from the Allied Powers or obtaining territories from them, there were many ways to enjoy the benefits and expand.

But Australasia was different. Australasia, in remote Oceania, was adjacent to only one small area influenced by the Allied Powers: German New Guinea.

But German New Guinea certainly could not satisfy the appetite of Australasia. Arthur agreed to dispatch large numbers of combat troops, certainly not for this small territory he could take over immediately at the start of the war.

In the vicinity of Australasia, apart from the territory of German New Guinea, other lands were either British and French possessions in the Pacific Islands or the northern Dutch East Indies.

However, the Netherlands is a relatively weak country compared to Australasia, which could obtain any territory of the Dutch East Indies it wished for without any support from other countries.

This meant that if Britain and France wanted to satisfy Australasia's appetite, they would have to make some concessions among the Pacific Islands.

Especially for islands close to Australasia like the British Solomon Islands, French New Caledonia, the jointly controlled New Hebrides Islands, British Fiji, French Wallis and Futuna, the British Gilbert and Ellice Islands Protectorate, the British Tokelau Islands, and the British Phoenix Islands.

These islands and archipelagos were not far from Australasia, but they were very far from the mainland of Britain and France.

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