The Rise of Australasia

Although the economic crisis had only begun a little over a month ago, the number of bankrupt businesses in Germany still reached the thousands.

Additionally, a large number of individual enterprises and merchants faced immense threats, dealing a devastating blow to Germania’s real economy and greatly disappointing the German populace with the government’s decision-making during the economic crisis.

Like Nicholas II before him, William II, once realizing that the people had lost trust in the government, also recognized that this was his best opportunity to reclaim power.

Despite Germany’s defeat in the war, William II believed himself to be blameless for the war; in his view, the blame for the war’s failure lay simply with the Junker nobility and the military bloc’s last-ditch extremist choices.

If it had been William II in control at the time, he assumed that Germany, then in a superior position, would have negotiated with Britain and France much earlier, and the last Great War would not have lasted several years.

Watching the German ambassador before him, Arthur asked without batting an eye, "Crown Prince William, it’s been a long time!"

"I’m no longer the Crown Prince," said William II’s son, the Crown Prince William, with a pained expression and a somewhat helpless tone.

"The current situation in Germany must be pretty bad, right? Are you in need of economic assistance?" Arthur nodded, not dwelling on the title of Crown Prince, and focused on probing the Crown Prince’s intentions.

"That is just incidental, Your Majesty Arthur," hurriedly spoke the Crown Prince William: "Because of this economic crisis, Germany’s political situation has once again descended into chaos, and this is also an opportunity for the Hohenzollern Family to regain control of Germania.

Your Majesty Arthur, please consider the friendly relations between the Hohenzollern Family and the Australasian Royal Family and offer us your support, to then take control of national power and rescue tens of millions of Germans from dire straits.

In return, Germany will never forget the kindness of the Australasians and is willing to unconditionally support Australasia in the World Alliance to strengthen the ties between our two countries."

Arthur showed no reaction, his gaze calmly resting on Crown Prince William.

The Crown Prince William waited with a touch of anxiety, yet dared not press further, but instead bowed his head respectfully, waiting for Arthur’s reply.

"Regain control of power?" After a long silence, Arthur finally spoke: "So with the support of Australasia, you think you can regain control of Germany’s political arena?"

"We have made adequate preparations, and a part of the military will also cooperate with our actions to quickly seize the government," the Crown Prince William explained: "As long as we rapidly take control of the Imperial Government, the situation will not spiral out of control."

Hearing the Crown Prince’s explanation, Arthur chuckled and shook his head, saying: "Perhaps you’re oversimplifying the problem. Neither the Junker nobility, federal states, nor France will allow the royal family to regain control over Germany.

In other words, Germany has to be divided at present to assuage all countries’ concerns.

Besides, even if you manage to regain power in Germany, what then? Would you just prepare for war again and walk down a path toward full-scale conflict?"

"We…" The Crown Prince William began to explain, but Arthur immediately interrupted him, advising earnestly:

"I think what’s most important now is to first understand the current situation in Germany and why it has developed into what it is.

An economic crisis is indeed a disaster that all countries cannot avoid, but surely you understand Germany’s situation is so severe for known reasons.

Where did the German people’s hatred go? Hasn’t it all turned to Britain and France? No matter who holds the power, as long as Germany’s current economic crisis remains unresolved, Germany will inevitably head back toward war with Britain and France.

Convey my words to William II; if he wants to ensure the survival of the German Royal Family, what’s most important now is not acquiring power but figuring out how to stay out of the problems, avoiding the impact of the economic crisis and the coming war."

Arthur went on with such extensive advice to Crown Prince William and William II due to their interests in the Australasian Monarchism and his previous good relationship with William II. If it had been an unrelated country, Arthur would not have bothered to give such earnest advice.

The survival of a monarchy from a country with a low presence is not important; Arthur could easily support a new royal family if he wished.

"This…" Crown Prince William fell silent, now pondering the truth in Arthur’s words.

Indeed, although the German people did not know the real reason for the severity of the economic crisis was Britain and France’s deflecting of blame, this did not prevent the Germans from hating France intensely.

With such fierce animosity and hatred between Germany and France, a war was inevitably on the horizon.

The economic crisis only intensified the hatred between the two countries, making it easier for Germany to take an extremist path.

Like in the late stages of World War One, such a Germany was beyond control; no matter who ruled, it was impossible to prevent Germany from heading back to war.

Even if the German Royal Family could regain power, it would only end up as a scapegoat for the next war and have its royal status abolished by the victorious side.

"I trust William II will come to understand this." Seeing the hesitant Crown Prince who remained silent, Arthur added with a meaningful tone, "If it’s economic assistance you seek, I can help you. Let’s leave other matters aside for now, as we are still relatives connected by blood."

