Chapter 466: Compensation and Loan Repayment, Britain and Australia Renew Alliance

Although the Treaty of Versailles was signed smoothly, Australasia's diplomatic actions have just begun.

Australasia can get 1.7 billion pounds in compensation from Germany alone, but no one knows how much this compensation will eventually get.

At present, the government already has a loan of 2 billion US dollars from the United States, and Arthur does not attach importance to the 1.7 billion pounds of compensation that he does not know when to get.

Rather than letting this compensation rot in his hands in the future, it is better to play its value as soon as possible, even if it loses a little, it will be exchanged for more useful things.

The first stop of Australasia's diplomacy is the negotiation with President Wilson of the United States.

The 2 billion US dollars of aid from the United States to the five major powers of the Allied Powers arrived in the last six months of the war. Even countries like Britain and France, which consumed a lot of money, did not have time to use the 2 billion US dollars of loans, let alone Australasia.

In this case, returning this loan intact will undoubtedly greatly reduce the government's financial pressure.

Neither Australasia nor the United States intends to recover or pay off this loan immediately.

The United States needs to control part of the Allied economy through loans and win over emerging countries like Australasia.

Australasia needs this loan to develop the country, after all, it is more than four times the annual income of Australasia.

For Arthur, if the German reparations can be used to repay the US debt in advance, it is absolutely the best news.

Under such circumstances, the negotiations between Prime Minister Kent and President Wilson of the United States also proceeded as scheduled.

Prime Minister Kent got straight to the point. After meeting President Wilson, he immediately put forward Arthur's request, which is to use 500 million pounds of German reparations to repay the US's 2.2 billion US dollars interest-free loan in advance.

If the Americans agree, 500 million pounds of the 1.7 billion pounds of German reparations in Australasia will be transferred to the United States, but the debts between the United States and Australasia will also be written off.

If calculated according to the current exchange rate, 2.2 billion US dollars is roughly equivalent to 440 million pounds. It seems that the Americans will not suffer too much by using 500 million German reparations to pay off this debt.

After all, this was originally an interest-free loan. If it was repaid with German reparations, the Americans would have to pay an extra 60 million pounds in interest, creating a huge amount of income for nothing.

But the Americans were obviously not easy to deceive. After hearing Prime Minister Kent's request, President Wilson shook his head and said with a smile: "Prime Minister Kent, you are transferring the risk of reparations to the United States. I admit that 500 million in reparations are very attractive to us. Who can guarantee that the German government has enough finances to repay these loans? The German government's total debt is 20 billion pounds, which cannot be repaid in 80 years."

In order to join the First World War, the Americans prepared 2 billion US dollars, or 400 million pounds of interest-free loans, for each of the five major powers of the Allied Powers.

This amount of money added up to 2 billion pounds, which caused some damage to the United States, which was not affected by the war, and even affected the development of some industries and the economy.

President Wilson never believed that Germany, which was greatly affected by the war, could still pay up to 20 billion pounds in reparations after the war, even if it took 80 years.

From this point of view, whether half of the 500 million pounds of compensation for Australasia can be recovered in the end is still an unknown. How can Americans be willing to exchange it for 2 billion US dollars in real money?

"Your worries are completely unnecessary, President Wilson. I believe you also understand the attitude of the French in this peace talk. The French cannot give up this compensation, and the British will naturally not give up. With the guarantee of Britain and France, the Germans must repay this compensation. How about this, on behalf of His Majesty Arthur and the government, I promise you that Germany's compensation will be given to you first, and ensure that you can receive this compensation truthfully, how about it?" Butler Kent said with a smile.

Although Americans are dissatisfied with the attitude of Britain, France and the four major powers of the Allied Powers dominating this peace talk, the proud Americans have to admit that Britain and France are the most powerful force at this time, and the Germans must pay compensation even if they grit their teeth.

"That being said, Prime Minister Kent, the United States still has to bear high risks. If your country is willing to exchange for 650 million pounds of compensation, I am willing to promote this meeting." What Prime Minister Kent said also made sense. After thinking about it, US President Wilson put forward his own opinion, that is, to add money.

