Chapter 479

With the help of Britain and Australasia, William II still retained the throne of King of Prussia as he wished, and was also eligible to run for the German Emperor.

However, in order to retain his throne, William II also paid too much.

First of all, the power of the German states has been greatly enhanced. Under the strong request of the French, the new German Empire will be a federal country, and each state has full rights, including complete economic and military rights.

In addition to administrative and diplomatic needs being decided by the imperial government, it can be said that these small states are independent countries with their own governments, parliaments and armies.

Like the relatively powerful Kingdom of Bavaria in the southern German region, King Ludwig III also has the right to run for the German Emperor.

The power of the German emperor himself has also been weakened. Not only is he subject to the supervision of all state monarchs and can be impeached by the state monarchs, he is also subject to restrictions from the government, and his power has been greatly reduced.

More importantly, the throne of Germany is no longer hereditary, but elective. The monarchs of the states and the nominees of the German emperor jointly participated in the election, and the one with the most votes became the emperor.

This is equivalent to permanently separating these states from the German emperor. After all, the dukes and kings of these states have the right to become emperors. Who will obey the emperor's rule?

Coupled with the checks and balances from the military government, it can be expected that the future German political arena is doomed to be not calm, and may be more chaotic than the Russian political arena.

Just by giving the states financial and military power, Germany is doomed to be not too strong in a short time.

You know, the number of German troops is strictly limited to 150,000, and the number of troops of these states is also counted within this 150,000.

This also means that the German imperial government has to compete with all the state governments for the quota of 150,000 troops, which is a big contradiction outbreak point.

After all, the total German army during the war was as high as millions, of which the troops provided by the states were as high as millions.

In order to concentrate these people to 150,000, the German government and the armies of the states must be greatly reduced. As for the specific reduction ratio, it may depend on the prestige of the new German emperor.

Under the premise that each country has its own actions, the end of 1918 passed quickly, and time finally came to 1919.

What all countries are most concerned about may be the financial situation in 1918.

The economy in the middle of the year just ushered in the dawn because of the end of the war, but soon the hope was extinguished by the flu.

It is no exaggeration to say that the economy of most countries in 1918 was in decline, and the decline was even greater than during the war.

The flu did not have a great impact on Australasia, but the economy was also affected. If it were not for the preventive measures in advance and the preparation of a large number of masks and disinfectants in advance, I am afraid that Australasia’s economy would also follow Europe.

It is worth mentioning that despite the impact of the flu, the number of immigrants in Australasia is still as high as more than one million, and even when the flu subsided slightly, the number of immigrants increased wildly.

This can also be regarded as the benefit that the flu brought to Australasia. After Americans became the world's public enemy, the United States seems to have lost its status as the most popular choice for immigration, and the number of immigrants has been greatly reduced.

The biggest beneficiary is naturally Australasia, after all, Australasia is the only immigration country that can compete with the United States.

In 1918, Australasia received a total of 1.3 million foreign immigrants, which was the result of the impact of Australasia's closure for half a year after the outbreak of the epidemic.

Coupled with the 442,000 newborns in the country, the total population of Australasia officially exceeded 20 million, reaching 20.203 million.

The population officially exceeded 20 million, which also brought Australasia to a new level. When this wave of flu really ended and Australasia's population began to grow on a large scale, it was the time when Australasia's development would reap rewards.

In terms of industry, as of the beginning of 1919, Australasia's steel production was 3 million tons and 4.55 million tons respectively, and the total steel production had exceeded 7.5 million tons. It is no exaggeration to say that it is an industrial power.

After the war, the huge military industry was split up, and a large number of military industry employees were absorbed into civilian industry employees, alleviating the crisis caused by the substantial expansion of the military industry.

But there is also a new problem, that is, after absorbing these technical workers, the Leonora Industrial Base is basically full.

If Australasia's industry wants to usher in greater development, in addition to expanding the existing Leonora Industrial Base, perhaps only a new industrial base can be built.

It has to be admitted that the existing Leonora Industrial Base has become the core of Australasia's industry, with up to 550,000 employed workers, 1,200 large factories, 5,000 small and medium-sized factories and hundreds of large storage areas.

But for the large-scale immigration that Australasia is about to usher in, the scale and number of the existing industrial bases are still not enough.

