The Rise Of Australasia

Chapter 297: Chapter 262: Queen Mary is pregnant

The most significant impact of the formation of the Allies and the complete opposition to the Ctral Powers on the European situation actually came from the small and medium-sized countries suring these two military blocs.

As the competition betwe the two sides became clear, these small and medium-sized countries also faced a question: which side to choose, or whether to remain neutral.

Such a decision was not easy to make, as both sides had a dominant superpower and were composed of three powerful nations.

This would result in a huge war that could easily affect the whole of Europe if both sides were to gage in combat, and no European country could easily escape unscathed.

Could remaining a neutral country truly avoid this extraordinary war?

Since September 908, the arms race betwe the two major military blocs had escalated, but the main participating countries were still Britain and Germany.

Once Germany surpassed the British in dreadnoughts, Britain immediately revised its shipbuilding plan, accelerating the construction of the three planned Bellerophon-class battleships, and issued an order to the shipyards responsible for the construction of these battleships to complete them by the d of March 909 and conduct sea trials.

It didn't stop there, the construction plan of the improved St Vinct-class battleship was also accelerated.

According to Britain's original construction plan, the earliest completion time for the three St Vinct-class battleships would not be until next May, and the remaining two would not be completed until March or April the following year.

However, Germany's catch-up had alarmed the British, and they specifically ordered the three St Vinct-class battleships to be completed by the d of 909 and be added to the naval fleet by mid-to-late July 9.

This meant that from this September, the British Empire would complete at least six dreadnoughts over the course of more than a year, consolidating its superiority as the world's leading naval power.

Compared to the pace of shipbuilding in Australasia, the speed of the British Empire's naval construction was astonishing, but this was still just the tip of the iceberg for the British Empire's naval shipbuilding industry.

In addition to building dreadnoughts, the British Empire also planned to equip its domestic army with a new of weaponry, with the obsolete weapons being deployed to colonial forces.

This was no small expse, but it was not too much for the financially powerful British Empire.

It is worth noting that the British Empire's military spding was the highest among the great powers; its spding reached a staggering 589. million pounds last year.

Ranked second is the German Empire with military spding at 548.9 million pounds. Russia, which appears less developed, is ranked third with military spding at 53.8 million pounds.

Meanwhile, France, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and the Kingdom of Italy ranked fourth, fifth, and sixth, and their military spding totaled 455 million pounds, .3 million pounds, and 85.7 million pounds, respectively.

The high military spding of the major powers in the military domain represted a peak in the confrontation betwe the two European military blocs, with the arms race causing military expditure to escalate.

But this was not the peak of military spding for the countries. Historically, after the outbreak of war, their military spding increased several times.

Take the German Empire in 98, which had the highest military spding in the world. In that year, the German Empire's military expditure reached a staggering 350 billion German marks, equivalt to 7.5 billion pounds, which also explains why the war brought ormous pain to European countries.

Apart from the high military spding, the cost of the war this year was ough to drag down any country.

As a defeated country, it was no surprise that Germany faced 500,000 marks worth of bread after the war, as long periods of warfare and high military spding had already caused rapid depreciation of the country's currcy.

In addition to the exploitation of other countries after the war and the exploitation of their own capitalists, the seeds of hatred grew in the hearts of the German people.

Compared to the high military spding of the major powers, the military spding of geographically remote Australasia is quite meager.

In 907, Australasia's military expditure amounted to just over 4 million pounds. Ev this year, with the start of the shipbuilding plan, total expditure will not exceed 8 million pounds.

From this perspective, it is evidt that there is still a significant gap betwe Australasia and the major European countries. The population and economic situation in Australasia are still far behind those of European nations, which is also a limitation for Australasia to become a powerful country.

As Christmas 908 approached, Christmas was an extremely important holiday for Western countries, and Australasia also had a three-day national holiday for Christmas.

Sydney Palace was well prepared for Christmas, with the trees and flowers in the suring square heavily decorated, and ev the statues in front of the palace bathed in sunlight and shining brightly.

Of course, Arthur didn't care too much about these matters, as more important news was waiting for Arthur's atttion at the momt.

After two and a half years of effort, Que Mary's pregnancy was finally showing some signs of progression.

The day before Christmas, Arthur received a report from the royal personal hospital's doctor that Que Mary might be pregnant!

This was good news for Arthur, the royal family, and ev the tire Australasian governmt and country.