After sending off the deeply preoccupied Crown Prince William, Arthur also ordered a royal guard to inform Director Batty of the Royal Security Intelligence Agency, demanding Director Batty to closely monitor the political developments in Germany.

After giving all his instructions, Arthur turned his attention to domestic affairs, specifically to the construction of the military industry.

The economic crisis had a comprehensive impact on all countries in the world, destroying vast amounts of both civilian and military industries.

This also led to widespread difficulties in shipbuilding plans around the world, with even the British shipbuilding plans being almost cut in half, as they no longer had sufficient funds to deal with the economic crisis while also building a large number of new warships.

However, for Australasia, which was hardly affected by the economic crisis, this was a golden opportunity.

With no shortage of funds, supplies, manpower, and time, Australasia had no reason not to take advantage of this period to rapidly develop its military capabilities and close the gap with the naval size of other countries.

Despite the Naval Limitation Treaty, Australasia’s total naval tonnage had always been very low, about the same level as Italy’s, and had not yet reached its own limit.

This created an opportunity for Australasia’s ambitious shipbuilding program; whether it was battleships or aircraft carriers, Australasia could build many.

On October 1st, 1926, at Saint Arthur Castle, a routine Cabinet Meeting was held.

With a gesture from Arthur, the Defense Minister Thomas presented a plan for the construction of a full-scale navy and submitted it to the Cabinet Government for discussion.

If it was a matter of ordinary ship construction and the fiscal budget permitted it, the government usually would not obstruct.

But the scale of naval expansion proposed by Minister Thomas was genuinely immense, which triggered debate among the Cabinet members, all worried that their departmental fiscal budgets would be cut.

"Minister Thomas, isn’t this plan for naval expansion a bit too ambitious? Building two Hope-class battleships, five Hurricane-class aircraft carriers, and four Hercules-class aircraft carriers? My God, are we planning to go to war with the British Empire?" asked the Secretary of Public Security, Merlim Angelo, with a touch of astonishment.

The construction cost of two Hope-class battleships, five Hurricane-class aircraft carriers, and four Hercules-class aircraft carriers exceeded 40 million Australian Dollars, a truly vast expenditure.

Furthermore, accounting for the auxiliary warships needed to form a complete fleet with these main battleships, the minimum expense would also require 50 million Australian Dollars.

With the construction of railways and highways already underway and the industry continuing to expand, it was obvious which departments would suffer budget cuts.

After all, education and medical care are more fundamental sectors, and their funding is impossible to cut.

Agriculture is also in the midst of large-scale development plans, with agricultural development in the Capital Region already experiencing significant growth.

Only Minister Merlim’s Public Security Department, because of Australasia’s relatively good order, has not seen much increase in personnel.

This also means that the Public Security Department is the most likely department to have its funds cut, which explains why Minister Merlim was so eager to express his opposition.

"You can’t say it like that," Minister Thomas said with a smile. "The economic crisis has destabilized the order in various countries. The United States and Germany both have the potential to undergo civil wars.

The actions of the World Alliance to impose additional import and export tariffs solely on the United States and Island Nations could also provoke enmity from these two countries, leading to a possible war.

The United States and the Island Nations pose a significant threat to us. Their navies, combined, could easily annihilate us.

To be prepared, we must also build more navies to strengthen our maritime defense forces.

Gentlemen, in my opinion, this order for naval expansion is not too great; it is just enough to protect our coastline.

While the economies of other countries are in chaos, this is our best chance to catch up in the naval area.

We must seize the initiative in naval construction and build our naval size to be only second to the UK and US, reaching the level of the world’s third superpower.

That way, even if war breaks out with the United States or the Island Nations, we can face it with composure, keeping them outside our coastline and the battlefield beyond our territory." Discover stories at

"But is it really necessary to build so many warships? A total of nine aircraft carriers? It will take three years to build them, won’t other countries catch on to this?" Although Minister Merlim had heard Minister Thomas’s explanation, he still was unwilling to give up his department’s fiscal resources and continued to inquire.

"Looking at our expanded shipyards, if we start work on nine aircraft carriers in Sydney, Orlando, and Melbourne, it will only take two years to complete them, and by the third year, they could be formally equipped for the military.

Therefore, we don’t need to worry about other countries following suit and building warships, which could trigger a new round of naval arms competition.

I’m confident that you all know the state of the world as well. It will take a few years for the situation to ease, which is why I think this is our best chance to catch up with the top naval powers."

Although this plan for naval expansion was initiated at Arthur’s indication, it still needed to be clearly explained to others in order to secure the agreement of the entire Cabinet for the allocation of funds.

While Arthur had the power to bypass the Cabinet to implement this plan, engaging in such autocratic behavior was best avoided, as it could have a significant impact on both the government and Arthur himself.

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