The Rise Of Australasia

Chapter 478: Chapter 378: Reactions of Different Countries and the Impact of War

On August 6th, the war in Europe fully ignited, with the Allies and the Allied Nations declaring war on each other, involving six of the world's eight great powers in the conflict.

While the outbreak of war caught many off guard, the neutrality of one country came as a surprise to many.

As a member of the Allied Nations, the Italians expressed their intention to remain neutral to the outside world after the Austro-Hungarian Empire declared war on Russia Nation.

This resulted in the already disadvantaged Allied Nations losing the considerable naval power of Italy, widening the gap between them and the Allies.

Unless the German army can create a significant advantage on land, the war will continue to be one-sided as it goes on.

On August 5th, the second day after the war broke out, the Australasia Ministry of Defense began urgently preparing personnel and weapons for the upcoming offensive, planning to launch an attack on German colonies in the Pacific Ocean as soon as possible.

Participating in the attack were the First and Second Divisions, the two most elite divisions in the regular Australasian Army.

In addition to the land forces, the entire Australasian navy would also support the attack.

Although the Australasian navy had the task of assisting British patrols in the Indian Ocean, it was still early in the war, and the British needed time to gather their forces, allowing the Australasian navy to have some downtime to assist their domestic offensive.

The destructive power of naval guns is immense, and since the German colonies have no sizable fleet to speak of, approaching their coastlines would pose the greatest threat to the enemy.

As for the potentially even greater threats of airplanes and tanks, Arthur has not yet revealed his intentions to expose them, at least for now.

While the war in Europe continues to intensify, attacks have also begun in the European Theatre.

Thanks to the well-developed railway and highway networks in Europe, especially Western Europe, German and French forces reached the borders within a short time and successfully engaged each other in combat.

From Germany's declaration of war on France on August 3rd to now, it had only been a short period of four days, but already millions of German and French troops battled at the border, with blood flowing like a river and a horrific sight to behold.

According to rough estimates from the German and French forces, their respective casualties within these four days amounted to 27,000 and 35,000.

Had it not been for the time required to transport various heavy weapons and the fact that many troops were urgently redeployed from other regions, arriving at the border not too long ago, the casualty numbers of both sides would likely double.

Meanwhile, the Eastern Front was equally intense.

Germany declared war on Russia Nation as early as August 1st, with fighting at the German-Russian border lasting nearly a week.

As for the Austro-Hungarian Empire, although it was the last to declare war on Russia Nation, it was the first to initiate the conflict. Over 500,000 troops from both sides had assembled at the border between Austria-Hungary and Serbia, fighting fiercely without a clear winner.

Were it not for the fact that Francis the First received a letter from William II and reserved a majority of his forces for the war against Russia Nation, the number of soldiers in the conflict between Austria-Hungary and Serbia could well have exceeded a million.

However, Francis the First did not entirely follow William II's advice. William II suggested that Francis the First adopt defensive measures against Serbia if necessary, but Austrian Prime Minister Berchtold believed that even a small portion of Austro-Hungarian forces would be enough to conquer Serbia.

As a result, the fighting at the border between Austria-Hungary and Serbia was not only intense, but both sides had their share of victories and defeats, with Austria-Hungary struggling to break through this tough opponent.

In addition to France, Germany, Russia Nation, and the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the countries that had already engaged in battles, Britain and Australasia were also actively participating in the war beyond mere verbal declarations. Strategic supplies were being transported to Europe frantically, and the British and Australasian expeditionary forces were preparing intensively.

The good news was that during the two recent Balkan Wars, the Russians had seized the opportunity to purchase advanced weaponry abroad and had equipped a large number of weapons.

In addition, before the war broke out, the latest batch of weaponry, provided by Australasia, had just arrived at the Port of Vladivostok, ensuring that Russia Nation did not lack weapons and equipment for the time being, and the progress of its army's expansion was smooth.

With a sufficient supply of weapons and equipment, the reputation of Russia Nation as the European Bulldozer could be fully realized.

Compared to the other several European powers, Russia Nation had a larger population at its core, and thus, was not overly concerned about the large number of casualties.

The current war was still mainly between the six great powers, with smaller European countries not yet joining the fight.

Based on historical progress, many small European countries, including Italy, should have joined the war within a year.

However, the current situation was different from the historical context, and Arthur could not guarantee whether the timing of these countries' involvement in the war would change, or even if they might not participate at all.

Since the end of July, the trend of warfare between the two camps has become a hot topic of news coverage around the world.

When the war actually broke out, the entire world was shocked. News reports from Europe, the Americas, Asia, Africa, and Australia all focused on this war.