With Britain and France as a guarantee, even if the Germans are dissatisfied with the compensation, they must repay at least 80%.

If the loan can be repaid with 650 million pounds of compensation, President Wilson estimates that the United States can at least get more than 500 million pounds of final compensation, which is a real sure-win business.

"This is too much, Mr. Wilson. Using 650 million pounds of compensation to repay 440 million pounds of debt is simply too crazy. We will accept a compensation exchange of 550 million pounds at most, which is also the bottom line of His Majesty Arthur." Prime Minister Kent shook his head in pretended shock and refused decisively.

In the negotiations of monarchical countries, the monarch with power is the best excuse. President Wilson did not doubt what Prime Minister Kent said. After all, Arthur's reputation and power in Australasia were rare among all monarchies.

Subsequently, President Wilson and Prime Minister Kent had long discussions and determined a final figure, which was that Australasia would use 615 million pounds of German compensation to repay all debts owed to the United States in advance.

Prime Minister Kent also specifically mentioned that Australasia would not be responsible for any aftermath after the formal exchange.

How much compensation the United States can receive depends on how much compensation the Germans can compensate.

However, with Britain and France at the bottom, and the scale of 615 million pounds, President Wilson firmly believed that the United States would not lose much, so he signed the treaty very happily.

After negotiating with the United States, Prime Minister Kent met with British Prime Minister Lloyd George to discuss the issue of re-cooperation between Britain and Australia after the war.

The Anglo-Australian re-cooperation, also known as the Anglo-Australian re-covenant, was an agreement between Britain and Australasia before and during the war to deal with the rise of the United States.

The previous Anglo-Australian Agreement was mainly aimed at Germany, and its provisions were basically to aid Europe and the Indian Ocean region.

Now, the new alliance negotiated by Prime Minister Kent and Prime Minister Lloyd George is mainly aimed at the Pacific region and the United States, sharing some of the pressure for Britain.

Because Australasian aircraft and tanks showed excellent combat effectiveness during the war, their design and technological leadership even surpassed those of British and French aircraft and tanks.

Lloyd George was very interested in Australasian aircraft and tank technology, and even specifically mentioned in the new treaty that Britain and Australasia should strengthen the exchange of military technology.

Prime Minister Kent also has no objections to strengthening the exchange of military technology. After all, the military technology that has been eliminated in Australasia also needs big money like the UK to purchase it.

At least in the short term, Australasia still needs allies like the United Kingdom in order to better focus on development.

An agreement that Prime Minister Kent attaches great importance to is the new immigration treaty between the United Kingdom and Australasia.

Due to the impact of previous wars, the number of British immigrants to Australasia has become smaller and smaller, and even fell below 50,000 in 1917.

This is not good news for Australasia. After all, the main ethnic group in Australasia is still British Australasians, and the population proportion of this group is less than 60%.

Australasia can also accept Russian immigrants. Russian immigrants will also need to undergo English training for a period of time, which will increase the cost of immigration.

Lloyd George fully agreed to Prime Minister Kent's immigration request, but said that due to the impact of the war, the British government could not ensure that enough people would immigrate to Australasia every year.

In other words, the channel for British immigrants has been opened to Australasia, but how many immigrants can really be attracted depends on the efforts of the Australasian government.

The British were thinking about Australasia's tank and aircraft technology, and Australasia was also thinking about the British's warship construction technology.

Prime Minister Kent also proposed strengthening exchanges with the United Kingdom in warship construction, especially the construction of main warships, such as aircraft carriers that are already in the spotlight in various countries.

Australasia is completely justified in cooperating with the British in warship construction, because the British were the first country to build dreadnoughts, super-dreadnoughts, and even aircraft carriers.

Especially in this era, the military power of the United States has not risen significantly. The British shipbuilding technology is still the number one in the world, at least for twenty or thirty years.

