The Rise Of Australasia

Chapter 453: Chapter 361: The True Dominator of the Pacific Ocean

For the people of Australasia, 1913 was definitely a surprising year.

Apart from Arthur's announcement to expand the navy, Australasia also received many colonial territories in the Pacific from the Powers that year.

Indeed, in the last month of 1913, Australasia once again began its effort to receive the British and French Pacific colonial territories.

The reception of the Solomon Islands has been progressing smoothly so far, which has prompted Arthur to accelerate the reception of these colonies, in hopes of fully receiving the colonial territories of the Powers in the Pacific region before the outbreak of World War I.

For this colonial transfer, Arthur specially sent an entire division to the islands of the Pacific and dispatched the navy to patrol the waters.

On December 11, 1913, Australasia announced that it would rename British Fiji, which it took over from the United Kingdom, to the Australian Fiji Colony, with Georges Valerianos as its Governor.

The land area of Australian Fiji covers more than 18,300 square kilometers and is a region composed of hundreds of islands and archipelagos.

Like the Solomon Islands, although the population is up to 150,000 people, the core European immigrants are only about 20,000, and the others are local indigenous people.

The most important thing for Australasia's newly received colonies is to maintain stability.

Therefore, before order in these colonies is genuinely stable, Arthur does not intend to deal with the indigenous population of these colonies for the time being.

Australian Fiji is treated similarly to the Solomon Islands, with a 1,000-strong garrison and state-level administrative divisions.

Although the total land area of these Pacific colonies does not match a single state of Australasia, the population is mostly only around 100,000.

However, these colonies are relatively dispersed and not suitable for unified management. Breaking them down into various colonies can not only alleviate the pressure of colony management but also improve the government's control over individual colonies.

Australian Fiji was just the beginning. In a few days, the French also started their actions.

This time, the French transferred the region of French New Caledonia, which is currently surrounded by Australasia's territory.

The land area of French New Caledonia is similar to Fiji, covering 18,575 square kilometers.

But the population in this region is much smaller; even counting all indigenous people, the total population of French New Caledonia would not exceed 100,000 people.

In addition to French New Caledonia, the New Hebrides Islands in the north of New Caledonia were also transferred to Australasia.

New Hebrides Islands, with a land area of about 12,200 square kilometers and a population of only around 70,000 people.

This region is unique because missionaries from Britain and France are widely distributed, so a few years ago, Britain and France signed a treaty to declare joint management of the area.

Taking advantage of this opportunity to transfer colonies, Britain and France directly transferred this colony to Australasia, also saving much trouble.

It should be noted that the Pacific colonies are far from the homelands of Britain and France, and most of them have not achieved food and resource self-sufficiency.

This also means that in many cases, Britain and France need to send supplies and food to the troops and residents on the islands, which often represent a considerable expense.

Losing these colonies is not a big deal for Britain and France since they both have colonies in Southeast Asia, and Britain also has the extensive colony of India. Naturally, they do not care about the small islands in the Pacific with a population of just over 100,000 people.

Therefore, transferring these colonies may seem like a loss of land for Britain and France, but in fact, it is also an opportunity for them to reduce the burden of their governments.

After studying, the Australasian government has decided to merge the two colonies of New Hebrides Islands and French New Caledonia to form Australian New Caledonia due to their proximity.

After the merger, the population of the new Australian New Caledonia will also reach more than 100,000 people, on par with the Solomon Islands and Fiji.

From the map, it can be seen that the Royal Territory, Australian Timor, Australian New Guinea, Australian Solomon Islands, Australian New Caledonia, Australian Fiji, and New Zealand form a chain of island defenses that start from the north of Australasia and are continuously wrapped around to the southeast.

After thoroughly integrating these regions, Australasia can rely on these islands and colonies to prevent any enemy from the Pacific from invading the island defense chain.

As for the western and southern sides of Australasia, where there is no island defense chain, one is the cold Antarctic, where enemies are highly unlikely to come. The other is the vast Indian Ocean, currently controlled by Australian allies Britain and France, and there is no threat for the time being.

This also means that the current security of Australasia is very stable. As long as these colonies are well managed, they can defend the enemy outside even in the face of powerful foreign enemies.

