The Rise of Australia - Chapter 984

c965 The flames of the monarchy

Time quickly came to the end of 1938.

For the fast-ending 1938, the only theme was the continuous failure of the Allies.

Italy and Spain both had their capitals breached in the middle of the year, and finally had no choice but to choose unconditional surrender.

But this is not the only bad news.

Since Britain, France and Australia determined to attack Northern Europe, the Germans had to divide their troops to the Northern European battlefield to protect the three Nordic countries.

After the surrender of Spain and Italy, the importance of Northern Europe has increased.

Northern Europe can not only provide Germany with very important mineral resources, but also make the number of German allies look not so shabby.

More importantly, if the Nordic region is taken, Germany’s only theoretical way out to the sea may also be cut off.

A Germany that can only be trapped in Central Europe can never outstrip Britain and France, which have colonies.

Facts have also proved that the Germans simply cannot draw out a sufficient army to support Northern Europe while fighting on two fronts.

It took the British, French and Australian troops only two and a half months to conquer most of Norway, and successfully recovered important Norwegian cities such as Bergen, Stavanger, Kristiansand and Oslo.

If recovering most of Norway was not a big deal for Germany, then the next actions of the British, French and Australian troops would be enough to give the Germans a headache.

Obviously, a small Norway is not the entire goal of Britain, France and Australia, and it is even only a small part of the entire plan.

After recovering Oslo, the capital of Norway, the British, French and Australian troops continued to expand eastward without stopping, because to the east of Norway is Sweden, the most important country in Northern Europe.

The reason why Sweden is important is entirely because of its extremely rich iron ore resources. At present, Sweden has become a very important iron ore supplier for Germany. The iron ore here is continuously transported to German ports through the Baltic Sea, and then transferred to industrial core areas such as the Ruhr area, smelted into steel, and made into various weapons and other military products.

It is no exaggeration to say that at present, at least a quarter of Germany’s iron ore resources come from Sweden, and this number has continued to increase with the bombing of Germany by Britain, France and Austria.

In the continuous bombing by Britain, France and Australia, Germany’s development of local resources was effectively destroyed. But for a country like Sweden, the distance is too far, and the destructive effect is not as good as that of Germany, so the bombing of the Allied forces is rare.

However, it is obvious that after the Nordic offensive was officially launched, it was not so easy for the Germans to successfully obtain iron ore from Sweden.

Although Germany effectively prevented the British and French fleets from entering the Baltic Sea by laying a large number of mines, freshwater mines did not pose a threat to the air force.

After Britain, France and Australia occupied the air superiority in Western and Central Europe, the situation of the German Air Force was not so wonderful.

Of course, a considerable part of the credit should be attributed to the efforts of the Italians.

As we all know, except for the poor combat effectiveness of the army, the combat effectiveness of the navy and air force of the Italians is still worthy of praise.

Italy’s naval design level is still at the forefront of Europe, and its design of the air force is also first-class in Europe.

During the long war period of several years, the Italians built a total of tens of thousands of aircraft, of which more than 7,000 were sunk.

After the Italian capital of Rome was captured, the British, French and Australian troops were shocked to find that there were still more than 1,000 newly built aircraft and more than 2,000 damaged aircraft in the armament warehouses and airports in various parts of Italy.

Although more than half of the more than 2,000 damaged aircraft were seriously damaged and could not be repaired, at least 500 aircraft could still be saved by dismantling them into parts.

In this way, it means that the Italian government directly provided more than 1,500 aircraft to Britain, France and Australia.

With these 1,500 aircraft from Italy, the air superiority achieved by Britain, France and Australia in Central and Western Europe will be even greater.

And this is not over yet. Italy surrendered unconditionally, and almost all of their military industrial enterprises were taken over by Britain, France and Australia, and continued to produce the weapons and equipment they needed.

