The Rise of Australasia

Although Russia has agreed to continue the war, its diplomatic relations are complex.

On one hand, Russia, after receiving massive aid from Britain and France, did not withdraw its frontline troops.

On the other hand, Germany and Russia are maintaining some contact, and there seems to be the possibility of a peace treaty between Germany and Russia.

Now that the war has reached this point, both the Allies and the Central Powers are exhausted.

Almost 20 million soldiers have been involved in the war on both sides, and the casualty numbers have soared after the Battle of Verdun and the Battle of the Somme.

According to the current situation revealed by various countries, the total casualty figures in World War I have reached nearly 12 million, with over 5 million confirmed deaths.

This casualty figure is exaggerated. Europe's great powers had not even deployed 5 million combined soldiers before the war began, which now represents a quarter of the total fighting force.

What this implies is that Europe's pre-war elite troops have been basically depleted, and most of the armies participating in the war are now hastily conscripted after the outbreak of the conflict.

Russia was the first country to experience civil unrest due to the war, but it will not be the last.

At present, the war has had a significant impact on Europe, with the extension of working hours, the reduction of material distribution, and the conscription of many adult men, making a growing number of Europeans increasingly disgusted with this war.

As early as six months ago, Germany put forward a comprehensive peace proposal. But Germany is currently the country with the most occupied territories and the most gains, so Britain and France would naturally not accept ending the war on these terms.

Therefore, the hope for peace talks ended, and the ongoing Russian unrest has given the Germans another chance to engage in frequent contact with the Russians.

In fact, diplomatic activities during the war are not limited to these. Outside of Europe, the island nations of Asia and the United States on the other side of the Atlantic are closely following this war.

Historically, the United States has competed with the island nations during World War I for control of the Pacific and Far East, causing intense conflicts between them.

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However, now all of these territories have been essentially taken over by Australasia, and there are no longer any conflicts between the United States and the island nations.

Even the US-Japanese Alliance Treaty, signed a few years ago, seemed to be aimed at jointly confronting Australasia and occupying the Far East and the Pacific Islands.

Regrettably, the relationship between Australasia and the major powers of the Allied Nations has remained very close, and the small US-Japanese Alliance can hardly oppose the Allied Nations as a whole, both during and after the war.

Unlike the intrigues with the island nations over the German colonies in East Asia, the Americans clearly have greater ambitions.

When World War I first broke out, President Wilson of the United States declared America's strict neutrality. But this was not to keep the United States out of the war or away from international affairs.

According to President Wilson's own words, this was to preserve sufficient strength during the early stages of the war, and assume the role of arbitrator in deciding the outcome of the war during the latter stages.

Obviously, rather than participating actively in the war, the Americans would prefer to preserve their strength, join the winning side with minimal casualties, and ultimately emerge victorious in this war.

In fact, the United States and Australasia are the only two major powers relatively unaffected by the war.

While other European countries are facing waves of strikes, anti-war movements, and revolutions, the economies of the United States and Australasia continue to thrive.

Compared to the US economy, the growth of the Australasian economy is even faster.

Although there is still a certain gap between the overall size of their economy and that of the United States, it has made a considerable profit from extensive trade with the Allied Countries, obtaining large amounts of resources, gold, minerals, and technology.

In the trade with the Russians alone, Australasia has already gained gold worth up to 20 million pounds.

Although it only appears to be 20 million pounds, it equates to a gold reserve weighing over 146 tons, according to the previous exchange rate between the pound and gold.

Bear in mind, this is pure gold, not gold contained within gold mines. Gold reserves are essential to a country's currency system, whether it's the present gold standard or the future monetary system.

This not only represents the value of the currency, but also guarantees the currency's credibility.

Indeed, the large influx of gold from Europe has prevented the Australian Dollar from experiencing significant depreciation, and its value remains resilient.

Precisely because of the stable currency, the lives of Australasians are much better off than those of Europeans, and the country's current living conditions remain stable.

When Europe is experiencing waves of strikes, protests, and revolutions, everything within Australasia remains calm, and the people's support for the government and the royal family remains high.

Of course, even though the current situation is stable, increasing the people's support for the government is not a bad idea.

Australasia never ceased to promote war propaganda and enhance national cohesion. While European countries widely produced cultural works calling for support for the war, various literary works and films were widely broadcast within Australasia.