Perhaps Britain and France had already agreed to transfer all their Pacific colonies in one go.

As 1914 approached, Australasia successfully received French Polynesia, British Phoenix Islands, British Tokelau Islands, British Gilbert and Ellice Islands Protectorate, British Tonga Protectorate, British Cook Islands, British Kermadec Islands, British Pitcairn Islands, and other colonial territories, successfully expanding their influence over more than half of the Pacific.

After taking over these colonies, it is no exaggeration to say that Australasia has occupied more than half of the Pacific, truly a powerhouse in the Pacific.

Of course, this also gave rise to a very serious issue. After the departure of Britain and France from the Pacific region, Australasia would collide directly with the United States.

This means that, whether it is now or in the future, the United States will always be Australasia's biggest enemy.

If the United States wants to implement the Pacific strategy and expand in the Pacific area, it must confront Australasia, which occupies more than half of the Pacific.

And if Australasia wants to maintain its dominant position in the Pacific, it will not be able to avoid directly confronting the United States and becoming enemies with them.

Looking at it this way, Arthur understood why Britain and France were so eager to let go of their colonies.

Rather than holding onto a few small islands of little use, it would be better to transfer them all to Australasia, allowing Australasia to become a fortress directly confronting the United States.

In this way, even if the alliance of the Allies breaks down in the future, Australasia will have to face the United States alone.

As long as Australasia wants to maintain its hegemony in the Pacific region, it is only natural for them to become enemies with the United States.

This is the scheme of Britain and France, but now that things have come to this point, Arthur has no choice but to bite the bullet and go along with it.

Australasia has successfully taken over the wide-ranging colonies of Britain and France in the Pacific region, and Arthur cannot possibly give up these areas.

Fortunately, the alliance of the four great powers of the Allies is still stable, and the military strength of the United States is not yet too strong; Australasia is fully capable of dealing with this.

In order to better govern the newly acquired vast archipelago and combine the opinions of the Cabinet, Arthur divided all the new colonies, except Fiji, the Solomon Islands, and New Caledonia, into two parts.

With German New Guinea and German Samoa as the dividing line, the areas to the north were designated as the Australian West Pacific Territories, with the capital in Tarava of the Gilbert and Ellis Islands area.

Below the dividing line, the Australian South Pacific Territory was established, with the capital in Papeete of the Polynesian area.

From now on, Australasia's current political structure has been determined.

Eight states, five colonies, and four territories have come together to form the complete and unified Kingdom of Australasia.

Arthur directly appoints the governors of the colonies and territories, which is good news for him.

The loyalty of governors directly appointed by Arthur to the colonies and territories is obviously more reliable than that of the state governors elected by the State Parliament.

Of course, even though the chief executives are directly appointed by Arthur, there are many differences between the colonies and territories.

Colonies belong to the country but the monarch has the right to appoint officials, exercise jurisdiction, and mobilize the military.

However, in legal terms, the territories belong directly to the monarch and can be completely free from government control, only answering to Arthur.

Of course, as the location of the kingdom's capital, the Capital Territory has a special status. The Capital Territory is between a territory and a directly governed state, with its main officials appointed directly by Arthur but also subject to the control of the Cabinet Government.

Aside from dividing these colonies for administrative purposes, Arthur, after talking with Minister of Defense Raul, determined the domestic defense deployments of Australasia.

The domestic defense deployment of Australasia can be roughly divided into four areas. The Australian Region, centered on Australasia's core homeland, establishes the Australian War Zone with its headquarters in Sydney.

New Zealand is the New Zealand War Zone with its headquarters in Wellington. The Royal Territory, Australian Timor, and Australian New Guinea form the Southeast Asian Theater with its headquarters in Moritzby Port.

Finally, the Pacific Theater is formed by the major Pacific colonies and archipelagos, with its headquarters in Suva, Fiji.

The purpose of the Australian and New Zealand war zones is mainly to defend the homeland and maintain domestic security.

However, the Southeast Asia and Pacific War Zones play a crucial role in Australasian military deployments. If everything goes according to plan, these two zones will focus on deploying the Air Force and Navy, as well as building a coastal defense system.