This also means that the military industrial enterprises that the Italian government worked hard to establish have instead made wedding clothes for Britain, France and Australia. At present, the production capacity of the Italian government is still quite reliable. Although some military factories were bombed by Britain, France and Australia, the minimum output can provide at least 3,500 aircraft and 1,000 tanks for Britain, France and Australia every year.

If we learn from the behavior of the German Prime Minister and Mussolini and continue to squeeze the production capacity of Italian military enterprises, the production of aircraft and tanks of Italian military enterprises can at least double, which has exceeded the current production capacity of France.

However, this cannot be blamed on France. After all, the most essential areas in northern France were occupied by Germany for several years, and the North African colonies were also wantonly destroyed by the German and Italian armies, which naturally had a great impact on the industry.

Compared with Italy, Spain does not have such a strong military production capacity. Most of the weapons and equipment seized in Spain are rifles, artillery and machine guns. It is difficult for Spain’s own military enterprises to produce those advanced aircraft and tanks. Even with the drawings given by Germany and Italy, they can only produce three-digit aircraft and tanks every year.

What can three-digit aircraft and tanks do? In the vast European battlefield, three-digit aircraft and tanks are not even enough for a day’s battle consumption.

Time quickly came to the end of December 1938.

As the new year is coming, the moods of European governments are different.

The most helpless people at this time should be Italy and Spain. The Allies are currently clearing up the war responsibilities of Italy and Spain. When the war is completely over, it is time to hold all the culprits of the war accountable.

Before the final division of responsibilities is determined, the Spanish and Italian governments will always be in a state of anxiety.

Because the final opinion of the Allies will directly determine the fate of the two countries, either continue to unify or be divided and occupied.

Compared with the helpless Spanish and Italian governments, the mood of the exiled governments of the three Nordic countries at this time is much better.

With the help of Britain, France and Australia, the Norwegian government in exile has successfully returned to Oslo, the capital of Norway, and abolished all the policies formulated by the Germans in Norway.

This is not over yet. In order to show his loyalty to Britain, France and Australia, the first thing the King of Norway did when he returned to Norway was to completely clear up the pro-German government supported by Germany and replace them with candidates close to the Allies.

Of course, attacking Northern Europe is actually a big deal.

Because around the Baltic Sea, in addition to Germany, there are Norway, Sweden, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Denmark.

At present, except for Norway, which has been restored, the remaining countries are still in a state of exile, and everything in the country is taken over and controlled by the Germans.

Although the countries annexed by Germany on the Mediterranean coast are not too powerful, they are at least recognized countries.

More importantly, all of these countries except Poland are monarchies, which is still very important for Britain and Australasia.

It is precisely because of this that the question of who these countries should rely on and get close to has become a target of competition between Britain and Australasia.

From the current development of the world, the political systems of countries in the world after the war should be divided into three types, corresponding to monarchies like Britain and Australasia, democracies like France, and republics like Russia.

With the demise of the democratic system of the United States and the weakening of France, the countries with this system have basically lost the right to compete for world hegemony.

The only remaining monarchies and republics that are qualified to compete for hegemony are Britain, Australasia and Russia.

Among them, Britain and Australasia are both monarchies, which will naturally attract the support of these small monarchies.

After all, the rulers of these monarchies are not stupid. If they rely on Russia, which has a significantly different political system, their countries may be stable, but their thrones may not be stable.

The more brothers who shout and shout, the greater the voice they have in the established united countries and the entire world situation.

Especially in peacetime, the more countries support, the more they will naturally stand on the side of justice.

After all, in most cases, the minority must obey the majority.

Of course, the minority obeys the majority is not an absolute truth.

Because fundamentally, the reason why the minority obeys the majority is that the majority is more powerful, and the minority has no possibility of opposing the majority.

This principle also applies to the world situation. If the minority is a particularly powerful country, and the majority is just some small and medium-sized countries that are not very powerful, then the minority obeys the majority is just empty talk.

But again, the support of these monarchies with a long history in Europe still has a certain effect on Britain and Australasia, which are monarchies themselves.