With a relatively stable domestic life, watching movies became common for Australasians.

Although they were only simple black-and-white sound films, they were already considered rare leisure time for the people of Australasia in this era.

Whether it was free movies played on National Day and holidays or ticketed movies during normal times, they attracted a large audience.

Among all categories of films, Australasians prefer patriotic propaganda films the most.

These were carefully selected scripts by Arthur, combined with the production of major film studios and integrating propaganda techniques from later generations, naturally attracting the inexperienced people of Australasia.

As long as they identified with their country, a patriotic sentiment would naturally arise under the influence of propaganda and indoctrination.

It was precisely because of this patriotic sentiment that the support for the war among Australasians soared unprecedentedly high. Strikes and anti-war protests common in Europe were completely absent in Australasia.

After all, Europe's protest marches were due to their lives being troubled by the war.

They not only faced longer overtime hours, but the government also restricted the supply of materials, and a large number of civilians were forced to go to the battlefield.

Various factors made the European commoners extremely dissatisfied with the war. Even in the British Empire, dozens of strikes and protests broke out this year, with a total of more than 300,000 workers and civilians participating.

Australasians did not suffer from such circumstances. Even before the outbreak of the war, they were encouraged to stockpile a year's supply of food.

The Australasian government opened up grain reserves twice for each household, allowing most Australasian families to stockpile nearly a thousand catties of grain.

Moreover, the strategic grain reserves of the Australasian government exceeded 6 million tons, enough for all Australasians to live for more than a year and a half without any food production.

With the highly developed animal husbandry in Australasia, there was no food crisis for Australasians, and the daily food and calorie intake before and after the war did not decline, and even increased in terms of meat consumption.

It was precisely because of the abundant food production and excellent animal husbandry in Australasia that it was the only warring country that did not implement a system of material rationing.

Although food prices did rise after the war broke out, they remained at a reasonable figure, a number sufficient for all Australasians to afford food, under the control of the royal financial group.

Moreover, the Royal Relief Committee had not stopped working during the war, still providing free food and medical supplies to low-income and no-income individuals.

Australasians can proudly declare that they are undoubtedly the best of all participating countries.

Of course, despite living well, Arthur had no intention of flaunting their good life, and their external image remained simple.

In order to better familiarize the public with the royal family and increase their goodwill towards the royal family, the Royal Film Production Studio made a movie about the Australasian royal family, which included Arthur's entire day of work and the royal family's clothing, food, housing, and transportation.

In this film, similar to a promotional video, the food of Arthur and the royal family was very simple. Breakfast consisted of a slice of bread and a glass of milk, with a vegetable soup.

Lunch was a steak, mashed potatoes, and a grilled sausage, accompanied by a glass of red wine from the winery.

Dinner was even simpler with a Spanish-style fried rice, a light stir-fried vegetable dish, and some fruits.

While their life was slightly better than that of the common people, it was still on a similar level.

If the people of Australasia wanted to live more luxuriously, they could have the same diet as Arthur.

That was also what Arthur wanted to portray: the simplicity and frugality of the royal family. When people saw that their food was not much different from that of the royal family, even if the war affected them, their dissatisfaction would dissipate.

However, the common people obviously did not know that the chefs in the palace were different from those outside, and the food they made also had essential differences.

For example, the steak that Arthur ate was selected from the best meat and cooked precisely to the second, with seasonings from all over the world and exquisite craftsmanship. In later generations, it would be a luxury item.

Of course, frugality and simplicity were not the only things on display. After the outbreak of the war, royal family members did not travel ostentatiously, did not visit any Australian streets and shops, and did not purchase any luxury items.

In the eyes of the people, the royal family's clothing, food, housing, and transportation became simple, which made the people love the royal family even more. After all, it was rare for nobles to share hardships with the people, let alone Arthur, who gave out massive funds every year to help the poor.

Although they did not buy a lot of clothing and luxury items openly, in private, the royal family's personal tailors and jewelers made bespoke clothes and jewelry for all royal family members every year.

For all the members of the European royal families, bespoke items were the best. The cost of any bespoke gown of Arthur exceeded 10,000 Australian dollars, not to mention the actual price after considering the time cost and labor cost.

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