The Rise Of Australasia

Chapter 424: Chapter 348: Continuous Conflicts on the Borders

Argentina and Chile, these two countries, due to the issue of borders, led to constant conflicts and countless disputes between each other during the centuries since their founding.

If it were a regular minor conflict, although the Powers would pay attention, they would generally not interfere too much.

But if it were a major large-scale conflict, the situation in South America would inevitably be subject to the Powers' intervention.

There is no way around it; the strategic significance of this region is too high. Chile possesses the world's largest natural saltpeter mines, and saltpeter is an important raw material for making fertilizer and gunpowder.

The importance of fertilizer and gunpowder need not be emphasized; one promotes the development of agriculture while the other boosts military growth.

For the major Powers in the current chaotic world situation, the natural saltpeter mines in Chile carry undeniable significance.

Chile has always been on good terms with the British Empire, which controls all the saltpeter mines in the country.

The previous vigorous research on ammonia synthesis technology by various countries was aimed at breaking free from the British Empire's control over saltpeter mines, hence the search for a material such as synthetic ammonia that can replace saltpeter.

But given the current technology and development, synthetic ammonia is far from being a complete replacement for saltpeter.

It can only be said that it can partially replace it; the importance of saltpeter still remains high, and the British Empire always keeps an eye on the news from Chile.

The bad news is that the conflict between Argentina and Chile this time is clearly different from the past.

More precisely, the conflict between Argentina and Chile this time seems more like an extension of the previous South American naval arms race.

The South American naval arms race, triggered by Brazil's lead in building dreadnoughts, saw Brazil lose its leading position in the arms race due to a Navy rebellion.

The real cause of the uprising was actually due to conflicts between races.

Most of the ordinary soldiers in the Brazilian Navy are black, but the middle and upper echelon officers leading these black soldiers are exclusively white.

When the white men command these black naval soldiers, they often do not care about the opinions of the black men, and in severe cases, they even disregard the lives of the black men, which led to the occurrence of the naval rebellion.

After the incident, the combat effectiveness of the Brazilian navy was greatly reduced, and the government no longer trusted the navy.

This indirectly led to the forced sale of Brazil's third battleship, the Rio de Janeiro Vessel, to foreign countries.

After Brazil's withdrawal from the naval arms race, the remaining two countries still in the race were Argentina and Chile.

Argentina's naval vessels were built in the United States, and Chile's naval vessels were built in Australasia.

Although the tonnage is roughly the same, in terms of the advancement of the warships, Chile's warships are more advanced than Argentina's.

Although the construction started later, the time for Chile to officially deploy these warships might be about a year later than Argentina.

But once the Chileans get hold of these warships, Argentina's navy will be at a disadvantage, which will further widen the gap between Argentina and Chile.

It should be known that the saltpeter mines in Chile are very important to the British Empire, so the British Empire values its relations with Chile very much.

This also leads to the fact that although the founding times of the two countries are similar, and their initial development potential was not much different.

However, with the improvement of relations between Chile and the British Empire, there is hope of catching up with Argentina.

The Argentinians naturally do not want this to happen because it is very likely that the disputed three islands will permanently belong to Chile, and even Argentina's territory may be threatened.

After all, Argentina is Chile's closest neighboring country, and they have had longstanding enmity with Chile for decades.

Seeing Chile gradually becoming stronger and stronger, for the Argentinians, it is even more uncomfortable than losing money.

Perhaps the recent outbreak of the Second Balkan War gave the Argentinians hope.

Or maybe they made contact with a certain country, which gave the Argentinians some trump card and confidence.

In any case, in June 1913, a medium-scale military conflict broke out on the southern border between Argentina and Chile.

This conflict resulted in the deaths of about ten soldiers from both Argentina and Chile and dozens of soldiers injured.

The tension between Argentina and Chile was ignited instantly because of this conflict.

Both countries' governments and congresses have called for army preparations and to seek justice for their citizens.

Only the border soldiers know the real cause of the conflict, but the soldiers on both sides are either injured or dead. Other soldiers have different opinions, and it is difficult to determine the real responsibility for the conflict.

After the outbreak of the conflict, Argentina and Chile both sent officers to closely control their border troops.

However, it is evident that, at least on the Argentine side, the control of the border troops is not strict.

As a result, under the premise that the Chileans remain restrained, Argentina's border troops still occasionally invade Chile's borders, and the two sides seem likely to break out in conflict again.

Theoretically speaking, Chile has the support of the British Empire behind it, and Argentina cannot possibly blindly launch wars and conflicts.

But the current state of Argentina should have the corresponding trump card and confidence.

This also means that Argentina should have gained the support of the Powerful Nations, which gave them the confidence to provoke conflict with Chile, even at the risk of offending the British Empire.