At this time, even if the President of the United States were involved in a scandal, it would not take away any attention from the war.

After all, this is a war that concerns the global situation and the fate of all countries in the world.

Perhaps the only country that seems relatively relaxed about the news is the United States, on the other side of the European Pacific.

As one of the only two major powers not involved in the war, the United States is far away from the European battlefield, and as long as the US does not actively participate, this war will basically not affect the US.

This has also led to a somewhat relaxed attitude among Americans towards this European war. Many news outlets do not shy away from making a big fuss, setting up special expert sections, publishing various expert evaluations of the chances of victory for both sides of the war, and attracting the American public to buy their newspapers.

It must be said that this move is indeed very effective. According to sources with no confirmed origin, newspaper sales in the United States have almost doubled since the end of July.

This war has not only attracted the attention of Americans, but has also drawn the attention of many countries in Asia, which has no direct relationship with the war.

If there is a country in Asia that is most concerned about this war, it should be the Island Nation that recently lost its status as a major power.

Although this war does not seem to have much to do with the Island Nation, the only participating country with a relationship to the Island Nation, the United Kingdom, has abandoned its alliance with the Island Nation in favor of further cooperation with Russia.

But this does not prevent the Islanders from paying attention to the war. The reason is none other than the fact that Germany has a colony in Asia, which is of no small importance to the Island Nation. If the Island Nation can obtain this colony, its influence and strength will grow considerably.

As for why the Island Nation has set its sights on Germany's colony rather than Russia, there is no choice but to do so, as the only participating country with a relationship to the Island Nation, the United Kingdom, has abandoned its alliance with the Island Nation in favor of further cooperation with Russia.

Unless the Russians themselves are in disarray, the Island Nation does not intend to take action against Russia in the current situation.

However, there are other actions within the Island Nation, as the situation in Russia is chaotic and the Islanders are bound to make some small moves.

At present, the situation of the European War is discussed at every government meeting in the Island Nation.

It is also because many countries are paying attention to this European war, leading many people to feel that if they do not talk about the war, they will not be able to keep up with the times.

If someone still doesn't know about the outbreak of this war, then without a doubt, this person will be laughed at by everyone around him.

This is actually determined by Europe's position. As the most developed region in the world, Europe is not only the center of the world but also determines the global situation.

Just the sum of the Gross Domestic Product of several major European powers accounts for more than half of the world's GDP.

If it weren't for the exceptions of Australasia and the United States, Europe would absolutely dominate most aspects of the world, and even if all other countries were added together, it would only account for a small part.

It is precisely because of Europe's relatively important strategic position that the outbreak of this European war has caused substantial price increases for goods worldwide, including within Europe.

According to statistics from various European countries, countries affected by the war will see a price increase of about 15% for goods, and countries that will be affected by the war will see a price increase of more than 5%.

Keep in mind that it's been less than ten days since the war broke out. If this continues, the impact of the European war on countries around the world can be imagined.

Apart from Europe, the United States and Australasia have also been affected to some extent. Australasia is not so bad because Arthur has already stockpiled a portion of industrial equipment in advance, and as for other mineral resources and materials, Australasia can basically produce and sell itself.

The trade between the United States and European countries is not small, which has also led to a price increase of 5% to 10% for some goods in the United States.

If the governments of each country did not suppress the price increase, news of rising prices would continue in each country, and under the condition of people panicking and stockpiling goods, the speed of price increases would be even faster.

The rise in prices does not have a great impact on Australasia, as Arthur's pre-emptive preparations have resulted in overcapacity in important areas such as food production and medical supplies.

Even the rise in prices is good news for Australasia, as even though trade with the Allies will be reduced in price due to the alliance relationship, as prices rise higher and higher, Australasia will be able to make more profit in trade with Britain, France, and Russia. These funds can be fully used for national development and war.

Arthur's Royal Financial Group can also make a fortune from this. It is worth noting that the current production capacity of military factories and medical groups is highly excessive.

If it were not for Arthur's annual expenditure of large amounts of funds to make up for the losses caused by extensive stockpiling, the military factories and newly established medical groups would have collapsed long ago.

Is not the reason why Arthur painstakingly stockpiles large amounts of supplies to sell them to Britain, France, and Russia during times of war?

Although it is somewhat immoral to take advantage of rising prices and sell at high prices to allies, compared to the historical situation where Britain, France, and especially Russia could not buy supplies even if they had the money, Australasia's ability to provide ample supplies of various materials is also good news for Britain, France, and Russia.