The Rise Of Australasia

Chapter 340: Chapter 295: The Batavia Peace Talks (Request for monthly votes!)

On July 4, 9, the Australasian Governmt officially unilaterally notified the Dutch East India Colonial Governmt and the Governmt of the Kingdom of the Netherlands behind it, demanding an explanation for the multiple attacks by Indigous Peoples on businesses owned by the Kingsley Corporation of Australasia within the Dutch East Indies.

The attitude of this announcemt was surprisingly strong, and the Australasian Governmt specifically stated that if the Dutch East Indies Governmt does not respond within 48 hours, the Australasian Governmt will take necessary military action to protect the safety of its citizs.

Although 48 hours were giv for a response, the time for communication and negotiation betwe the two levels of governmt actually took up a considerable part of that time, from Southeast Asia to the European Mainland of the Netherlands.

This also meant that the Governmt of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, which backed the Dutch East Indies, had less than a day to make a decision.

In case of emergcy, on July 4th, the same day as the Australasian Governmt issued the notice to the Dutch East Indies and the Governmt of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, Arthur privately called King George V and William II, clarifying that Australasia's inttion is only to protect its citizs' safety and promised King George V that the conflict would not extd west of the dividing line betwe Borneo and Java Island.

Using Borneo and Java Island as the divide is significant, as Java Island is the essce of the Dutch East Indies and the most developed area with the most Dutch colonists.

And Borneo is the largest island in the Dutch East Indies, adjact to the important Malacca Route.

If these two islands were used as the boundary, the importance of the eastern regions would be less significant, and ev if Australasia swallowed them all, the reaction of the Powers would not be as intse under the precondition of an advance arrangemt.

Of course, Arthur is not so aggressive. Ev if the Dutch have giv Arthur an excuse, he does not intd to annex all the territories east of the dividing line.

However, it is necessary to cut a piece of flesh from the Dutch East Indies and make the Dutch understand who should be the master in this region.

The reason for giving George V a separate guarantee was because the most influtial in Southeast Asia is the British Empire, and ev the German Empire, the second major power in the world, does not have much influce in this region.

As long as the British are willing, the actions of Australasia would not be opposed by other countries.

By the time the Governmt of the Kingdom of the Netherlands received the news, it was already the eving of July 4th.

In response, the Dutch Governmt conved an emergcy meeting, but the Cabinet Governmt had no solution and could only leave the decision to the th Dutch Prime Minister Jim Simms.

Jim Simms, th Dutch Prime Minister, was the leader of the Anti-Revolutionary Party, one of the three major parties in the Netherlands.

And the Dutch Monarch's power is not high; it is a true constitutional monarchy.

This also led to the Prime Minister having the largest power in the Dutch Governmt, and the Prime Minister has the final decision on such matters.

After a night of careful deliberation, Dutch Prime Minister Jim decided to seek help from major foreign Powers, mainly targeting Germany and Britain, who have always had good relations with the Netherlands.

But what the Dutch Governmt didn't expect was the unclear attitude of the German governmt, which neither rejected the Dutch proposal nor showed any inttion of helping the Dutch people.

As for the British Empire, the attitude was clearer. British Foreign Minister Grey decisively rejected the proposal, claiming that such contradictions were unilateral betwe Australasia and the Netherlands, and the British Empire would not favor either side.

The problem is that Australasia's currt military strgth has completely surpassed the Kingdom of the Netherlands, and its navy has three dreadnoughts, which directly crushed the Dutch navy.

Not helping the Netherlands at all is actually tantamount to watching Australasia invade the Dutch East Indies. In other words, Britain's attitude is to default to support Australasia's actions.

After hitting a wall with Britain and Germany, the Dutch Governmt understood the attitude of the European Powers.

Regardless of who is in the right in this matter, no country will support the Kingdom of the Netherlands.

Of course, Germany may help the Kingdom of the Netherlands with some funds due to their good relationship, but this does not make any differce to the huge military gap betwe Australasia and the Netherlands, and at most less the compsation to be paid.

On July 5, after a series of internal struggles, the Dutch Governmt called Australasia, expressing their willingness to sit at the negotiating table and resolve the currt problems through peaceful means.

What made the Dutch capitulate was not only the attitude of the European Powers but also the increasingly large military gap betwe Australasia and the Kingdom of the Netherlands.

Because of the great distance betwe the Netherlands and the Dutch East Indies, the navy played a crucial role in the conflict betwe them and Australasia.

However, the problem is that the total strgth of the Dutch navy is no match for Australasia's navy, which indirectly led to the Netherlands' chance of victory in this conflict being reduced to zero.

Not to mtion Australasia's three dreadnoughts alone, which left the Dutch Kingdom with no chance of victory in naval battles.

Moreover, Australasia has two completed battlecruisers undergoing sea trials. The addition of five main battleships to the military gap is ough to make the Dutch give up.