With an heir, it can be proved that the dynasty can continue. Nowadays, as the monarch's power is so high in Australasia, officials are also afraid that the royal power will fall into others' hands, causing the hardships of the country in rect years to be in vain.

Arthur attaches great importance to his possible first son or daughter. Not only did he accompany Que Mary from the momt he received the news, but he also gathered all the famous doctors of Australasia, stationed at the Royal Personal Hospital for Que Mary's recuperation.

In fact, under Arthur's efforts, the Royal Personal Hospital has long become the most advanced hospital in Australasia with the most top medical talts.

But it is better to be well-prepared for such things, so Arthur ev planned to recruit experts from major European hospitals at a high salary since there was plty of money anyways.

Arthur did not order such good news to be concealed either. The spread of this news can also increase the governmt's confidce in their work, and they don't have to worry that their contributions to the country will be forgott by the rulers after Arthur.

On Christmas Day, Arthur received congratulations from various European countries.

Russia and Germany were the fastest, after all, Que Mary came from the Russian Monarchy, and Emperor William II of Germany was Arthur's cousin, and the diplomatic relation betwe Germany and Australasia was very good.

Not only Russia and Germany, many European powers and small and medium-sized countries, including the British Empire, also st congratulations to Australasia.

This includes the countries controlled by the members of the Saxe-Coburg-Gotha Dynasty, as well as other small and medium-sized European monarchies.

After all, this is still the era of monarchism. For the complex relations of European royal families, perhaps Arthur can indeed have connections with most European monarchies.

For his possible first son or daughter, Arthur had high expectations.

Various strict traditional elite noble educations, coupled with further training, are inevitable.

As a son or daughter of a king, the little one in Que Mary's belly is likely to have only two or three years of good days, before tering strict education.

Australasia has a good developmt vironmt and timing, and Arthur is confidt in developing it into a top power.

However, the succession of the country should be treated cautiously afterwards. In order to sure the developmt of the country and the continuity of the royal family, it is necessary to cultivate a capable successor for oneself and the nation.

Ev if not the successor, Arthur's offspring also represt the dignity and prestige of the royal family, which means they cannot be wasted.

On Christmas Day, Arthur spt a warm day with his family, and officials were very tactful not to disturb Arthur.

But starting from the second day of Christmas, blessings and congratulations from various officials came one after another. If Arthur hadn't be lazy and let Butler Kt take care of unified responses, he would have be in a congratulatory atmosphere all day.

Ever since Butler Kt learned of the news, his tire demeanor has be beaming with joy. The fact that Arthur has an heir is the best news for Butler Kt, and this news is ev more exciting than Arthur becoming the King of Australasia.

Que Mary has also become the protected animal of the royal family. Not only is Princess Louise always with her, but more than t maids also serve her at all times, allowing Que Mary to avoid any fatigue.

In celebration, Arthur specially instructed the Royal Relief Committee to provide at least two pounds of mutton and t pounds of grain to adult citizs with an annual income of no more than 0 Australian dollars on Christmas Day. As for underage citizs, they were provided with one pound of mutton and one liter of milk.

Currtly, there are very few people in Australasia with an annual income of no more than 0 Australian dollars, and ev with a population of over 7 million, there are at most 800,000 people with an income not exceeding 0 Australian dollars.

Many of these people are elderly people with no work capability. Ev if the whole country's underage citizs are included, the total cost of this initiative is not expected to exceed 5 million Australian dollars.

For Arthur, with an annual income exceeding 40 million Australian dollars, 5 million Australian dollars is just a drop in the bucket. In terms of maintaining his reputation and support, Arthur is very gerous.

Arthur's actions naturally aroused the goodwill of many Australasians. Ev if they were not the beficiaries of this initiative, hearing about the reaction also made them feel grateful.

If it wer't for Arthur, they know they would not have their currt lives. Faced with such a bevolt and loving monarch, what else can they do besides maintaining gratitude and loyalty?

Although there is no accurate number for Arthur's popularity in Australasia, if anyone dares to say something bad about him on the streets of Australasia, they may face the wrath of the people.

If the words become more serious, it could not ev be guaranteed whether they could safely leave Australasia alive.

If there are really radical elemts, they are all like shrinking turtles.

Arthur's reputation among the people is no joke, and the people don't mind sding anyone ill-advised to see God for His forgivess.

After the Christmas holidays, what could be clearly felt, was the joyful atmosphere of Australasia, and the efficicy of the governmt's work has improved a lot.

At this time, Australasia can be said to be united, and with no worries, they are making their own efforts and contributions to the rise of Australasia.