In general, Prime Minister Lloyd George and Prime Minister Kent are quite satisfied with this new alliance. Both parties can be regarded as getting what they need, and both of their faces are full of satisfied smiles.

Before signing the alliance, Prime Minister Kent also made his last request, which was the exchange of colonies in the Middle East with the British Empire.

The scope of the exchange is on the Persian Gulf coast. Currently, the British Empire controls Iraq, the United Arab Emirates and Yemen, and Australasia controls the Saudi Arabian Gulf coast, Qatar and Bahrain.

Although it seems that Kuwait's areas are more suitable for development and have a larger population. But Arthur knew better that the Arab region, which is now the truce states, has richer oil resources.

Compared to Kuwait, which is right next to Iraq and is tasteless and a pity to abandon, the truce states that are vaster and have more oil resources are what Arthur really wants.

If Kuwait is exchanged for the United Arab Emirates, Britain can acquire the entire Mesopotamian plain and expand the development potential of the Iraqi region.

Australasia can also achieve Arthur's goal of occupying more oil areas along the Persian Gulf and competing for more oil reserves for Australasia.

It is no exaggeration to say that the Middle East accounts for more than 60% of the world's oil, and the Persian Gulf coast accounts for more than 60% of the Middle East's oil.

After hearing Prime Minister Kent's request, Lloyd George did not nod or refuse in a hurry, but raised his own question: "Kuwait has plains and a larger population. Why do you want to exchange it for the truce states?"

The truce states have no advantage over Kuwait. The only advantage may be that it is close to the Strait of Hormuz and can control the Persian Gulf more effectively.

But the problem is that Prime Minister Lloyd does not believe that Australasia's purpose is to control the Persian Gulf. After all, there are only three countries and forces along the Persian Gulf: Britain, Australasia and Iran.

To put it bluntly, the only two major powers are the United Kingdom and Australasia, and they are both allies. Australasia cannot be stupid enough to forcefully control the Persian Gulf coast in an open and honest manner.

In this way, Australasia's request for a replacement colony becomes somewhat meaningful. Prime Minister Lloyd did not dare to make decisions without knowing the true purpose of Australasia.

Of course, such an important matter as changing the colony cannot be decided by Prime Minister Law and George alone.

It would require at least the nod of approval from the British government, the House of Lords and the House of Lords, and ostensibly the approval of King George V.

"Although the colony of Kuwait has greater development potential, Australasia currently does not have the energy to develop this area. As you know, Prime Minister George and His Majesty Arthur have plans to move the capital. The construction and development of the new capital can be It is far more important than the development of colonies. Because of this, we want more stable colonies, and truce states with smaller populations are very suitable." Prime Minister Kent explained calmly.

"At the same time, to show the sincerity of our allies, we are also happy to let your country control the entire Mesopotamia Plain to dominate the situation in the Middle East. Please rest assured that our goal has never been the Strait of Hormuz. Your country still Some islands in the Strait of Hormuz can be retained, and the entire Persian Gulf belongs to Australasia and the British Empire.”

After hearing Prime Minister Kent's explanation, Prime Minister Law and Prime Minister George nodded and said: "This is indeed beneficial to both our countries. You know, this is not my decision alone. Don't worry, I will try my best. To seek His Majesty’s consent to facilitate the exchange of colonies.”

As a qualified politician, Prime Minister Lloyd George still gave George V a lot of face.

Although most people know that George V no longer has much power in Britain, Lloyd George is still talking about gaining the consent of George V, not the government and Parliament.

"This is natural, Prime Minister George. Regardless of whether the exchange of colonies will be achieved or not, it will not affect the good relations between Australasia and the United Kingdom. We are eternal allies." Prime Minister Kent nodded naturally and smiled. said.

The two prime ministers of the kingdom raised their wine glasses amid laughter, touched each other lightly, and drank from each other.

For a politician of this level, the fate of a colony with an area of ​​hundreds of thousands of square kilometers and a population of hundreds of thousands is just a matter of words.

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