The Rise Of Australasia

Chapter 627 Chapter Four Hundred and Seventy-Eight 1919

With the help of the United Kingdom and Australasia, William II managed to retain his throne as the King of Prussia, and was even eligible to run for the position of Emperor of Germany.

However, in order to retain his throne, William II had to make many sacrifices.

Firstly, the power of the German states greatly increased. Upon France's strong request, the newly formed German Empire would operate under a federal system where each of the states had significant power, including complete economic and military rights.

Apart from administrative and diplomatic decisions being determined by the imperial government, these smaller states were essentially independent nations with their own governments, parliaments, and militaries.

In the more powerful South German region was the Kingdom of Bavaria, led by Ludwig III, who also had the right to run for the position of Emperor of Germany.

Significantly, the Emperor of Germany's powers were weakened. They were not only subject to oversight from the rulers of all the other states, who could impeach them, but also had restrictions imposed by the government, greatly diminishing their power.

More importantly, the German monarchy was no longer hereditary and adopted an electoral system. The rulers of every state, along with the nominees for Emperor of Germany, were eligible to run for the position, with the one receiving the most votes becoming the Emperor.

This effectively separated the states and the German Emperor permanently. After all, since all dukes and kings of the states could become the Emperor, who would willingly submit to the Emperor's rule?

Combined with checks and balances from the military government, it was foreseeable that the future political scene in Germany would not be stable and might even be more chaotic than Russia.

By merely granting great financial and military power to the states, it was destined that Germany would not become very powerful in a short period.

It is essential to know that the number of Germany's military was strictly limited to 150,000, within which the number of each state's military was also included.

It could be said that the Imperial German government had to compete with all state governments over the allocation of those 150,000 troops, which was a significant point of contention.

After all, during wartime, Germany's total military added up to several million people, with the contributing armies from the states reaching well over a million.

To reduce those numbers to 150,000, both the German government and the armies of the states would have to significantly decrease. As to the specific proportion of reductions, it might depend on the prestige of the new Emperor of Germany.

With each country independently taking action, the end of 1918 quickly approached, and 1919 was finally upon them.

What most countries probably cared about was their financial situations in 1918.

The economy, which was just seeing a glimmer of hope after the war ended mid-year, was quickly extinguished by the arrival of influenza.

It's no exaggeration to say that in 1918, the economy of most countries regressed, in some places to a greater extent than during the war period.

Although the impact of the influenza on Australasia was not as severe, it still had an impact on the economy. If not for the preventative measures taken in advance and the production of large quantities of masks and disinfectant, Australasia's economy might also have been forced to step back with Europe.

It's worth mentioning that, despite the impact of the influenza, the number of immigrants to Australasia still exceeded a million. In fact, when the influenza subsided slightly, the number of immigrants surged.

This could be seen as a benefit that the influenza brought to Australasia. After the Americans became important targets globally, it seemed that the United States had lost its position as the most popular choice for immigration, resulting in a considerable decrease in the number of immigrants.

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Germany's defeat was also largely due to the lack of food supplies among the Allies.

Especially, after the surrender of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Germany lost this important food export country, and the domestic food crisis worsened.

In 1918, Australasia's annual grain production was approximately 18 million tons, and the domestic population's grain consumption was only about 5 million tons.

Out of the remaining 13 million tons of grain, over 8 million tons were exported to Europe and other regions. The remaining 5 million tons were used as part of the strategic food reserves to replace the stale grain in storage.

These replaced old grains were exported to the major colonies of the powers.

In terms of food production, Australasia's grain output was sufficient, enough to support the domestic population for around three years.

Combined with Australasia's advanced animal husbandry techniques, this was why Australasia could guarantee domestic food supplies during the war and influenza periods.

The reason Arthur promised to provide supplies free of charge during the influenza period was due to Australasia's enormous grain and meat production each year.

Although the cost of providing these supplies during the influenza period exceeded tens of millions of Australian dollars, and including the cost of treatment for everyone, the expenses of the Royal Family and the Government were at least as high as around 20 million Australian dollars.

While this expense appeared sizeable, Arthur was able to earn it from trade with other countries.

Besides, the reparations controlled by Australasia from the defeated nations were far more significant each year. There was naturally nothing to worry about concerning government finances.

Moreover, such a minor expense could increase the domestic public's goodwill towards Arthur, even without the defeated countries' reparations, Arthur was absolutely willing to subsidize it from the royal family's own funds.

Free treatment was also a tactic Australasia utilized to attract immigrants during the influenza period.

Immigrants infected with influenza in their home countries not only faced the current state of soaring prices but also had to bear the costs of treating influenza.

But if they just paid for a boat ticket to Australasia, all supplies during their quarantine period were free, and as long as they were willing to acquire Australasian citizenship, they were eligible for free influenza treatment.

Of course, the condition was not to change citizenship again within five years, which was not a cost for Europeans who wanted to immigrate abroad in the first place.

Just needing to immigrate to receive free influenza treatment was highly attractive for the majority of European citizens.

Especially in dense Russian regions, while some of the previous Russian immigrants were forcefully transported to Australasia by the government, a considerable number of Russians were now willing to actively immigrate to Australasia. After all, there marked a fundamental difference between living as a beast of burden in Russia and as a human in Australasia.

While Australasia had unavoidable shortcomings, the attitude of the Australasian royal family and the government towards the people was well-known.

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