After all, except for Finland, the titles of the monarchs of these Mediterranean countries are all kings, and they also have considerable influence in the European aristocracy system.

Imagine if the future emperor of Australasia can get the support of more than a dozen European kings, doesn’t this mean that he can indirectly control the entire European royal family?

And with the support of the entire European royal family, it will have enough influence and deterrence when facing a single country.

After all, in the face of the survival of the monarchy, all monarchies will involuntarily unite. And the more monarchies there are, the more stable the status of all existing nobles and monarchs will be.

However, the current European aristocracy is obviously divided into two factions. One faction is attached to the traditional monarchical powers of Britain, Portugal, Belgium, the Netherlands, Denmark and Greece.

The other faction is attached to the emerging power Australasia, the most obvious representative of which is Grand Duke Dmitri of Finland.

Of course, according to the current layout of Australasia, the future King Gustav VI of Sweden and King Juan of Spain should also join the Australasia faction.

Gustav is Arthur’s brother-in-law after all, and he will be more reliable to a certain extent. As for his current father, Gustav V, Arthur has never thought about preserving his throne.

After all, what Arthur promised the Swedish royal family was only to preserve the status of the Swedish royal family and their throne. As for who will be the king of Sweden, it is not something the Swedish royal family can decide on their own.

The same is true for Prince Juan. After Spain surrendered, Arthur’s next plan was to restore the Spanish royal family.

But Arthur’s hard plan is not only to restore the Spanish royal family, but also to influence Spain and let Spain join his sphere of influence.

Alfonso XIII was more open-minded about this point. He had agreed to let Prince Juan be the heir to the royal family, that is, the next king of Spain a long time ago.

In addition to Sweden and Spain, Arthur also had certain ideas about the three Baltic countries, Denmark, Austria, Czechoslovakia and other regions annexed by Germany.

Anyway, these countries need to be rebuilt, and it is entirely possible to achieve his goal of supporting the king by supporting their reconstruction.

Especially the three Mediterranean countries and Austria, the thrones of these countries are not stable, and naturally they also need the help of foreign forces.

Especially Austria, which was once ruled by the famous Habsburg family.

If he can get the support of the Habsburgs, it means that Arthur’s position in the European royal family will be more stable, and he may even become the monarch with the highest status and the greatest reputation in the European royal family.

Don’t underestimate this superficial status. The connection between the European royal families is still relatively close. Such a status can be related to the royal families of various European countries and those who have lost their thrones.

After gaining the support of the entire European royal family, the restoration of the royal family of a monarchical country in Europe is just a matter of Arthur’s words.

After all, Arthur represents the entire European royal family, and such a force cannot be confronted by any country alone.

Of course, countries like Russia are not included in this scope. Because the political system and ideology of Russia are naturally on the opposite side of the monarchy, the two are enemies, and the Russians naturally cannot care about the opinions of the European royal family.

The European aristocratic system has been passed down for thousands of years, and its influence in Europe is still very large. Even if some countries have obviously abolished the monarchy, the abolished royal family can still be treated with courtesy in other countries.

Most countries dare not persecute royal family members even if they abolish the royal family. A large part of the reason is that the interests of the European royal families are intertwined, and most royal families are relatives.

It must be admitted that the “Joint Declaration of European Royal Families” called for by Arthur during World War I still has a great influence among European royal families.

This is also the reason why Arthur’s status can quickly grow from a colonial monarch to a highly recognized imperial emperor and representative of European monarchs.

With the gradual strengthening of Australasia, the current Saxe-Coburg-Gotha family has become the first family in Europe and even the world.

Although the rule of the Saxe-Coburg-Gotha dynasty in other countries is not as smooth as Australasia, the members of the entire family are still noble and hold important positions in various countries.

Especially after the British took the initiative to give up the surname of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, Arthur has become the biggest decision-maker of the world’s largest family.