In order to meet the job needs of new immigrants, it is necessary to create more jobs.

After research, Arthur decided to launch the fourth phase of the Leonora Industrial Base Construction Plan, and build the Leonora Industrial Base into a super industrial zone that can accommodate millions of workers, which is the future industrial core of Australasia.

In addition, new industrial bases should be established in New Zealand, New South Wales and Victoria.

Although the scale is not as large as the Leonora Industrial Base, it is also a super industrial zone that can accommodate at least tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of workers, further meeting the needs of Australasia's industrial development.

In addition to industrial development, Arthur's next plan is to restore the per capita arable land area to more than two acres.

At present, the total arable land area in Australasia has reached 38.77 million acres, and the per capita arable land area is about 1.92 acres.

This is just the tip of the iceberg for the vast land of Australasia. When the development of the Murray River Delta is launched, Australasia will not only have one more urban agglomeration, but also one more excellent agricultural, animal husbandry and industrial development area.

In order to restore the per capita arable land area to more than 2 acres, the total arable land area must be expanded to more than 40 million acres.

This also means that the next task of the agricultural department of the Australasia government is to cultivate more land, firstly to reward new immigrants, and secondly to sell it to Australasia farmers at a low price to expand the scale of Australasia's agriculture.

In the previous war, Australasia's grain exports earned a lot of profits for the government.

And it goes without saying how important it is for a country to have enough food. It is no exaggeration to say that the reason why Russia broke out in civil strife was the food crisis in the middle and late stages of the war.

And one of the important reasons why Germany was defeated was that the Allies lacked food supplies.

Especially after the surrender of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Germany lost the Austro-Hungarian Empire, an important grain exporter, and the domestic food crisis became more serious.

In 1918, Australasia's annual grain production was about 18 million tons, while the amount of grain consumed by the domestic people was only about 5 million tons.

Of the remaining 13 million tons of grain, more than 8 million tons were exported to Europe and other regions, and the remaining 5 million tons were used as strategic grain reserves to replace the old grain in grain storage.

The old grain that was replaced was exported to the colonies of the great powers.

In terms of grain production, Australasia's grain production is sufficient, and even one year's production can meet the consumption of all the people in the country for about three years.

Coupled with Australasia's developed animal husbandry, this is also an important reason why Australasia can guarantee domestic food supplies during wars and flu.

The reason why Arthur promised to provide supplies for free during the flu was because of Australasia's huge annual grain and meat production.

Although the cost of providing these supplies during Arthur's flu had already exceeded tens of millions of Australian dollars, plus the cost of free treatment for all people, the royal family and the government spent at least 20 million Australian dollars.

Although this cost seems a lot, Arthur can earn it from trade with other countries.

What's more, the reparations from the defeated countries controlled by Australasia are more than this number every year, so there is no need to worry about the government's financial problems.

What's more, such a small amount of money can make the people in the country have a higher favorable impression on Arthur. Even if there is no compensation from the defeated country, Arthur will definitely be willing to pay for it alone by the royal family.

Free treatment is also a means for Australasia to attract immigrants during the flu period.

Imagine that immigrants who are infected with influenza in their original country will not only face the current situation of rising prices of various materials, but also have to bear the cost of treating influenza.

But if they only spend a boat ticket to come to Australasia, all materials during their quarantine will be free, and as long as they are willing to join the nationality of Australasia, they will be eligible for free treatment of influenza.

Of course, the price is that they are not allowed to change their nationality again within five years, but this is not a price for Europeans who originally want to immigrate abroad.

Just immigrating to get free treatment for influenza is a condition that is extremely attractive to most European people.

Especially in the Russian region with a large population, some Russian immigrants were forced to be transported to Australasia by the government before. Now a considerable number of Russians are willing to actively immigrate to Australasia. After all, there is a fundamental difference between being a beast in Russia and being a human in Australasia.

Although Australasia has inevitable shortcomings, the attitude of the Australasia royal family and government towards the people is well known.

Living in a country like Australasia is a luxury for the people of this era, and even a fantasy for the people of many countries in the future.

The second update of 3,000 words, please vote for the monthly ticket, please support!

I am seriously stuck, so I will update two updates of 6,000 words today, just be lazy.